26 weeks down! Just about 90 more days to go....

Wow! We are now at around 26 weeks pregnant and life isn't showing any signs of slowing down. As always Emily and me are staying pretty busy, but we are trying to make time for all the cool stuff that goes along with having a baby. Our list is growing with things that need to be done, and I've been able to check a few things off already. Some of these completed items include pressure washing the driveway, getting the chimney and gutters clean, and getting some baby stuff. We've already received some much appreciated hand me downs from Uncle Daniel and Aunt Ashley that Riker's cousins wore, and they are really, really cute. No seriously guys, you don't understand. I mean REALLY cute. Plus Aunt Grayson has already bought some clothes too. See what I mean about the cute factor?

See? Pretty cool. Really cute boy stuff! I especially like the batman stuff, and the robot. :)

A lot of other things have happened as well. For starters Emily and me had our third wedding anniversary. For most people this means they've been together for three years, but Em and I have actually been together for 10 years! I know this because in 2003 is when I saw Pearl Jam for the first time live. It was because of Emily that I saw them. She got tickets and invited me. The deal was that we had to drive to Raleigh, NC to see them, which sounded like an awesome road trip to me. And it was! Little did I know at the time that this would be the first of many road trips that we would take on as a couple. This also marks the second time I met Emily's folks. We had a great time! Me, Emily, and Jeff went to the show and had a blast. I think this may be the first time I considered a relationship with Emily even though we were just "friends" at the time. It wasn't until  much later that year that I knew she was the one. Just like the rest of our relationship... slowly but surely. So, 2013 - 2003 = 10 years. :)

To celebrate our wedding anniversary I took Emily to a place here in Athens called the Branded Butcher, and let me tell you, it is really, really good! If you are ever in Athens and want a special place to eat please don't hesitate to check these guys out. You will not regret it. We shared some Pork Belly Confit, Trotters, Scotch Egg (on the house BTW :) ),  Georgia Gold Cheddar and Green Hill cheese, and the Pork Chop plate (which was HUGE!). I also had a few special cocktails called the Daiquiri (Rum, sugar, and lime). The waiter told me it was served Kennedy style. I must say that they were very tasty! Here is a picture of the menu for all you foodies:

Our anniversary also signals to me that another one of my favorite events is right around the corner, and this is SIEGE, which stands for the Southern Interactive Entertainment & Game Expo. I look forward to this every year as it gives me a chance to hangout with other gaming professionals and researchers in the gaming and digital media field. There are discussion panels and networking parties all weekend. A bonus for me this year is that I got to attend for free as I was asked to help give a talk on motion capture technology. This was a huge honor for me and I shared my knowledge from my published research involving the X-Box Kinect and PlayStation Move. I now feel like a professional, but I still have so much more to accomplish as I feel that I have only scratched the surface of the knowledge that is left to be gained. This is a very exciting field to be in right now as the research opportunities are endless, especially if I decide to couple this with my interest in Artificial Intelligence.

In addition to SIEGE, I am also preparing for a panel talk about the commonalities between game theory and education as part of the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference.  Namely this panel will cover how games and game theory can be used in, not only the University Honors Program, but college education in general. As part of the abstract I wrote about game theory that suggests that people are motivated in games by SAPS (Status, Access, Power, and Stuff). In Education this can be the same too. As we all play games for different reasons (maybe for SAPS?), so we too go to school and participate in honors for different reasons. Some of us do it to gain status, or access to things we previously didn't have, or to gain a power that other uneducated people don't have. Or maybe it is other stuff such as the sake of learning or just the simple idea of enjoying the journey and fellowship. Either way you put it we are all playing this game together. I hope this idea is well received.

Emily Tells me how proud she is of me, but I am in awe of her and always have been (and probably always will be). For starters she is awesome! But also, she is the mother of my child and carries Riker around with such strength and clarity! I really don't know how she is able to continue going to work and performs on average 7 massages a day. She really is a shining example of a strong and confident woman and I love her for it. I mean, she is now about 26 weeks pregnant and is still going strong! Just check out these new pregnant pics!

