There’s really very little else to write about today.  I read up on Photoshop CS4, Amanda watched the the first hour of the first episode of the new season of The Bachelor, which features the runner up from last year.  (She recorded the rest.)  Not that I keep up with it, but one cool thing is that he’s a single dad.  A few of the girls on the show actually have a kid too.

Yeah, really, that’s about all I’ve got to write about today.

Zach Dotsey

We’ll still call little Pistachio little Pistachio this week, but as you may have read Amanda and I have been busy narrowing down names, so perhaps by next week we’ll use a real name!  We also no longer need to refer to the baby with the gender-neutral “it” as we can now use “she” and “her”.  How exciting!

This week our baby girl is described as being about the size of a chicken breast.  Amanda and I both cut up some chicken breasts with the dinner we ate at Reel Cafe the other day, so not only do we have a recent and atactile memory of the size of our baby, but a reference like that also makes me feel a little gross about having eaten it.  I’m sure I’ll get over it.

Our little girl is also yawning, which we saw on the ultrasound on Friday, and hiccupping.  She’s also developed fingerprints!

Amanda should be able to feel her moving around now too, and when I went to kiss Amanda good night she said she could in fact feel movements.  Not long ago she said she thought she could feel something, but she didn’t sound uncertain tonight.  That’s so profound.  I laid my head on her stomach when she said that, just wishing I could feel something.  I suppose our girl will be kicking and punching soon enough though.

Amanda finished her penultimate Days episode and we saw that the Carolina Tar Heels were down by six to Boston College.  Let me give you some perspective here.  All I’ve heard all season is how awesome this Tar Heel squad is and how they’ve got such a terrific shot at going undefeated for the entire season.  The Boston College Eagles were picked to finish eleventh (out of twelve) in the ACC.  Tonight was the ACC season opener for both teams.

Nuff said

Amanda decided that we’d jinx it if we watched it all, but I had turned off a game of Fallout 3 to come watch it, so she hurried through her show while I sat at the kitchen table and snacked on carrots and ranch dip.  After Days was over I stayed right where I was, nervously munching on baby carrots.  BC was doing well all game and Carolina just wasn’t making shots like they usually do.  The Heels got to within four towards the end, but thankfully they couldn’t pull it off, losing 85-78, much to my delight.  So now this high and mighty great Tar Heel team is tied for last in the ACC.  Oh, and it was at Chapel Hill.  Beautiful!

Gerald Henderson contributes to Dukes beatdown of the Hokies

Next up, Duke opened up ACC play against Virginia Tech, who has played Duke really tough the past few years.  The game came on a few minutes in, since Carolina-BC ran long (in my joy I didn’t even noticed) and Duke was up 11-0.  The game normalled out a little though and the Hokies came on pretty strong to start the second half, turning an eight point deficit at the half to I think a four point one in just over two minutes.

Coach K called a time out at about 17:30 and from then on the Blue Devils tore it up.  They ended up allowing only thirteen points, 13 points! for the rest of the half.  It was Virginia Tech’s worst offensive performance in nine years.

Stanford beat Arizona, too.  I pull for Stanford because their new coach this year is Johnny Dawkins, a star at Duke and later a longtime assistant coach.  Other than Kentucky losing a tied game to Louisville on a three point shot with 2.8 seconds left on the clock, it was a wonderful day for basketball!

Amanda and I, what else, but got up and went to Port City Community Church this morning.  We ran into Kyle and Lorin Van Zandt on the way in and talked to them for a few minutes before heading in just as the service was starting.  It was lead today by Todd Fields, who is from Atlanta and wrote a lot of the songs we sing in church on a weekly basis.

The message Mike Ashcraft gave us today was one revisiting the last couple years at this time: My One Word.  It’s a twist on the old New Year’s Resolution where you just pick one single word and focus on it, instead of picking a bunch of things you want to change, failing on one then letting it all go.  It was really a very challenging sermon.

Amanda and I happened to sit next to a couple we’d met a few times at Blake and Stephanie Konny’s place before.  I hate to admit that I can’t think of their names right now, but the guy has the same birthday as me.  We talked to them for a few minutes then talked to Kristen Barriner, whom we haven’t seen in quite a while.  She and her long time boyfriend, Rob Peterson, split not too long ago and she’s working on putting things back in order.  She seemed to be doing well though.  She gave us a congratulatory card about finding out our baby is a girl.

While we were talking to her, Nick Warkentien came up and told me that things weren’t looking good for Mike Paschal’s brother, Chris, who had been in a car accident yesterday.

