Cleared for Takeoff

Dear Mischief,

Guess what, little girl!  Next week, you are going on your very first airplane ride.  We are taking a vacation to Bermuda, also known as "crashing your daddy's business trip."

Did you know that your father is very well-traveled?  His job has taken him all over the United States, as well as to other countries like Turkey, Portugal, Trinidad and China.  He's so sophisticated!

Here he is doing an impression of your current position in the womb:

("Head down" and ready to go!)

In the meantime, we are getting the apartment ready for your arrival and trying to stay relaxed.  Yesterday, my friend Emily took me on a "spa day" to get my first-ever pedicure - and a prenatal massage!  It was heavenly.  I can't wait to do these kinds of things with you when we need some mother-daughter bonding time.  Sometimes it really is fun to be a girl - you'll see, Mischief!

 

Since your daddy is going to be working most of the time, you are going to be my beach buddy while we are in Bermuda. We fly out on Labor Day, but please don't take that literally.  We need the next two months to get ready for you! 

(31 Weeks!)

Update 8/29 - trip tentatively rescheduled for the 2nd week of September!

Photo Shoot!

Technically you are supposed to wait until you are little further along to take maternity photos, but since we had access to a great photographer and a beautiful location for a week, I couldn't resist.  

These were taken on lovely Corolla Beach, North Carolina at 26 weeks.  

Here are some of my favorites:

I would definitely recommend Nicole from Vasalo Studios for all your photography needs.  She made us feel so comfortable and did a great job capturing the ocean, the sky, and best of all - our happiness.  I can't help but smile when I look at these. 

I'm so glad that we'll always have them to remember this special time. 

Baby's First Football Season

Dear Mischief,

 

From the way you were kicking during the Eagles/Steelers preseason game last night, we think that you may already be a tiny football fan. We hope that's true and that it means you will cooperate while your Daddy and I try to watch the games. 

Your "Pop Daddy T" has predicted that you will witness your first Eagles Superbowl win a few months after your birth.  Maybe you will be a little good luck charm!  But no matter if they win or lose, we know that it's going to be our most exciting football season ever because you will be here to share it with us. 

You are due on week 8, when the Eagles play the Falcons, but we are hoping that you make your arrival one week early on the bye week.  

I can't wait to dress you in a little jersey of your own.  In the meantime, here I am trying to squeeze into mine from last year:  

(It doesn't fit!)

The Home Stretch

Dear Baby Mischief,
 
It's hard to believe that we made it to the third trimester, but here we are at week 28!

You are moving around all the time and getting stronger every day.  You are most active between 10 and 11 o'clock in the morning and 10 and 11 o'clock at night.  Lately you seem think that 5 a.m. is party time, but you are quiet, so I don't mind.  It's my special time I spend in bed just feeling you roll around while your daddy sleeps. 

Already I can see you moving from the outside.  Your latest trick is kicking at anything I have on my belly, from a hand to a bowl of cereal.  You love to move my book around while I am trying to read.  You also respond to your daddy's voice when he talks to you. 

Since this is our first post, here is a little rundown of your life so far:

Late-January, 2012 - Unbeknownst to us, you are conceived.  Since we don't know about you yet, your father and I spend our time fixing up our new apartment and spending our money partying in the city and going out to fancy dinners.  Your mommy has just started a new job and a new round of her writers' group.  I spend a lot of time writing and sculpting things in my "studio," soon to be known as "the nursery."

(Surprise!)

February 20 - It's President's Day - and the day we find out about you.  Your father has the day off from work and is spending it doing work around the apartment.  I surprise him by coming home early and telling him the news.  We are shocked! 

April - We get our first glimpse of you on ultrasound at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  They tell us that you are due to arrive on October 30, 2012 - Mischief Night!  We give you your nickname, but you are just a tiny little blip on the radar screen - we still can't believe that you are real. 

Mid-April - After getting off to a rough start, we tell your grandparents and aunts and uncles about you.  They are overjoyed.  Seeing how much happiness you are already bringing to our families changes everything.  We are overwhelmed with how much love you already have and so thankful that they are excited about you.

Late April - You are making yourself known to the outside world by giving me a little belly and forcing me to buy my first maternity clothes.  In the meantime, you will not let me tolerate any food except hamburgers.  Since all you want is meat, we call you our little caveman baby.  At the end of the month, your daddy and I go out to celebrate the end of the first trimester and he has flowers waiting on the table at the restaurant.

Your dad is a pretty nice guy - he does everything that I am too tired to do, like cook and clean - and always makes sure that the freezer is full of treats. 

(Baby needs calcium!)

May - You go to your first Phillies game with "Aunt" Amy and Baby Benjamin. 

You take your first of many trips to Wildwood, NJ for your "Aunt" Tato's wedding.

I eat the entire boardwalk - ice cream, pizza, cheese fries, cotton candy, fudge... I am hungry all the time!

(Your handsome dad in a 3-piece suit with a bucket of boardwalk cheese fries)

On mother's day, we go back to Wildwood to celebrate with your Grammy.  Your grandparents, aunt and uncles all order an extra baked potato for me because you are starting to show your Irish side, demanding potatoes at every meal. 

(My first Mother's Day)

Around the end of the month, I feel you move for the very first time.  Happy mother's day to me!  

June - We have our 20 week ultrasound and learn that you are a baby girl!

Halfway through the month, on June 14th, your daddy feels you move for the first time - just in time for father's day.  You gave your dad a bottle of Blanton's, because it was the celebratory drink he had when he found out you were a girl.  I gave him a Sixers onesie for you, so that you'll have something to wear when you watch games together.

Now that it's time to start getting ready for you to arrive, your Mom-mom takes me to Babies-R-Us to pick out stuff for you.  We start the day by meeting my cousin Raven, who is going to be your buddy at all the family parties.

July - You make your mommy too tired to see the fireworks this year, so your daddy holds his ipad up to the window and plays a fireworks video for us.  He loves you so much already. 

On July 17th, your buddy Benjamin is born!  You are going to be friends with him for your whole life and I'm so happy that you have someone like a cousin to grow up with.  The first time I hold him he is sleeping like an angel, but you kick him the whole time, trying to wake him up.

(Your friend!)

At the end of the month, you take your first trip to the Outer Banks.  You seem to enjoy the swimming pool and the ocean.  It was so beautiful- and every time your dad and I saw a rainbow, or a sunset, we wished you were there to see it with us.  I hope to bring you back there many, many times. 

 

(Your first OBX shirt!)

You have had an exciting life so far, and this is just the beginning.  There is much more to come!  Your daddy and I can't wait to meet you, baby girl!