Mancunian Moon

A good night's sleep

2010-10-23T09:10:00.000-05:00

We've now had seven nights in a row where the baby has slept right through.

A couple of mornings she has woken up around 5am, but if we get 6 hours sleep then we're counting it as a full night!

If she keeps on like this we can move her into her nursery to see how she does.

What are these wiggly things down there?

2010-10-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

The baby has just discovered her feet.

I was sat holding her sat on my knee when she suddenly noticed her feet.

She became fascinated by them and starting moving them around and wiggling her toes.

It's amazing to share her new discoveries.

Finger's Crossed

2010-08-02T06:09:00.000-05:00

We have a doctor's appointment this morning.

Our doctor's office is on the 22nd floor of the hospital.

Our bags are in the car so we'll be hoping the doctor tells us to go down to labour and delivery on the 3rd floor.

Fingers crossed.

All star

2010-07-31T14:24:00.001-05:00

I made it to the game on Wednesday.

That's the good news but the bad news is we're still waiting for the baby to show her face.

Here I am at the game.

Manchester United beat the MLS All Stars 5-2.

United! United!

2010-07-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's the day of the big game and still no sign of the baby yet.

There's still a few hours to go though so stay tuned...

Gaga

2010-07-26T22:27:00.000-05:00

So...here we are, 9 days until the baby is due, my wife is on the way to the magic dilation number and what exactly have we been up to tonight?

I've had a quiet night. I watched a bit of TV and played with my iphone.

My wife on the other hand is living it up at a Lady Gaga concert.

Don't worry though, she's not roughing it with the plebs, she's tucked away in one of the suites nice and comfy.

That is definitely the way to go!

Progress

2010-07-26T22:03:00.003-05:00

We were at the doctors again this morning.

It was a quick appointment, we were straight in and out.

The doctor did his thing and told us that my wife is 2 centimetres dilated which is good progress from last week.

The magic number is 4 centimetres. That is when they will book my wife into the hospital.

We made another appointment for next Monday, but it could be before then.

Fingers crossed.

Shrek feet

2010-07-22T13:45:00.004-05:00

My wife just phoned me complaining of sore and swollen feet that look like Shrek's feet.

Obviously being the caring, sensitive husband that I am, I reassured her that she did not have Shrek feet.

They're more like Princess Fiona!

Latest Doctor visit

2010-07-19T18:08:00.000-05:00

We had a doctor's appointment today.

We were due for another ultrasound and after our last one a couple of weeks ago when the baby was already 6 lbs 6 oz we were expecting (or hoping) for her to have grown so much that the doctor would tell us it was time to get her out.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The baby is now 7 lb 1 oz, which is perfectly normal and the doctor told us to make an appointment for next Monday as usual.

The ultrasound was more rushed than normal as the office was quite busy. The baby was not playing along so the technician took the measurements and that was about it. We couldn't really see anything so we didn't even get a picture this time.

At least we know everything is ok though.

Maybe next week..

Moving out

2010-07-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

My wife and I were just talking about how we're tired of waiting for the baby to arrive and ready for her to move out of the womb and join us.

Then I realised that in about 18-20 years we'll be having a similar conversation wondering when she'll decide she's ready to move out and get a place of her own!

Haircut..

2010-07-15T18:24:00.000-05:00

Today I had my first haircut in months.

I was starting to resemble Daniel Day Lewis in Last of the Mohicans so it was well overdue.

The incentive was realising that the baby could arrive any day now, and when she does, photos will be taken that will be looked at for the rest of our lives so I need to look my best.

Job done!

Full term!

2010-07-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

My wife is 37 weeks pregnant today which means the baby is full term.

Still no sign of her yet though..

Hiccups

2010-07-13T21:35:00.000-05:00

The baby had hiccups tonight.

She's had them before but it's the first time I got to feel them.

It was a funny feeling and I couldn't help but laugh.

No news..

2010-07-12T12:16:00.002-05:00

We just got back from our doctors appointment and there's not much to report.

Dr Hold did his checks but the baby is not ready yet.

He did say that the baby is quite big as we knew she was 6 pounds 6 ounces when we had the ultrasound on the 2nd July.

We're scheduled for another ultrasound next week so maybe we'll know more then.

Now then youg lady...

2010-07-11T19:40:00.002-05:00

We're now 24 days from the due date, which is August 4th incase you've forgotten.

My wife is about ready to go now so we're just waiting for the baby to agree.

The worrying thing is Manchester United are coming to Houston on July 28th and every one keeps telling me that that is the day the baby will arrive.

They say it so often that I'm now resigned to it actually happening.

It would be a shame if it did happen. I'd hate to miss the birth of my first child.

Just kidding!

I did tell my wife that there would be other kids, but Manchester United might not come back to Houston but I just got one of those looks that told me to stop talking.

Count Down

2010-07-07T19:44:00.002-05:00

4 weeks to go!

Just like your Father

2010-07-02T07:31:00.000-05:00

We had the latest scan yesterday.

We're about 5 weeks until the due date now and we'll have weekly doctors appointments from now on.

Our appointment was early morning so the office was pretty quiet. The ultrasound technician was able to spend more time with us which is a good thing because thew baby was not being co-operative at all.

The technician (nurse?) did all of the measurements and then started prodding and poking trying to wake the baby up so we could see her properly.

We gog to see the baby's heart beating on the screen and the blood flowing around her body.

She eventually woke up and gave us a couple of minutes to watch her blinking and pursing her lips, then she yawned and rolled bazck over and that was that. It was at this point my wife stated that the baby takes after her father.

I'm not sure what she meant by that obviously but what we do know is that neither of us can wait to finally meet her!

35/35

2010-06-30T19:36:00.000-05:00

Today we have reached the 35/35 stage.

If you're not sure what that means, it's the point in the pregnancy where you've been pregnant for 35 weeks, and you have 35 days to go.

Almost there!

Unpacking etc

2010-05-16T19:06:00.002-05:00

After a weekend of unpacking and finding little odd jobs to do and errands to run we've got the kitchen finished, and the computers set up in the study.

It's bloody hard work this moving lark!

Still, at least there's no real rush.

All in good time..

Up all night

2010-05-14T19:00:00.002-05:00

Our first night in the new house was a short one, or a long one depending on your point of view.

All of our things were delivered this morning so we decided we would move right in.

Directv were coming between 4-8pm to install the TV and we'd be set.

The guy arrived a little before 7.30pm and got to work.

He was in and out of the house, in the garage, in the loft, in the bedroom, outside, every where.

At 10pm we were getting tired and wanted to go to bed so we went to ask him how much longer he'd be.

He said he was having trouble because the house was not wired for a DVR so he needed to put all new wires in but he said it would be about another hour.

We'd waited long enough so we let him carry on instead of asking him to come back in the morning.

Any way....At 1.50am he was finally done!

I was up again at 6am for work so we didn't get much sleep but at least it's all done now.

A weekend of unpacking awaits!

Closure (Part 2)

2010-05-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

We closed on our new house today..finally!

It seems like it took forever but it all actually went through pretty quickly considering we sold a house and bought a new one in just over 2 months.

All of our stuff is getting delivered tomorrow so we'll be able to spend the night there tomorrow night all being well.

A weekend of unpacking awaits!

Almost there..

2010-05-06T18:05:00.003-05:00

Our closing on the new house has been pushed back until next Wednesday.

There was a small snag with the seller trying to force us into giving them a lot more money at the last minute but we're all sorted now.

I'll be glad when this whole process is over!

Hospital Tour

2010-05-04T09:00:00.000-05:00

We went on a tour of the hospital last night so now we know where we need to go when the time comes and what is likely to happen.

The doctor assured us that we're unlikely to give birth in the car on the way to the hospital, and that I'm unlikely to faint in the delivery room.

Now I'm worried about having to deliver a baby in the car at the side of the road, then fainting when it finally happens!

