Bud

There is so much we don't know about having a baby and our friends have been a tremendous help. Dawn and Meg recently had little boys and have given great advice, lent maternity clothes and provided moral support.

Chris and Lucy gave us a dozen books, including a name book from which Kevin has picked "Rusty" as the lead candidate - regardless of the baby's gender. For now, we've agreed to call the baby "Bud" and use "he" as the pronoun instead of "shim" or "it."

Now, the debate is whether we find out the gender. Kevin wants to wait for the surprise but I would like to know. As Dawn put it "there will be enough firsts, newness and complete shock when the baby's born, knowing the gender in advance won't detract from any of the chaos!"