As we were walking out of the building we heard our names called and saw Jeaneal Guy.  We talked to her for a minute or two too then headed off to pick up some bagels at Ken’s.  We were going to pick up a dozen but Amanda wanted the cheddar, which they were out of, so we got a couple to go and ate them at home.

We didn’t do much for the day.  I caught up on some things on this website while Amanda caught up on her Days of Our Lives DVRed episodes.  We played Little Big Planet for a little bit, but Amanda wasn’t feeling it too much today so we only completed two levels.  Other than that we just sort of took it easy until the basketball games.

Amanda went to bed and I played a game of Left 4 Dead with Michael.  He died at the very end of the game.  We were playing with two guys who would just run way up ahead of us and not play as a team, which can be pretty annoying.

Zach Dotsey

Lilian — Isabelle — Maggie — Jane — Jewel — Rose — Melia — May

For a long time our front runner was Lilian Isabelle or Lilian Isabella, and I’d call her Lilybelle.  I just think that’s so cute.  Then we also really liked Maggie Jane.  Today Amanda came up with the idea of combining tow names into one, such as MaggieMay or the aforementioned nickname, Lilybelle.  We think we’ve come up with something, but it’s kinda long and we’re not 100% in favor of it yet.

We decided that today was the day to do our Christmas undecoration.  I took the lights off the roof while Amanda started packing up all the little houses.  That all went fine, but then we  had to figure out what to do with our fake Christmas tree.  I wanted to get a tarp or a canvas of some sort, cover it, tie it tight at the truck so bugs wouldn’t get in it then put it in the shed.  Amanda wanted to cram it into a crawlspace.  Since she’s pregnant she won, so first I tried to take it upstairs without taking the lights off.  That wasn’t happening so we finally surrendered to having to take the branches off, but of course we had to take the lights off first to do that.

Long frustrating story short, we got all the branches off, wrapped all the sizes together with plastic bags and stuffed them into the original box, which was stuffed in the crawlspace in our closet.  It’s now going to be used for pretty much nothing but the Christmas tree.

Whatever, it’s all done now.  We got everything back in order in the living room, and it looks a little funny to me now with all the open space.

Michael came by a little later.  We wanted to scan the most recent ultrasound pictures, but I needed help getting the end table out of the guest room and he wanted a haircut, so he just brought his scanner over here.  He helped me move the end table, I scanned the pictures and Amanda cut his hair.

At 7:00 we went to Kevin and Lauren Millard’s house to have dinner.  I had called Kevin earlier to see if they wanted to get together and they ended up inviting us over.  They have a very nice house, which made me wonder how many pictures Kevin’s taken over the years.  (He’s a photographer.)  We had a great time with them.  It’s only the third time we’ve even seen them, but it felt to me like we’ve been hanging out with them for a long time.  They’re just a very easy couple to get along with and feel comfortable with.

We played Scrabble over there, which they apparently haven’t played much of before.  Amanda won pretty easily.  I was within four points of her for most of the game but she pulled away at the end.

Mike Paschal’s brother was in a car accident today.  His kid and wife are fine, but Chris, Mike’s brother, had to have surgery and is in pretty serious condition.  The last update I heard said that when his wife said she loved him he was able to squeeze her hand, which is certainly promising.  Make sure to say a prayer for his recovery and for what the family is going through.

Zach Dotsey
!

I’m so excited for you guys!!! I can imagine how exciting you both must be. I bet this makes it more real!
~Lisa Hauenstein

Congratulations!!! That is so exciting to find out and start decorating and buying things.  Our little girl is precious so I am sure that you will have a ball.  No sleep but a lot of fun
~Kelia Pless

Wow!!! How exciting!

We are so pumped for you two and we can’t wait to meet her!!! Hope that you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We’ll look for you at church on Sunday!
~Kyle and Lorin Van Zandt

Congratulations Zach!

That is so exciting and I am so happy for you, Amanda, and the whole Dotsey family!  Amanda looks adorable!!!

You will make a wonderful dad!  Another friend of mine from UNCG and his wife just had a baby girl…and soon that will be you too! 

