Eight Maids o' Milking

We got these "Twelve Days of Christmas" wine glasses as a wedding gift from our friends Greg and Andrea. This year I am exclusively drinking out of the "Eight Maids of Milking" glass. Need I say more?

If you haven't got a turkey leg, a turkey wing will do

I never heard Bing Crosby's "Christmas Is A-Coming" until yesterday, and it's my new favorite Christmas song. Tried to find an audio or video link to the song and couldn't, so if you're not familiar with it just call Emily and she'll sing it for you.

Yet Another Great Reason to Support Huckabee

Crank that Soulja Boy

Oh look, Lil' Viv has joined the ranks of young hip hop artists with her own rendition of Soulja Boy's "Crank That." We're so proud!




And if you have no idea what I am talking about, you can watch Soulja Boy on YouTube:

Blue Steel

Tiona Fuller came over this weekend for Vivian's first photo shoot. Tiona was really fun to work with, and she got some great poses, including Vivy's own take on Blue Steel below. We've known all along that Vivy is unusually beautiful (as well as kind, intelligent, hard working, and athletic). We were thrilled nonetheless for Vivy to get her first taste of fame with a feature on Tiona's web site.

My Girls

The three best looking ladies in the whole world - I'm the luckiest husband, father, dog-owner there is!

Severely Pacified

She took the pacifier for about five minutes, and boom, she was out!














Notice the marks around her mouth - so funny!

Weekend Visitors

We had lots of visitors over the weekend! My dear friend Kelly came over with her daughter Tallie and sister Erin to meet Vivy. Vivy slept the whole time, but I think Tallie enjoyed meeting her none the less!




Then, my Aunt Nancy, cousin Ginger and her two boys came all the way from Atlanta to meet the little one.




Last, but not least, our regular weekend visitors, the Metzls, came over with Steph for pizza on Sunday. I think Uncle Randy started this game of putting all his loose change in pots and making noise with it, but Josh just wanted to wear the pot. He even recruited Marty for his fashion show!




Thanks everyone for coming! It was a wonderful weekend to share with you guys.

Bath Time

Vivy had her first tub bath this week and even added her own hot water in the process. We didn't want to bathe her in her pee, so we moved her to a pot! My mom said we should just change the water in the tub next time... Anyway, here are a few precious pics from her bath. I want my UNCG gals to note that Vivy is wearing her "Super Star" onesie that Carolyn made-- she wears these personalized onesies a lot.

Off With the Fingernails!

Both Vivy and I have been in need of a manicure for several days. Actually, I was planning to just file my nails because the edges were so jagged from the last time I cut them. And Vivy just needs hers trimmed. So today in the car I was examining my jagged nails, thinking that I needed to file them as soon as I got home and saw that there was this light brown something under my pinky nail-- you guessed it: Vivy Poop. So I decided to forget filing; I need to keep these nails as short as possible. Another surprise in motherhood...

But I can't complain too much-- I'll take a little poop to see this face any day.

War Stories

Once I was visibly pregnant, it seemed that everyone I met wanted to tell me the story of their child's birth. I had been warned that this would happen, especially with women who had particularly difficult experiences. And overall it was fine-- I actually enjoyed meeting other moms and hearing their stories. But until I experienced Vivy's birth I didn't get why they wanted to tell me all this personal information. But now I do! A birth story is a mother's war story. My friend Mary J said that now that I have experienced birthing a baby I am in a league with all the other mothers in the world, both past and present, who have this shared experience. And now I have my own war story to share. So here's a short version:

My labor was pretty textbook until I started experiencing some back labor. We didn't know that Vivy's head was pressing against my pelvis and back in such a way that the right side of her face was hitting my pelvis with every contraction. After over an hour of pushing, my doctor Chris realized that Vivy was brow presenting (if you want to read more, you can at www.birth.com.au). The long and short of it is that she came out right eyebrow first which is the "broadest" way a baby can come out. .02% of births are brow presenting, and most of them result in a c-section. So for her to arrive here through a vaginal delivery is pretty incredible. Needless to say, both her recovery and mine have been a little longer and harder than expected, but were both doing really well now. Here's picture of Vivy's other side (the one we didn't post initially, and I wish you could see her bruising better) and one of her with Randy the other day. And I won't show you a picture of my bruising! ;)

A Clean Little Froggy

Vivy had her first bath this evening and loved it, especially when she realized she got to wear her froggy hooded towel afterwards.

