Unlike the mellowness permeating Felix’s Picks Vol. 8, this year’s picks are lighter, more upbeat and in many cases outright pop music.

Here is the playlist with notations and credits:

1. Be (Intro) by Common:  In March ‘09, I was in need of a hip-hop fix and found my buddy Rob in a similar state.  We exchanged mix tapes (“Smart Hop Mar-09″ on my side) and in doing so brought back some of the classics from the likes of Tribe, Black Star and De La Soul.  We also both included tracks from Common who was new to me.  I dig how this track leads you into his album and builds the momentum over time.  What better way to introduce our Vol. 9…
2. The Bomb by New Young Pony Club:  Every year, Kendall and I include a handful of tracks which we discovered on the radio (using the iPhone app Shazam).  On my side, it usually surfaces when I have had my NPR fill of Morning Edition and/or Marketplace and I flip on the NC State indie station 88.1.  The Bomb is a rocking song with plenty of pop, which is perfect for driving, especially when late for work.
3. Stillness is the Move by Dirty Projectors:  Dig the balance of underlying beats and high melodies.  Totally addictive.  A listener favorite.
4. Human by The Killers:  My buddy Price served up The Killers as a recommended listen in 2008.  Unfortunate for us, it took until 2009 to get them on the Felix air waves.  Never thought alternative pop would sound so soothingly good.  Our music social network Last.fm had them listed at #2 for 2009 with 12.5M tracks scrobbled.
5. Party in the U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus:  This was clearly the funniest musical event of 2009- with a babysitter at home (one of the first times) Kendall and I go out for dinner on Halloween and follow it up with costume watching at a bar afterwards.  We’re relaxing at this bar and the DJ starts up this song.  Almost immediately the entire bar (no lie) starts dancing and singing along.  We had no idea who it was and felt like out of touch, awkward parents.  We might as well have been wearing mom and dad jeans…
6. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) by Michael Jackson:  R.I.P. King of Pop.  Your music will never be forgotten.
7. Face to Face by Daft Punk:  Another Shazam score on 88.1.  This one is for the club.  If you like their track “One more time”, then this one should appeal to you as well.
8. Yes, Yes, Y’All by Sergio Mendes:  Many thanks to Kendall’s long-time friend Nick for mailing us Sergio’s 2006 album “Timeless”.  He wasn’t on our radar screen, but the best selling Brazilian artist of all time is now.
9. You Can Be Timeless by The Henry Clay People:  This year I reconnected (via email) with my college buddy Austin who lives in LA.  Between Austin and his wife Shelby, they served up a treasure chest of music recs during ‘09.  Henry Clay reminds me of the good aspects of early 90’s alternative rock.
10. No One’s Gonna Love You by Band of Horses:  Another Austin recommendation and solid alternative rock tune.
11. Above the Clouds by Slightly Stoopid:  A Kendall pick, resident of her past home town of San Diego and favorite of ours from the summer.  They are described as “a fusion of acoustic rock and blues with reggae, hip-hop, and punk”.  Who doesn’t like that mix?  We knew Slightly had toured with G. Love, but had not listened to them before.  Thanks to Foz and B. Matt for the recommendation.
12. Crystalised by The XX: Hands down the best album of 2009.  Minimalism at its best.  This review sums it up.  Thanks NPR for the rec.
13. I’m an Animal by Neko Case:  This is the second Neko tune on Felix’s Picks.  We are hooked on her.
14. Us by Regina Spektor:  Gotta love Regina’s distinct voice.  Kendall and I enjoyed the “500 Days of Summer” movie last summer and this tune comes off its soundtrack.
15. Country Road by Jack Johnson and Paula Fuga:  Similar to Neko, Jack has been on Felix’s Picks multiple times.  I loved this duet off his most recent En Concert album.
16. Hard Sun by Eddie Vedder: Off the “Into the Wild” soundtrack, this song was my early morning, pre-race motivator during sprint triathlon season.  Envision driving to a race at day break with the windows down, cup of coffee in hand and centering yourself for the event ahead…
17. Moment of Surrender by U2:  Had the opportunity to see the 360 degree tour in Raleigh last October.  It is always interesting to see your listening peak around a big concert.   The show was a solid performance, but the set was hands down the most amazing we’ve ever seen.  I guess that’s what $40M gets you.
18. Seven by Dave Matthews Band:  Great to see DMB bounce back after several bad, 3.5 minute driven pop albums.  R.I.P. LeRoi.
19. Jeremy by Peal Jam:  The reissue of Pearl Jam’s Ten provided the opportunity to relive the legendary grunge era and my favorite college album.  Brendan O’Brien’s mixes are only slightly different.
20. Wavin’ Flag by K’naan:  Thanks go out to my buddy Jon who always dishes up great new artists.  In 2009, he served up K’naan a Somali-Canadian whose sound critics have described as “fusing Bob Marley, conscious American hip hop, and brilliant protest poetry”.  Give it a try.
21. Tea Leaf Dancers by Flying Lotus:  Thanks to Austin and Shelby Hill for this recommendation.  A great, trippy ambient electronic sound from Flying Lotus a relative of John Coltrane.
22. I’ve Been Thinking by Handsome Boy Modeling School & Cat Power:  Any song that Kendall and I independently Shazam makes the list.  That’s the case here.

