SURPRISE!

We've called and emailed many of you to tell you our good news about Liz being pregnant. We saw the heartbeat today, and the doctor said everything looked great and we could begin telling people! The heart was beating at 128 beats per minute, and it was perhaps the most incredible and miraculous thing Liz or I have ever seen. We have a definite due date now of February 27th, but the doctor said we would just shoot for February and leave it at that. The pictures show the baby at 7 weeks and 2 days. I've labelled one with where the heart and the head are.

We're so happy everyone knows now so that we can talk about it!

Ginny and Grandma Find Out...

More Videos!

More Videos of Siobhan, and Dolly's 95th birthday back in June!

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Gastroenteritis: Best Diet Ever?

Somewhere, somehow, we've picked up this freeloading germ that is systematically liquifying our intestinal tracts.

I'm moving swiftly into day number 3 with this bug, and my butt is all but married to the toilet lid now. Liz ended up at the hospital last night for fluids because she had become so dehydrated. I've been considering the hospital all day, but unfortunately can't go beyond a 15 foot radius from the bathroom.

I know I've lost a good 10 to 15 pounds, and at this rate, I should be fairly thin by my birthday in August. Maybe everyone can pool their presents into one large gift certificate for the plastic surgeon.

The doctor said we should eat this BRAT diet: Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast. I've eaten a little Rice and Toast, and had some chicken broth, but this is an awful diet. I wish BRAT stood for Beef, Roasted chicken, Angel hair pasta, and Tomato sauce.

I must admit, though, that I've gotten way more than the usual amount of sympathy than is usually doled out in the event that I'm ill. Barb and Doug have been over several times, my wife has made toast for me, even though she's sick too, and everyone keeps asking how I'm doing. I love it, although, I probably should go and check on Liz and make sure that the sympathy is being appropriately reciprocated.

Feel free to call, but I wouldn't come over. That is, unless you have a full body chemical warfare suit that you can just throw on over your clothes. We don't have a decontamination chamber, but I could hose you down and throw bleach on you in the driveway...just a thought.

I must go now...nature's calling, AGAIN.

All The Grandparents Know!

We called my parents today in North Carolina and told them, with Leigh's help! My mother had it figured out just before we told her, but her and Dad were both happy.

We're still going to wait a couple more weeks to tell other people, but it's nice to be able to share our excitement with our families.

We have been so sick today, we think with food poisoning, and being able to tell someone else made us feel a little better.

More to come...

CAUGHT! (Posted on the National Day to celebrate Freedom...Ironic?)

I'm taking a break from my severe stomach disorder to tell you about our conquests over the weekend:

We've caught three squirrels in the traps set by the exterminator we hired to get rid of them.

They are no longer with us, though not in the way you think.

I took the traps down off the roof and drove the squirrels 10 miles away to live in a nice park. (Because if the guy removes them, it's $45 a pop. I can do it myself for free.) This is their only chance. If they come back, I will take the trap off the roof and walk 10 feet to the freezer, where I will place them overnite and then put them back on the roof to serve as a warning to other animals that would like to live in our house rent free.

The exterminator guy went up in the attic and said he didn't see any damage, but he did find a dead squirrel. And it was a BIG sucker! Evidently they DO eat rat poison, and I am preparing an attic buffet made of several different kinds.

It's really too bad squirrel soup is not a favorite in these northern climes. I could be making money hand over fist with all the delicious backyard ingredients. I could serve it with homemade crow pie, as the crows are my next target.

Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie? That's the kind of rugged, forthright, forward thinking that builds civilizations. Toss in a few dozen squirrels, and we've got the beginnings of a new sort of miracle...southern style. I should send this to Larry the Cable Guy. If this doesn't embody what "Git-r-done" means, nothing does!

First Video!

Barb finds out as part of her birthday gift!

Two Down, Two to go!

We told Barb and Doug last night as part of Barb's birthday present. If I can figure it out later, I'll add a video of them finding out.

