Amie and Tom's  Big Surprise

We had our first look at the little parasite growing in Amie today.  Sorry for the out-of-focus pic, but Dr. Estes wields the ultrasound wand as fast as she talks.  This particular ultrasound machine is a portable one, but it was good enough to see the heart fluttering...  

The “due date” is now pegged as 13 March 2008.  I’m particularly keen on being able to gum such phrases as “back in aught-7 your mutha and me...” when telling stories to future progeny of whatever comes our way.  This pic is especially useful in such yarns, as it’s well over a century old too!  I had no idea that ultrasound machines with LCD panels were around back then!

So, the adventure continues...  We leave for Sapporo, Japan tomorrow – which will be this kid’s third continent.  Sushi’s been OK’ed but no Sake – which I don’t think will be much of a sacrifice for Amie.  Missing out on sushi, though would have been very sad.  I’m looking forward to the extra wine on the plane ride over...  We'll be back home the evening of 22 Aug. 

While we're in Japan, we've still got to complete more training runs, one being 8 miles, in preparation for the Annapolis 10-miler on the 25th - all the while trying to remember which way to look while crossing the street.  Damn island nations driving on the wrong side of the road!!  Why couldn't we have fixed that when we rebuilt the country???

Love to all!

Tom, Amie, Kate and "Camilla"

P.S.: In case you hadn't heard - on our trip to England in June (where all this began - but I won't go into that), we saw Prince Charles and Camilla while standing in a crowd of thousands at Buckingham Palace.  Camilla waved to Amie - nobody else - just Amie, thus blessing her with fertility.  Hence we've been calling our gestating baby "Camilla" for the time being...  Seems to flow off the tongue better  than "fetus" or "it."

            The following pictures are the latest ultra sound pictures of Amie's big surprise. 

  Wow how time flies!

Fortunately, the generally accepted procedure for sexing human
fetuses is not nearly as grotesque as sexing chickens...

But, nevertheless, we did try some alternative methods just to see
how well they worked...

First, there was that gypsy lady we tracked down from the "family"
photo that Grandpa-to-be Lamoreaux put in our family album. She
offered a ritualistic procedure involving many candles, some wine and
rare crystals - oh and some little tiny rocks that were on the
floor... After cleverly placing the pebbles on Amie's tummy, under
the flicker of the candles - she dangled one of the rare crystals
over Amie's bellybutton.

 It began rotating counterclockwise...
Hmmm... Defying physics in the northern hemisphere... must be a
girl. I got to drink the wine.

Then there were Council of Mothers - aka all of our friends with
kids. they met - again - candles and wine were involved - as were
crystals (i.e. diamonds). Their universal belief was unanimous:
Girl. I didn't get any wine - as I wasn't invited...

And finally, before the day of reckoning - we asked Kate. Kate gave
a nod to her left and promptly stuck out her tongue. To this day, I
still don't know what that means. But to celebrate - I had a glass
of wine.

So, on Friday Amie & I went in search of the "turtle." Apparently -
the little guy's stuff looks like the profile of a turtle on on log
when seen on ultrasound.

Take a look at the pics... Whaddaya think???
a) "Camilla" in Carbonite?
b) Ewwww Groooossssss!
c) Holy Crap - they really do have a bun in the oven!
d) Awwwwwwww, aren't those feet cute!

If ya didn't find the turtle - we didn't either! Yes - we're having
a girl! Based on the measurements taken from these images, the due
date is 11 March 2008.

So, Enjoy the pictures! We certainly are. If you look at the
profile shot - sure does look like Amie!

The name, of course, is still TBD - but we're sticking with "Camilla"
as the code-name for the project tightly under wraps in my beautiful
bride! (BTW - today is Amie's birthday! October 10th, If she were a dog - she'd be
5 and having a litter! Thank God for the little things...)

love,
Tom, Amie, Kate & "Camilla

To TBD

This is just a short disclaimer from your Grandfather Frog, as to the words that are printed above. They are all taken from an e-mail message your dad wrote when he sent me the pictures above. I would never have thought of describing you as a turtle. A Frog maybe but not a turtle. We can laugh at his words but we can also feel the love he has for your mother and you, his TBD, in the way he describes your first recognizable pictures. Although I am not to sure how your mother is going to take to being compared to a female dog.

Best wishes Grandfather  Frog

The soothing background music is provided by that great masher of songs Weird Al Yankovich.