We would love to hear your recommendations during 2010.  Vol. 10 is right around the corner.

-Chaz

Lots of great content ideas are swimming around in our heads.  Stay tuned…

It has been a whirlwind first week and we are grateful to be home safe and sound.  Here are some observations from our first week-

Feeling the Love: We had no idea how strong our feelings would be for our son.  Friends tell you it changes your life, but come on.  The overwhelming love you feel KNOCKS YOUR SOCKS OFF!

Working Around the Clock: Our family and friends also talked about the tough road ahead for the first couple of months.  We underestimated the hours involved with taking care of the little guy.  Neither of us have logged more than three continuous hours of sleep in over a week and the hours in the day seem to vanish before they begin.  This sleep deprivation leads to an odd state of mind somewhere between euphoria and agony.  You definitely become forgetful – how could I let him pee all over me again at the changing table.  Didn’t I learn his trick the last diaper change?  How could I leave the car sunroof open overnight with Hurricane Bill passing by?  Why is my car seat damp?

Power to the Nurses: We couldn’t have made it through the first week without the amazing support of Rex Heathcare’s Birth Center nursing team.  Every twelve hours, we had a new trusted friend and advisor helping us get our arms around parenthood and caring for Kendall and Kelley as they recovered from the C-section.  This support was continuous and consistent from the pre-op preparations to recovery to wheeling mom and son out to the car to head home.

Obsession with Firsts: It is easy and justified to poke fun at new parents for their obsession with photographing, video recording and writing down their child’s every move.  What nerds!  Get a life!  You might as well put a fanny pack on and jump in the mini van.  This perspective changes rapidly once you actually become a parent.  We admit to being obsessed with documenting our child’s milestones.  If you check out our photo set and video log, you will see all sorts of firsts…- first bath, first time in mom’s arms, first road trip, first swing, first dinner out …  It is a never ending exhibition of nerd parenting.  That said, we will fight the mini van urge… for now.

Let the Benchmarking Begin: While at the hospital, we were oblivious to the other parents and babies.  That was until we walked by the nursery one evening when Kelley was getting his nightly check-up.  As proud parents, we gazed in at our son and sized him up against the other babies in the nursery.  Kelley appeared to be larger in size than his nursery mates, was more calm and collected, but when we looked at his outfit, he had the crummiest swaddle of them all.  It was the first time as parents, when we felt like we had let him down.  Suddenly, there were visions of Kelley going off to school in some silly outfit with all the kids laughing at him, taking his milk money away.  It was a new and weird feeling of protection.  Needless to say, Chaz is perfecting his swaddle (Kendall already has it down from her nanny days) and we will leverage his mohawk abilities to give him an alternative edge.

