43 days or so...

Hard to believe that in 43 or so days, our little wonder, Miss Eliza Mae will be here with us. I know our lives will forever change but I am so excited. I hope she comes early simply so I can see her quicker. I am so ready to be a Dad. I am already clueless, and have the typical "Go ask your mother," mantra down.

Still working on the dissertation. Wrote about one page today. It goes so slow but I am making progress.

King size bed..

Well one of Kristen's friends at work was downsizing so she gave us a king size bed, mattress, boxsprings for free. Andrew helped me move it all into the house. It is exciting. I have never had a king size bed, only at motels, but I have always wanted one. And a free one is the best kind. Of course this free gift always costs money, because I am sure we will want to get a memory foam topper for it. but it is still exciting.

Go to the chiropractor today for my first "adjustment." Apparently Kristen is big friends with everyone in the office as they all knew my life story when I showed up. I forget how my wife walks into a place and five minutes later everyone loves her. That is a good trait to have. Hope my kid has that trait. I have never been to a chiropractor before so I am skeptical.

Anxious for Eliza to get here. It is almost like I miss her even though I have not really even seen her. I want to sit with her on the couch and watch baseball, take her out in the yard with the dogs, go to the beach with her, teach her Latin--all the standard Daddy things. I know she will be too young for most of that at first but I am still so stoked I can't see straight. I love that baby so much and she isn't even here.

Of course Kristen gets prettier by the day. It is amazing to be sure how I ended up with her but she sure is a catch. I am a blessed man in so many ways.

I also can't wait till Callie gets here too so I can teach her how to shout "Wooo!" like I did Karisse. Callie and Eliza will be best buds and Karisse will show them both the ropes. Very cool.

Baby Shower....

We had a shower in Lee County last night and were overwhelmed by the number of gifts. We actually got tired opening them, had to rest a minute. We may have enough clothes for Eliza that she never wears the same outfit twice. We got tons of stuff. It is so exciting.

Here is a quilt that Teresa made for the crib.


Arlis, Katie, and Kristen at the shower.


My favorite picture of Kristen. She is so beautiful. can't wait to see how Eliza looks like her mommy.


The happy couple. I am so excited.


Opening presents.

It was awesome and we actually have two more showers to go. Unbelievable how God has blessed us with family and friends who are so excited about our baby..

stuff..

Just got back from Gettysburg with Algie, Corey, and a brief appearance by Darren. We had a blast. Sleeping in a tent was not so great but it was a lot of fun.

Today I am dissertating. I have written about 20 pages on Ch. 2. Usually a chapter can be as big as 40-50 pages. I am discussing Elizabeth's style of rhetoric and how it mirrors the classical models of Seneca and Cicero. I know exciting.

We saw Eliza's face again yesterday. We are over 8 months. I can't wait to get to hang out with her. I am stoked. Well back to the grind. I love my wife and my baby.

Gettysburg..

Algie, Corey, and I are off to Gettysburg Penn. Algie is a US civil war historian and so he is going to give us a tour of the battlefield and then on Sunday on our return we are going to play golf. Should be lots of fun.

the process of Dissertating..

If you have a friend working on a Ph.d. dissertation and you want to really annoy them, ask them if they are finished yet.

I am working on Chapter two of mine. In this chapter I am trying to demonstrate that Elizabeth I used classical models of rhetoric to project her own political power. Specifically she relied on models provided by Seneca and Cicero. She was unique in that most female monarchs of her time did not use rhetoric, persuasive speech, in that way. It is slow going. I have most of the research done for this chapter but arranging it always causes me headaches.

In other news, I really love my wife. Kristen is so great and I feel so bad that pregancy is such a hard thing to endure. We will both be glad when little Eliza is here to hang out with us, watch me work, and be a part of our lives. I sure love her a bunch already.

Eliza's room...

Here is a picture of something that our good friend Michelle got for our baby's room. It is really cool and will ensure that she knows her name. Kristen had a shower today from her OT girls and got lots of cool stuff for the baby. I am so excited it feels like Christmas. Can't wait till September and it is unreal to think that this will be our first Christmas with a little baby. i am so excited.

Eliza's room is taking shape..

Here are a couple of new pics of Eliza's room with the cool rug that our friends Andrew, Crystal and Finley got for her. It makes the room look so good. Andrew personally delivered it as he is taking a summer school class but we miss Crystal and Finley and hope we get to see them soon too.

Waiting...

Well I was excited to switch to Dish Network with our new phone from Embarq. But I have been waiting for two days for the dish network people to show up and install the dish network. Supposedly the technician is finishing up at another home and is on his way here after that. Let's hope so. This has put a crimp in my schedule waiting on the Dish people. Tomorrow I drive to Knoxville to meet with my advisor about my work in England this summer. i am trying to work on the dissertation but it seems everything is distracting me this summer.

allergy shots

Well today started my first ever allergy shots. Hopefully this will help me breathe much better. Right now my right arm feels like a piece of lead. Not much on tap for today as I am waiting on the dish network people to come by. We are dumping charter. Hopefully this week will allow me to get some writing done on the dissertation.

Also I am speaking at the Freshmen welcome banquet and at the first Vespers of the year at Milligan. I guess I am popular this year but speaking does require a lot of work for me so that will also keep me busy.

July 4th...

Today we are celebrating the fourth by hanging at the house and spending some time with our good friends Charles and Nancy and their boys, Mark and Jeff. Maybelle and Elvis are ready for the fourth with their new haircuts. They are as wild as ever. Hopefully the rain will hold off so we can cook out some steak and shrimp. Kristen loves the fact that she works for the government today as it is a federal holiday. Happy fourth to all!