With 4 weeks to go...

photo by Michelle at www.thephotoboothe.com

I can hardly handle you right now.

Feeling your feet and little bummy through my belly is the happiest part of my day.

The thoughts of what you're going to look like invade my thoughts all day long.

I keep wondering if you're going to come early but I would love for you to come right on time.

I keep thinking about the beautiful bedding that Nana is making for you and I can't wait to sit in the rocker and stare at it's beauty while holding my sweet little nugget.

Your Papi (that's what you'll call your daddy) is obsessed with you.  

I'm obsessed with your Papi.

It's working out pretty well for us.

You are ridiculously loved by many people.

I am amazed at how spoiled you are and you're not even here yet!

Thanks to people who love you, we are getting closer and closer to being ready for you.

Yesterday, your aunties Lecia and Joyce took me to Babies R Us and bought us a stroller and carseat!

Don't worry, it has Tiffany Blue on it.

I know that's your favorite color and that's why the nursery will be decorated in it too.

I'm totally watching out for you, girl.

Between that thoughtful purchase from your aunties and the Pottery Barn crib that was GIVEN to us, we're as good as gold.  

What more could we possibly need?  ;)

In other news, I can't bend over, I can hardly stand up, and my ankles have officially disappeared.

In other words, I'm looking/walking/bending like a true pregnant woman.

Thanks for that.

It dawned on my today that I too made my mother feel this happy AND slightly invaded when she carried me!  

I couldn't stop apologizing tonight once this realization hit me.

Nana even had to wear a heart monitor during her last long stretch of pregnancy with me.

I've been lucky.

We did Zumba again today.

You behave much nicer during the day when Mama does Zumba in the morning.

I think it relieves your need to do kick boxing in the womb and that is a nice relief for this girl.

Papi and I have known what your name is going to be for the last 8 months.

Yesterday, that all changed.

It has been decided that we will make the final decision when we meet you.

Papi thinks he should do a poll on the news asking the viewers what we should name you.

I told him he would be sleeping on the couch for the rest of his life if he did that.

Don't worry baby girl, I won't leave your name choice up to random viewers who don't even know you.

Mama's got your back.

We've been visiting our family in Utah since last Thursday and we get to spend several more days here.

Your Nana and Papa dote on me, which is basically them doting on you.

It's so lovely.

Speaking of doting...I got pulled over yesterday taking your Papi to the airport.

I wasn't just speeding a little bit.

The nice man just looked at me in my fragile, huge, emotional condition and let me off with a warning.

Bless.  His.  Soul.

He totally won Heaven points for that one.

I can't believe we only have 4 weeks to go.

Time is flying faster now than ever before.

I just want to remember every kick, nudge, and growing pain.

This time with you is too precious and I'm devastated it's almost over.

You are a lovely little lady, I just know it.

Some words for the Daddy

Dear Daddy,

Thanks a million for loving my mother.  

Thanks a million for demonstrating what a wonderful man can be like.

Thanks a million for being straight up with me and telling me when I'm being ridiculous.

Thanks a million for answering the phone that night that Javi and I had broken up and telling me to swallow my pride and call the sweet man to offer, if nothing else, an apology for being a drama queen.

Because of that advice, I'm married to the closest thing to you that I could find.

Thanks for dragging me all around the world with you.  

Thanks for making me wear Mark's underwear when all of my pairs were dirty and we hadn't found a laundromat in the foreign place yet.  That was character building...or something.

Because of those world travels, I'm not afraid of anything.

Because of those travels, I felt confident in marrying someone from across the ocean.

Because of those travels, I love being immersed in every culture/religion/tradition available.

Because of those travels, I learned how to live a low-maintenance life and to be extremely happy with it (not to say that I always live a low-maintenance life :)  )

Thanks for not getting too upset with me as I pulled prank after prank during my time in Young Ambassadors.

Thanks for that night in 8th grade when I was getting ready to leave with my friends (wearing something a little on the immodest side) and you told me that I looked inappropriate and that it really wasn't a good look for me.

I never forgot that and I'll never forget it.

Thanks for treating me similarly to how you treated my brothers (in the way of the "pull yourself together" attitude)

But thanks for treating me like your little princess...even still.

Thanks for still calling me "sis", "dollywog", and "Leecee".

Thanks for holding mom's hand.

Thanks for giving her kisses in front of us kids.

Thanks for always saying "I love you."

Thanks for being such a good texter and picture mail-er.

Thanks for being ultra obnoxious energetic about 5 am scripture study.

Thanks for not taking yourself, or anything else, too seriously.

Thanks for being mine.

Love, Leecee

Dear Daddy of our Baby:

You are really good at loving me.

Thanks for that.

Thanks for giving me big slobbery kisses even when I tell you to knock it off.

Thanks for telling me I'm pretty even when I know you're lying.

Thanks for talking to baby girl every single day. 

She loves you so much...maybe even more than she loves me.

Maybe I'm getting jealous.

Thanks for snuggling me even though I know you don't want to snuggle as often as I feel is necessary.

Thanks for giving me back tickles and being so solicitous when baby girl is stretching and kicking so hard that it makes me cry.

Thanks for loving me through contractions and pinched nerves.

Thanks for making me laugh so much.

Thanks for kissing me while I sleep even though I apparently get really mad at you in my sleep.

Thanks for always telling me about it the next morning.  

How embarrassing.

Thanks for letting me tag along while you do stories for the news.

Thanks for saying "I love you" so much.  You make it impossible to forget it.

I am so excited to watch you be daddy to this little angel in my belly.