We're telling my parents tomorrow afternoon. We've hatched a plan with Leigh to take them the picture and we'll tell them over the phone while Leigh shows them. I can't wait to tell them!

My sister called yesterday to see if I knew what the BIG secret was. (How she found out I don't know...but I have a couple of young suspects in mind...) I flat out lied to her and made her believe it was something else! (I pretended to be mad, saying that people never tell me anything and when she finds out what the secret is, to call me immediately!) I love it!

New Technology!

I hope this works! Here's Siobhan playing in the pool from last weekend!

Revelations...

While we are going to wait for a couple more weeks to tell everybody, we are gearing up to tell our parents in the next couple of days.

For Barb and Doug, it will be their first grandchild, for my parents, it will be their third.

We are more excited than all of our Christmases, Birthdays, and any other happy thing put together to share our news.

Makin' Plans!

We know we probably should wait to make any definite decisions, but it's hard not to at least talk about what the future holds.

For instance, we know that we WON'T be naming the baby things like Sven, Inga, Jonesy, or Hillary. (even though we're Democrats...)

We're not going to be THOSE kind of parents who hover protectively over their offspring...like you see in Wifeswap or Supernanny.

Additionally, we will have no problem letting the grandparents babysit as much as they want to. We know that sleep deprivation may be in our future, but the grandparents should help us deal with that!

5 Week Ultrasound...

Here's our first ultrasound image! It's five weeks along, and we go back in two weeks and they say we'll be able to see the heart beating! Amazing!

Inside the tiny black dot is the yolk sac. There's not much to see now, except that it's implanted in the right place, but next time it should be much more vivid!

Superman: Supersucks...

We just got back from seeing Superman Returns. If you want to see a movie that is very much like the old movies, with weak plots and mediocre special effects, then this is your movie. If you want to be entertained, however, don't bother. It was 2 1/2 hours long, and we almost walked out of it. If I hadn't had a pretty good nap in the middle of it, it would have been a total loss. Hopefully this is not indicative of the summer movie fare.

Second Blood Test...

We had to go for another blood test today, and the nurse called and said our numbers looked "beautiful." We go on Thursday afternoon for the first sonogram. They'll be looking for a "dot" they said, but if they give us a picture, we'll post it!

Baby in the Pool!

What a Ham!

Due Date?

We're looking at mid-February for a due date. We'll find out more from the doctor when we have our first sonogram next week.

School's Out For The Summer!

Thank goodness! Thank goodness! Thank goodness!

We're finally out for the summer! We're ready to lounge around and enjoy the pool, except that it's supposed to rain everyday for the next week! Hopefully the sun will find a way to peek through!

Guess What?

At 1:30 this afternoon, we found out that we are going to be parents! (We had an official blood test from the doctor's office to confirm our home test!)

We are so excited, but have decided to wait a little while before we tell anyone. We've been trying for two years, and we want to get through at least the first seven or eight weeks until we start revealing things. Honestly, we were ready to tell everyone the night we found out, but the doctor suggested we be a little more practical and give it a couple of weeks.

We can't wait to tell all of you, but we will post everything here throughout the next few weeks so that you can revisit all that's happened!

-Mike and Liz (and our little blastosphere)

Next to last College Class!

Finished!

We wrapped it up tonight and I only have one class left to go!

Lou Gehrig's Disease / Mrs. Martin

One of the ladies I work with is doing a walk for ALS (or Lou Gehrig's disease). I thought it would be a nice way to remember Mrs. Martin if you'd like to donate.

The weblink is:

http://walk.alsaupstateny.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1040&px=1021482

Just cut and paste the link into your location bar, and it will let you submit a payment directly to the ALS foundation in the name of Fran Morgan, who is the colleague that is doing the walk this year.

Best Compliment Ever!

I let kids borrow stuff all the time. If I have it, and they need it, I'm more than happy to share! The kids know this, and come to me when they are in need, mostly for either a pencil or pen, or for paper.

