Babies, bikes and balance.

Yes, it's true, we are having a baby. The baby is due around September 23rd, which happens to be my grandparent's anniversary date. I know that doesn't really mean anything, but my truck stop of a brain has a back room full of dates and historical facts.

Marcos demands a boy. He already started talking into K's belly asking the baby to talk to him and to come out today and play. Lula would like a girl, but I think that, like us, she will be happy with either.

I am very excited and happy. With Marcos, I really enjoyed being part of the process, learning all about it, listening to his little heart, figuring out how he was positioned and even playing with him. I can't wait to do this again. I can't wait for those quiet nights where K and I share that special time listening, feeling and playing with our yet to be born, but oh, so alive, baby. I can't wait for that moment when I get to be the first person in the whole world to see and touch my new son or daughter. It's going to be pretty interesting taking advantage of technology, in the sense of the internet, this blog, digital photography, etc. to try to document and share this process with you.

We've also decided to stay in our house, at least for a while. In the end, we love where we live and we love this house and it would be such a gamble right now to try to sell this house and then see if we could find something that fits all of our requirements of location, space and price. We do have a nice list of projects to work on and some of them might help us be a little more comfortable right here.

I bought a trainer for my bike a couple of weeks ago. Basically, it turns my bike into a stationary bike that I can ride in my living room. I've found it to be harder than actually riding on the road. I've only used it twice a week, during these past two weeks, but I think that it's already paying dividends in my fitness. I plan on working my way up in distance and times per week, at least until the time changes and I can get more actual riding outdoors. Riding my bike and even the trainer is helping me in so many ways. I've been able to cope with winter a lot better, I feel so much better about myself and the endorphins from a good workout spill over into the rest of the day and even the next day a lot of times. It helps me be better at work and at home. The only problem is that, it's addictive and I must remember to keep a balance with the rest of my life.

Balance is my theme for this year. Balance between the sport I love and the family I love more. Balance between being ambitious and being patient at work. Balance between enforcing rules at home for safety or learning and respecting the individuality, free will of the kids and having fun with them. Balance between providing the things that we want now and saving for the future. Also, balance between the anxiety that comes from life and that which I create on myself. It's going to be a very interesting and great year.