Baby names quiz

Thanks to everyone who has played in the "guess the babies' birth date" game so far. That one will stay open until the moment that both wrinkly gooey faces are officially borned, so feel free to keep playing here.

Meanwhile, Mattine and Nathan have decided on the babies' names! Mostly! Probably! THEY RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THEIR MINDS. Dang.

Anyway, here is a quiz where you get to guess what they chose! Once again the prize is a $5 Starbucks gift card, and obviously there can be multiple winners, but Mattine and Nathan can't play. "Cheating is sad and makes the baby Jesus sad" rules remain in place. Good luck!

Guess the babies' birthday!

Congrats to Andy and Cynthia on their combined quiz prowess and quick-draw blog commenting!  Your gift cards are in the mail / under your pillow. Guess which one's which!

A few quick announcements!  First, as the real, live, human, physical, existing in the same space-time continuum of the Hartzell belly, baby shower is about 5 weeks away, Mattine is interested to know who is coming IN PERSON. She's going to buy you all candy, so if you don't tell her you're coming, you might show up and not have any candy. It is on November 15th at 3pm. Use the email button to the right, email Mattine, or comment on the Facebook page to let us know you're coming! The first to arrive will get to make funny helium voices with the balloons we will set aside for that purpose. The last to leave will get to take the rest of the candy. If you're both, you're going to have a really weird party.

Second, there is no second announcement. Psych!

Time for a new game! Baby X and Baby 242.8 are currently scheduled to be delivered by stork on February 14, 2015. As we all know, babies usually arrive exactly on schedule and you can often go out for waffles afterwards, no problem.  However, sometimes they get excited to see the world and come 2 weeks early (Nathan) or they really like their warm, comfy womb and don't see any reason to leave it after only 40 weeks (Mattine). That sounds backwards, doesn't it?  Well it isn't, and their mothers said so. Apparently they both learned from their mistakes.

So, we're taking bets on when the twins will decide to show us their wrinkly snot-covered faces. This is a game that will continue THROUGH the real, live, human, yada, et cetera baby shower, with a totes adorbs memento for the parents:

Get in your guesses now through the form below, on the Facebook page, or by emailing the blog at hartzellshower@outlook.com. As with the Super Amazeballs Awesome Good Okay Raffle, you can "buy" more guesses by contributing diapers to the "End Poop-nado 2015" fund. Each diaper you bring to the shower, or mail with adequate cardage for me to identify, gets you one more guess. You can find them here: http://www.kellyscloset.com/Cloth-Diapers-_c_591.html.

The prize for this quiz will be naming rights to the infants, a six pack of your favorite beer, a bottle of your favorite (reasonably-priced) wine, or a $20 Starbucks gift card, whichever you prefer. Note that we can't name the winner in this one until the babies are born. You'd think I wouldn't have to tell you that, but you're all looking at me kind of blankly and weird.

Good luck!

Winners of Nathan's Baby Facts Game - A Runoff!

All right you clever monkeys. There is a FOUR WAY TIE for the winner of the "Nathan's baby facts quiz" game, and I only have two Starbucks gift cards.  As a tie breaker, whichever TWO of you comment here first will get a gift card.

Here are the right answers, by the way:

Where was Nathan's mom when she found out she was pregnant?	Where was Nathan's dad when he found out?	When was Nathan's due date?	How much did Nathan weigh at birth?	What did Bunni crave while pregnant with Nathan?	What would Nathan's name have been if he were a girl?	What was Nathan's favorite story as a baby?	What time was Nathan born?	What was Nathan's first word?
At home	At home	April 15th	7 to 8 lbs	Fish hoagies and baked potatoes	Elizabeth or Angel	Are You My Mother?	10:50 pm	Daddy

The finalists:

Kathy Klehr
Andy Reinsch
Cynthia Saba
Audrey Dietz


Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd..... GO!

Nathan's Baby Facts Quiz

It's finally here!  The Nathan's Baby Facts Quiz!

Apparently I scared some people off by framing the last one as a competition to prove your friendship to Mattine. We all know you can't win Nathan's friendship through feats of internet quizery, so consider this one "just for fun." Except that the winner will still get a $5 Starbucks gift card. To encourage creative answering, and in honor of someone who accomplished this feat on Mattine's quiz, if you get ZERO right, you will also get a $5 Starbucks gift card. But you will be required to spend it on biscotti. 

Mattine's Baby Facts Quiz Winner(s)

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Baby Facts Quiz!  We have a winner, as well as a cheater, who will prosper after all. 

Tied with 5 points each are Rebecca Strong and Mattine Hartzell. It says great things about Rebecca that 1) she has that awesome name, and 2) she knows as much about Mattine as a baby as Mattine herself knows.  Rebecca, use the email link at the right or the Facebook page to send me your address, and I'll mail you your $5 Starbucks gift card.  Mattine, I'll buy you some non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic, sushi-free beverage next time I see you.

Anyone who didn't get a chance to participate, if you can beat 5 correct answers, I'll send you a home-made drawing of a cup of coffee or a felt turtle. Your choice.

If any other participants want to know their score, you can email the blog, or comment on this post.

Coming later this week: NATHAN Baby Facts Quiz!

Second Sonogram

Guess what! Baby X and Baby 242.8 are now nearly 13 weeks old, which means it's time to take their pictures again!  How many sonograms are there going to be, you may ask.  Well you may ask Google, because I don't know.

For some reason, Mattine and her doctor and the technician that holds the laser that shoots into her belly to take the picture chose to refer to the babies as "Baby A" and "Baby B," rather than the cute pre-names I had picked out, but to each his own.

Here are your future stars:

According to our inside source, Baby A is a wiggler, and Baby B is the "shy, retiring type." This might be your last sonogram evidence to help you vote in the Baby Gender Poll, so get to it.

Also, I'm keeping the Starbucks card for myself if more people don't test their Baby Mattine Knowledge, and I don't even drink coffee. I'll just buy coffee and pour it out, right in front of you.

Baby Mattine Facts

Welcome back to the virtual baby shower and get psyched for a new game!  GET PSYCHED, I SAY!!

Okay, you seem sufficiently psyched. You may now compete in the Baby Mattine Quiz!  We asked Carolyn and Milan Schmidt to tell us a little about what Mattine was like as an embryo and early human, quantified their responses, and created the below quiz so that you can compete for who is the best at knowing things about Mattine!

Your responses will be carefully scored, and the person with the best score (excluding genetic relations) will win a $5 Starbucks gift card.  Cheating (e.g., asking Mattine, Carolyn or Milan the answers) is discouraged, not because it would give you an advantage, but because that is really pathetic and sad. Buy your own coffee, weirdo.

Let the game begin!