Milk Drunk Vivy

Thanks goodness Emily is willing to hold back Vivy's hair.

More Family Visits

We had "Fink Day" today and Vivy got to meet more of her family...

Aunt Robyn and cousin Kathryn...














Aunt Ronda...














Cousin Emileigh...














Cousin Brittany...














Uncle Jason...















And Cousins Evan and Julian.

Vivy Meets the Family

Vivy with...

Mimi...














Pappy and Nanna...














and Millie.

New Round of Photos

Stephanie sent along these pictures from Wednesday to add to the ones Marty took in the last post.

Vivian Elizabeth Fink

Vivian ("Vivy") Elizabeth Fink was born at 7:21pm on October 23, 2007. She weighed in at a healthy 7lbs and 14oz and is 20 inches long. Both Vivy and Emily are recovering nicely, and expect to be home from the hospital Thursday afternoon.

Zipper Is On The Way

9 Months of Belly

We both have a feeling this may be our last pregnancy status report (which means it probably won't be). Emily has felt surprisingly good. Her energy level has been high, she's been sleeping more or less well (6+ hours a night), and best of all, the indigestion went away a few weeks ago when the baby dropped. When the baby dropped, Em's ciatica did intensify, but thankfully it's not a constant problem and instead just comes in spurts.

Can you believe the difference nine months makes in a belly! Check this out.

May 1, 2007 (3-4 months pregnant)


October 19, 2007 (9 months pregnant)

It's Like Christmas!

It never occurred to me that Zipper wouldn't arrive on or before her due date. I'm borderline shocked for some reason even though everyone else told us the first baby is often late. Now the anticipation is building something fierce and I'm starting to really appreciate the excitement of not knowing exactly when we're going to get to meet her. It's nerve racking for an anal-retentive Type-A like me, but it's fun too. I feel like Christmas is coming, but I don't know the exact date, just "sometime in late December."

Fashionably Late

Yesterday was Baby Fink's due date, but obviously she decided that she wasn't quite ready to enter the world. So here's the only picture I have to share right now. I don't think you can tell how beautiful she is from this angle, but it's better than nothing (I guess).

It's Finally Done!

After months of work and waiting, Baby Fink's nursery is done! And it's a good thing too-- especially since she is due to arrive in three days. All we have left to add is her name over the bed. Fortunately we still have three days to decide what it's going to be. I'm sooooo excited!

Before....

and after...

Racing Towards The Finish Line

Just 3.5 weeks to go until Zipper's due date. We forgot to take a pregnancy pic of Emily until Thursday, and were in a hurry to go for some exercise when we remembered, hence the crazy pose for this weeks picture.



Compare to the first picture we took at the beginning of May when Emily was just starting to show.


Emily is generally feeling very good though increasingly tired. The baby is kicking up a storm and really working her way under Emily's rib cage which is sorta funny and very uncomfortable. Using conservative estimates of 0.5 lbs growth per week since her weight was measured 8/24/2007, we are guessing Zipper is about 7.5 pounds right now leading us to believe she's going to be a big fat baby. The doctor wouldn't say whether he thinks Emily will deliver early or late at this point, though we think she'll probably go on the early side. My rigorous analysis leads me to believe it will be October 7, between 4:30 and 5:00pm.

We've been a little slow with the final details of the nursery due to some bad shipping time estimates. Emily has spent the last few days, however, finishing shopping for clothes for the baby, a few things Emily needs for her hospital bag, and last minute touches with nursery decorating. By the end of this weekend we should be ready for the baby to show up whenever is most convenient for her.

Regarding names, we are still flailing, but at least we've narrowed down the universe of names actively under consideration to about 40. I spent a lot of time organizing the various combinations in a spreadsheet the other day, and though it was totally useless in helping actually choose a name, it made me feel good to confirm that I'm really awesome at making attractive spreadsheets, a critical skill for fatherhood.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Emily is the queen of bargain hunting. 95% of the time, that is a good thing and leads to great deals and money saved. From time to time things don't work out perfectly. Recently we used Smart Balance Certified Organic Buttery Spread and thought it was terrific. We loved it. The container looks like this.

