New Poll!

So, we've been scratching our heads for the last few weeks of a name that we can give our baby boy. We're thankful for all the suggestions that people gave, and they helped a lot in the name picking process. So, after all our thinking and searching for names we came across a few that have made it far enough in the selection process to put it to a vote. We've listed 5 different name combinations(only 4 different names), and we are curious to know what people like hearing better. As with our last poll we would invite you to leave a comment here stating which name you voted for, so we can put a name with the votes. For those of you who have already voted, please feel free to leave a comment here. We're totally excited for our baby, and we're now under 100 days left. We're going to try to get another belly picture or a few up soon. Thanks for everything!

...and the Winner is...

On monday morning Jonah and I went to her Dr. to have her regular pre-natal check-up. We asked the doc if we could have a request slip for an ultrasound. I was a little surprised by the doctor's response, because she said that we probably won't be able to find out the sex this early, but we could always try. It made me laugh, because in the States, people find out at 20 weeks, but here they usually wait until the 7th month. So, she gave us the request, and we went to the ultrasound center to see baby.

It was a little blurry, and kind of confusing at first, but we were able to figure out what exactly we were looking at. Apparently, baby was turned away from the camera, and the specialist had a hard time locating what we were looking for. So, she had Jonah turn on her side to see if maybe we could find a good angle. I decided that I would take video of the ultrasound, because I knew that they wouldn't be able to give us a copy of it. Here is the little clip that we took, where you can see the gender(if you know what you're looking at), and a nice shot of baby's face.

...It's a boy!!!!

We were both a little shocked when we heard the result, and both very excited for baby. Now our next big challenge will be thinking of a name. We would like to hear what suggestions you might have. We both decided that we would like baby's initials to be both of our first initials, J and M, but it doesn't really matter what order.

Also, the due date was pushed up almost a whole week. I guess baby is getting big faster than usual, haha. The new due date is October 24, just like his Monkey Mike(who, in his prediction, said that in 19 years our baby would be the next Elder Scott, and a very powerful missionary).

For those of us who guessed girl, we'll just have to wait until next time.

21 Weeks!!!

Here is Jonah's baby bump at 21 weeks...it is definitely getting bigger!

Make sure you vote on our poll to see if you can guess right! Only about 1 week left to vote before we find out if baby is a boy or a girl.

Time to Guess!

Jonah and I had originally decided to have our ultrasound on June 30th, on baby's 6th month mark. People asked us if we would find out the sex of the baby on the 20th week, to which we responded that we wanted to wait until the baby is bigger, and features are easier to see...and they usually said, "That makes sense". So we planned everything that way. The 20 week mark has come and passed, and we are almost at the 21 week mark. The other day, however, we were talking with some of the family over Skype(webcam video call), and Rachelle said that with the larger/older babies it is sometimes difficult to see the sex of the baby, due to their size. It is hard to see the whole baby at once, and often they cross their legs when they get bigger. So, we decided to discuss it. I was of the opinion that we have an ultrasound earlier rather than later, and Jonah insisted that we wait until June 23rd. Well, in our discussion we couldn't decide which to do, so we did what we have begun to do regularly when we can't make a decision...ask baby. Its actually pretty fun, because baby is very responsive and good at answering our questions. The usual answer is, kick for a positive response, no movement for a negative response. Sometimes I'll put my cheek up next to Jonah's belly and we'll say something like, 'kick baby', and baby will kick. So, the other night I said to Jonah, "Let's just ask baby if it wants to show itself to the world." So, I put my cheek up next to her belly, and asked baby if it wanted to go in for an ultrasound this week or next week. Instantly I felt a slight push against my cheek...it was great. I then told Jonah that I felt it, and she said, "Where", as if baby didn't kick. So I pointed to the area, and she said, "No...baby didn't kick". So, I needed the reassurance that baby was really answering, and that it wasn't Jonah's muscles moving. So, I leaned in again and asked baby, "Are you ready to go in for an ultrasound?". I had hardly finished my sentence, when I felt another, stronger kick against my cheek. This time I was sure that was baby answering. Jonah, however, wasn't content with the answer and proceeded to talk to baby saying things like, "You're not really ready are you?", and "Daddy's just imagining things, right?". Then she said to me, "Its not moving...nothing". So, we decided on a meaningful date that we could go in for the ultrasound... June 29th, which also happens to be the next scheduled check-up. So, we put a poll on the top of our blog for all to vote. Just click which you think baby is, boy or girl, and then leave a comment here so we can know everyone's guesses.

Comments

So for the longest time I was baffled as to why nobody ever left comments on our blog posts. I was beginning to think that maybe people weren't reading the blog, or didn't have anything to say about our posts. Then a few people told me they couldn't comment on our posts. So I started to search in the settings. Everything I saw there allowed comments, but people still were unable to comment. So I decided to try searching the internet to see if other people had experienced the same problem. Sure enough I found a few forums and FAQs that explained what the possible problem is. It turns out that the layout we chose when we started had a problem with commenting. So, we reverted back to one of the default blogger templates. Now you should be able to leave comments, so feel free to comment until you have nothing else to say. It will be good to hear what you have to say.

Left 4 Dead

For those who don't know yet, we own an internet cafe here in the Philippines. Recently, we did a bit of upgrading. We installed a new multiplayer game on our units, Left 4 Dead by the company Valve. It was released November of last year, and not too many people have it here. Now, I had read some gamer reviews and it sounded like a fun and challenging game. Then, we saw one of our friends playing it at their house...it looked way fun! So we searched for a copy of the game and installed it here in our cafe. The first day that it was installed we decided to give it a try.

Left 4 Dead is a first person shooter game, set in a post zombie apocalypse world. You form a team of 4 survivors that have a simple goal, to escape to an evacuation point and kill as many zombies along the way as possible. The thing that sets this game apart from others is that, no matter how good you are, if you stray from the group you're dead meat. The sheer number of zombies on each map is staggering. Also, they aren't like the zombies we all know and love, wandering around slowly and struggling to stay standing. No, if the zombies on Left 4 Dead find you, they swarm. They run fast and climb walls so they can get to you as fast as possible. Make sure you have enough ammunition or you'll be overrun.

So, I gave it a try on single player, which means that the computer controls the other 3 characters. The graphics were amazing, and the gameplay flowed very smoothly. I soon grew very attached to the game, and couldn't wait to try it with other human players. So, when Jonah arrived, we started playing. We played for probably around 4 or 5 hours, and loved it. I think that if we can get the knowledge of the game out to our customers, it will be a hit.

Here is Valve's official trailer for Left 4 Dead...
(warning: contains violence and vulgar language)

18 Weeks!!!

This is Jonah at 18 weeks. That baby bump is growing fast!