All in all, it was good to see where we need to go but by the time the baby gets here I will have forgotten it all and will be relying on my wife to tell me what to do in between contractions.

Baby Registry

2010-05-01T15:48:00.000-05:00

We went to Babies R Us today to do a baby registry for my wife's baby shower.

The best part of doing a registry is getting to play with the hand held scanner.

We were probably in there for a couple of hours scanning all of the things we'll need once the baby arrives.

I must admit it was good fun, even more than when we did the Wedding registry, probably because we got to think about using everything with the baby.

We even bought a few things but we managed to avoid getting too carried away.

Luckily the shop gave us a list of things you should have on your registry. It came in handy because I have no idea what we will need once she arrives, other than clothes, nappies and toys.

Closure

2010-04-29T22:10:00.002-05:00

We signed our life, and our house away today.

We finally closed on the house we were selling so it is all done and dusted now.

The appraisal is being done on the one we're hoping to buy tomorrow and then we're looking at closing at the end of next week all being well.

In the meantime we're staying with my parents so I've just had a few beers in the hot tub.

Mustn't grumble!

Sign of the times

2010-04-24T10:26:00.002-05:00

I have just taken down the For sale sign from outside the house.

I must admit it was a very liberating feeling!

Moving on..

2010-04-23T19:45:00.000-05:00

At 4pm this afternoon we heard back that the appraisal on the house we're selling was ok so everything is falling into place.

It's a good job because we're moving out this weekend!

We should be closing on the 30th of April which is only a week away so we're going to be busy this weekend.

We aren't closing on the house we're buying for a couple of weeks yet so we're staying with my parents in the meantime.

The downside of that means we'll have to move twice but I'm sure it will all be worth it once we're in our new house!

Kick and a punch

2010-04-21T07:40:00.000-05:00

Last night I felt the baby move again.

It's still very faint but we could even see it as well.

She's a stubborn little thing so when you're waiting to feel her she won't kick but sometimes I get lucky. My wife feels her all the time but the odd time I get to feel it is special.

A faint touch

2010-04-18T08:22:00.000-05:00

I think I felt the baby kick for the first time last night.

I think I did.

It was a very faint kick but it's the first time I've been able to feel anything.

My wife can feel her kick all the time so I'm glad I'm finally getting in on the act!

House news

2010-04-11T16:07:00.002-05:00

Our counter counter-offer was accepted a few days ago so things are moving on the house front.

We did the inspection this morning and there are a few things we want the seller to do before we finalise things so hopefully things will run smoothly.

Selling our house is also moving along and with a bit of luck everything will be done and dusted with both in about 4 weeks time.

Offer (Part 2)

2010-04-04T16:00:00.001-05:00

We put an offer in on a house last night.

The seller came back with a counter offer this morning so we sent them a counter counter-offer.

We're waiting to see if they bite so fingers crossed!

Snake alert!

2010-04-03T12:38:00.003-05:00

I'm just sat waiting for the buyers to show up with their inspector to look through the house.

On my final walk through to make sure every where was tidy I spotted something in the hallway.

I moved a bit closer to see what it was. It was partially obscured but I could see a bit of a tail, and what looked like a head. I thought it was a lizard but it wasn't anything that friendly.

There was a snake in my house!

It was only about 6 inches long but I know it's going to get bigger with every re-telling of this story!

I shouted my wife to come and get rid of it but she was hiding in the bath making it very clear to me that she handles spiders, but any snakes are my responsibility!

I bravely reached for a dust pan and broom and swept it out of its hiding place.

I didn't want it to slide under the washing machine so I had to be quick and I managed to get it into the dust pan where it stopped slithering about long enough for me to get into the back garden.

I think I deserve a pat on the back for rescuing a damsel in distress, and a very large drink!

Baby likes chicken

2010-04-02T08:37:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we went to La Madeleine for dinner as my wife was craving one of their chicken salad sandwiches.

Usually, my wife can only feel the baby moving when she's lying in bed at night.

We were stood debating what we were going to have before ordering when all of a sudden my wife made a noise like someone had just tickled her.

The baby had given her a big kick, which was the first time while she's been stood up and out and about.

The baby was probably hungry and tired of waiting for us to order!

Accepted!

2010-03-30T22:03:00.003-05:00

Today we bit the bullet and accepted an offer on the house.

It was lower than we originally planned on selling for but as time has gone on and we've found a house we like we decided to just sell up while we can and see what happens.

They still have to have an inspection and valuation done so fingers crossed!

House news

2010-03-27T07:56:00.002-05:00

We're still in negotiations on the house.

We gave them our final offer last night so now we're just waiting to see if they accept.

We had a drive around a neighbourhood we liked that is not too far away and we really liked it.

There are couple of houses we liked too so we're trying to make appointments to see them this weekend.

There was one we especially liked from the outside and from the photos we've seen it looks nice inside so hopefully we can get to see it today to see for ourselves.

We're ready to move quick as the new home buyer tax credit runs out at the end of April.

An offer

2010-03-24T19:17:00.002-05:00

We received an offer on the house on Monday.

Unfortunately, it was less than we want so after a day of soul searching, and a long conversation with a mortgage broker we went back with a counter offer.

Now we're waiting to see if they meet it.

We had another viewing today and six on Sunday so there is interest. We're thinking of doing an open house too hopefully we'll get an offer we can accept.

Baby's first concert

2010-03-20T08:16:00.001-05:00

We went to see Muse on Thursday night.

For three little Welsh guys they make a hell of a racket.

It was the baby's first concert so obviously we had to do it in style. It was at the Toyota Center in Houston and we were lucky enough to have a suite.

My wife said she could feel the baby moving during the show so she must have liked it, dancing around in there.

And the result is...

2010-03-16T20:05:00.002-05:00

We had a doctor's appointment yesterday and they did a full ultrasound and measured all of the body parts.

This was also the day we could find out the sex.

We've said all along that we were going to wait so it was a surprise. However, the thought of being able to know and buy clothes and decorate the nursery was too much and we found out.

It's a girl!

Blimey. Now what?

My family is all boys so it will be a culture shock for us, although I don't know anything about babies so it was going to be a rude awakening whatever it was.

We're both really pleased though and it definitely seems more real now. I think seeing the baby clearer on ultrasound and knowing it's a girl has made it sink in properly now.

We even had a walk round Babies 'r us last night but managed to not get too carried away with buying stuff.

Now we know, I think it's going to be more exciting planning for her arrival.

We're just over half way through now and the baby is definitely more photogenic than last time.

Butterflies

2010-03-14T08:31:00.003-05:00

Yesterday morning my wife started to feel the baby move for the first time.

At least she thinks she did. She wasn't sure at first.

The way she described the feeling, it sounded a bit like butterflies, or little bubbles moving around. It could've just been gas I suppose but she felt the same thing again last night when she got into bed.

She's started to out grow her old clothes now so we made another visit to the maternity shop and bought her a new wardrobe.

These clothes fit much better and she looks pregnant now instead of her old clothes fitting incorrectly.

We have a doctors appointment tomorrow where we could found out the sex. Up to now we're not planning to but who knows when we get there!

All Clear

2010-03-09T16:44:00.002-06:00

The doctor's office finally called back with the results of the triple screen that was actually for five tests (Down syndrome etc) and we got the all clear.

Good news.

How does your garden grow?

2010-03-07T17:26:00.002-06:00

We've had some interest in the house but no offers so far so today I decided I would do some work on the front garden while my wife was working at the rodeo.

The recent freeze killed pretty much everything we'd planted in the front so it was time to start again and add some colour to give the house a bit more curb appeal.

We actually picked up some plants yesterday but when we got home from the garden centre and I was unloading the car, I noticed that the soil my wife ordered and had supervised the loading into the car while I was juggling all the plants we'd just bought, was actually mulch. All five bags of it.

So this morning at 8am I was back at the garden centre to pick up some top soil. I actually needed the mulch anyway so it wasn't a total waste.