Like Father, Like Son Looks: Once we felt good about mom and baby being healthy and safe at the hospital, the subject of Kelley’s looks and where he draws them from came up.  Both of us initially thought he looked more like Kendall.  His eye lashes, blond eye brows, nose (from the Towery’s) and eyes all looked similar to Kendall’s side of the family.  That was until Kendall came across a photo of Chaz shortly after his birth.  Do you see a slight similarity here?

Thanks for all your support during this process and look for more parent obsessed commentary in the weeks ahead.

Chaz and Kendall

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers during the pregnancy.

Here is a collection of our trip observations:

• Key to getting a vacation off to a good start – accessorizing with fun glasses and naming your rental vehicle.  Meet Hank our travel sidekick.
• Mama Felix’s pregnancy fetish of the week:  Chewing on ice cubes. Ice amenities were an important part of our accommodations.
• Sedona turned out to be more touristy than we expected, but the hiking and mountain biking trails were less crowded and more beautiful than expected.
• Flora and Fauna Watch:  We encountered a tarantula, bunnies, hawks, the prickly pear cactus (great in margaritas), agave (or century plant) among others.  We did not encounter any javelinas which was disappointing but not necessarily a bad thing.
• Sink holes are ominous…  even more so during thunderstorms.
• Great Hikes:  Doe Mountain (great 360 views from this mesa) and Devil’s Bridge (Natural bridge you just have to cross)
• Bike Friendly and Crazy:  Got hooked up @ Bike and Bean (thanks Mark for the rec) with a fully suspended Bionicon and a trusty Cosmic Ray map.  Did three rides including Chimney Rock Loop, Thunder Mtn to Teacup to Soldier’s Pass to Jordan and Courthouse Loop to Bell Rock Path to Little Horse to Bombing down the 179F jeep trail.  In all honesty, I walked my bike more often than jumped my bike.
• Top Eats:  Elote (Seafood tacos, Prickly Pear Margs), Los Dos Milos in Phoenix (Spicy Chicken Enchiladas), D’Lish (House Iced Tea and Black Bean Burgers).
• The contrast between red rock and ponderosa pine is stunning.
• The entire Sedona hospitality industry is run by twenty somethings.
• Roundabout Mania:  Roundabouts are everywhere, a great idea, except when clogged with roundabout virgins.
• A New Age:  Visiting Sedona would not be complete without visiting The Center for New Age, picking up some crystals and heading to a vortex.  We hit the Bell Rock Vortex for a short hike and meditation.

Overall, a cosmic time and nice way to ease into week 28 and our third trimester.  Thanks to all our friends and family for their recommendations.

-Chaz

First, the big news since our last post-  Baby Felix is now kicking and we can feel it.  Finally, we have clear signs of his presence and activity.  Relying on the monthly ultrasounds and our failed stethoscope attempts were not cutting it for us.  Similar to finding out the gender, the regular kicking has stepped up our relationship with Baby Felix.  Kendall has already deduced his daily schedule and has regular conversations with him.  It is amazing to see how two people can communicate through chatting, rubbing and kicking.  The new pregnancy dynamic now has me on a kicking kick where I can’t get enough of the thrusts and jabs.  Kendall and I are looking forward to seeing the kicking evolve over time (you can visibly see the kicks and jabs at some point, correct?).  Our mandatory daily kick counts are only a month away.

Since our last post, Baby Felix has also seen Kendall support a wide array of dad’s hobbies.  Our little guy has participated in both a Tweetup at Bronto’s offices and a sprint triathlon in White Lake, NC.  The Tweetup was put on by Triangle Tweetup a local Twitter users group focused on pushing the boundaries of the Twitter social network.  Baby Felix and mom’s photo below was generated and tweeted using Bronto co-worker Adam Covati’s application – pici.me.

