After The Tenth..... When The Fun Really Begins

I'm very pleased to announce that after months of secrecy, I can finally reveal that I'm now a published author, with a multi-book deal and a huge signing bonus from a major publishing house. To be completely honest, not everything in the previous statement is completely accurate. I am a published author and it is a multi-book deal, but there was no bonus and no publishing company. I'm actually self-published.

During our pregnancy, you might have noticed that the frequency of the posts began to slow down. That's because I was splitting my free time between writing new posts and converting the old one's into the book making software. I kept my publishing plans a secret and didn't share them with anyone but Annie, but now it is time to share the news. (I was waiting on this because we planned on giving one as a gift to the grandparents on Mother's Day and Father's Day and I couldn't say anything until both gifts were given out)

A little over a year ago, I started thinking about how much work I've put into this blog and how I really want Macy (and now Laney too) to be able to look back and see what their parents were thinking and feeling as they went from being a great expectation to actual little people. I'm a computer geek through and through, so I'm sure that I will be upgrading the web server and software for years to come, but what about 25-35 years from now? I can't expect that this blogging tool will still exist and that I'll be able to keep the site running indefinitely. I really wanted to be able to save the site in a more tangible medium. Something they could hang onto forever and ever. (Assuming they would want to do so...no pressure kids) So between new posts and life's other challenges, I found time to start converting the posts into book format. I decided early on that I wanted the book to be as close to an exact copy of the blog as I could possibly do. What I didn't realize at the time, was how time consuming a task I had begun. You see, when first started posting pictures, I didn't make any record of the picture's official name or where the image was stored. So I had to search through the archives to find the hi-resolution versions, which sometimes was quick and easy and other times took forever.

But when it was all done and I put in the order to have the first book printed, I was like a little kid awaiting Christmas' arrival, or at least what a Jewish boy assumes it was like to be a little kid waiting on Christmas. I checked my email every day to see if there was a delivery date and a tracking number. When the book finally arrived, I was thrilled. All of my hard work had paid off and I now had a printed version of the blog...every post and every picture from the first one to Macy's birthday party. If you look closely at the top picture, you'll see that it says Volume 1, so now I'm committed to a second volume (if not a 3rd and a 4th) which will pick up where the first one stopped and will probably run through Laney's 1st birthday party. I'm not sure that we can come up with as big a surprise at her party, but it is still too early to tell.

A major portion of my job is managing our client's expectations. If I have a task that I think I can get to today and it should take 1-2 hours, I tell them that we should have it done by the end of tomorrow and that it should be 3-4 hours of work. That gives me a cushion in case something strange happens and it is more complicated than we originally thought (which happens all the time in the computer world) or if another emergency takes priority over the task and I can't get to it right away. That way, when I finish the task 4 hours later and tell them that it only took 2.5 billable hours, they are thrilled that I finished so quickly and "saved" them some money.

So how come I'm so good at setting expectations at work, and so bad at them when it comes to the blog? With some recent entries I promised Laney pictures would be available shortly and here it is over a week later and no pictures. I can understand if you are upset with me. To make it up to everyone, I scoured through our collection and picked the sixteen best photos I could find.

In the pictures below you'll see her new personalized blanket; bath time; her new sweater that was knitted by Audrey (our collections lady at work; who also made a matching one for Macy); our newest family photo which includes everyone except the dog; and an example of Macy demonstrating some love for her sister

The other day we had our first official family outing. Prior to this, Laney's only trips were to the doctor, which don't really count. But this time we went to the bank and then to lunch. It has been a challenge not taking her out and not getting to show her off, but with her preemie status we were warned to keep her interactions with other people to a minimum. Her little immune system isn't quite ready to face the challenges that await her.

We went back and forth over whether we were taking an acceptable risk or not, but not taking Laney out in public was starting to interfere with our limited ability to get errands done. We strategically planned our mission, arriving at the bank 30 minutes before close, expecting it to be pretty quiet inside then bank and it was. We then kept her off to the side while we opened her bank account, dropped her Social Security card in the vault and a few other bank related items. Both my daughters are now the proud owners of savings accounts and both accounts were opened with way more money than I ever had when I got my first account. I did some quick math and Laney's earning/gaining money almost as fast as I am and I have to slave over a computer for 9 hours a day and she gets unlimited naps. Can you say jealous?

After our financial duties were satisfied, it was over to the sandwich shop, selected partially for it's outdoor seating. We ran with the theory that it was better to be outside than to have potential germs trapped inside a store with us. Armed with our plan and our secret weapon, we headed over for some food. The secret weapon was the combination of some basic daddy Photoshop skills and Great Uncle Jack's lamination machine. I drew up a little sign, along with a comandeered copy of the Chris Evert Children's Hospital logo that says "I'm a preemie, please wash your hands before you touch me" and we hung it on her car seat. (Hopefully none of my former hospital co-workers will rat me out for my unlawful use of a logo, but I thought it added some legitimacy to the hand washing request.) Who could resist the request from a children's hospital? Apparantly, not the people at the sandwhich shop, because while a few briefly stopped to peak in at Laney, not one made a move to touch her. When we first took Macy out, it was quite the opposite. I was amazed at how many strangers thought it was acceptable to touch the hand or face of a newborn.

So while our first trip was a success, we are now counting the days down till the doctor tells us it is totally acceptable to bring Laney out a bit more and allowing people other than the immediate family to come over the house. So far we've gotten him to agree that it is ok to start having some people over, but they should only hold her for a few minutes and then we should take her down the hall and hide her in her bedroom. (I'm not certain, but I don't think he was kidding) This doesn't seem that likely of a scenario.

Hard to believe that she is now both over 8 pounds and over one month old!

"We are so glad you decided to visit. You are now on the clock and have 43 more seconds with Laney before she will be ripped from your hand. Thanks for coming." Doesn't seem likely....