So I spent all morning and some of the afternoon digging out the things we'd planted this time last year, added more soil, planted everything and added the mulch.

It wasn't too hot today so it was good gardening weather but I think next time I'll bring in my good friend Manuel to help. You know, Manuel Labour, the Mexican handyman who can handle any job you can't be bothered doing yourself.

Plenty of people have been driving by and taking a leaflet with the info for the house so there is interest. I actually caught a little Mexican girl looking in the window today. Her parents were sat in the car and probably asked her to get a leaflet and as I had all the windows open to give the house an airing she probably thought she'd look in.

Some people eh?

Sign o' the times

2010-03-03T19:43:00.002-06:00

I came home today to find a For Sale sign up in front of the house.

Even though we've been planning on putting it on the market for a while, and I knew it was going up it was still a bit of a surprise.

We printed off some flyers so people can get the info on the house and hopefully come and have a look round and make us an offer we can't refuse!

After the big freeze killed most our plants I think I'm going to plant a few more at the front this weekend to give the house a little bit of extra curb appeal.

Interest?

2010-03-02T21:19:00.001-06:00

We put the house up for sale yesterday and already had a couple come round and have a look today.

Hopefully there will be more interest and someone will put in an offer.

Fingers crossed.

House for sale

2010-03-01T21:20:00.001-06:00

We finally put our house up for sale today.

Hopefully we will find a buyer soon so we can find a new house and move in before the baby is born.

If we don't sell the house by a certain point then we'll take it off the market and stay for a while.

It's no big deal staying here if we have to but we'd prefer to have a bit more room when the baby does arrive.

The results aren't in...yet

2010-02-24T19:43:00.003-06:00

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday and everything went ok.

The baby was a bit more co-operative this time and let us hear it's heartbeat.

We went to get the results of the blood tests they did last week but the results aren't in yet. The lab are backed up so we should hear something in the next few days.

They said they'd phone us when the results are in so we don't have to go back in.

It was a good chance to talk to the doctor again though and ask questions. Dr Hold seems really nice and will put us at ease when the baby is ready to make an entrance. The thing I like about him is he makes eye contact with me and knows that I need to know stuff and have questions of my own.

Once he confirms the baby is ok at the beginning of the appointment, my wife probably switches off and starts thinking about how we're (I'm) going to decorate the nursery etc. Dr Hold realises this and tells me everything so I can fill her in later when she tries to tell friends and family what the doctor said.

Our next appointment is in three weeks when they will be able to determine the sex, although we don't plan on finding out.

By that point we'll also be half way though. Time flies eh?

Maternity shop

2010-02-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

The other day, my wife decided we needed to visit the Maternity store. Both of us.

"It's something we can enjoy together" she says.

I'll be perfectly honest love, if you drag me somewhere like that, I can tell you now I will not enjoy it.

So, no, it's not something we can enjoy together. It's something you enjoy while I stand around awkwardly, feeling really uncomfortable among all the jumbo bras and breast pumps.

So thanks for that.

Luckily we were the only people in there at the time but it's not something I feel I have to experience again.

Like Father like Son/Daughter

2010-02-20T11:19:00.004-06:00

I've just noticed that the baby looks a lot like me.

Scroll down a bit and look to the left.

Lucky thing.

Born a red..

2010-02-20T11:00:00.005-06:00

After reviewing our latest ultrasound picture, I have decided that the baby actually looks more like a devil than an alien. A red devil (if it wasn't a black and white picture). Manchester United through and through.

See for yourself:

The baby is towards the left about half way up.

You can see it's eye sockets, chin, arms and rib cage.

This might be a better view:

United!

Coming up...possibly

2010-02-17T20:40:00.001-06:00

I am trying to get my wife to scan the latest scan of the baby but because it looks like an alien she's bit reluctant to show it to people but I will keep trying.

A few more grey hairs..but a happy ending

2010-02-15T17:28:00.004-06:00

Today, I found out what it is like to be a parent worried about the well being of their child.

We had a doctor's appointment today and although everything turned out ok in the end, it was very worrying at one point.

Today was supposed to be an easy appointment to meet for the first time the doctor who would be delivering the baby, Dr Michael Hold.

Once my wife's name was called we were taken through to the back where they did the usual checks before taking us into one of the rooms. The idea is for a nurse (or whatever they're called) to do all of the routine stuff and then check the baby's heartbeat before the doctor sees you.

Only today, the nurse couldn't find the baby's heart beat. She tried for a long time, possibly about 10 minutes, although it seemed a lot longer at the time before attempting to reassure us that sometimes the person doing the scan can't locate the baby but another nurse usually can.

She did say she heard the heartbeat but only for a short time and she wanted to hear it for longer to make sure everything was ok.

So she leaves the room and another nurse comes in, introduces herself and gets straight down to the business of locating the baby's heartbeat. This nurse was a little more forceful and pressed the doplar thingy a bit harder into my wife's stomach. She moved it around and heard lots of various sounds but nothing like a heartbeat.

She eventually did find something with a heart rate of 133 and said though it was low for a baby, it was probably too high for a normal person so that was probably it.

We were starting to get a little bit worried by this point and that wasn't helped when the nurse took my wife's pulse and her face changed dramatically. She mumbled something to herself and ran out of the room.

We were both left wondering what was going on and were now very worried something was wrong.

Luckily, a few minutes later Dr Hold came to the room with an ultrasound machine. It was much briefer introduction than we probably expected but by now we just wanted to know the baby was ok.

Dr Hold did the ultrasound and after a few minutes located the baby who was moving around a lot. He showed us the blood flowing through the baby's body and legs and arms moving around but he still struggled to detect a heartbeat.

When he eventually did we were very relieved. Even when we could see the baby moving, it wasn't until we could actually hear a strong heartbeat we were sure the baby was ok. He took various measurements of the baby, the circumference of the head, length of the arms, legs etc.

When he put all the figures into the computer it said the size was that of a baby 16 weeks and 4 days old. My wife is actually 15 weeks 5 days so the doctor said this is a sign that the baby is healthy and growing. He then tried to find a good picture for us to take home but I think he got our baby's picture mixed up with something from Area 51. If it is our baby then it seems to have got it's looks from my wife's side of the family!

After that, we just asked the doctor a few questions we had and he asked us if we wanted the triple screen blood tests to check for Down's Syndrome etc. We agreed and we went over to the lab for them to take some blood.

My wife had previously suggested we get a dokpar thing for home so we could hear the baby's heartbeat whenever we wanted. After today, I think she now agrees it wouldn't be a good idea. Everytime we couldn't find it there would be a mass panic.

I suppose this is how it will be for the rest of our lives now, worrying about our children's well being so we better get used to it.

The results of the triple screen, which actually became a quin screen aill be in this week so our next appointment is next Monday to discuss the results.

Hopefully next time the baby will be a bit more co-operative!

There'll be no letting down your hair young lady

2010-02-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's bombshell that contained the words 'womb' and 'eggs' I've been thinking about what I would do if the baby is a girl.

My family is all boys so it would be a bit of a culture shock for all of us and knowing how blokes are I have decided she will be named Rapunzel, locked in a tower until she's 30 when she will become a Nun.

Sorted.

Now then young lady..

2010-02-08T19:56:00.002-06:00

Did you know that if the baby is a girl, she already has over 2 million eggs in her womb?

I know they grow up quick but I think it's a bit early to be thinking about that kind of thing!

Baby Center

2010-02-06T07:00:00.000-06:00

My brother very kindly sent me a book called "The bloke's guide to pregnancy" by Jon Smith.

The book tells blokes what is happening and what is going to happen in the language they understand. It doesn't go into too much detail because we don't really need to know everything.

For example in the early stages of pregnancy, the book tells you that your wife (or partner) is going to very emotional and completely irrational but it is important to show sympathy and do whatever it is she needs you to do. It explains that it's not really her fault but is a result of her hormones going wild like it's the Hacienda in the late 80's.