From online geek-athletes to triathletes, Baby Felix also was exposed to his first sprint triathlon held in White Lake, NC.  Dad along with some of our friends (Heather, Matt and Brad) participated in the event, while Momma Felix did an amazing job capturing the race on film and video.  Our little guy will see hear two more sprint tris before he arrives in late August.

More progress has been made on the nursery front.  We are now proud owners of a bassinet and bumbo both of which we picked up off Craig’s List.  I’m fired up to put the bumbo into action.  Additionally, Baby Felix will have his own armoire which will move out of our master bedroom when some new furniture from Furniture Land South arrives this summer.  There has been lots of action on the pregnancy front over the last couple of weeks.  Look for updates on doulas, pregnancy yoga among other topics in our upcoming posts.

A special shout out to Mom Felix and Mom Bambrough for their love and support over the years.

-Chaz

1. Carrots, carrots and more carrots.  A midnight snack, an afternoon bite, an addition to any meal….carrots pretty much make the list.  I peel 4 or 5 and put them on a plate.  Chaz slices them into little bite sized pieces and brings me a bowl of them.  I never recall intentionally eating carrots in my life prior to this (outside of the proverbial mini carrots off the veggie plate at a party) and now I’m Bugs Bunny.  Go figure. 
2. My new Baby Bargains book came in this weekend.  Woo hoo!  (Thanks again Claudia Fauber for the rec.  This book rocks!).  I think I have the stroller and infant car seat nailed down.  Surprisingly, the book has made it very easy for me to avoid feeling a need for too much stuff.  It sounds like a bunch of it is overkill (at least very early on).  Again, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.  I would love to know your “must haves”.  The one confusing piece is the bottle and nipple.  I haven’t figured out whether I need those or not if we’re going to breastfeed.  It’s going on my “Questions for Raleigh OBGYN” list (along with “Why exactly is everyone so concerned about me lying on my back…the dentist, my massage therapist).
3. Chaz and I have continued to consume inordinate amounts of Lebanese food.  All I can say is, “Oh my, yummers.”  Aladdin’s Eatery and Neomonde are working out perfectly.  I’ve been getting Jasmine’s Favorite with white meat chicken and carrot juice (surprised?) at Aladdin’s, and the lunch box w/ chicken sandwich pita and fatoush at Neomonde.  Please, please no one tell me what exactly is on the ingredient list for baklava.  I really don’t think I need to know and it is SO GOOD.
4. Last Sunday, Chaz and I went down to Wilmington, NC for a beach day.  It was great.  We got smoothies at Coffee Katie’s (not the actual name…just the name Kevin gave it when he and Fredrick stalked the hot counter-culture chick that worked there 6 years ago) and then grabbed hot dogs and chips for lunch later at the Trolley Stop Cafe.  The weather was a little cool; but it was nice and relaxing.  Chaz dug a hole in the sand for the baby.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it works well as a viewing seat when you flip over off your belly and sit up with your buns in the hole. 
5. The weekend prior, we started getting antsy about hearing from the baby.  I haven’t felt any kicking/fluttering and we’re ready to know what he’s up to in there.  I decided to go ahead and buy a stethoscope and figured Craig’s List was as good a place as any to get something on the cheap.  There was only one posting (apparently God himself was selling items that weekend.  Unbelievable, huh?)  Anyhow, Chaz and I watched The Masters and ended up having to google and wiki our way through how to actually operate the stethoscope.  You would have figured you just put it on your chest and that’s that.  It actually took a few tries to even hear our own heartbeats (and the cat’s).  The bottom line is that all I can hear in my tummy is a bunch of popping and gurgling (digestion of carrots I’m sure).  We’ll been toting the stethoscope to Raleigh OBGYN tomorrow AM so they can show us what the heck we’re doing wrong.
6. This past week, Alicia and I went to Atlantic Beach.  She had a conference to attend (she works with the disabled population and her company – among other things – helps place people in jobs within the community) and I had to sleep, shop and lay by the pool.  We found this awesome little beachwear shop called Fran’s.  I found two rocking pairs of wedges, a little dress and a new bikini there (shopping for a bikini while pregnant is not only not recommended; but strongly discouraged.  Particularly when there is no natural light supply in the dressing room.  Boo fluorescents!)  Again, the beach was a little chilly; but a very good trip.   I ended up finding some really cute board shorts and surf tees for the baby at Bert’s.  We stopped at the outlets on the way home Saturday and I picked up a  really snuggly looking green and white striped onesie.  It’s kind of amazing how much girly boy stuff there is out there.  It seems like everything has little sheep and monkeys all over it, and is pastel.  Outside of the UNC games and Wall Street, I don’t see many men the world over swathed in baby blue.  I’m trying to infuse a little bad ass early on in this equation and avoid the girly-man look.  We’ll see how it goes…
7. The weight thing continues to creep in as a plague to me.  I tried jeans on Sunday afternoon and they were a complete no-go.  I’m pretty much living in stretchy dress land now (thank God Sharon has bought me 8-10 dresses, or I would be wearing the same 3 dresses I’ve had in my closet for years!)  Saturday night 4/18, I actually weighed as much as Chaz.  Can you say UGH?  So he’s not a linebacker or anything; but really, we weigh the same?  I immediately went for a long walk the next day and was back to 5lbs under his weight.  (Incidentally, when I’m walking I am CONVINCED that babies and toddlers have some bizarre 6th sense when it comes to the baby.  I swear that they are staring at my belly when I’m passing them by.  Adults staring…I get it.  But little toddlers in strollers?  Bizarre.  I had a double stroller with a pair of ~2 year olds lock in on the belly and you could just follow both their eyes as I passed.  No kidding.)  Walking helps keep my weight down; but I figure that should last about 5 more seconds and then I’m going to have to suck it up and deal with it.  Alas, it’s all for the health of the little bun in the oven.  Hopefully I’m growing him good and he comes out fat and happy. 

