Halftime.

Girly,

Oh dear! On request (demand) of your aunty Jane I rushed right over here to say hello! Hi there my golden delicious. I've been chatting with you so much in real life I haven't written anything down for you. It's kind of how I am, you'll see, a lot of talking. Plus, I got so excited when I read that you could hear my voice! And probably more pleasant, you can here daddy's voice. He's learning a song for you. I would tell you what it was here but it would give away the big secret! Your name! Well, you know your name, but the other people who read this don't :). We are planning on keeping it a secret until you are born, but there are a couple of people that know that are notorious for being awful secret keepers (ahem, austin). Soooo, we'll see how long this lasts!

My little belly at 13 weeks, I thought it was such a biiiiig belly. Little did I know what a fast grower you were going to be.

You are officially the big 2-0! 20 weeks that is, half way there. Holy cow. I just can't even believe that much time has gone already. I want it to slow down, I like being here with you. On the other hand I want time to speed up so I can look at your little face. And most importantly see what color hair you are going to have! Will it be red??? It's possible!

Starting today I love grapes. Love them so much that is what I am having for dinner. Although, having them for dinner may have more to do with the heartburn then anything. Oh yeah. You are the apple of my eye and the fire in my belly. I don't get it often, but when I do it's a whole lot of not fun. Whew! Anytime you feel like letting me eat I would appreciate it. Your aunty jane wanted to hear more about the not so fun parts of being pregnant with you. Like the heartburn, the achey hips, the sore feet, the insomnia, the PEEING, the invasion of the body snatchers like feelings, and the incredibly stuffy nose. But you know, it's such a short list and whenever you start wiggling around I totally forget all of it...and just smile. As cheesy as that is, and as silly and trite as it sounds, it is really true. An entire night of sleeplessness, and getting up to pee every 10 minutes, and this heartburn all erases from my mind as soon as I feel you dancing. And you are a dancing fool baby girl.

Your dad just told me this really long and funny story about his hike today. Him and Panda went up to Pine Lake. I've never been on this hike before, and after what happened today I may never. And you may not for quite awhile either. He saw a tree fall down! They call those widowmakers, when a tree just for no reason falls down in the middle of the woods. Eeek! And then he thought he was going to see a mountain lion, but!!! This is the best part! Out from the bushes comes a cute (big and pokey) PORCUPINE! He saw a real live porcupine. I am soooo jealous. And so glad Panda bear didn't go after it. Later in the hike he saw a bear warning sign that hadn't been there before, this really freaked him out. I mean, after seeing a tree fall and a porcupine, there was a pretty good chance this was going to be his day to see a bear! But it didn't happen and him and Panda got to leisurely enjoy their picnic and game of stick. I was also jealous of that. Not jealous of trees falling and bears though. Shiver.

Ok, ringo no hana...we love you so much and can't wait to meet you. I'll post more pics of you soon, and my ever growing belly. Until then, keep dancing.

See you soon!

mango y mango y mango

19 weeks and according to that you should be the size of a mango! But according to all the measurements they took yesterday you are somewhere in between a cantaloupe and a banana. According to the size of my belly you are the size of a watermelon. Growing girl! Did you know that the cantaloupe has more vitamins and minerals than any other fruit or vegetable? It's true ask your grandmother.

see you soon fruit salad!

xoxo

Sugar and spice...

On the first day of summer 2011 we found out that you, our little apple blossom, are a girl.


I am so unbelievably in love with your little face already. I cannot even begin to understand what it is going to be like to hold you. You were a somersaulting fool today at the u/s, you were waving and kicking and dancing exactly the way I imagined you doing. As soon as I started feeling you move I told daddy that I imagined you were doing this little dance...and then of course I would show him said dance. And he of course would laugh because a) it's a funny dance and b) it's just pretty much the dance I always do and c) your dad thinks I am HILARIOUS. But! Today we saw that you really are dancing just like that. I will have to show you when you are here. I had hoped you'd get daddy's dancing skills, but it looks like you are taking after me in that department. At least you will never be without laughter.

From this shot we determined that in the muscle department you are taking after your Aunt Janey. Check out that shoulder. Damn. Oh, and that ear? Is all Flores. We are being silly of course...because when it comes down to it you will be all YOU and we can only hope that we do a good job of nurturing that.

A girl. Wow.