Anyway, the book mentioned a useful website called Babycenter. It recommended that blokes sign up to the weekly updates that gives a brief explanation of how the baby is developing, any changes from the previous week and lets you know how big it is. My wife is now 14 weeks pregnant and in the last week the baby has gone from the size of a medium shrimp, to the size of a lemon. He or she can now squint, suck their thumb and pee, which is nice.

So if you're a pregnant man (it happens apparently) or your wife or girlfriend is pregnant, I would recommend checking out the resources aimed at helping blokes understand the things they need to know without scaring them with explicit details.

MOT results are in (or not)

2010-02-04T18:29:00.002-06:00

You may remember that my wife had a doctor's appointment on January 14th which was just to check that everything was ok with her and there was nothing out of the ordinary.

As usual, the hospital told us that if we didn't hear from them everything is ok. You can read my thoughts on this policy here.

So it's now been 3 weeks so I think everything was ok. They did send my wife a postcard telling her that one of the tests came back ok and I know she really appreciated that information being shared with everyone who handled the mail that day as using an envelope would be too much trouble!

I was ill on the day of the appointment, well, actually I was ill all that week with a fever of 102 but my wife decided I should sit in a waiting room full of pregnant women.

When we went through for the actual inspection they left us sat in a tiny room for 45 minutes until the nurse decided to show her face. You can imagine how much fun that was with my fever and my wife shivering in the lovely paper vest they gave her to wear.

Anyway, we did get to hear the baby's heartbeat again and it was still strong so everything looks good.

The next appointment is the 15th February. This is when we can find out the sex of the baby if we want so I need to make sure I'm there to tell the nurse we don't want to find out. If my wife goes to this one on her own I'll probably come home to a spare room full of pink or blue baby stuff.

Crazy Cravings

2010-01-11T20:17:00.004-06:00

My wife is about 11 weeks pregnant now and has started having cravings.

So far she's wanted fish and chips, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and spaghetti and meatballs.

Hold on a minute. Those are just things she likes anyway!

I'm suddenly feeling like my good nature is being taken advantage of!

Maybe if she'd asked for mint chocolate chip ice cream with sardines mixed in it might have been a bit more believable.

Nice try!

Fingers crossed

2010-01-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

The last few days, my wife's morning sickness seems to have eased up. She's nearing the end of the first trimester so hopefully it is over.

The only thing that seems to make her ill is milk, or yogurt so it should be easy to avoid those things.

Luckily, a cup of tea doesn't have the same effect. Phew!

The sickness

2010-01-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

For the last few weeks my wife has been suffering with morning sickness. Morning sickness is also accompanied by afternoon sickness, night sickness and all day sickness.

Pretty much from 3.30am on the 24th November my wife has been suffering with the effects of pregnancy. In fact, the first thing she said after she told me was pregnant was that she needed a back rub.

My offer of some hot towels instead was declined but I've tried to be as understanding as possible.

Sympathy doesn't seem to help. Sometimes I get accused of mocking her or of not taking it seriously when I show sympathy, but I've also learned that a lack of sympathy helps even less.

My usual wake up call these days is hearing my wife's heaves and groans echoing around the bathroom.

For Christmas, I bought my wife what I thought would be a useful gift. First off, she opened one of the joke gifts I got her, a big jumbo pack of her favourite toilet paper. I'm no Charles Darwin but I think only women can have a favourite toilet paper.

When she opened it she laughed and said "I can't believe you bought me toilet paper."

Then she turned to the next gift, weighed up it's shape and declared "that better not be a bucket!". She then put her fist through the wrapping paper and let out a little laugh before remembering she was supposed to be pretending to be mad about it.

Well, within a few days of having the bucket next to the bed, she was declaring it "the best Christmas present ever!".

Do I know my wife or what?!?

I know it is probably much worse for her but this sickness is getting a bit old now. We're nearing the end of the first trimester so hopefully it will stop in the next few weeks.

I've cooked so many meals lately that have gone uneaten that I'm beginning to take it personally. Sometimes she'll even tell me what she wants, but as soon as I put the plate down in front of her it turns her stomach.

She's actually lost a little bit of weight since getting pregnant from not eating so the other day I did a bit of research of the foods pregnant women need, wrote myself a shopping list and took myself off to Kroger to stock up.

I'm going to take control of the cooking and shopping for the next few weeks until her appetite returns. At least telling her to eat her greens will be good practice for when the baby is a bit older!

A Birthday Ultrasound

2010-01-04T07:00:00.001-06:00

We went to Memorial City Hospital on December 11th which also happens to be my wife's birthday.

My wife gets very excited about her birthday and this year was no different. I woke up as she was getting out of bed and asked where she was going. She replied she was going for a shower and to get ready so I looked at the clock. It was 12.30am. We'd been in bed about 2 hours!

She got back into bed and tried to get back to sleep. She seemed to wake up every hour until 5.30am when she decided that was late enough and she was going for a shower.

I think she was excited about her birthday, but also nervous about the doctors appointment. This would be the first time we'd actually see our baby and she was worried something would be wrong.

While she was getting ready I got her birthday gifts from the other room and laid them on the bed for her to open when she came back into the bedroom.

She loved all her gifts, and we had breakfast before heading out to the hospital.

The appointment was 9am but we got there just before 8am as my wife had to go to the clinic first to take a glucose test before waiting an hour before they took her blood. The test is to see how the body reacts to the drink and to detect diabetes.

My wife asked for the orange flavour drink after a tip from a friend but it wasn't long before I could tell even that wasn't too tasty.

She did manage to drink it all down and we went to sit in the waiting room for the doctor.

After about 4 minutes, my wife very nearly revisited the drink she'd just had so I stocked up on tissues and made sure there was a bin handy incase she couldn't hold it next time.

I tried to be encouraging as she would only have to take the test again if she threw it all back up.

After about 20 minutes her stomach seemed to be settling and it got a bit easier.

About 8.50am we were called by the nurse to have the ultrasound. The person doing the ultrasound was much younger than I was expecting but I suppose that's just a sign I'm getting older!

My wife got undressed and got in position. Very quickly, and without much warning if I'm completely honest, the ultrasound thingy was in place and all of a sudden my wife's insides were displayed on a large plasma TV on the wall. The nurse/ultrasound child/scanner person pointed out the baby and turned up the volume so we could hear the heartbeat.

It was a very strong healthy heartbeat and it was pretty amazing to hear at such an early stage (6 weeks and 2 days). The baby is only 4.6cm and looks a bit like a cashew nut.

We were given a picture of the baby and went back to the waiting room to wait for the nurse practioner we'd seen last week, Mary-Helen.

While we were waiting, an hour had passed since my wife took the glucose drink so she went back to the clinic to have some blood taken.

The Nurse practioner told us everything was ok with the baby and the tests my wife had done at our last visit were ok.

She gave some more advice on eating and exercise and told us about what would happen throughout the pregnancy and the type of appointments we'd have.

The next appointment is January 14th which will be more like an MOT for my wife to make sure everything is working as it should.

They told us they would only contact us about the glucose test if something showed up. The results would be back in about a week. It's been over three weeks now and we haven't heard anything so hopefully that means everything was ok.

Confirmation

2010-01-03T07:00:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday December 1st we had our first doctor's appointment.

At this point, I still wasn't 100% convinced my wife was pregnant. I knew there was a good chance, and she thought she was, but somewhere at the back of my mind was a nagging doubt. I suppose it was a defence mechanism to prevent too much disappointment if something went wrong.

My wife had done research on doctors in the area and decided on the Women's Health Care Center of Houston.

Once there, they took my wife off for some preliminary checks, weight, blood etc and then I joined her ready for a chat with the doctor.

The first thing I noticed when we entered the room was the stirrups. This was a new experience for me and I must admit they made me keep my legs tightly closed when I sat down. Stirrups are not something men usually see at the doctor's office so it was a bit unexpected.

