Readers of this blog know that about a week ago Anne had to give up cheese nachos because they were making her sick. This was very sad news because she (and I) love cheesy nachos.

Today Anne wanted to go eat lunch at Qdoba (think Chipotle or Freebirds). And I said:

But you only get nachos there?

She replied…

Their nachos are different

Those seemed like famous last words for a pregnant woman who really wants to eat nachos. But wanting to support my wife (and also desiring Qdoba) we went. She ate her 3-cheese nachos and everything seemed to be going well until at the end of the meal she quietly said, “I have a headache”

Uh no…stay tuned.

When Anne and I separately moved to Nashville (not knowing each other), neither one of us had ever lived in the state of Tennessee. Anne moved from Chicago where she spent 10 years after living in numerous places as a military kid. I moved from Texas having been born and raised in Dallas. So when we both settled here (Anne moved in October 2005 and I in May 2006) we didn’t have family, established community or any familiar roots.

But when our child is born sometime next April, they will not lack a Tennessee or Nashville heritage.

On my mom’s side, my great-grandfather was born in Tennessee. My grandfather and grandmother (pictured) met at Hume-Fogg High School in downtown Nashville. They were married here and had all three of their children here in Nashville which includes my mom, Brenda.

My mom and dad moved to Nashville (they were both raised in Ohio and met at Ohio State) as a young couple and this is where their second child (my sister Meredith) was born. My mom became pregnant with me while they were still here and then moved to Dallas where I was born.

So when our child comes into this world they will join their great-great grandfather, great grandparents and grandmother as Tennessee-born. Not a bad heritage for a child whose parents still feel new to Tennessee.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep my record perfect as an expectant father tonight but the Dallas Cowboys pulled out a thrilling 41-37 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Expectant mom was a sleep by the second quarter but I thought I could hear faint chants of our little one yelling, “Romo! Romo!”

We’ve now added “Felix” as a potential boys name. – I just haven’t told Anne yet. (For those who weren’t watching, rookie Felix Jones returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.)

I think God knows that we are forgetful people – that at the first hint of pain we quickly cry out like abandoned children forgetting the blessings and protection of yesterday. So he asks us to remember.

I was reading this morning in Joshua where the Israelites crossed the Jordan river. After they had crossed, God told them to take 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan and put them down at the place where they camped. He said this will be a reminder of what God has done for them. But it wasn’t just a reminder for them. God said that in the future when their children ask what these stones mean they can tell of God’s power and faithfulness.

That story made me think about God’s faithfulness to Anne and I in allowing us to be pregnant. What symbol could we use to remind us of His goodness. When 2 years down the road and the house is loud, busy and chaotic with children and we’ve forgotten that there was a time we prayed for a house of kids, what will be our 12 stones that cause us to pause and say the Lord is good?

I know sometimes people plant trees when a new child is born. Have you ever done something to remember God’s gift of a child for you? We would love to hear your stories. Feel free to comment below.

In life there are many milestones that mark changes or transitions in our individual lives. A pedestrian becomes a driver. A student becomes a graduate. A youth becomes an adult. A single becomes a couple. A renter becomes an owner. A worker becomes retired. Or a middle-ager becomes a discount at Denny’s.

Today marks a major milestone for the little life growing inside Anne. According to the book, What to Expect When You are Expecting our child has moved from being an embryo to a fetus. This is a major moment in the life of a child. According to the book, they have grown approximately 1 inch and are starting to developing tiny muscles.

We look forward to many more major milestones like first steps, first words and first theological position paper on their view of the Trinity. But right now we are just excited that the little Horch has become a fetus.

Congratulations on your 9-week Birthday!

Did you ever play the game Clue when you were a kid? The objective is to find out who murdered Mr. Boddy (or Dr. Black if you grew up in the UK). You go room to room in the mansion gaining clues and making accusations. I think it was Col. Mustard in the Library with the Candlestick!

Well, I am finding that Anne’s nauseousness and upset stomach is a lot like Clue. Each time she has a new sick spell she tries to figure out what made her feel bad so she can eliminate that food from her diet. Early on she figured out that the culprit making her sick was:
Yogurt in the Morning for Breakfast!