22 weeks

25 weeks

As Emily's belly grows with each passing day, so does Riker's strength. He is kicking and punching up a storm, especially in the evening after we eat supper. Just tonight I was sitting next to Emily and she said, "Quick! Put your hand here!", and she grabbed my hand and placed it on her stomach. As soon as she did, Riker seemed to know that I was there and he kicked about 5 times in a row! It was like a machine gun firing off! It was pretty cool. :)

With all the baby fever in the house I've decided it might be time for me to get into better shape. It has come to light that high blood pressure and heart problems seem to run on both sides of my family tree so I really want to start now to become more heart health conscious. Running seems to be a logical choice in achieving this goal, and because of this Emily signed me up for the the Down and Dirty Mud Run which happened just recently. This is a 5k run with obstacles which, well, get you muddy! Emily's family came down from NC (Ruth, Jeff, Grayson and her boyfriend Michael) and we had a blast. Our friends Laci and Alan also raced. While Ruth amd I did the 5k portion, Grayson, Laci,, and Alan participated in the longer 10k version. We had a blast and this event helped raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project . Here are a few pictures from the event:

Lookin' Ahead and Gettin' Ready

As you can see, we had a muddy mess, but it was really fun!

Speaking of Grayson, Guess what? SHE GOT A TEACHING JOB!!!!! HOORAY! We are all so happy for her and proud, so if you see her wish her luck and give her a nice congrats! She deserves it!

One more notable mention is the while they were here I got help from Jeff and we put together Riker's crib. It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. We got this from Target because we fell in love with it as soon as we saw it. This crib not only matches our own bed in the master bedroom, but can also grow with Riker. It can be adjusted to fit an infant, toddler, and then a little boy as it can convert to a twin bed. Check it out:

We really like it so far.

Well thats about it for now. I'll post an update again real soon. Now I have to get back to the grind of writing program code for a few projects for school as well as trying to study for the GRE (even though my dad thinks I should, in his words, "Start a career", but I believe that this is part of my career so there!. Wish me luck!

Cheers!

-josh

It's a...........

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right folks! It's a boy. If we were betting I would have lost money because I had a feeling little Skelchell was going to be a girl. Don't ask me why, I just did. Emily was right all along so she wins the pot of gold. Or a foot massage. Knowing her she'd rather have the foot massage.

As soon as the technician put the sensor on Emily's belly and I saw the picture and knew what it was. She showed us this and asked, "Can you tell what it is?"

I said, "It's a boy!"

What an amazing and awesome feeling it is to know that I'm going to be a dad, and I'm going to have  a son. A boy to call my own and carry on my name. When I was a kid my Aunt and Uncle called me Bubba, short for Bubba Lee Roy. As soon as I told my Aunt what our baby was she declared, "Little Bubba."

Pretty Cool. Pretty cool indeed.

After this was done the Technician took additional measurements and readings. Everything is normal and little Skelchell is healthy, alive, and kicking! Between all the little boys in our extended families we could probably form a football team. No really. We should get on top of this idea. No fantasy crap. I'm talking about the real deal.

So without holding y'all up any longer Here are some pictures to make you smile. :)

Meet

Riker James Skelton 

Spelling still yet to be determined....

Make it so Number One! Bonus geek points to you if you know what that is from. Now ENGAGE! 

Yeah, He looks like daddy huh? :)

And a bit shy?

So cool. I've always thought newborns and babies in utero looked like aliens, but not our Riker!

And now for some cute feet....

What a minute..... that's not his feet. Slides must have gotten rearranged...... :)

Sorry about that. Here we go.

See, he's already training to be a fighter. He does have some Skelton blood in him after all. See what I mean?

And one final one of the whole thing.

He sure is handsome. Just like his Pops....just like me. :)

You can probably tell I am very excited, and already proud. He's already done so good! Mommy (or as I like to call her, "Mama", (inside joke)) is doing very well. Some of Emily's morning sickness is very slowly starting to get weaker, but it is still there. Especially after eating. Her feet are starting to hurt a bit, but that's nothing that a little massage won't help. It will be my duty to start doing that soon enough.

