Bonded.

27 weeks.  13 weeks to go.

Dear Baby T:

Last night, you and I had a special moment together.  It was about 2 a.m., and your dad was sound asleep next to me.  You have had a really good pattern of not waking me up in the middle of the night until you jolted me awake with one swift kick to the ribs.  Instead of getting up and moving around, I decided to lay on my side and wait for another kick or movement.  I poked and prodded for a few minutes and you had absolutely none of it, ignoring each intrusion into your personal space.  I waited a few more minutes, rested my hand on my stomach and almost fell asleep when you kicked me again, this time straight into my palm.  I moved my hand and pressed inward again and you kicked me again, right into my palm.  We played this game for a few minutes before you, presumably, went back to sleep.  Instead of falling right back asleep myself, you left me with racing thoughts. It was the very first time you responded to me and it was such a beautiful feeling; it was the first true "connection".  It made me wonder about your little personality, already so developed and playful, and it made me question my ability to keep up with you as you get older and mischevious like little boys do.  It also made me fall in love with you, right then and there, and I thought you should know that there is nothing in this entire world that I wouldn't do for you. 

Your dad and I talked about this the other day for a very brief period of time, but it didn't take long for us to conclude we were on the same page:  We can't wait for you to get here and for you to become our world.  You already are, but it sure would be nice to see your sweet face so I can finally put your face with your name.

See you soon,
Mom

23 weeks, plus other news!

Today marks my 23rd week of pregnancy and it has been a relatively glorious week!  I am finally starting to feel and actually LOOK pregnant, rather than looking like I might have binged a little too hard on the Ben & Jerry's.  I feel great, may or may not be eating my weight in fruit lately (so weird!) and have definitely gone into nesting mode.  I am so eager to finish the nursery, but I have had such a difficult time actually deciding what to do with it or what colors to paint.  For example....

 I begged Justin to paint this wall exactly as it is pictured above... and so he did.  It turns out I wasn't such a huge fan of the shade of the blue and now, I am having him repaint the entire wall, stripes included.  Justin is a doting husband who loves me a lot and really just wants to make me shut up make me happy, so he dutifully agreed to embark on this adventure next weekend.

It also turned out that my original thought for the nursery (whales) was not exactly what I was going for either so, I took to the internet and put together my own dream nursery!  Say hello to what Pottery Barn calls "The Hamptons"... this will be my baby boy's room theme!

Anchors, nautical stripes, Ralph Lauren-esque... I sighed and immediately fell in love with all of these things. They are probably a lot more "me" than "baby" but, I figure he can grow into them :)  I hope he loves them like I do when he gets older!

Now, to the bump!!

From 22 weeks.... (above)

to 23 weeks! I think I definitely popped out a bit more in my 23rd week! Like I said, I'm feeling good and just want all the bedding and painting to be done so I can dive a little further into my nesting mode and start cleaning the room as much as I'd like to before he arrives.  I guess I have this really deep fear that he will come much earlier than he's supposed to and I won't have anything I need for his homecoming.

Anyway, I'll update more when I have something to update with! I'm focusing on sticking to our new budget (thanks to Meghan for helping me put that together), getting ready for our remodel and purchasing all the accessories for the kitchen and bathroom at a discounted price and waiting patiently to order granite (hurry up cabinets!).

Til then...