I fall more and more in love with you when you talk and sing to her and she kicks and squirms at the sound of your voice. 

I'm so lucky to have forever with you.

Forever doesn't seem nearly long enough.

Love, the Mommy of our Baby

A quick review

May 11th?!?!?

What happened?

Apparently, being buried in finals for grad school makes you forget the days and it makes for the mushing together of many-a-day sitting in the same chair, in front of the same computer screen, thinking/writing/analyzing the same things.

But, we made it.  

Baby girl made it through the stress of her first finals week.

I know she was feeling it because she was incredibly restless.

One day, she was so restless and incredibly active that it felt like my whole stomach was bruised.  

I couldn't even touch it without horrible pain.  

I guess she was letting me have it for procrastinating.  

I spent a couple hours laying on the floor with my legs and arms being stretched in odd positions by the dinner table and chairs.  

My husband walked in the door to find me on the floor, stretched out with one leg over my head and one straight out to the side with my arms holding on to whatever objects I could find.  

This was honestly the only way I could find to ease the pain.

He thought I had finally lost it.

Honestly, I thought so too.

Moral of the story...there's not one.

Better luck next time.

The night before this shenanigan we spent with our lovely new friends Noe, Cynthia, Abner, Kaleb, and Camila Garcia. 

They were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Friday, May 4th.

We were lucky enough to be apart of it.

Javi spoke at the baptism and then he was able to baptize Noe.

Once Noe had been baptized, he stepped out of the baptismal font - dripping wet - and was given the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood.

Noe then stepped back into the font and baptized his two sons Abner and Kaleb.

Javi then was able to baptize Cynthia.

I had never seen anything like it before.  It was a truly fantastic Friday night!

The next day - the day my daughter was beating me up from the inside - was Camila's 3rd birthday party. 

You have never seen such a grand party!

The church was truly transformed into the castle of the Beast and Belle and the Beast actually showed up.

They danced their beautiful dance to "Tale As Old As Time", took pictures with all the children (and us), made bracelets with the little girls, cut the cake (that looked like a castle), and much more.

It really set the standard for birthday parties!

Super grainy, but you get the idea.
Why is the Beast holding up his arm like he's Lumiere?
I don't get it either.

And now, the microwave.

Since moving to New Mexico, we have been very blessed by the outpouring of love by complete strangers.

We have been invited to countless dinners, been helped with our three moves by people we hardly knew, and baby girl has been completely outfitted with bags and boxes of clothing, receiving blankets, shoes, accessories, and even a beautiful crib.

The goodness of people is fantastic.

On Tuesday night, our microwave (that has served me well since moving out of my parents home seven years ago) finally quit.  

We lived without a microwave in our first NM home and the convenience is just too wonderful to go back to living without one.

Anyway, I was doing the grocery shopping Wednesday night and I knew that I couldn't go home without a microwave.  

There was ONE red microwave left and I just knew we were meant for each other.

Since it was on a high shelf, I was able to let it softly fall into the cart without much trouble. 

(You see, last Saturday I had a scary night of contractions and I knew that it was my body telling me that I had to slow down somehow.  The next day my MIL told me that she lost a baby at the same point I am at in the pregnancy all because she kept going full speed ahead with no consideration for the little person who was trying really hard to survive inside.  I knew that being a full time student, YW president, and working three jobs were likely putting baby girl at risk...so I've been trying to be more careful.)

Back to the story:

I finished my shopping and was REALLY feeling the lovely aches that come with pregnancy. 

I got out to my car and realized that I would not be able to get the microwave out of the cart.

In my trying to be creative, I ended up ripping the box and I was close to tears.

Before I even knew it, a car pulled up behind me and a couple about my parent's age jumped out.

The husband said "you shouldn't be trying to lift things like this" and he and his wife proceeded to load up my car with my purchases.

I was no longer close to tears...they were happening.

The wife asked "do you have someone at home who can help you to unload all this stuff?"

I told them that my husband would be off work soon and he could help me.

They smiled, got back in their car, and through my incessant "Thank you" "I really appreciate it" "I can't thank you enough" they drove away.

They were angels to me that day.

Normally, this would seem incredibly insignificant but to those who have been 33 weeks pregnant, you can imagine how much it meant to my little waddling self.

I promised myself that for the rest of my life I will look out for other little waddling persons who might just need an extra helping hand.

There is goodness all around.

It is too bad that we are bombarded by only the "bad news" and negativity because there is much goodness to be shared.

To those people who I'm sure I'll never see again,

Thank you times 1,000.

A Letter to May

Dear May,

I'm feeling really, really good about you.  

I can officially say "I'm having a baby next month."  

By the way girlfriend is beating me up from the inside out today, I'm starting to feel just the tiniest bit ready to meet her.

I'm also feeling really good about you because I had a list of 14 large things on my to-do list for this first day of May and I've already accomplished 7 of them and gone to a 2 1/2 hour class and it's not even noon yet.

Wham. Bam. Thank ya Ma'am.

I'm also totally going to love you because the swimming pool is finally going to open and lets not even talk about the fact that one week from today I will be finished with finals.

I'm also going to like you because one of my best friends is getting married.  Javi and I can't wait to make the trip to be apart of the grand celebration.

Lets see, I also need to set a rockin' goal so that when June 1st rolls around I've done something significant this month.  

Hmmm.  

What shall it be?  

Any ideas from the peanut gallery?

I'm also looking forward to watching my belly dance around all month long.

May, I love ya and you've only just begun.

Love, the Lady