Thursday night, we went to The Rockford for dinner and opened the infamous envelope.  I have no idea what I was thinking on Wednesday.  There was NO WAY I was going to be able to wait to open that puppy!  Chaz made a ceremonious little speech about baby Felix’s soon-to-be-had adventures, we split a Hoegaarden and we opened the envelope.  Here are the results:

Needless to say, I am THRILLED!  It was just what I was hoping for.  I can’t wait to get back into the doctor’s office and see more of the little guy.  Since having the gender card out on the table, the whole pregnancy has become even more real for Chaz.  He’s been so excited since Thursday’s revealing.  We stayed up late that night making a list of potential names.  He’s got some great ideas and one front runner.  No early announcements on that front…

I started getting nursery ideas together over the weekend.  I asked Chaz to pass along his thoughts as far as theme and here’s what he came up with:  “Tropical – Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, Mexico, Argentina, Miami. Island, Latin theme. Worldy, Spanish, global. Rich VIBRANT environment, not boring or toned down. Bold.” and he sent me this picture:

I found a seamstress on www.etsy.com and she’s working with me on the crib set and window treatment.  Here are a few of the front runners for colors:

In the meantime, I have discovered an abundance of prego colleagues, old HS friends, coworkers and nearby friends.  It’s great to have even more people to share in this adventure.  Currently, I have other soon-to-be Mommy’s at ~7 weeks, 13 weeks, 14 weeks, 16 weeks, 18 weeks(!), and 26 weeks!  Talk about baby fever.

Chaz and I went to Babies-R-Us on Saturday to try to figure out how to assemble the crib (which came to us via Craig’s List sans instructions).  Needless to say, I really hope not to ever have to go back into that store.  I am hopeful most of the shopping can be done on line.  We had good friends in town a few weekends ago and they recommended the book, “Baby Bargains”.  It’s got loads of reviews and sites with the best deals.  I think it’s even a little better (i.e. more updated) than Consumer Reports.  If you have any advice….please don’t hold back.  If you can’t tell already, I am beside myself with excitement and would love any advice on strollers, must-haves, great finds.  We’ve already had a few tips from existing moms on The Bumbo, umbrella strollers, breast pumps, Moses baskets and daycare.  Keep the ideas coming!

