All of that said, it was another step along the way of having others -- and more importantly, myself -- acknowledge that, hey, in a few more months, I will actually be a father, and I'll have a lot more responsibility than I do now.
I also want to take a brief moment and say that I've been blown away by all the gifts that are coming in from the baby shower, which is coming up in a few weeks. They've started to arrive at home -- which is awesome because then we won't have to drive them back from New Jersey -- and just how generous and thoughtful people have been is kind of overwhelming. I think it's pretty easy to get jaded about these things, giving gifts at weddings and baby showers and all of that. But when you're in a position like we are, and we're 500 miles from our family and about to welcome a baby into a home without anything that we need for it, it can be kind of daunting to think of all the stuff we're going to have to get. And to have friends and family pitch in and offer to help out, it's pretty awesome to watch that happen.
I also want to take a brief moment and say that I've been blown away by all the gifts that are coming in from the baby shower, which is coming up in a few weeks. They've started to arrive at home -- which is awesome because then we won't have to drive them back from New Jersey -- and just how generous and thoughtful people have been is kind of overwhelming. I think it's pretty easy to get jaded about these things, giving gifts at weddings and baby showers and all of that. But when you're in a position like we are, and we're 500 miles from our family and about to welcome a baby into a home without anything that we need for it, it can be kind of daunting to think of all the stuff we're going to have to get. And to have friends and family pitch in and offer to help out, it's pretty awesome to watch that happen.
At this stage of the pregnancy, we've begun to start planning real things instead of just talking hypotheticals. All of our sets of parents are scheduling their first trips down to see the baby right now, so we know there's going to be no shortage of helping hands during the first month or two of Baby Koch's life. (We still aren't finding out if it's a boy or a girl, so sometimes it's hard to keep saying "it" when you want to say "he" or "she". If you catch me saying one or the other, it doesn't mean anything, I promise.) We also know that we've got a trip up to Philadelphia in early/mid October for my brother's wedding, and we've had several people tell us that is an ambitious trip that early. But it's nice to have this stuff planned out, have a chance to bring the baby up to see our families, instead of having them all to come down here.
One of the other big things we talk about is the relationship Siobhan and I have together. I'm so thankful that we have a really great and happy marriage, but we don't have any misconceptions about how difficult this might be for us. Not because we're prone to getting into arguments or disagreements, but purely on the basis of us getting tired, sleep deprived and frustrated. So when we talk about our future and all the positive things, we try to balance it out by making sure we are aware that we need to work together to make the most of this.
It makes me a little bit scared. Perhaps it's just anxiety running itself out, but just the idea that things could be difficult between Siobhan and me after all of this is worrisome. But that's the benefit of having these discussions now, and even something like me writing this out. We've got the next two and a half months to build an even stronger foundation that we know is going to support us even when we get tired and cranky and aggravated.
The other big thing we talk about are names, even though I've been happily on the record as NOT interested in discussing names. It's annoying to Siobhan that I won't commit to picking a name now, and I get that. She wants to narrow it down -- and we have definitely narrowed it down to some extent -- but for whatever reason it just makes me uncomfortable. Part of it is that I don't want to become fixed on a name, and then have two more months to hear it used in other places and change my mind. The other part of it is just that we've put so much focus on the baby staying healthy, getting stronger and bigger, and Siobhan staying healthy, that I just like thinking about that and not about what we're going to name it.
We do have a few names in mind, though. Good names. Hopefully not too trendy or too unusual. Please don't ask us about them, though. And don't guess just to see if we react. For now, it's Baby Koch, or Speck, or Little Bud (shout out Master of None).
One of the other big things we talk about is the relationship Siobhan and I have together. I'm so thankful that we have a really great and happy marriage, but we don't have any misconceptions about how difficult this might be for us. Not because we're prone to getting into arguments or disagreements, but purely on the basis of us getting tired, sleep deprived and frustrated. So when we talk about our future and all the positive things, we try to balance it out by making sure we are aware that we need to work together to make the most of this.
It makes me a little bit scared. Perhaps it's just anxiety running itself out, but just the idea that things could be difficult between Siobhan and me after all of this is worrisome. But that's the benefit of having these discussions now, and even something like me writing this out. We've got the next two and a half months to build an even stronger foundation that we know is going to support us even when we get tired and cranky and aggravated.
The other big thing we talk about are names, even though I've been happily on the record as NOT interested in discussing names. It's annoying to Siobhan that I won't commit to picking a name now, and I get that. She wants to narrow it down -- and we have definitely narrowed it down to some extent -- but for whatever reason it just makes me uncomfortable. Part of it is that I don't want to become fixed on a name, and then have two more months to hear it used in other places and change my mind. The other part of it is just that we've put so much focus on the baby staying healthy, getting stronger and bigger, and Siobhan staying healthy, that I just like thinking about that and not about what we're going to name it.
We do have a few names in mind, though. Good names. Hopefully not too trendy or too unusual. Please don't ask us about them, though. And don't guess just to see if we react. For now, it's Baby Koch, or Speck, or Little Bud (shout out Master of None).
