Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning, Michael and I woke early to enjoy our usual Sunday morning routine. He has already begun the trip downtown to attend our favorite gym classes of the week. Michael will take 2 classes, and I'll stick with one. While the first hour of a Sunday always leaves us wondering why we are wasting weekend mornings to wake so early, by 10:45 am, when we're both good and sweaty, we're grateful for the routine. After the gym, we'll pick up a Subway sandwich for my lunch and then park ourselves at Chipotle to read the Sunday paper and eat. Then we'll walk to our favorite bookstore, visit with our friends and head back uptown for a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

And today is Valentine's day! I already feel like I have 2 valentines to celebrate - Michael & our little lady. We're now officially in count-down mode. Sleep has become more difficult, and my body aches almost constantly now. The baby is 34-weeks now, and in just 3 more, she'll be full-term! I'm still trying to convince myself that she'll be born in early April (her due date is March 27th), but it's hard to not dream that she'll be a little early. Yesterday, as Michael and I talked about plans for visitors after she's born, we both started getting anxious, realizing how soon our lives will be turned upside down.

It's a pretty thrilling enterprise, this having-a-child business. I'm tired of worrying about how our lives will change, how our marriage will shift, how my professional life will upend. I'm really tired of people telling me how I'll never be prepared for these realities, how I'm going to be "SO TIRED," how hard the first few months are. I'm ready to go for it now! I guess this is the beauty of a 40-week growth process - we're given time to anticipate, to mentally prepare, before getting thrown in.

Because this baby girl is getting bigger, her movements are much more visible. My stomach is right out of Alien when she's active and awake. Last night, while reading, she was jumping and running so powerfully that I had to just put down my book and watch. She's already amusing me! Our lovely little girl, how excited we are to see you!

Does it get much better than this? Surrounded by love on all sides. Sharing my life - and soon another's - with a wonderful husband. Building a family together.

Happy Valentine's Day!