Want to see Joie Pregnant?

Well, here you have it. A shot of the lovely mother-to-be, all dressed up and ready to go. We are 23 weeks along now, so this is a shot of what that looks like, of course, hidden by the dress.

Things are good as can be right now, for the time being, where we are both enjoying the pregnancy more and more. This has been an exciting time for us as well, with work on the nursery well under way. As I am writing this, I see that we are 115 days away from the due-date of August 20th, so not quite 4 months. Jo Marie and I are both ready for our little buddy to get here. I should note that I am finally able to feel little Max moving around and kicking from time to time. It took a while, but the feeling you get when you can lay your hand on Joie's baby bump and feel movement is hard to describe. And every now and again, you can even see him move, which is really weird, but way cool!

Also, Jo Marie put in her notice to not renew her contract at school next year, so she will officially take up the ever-difficult job of "stay at home mom." I know she is excited about that decision, as am I. We booked a trip to Disney World and to St. Petersburg, Fl for late May after she is done with school, to celebrate being done with another school year, and to have a little break from Lawrence life before a long, exciting summer.

Thanks as always for caring enough about us to spend a few minutes on Max's webpage. We are finding this blog fun to keep up with, and are tickled that you all are enjoying it with us. Stay tuned for some nursery pictures, and it isn't too late to send your license plate!

Remembering Maxine

As many of you know, we have decided to name our son after Jo’s grandma Maxine. Nan, as Jo called her, has always been so special to Jo Marie. You could even call the two of them inseparable. Whether it was a trip to Wal-mart, or just a special Saturday evening spent together, the two were always getting into some kind of trouble.

It came as a surprise mid-November when we learned that Nan had terminal cancer. Perhaps, an even bigger surprise came a couple weeks after that with a positive pregnancy test! From the beginning we knew our little boy (Jo swears that she always knew it was a boy – and points out to everyone that she saw his penis on the ultrasound before the technician did) would carry on the name of such a special person in Jo’s life.

We are so thankful that Nan was able to learn that her Jo would be having a little boy – Max would have been her first great-grandson. Although Nan’s passing this past Sunday has been hard for Jo and me, we find comfort in the fact that our little one will always have a little piece of ‘Nan’ with him.

By the way...

I keep forgetting to mention this, but you should all check out my brother, Josh's blog, which can be found at http://joshuabolick.blogspot.com/ and specifically check the post titled "I'll be a Monkey's Uncle." It is quite hilarious, and could quite possibly lead to both of his blogs and this one going viral on the internet. How is it possible that little Max could be famous before he even pops out. Amazing. Simply amazing. Thanks Josh. You are a great brother, and you'll make an awesome muncle...

Half way there...

So today is the 20 week mark, and we are both really excited that we are half-way done! We just cannot wait to get our little guy out into this (crazy) world. I won't give away too much about the nursery, but I will ask for some help. His room is still in the planning stages, and we are in need of a lot of old license plates. So, if you have a stack of old ones in the garage, piling up dust, or if you are at an antique shop, and see some for a few bucks, pick them up and send them out to us. We thought it would be fun for all of you to have a small part of little Max's room. I'll be posting pictures once the room is ready to go, so you may be able to find your little piece of the room online from right where you are sitting!

Jo Marie is beginning to feel a lot better. She struggled for some time with morning sickness and nausea, but she has not taken one 'magic pill' this week, and is a vomit free VIP! I am still working through my two books about being a father, "The Expectant Father," and "My Boys Can Swim." The first is a serious, although helpful guide into what is going on with the baby, with the wife, and probably with me too. The second is a more humorous, but probably more realistic take of what we are all going through too.

Well, I think that's all for now. Remember, you know you have a couple old, expired or retired license plates out there, so dig em' up, and send them our way. Send me an email if you need the address!