Sending you smiles for what is sure to be a very fun 2009!
~Liesl Ehardt 

Hey bro! I’m excited that little Addy will have a little girly cousin to play and grow up with!!! that makes me so happy;) I almost already have some onesies to give you that fit Addison when she came home from the hospital, can’t wait to give them to you and some maternity clothes for Amanda. If you get your baby a take home outift, I recommend getting preemie, 0-3 and most newborns WON’T fit. When I was reading your e-mail, I thought about the ultrasounds and I believe I cried both times. It’s so emotional! Now you need to let me know when the shower will be so I can make sure I’m there and I will let my manager know when you guys are due so she knows to be expecting me to take some time off around then to go see my first  niece (on the Dotsey side b/c I have like 10 on the Sawyer/Terry side, actually,7, but who’s counting)! Love you guys!
~Andra Sawyer

That is awesome!!!  Congratulations!  When is she due?
~Mark Loudermilk

Congrats!!!
~Seth Holloman

Congrats! We’ve got 2 girls and they are the best!
~Jennifer (Elrod) Lilje

Yay for girls!!!
~Stephanie Konny

Congrats on the girl!!!! That is so exciting!
~Dana Holloman

Congrats to you guys! Welcome to the world of pink
(and)
Congrats on baby girl! We both have girls growing in our bellies
We should get together for dinner sometime and talk baby.
~Lauren Millard

OOH!!! Congrats!!!!
~Robyn Meek

Congrats!!
~Cristen Bullock

Yay!
~Robin Crabtree

Congratulations on the girl! Hope you’re feeling well.
~Chris (Schoch) Mowbray

Congratulations!  Girls are great, and they treasure their Daddies.  Your wallet will never again feel as heavy as it does now
~Julie (Patton) Colvard

Congratulations man… girls are GREAT!
~Rich Biagini

CONGRATS! That’s so exciting.
~Justin Hauenstein

Welcome to the girls club!  Congratulations!  Guess our babies may have the same name
~Amanda (Laeng) Craig

Congrats! Maybe you’ll get a sweet little boy next time (future Duke b-ball player).
~Amy (Turner) Perry

Congratulations! Can’t wait to see lots of pics!!
~Stephanie (Talley) Woodside

Little girl clothes are much cuter than little boy clothes.  Congrats!
~Jason Revill

A girl!

This morning, before Amanda and I went to see the baby doctor, I told her that while I’ve been really excited to find out what our baby’s sex will be, and I’d be excited to find out what it is, I didn’t think I’d have a huge reaction.  I mean, I’ve said all along that I’d be happy with a boy or a girl.  But when we were told that we actually were having a girl there were so many things that rushed through my head and I have to admit that there was a tear or two that escaped.

The biggest question we’ve been getting as we’ve called our friends and family is, “What are you going to name her?”  (It’s so cool ro be able to say “her” now instead of “it”.)  We’ve got four or five names we’re trying to decide on.  I do want to go ahead and pick one though, because I want to have that connection with her from the get-go.

After we left the doctor we decided to head to Target to pick up a dress.  Other people have gotten some things for the baby, but this was the first item we bought for her.

Anyway, we’re really excited and can’t wait to have our little girl!

My rule for my autographed Duke basketball posters is to use the same from over and over, just putting each subsequent year’s poster in front of the last one in a poster frame that I have (until they win another national championship, at which time I’ll get another frame and start over).  This year’s poster is about four feet long though, so I had to get something a little more custom.

We hung out there for a while until someone mentioned hot dogs.  That got me to wanting a Trolley Stop hot dog.  Barry wanted one too so we drove to Trolley Stop, but they were closed so we went to Tower 7.  He got a tuna taco, which honestly sounds disgusting to me, and I got a quesadilla.  Amanda asked me to pick her up a chicken taco so I did.  Barry paid for it all, saying it was in honor of our daughter.

After Amanda and I left the Frazelles’ we went back to our place for a little bit before heading downtown to eat at Reel Cafe.  We’d made plans with Justin and Lisa Hauenstein a few days ago to do it, and Nick and Amy Warkentien tagged along as well.  They drove separate though because they had some friends arriving for a visit from Charlotte later on.

Justin and Lisa Hauenstein with Zach and Amanda Dotsey outside Reel Cafe

Nick and Amy Warkentien with Zach and Amanda Dotsey, also outside Reel Cafe

We ate, talked, had a nice time.  After we finished Nick and Amy took off and the rest of us walked up and down the Riverwalk for a little bit, just chatting and hanging out.  I really like Justin and Lisa, but we haven’t made a lot of time to hang out with them since we met them.

Zach Dotsey

Amanda had two dreams about today’s ultrasound over the past couple days.  The first one was that we showed up late so they wouldn’t let us have it.  In the second they said that since we had the emergency ultrasound a few weeks ago to make sure that the baby was okay they wouldn’t let us have one today.

So today, Amanda and I got up this morning and went to the baby doctor to find out if we were having a boy or a girl.  We didn’t sit in the waiting room too long when we were called back to one of the examining rooms.  We both thought this was a little curious because normally you get your ultrasound then you get your exam.  It turned out that for some reason there was no note of us being scheduled to have said ultrasound, which is what would show us what we were having.

