Showered with Love

Dear friends and family,
Some things you expect in life and some things catch you completely off guard. As a fan of surprises myself, I have been pleasantly bamboozled and "caught off guard" by your excitement for our baby. I should mention that this baby's grandma Wehage has sent him/her lots of packages full of wonderful things both snuggly and practical, sweet and sentimental. His/Her grandpa has brought countless gifts for all of us, and never seems to mind indulging the Mama!

Then, on June 8, 2007, my friends and former co-workers at NEOUCOM (Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine) threw a surprise baby shower for us in Hudson. Armed with what can only be described as an obscene amount of gifts, these wonderful people shared dinner with me and let me babble on and on about being pregnant and preparing for this baby's arrival. Thank you everyone, the unexpectedness of it all has kept me quite emotional for the last week.

The very next day, June 9, 2007, my friends and dear colleagues--some presently and others formerly of the University of Akron--threw us our second baby shower. Complete with some of my favorite babies: Makaia Ross and Riley Jo Bemiller Kelley, who aren't really babies anymore, we ate and laughed and caught up on life both within and outside of academia. Their gifts for this child were personal and very reflective of how well they know Geoff and I. It was like going home being there again and I can only describe the day as wonderfully exhausting.

Yesterday (June 14, 2007), Geoff and I started our day at his job (Ohio Department of Mental Health) with the most thoughtful co-workers anywhere. I know what you may be thinking about a bunch of researchers, but I'm telling you, these geeks (which I use with the respect only another geek can bestow) can PARTY! They brought in a delightful brunch that included quiche, freshly homemade waffles (in the shape of hearts), potatoes, fresh fruit, and chocolate muffins! And, the men participated in a teddy bear diapering contest (Geoff lost and even dropped the baby). The discussion was lively and we heard advice, stories, and lots of fun adventures with kids. We ended that party with a great discussion about naming baby grove and here are some of the highlights:

We liked Remington Steel Grove (RSG). Also, there is Chance, a very statistical kind of name. Bell(e), as in curve. I think the measures of central tendency: Mean, Mode, Median; would make good names, but not the measures of variability: Stan(dard Deviation),Vari(ance), I(nterquartile) R(ange). Some the statistical tests and measures, would be cute: ANOVA (Anna), t-test, Bonferroni, Chi-Square, Fisher's Exact Test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Polychoric Correlation Coefficient. Some the population descriptives would be OK: Norm(al). Others, not so: Skewed. But, they all make Remington Steel Grove sound better.

Still, I would prefer that you stay in the Rock genre...is Tesla still a contender? What about Winger? Warrant, Poison, and Ratt probably wouldn't be good choices but Motley Crue Grove does have a nice ring to it!

So, as you can see...the Great Naming Debate is still on and we have yet to really make up our minds and share those choices with anyone. As we get closer, I thought I might start up a pool (I miss March Madness). Send me your guesses for Baby Grove's birth date, birth weight, and sex...I will keep a tally up on the blog.

Thank you all for the love, the many wonderful presents, and for caring about this kid. He/She should do fine growing up among so many good people. Wendy