We are so excited that we already started going through all the hand-me-downs that Aunt Ashley and Uncle Daniel gave us. Everything is so cute and adorable! There are a nice amount of clothes, but we are still missing some Star Wars stuff, some Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic stuff, Rock -n- Roll stuff, and maybe some Tie-Dyed stuff. We'll have to remedy this. :)

Ok guys, it's time to go, but don't be sad. Be happy that we get to welcome a new member into the world; Our son.

Next time we'll have some new pictures of Emily's baby belly too.

Cheers,

- Josh

Pictures! 18.5 Weeks! ...Been a While Huh?

Hey everybody! It has been a while since either Emily or myself have posted. Actually from looking at the date of the last post and the baby calendar it has been about 6.5 weeks since we've sent out an update. Fortunately we have seen some, if not most of you, but for the rest here you go!

We have been super busy (as usual), though we did get to have a couple of weeks for some down time up at Green Pond. Green Pond is always a good time since it lends itself so nicely for rest and relaxation. We have gone annually for the last few years, and hopefully there will be many more. I got to see some great family and old friends while there. And as usually I took the train into NYC to visit the NYC Dawgs. Next year SkelChell will be here and I can't wait to introduce him/her to this yearly tradition of swimming, eating, sleeping, playing, eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping, and fishing. :)

Here are few Pics from Green Pond. I really thought I took more, but maybe they are on my phone....

Yeah..... we had a blast.

As soon as Emily and I landed in GA we had to get back to the grindstone. Work for Emily, school and work for me. Just a few weeks in and we got a visit from both of our parents! Mom and Gary came down for a day visit. We went to Inoko Sushi Express for Mom's birthday lunch. And yes, Mama had some raw fish, and I think she liked it. :)

Ruth and Jeff came down for a few days mainly to bring us some stuff from our trip, but they helped out so much more than that! While they were here we went to the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle for Emily's birthday. We all ate like southern aristocrats and as always it was awesome! Thanks guys for all that you do!

So now the moment you've all been waiting for. No we don't know the sex of the baby yet, but I do have Pics! Below you'll find a few pictures of Emily's baby belly from the last few weeks. At first there is little change, but then.... well, see if you can tell.

 So here she is at.......

8.5 weeks

10 weeks

12 weeks

AND,

18.5 weeks

We are half way through this thing now! It feels pretty crazy, but kinda not real at the same time. It is hard to explain, but I'm sure it will seem real soon enough. All the books say that the baby's ears are developed and at the right place by now. Em and me kept thinking of cool stuff to say or listen to in order to stimulate the baby. That is when I had an awesome idea. Actually this idea falls into the epic category. Just then I leaned down to Emily's belly and in my best Darth Vader voice I repeated those lines that we all know and love, "...I am your father". It. Was. Awesome. 

Ok guys. It is late. I'm tired. I still have a couple of things to do, but I want to go to bed. I hope you really like the post. Let us know what you think of the belly. Do you see a difference? I do, and it is exciting.

Thanks for all the good vibes. We love all of you and can't wait to welcome SkelChell into the fold.... along with the new Pugh creation. Duel baptism anybody?

Until next time, 

Cheers,

-Josh

Week 12: Keep Truckin' On

Hey guys,

So week twelve is here, and man it seems to have come up on us so fast! Emily and I have been so busy with life that, if not for the already standing doctor appointment, we might not have known it was here. Life gets in the way I guess. Emily has been busy with work 5+ days a week, while I have been driving to take classes, and help teach programming at Southern Poly four days a week. I took on ten credit hours this summer which is a lot for a summer semester.. Also, two research papers I coauthored have been accepted to the CGames conference in Kentucky; a big deal for me. So yeah, life has a way of filling your time and creeping up on you. for us, it likes to not only creep, but sneak up on us and scare the crap out of us. :)

Enough about life dressing like a bogey man and scaring you, and more about week 12 of our baby adventure! As Emily has mentioned in previous posts, she hasn't been feeling great. I feel for her every time I see that frown and know that it is all for love.... our love manifesting itself as a little baby that we can love on and be a family with. I like to cook, but so far it has been rough since almost everything makes Emily feel queasy, so we've pretty much been playing by ear day-by-day to see what she might be in the mood for. I can understand now why people might gain weight during their, or their wife's pregnancy. I was real good about going to the gym until about 2 weeks ago. I gotta go swimming though because my crazy butt signed up for an aquathon. For those of you that might not know what this is, well let me explain.

