Life after the Storm

Dear baby, You are moving more and more everyday. So far, I've learned that you absolutely hate anything touching you. Your dad's hands or my own, you want off of you. Kinda crazy. Makes me think that whatever you'll grow up to be, you'll always have that bit of stand-offish/me in you! I will see you in 14 weeks. Your room is almost ready. I've got your crib set up, I do have crib bumpers, but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, crib bumpers could suffocate you. We got a stroller not too long ago and yesterday was the first day in weeks that we got opened and closed. Counting down to see your face!

Dear baby, As we are nearing 24 weeks, daddy caught me sitting on the couch, hand on stomach. I've been feeling you bit by bit every day. You seem to be more active at night - or my new theory is that throughout the day, I'm so busy with work and moving around that I don't notice those small flutters. As I sat there, he placed his hand over the spot I told him you seemed to frequent. The warmth of his hand made you excited. I kept telling him that you were even more active than the few moments before. He placed his cheek over my stomach and in a small brief instant, his head shot back up. "What the...?" - that's your daddy's response of feeling you for the first time. I must say, I should have captured the look on his face. It was more than priceless. We can not wait to feel more of those tiny flutters.

Dear baby, As midnight rolled past us, your aunt Martha had this brilliant idea. She saw a picture of a name spelled out in sparklers. She wanted your name lit up. A few choice words from your dad, a couple of practice runs from your other aunt Sandy - we got into position with our sparklers. The catch was that it was going to be a one shot thing as we would be out of sparklers should this fail. I practiced writing the "E" in the dark as fast and as concise as I can. This is the type of craziness that you'll be surrounded with as you get older. Aunts who come up with something of the top of their heads and gathers everyone to do whatever it is they pictured in their head! The result was fantastic! And I suppose I have to add this to your scrapbook since they'll be looking for this post in the future! Happy New Year, little one ~