So yesterday, I let a kid borrow a pen, for probably 20th time, and he was appreciative and thankful of course and offered the following comment, just as sincere as he could possibly be:

Mr. Fisher, you know those really fat people on the Discovery Channel? Well, you're not like any of them...you're a lot smaller than that.

A) The kid was honestly trying to be nice...though I worry that he believes that was the best he could come up with...I mean, I'm funny too!

B) Jenny Craig is looking really good now...so I don't eventually end up on the Discovery Channel.

Summer can't get here fast enough!

Some New Pictures!

Sorry it's been so long since the last update...but HAPPY JUNE anyway! I've started my next to last Master's Class at Buffalo State, and have to go every night until the end of June. I've got one week down, though. I've posted some new pictures of Siobhan and the family. Hopefully the quantity will make up for the lack of quality lately. We are only 18 days away from Summer Vacation...when I'll have A LOT more time to write on the Blog. Hope everyone is well. I'll post again soon!



We went to Patty and John's tonight for dinner and ended up staying to play dominoes. They are cutthroat and relentless but Liz and I ended up with the money at the end of the night. I won twice...which NEVER happens, but luck seemed to be on my side! We had an awesome time tonight! (Patty is Maureen's aunt...)

Liz and Barb at Patty and John's. 

One Happy Little Camper! 

If you ask Siobhan to do "Soft Hands," she puts her hands up to her face and strokes it softly. 

Somebody ended up in time out over this picture. Somebody was asked to stop pulling on the flowers... 

CAUGHT! 

Siobhan LOVES her ball! She kicks it and throws it! 

Someone knows where her teeth are. (And her ears, her eyes, her hair, her belly, her mouth, and her nose...even the boogies!) 

Riding the horsey! 

Reading with Liz. 

We know she's sad, but she looks so much like Caitlin in this picture...we had to post it! 

The Dalai Lama

Well, I've seen Mother Teresa, and now we're going to see the Dalai Lama. He's coming in September to the University of Buffalo to give a lecture on promoting peace across the borders and performing an interfaith service with religious leaders around the area. Barb's friend, Marina, has a son that attends UB and he was able to get us advance tickets before they go on sale to the general public. (and they are expected to go quickly...) If you'd like to join us, tickets are available through UB's website and go on sale Tuesday.

Buffalo News...

I made the Buffalo News today with the posting about the Da Vinci Code. (See Below) You can access what they actually printed from the Buffalo News Online Link by scrolling down the page and looking on the left side. Once there, click on "Opinion," then "Everybody's Column." If you go today, I think mine is the first one there, if you go after today, look for the date (5/28) as you scroll through and look for the entry about the Da Vinci Code.

$316.81

Oh, Happy Day.

8:30 AM - Wake up refreshed.

9:00 AM - Scrounge for food. Find some fruit to eat for breakfast. (Maraschino Cherries in a jar...I poured the juice off, though.) I also had two pickles.

9:15 AM - Watch the three hour TV presentation of Stephen King's "Desperation" in 45 minutes. Fast forwarded through it because it stank, but I wanted to see the ending.

10:00 AM - Called the cable company about how much they overcharge us. Argued with them for about 1/2 an hour with no results.

10:30 AM - Went outside in the back yard to sweep off the back porch and straighten up.

11:30 AM - Hear Liz inside yelling for me to come inside quickly. I walk through the back door, hear my toilet gurgle, then watch is it begins to fill up. I notice my shower is full of a brownish water, and still am heading toward Liz.

11:31 AM - Walk into Liz's bathroom to see her toilet overflowed and her bathtub full of dark water.

11:35 AM - Call Barb and Doug to relay the tragedy and cancel our plans for X-Men 3. (The most tragic part of our day!)

11:45 AM - Talk to the good people at Roto-Rooter, who tell us someone will be there in three hours or so.

3:45 PM - The Roto-Rooter guy extracts what looks like gray, hairy glue from our pipes and comments on how this probably hasn't been done in years. (He also said there were no roots in the pipeline...thank goodness!)