Less than 12 hours after our anatomy ultrasound, the family card detailing Baby Felix’s gender is burning a hole anywhere it sits in our home.  Having initially negotiated a Mother’s Day opening, the card will be lucky to survive the weekend.

In the spirit of March Madness Bracketology and to further speculation, help us out and provide your guess on whether he or she will win out when the card is opened.  The latest ultrasound photos are provided below as a cheat sheet, but don’t expect any relevant anatomy snapshots (as pregnant friends described as “the hamburger or turtle” shots).

The ultra-sound (US) was SUPER EXCITING!  After not having seen, felt or heard from the baby in 4+ weeks, it’s hard to imagine the baby is still in there.  The US does a great job of erasing any concerns in that department.  Our US tech, Tony was great.  We saw Baby Felix moving all over the place.  Healthy heart, healthy brain…very nice to see and hear.  It sounds like the reason I haven’t felt the baby yet is that my placenta is in the front of the baby and riding low (placenta previa).  No big deal for now; but something they’ll keep an eye on.  It means it will be a few weeks before we feel the baby bumps.  Can’t wait!

When we met with the doc after the US, she indicated that the baby’s head was in the 90th percentile.   “Being in the 90th percentile means the child’s head measurement is greater than or equal to the measurements of 90% of children that age in the country. The remaining 10% of infants that age have head measurements that exceed that child’s.”

I would love a show of hands if this reminds anyone of the scene from So I Married and Axe Murderer.   Anyhow….pics of Baby Felix below:

Right Side View of Baby Felix at Week 18

Left Side of Baby Felix at Week 18

Baby Felix Footprint with Entertaining but Predictable Tag Line

Another catalyst for bringing me to my parenthood senses was our first daycare center tour and accompanying price tag. Kendall and I are still mulling over the options- full-time @home – part-time work/home – full-time@work, but know the best daycare centers fill up as fast as Ivy League Schools.  As such, we checked out Primrose School of Hilburn a (hold your breath) five star accredited school.  My first visit to Daycare Land wasn’t too painful.  The staff was friendly and gave a crisp tour of their facilities.  With plastic wraps on our shoes, we ventured into one of the rooms where we found a row of infants having lunch.  I caught myself feeling intimidated by their unified stare and had flashbacks to Kindergarten Cop.  Kendall has a work connection to the staff so we got the white glove treatment.  It was an impressive operation with business processes which would be the envy of Bronto’s VP of Operations.  Unfortunately, it comes with a professional services level price tag so we will be expanding our RFP process to include additional providers.

This week also brought the need to find father focused pregnancy literature.  We have a growing library of pregnancy books starting with the de-facto bible “What to Expect When You Are Expecting”, but nothing which gives guidance to guys.  I ended up picking up a copy of “The Expectant Father” which offers up “Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-be” exactly what I was looking for.  Hopefully, I can translate this advice into activities worthy of future blog posts.  Future Mama Felix will determine that.

Week 16 also brought the “body pillow” into our lives.  This strange, phallic pillow serves the purpose of keeping Kendall sleeping on her side (preferably the left side) and providing adequate comfort in the process.  Outfitting this pillow with a pillowcase proved challenging and definitely a two person job.  In the upcoming weeks, we will see if it lives up to the hype.

With Kendall’s belly out, her interest in exercising remains strong.  After combing our pregnancy books and a few Google searches, I constructed the following routines for keeping her tone and maintaining strength.  Word of the week = Kegel.

One final observation for the week- pregnant women are not offended and actually enjoy requests to rub their bellies.  With that in mind, it is time for me to warm up my hands and get to work…