Getting started...

Hello Baby Teysko -

A couple of things to get us started.  First, your dad has been calling you Frank.  I've been alternating between calling you Hermione, just because I love Harry Potter and I'd never name you that in real life; and Charlie Cheltenham because your "uncle" Sandor thought of it - I was talking about wanting to have a middle name that was a place in England because we love it there so much, and we were going through places like Wells and Skye and Soho, trying to think of good middle names, and he just came up with Charlie Cheltenham, and I think it's the cutest name in the whole world.  Your dad vetoed it, though.  So I'm going ahead and calling you Charlie Cheltenham for the next 6-ish months, while I still can.

Second, I'm starting this blog to document my thoughts to you.  I've started a journal, too, which I will also give you someday.  But with blogging I can do it anywhere.  And I think about you all day long, and all night long too, lately, since I haven't been able to sleep.  So this way, when I think about something I want to tell you, I can just jot it down even if I don't have the journal with me.  Also, maybe your dad will collaborate with me on the blog. 

You know, there was once a time where people didn't blog all the time.  Blogs didn't even exist.  Blogging wasn't a think you did.  You know, I used to write term papers without the internet.  Isn't that weird?  I bet I'm going to be tweeting when I'm in labor with you.  You know, tweeting didn't really exist until a few years ago, too.  It's an exciting time to be born, that's for sure.  I wonder what you'll be doing in 10 or 15 years with your phone/music player/camera/pda/other stuff I can't even think about now.  You know, I had records.  Like, real round records that you would play by putting this arm that had a needle on the record.  Isn't that strange?  I feel so old.

So anyway, I'm blogging to you because I think about you all the time, and I want you to know what I'm thinking about.  Also, other people might be interested in what I'm up to with this pregnancy.  You know, this is the first time I've been pregnant - at least that I know of.  So it's all new and exciting, both for you, since you've only had life in you for about 9-ish weeks now, and for me, since I've never done this before.  Today I am 11 weeks and 2 days pregnant with you.  You will be arriving in about 28 weeks.  Your dad and I are already starting to get ready for you.  We're finishing projects around the house, and we're going to have a big yard sale to get rid of all the stuff that isn't really important to us anymore.

Your grandma - my mom - came to visit this week.  She brought you a cute outfit that looks like a teddy bear - you'll be super-cute when we put it on you.  Well, you'll be super-cute anyway, but you'll be extra super-cute with it on.  We had fun looking at cribs and strollers.

Oh, here's an interesting tidbit - both your dad and I are only children, so you're the first grandchild on both sides!  Isn't that exciting?

See what a big impact you're having on us already?  And you're only the size of a plum!  That's some kind of power!

Today I took your grandma back to the airport and then drove to Monrovia.  On the way we listened to Owl City.  I've been trying to listen to a lot of Mozart and Bach and classical music since I know your brain is forming, but today we blasted Owl City, and that was cool. 

We went swimming in the lake twice this week.  I hope you like it when we do that.  I think you do.  The water is pretty cold, but I figure you have all my padding around you, so you're probably pretty warm.  And it's cool because when I swim underwater I think about how we're both submerged in water; only you can breathe and I need to come up for air. 

Now it's Friday night and your dad is going to be out late, so I'm having a girly night at home.  I'm listening to Lyle Lovett and trying to play a new video game your dad picked out for me, but I'm frustrated because I can't make the sound work, so I think that will have to wait.  I might watch a girly movie like Bridget Jones and snuggle with the cats.  I've been telling them about you.  Lewis Hamilton,  especially, loves to lay on my belly, and I tell him to purr extra loud so that you can feel it.  They're pretty excited to have a human their own size around.

Oh, and the last bit of news is that I bought a bunch of maternity clothes online today, so I'm excited about that.  I was trying to wait, and have been using the Belly Band, but it's starting to get uncomfortable. 

You'll be here soon, and we're getting ready for you.

Love,
mom