dear babe,

a couple nights ago your dadda put your new bed together.

your grammy-a helped me pick it out :) thanks grammy-a!

and i was quite proud of your dad. he made it look so easy :)

and you might have woken up during this process.

because i accidently ran into the corner of the crib

(sometimes it sticks out further than i realize), and jabbed my belly.

but, i was on a mission.......

a mission to make us some rootbeer floats!

cuz you'll learn quick in our family........

we work hard, but we snack harder :)

can't wait to share some bedtime snacks with you.....

...of which will often times consist of sliced apples at your bedside,

cuz thats what my momma did for me when i was wittle.

she's your other grammy. grammy-L we'll call her

speakin of grammy A and L........we'll have to come up with some better/cute/fun names for them.

start brainstormin, will you? maybe come up with a list in between your karate kicks, that should work.

dear babe,

good morning to you :)
is your heart-rate up? because you've been blastin away all morning, kick, punch, headbutt, karate chop.....you name it, im feelin it.

did you know your dad's pretty great?
and strangely knowledgeable about pregnant stuff...........

but most recently i've caught on to his all-knowledgeable self.
you see.............i discovered he gets about 3-5 emails sent to him per week from a 'what to expect when expecting' website. so the cats outta the bag.

i had been quite confused - because he's said things like "good thing we don't have any trips planned, most airlines wont let you fly without a dr letter in the 3rd trimester" and "lets shine a light on your belly, the baby will probably kick at it because he can see now"...........and i wondered how he new about all this crazy, seem-to-be true information. now i know :)

although most moms would be the one to receive these emails and share them with the dads, its quite the opposite with us. but its a good opposite, because i think it really makes your dad feel like he's helping us prepare for you, and he's right :) it empowers him to share this new information with me, the mom, the one who might stereotypically know all this kind of stuff.
he is so excited to meet you. and, you should be really proud of him. cuz i am :)

and ps. your room is lookin great :)
and that's thanks to your dad too.

see you in about 90 days :)
love your momma

dear wittle weif,

so, hello! its your momma here......
and i have a few things to tell you.

first of all a confession.
you see, normally, i am quite the detailed/organized/planner crazy woman.
but
since you've been hangin out in my tummy,
(that's wear you are, right? in my tummy?)
i've lacked in that area!

before i was pregnant, i always predicted i would journal about everything while pregnant.
i would take measurements, record my symptoms, record my weight, etc......
well. i've done none of that.

so. i am going to begin documenting a few things i never want to forget.

today, i wanna write about mr. leif, he's your dad.

1. so while you are in my belly, we talk about how old you are in weeks. last friday you turned 18 weeks. its been tradition with your dad and i that sometime over the weekend while i am in the shower, he reads the next chapter in our book. we have a book about the details of a growing baby. i think its so cute of him. normally he isn't a big reader, but he thrives on reading about you! we learn about how big you are and how unhealthy i am acting, whoops. but don't worry, with these eating habbits, you and i will totally share the same sweet tooth! just think...we can sneak chocolate into our rooms at night, we can share rootbeer floats, and beg your dad to make us brownies - together!!! cheers to junk food :)

2. lots of time people take pictures of pregnant ladies. well, your dad has totally been all over this one. every sunday night (except for a few we forgot) he has me line up in the kitchen for a body shot, to see how much i've grown - well really, its seeing how much you've grown - inside my belly! your dad is quite persistent about this. especially when he was gone in st. louis. on those sunday nights he was home, we just HAD to get that photo taken!

3. last week we toured a hospital. you see, we have to pick between two different ones because my doctor delivers at either place. this summer we will take some classes to learn about how scary this whole havin a baby thing is, and we need to know where to sign up for them! you dad scheduled the tour. and he was TAKING NOTES the whole time (and we were with a group)! he was listing the positives and the negatives! at first i was kind of embarassed, and as many woman are, i was tempted to have him stop or even make fun of him. but then, i realized i need to embrace the amazing father he is already trying to be! i smiled. i was so proud of my note taking husband, aka your daddy! we get to visit the 2nd hospital next monday, i'm sure he will bring his handy dandy little notebook :)

ok, so long for now :)

ps. will you start kicking a little harder? i haven't felt you yet and i would like to soon!