Hello Baby || Week 28-29

Dear Keegan,

Can you believe it?  We are finally in the third trimester - home stretch! :)  It is so wonderful to think that in less than 3 months you will be here...

Just this week, Daddy put together your crib and then we went ahead and put the sheet on it.  Daddy confessed to Mommy that he keeps walking in the nursery just to look at the crib.  I have done the same as well and love imagining your little body laying peacefully in it.

A couple of our friends have had babies in the last month and it has really made Mommy anxious for you to get here.  I see them looking at their babies with awe and wonder and I can't help but get a little teary and hold my stomach...oh I can't wait to meet you!

We are going to have so many adventures; you, Daddy, and I.  Life is an adventure waiting to happen and I cannot wait to share it with you.  I know that our world is about to change and that nothing will ever be the same.  I know that no longer will Daddy and I be able to make last minute decisions and do what we want when we want.  From now on, we will factor in a third person...YOU!

I hope that Daddy and I can show you just how much we love you and I pray that our love for each other and Christ will bring you to salvation at a young age.  I love you my little man; forever and always.

Love,
Mommy

PS We eat a smoothie just about every day and love them, especially with strawberries.  We also enjoy eating poptarts! :)

Hello Baby || Week 24-25

Dear Keegan,

We are just under 4 months til your due date and we are ever so anxious to meet you.  I cannot wait to nuzzle your face, count your little piggies, and stroke your skin.  You are now gaining 6 ounces a week and are weighing in at 1.5 pounds!  Such a big guy...:)  It is amazing how God has formed you; at just 24 weeks your face is fully formed and your ears are getting sharper.

I also am certain you are going to be a strong little man.  I find it quite humorous that nearly every time I am eating or have just finished eating, you will start moving around very excitedly; even your daddy has been able to feel you!  Sometimes you kick me so suddenly and hard that I jump in my seat with surprise, which always makes me smile...

Daddy and I have started to prepare the nursery for you.  We found a great deal on a highchair, pack and play, and diaper bag all in the same Eddie Bauer design - we can't wait to put it all to use!  We also painted our old dresser white for your room and Mommy has put all your clothes in the drawers in anticipation for you.  We are going with a nautical theme and just last week your Gram helped Mommy make you some burp cloths to match your nursery colors. :)

I love you, I love you, I love you, my little man.

Love,
Mommy

PS We love bagels, protein bars, apples, and crunching on ice...:)

{Your 2nd ultrasound picture}

I think you are soooo adorable and perfect! :)

Mommy's baby belly (23 weeks)

{Your burp cloths made from cloth diapers}

Hello Baby || Week 17

Dear Baby,

My oh my, how you are growing and making Mommy grow too... :)  You are now the size of my palm and weigh in at 5 ounces, about the size of a turnip!  I remember when we first found out we were expecting that you were just the size of a tiny poppy seed!

We have our third appointment tomorrow; never in my life have I been so excited to go to the Doctor.  Yet, Daddy and I look forward to these visits and are looking even more so to our next one in which we will find out if you are a boy or girl.  Mommy has a feeling that you are a girl, but of course that means nothing and I would be equally thrilled with a little boy.

This last week we celebrated Thanksgiving; one of my absolute favorite holidays.  I couldn't help but be even more grateful that God has given you to us.  Throughout the day, I kept thinking that next Thanksgiving you will be half a year old!!  Crazy - but oh so exciting!  We cannot wait to welcome you into the world.  Every time Daddy and I see little babies, we get more anxious to see you.  I find myself looking at him and saying, I want one.  To which he replies, Soon, very soon...


Love,
Mommy

PS We love apples and eat 1-2 a day.  We also enjoy cheese and crackers and oddly enough any thing sour.  Perhaps you take after your Aunt Brooke who likes to drink straight lemon juice... ;)

{Thanksgiving '13}

Hello Baby || Week 13

Dear Baby,

We are now entering into the second trimester, which makes us 1/3 of the way done and even closer to getting to meet you.  Last night, I dreamt that I was holding you in my arms.  You were so beautiful and were smiling in your sleep.  I kept looking at you thinking, You are  mine.  When I awoke, my arms ached to hold you and I couldn't go back to sleep, instead I lay there smiling and thinking about you.

Yesterday, your daddy and I heard your heart beat for the first time - it was so fast; swoosh, swoosh, swoosh...  I wish that I could hear it again and again.  Our God is such an awesome God.  He knew the exact amount of time it would take for you to develop, and it amazes me that at just 13 weeks your fingerprints are even developed!  It reminds me of the verses in Psalm -

For thou has possessed my reins; thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret,
and curiously wrought in the lowest places of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in they book
all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, 
when as yet there were none of them.

I love you with all of my being and cannot wait to meet you little one.

Love,
Mommy

PS Your favorite thing to eat for breakfast is cereal with almond milk and you enjoy sucking on jolly ranchers during church and long car rides.

Hello Baby || Week 11

Dear Baby,

From the first moment we found out we were expecting, I couldn't wait to meet you.  I wonder if you will have your daddy's twinkly eyes and curly hair, or if you will have my straight hair and big eyes.  I wonder if you will be a talker or an observer.  But most of all I just can't wait to hold you in my arms.  Right now you are the size of a lime and weigh approximately .3 pounds.  It is amazing how such a small being already takes up so  much space in my heart.  Some days it stops me right in my busy-ness and I can't help but smile and think, We are having a baby!

Daddy and I are praying that you will be healthy and strong, but most of all we want to raise you to love Jesus and serve Him with your life.  I will be honest...sometimes I get a little scared when I think that I am accountable for you...  That I will be training and responsible for such a special person.  However, your mommy has had a great example to learn from.  Reading parenting books has caused me to reflect on my own childhood and realize what wonderful grandparents you have. My dad and mom both took the preaching they heard and applied it in the home.  I never had to wonder why my parents did one thing at church and another thing at home.  I am only now starting to understand how much love they had for me.  Love enough to discipline and train, love enough to parent and not try to be my friend.  Because of their faithfulness, I have a wonderful relationship with them and I cannot wait for you to meet your grandparents.

I am still in awe of the fact that God has chosen to give us you and we cannot wait for your arrival in May!

Love,
Mommy

PS  Currently your favorite snacks are Welch's fruit snacks and apples. :)