January | 2008 | Joe Tremblay

We are all signed up for our “Confident Childbirth” classes at Bon Secours, starting on Feb. 15. I’m so excited to tour the hospital, watch the video, do the breathing exercises … all of it. Patrick will try to make me laugh during the parts where we’re supposed to pay attention, but I won’t be distracted!

I’ve also scheduled my first prenatal yoga class for Jan. 15. There will be eight classes in all — one per week. I hope it will help me relax and ease my already-aching back. I also hope I’m not the only new girl in that first class; if everyone is doing handstands and splits while I’m struggling to stand on one foot, I will not be happy.

(Pffttt … I can do that.)

In the meantime, this Tuesday is our big day to find out if Champ is a boy or girl. If it’s a girl, we’ve got a pretty good idea what her name will be. If it’s a boy, we have some ideas but still have some thinking to do. I’m just looking forward to calling the little one by name instead of always saying “he or she” or even “it.”

I wonder if Patrick will still call the baby Champ as he/she grows up?

We went to Fayetteville for a couple of days to celebrate the 50th anniversary of my mom’s mother and stepfather. Mumsey and Grandy came from Arkansas for the occasion and “Aint Naincy” (my mom’s sister) came up from Florida.

At dinner, Grandy (who is 94 and sharp as a tack) shared lots of stories with us about everything from World War II to the various animals he has bottle-fed to adulthood.

We also got lots of time with the niece and nephew, who make us all the more eager to meet this little person we’re waiting for. Seriously, how cute is this:

We came back to Virginia on New Years Eve, just in time for a visit from my friend Mike. The three of us stayed awake long enough to say “Happy New Year” and then promptly fell asleep. Lola was unnerved by the sound of fireworks outside and had a harder time settling down, poor thing. It just breaks your heart to see her shivering with fear.

So today we started another year. It’s going to be a big one for us — stay tuned!