The doctor, or nurse, whatever she was confirmed my wife was pregnant, asked a few questions, answered a few questions and gave us some general information on nutrition, exercise etc all without giving me a second glance.

My wife had already told me that this was no longer about me so I suppose I should've been prepared for that!

Overall, it was a good experience and everything went smoothly.

We made our next appointment for the end of the following week at their office at Memorial City Hospital for an ultrasound and also a glucose test to check for diabetes etc.

Memorial City Hospital is where our doctor delivers and isn't too far from where we live.

Judgement Day

2010-01-02T07:00:00.000-06:00

As you know, my wife and I went on a trip for our first Wedding Anniversary in November.

We got back late on Monday the 23rd, but not too late to stop by my parents house to pick up the dogs, Boomer & Busby.

On the way home, my wife asked if we could stop at Walgreens to pick up a home pregnancy test so we did.

When we got home, we went straight to bed and I didn't think any more of it.

Due the time difference, we were awake early the next morning. I heard my wife get up and go into the bathroom.

A few minutes later she shouted to me "should I tell you now or should I tell you later?".

That was my first cue something wasn't quite normal so I looked at the clock and put on my glasses. I always seem to hear better when I'm wearing my glasses for some reason. It was 3.30am.

"I'm pregnant". Those were the next words out of her mouth.

I don't know if it was the jet lag, or shock but I didn't really react. Sometimes my wife messes up these kinds of things so I wasn't letting myself get too carried away at this point. It was only after a week of taking ovulation prediction tests that she finally read the instructions to find out she'd been doing it all wrong so I think I was justified in my hesitation.

We talked for a little while, then I went to work nice and early.

She took another home pregnancy test the next day and when it too was positive, we made an appointment to see the doctor.

Big news

2010-01-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

A few days ago I mentioned that this blog would be changing slightly.

The reason is that I am going to be a Dad! So this blog will be about my adventures in fatherhood (to be).

My wife is now just over 9 weeks pregnant so it's still early days.

Over the next few days I'll be blogging about how we found out and what we've been up to so far so stay tuned to see how my life changes!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope 2010 is a good one for you!

Happy Birthday!

2009-12-31T03:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Our kid!

It's my brother's birthday today.

It can't be bad having a birthday on New Year's Eve, although it might be a bit close to Christmas so everything comes at once and then it's a bit quiet for the rest of the year.

One of the advantages growing up was that he never had to go to school on his birthday. My birthday is in September so I usually had to go in.

Plus, everyone is up for a party on New Year's Eve so there's always something to do. You even get the next day to recover.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Paul!

AT&T Update

2009-12-29T07:00:00.000-06:00

By the way, still no word from AT&T.

Change is coming!

2009-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

There will be some changes to this blog in the New Year.

Don't worry, it will still be here, but it will be mostly focusing on one subject.

What that subject is going to be will be announced on New Year's Day.

Stay tuned.

Bury that bone

2009-12-26T20:30:00.000-06:00

This year we had Christmas dinner at some friends house.

Their dog was a bit disturbed by all of the action so they gave her a bone to keep her quiet.

Next thing, she crawled under the Christmas tree, started digging, placed the bone down and then covered it up with the tree skirt.

She then backed out, and walked away thinking no one had seen her, even though the whole room had seen the whole thing!

Daft dog!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

Go easy on the mince pies!

Have fun!

Adrian Chiles

2009-12-23T07:00:00.000-06:00

BBC TV presenter Adrian Chiles has announced that he is giving up on beautiful women because they are "too complicated".

Are you sure that's the only reason Adrian?

AT&T again

2009-12-22T22:21:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd give you an update on AT&T and our attempt to get U-Verse installed.

No one has called me back yet.

I thought someone was calling to arrange installation on Saturday but it turned out that they were just calling to see if I was interested in signing up for AT&T U-Verse.

I politely told the woman, well, not so politely, that I'd already tried signing up for it but the three people who'd been out to do it so far had not been able to.

I asked her to check on it and get someone to call me back.

No word yet.

One Headlight

2009-12-18T07:00:00.000-06:00

Driving home the other night, we noticed that one of the headlights at the front of the car had gone out.

We were on our way to Walmart at the time so we went to get a new bulb.

When we got there, we were met by Support Manager Alan who kindly helped us pick out the right bulb for our car and then offered to fit it for us.

I'm glad he did!

It took him, and another guy around 40 minutes to figure out how to remove the old bulb and get the new one fixed in.

It was around 8pm on a Sunday night and you just know that Alan was secretly cursing to himself how the last car he works on is such a problem!

I know I would've been frustrated trying to work it out so I'm grateful to Alan, who stayed good natured despite the cold.

Cheers mate!

Trifle Tasty

2009-12-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

I made a trifle the other day and if I do say so my self, it was very nice! I haven't had trifle for years and it was as good as I remember.

We always used to have it around Christmas. It was one of those easy to make emergency desserts for when we had family round.

I didn't make it from scratch but I reckon I could next time.

There's still a bit left in the fridge so I'll be tucking in to some more later.

Ryan Giggs

2009-12-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Ryan Giggs was crowned Sports Personality of the Year away on Sunday.

You can't argue with Giggsy, he's been there and done it all. He's the most decorated footballer in British history with 11 premier league titles, 2 champions league, 2 world club cups, many FA Cups & League Cups so far.

He'll be 36 soon as has just been offered a one year contract taking him to the end of the 2010-11 season.

I remember Giggsy's debut back in 1991 and the guy is a United legend. Not only that, but I think you'll be hard pushed to find supporters of other clubs who dislike the guy and that can't be said for many players.

He was crowned the PFA footballer of the year last season too and it was probably a surprise to see him voted Sports Personality of the Year ahead of Jensen Button who came second, despite winning the Formula 1 championship this year.

Ryan Giggs made his 800th appearance for Manchester United last season and also broke the club's record for number of games played which is especially impressive these days when so few players stay at one club for their entire career.

The only downside to the Ryan Giggs story, for me at least, is that he wasn't English.

Another AT&T Update

2009-12-14T19:36:00.003-06:00

The AT&T guy phoned about 3.30pm to say that the problem, whatever it was, had been fixed but he was on another job so I needed to phone up and schedule another appointment.

So I phoned AT&T and explained the situation, only to be transferred to another department where I was invited to explain the situation again.

The lady very politely asked me if I would be home tomorrow morning so I told her I was off work today so can they come and install my TV today, like they said they would.

She put me on hold while she tried to get through to dispatch. About 10 minutes later she said they were fully booked today but she would schedule an appointment for first thing tomorrow morning.

And that was that.

Until about 5pm when there was a knock on the door and a young lady said she was with AT&T and was here to install U-Verse.

I repeated the tour of the house I'd given the guy this morning to show him where the TVs were and where the computer was and she went outside to check something.

And then she returned to say that the problem hadn't been fixed so she would have to put in a call to get someone to come out and see what the problem is, and fix it, and then they would be able to install it.

So after a day of waiting, we don't really know where we are up to as they could show up first thing in the morning not knowing there is apparently still a problem, or someone might show up at an undisclosed time to fix the problem, or nothing may happen.

Who knows? At least we still have Direct TV.

AT&T Update

2009-12-14T10:50:00.002-06:00

The AT&T guy has just left.

Apparently, the AT&T box that brings the signal into our neighbourhood is not working properly.

He has put in a repair call so we may get U-Verse later today, or if it can't be fixed today we'll have to make another appointment to have it installed (so long as they can fix the box).

I'm glad I hadn't cancelled Direct TV yet.

I was about to call them the other day but I mentioned to my parents that we were getting U-Verse installed and they said they had looked into it but it wasn't available in their zip code.

The thing is, we live in the same zip code as my parents so just on the off chance something would go wrong, I didn't call Direct TV.

It's a good job I didn't, or we'd have no TV!

You see, what had happened was...

2009-12-14T08:55:00.002-06:00

The other day I called AT&T.