First you put on an uncomfortable bathing suit of which makes you feel bad, since everybody will be pointing and laughing at you because you are of the following:
                         1. Hairy (which means the pool will clog)
                         2. Slightly overweight (which alone would not be a problem, but                                                                        combined with a bunch of normal sized people might make the                                                                      pool overflow.
                         3. Cardiovascularly out of shape (which pretty much means you will                                                                 have a heart attack when trying to swim eight laps, followed by a                                                                   5k run.).

And by you I mean me.....

Good times..... I think.

I keep telling myself that it is all for the baby.... It's all for the family.

And without furthur adieu (hehe I said further) Here are the new glamour shots of our SkelChell creation!

The picture on the bottom is my favorite. You can clearly see the profile of little SkelChell, and also a leg, foot, toes, and a hand. And if you look closely enough you can see little baby saying, "Yo! what you lookin' at?". Okay, I made the last part up. But seriously, look at that melon! Like father, like baby. A Bubba Jr in the making? We'll see. Maybe we'll have to special order a big football helmet some day, just like they had to do with me. You know.... because I'm awesome and have a big head.

After the pics were taken, Emily had to stay later to give blood. Around this time they recommend that mothers-to-be have tests done to make sure the baby is healthy both physically and genetically. The sonographer said the measurements looked consistent with a normal baby. Apparently if the baby might have something like down syndrome, the measurements are different around the spine and neck. See, you learn something new everyday. And to think that you didn't know you'd get a science lesson while reading this blog. tisk, tisk...

So there you go. here is you dose of SkelChell love. Keep sending out the good vibes because we can feel them and they do work. I'll put the pics of Emily's stomach ASAP. maybe this weekend so be on the lookout.

Love ya! Mean it.

JS

Hey again! Sorry for the delay in posting, but Josh and I have been busy and the time seems to be flying by. We are now at 11.5 weeks. On Wednesday we have our 12 week ultrasound so we will have more pictures coming soon.
I continue to struggle with this so -called morning sickness. And all of the formerly pregnant women are all giving me advice on what could help. And I have tried it all- B6, ginger, tea, saltines, not eating, seabands, eating what sounds good....It pretty much all leads down the same road and I have been feeling yucky most of these weeks. Thanks for friends and coworkers who have patiently and kindly tried to make me as comfortable as possible. I am hanging in there with the hope that , like "most" women, I will have a surge of energy and feel really good going into the second trimester. Here's to hoping...

So we hit the eight week mark yesterday. The doctor has given us a January 29, 2014 due date. Sorry for leaving that out of our post last week. Everything has been going smoothly, though I will confess to feeling pretty crappy for the last week. The nausea has been seemingly neverending, though I have avoided the actual vomiting. Eating has been a challenge and frustrating because I can tell that I am hungry. I want to eat- but I just can't. So I have been struggling a little.
 Josh is taking good care of me and trying to come up with things that I can stomach. He has let me lie on the couch and rest after work while he cooks and cleans ( or at least cooks :) )   He is SSSOO Excited!!! We should have a picture up soon so we can document the growing baby even though nothing is showing yet.

After much anticipation, we finally went to our first doctor's appointment today. And it is official. WE ARE HAVING A BABY!! Josh and I got to see our little one on the big screen. We could even see the heartbeat fluttering. It was crazy. We also got loads of information about what to do and not do....and it is a lot of information. We left excited and a little overwhelmed. This is gonna be fun. Of course, on the way home we had to stop and get a celebratory cheeseburger. I just can't get enough of the burgers!! And then Josh told everyone we know and some people that we don't know our great news. Our friends are all excited for us. All in all, this was a great day. Here are the glamour shots from today. ENNNNJJJJJOOOY! (Implied hand sweep)