When she puts her mind to something...

ADVISORY: This is an Adam post, written from Adam's perspective. Jetta will be posting something soon but in the meantime I'll try to be as witty and entertaining as she is. -- ABK


My wife is nothing if not focused. Its actually one of the things that first attracted me to her. She was a strong minded lady who knew what she wanted, and I was just grateful that she let me hang around. That tenacious, steadfast optimism that things will work out come heck or high water has carried her through a lot. So I can't say that I was surprised when that same attitude was adopted as she embarked on the challenge of pregnancy and eventual motherhood. I was, however, a little surprised at how deeply she sank her teeth in this time.

For the last few weeks Jetta has been the very picture of a woman uncomfortable. She hadn't been sleeping for more than an hour or so at a time and what sleep she did get was only mildly restful. The baby, not to be forgotten, was working out some kind of Irish Riverdance routine on her insides. So Friday afternoon when she said that she was tired of being pregnant I started to brainstorm something to get the proceedings kickstarted. After talking to a friend of mine who suggested a nice long walk, the wheels started turning. When I got home from class Friday we grabbed the dog and made for Veteran's Memorial Park and the Greenbelt. We made it to the Clocktower Pond and decided to call it a night. Everyone was a litte disappointed when Friday night passed uneventfully. Saturday morning dawned on pancakes, bacon and another poor night's sleep for Jetta. So a few hours later, there we were again in Veteran's Memorial with the Greenbelt under our feet. Jetta's trademark determination took us not only past Clocktower Pond this time, but up to Main, across the river and back down the other side of the Greenbelt to Veteran's Memorial Parkway. All in all, about a two hour walk. Naturally everyone was pooped so when we got home everyone crashed on the bed for some TV.

Jetta had a quick errand to run but ended up making it home around 4:30. It was about five to five when she came in the bedroom, eyes as big as dinner plates. "I'm having... a... contraction..." she said. Now my thinking was, "Okay, okay. Not a big deal, it sounds like they've just started. Let's time a few of them and see where we're at." After about 15 minutes of that, Jetta overruled my wait-and-see approach and we were on our way to the Hospital. She was pretty uncomfortable as we were getting settled in and tried to lay her seat back, but the carseat was in the way and she couldn't get it down. "What's going on? How do I work this thing? Why won't my seat go back?" "Darlin', the carseats back there, remember?" "Agh! This kid's annoying me already!" she moaned! Priceless, right?

I have to say that up until this point I have been as calm as calm could be. Seriously, if you looked it up in the dictionary or took a trip over to Wikipedia, you'd have seen my tranquil, smiling face. Phone calls were made to family, "Hey, just a heads up everybody - Jetta thinks she's going into labor, etc.". But when we turned onto Chinden Jetta looked at me and said, "I've got to start pushing!" Don't bother checking Wikipedia any more, the entry has been taken down since the information contained therein is now totally false. The only thing that my mind could focus on was that my first child was about to be born in the passenger seat of a Subaru Outback. Picturesque? No. Now, while Jetta is focused and determined, I'm practical. If X is a problem, what are our options, how can we solve X? The only thing that I could think of was getting someone's attention and hopefully getting pulled over by the Police. An escort to the hospital behind blaring sirens, paramedics, something - anything but me pulled over on the side of the road in Garden City delivering my own baby in front of Buck's 4x4. I don't know if you're a fan of action movies, but any good shoot-'em-up worth its salt has a car chase in it. The camera is close to the car, the shots are quick and the angles are sharp. I might be embelishing a bit as I look back (...) but that was our trip down Chinden. And then I see it in the distance - the gold and black of the Garden City PD, lights and sirens going... pulling someone else over. Cruel fate! No matter, always more than one solution to a problem. We're still doing 70+ mph and very safely but very quickly making our way through traffic. And again, GCPD in the distance... already pulled over writing a ticket. By this time we're into Boise and I think that maybe BPD will be a little more attentive and I'll have more luck. I think that I very briefly saw a Boise City Police Officer turning onto 27th as I squeeled tires heading the opposite direction toward River St.