The problem was that I had my mobile phone, my wife's mobile phone, plus our home phone on three separate accounts. It's been like that for a while so it was probably time I sorted it and saved myself some money.

I was on the phone for 54 minutes and by the end of that, all of our accounts had been merged into one, and I'd signed up for AT&T U-verse.

All combined, it will save us around $70 a month so you can't complain.

AT&T U-Verse also means you can record four shows at once on the same DVR, plus you can watch the shows you've recorded on any TV that has the regular receiver.

You can even pause a TV show in one room, and carry on watching in another.

I checked they had all the channels we need, Setanta & Fox Soccer Channel for me, daft reality channels that show babies and dwarfs for my wife (sometimes even dwarf babies).

Any way, it's my day off today and the guy from AT&T just called so he'll be here in about 20 minutes.

Happy Birthday!

2009-12-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful, amazing, beautiful wife!

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

2009-11-29T17:00:00.004-06:00

This year, my wife has decided we need to take ourselves off into the country armed with a saw and chop down our own Christmas tree.

She's full of great ideas like this that mean more work for me but I think I've found somewhere not too far away where we can give it a go.

The Old Time Christmas Tree Farm is just a few miles from our house and allows you to pick your own tree, and also provides a saw to cut it down.

Whatever we end up doing, I'm sure it will be much easier than last year. After getting the artificial tree down from the loft, setting it up, finding all the decorations, almost killing myself trying to get the angel on the top as well as a near electrocution by twinkly lights, my wife decided she wanted a real tree instead. So down came the artificial tree and off we went in search of a real tree.

It's all good fun!

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:48:00.002-06:00

It's Thanksgiving today so I hope you are having a lovely time...

We're going to my parents' for dinner which is good as we've just got back from two weeks in the UK & Ireland.

Except somehow my wife and I are cooking. How did that happen?

Last Christmas, my parents came to our house and I made my first attempt at frying a turkey. It went down so well that I was asked to do it again this year.

It's also my Dad's birthday today too so Happy Birthday!

Obviously we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in England but we're planning on having as authentic a Thanksgiving as we can so after dinner we're heading to the local reservation to burn down some wigwams.

Enjoy!

X Factor

2009-11-07T07:00:00.002-06:00

We don't get the X Factor in the US but everyone I know back home in the UK are going on about the twins John and Edward.

Every weekend, most status updates on Facebook are about the show, and the newspapers cover it constantly.

Most people seem to hate them and their progress through the show is a huge talking point.

I'm not that bothered about missing out on their singing talent (or lack of) but I do miss how when there is a big event, the whole country feel involved and everyone, and I mean everyone, is talking about it.

Maybe it's because it's a small island and we all watch Coronation street, we all like football and for 3 or 4 months every winter, The X Factor dominates the nations televisions.

It's the World Cup next year and the whole country will be following. Bars and shops will be covered in England flags and most people you see though out June & July will be wearing an England shirt.

I miss that togetherness.

I think it's something that the US could never experience, and I feel sorry for them that they'll miss out. Maybe 9/11 is the closest they'll get but hopefully such occasions are rare.

So even though I won't see an episode of the X Factor, and I have no wish to, I'll still know all about what's going on and the scandal and shocks that are still to come and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Christmas Shopping in the Sunshine

2009-11-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

I started my Christmas shopping this week.

It's hard to get in the Christmas spirit when it's still 80 degrees outside and it was a weird experience planning ahead when there's not a cloud in the sky.

The weather recently has been perfect. Not the humid sticky heat we get during the summer. It's been warm but with a nice breeze and we've been able to shut off the air conditioning and open the windows, which is something you don't get to do often in Houston.

I hate shopping usually, but it's much easier than back home, especially if you start early enough. For a start, the shops are much bigger, with a wider selection and open longer hours as standard. There's always lots of space to park, and the lines at the check out aren't too bad.

The shops have been preparing for Christmas for a while now but now we're into November they're going into full seasonal assault mode.

Christmas music is playing, the displays are set up with wintery scenes of snowmen and hot chocolate, but it doesn't quite feel like Christmas yet. Because we're only just into November probably.

Mistaken Identity

2009-11-03T07:30:00.001-06:00

The British police force were up to their usual high standards this week when they released photos of suspects wanted for questioning about the crowd trouble at last month's West Ham v Millwall game.

You might not see anything wrong there but they actually included pictures of six actors from a recent film about football hooliganism 'The Firm'.

They've now apologised for the error and any offence caused to the actors involved.

Good work all round!

Read all about it here.

Texas Renaissance Festival

2009-11-01T05:00:00.001-06:00

Last week we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival.

I'd been before about thirteen years ago but my wife had never been. She was unsure when I suggested it but undeterred, I went ahead and bought two discount tickets through work.

The tickets were good for any day of the festival which runs every weekend for eight weeks through October and November.

We got there around 10am and and followed the long line of people making their way to the entrance. Despite the crowds arriving with us, there were no lines to get in.

We had a bit of a walk round and laughed at the various people dressed up, not all of them employed by the festival.

We arrived at one of the many stages just as a show was about to start. We had no idea what the show was other than it was called Sound & Fury. It turned out to be three blokes who were going to perform a non-family friendly version of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet.

The show was definitely not suitable for kids but we enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we had a bit of walk round the park and gardens to see what else was going on before heading to the Jousting show. This was a good show that featured four Knights of the Realm competing to become Champion of Champions. Our Knight, Sir Thomas was victorious in the end but the highlight of the show was the French Knight's horse who decided he wasn't going to play along and trotted along merrily instead of charging at full speed like the other horses. Well, that's the French for you I suppose. Everything he did was in slow motion, including the Knight being knocked off the horse which only added to the humour.

Here are some photos:

The weather was perfect for walking around outside.

There were rides for the kids for a small additional cost, as well as elephant and camel rides.

I had a go at axe throwing and we both tried throwing Chinese stars. My axe throwing needs some practice but I did manage to win a prize at the Chinese Stars. The prize? A coupon for a free kiss from any willing man, woman or beast. The guy happily advised that there was a bearded lady who was offering a 2-for-1 special.

We left around 2pm and the line of cars still heading in to the festival was crazy. The tailbacks through Magnolia, Texas must've been three or four miles.

The Texas Renaissance Festival is worth a visit if you've never been before, but I would definitely recommend getting there in the morning.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T19:22:00.003-05:00

It's Halloween tonight and I'm currently locked in the study with the dogs as they go absolutely mental every time the door bell rings.

It's gone four times in the last five minutes so it looks like it's going to be a noisy night!

My wife likes to see all the kids dressed up and hand out sweets so I don't mind being on dogsitting duty. The costumes and the strangers begging at your door is all a bit too American for me.

Last year we had people knocking all night and the ages of the kids got gradually older the later it got.

We even got one lady who must've been in her late thirties who showed up on her own. She hadn't even bothered to borrow some kids to look legit!

Sticky situations

2009-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

There's a new HEB near us where we've been doing our big shop for the last couple of weeks.

Usually I don't like being dragged around the supermarket on a Sunday morning but this place is different. They've got a great marketing ploy that makes husbands more likely to want to go there.

In the fruit and veg section you put what you want in the little bag as usual but they have electronic scales all over the place. That's not the exciting part but what comes next is. You hit the print button and it prints a little sticker with a barcode and the weight and price of the item. Brilliant!

This makes the check out faster and also makes the cashier's job easier but it is very exciting for the customer too.

Go on, give it a go. You know you want to.

Cooler weather is cool

2009-10-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

It's coming up to the end of October and the weather is almost perfect.

It gets very hot in Houston in the summer but this time of year it gets a bit cooler, while still being nicer than summer back in Manchester.

It was around 80 degrees yesterday and glorious sunshine so we've been able to turn off the air conditioning for a couple of days and open the windows.

It doesn't take much to get us excited these days!

The Daddy of them all

2009-10-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

You know when you're a kid and your Dad is a cross between the King of the world and a super hero?