And just yesterday she solved another mystery.

Anne loves to eat mild cheddar cheese slices. She will use them as little snacks eating a couple slices at a time. This past week she experienced 2 nights in which she got very sick. So with her Food Detective hat on she looked at all the clues (cheese crumbs and empty plastic cheese sleeves in the trash),  analyzed the data and deduced that: It was Cheddar Cheese Slices for Snacks in the Evening!

Another case solved and another food eliminated.

I’ve heard many stories about the stress many couples experience trying to decide on a name for their child. One spouse is adamant about one name (a name they have always wanted since their junior year in high school) and the other spouse can’t stand it.

I’ve heard couples who are undecided even after the child is born. I can’t imagine having 9 months and still undecided on two words (a first and middle and the middle isn’t even required). But apparently it happens everyday in hospitals all across the world. I think if a couple hasn’t named the child by the time the mom goes into labor they should be automatically given a name. It would work similar to hurricanes. The hospital would keep an alphabetical list and just work down the list.

For example, a couple comes in and is still undecided or arguing and neither will give, the hospital goes to the next available name on the list which might be: Clementine Rose. See, it works great. The couple gets a surprising, unique yet beautiful name and their problem is solved.

Anne and I won’t be needing the Hurricane name method. Early on in our marriage, we came up with the names of our first four children. (I am not sure what this reveals about us but probably something that requires therapy). Now we don’t know if we will have that many but at least we are prepared. As soon as we find out the sex of this child their name is all ready to go.

But we would like to hear your suggestions, too. Give us your best girl and boy name for us. (Keep in mind our last name is Horch which rhymes with porch or torch.) We look forward to reading your suggestions!

A month ago my wife got Lasek surgery (there’s Lasek and Lasik, in case you thought that was a typo). They won’t perform the procedure if you know you are pregnant. There was no indication that we were but Anne took a pregnancy test about 4 days before the surgery just in case. It said “not pregnant.” She then took another test the day before the surgery and again it said “not pregnant.” She went into the surgery pretty confident that she was NOT pregnant.

But only a week after the procedure she began to wonder if she indeed could be. She decided to buy another pregnancy test on Monday morning, August 18th and take the test during lunch. But then there were indications that day that she actually wasn’t pregnant. She called me and we were definitely disappointed because we were hoping it was true. That evening as we were at home, I mentioned that she should just take the test anyway. I mean, you never know. So she did. I waited on our bed in our bedroom while she was in the bathroom.

The door slowly opened. She leaned out and gave me an odd look and just handed me the stick. It read: Pregnant.

It wasn’t that screaming excitement I had imaged in my mind. I had envisioned my wife finding out sooner than me and than coming up with some clever way to reveal the news. I would than discover the riddle and pick up my wife, swing her around the room and make the kind of sound that makes the neighbors wonder what is going on at the Horch house.

Instead, we just laid on the bed stunned, wondering if this could be real. “Are we really pregnant?” we kept asking each other. There was this restrained excitement we both had but knew we couldn’t fully let it out. We decided to take another one on Wednesday.

So on the morning of August 20th, she took the test again. And again and it read: Pregnant. It now seemed like it was true. It was becoming real. We were actually going to be parents! As strange as it seems, at that moment I knew my life had changed: I now viewed myself as a dad even though the child hadn’t even been born. My prayer life would now take on a new perspective. A new sense of urgency asking for protection for this little life growing inside Anne. But also a new feeling of praise and awe for God to give this wonderful gift.

As it turns out, Anne was pregnant during her Lasek surgey (about 4 weeks). About 4 weeks earlier, Anne and I had been on vacation in Destin FL. Hmmmm……

And we are now able to un-restrain that excitement:

WAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Oh, gotta go, the neighbors are calling.

I need your help. I have just put my wife on 24-hour surveillance.

Now, I know what your thinking, “Wow, this guy seems a little overprotective…and maybe psycho…but charming and good-looking.”

First of all, thank you for the “charming” and “good-looking” compliment and second, it’s not what you think.