Amanda handled it pretty well, I thought.  The nurse came back and told us that the ultrasounds were all booked up today.  Amanda, trying not to get too upset, told the nurse that she had taken the day off of work for this and that there had been times when we’d had to wait for a long time in the waiting room because someone else had needed to get squeezed in.  Amanda was firm but not rude.

The doctor came in and talked to us a little and when forward with Amanda’s exam, which was just listening to the baby’s heartbeat.   While that’s always nice to hear, it’s nothing compared to seeing the baby or finding out the sex.  Amanda’s fine, by the way, except that her iron is a little low, so we picked up some iron supplements for her later.

After the exam the doctor put us back in the waiting room and told us he’d see what he could work out.  Amy Warkentien showed up a few minutes later and Amanda told her what was going on.  The lady next to Amanda said the same thing had happened to her before.  Apparently the place just isn’t the best at keeping up with who’s scheduled for what.

Amy got called away for her exam, and a few minutes later we were too.  We thanked everybody profusely.

I don’t really know what to say about the ultrasound.  It’s one thing knowing that you’re having a baby, but knowing what sex the baby is going to be just throws on a whole new layer of reality.  The ultrasound technician showed us how we could tell that she’s a girl (Amanda later joked to people that it was great that she’d had her legs spread to show us, but she’d better not spread them any more until she’s married) then showed her to us at a few different angles.  She was moving around a bit.  We saw her stretch and yawn, which was amazing, and we saw her tongue.  We were also shown that her bladder was full, which wasn’t a surprise to Amanda.

The first thing we bought for our baby girl

My eyes were glassy and there was a tear or two that got out.  We headed on out of there and decided to stop by Target to pick up a dress for our baby girl.  On the way we called a bunch of people, Amanda’s mom being the first one.  Amanda asked if she wanted to know if she was having a grandson or a granddaughter and Karen said she had to think about it.  She hemmed and hawed for a minute then asked what the name was going to be.  I said, “We don’t know yet, we’ve got a bunch of girl names.”  Then I clamped my hand over my mouth, not having meant to say that, but she was excited.  We then called Amanda’s dad, Phil, then my parents, Amanda’s grandparents, tried calling my grandparents, our siblings, the Frazelles (we called Hannah first, who was screaming like we knew she would), the Warkentiens, the Lambeths, Jason (who had a dream last night that we were having a girl), Aunt Robbie and I think a couple others throughout the day.

We also put the news on Facebook and I sent out a newsletter, and we’ve gotten a number of responses from those.

After we got home we took some pictures of ourselves with the dress we bought at Target, then took some pictures of the dress, the pants to go along with it and some little shoes we bought.

I’ve had so many thoughts go through my head.  How sweet it will be to have a little girl and how  wrapped around her finger I’m sure I’ll be.  How I can teach her how to surf, and watch her play on the beach.  How worried I’ll be when she starts getting into boys and going on dates.  How I’ll be able to walk her down the aisle.  There’s just so much.

Amanda was hoping for a girl.  Part of it has to do with the fact that she’s the only girl in the house (Bruce, Harvey, Cobb, even our fish Gotham and I are all male), but I think it also stems from the fact that originally we both wanted  a girl.  Andra had the first grandson on my side of the family, so I was hoping to have the first girl until Andra’s second child turned out to be one.  After that I honestly didn’t care anymore.

The majority of people seemed to be leaning towards a girl, actually.  Michael, Hannah and Aunt Robbie all said they would like to see us have a boy, but Amanda, her mom, her grandma (three out of her four granchildren are already girls, not to mention the two of her own), Jason and I think a couple other people wanted a girl.

It really doesn’t matter though.  All in all, she’s healthy so far and that’s all I’m concerned about.

I’m having a little girl!

Zach Dotsey

Amanda Dotsey throws up some gang signs while waiting at Brixx

We went home after that and picked up a little.  I swear, in the last month we’ve done more cleaning and picking up in this house than we have probably since we moved in.  Anyway, after a bit we went out to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Nick and Amy Warkentien rode with us, but we were meeting Tim and Jenny Cain plus Eric and Missy Boneske.  It was a lot more crowded than we expected it to be though, so Amanda and I ended up sitting on our own.  We did see Anna and Barry Frazelle there too.  They’d planned on seeing the movie last night, but didn’t.

I think everyone liked the movie, although some people thought it was too long.

We went to Starbucks after the movie then we went to Brixx with Nick and Amy.  Amanda and I got the BBQ chicken pizza, which only gave me a mild reaction later on.  Back at the house, we introduced the Warkentiens to Little Big Planet.

Zach Dotsey