And then when you're a teenager, you blame your Dad, unfairly, for all the bad things that happen?

If you're lucky, in your late twenties/early thirties, you realise that you were right in the first place and your Dad is a super fucking hero.

Today, my Dad is a Global Vice President of one of the world's biggest oil companies.

Twenty or so years ago we were living in Burnage, south Manchester and my parents were eating cheese and onion crisps for dinner so that me and my brother could eat properly.

I cannot express how proud I am of my Dad.

He's my hero, although I'd never actually tell him that in case he gets big headed.

Fort a start, my wife and I would never have met if he wasn't as ambitious/smart/hard working as he is. I grew up in Burnage, my wife grew up in Dublin, but somehow, thanks to our Dad's we both ended up in Houston, Texas where we met, fell in love and married.

Thanks Dad.

I don't say that enough. Not to either of our Dads. But every single day I'm thankful for the choices they made and the hard work they put in, at work, but especially at home.

My fondest memories as a kid often feature my Dad.

The Dad who took time off work during school holidays to take me and my brother out. Either to the football, ice skating, to the park etc. My Dad wanted to spend time with us, and that makes me want to spend time with my kids so they have the same happy memories as I have.

My Dad took me to my first football match and I hope he's there when I take my son to his first football match. Three generations supporting the same team. That will be special, for all of us.

My Dad is my hero, and it took me long enough to realise it. And even longer to tell him.

Bands I've seen

2009-10-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

After seeing Snow Patrol and U2 in recent weeks, it gave me an excuse to update the list of bands that I've seen live.

Sadly, I rank all of the bands I've seen and give them points whenever I go to a concert.

The headlining band gets 3 points, and the supporting band get 1 point.

At the top of the chart at the moment are Oasis with 15 points. I've seen them twice in Houston, and also at Wembley & Finsbury Park in London and Old Trafford Cricket Ground in Manchester.

In case I happen to misplace my list, I'm posting the chart on my blog so I will have a record to update whenever I go to a gig.

So here it is in all it's glory.

Oasis 15
Gomez 12
Travis 12
Embrace 9
Doves 8
Shed Seven 7
Coldplay 6
Manic Street Preachers 6
Red Hot Chili Peppers 6
Snow Patrol 6
Charlatans 4
Happy Mondays 4
Ian Brown 4
Anechoic 3
Alan Jackson 3
Billy Bob Thornton 3
Brooks & Dunn 3
Celtic Woman 3
Christina Aguilera 3
The Complete Stone Roses 3
Fun Lovin’ Criminals 3
Hinder 3
James Blunt 3
Matchbox Twenty 3
Ocean Colour Scene 3
Paul McCartney 3
Paul Weller 3
REM 3
Robbie Williams 3
Rolling Stones 3
Scissor Sisters 3
Stereophonics 3
Toby Keith 3
U2 3
The Verve 3
The Who 3
The Magic Numbers 2
Proud Mary 2
ABC 1
Athlete 1
Badly Drawn Boy 1
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club 1
Black Stone Cherry 1
Burden Brothers 1
Cornershop 1
The Coral 1
Chikinki 1
The Delgados 1
Dogs Die In Hot Cars 1
Electric Soft Parade 1
Finker 1
Franz Ferdinand 1
Groucho 1
Idlewild 1
John Squire 1
Kaiser Chiefs 1
Kasabian 1
Keane 1
The King 1
Maroon 5 1
The Mars Volta 1
Muse 1
OK Go! 1
Pete Macleod 1
Plain White T’s 1
The Pussycat Dolls 1
Richard Ashcroft 1
Mo Solid Gold 1
Ooberman 1
Razorlight 1
The Redwalls 1
Shack 1
Sheryl Crow 1
Tim Burgess 1
Toby Lightman 1
Toploader 1
Witness 1

Reading through the list now, I have no idea who some of the bands are and have no recollection of seeing them.

Most support bands I'd never heard of before the gig turned out to be terrible, with the odd exception. Cornershop were unknown to me when I saw them support Oasis in Houston back in 1998. The Magic Numbers were scary to look at but if you closed your eyes they weren't that bad actually.

My first experience of Keane was when they supported Travis at the Manchester Apollo. A mate of mine had seen them the night before and said they were good but I'd be surprised by how many people were in the band. I'd recently seen The Delgados in a support slot and they had about 20 people in the band so I was expecting the stage to be full of people on various instruments but there were just three members, and no guitars. This was the first gig I'd been to where the crowd were actually shouting for the support band to come on. As you're probably aware, Keane went on to become (and still are) huge.

Ooberman were an annoying cockney student band and the only memory I have of them is a daft song about 'going down to talk to the cows', which actually turned out to be about talking to the girls.

The Fun Lovin' Criminals usually put on a good show and always surprise with their choice of support. They had a Chinese Elvis impersonator called The King at one show, and the other time I saw them they decided to do away with a support band altogether and made a film in the style of Hawaii 5-0 in which the band members starred. They also stopped a couple of times during the show to re-enact scenes from their favourite films.

There are some good memories on this list!

U2: Updated

2009-10-15T19:00:00.002-05:00

So...U2...

Where to start...

Those guys put on one hell of a show!

With huge stadium shows with bands that have been around for ever, you know you're in for something special. You know the will put on a show to remember, regardless of whether you know a lot of the songs.

With U2 however, you know most of the songs.

We arrived at Reliant Stadium nice and early to get a drink and grab something to eat ready to soak up the atmosphere. In line at the gate we got talking to a lady from Colombia who had brought here niece to Houston for the show as U2 weren't playing near where they live. They'd arrived about twenty minutes before us and were walking passed the back entrance to the stadium just as Bono was walking in.

I know what you're thinking, yeah right! But they showed us the close up photo of Bono signing the autograph they then produced. My wife was very jealous!

We were one of the first in the stadium so we found our seats and took some photo's of the impressive stage. We had great seats by the way! I will put up some photo's under separate post.

The roof was closed when we arrived but just after 7pm it opened.

Around 7.30pm, Muse came on and burst straight into their current hit Uprising. No introduction, just straight into the action. They would've blown the roof off if it was still closed!

They put on a great show and looked at home playing in such a big venue. Muse are only just breaking the US but they sell out stadiums this size on their own back in The UK.

After Muse exited the stage, the lights came back on and the roadies hit the stage to get set up for the main event.

Interestingly, one section of lights on each corner of the stage were lowered and we could see that each light was attached to a seat where the operator would go. We watched as 12 guys got in place and were raised up 150 feet into the air.

Just after 9pm U2 arrived. Larry Mullen Jr appeared from the back of the stage to thunderous applause. The remaining members all arrived from below the stage and we were off.

They kicked off with four straight songs from their latest album "No line on the horizon" before mixing it up with some older tracks.

Bono then greeted space city from his own space station stage and declared "Houston, we have no problem!".

One lucky lady was picked from the crowd by Bono who went on to hug her and hold her while serenading her. For the second time, my wife was very jealous!

The stage featured a number of rotating ramps that were set to various positions throughout the night for the band members to get in amongst the crowd.

Luckily, Bono kept his political preaching to a minimum, until near the end. We'd seen a lot of people in the standing section just in front of us wearing paper masks with a woman's face on them. For some reason it was mostly men wearing them and it was starting to bug me, not because I didn't know who the woman was (at one point it looked a bit like Miley Cyrus) but because so many were wearing them even though I'm sure they had no idea who it was either.

It turned out to be Aung San Suu Kyi who was elected Prime Minister of Burma in 1990. However, she has spent the majority of time since then under house arrest. You can read all about her here.

Volunteers from Amnesty International mounted the stage wearing Aung San Suu Kyi masks as her image appeared on the big screen.

Another video message appeared at the end of the show with Desmond Tutu describing how we should all care for each other as we are basically the same person. The introduction to "One" then started as the band reappeared.

