N: Delivery Date & Time/Weight Winners!

Three weeks is a little long to make the official blog post about winners, but better now than never.

In the end 22 people made a guess on date/time/weight.  One person even guessed twice, but she is a former teammate and of all people who deserve two guesses it's her.  K has some great responses to some of the guesses.  A personal favorite was when she decided that she was no longer friends with one of them because of the late guess (October 4) and the high weight (14 lbs).  We decided to let him back into the fold eventually cause you always need a couple friends from the NE.

Shepherd Eliot Todd was born on September 26, 7:12 PM, at 7lbs 8oz.

For day and time:  Sarah Olds, my sister, was the person who guessed the closest at Sep 25 at 8 PM.  She along with the next closest, Kandace Baertschi, both got a lb of coffee.

For weight: Split between 2 people, Kelly Kilheffer (our sister in law) and Sheri Ludlam.  Kelly isn't much of a coffee drinker, plus we'll give free coffee to family anytime, means Uncle Neil has a few beans to grind and brew. Sheri will get her free lb of coffee when we visit Colorado.

Thanks to everyone who played and congrats to the winners.

On Thursday or Friday, K and I will be packing up and starting the trip to Colorado.  Hurray for mountains, friends, and long road trips with babies!

At his two week appointment he had gained a lb from his birthweight.  Percentage wise, that would be like me gaining 23 lbs in two weeks (question for the reader: so how much do I weigh?).

K is working on her birth story and it will, in due time, make its way to the blog.  Guess you'll just have to keep coming back and checking....

N: Passport Completed

As we did our research for getting passport stuff completed as fast as possible there were a number of people who felt that 6 weeks was the minimum amount of time it takes to get an infant's passport.  I felt that I could do it in 4.  Here's the real story:

The Facts:

Shepherd was born on September 26.

We got his birth certificate 6 days later.

Social Security number came a day after that.

AND less than three weeks from the day of his birth we have his passport in hand.

Take that!  

It was quite convenient that he was so willing to get his picture taken.  I present to you the picture that will be in his passport for the next 5 years.

We also went to Hallsville, Tx to visit with some friends and family.  Uncle Neil and Shep had some bonding time.

N: The Chinese Dragon

Traffic is definitely unique in China.  Traffic patterns in China can sometimes be a little confusing.  With so many people, everyone wanting to make it through a light, across the street, or to wherever they are going, it can take a time or two to figure out the process.

The two links below make sense of, and explain quite well, the way traffic moves.  The hand drawn pictures add a nice touch.

Enjoy!

Left Turn

Synchronized Insanity

It all starts at a typical intersection...

Colorado Visit

Plans have been made!  We are thrilled.

We will be visiting Colorado (including Denver, Ault, Fort Collins, and surrounding communities) arriving on the evening of Saturday October 25.  We will be leaving in the afternoon of Sunday, November 2.

Shepherd Pictures