Off to the Hospital!

Bryant and Becky arrived at the Hospital last night. They are in a lovely large room. Mom and Baby are both doing great! Bryant gets to sleep on the super comfy pull-out, but don't worry he packed lots of snacks! We will keep you updated as the inducement process progresses! We are all super excited to find out if the first "Fruit of the Loomis" is a he or a she!

guest blogger - Aunt Sarah (bryant's lil' sista)

41.5 weeks and still beautiful

I decided I would like to just take a minute to brag about my incredible wife. I have been so amazed with with how well she has reacted to the various trials associated with pregnancy, and she continues to handle everything with so much grace even now that we are almost 2 weeks past the due date!


My dad recently told me about a conversation he had with his neighbor where the neighbor was saying how he believes a woman's character is revealed when she goes through a pregnancy. Well then I guess this pregnancy just confirmed what I already knew.

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This makes me wish I lived in Sweden...

I don't post youtube videos very often, but this one is awesome. I can't imagine a police officer ever doing this in the US. Perhaps some day soon we will see a "NASA Scientist Dancing" Youtube video...



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A list of lists

The places we live keep showing up on lists, so I decided to compile a list of the various lists we have been listed on...

Holland, MI
Rank #2 - Happiest places to live by the 2009 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index

Boulder, CO
Rank #1 - Happiest places to live by the 2009 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index

Louisville, CO
Rank #1 - May 2006 in the book Best Places to Raise Your Family: The Top 100 Affordable Communities in the U.S.
Rank #1 - July 2009 by CNN/Money magazine in 100 Best Place to Live in the U.S.

Columbia / Ellicott City, MD
Rank #2 - July 2010 by CNN/Money magazine in 100 Best Place to Live in the U.S.

It has been amazing to keep having the places we have lived showing up on these "best of" lists and we both feel very blessed that we have been able live in such great places. Now I just need Fredonia, NY to show up on something.

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Becky's Birthday!

Becky's birthday is actually on Monday, but we decided to celebrate all day Saturday, since Saturday's are more fun, and we don't know when this baby will come! We started the day at a cool local coffee shop we just discovered last week (not sure if Zoe the dog is laughing or yawning).

We then went for a short walk with the dog along a river near the coffee shop, and came across this cool swimming hole.


Also, nearby is this bridge which is cool. I could see this being a really awesome picture if I knew how to take pictures.

In the afternoon we then went to see Inception at the IMAX (first time ever to an IMAX...I was impressed, Becky was not). We both thought the movie was great. For Becky's birthday dinner we went to an Italian place in downtown Ellicott City. We had a great time, especially as we realized this was probably our last night out for awhile!

We had such a great day together, just enjoying our last moments before our lives are changed forever. We are so excited to be parents, but have also really enjoyed the first 5 years of our marriage that have been just the two of us (and Zoe the dog). I think after last night we are officially ready for the next phase to begin!

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Neighborhood Shower

Last Sunday our neighbors, Bruce and Nancy, organized a surprise baby shower for the whole street, officially making them the greatest neighbors of all-time. Since we have moved here they have helped us with home improvement projects, given us a dryer, and now put together a baby shower for Becky! This was such a thoughtful thing to do, and was such a great opportunity for us to meet a lot of the neighbors we hadn't had a chance to meet yet.

As it turns out we have a lot of really great neighbors. We had such a great time getting to know the other people on our street. Every one of them brought generous gifts...even the ones we had never even met before! Incredible. Also, Bruce is a chef, so the food was awesome.



Nancy created a beautiful cake and hand-decorated cookies.

Here's a shot of the ladies playing shower games...and Roy. Maybe he was just on his way to the beverage cooler.

It has certainly taken awhile for us to feel like this new place we live is home. Over the past month we are starting to feel much more settled, and the wonderful neighbors around us have been a big part of that.

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The Nursery

Will it be a girl...



or a boy?