You can tell the band like to mix it up a bit to make things a bit more interesting for themselves and at various points throughout the night their songs merged into versions of Ben E King's "Stand by me", "Two tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood and "Amazing Grace".

Stephen Gately, the Boyzone singer who died of natural causes last weekend aged 33 was also given a name check to an unknowing audience. Boyzone performed backing vocals on U2's "The sweetest thing" and also appeared in the video that accompanied the song.

At 11.15pm the band finished and we headed home.

As we made our way to the car we were passed by a prosession of speeding SUV's carrying the band off to their hotel.

We had no problems getting out of the car park, which was a nice surprise for such a big venue.

No problem indeed!

U2: Photos

2009-10-15T18:31:00.012-05:00

Photos from U2 at Reliant Stadium, Houston.

U2: Set List

2009-10-15T16:21:00.003-05:00

The U2 show last night was Epic!

I will post in more detail soon but here is the set list from the show:

Breathe
Get on Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stuck In A Moment
No Line on the Horizon
Elevation
Your Blue Room
Until The End of the World
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy - Remix
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On

One
Where The Streets Have No Name

Ultraviolet
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

U2

2009-10-14T07:00:00.000-05:00

We're going to see U2 tonight.

It's at the Reliant Stadium in Houston so it should be a big show.

I've never seen U2 live before so I'm looking forward to seeing how they compare to other big stadium bands I've seen.

I saw The Rolling Stones at Wembley back in 1999 on their Bridges to Babylon tour. That was a fantastic show and even though I didn't know a lot of the songs they played it was one of the best gigs I've been to.

I've seen Oasis many times at big stadium venues, as well as smaller indoor arenas and they never disappoint.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers also put on an excellent show at The City of Manchester stadium a few years ago.

U2's 360 tour promises to eclipse them all with a monstrous stage known as 'The Claw' that gives 360 degree views of the band.

Muse are the supporting band and I've only heard good things about them too so it should be a blast.

I will let you know what I think!

The Old Dog & Bone

2009-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

Our dogs get very confused when you're talking on the phone.

They don't quite grasp the concept of phone calls they see you talking away and they just stand there looking at you as though you're crazy thinking:

"what are you saying", "what's going on?". "are you talking to me?", "what are we talking about?".

Busby looks at you and tilts his head to the side if he doesn't understand what you're saying. I think this helps the words travel from his ear to his brain.

iTunes

2009-10-08T07:00:00.002-05:00

It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago and some friends very kindly game me an iTunes gift card.

You can't go wrong with iTunes gift cards. Remember that if you ever feel the need to buy me something and you're stuck for ideas. Anything to do with music or movies will do.

Whenever I get gift cards for iTunes the hardest thing is narrowing down my choices but this time it was more like when I find myself at the mall, go in, grab what you came for and get out as quickly as possible.

I picked up the latest Gomez & Doves albums. They're two of my favourite bands of all time who I've seen live many times. They're bands that I will go and see every time they come to town, which unfortunately is less likely since I moved to Houston.

I also picked up the debut album from Proud Mary. This is a few years old but it's a great album from a little known band. I did own it before but somehow before I was able to load it on to my iPod the CD got damaged so I hadn't been able to listen to it for ages.

I'd much rather spend hours browsing iTunes than being dragged around the mall!

Snow Patrol: Update

2009-10-06T17:33:00.004-05:00

Snow Patrol were excellent last night.

I was pleased they did a lot of songs from their last album and just three or four from their latest (less successful) album.

It was a smaller venue this time with around 1500 people tightly packed into the Warehouse Live! in downtown Houston.

Support band The Plain White T's were ok. They started off with a few decent songs but then got a bit boring. Plus the lead singer talked too much.

Maybe I'm old fashioned in my belief that at gigs this size, the support band should come on, sing 5 or 6 songs, let the crowd know the name of your band if you must and get off. We're not there to see you, or hear how funny you are. Keep us entertained for half an hour while we wait for a band we actually like to come on stage.

We do not care that you're about to go into the studio to work on a new album that you're dedicating to the good people of Houston.

The only wrong move Snow Patrol made on the night was when the lead singer suddenly thought he was in Austin. This was despite correctly saying Houston approximately 64 times before.

I think he was more upset than anyone and spent a good amount of time apologising and saying how much of an idiot he felt. At least it lead in nicely to the next song "Make this go on forever" which is all about begging forgiveness from a (perhaps ex) partner.

If the band are playing in your town, I would recommend catching them live.

Snow Patrol

2009-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

We're going to see Snow Patrol tonight.

It's our first concert in a long time so I'm looking forward to it.

If you're not familiar with Snow Patrol, they did that "If I lay here, if I just lay here" song you've heard a million times on the radio and in TV shows.

We've seen them before, a couple of years ago but it's a smaller venue this time.

Can't wait!

You're making me nervous

2009-10-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last week, we attended a funeral.

Funerals are never nice but my wife was asked to do a reading during the service.

My wife is much better at that kind of thing than me and always impresses me when she's talking to a large group of people.

I remember when my Grandad died and someone decided to tell the Priest that my brother and I would read something.

I only found this out when we arrived at the church and that was it, it ruined the rest of the day for me.

Ok, so we're still allowed to joke where death is concerned but my wife made me very proud.

She was worried that she'd break down and be unable to get the words out. She even asked me if I'd go up and help her if that happened.

Knowing that she was nervous made me even more nervous than she was. I spent the whole time up to that point worrying about her reading, even though it was my job to reassure her that she would be ok. I knew she would be but it doesn't stop you worrying.

Rio Olympics

2009-10-03T09:37:00.003-05:00

If you haven't heard, yesterday the 2016 Olympic games were awarded to Brazilian city Rio De Janeiro.

Rio beat Madrid in the final round of voting after Tokyo and Chicago were eliminated earlier in the day.

The main thing I'm pleased about is that Chicago didn't get it.

I'm just really bored of hearing about, and seeing the Obama's on TV every single day and as native Chicago residents they were obviously involved in the city's bid.

I actually think the US gets too many of the world's big sporting events so it's good that they are spread around more fairly but it's surprising that this will be the first Olympic games held in South America.

Rio knows how to put on a show so I'm sure the games will be a big success.

A reason to watch Heroes again

2009-09-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Heroes is on tonight. Season 5 started last week with a two hour episode.

The first season of Heroes was excellent, but then somewhere during season 2 the writers lost their way. They tried getting too clever and introduced so many characters and story lines it was nearly impossible to figure out what was going on.

This season however I am optimistic it will return to form and the simple reason is the addition to the cast of Robert Knepper.

If you're not familiar with Robert Knepper, he played one of the greatest bad guys of recent years in the series Prison Break where he played Theodore Bagwell a.k.a. T-Bag, the inmate who double crossed pretty much everyone he ever dealt with.

This guy is a great actor and even though he carried out some despicable acts, he made T-Bag my favourite character in the show.

Rumour has it that his character in Heroes will turn out to be much worse than Sylar. Here's hoping!

In the US Heroes is on NBC Mondays at 9pm/8pm Central.

Tight squeeze

2009-09-26T07:00:00.000-05:00

Is your garage well organised, or a bit of a mess?

Ours is somewhere in between, at least we can find most things we need.

Just in case you think you have too much clutter, have a look at our neighbours garage:

I'm sure there's a place for everything and everything in it's place.

All change

2009-09-24T22:12:00.003-05:00

It's all change in our house today.

I've been sick all week with manflu and now my wife has found that it's a condition that not only us blokes get.

I didn't sleep much last night, and actually woke up dripping in sweat when my wife was freezing cold but I feel a lot better today. I still have a cough and it still tires me out to walk further than the fridge to get a drink but at least I know I'm on the mend.

My wife however is where I was last Friday. She aches all over, and even though she has a fever of 102 she's shivering and covered in goose bumps.

So the tables are turned. Now it's my turn to look after her.

It's a good job she was nice to me while I was sick!