This whole time Jetta has been perfect, breathing through her contractions and putting up with not only my driving but also attempts to soothe her. We got to the parking lot, she had one small one there and then another one when we got out of the elevator and we were at the Labor and Delivery Triage. The paperwork's filled out (Really? There's paperwork to fill out when your wife is in the background dying for all you know?) and a very nice nurse is getting us all checked in. "Well, how far along do you want to be Sweetie?" the nurse smiled. Before Jetta could respond, before the nurse was even done checking Jetta she was on the phone with the Labor and Delivery folks. "We've got one fully complete, we're heading to you now." Another car chase scene ensued, this one through the 2nd floor hallway of the Hospital. No police but my toe did get absolutely smashed by the 300lbs hospital bed. No time for that - my wife's having a baby! The delivery room was literally buzzing with activity when we got there, but there couldn't have been a better sign. They got Jetta up on the table and by this time the pain was so bad she wasn't even phased by the poor nervous lady trying to put in her I.V. Stab, stab, stab and finally success. "The Doctor's on his way Sweetie, hang in there." someone said. Wondering if the Doctor has somehow managed to fanagle the police escort I couldn't, every one cheered when the on-call Doc made his entrance. As he acclimated himself with the situation he asked me a few get-up-to-speed questions. "An uneventful pregnancy?" "Up until about an hour ago," I managed to remark. Don't let anyone ever tell you I choke under pressure. To the Hospital in record time (sans police intervention), a possibly broken toe and the presence of mind to come up with an off-the-cuff witty remark. Not to toot my own horn, but I was in top form.

With the doctor finally in the house we were able to get serious and he started giving Jetta directions. Now remember what I said about my Jetta's focus? I'm not exagerating. My Scottish story-telling isn't taking over. That focus shone and in roughly four pushes, what came about to about 16 minutes... our first born son entered the world!

More pictures than writing from this point, pause for collective sigh of relief from the audience who really has only wanted to see cute baby pictures and not be forced along as a proud papa retells the epic tale of his son's birth. -- ABK



Introducing Jacob! Yup, that little guy right there was the cause of all our excitement Saturday evening. He weighed in at 8lbs 4oz and was 21.5 inches tall! As the picture shows, all pink and healthy too. What more could a dad ask for?

Well, that right there is what else a dad could ask for. That smile right there was enough to send me to the moon and back! Now I've got to brag a bit here, so please don't hold it against Jetta. All said and done Jetta's labor was probably over and done in an hour and 45 minutes. Four pushes and we were parents. Let it be forever know as an undisputed and concrete fact: My wife is made of railroad ties. She is, hands down, the toughest chick I know.

It's pretty obvious to see that Jetta was in love from the get-go. His eyes were just starting to flutter open at this point and she's more than aware of it. He's going to be a heartbreaker and we know it.

Thankfully, this isn't a rare moment of peacefulness. Jake has been mercifully kind to his parents thus far. Trust me, our fingers are crossed that his demeanor will stay like it is.










My mom Kit and my dad John, most obviously diggin' being grandparents again.


Even Moose was thrilled to become a big brother!

And so there it is, my take on having a kid. Enjoy! -- ABK

A Must Watch

So Adam heard about this video yesterday and we must have watched it at least a dozen time since then. I hope you find it as entertaining as we did.


Here's what the person who posted the video had to say "This is my 7 year old son who had an extra tooth removed last summer, 2008.

I had the camera because he was so nervous before and I wanted him to see the before and after.

He was so out of it after, I had to carry him out of the office. The staff was trying to keep from laughing. I had tears from laughing so hard.

He is doing fine now and the teeth are great.

Best of all he is the best kid as is his brother William. I couldnt have asked for two better sons!

2/3 Update: Video camera is a flip video. not bad for $150 bucks!"

How Dogs are like Kids.. at least that's what I imagine.

It doesn't seem right that I spent good money on training courses for my dog and yesterday at the pet store when tempted by a treat he puts his paws up on the check out stand and the clerk says "have you done any puppy classes through our store?" Really? You can't tell my dog is trained... really? (ok, so though he knows all the commands he definitely has his own agenda when it comes to obeying).

I found this info that so perfectly describes what I'm sure goes through Moose's head everytime I give him a command: "to call bulldogs lazy or stubborn is a bit restrictive. What appears as laziness or stubbornness is in fact an incredible capacity to prioritize. A bulldog will never jump at your every command. He will evaluate each of your commands or invitations against his own priority-setting and value system before deciding whether this is a good thing to do and how urgently this action should be accomplished." (http://www.bulldoginformation.com/temperament-personality-character.html)

Who knew the reason it takes so long for him to react was because he was still processing the decision in his head. All I know for sure is that food is right at the top of his value system because he reacts on a dime when a food reward is involved!

Now Moose is finally starting to play fetch for real. We tried introducing the game to him many times since he was just a small puppy. It always resulted in him playing keep away with the ball (either with you, or with other dogs when he was at the dog park) or attempting to play tug-of-war with it. Nevermind that it took over 2 months of serious training to get him just to drop the ball because now he's actually doing it!!! However, you must always keep in mind that Moose will only fetch AND return the ball when the mood so strikes him.

Having attempted to seriously train Moose with moderate, inconsistent results makes me feel pretty prepared for parenting. Of course I say that now and will be eating my words in a few short years.