At her doctor appointment yesterday, she was given a list of things she should be doing and things she shouldn’t be doing. One of the things on her “don’t” list is: Do Not Change a Kitty Litter Box.

Come on, who can’t resist a kitty litter box? You just can’t ask that of someone. It’s one thing to limit her diet to certain foods and restrict her physical activities, but the cat box? I mean, she’s pregnant but she’s still human with human desires and wants!

There have been reports recently at her office that while some are taking a quick smoking break – she’s off getting a quick fix changing a litter box.

Now I don’t know where she has developed this habit because she has never owned a cat, we don’t own a cat and as far as I know we will never own a cat. But once a doctor tells a pregnant woman she can’t do something it creates an uncontrollable urge to do it.

So if you see her near a litter box, just calmly and slowly approach her. Gently pull her away and tell her there’s a fruit popsicle at home. That normally does the trick.

Anne and I are back from the doctor and everything went great. They did an ultrasound and we got to see a little blinking dot that was our baby’s heart. Our child’s heart is beating strong just like a Horch heart should be.

We also have a due date that we can officially be looking forward to — April 21, 2009!!

Just in case you were wondering, here are others who were also born on the same day:

Queen Elizabeth II, Charles Grodin, Andi Macdowell and of course Tony Danza (It would be an honor for our child to share the same birthday with the former star of much acclaimed TV sitcoms Taxi and Who’s the Boss)

Nothing makes you more aware that you are a man than sitting in the waiting room at your wife’s OB/GYN. I am currently in a room surrounded by books and magazines that tell me about women’s heath, how to be a good mom and one that explains “how to get your husband to help with parenting!”

I feel like I am in a secret clubhouse for women and that at any point someone is going to tell me to leave. As each new woman walks in for her appointment I feel like I am getting a look that says, “What is HE doing here?” I am trying to act “husband-ly” while quietly reading my paper…maybe they won’t notice.

It is 6:22 A.M. and Anne and I are getting ready to head to the doctor for the first time. It was three weeks ago today that Anne took the pregnancy test that revealed that she was indeed pregnant. We were so excited but also anxious to be able to have a doctor confirm that everything is OK.

We waited patiently for these three weeks to pass so we could make our announcement public. So here we are. Just an hour and a half away from her appointment. Anne is right now a giant mixture of nervousness and excitement. I am praying for great peace for her this morning. I know our parents are also praying with us. That is a huge comfort to us.

Well, next time I write I will hopefully have encouraging news and we will be making our announcement public!

Last night I had my first pregnancy dream which is surprising since we have been carrying around this news for about 3 weeks. I assume in the upcoming months my dreams will revolve more and more around Anne’s pregnancy.

I don’t know about you but Anne and I are big nighttime dreamers. As we lay in bed, one of us normally breaks the morning silence by saying, “I had a weird dream” and then goes on to tell about some crazy adventure that includes random high school friends, espionage and a cameo by Pat Sajak as the substitute teacher turned spy.

I can’t fully remember all of last night’s dream but it did reveal some breaking news about our unborn child – we are having a girl!

I am not sure how much weight to put on this dream because in it I could also fly and had superhero powers.

One of my wife’s favorite snacks is a plate of very cheesy nachos. She loves it when the chip is literally swimming in cheese. The bonus is when the cheese attaches itself to another chip creating the much sought after “Hangsy”. Some eat nachos their whole lives and never experience the “hangsy.” But only a lucky few experience the triple hangsy. I think eating cheese nachos is one of her great joys. In fact, I think the priorities in her life are:

1. God

2. Me

3. Nachos

(and nachos is a very close third)

Anyway, the reason for this nacho rant is that tonight the nachos joined the dreaded list of coffee, diet Dr. Pepper and Yogurt as foods and drinks my wife used to love but now gives her stomach pains.

This one hurt. I didn’t really like coffee, Dr. Pepper, or yogurt to start with but I really, really like nachos. Especially those that are swimming in cheese. And did I mention the hangsy? I’ll miss you nachos – see you in 8 months.