Emily was shopping at Costco the other day and saw a great deal on Smart Balance Buttery Spread ($5 or something for a 5 lb container!) so she picked it up. The container looks like this.


What may not be obvious when you're comparing them side by side is that the deal was on the regular buttery spread which is marginal tasting at best, and has no other virtues that I'm aware of beyond the price. The real down side is that, being the cheapskates we are we definitely won't throw it away, so we've got to work our way through 5lbs, or 162 servings, of mediocre buttery spread.

The Cool Part

Sherri reminded me the other day that when I was growing up I had a security blanket, and that I extracted endless joy from rubbing the "cool part", aka the satin edging, across my nose and cheeks. Apparently I enjoyed it so much I actually chafed my face a bit. Point being, wow how technology has improved blankets! Check out the "cool part" on these things - some of them are nothing but cool parts!

Big Dorks and Failing Grades

Sweet Emily was exhausted yesterday but was able to push through and keep a dinner date we had with one of our favorite couples (names withheld to protect the innocent). Dinner was at Hawthorne Pizza where I'd only been for lunch and Emily had never been at all. Fantastic service and really good food too. Bottom line is that everyone at dinner was very bright and successful in multiple ways, but everyone also had an experience with one or more failing grades in college. It was so good to connect over failures (which I normally think are embarrasing), and to own up to being big dorks. To paraphrase our birthing doctor, it's taken 10 years and tons of therapy to get excited about that moniker.

Reesie and Miles

What a great picture.

Being a Rich Oppressor

So this verse knocked the wind out of me when I read it last week:

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.

Matthew 5:1-4 (emphasis mine)

We have some help with our yard, and we're looking at getting some additional help with things when the baby arrives. I also manage several large vendors at work in my operations function who do a lot of basic labor like landscaping and cleaning. The personal and professional goal is to hire folks to do work as inexpensively as possible and still get the job done well. I don't know what the hourly wages are of some of the folks hired by the people we hire, but I bet it's less than $10/hour or so in many cases.

The HHS Poverty Guidelines state that a family of four making $20,650 a year lives in poverty. That is $9.93/hour for a single parent working a full-time job raising a family of three kids. Also powerful, almost 17% of children in Mecklenburg County live in poverty (over 23,000). I couldn't find a statistic quickly online because the BLS web site is down, but Emily remembers that there are local community reports with statistics that show the problem of poverty in Charlotte is not unemployment. Back-of-the-envelope evidence is that approximately 12.8% of Mecklenburg's population lives in poverty, and our unemployment rate is approximately 4.3%.

The relevance: (1) Over 23,000 children live in poverty within 20 minutes of my house (2) Children are poor because their parents are poor, (3) Parents are poor because they don't make enough money, (4) One reason that many parents don't make enough money is because they work but aren't paid enough, (5) I am part of the system that drives decisions to not pay parents enough.

Bottom line, I am part of the system that has yielded 23,000 children living in poverty within 20 minutes of my house (17% of all children in my County).

So, the challenge becomes what to do about it? I'm thinking God is pointing me to start with the things I have direct control over, building concentric circles of influence outward from my own house.

The Blue Fairy

We spent today at Pappy and Nanna's house swimming and playing before Kathryn's 4th Birthday party. Tasty chocolate cake and ice cream, and then presents, including a blue fairy costume.

Big Fat Baby

We had another ultrasound yesterday, mostly because folks with high blood pressure need to do some extra checking to make sure that the baby isn't too small. Mimi (Elizabeth) joined me and Randy which was fun.

It was a real shock to learn that Zipper is 5 pounds 6 ounces already! That's about 3 weeks ahead of schedule. People often comment that I don't look very big for being this far along in the pregnancy, so to learn that the baby is this much bigger than normal was a real surprise.

Marci (who does the ultrasounds) was full of optimism and encouragement as usual - she has been a real treat to get to know. Thanks for posing for the camera, Marci.