We love you little girl. And we'll see you soon.

xoxo

My bell pepper baby!

18 weeks and growing. I can feel you moving more often now...little flutters they call the "quickening". That would make a great name for a horror flick, although it's not horrible at all. It's another gorgeous day out here, panda and I played stick and are now cleaning out what will be your closet! Woah!

That's all for now apple buddy...see you soon!

Xoxo

What you have to look forward to..

Mornings around here can be pretty awesome, can't wait for you to join us.

heartbreaker

hiya apple pie!

Guess what? I saw you today...I got to take a little peak inside your little home and you know what? You are breathtaking. Your place seems a little small, but cozy, just like your place out here! The thing is, I wasn't supposed to get to see you for another couple of weeks but something funny happened today...

So, as lovely as you were to me the first three months, your rapid growth was causing some major hormone swings. Major! Which made my heart flutter, and flitter, and flutter again. So much so it worried us just a bit so I called my doctor and they made me go in and get all hooked up to all sorts of heartbeat monitors. Turns out my heart only likes to flitter when it's not being watched, so I had to go in for an EKG, which is an ultrasound of my heart! So I went in for the EKG today, and when I walked into the room I saw the ultrasound machine and I got a little twinkle in my eye...and I thought...hmmm...isn't that the same machine that takes pictures of my little apple buddy? Turns out it is! Turns out my ultrasound tech was awesome! And she let me sneak a peak of YOU little buddy! How cool is that?

And there you were! Your brain is the first thing we saw, and then your hands, and arms, and neck, and body...and you were wiggling, as usual, you gave us a little fist bump...and you know, if they'd been watching my heart at this point they would have seen it grow and explode with love.

It went too fast, I could've sat and watched you forever. Your dad was working today so he didn't get to see you waving at us, but he is so excited to see you in a couple weeks when we get to find out whether you have boy parts or girls parts. I can't wait for him to see you!



Oh! And as promised, this is Panda! That is you there in that big blue belly...so really this is like the first panda/baby picture. I can guarantee that there will be more. Because your parents are nerds. Panda is going to love the heck out of you...especially when you get to the point where you start dropping food everywhere.

Well apple buddy, off to sleep for Panda and I...when your dad is at work it usually takes us a little longer to get settled. You'll see, the routines are just a little off and the house just feels a little different.

Goodnight baby, see you soon.

xoxo

Baby got front?

Today I went in to hug your dad and my little bump startled me. As in my whole body lunged forward (as one does when one is going in for a hug) and all of a sudden my belly hit him before I did. And you are not even that big yet! I think I will measure my/your growth based on how close of a hug I can get. You see, this way not only will I be able to see how big I am without solely using how tight my clothes are getting (which can be emotionally exhausting, and physically--trying on three different skirts everyday is a poop!)...but I will also have a very good excuse to hug your dad excessively. This is important because he is an exceptional hugger and any chance to hug him is fine by me! You will see, his hugs can be magical.

That is all for today! Oh, that and I can't wait until 20 weeks when your little ears can start hearing us...mostly I would like your opinion on the bagpipes. So far Panda is not a fan! I'll introduce you to Panda next time...I think you'll love her.

xoxo

see you soon.

Turnip Time!

Hey baby cakes!

You are just about at 17 weeks...time is flying by now! It seemed to take forever to get you to yr three month point, and now we're heading straight into 4 month territory. CRAZY! Speaking of crazy...looks like, or rather sounds like, you are one active little turnip. We got to hear your heart beat last week and the lovely thu-thumping kept getting interrupted by you wiggling. So it went a little something like this..thump-thump-thump-dslkfvknefrkdsjn-thump-thump-thump. Every time you would wiggle it would sound like a record scratching...our little DJ, I just hope it's some good stuff in there and not house music.Here is that picture I promised you! That bump in the front is you, the bump in the back is all the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches I have been eating. I haven't had any strange cravings, but when I want something boy do I want it! Oh, I guess your dad would say my sudden LOVE of strawberries would be a strange craving...considering that I didn't like them at all before. In general, my little fruitcake, you've made me appreciate and love all fruit like I never have before. Mmmm, I can't wait for u-pick berry season, we are going to be an all berry household after that!

Oh! I wanted to mention, for prosperity, that I have been obsessively watching Ally McBeal these days...so if you come out dancing we'll know why.

Love you already.

See you soon.