when I started this blog five years ago, I was a pet sitter and the name animal-crackers made sense. now I'm a stay-at-home-dad and freelance writer, but rather than confuse everyone by getting a different blog, it's just easier to keep posting things here.

We're having another boy!

Today was the big day at the obgyn. After 50 minutes in the waiting room we finally got our turn. A quick survey with the ultrasound showed the baby was healthy and active. He was kicking and swinging like hell.

At the beginning of the exam, his head was near the bottom. But by the time we were done, he was sitting upright again. Freaky fetal acrobat syndrome.

We saw the legs and the bladder, the head, the heart and the stomach.

"Here's a cross section of the waste," the doctor pointed out. "It's as if we were to cut you in half -- kht (that's supposed to be a cutting sound) -- and looked down. You can see the spine there."

Thanks doc.

Then the moment we were all waiting for. The plumbing.

"Is that it there?" Andrea asked, as if reading my mind.

"No," the doctor chuckled. "That's the arm."

Thank god.

Actually, Andree's obgyn is the best doctor EVER. We saw him every week for three months before we lost Jack. He removed the 12 fibroid tumors and septum from her uterus. And he delivered Josh. Through it all, he showed nothing but compassion and he laughed at all of our stupid jokes.

The rest of the examination involved looking at his arms and spine and ribs and face. (We have a picture of him that looks like the Crypt Keeper.)

Now comes the hard part. The Name.

We had a girl's name picked, but not a boy's. We're still thinking Biblical -- Noah or Benjamin. Probably not Abraham, Isaac, Aaron or Gump.

Any suggestions?