Fetus Goes On Vacation, Mom and Dad go along

Alright, so it's been nearly a month since the last post. These things happen. I make no excuses for my laziness, it simply is. What has been happening since the last update? Let's see...

A few days after finishing the bar exam, Tyfany and I went on our big vacation. We flew into San Francisco early in the afternoon on Thursday, August 7th. Immediately after picking up our rental car we went to the Embarcadero. Noisy sea lions on Pier 39 and delicious clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl were taken in while we huddled together. No matter how many times I go to San Fran the fact that it can be 60 degrees with the sun shining in the middle of August still throws me (and my 107 degree Texas summer shorts and t-shirt). That evening, we met with all of the family in Walnut Creek. Saturday was the big family reunion at Grandma and Grandpa Burke's house. There was a great bar-b-que and all had a good time, even though there was a palpable sadness that Grandpa, who was in the hospital recovering from surgery, couldn't be there.

I won't relate the rest of the trip step by step because it would be too long, but there was a tour of Korbel vineyard, a trip through Muir Woods National Forest, and an amazingly relaxing week at a beautiful "cabin" (cabin doesn't seem to fit this gorgeous home) in Lake Tahoe. Much thanks to Mom and Dad for the trip and Lynn and Steve Werle for use of their "cabin" in Tahoe.

Now to the baby front. All is well, no matter what you've heard. Tyfany and I went to the doctor yesterday for an appointment. Dr. Guerra, our OB, did the heart monitor for fetus and we got to hear a strong heart beat at 147 beats a minute. Dr. Guerra said that for all intents and purposes everything was looking good. Then the fun began. The real purpose of this appointment was to do the blood draw for the quad-screen. Tyf does not do well with blood draws, so she had insisted that these be done at the same time rather than do multiple draws. Unfortunately, halfway through the draw, Tyf's anxiety got the better of her and she passed out and proceeded to scare a couple years off my life. Let's just say the word "epilepsy" was being thrown around rather casually. Hey there, what's a little vomit and convulsing between friends? Tyf woke with a vivid memory of a field and a horse, and then took a 3 hour nap. We'll be watching my baby-mama very closely but Dr. Guerra insists that everything is fine. In fact, she has even promised my embarrassed wife that she'll still deliver our baby. Of course, all prayers and happy thoughts are much appreciated.

More Heart Than Sense.

This is an appropriate description of my wife and myself. Why you ask? Well, besides the fact that we are expecting our first child. (and yes everything is normal [definition: rockin'] on the baby front) We have 3 large ridgebacks, one small black cat, and are surviving on Tyf's lucrative (wink, wink) Bark & Lounge doggy daycare salary, we can't say "no" to a pup or even 2.

To be perfectly honest this one is my fault, I fell for these two girls right away. Monday morning, the day before the bar exam, I get a phone call asking me to go to the Watauga animal shelter to look at a couple dogs. The phone call was from Beth, one of the directors of Little Orphan Angels (LOA) the rescue group Tyf and I foster dogs through. These 2 girls broke my heart and I had decided to take them before Tyf had even gotten there. We took them to the vet and thats where they staid until Thursday night. So instead of kicking back on the couch, drinking beer, and enjoying a giant steak, after the final day of the biggest exam of my life. I was wrestling mastiffs.

Oh, did I forget to mention that the 2 girls are 140lb. English Mastiffs. Huh, like I said more heart than sense. So meet the new foster dogs Tinker Bell, and Tulip.