4:45 PM - Everything is flowing normally except the bathroom sink, which the Roto-Rooter guy also has to snake. (For an additional fee of course...)

5:10 PM - I sign my name to a check to the Roto-Rooter man for $316.81, which includes $182 for the outside snake, and the rest for the inside snake.

5:11 PM - Decide to move back home to live with parents. Being an adult is too expensive.

Michael McCocker

We've decided that Taylor Hicks from American Idol is the perfect combination of Michael McDonald and Joe Cocker, thus his new name: Michael McCocker.

Last night's performances were ho hum, but we're hoping he wins tonight. We'll be watching "Lost" and flipping back to American Idol during the commercials. We're taking the phone off the hook, though, because last year we did the same thing and a certain someone called and ruined our moment. That certain someone should remember that Father's Day is just around the corner!

Also, the posting about "The Da Vinci Code" will be appearing in the Buffalo News this week. You can access the Buffalo News from the link in the menus on the left side of this web page. I don't know which day it's expected, but you can check it out for yourself. When you get on their webpage, click on "Opinion," then "Everybody's Column." Look for the one about "The Da Vinci Code." They said they were going to edit it because it was too long. I'm interested to see which parts they keep.

So Dark The Con of Man...

Well, we saw "The Da Vinci Code" last night.

If you've read the book, you'll like the movie, emphasis on like, not love. Most of the main plot points were there, but a few of them were somewhat diminished. If I had not read the book, the movie would have been a little hard to follow. The new twist at the end was well done and I was pretty satisfied.

The best part, though, was the folks demonstrating out at the street where you turn into the movie theater. (I'll post a picture later...) For some reason, people are having a lot of trouble distinguishing between reality and fiction. If one's faith is so easily undermined by a modern novel and movie, how strong is that faith? Zealots don't give the regular folks a whole lot of credit. I'm guessing the assumption (emphasis on "ass") is that unless you are against the whole thing, then you must be letting it infiltrate your beliefs. Two and a half hours of entertainment will hardly undo a lifetime of influence, but I guess weakness is an expectation. I would think the more passionate Christians would embrace this movie as a new way to dialogue with others about religion and its place in society, rather than reverting to the same oppressions and judgements that have started wars in the past. Fortunately, I live in a country where I can still make the decision to see movies like The Da Vinci Code if I want to. Unfortunately, those same freedoms extend to those who sit in judgement about my decision to do so. "Judge not, lest ye be judged," seems to have been overlooked by those that think their opinions are greater than my choices. You know what they say about opinions, though, don't you?

From The Internet Anagram Server...

Funny Anagrams of my name…

A CHESHIRE FILM
A FISH RIM LEECH
A CHISEL HE FIRM
HIM FISH CEREAL
HI LIFE MARCHES
HE FILMS I REACH
HIM FRESH ALICE
HE FISH MIRACLE
HIRE FISH CAMEL
I CLAMFISH HERE
FLASHIER CHIME
HE IS CHILE FARM
CHIEF LIME RASH

I Won The Kentucky Derby!

Well, the horse I bet on, Barbaro, won. Ironically, I won a very lucky $13. How do you like them apples?

Our family picture that we had made the day before Easter. 

Maureen cut Siobhan's hair, can you tell? We couldn't either. It's just as curly and poofy as ever! 

A little smile... 

Siobhan making a face. 

Siobhan giving a high five. See the partial biscuit in her hand? The rest is in our house as a trail to find her way back to the living room. The Grimm Brothers are thinking of rewriting their classic Hansel and Gretel to include Siobhan, as the biscuit dropping / trail making cousin. 

A better picture of our "Easter Bunny." Note the progeny in the next picture... 

We've got baby bunnies in our yard now, too. 

The teacher that teaches across from Liz appeared on our TV a couple of weeks ago coming out of the triple overtime Sabres Hockey Game. Luckily, we Tivo-ed the event and were able to rewind, pause, and photograph!