The Artist

Not only do we get complimentary custom bathroom designs each day, we get to enjoy a running commentary from the artist himself! I think he's saying Ben ("Be") a lot because, hey, who doesn't like to hear his own name?

After leading me to believe for a long time that he was going to be a lefty, Ben is using his right hand much more these days. So who knows...

Silly guy kept begging to play with my watch today but I didn't want it to disappear along with all the other things he's hidden in this house, so I let Ben wear it instead. He was so excited that he walked around staring at it for half an hour.


Great news this week - we have made it to 28 weeks with this pregnancy!! (according to my doctor, not the ticker at the top of the page) This is my first foray into the third trimester so we're thrilled. There is an exponentially enormous difference between a 24-week preemie and a 28-week preemie because the rate of development is huge during this time. The survival odds jump from 50% to 90% and the possibility of needing full mechanical ventilation drops significantly because the lungs are much more mature. The baby would still face numerous complications if he was delivered today but with each passing day he's getting stronger and more prepared to face the outside world. We're just taking it one day at a time and considering each passing week a success! Please continue to pray that this little guy will get to spend as much time as possible in the comfort of the womb because while we're looking forward to meeting him, we don't want to be introduced face-to-face just yet!

On a random note, our TV choices here are somewhat limited compared to the US. We got most of the popular network shows but they're all about a year behind with one big exception - American Idol! They show it via satellite (time-delayed, so it's on Wednesday nights) and it's a huge hit over here. I haven't really watched it in years but now it's the only show I keep up with each week and we're totally hooked. Matt and I are especially excited to see that an Aggie made it into the top 4, even though we hate his dreadlocks. The really nice thing is that we don't have to wait through the entire results show to find out who got kicked off because we can look on the internet on Thursday mornings here (Wednesday night in the states) and check the results. It's nice to feel like we're part of something American and not completely behind on everything going on over there!