Happy Tears

I can't believe it's taken this long for this to happen, but apparently I'm finally a crying, babbling mess of emotions. Don't get me wrong, they aren't sad or lethargic or even self-loathing sentiments. They are the complete opposite....they are happy...excited...thrilled emotions! Not to say that I haven't felt these happy feelings all along the way (because believe me I have!), but I'm just not normally an emotional crier. I've always only cried when I've been angry, when something wasn't going my way, or when I can't get my thoughts and feelings about something into coherent words or statements. I've always been more of a frustrated crier throughout my life. I guess that's an emotion, but it's not the same emotion all other girls in the world cry for. Normal girls cry at puppy food commercials, or when their favorite character lives at the end of a movie. Yep...not me. I'm just a bratty, want to get my way, crier =)

Well, apparently all it took to get me to shed some happy tears was a photo shoot and a beautifying session. A simple little hour at a park flicked on the waterworks. Well, I can't say it was the hour at the park that actually did it. It was more the outcome of that hour at the park. You see, I have a very talented and incredibly generous friend named Roomie. Or rather, Alicia to the rest of the world. She's more than a friend, really. She's....well....she's special. I can't even put in to words how much my friends mean to me and she's one of those exceptional friends who has dug herself a warm cozy spot in my heart and is camping out there for life. And I'm just going to leave it at that because I've typed this one sentence just about 100 times in the last two hours and I can't get through it without bursting into tears. Just know that she's just special. She's more than just a friend to Paul and to me. She knows how I feel about her. I emailed her my MOH speech. lol!

Anyway!!! Back to the photo shoot. Out of the kindness of her heart, Roomie offered to shoot some maternity pictures for Paul and me. Something to have to show little Blank when it's older and to remind us of what we were like during this pregnancy. I thought to myself "pshawww...Roomie's in for it. All her previous pregnants have been petite and cute...I'm a pale, swollen mess!" She literally had to pull teeth to get me to agree to it. Practically beg. She even enticed me with having my little Lauren work her magic on my skin and hair. Hello! Sneak!! But finally, I reluctantly agreed. All the while I was a nervous wreck, wondering what was going to come of this photo shoot. Every day that passed by, I worried about Sunday, July 26th. What was I going to wear that wouldn't look horrific against my nearly clear skin? How was Lauren going to even work with said clear skin?? How was I going to pull off the "serious look" Roomie so perfectly documents with other clients without looking like a mean witch? How was I going to slide my swollen feet into some really cute shoes to make it a stylish shoot? How did I ever let her convince me to have my picture taken?!? And was she really going to post these on her blog for all the world to see? Oh boy. This was going to be a nightmare.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing but utter confidence in her ability to take spectacular pictures. Really, she truly is gifted beyond what she even comprehends about herself. But her subjects are usually incredibly cute and incredibly photogenic people. I don't really look in the mirror and feel like I could fill those shoes most days. So I had absolutely no confidence in myself whatsoever. Add to that, pairing me up with my beautiful husband, who has always been the cutest thing in the world to me and I thought for sure I'd ruin these pictures. But Roomie assured me they would be great no matter what I thought. She coached me on my outfits, helped me pick accessories and told me to just be myself. The finishing touch was that Lauren, so talented and perfect at what she does herself, did my hair and makeup, I thought "well, MAYBE this won't be so horrific."

Nevertheless, come photo shoot time, I nervously fumbled my way through an hour of pokey grass, hidden snakes, what I envisioned as mountains of black widows, and broken chaises. Paul was a champ...enjoying the limelight and relishing in the moment. His handsome smile calmed me and his silly jokes made the moment so very "us." And Roomie was a professional through it all....posing us in natural "frames," savoring the warm and creamy light, and snapping away while making us feel like we really knew what we were doing.

At the end of it all, even though we had warmed up to the experience, I thought there was no way this was going to produce anything worthy of putting her name on it. We'd never really posed for pictures like this. Our wedding day was a collection of stolen moments and candid shots. We had spent, maybe, 20 minutes being directed by our photographer, yet they were still mainly moments of giddiness and delight. After all, we had JUST gotten married minutes before. We didn't even care that the photographer had a job to do! Yet here we were, July 26th and I was convinced I blew it.

Boy was I wrong. I could have never in a million years imagined that I'd be so thrilled with the way things turned out. Turns out, I should have just trusted my Roomie and my Lauren. Turns out, I should have just had more confidence in myself. Turns out, I should have known all along that skipping around side by side with my wonderful husband would be all that it would take to make me love the moments my Roomie so expertly captured. Turns out, it is possible to cry for two days straight out of pure delight. Turns out, I really, really am in love with these pictures.

The most amazing revelation that has come from this, isn't so much that hey maybe I CAN pull off a serious look, or maybe I'm really not that horrific looking. It's that Paul and I are creating something so beautiful, so innocent and so pure. You can actually catch a glimpse of the love we share between us that has enabled us to create our little baby growing inside me. You can actually feel the emotions we've shared for the last 7 months - emotions of excitement, wonderment, joy and elation. And believe it or not, I'm finally a subscriber of the school of "pregnancy really IS beautiful." All it took was a little blush and some loose pretty curls, some skipping hand-in-hand, some cheesy prom poses, some giggling in the park, and someone special to capture it all.

Thank you again Roomie for convincing me to do this and for the incredible job you did with these pictures. We will forever cherish them and look back at them and remember how beautiful this whole experience was. Thank you Lauren for reminding me that a little blush and some curls is all I need to make me feel like me again. You're an expert at what you do and you'll go so very far in this world! I'm so lucky to be able to watch you do it! And most importantly, thank you to my Paul for loving me the way you do, so beautifully, so innocently and so purely.

And without further delay:

http://www.themoderntypeblog.com/2009/07/sandy-paul-darling.html

Make sure to check out the slide show under "click here for more pictures of Sandy & Paul."

And now, I'm done crying for the day! =) (PS, my mom even cried looking at the pics! Woah!)

Thanks for reading my long update...I promise to update soon again. And for those that are wondering, all is well with me and little Blank. We're both healthy, happy and chuggin along....and we're at Squash status! YAY!

Love always,

Paul, Sandy and Squash

P.S. Just so you know, these are my talented and wonderful friends that created this all for me:

Alicia: http://www.themoderntype.com/

and my Lauren: http://www.bylauren.blogspot.com/

They are both amazing at what they do and I can guarantee you'd feel nothing but beautiful after a session with each one of them.

Woah

Sooooo...there's a human being with its eyes open sitting inside my belly right as we speak. EYES OPEN! INSIDE ME! WOAH! Isn't that a tad on the creepy side? =)

Hi everyone! I'm back to update. So this week little Blank's eyes open wide finally. I don't know why, but that makes things all the more real to me. Before, the baby was this fragile little cluster of cells that I was hoping would just grow the right way. And now, not a few months later, it's kicking, rolling, adjusting and apparently staring at my innards. It's probably so bored in there, with it's legs and arms crossed in pure bored frustration! Poor Blank! Well, I can't really say it's bored, because this little baby's favorite new game is kickball. And it's ball of preference? My bladder...sometimes my intestines.... a few times entirely too close to my ribs, and lots of times my belly button. It's pretty surreal, to say the least. But it's the coolest feeling in the world. In fact, when Blank isn't moving around, I get worried...is Blank sleeping? Did I not say a funny enough joke? Why isn't Blank moving!! And then just when my worry gets just about to hysteria, I get a swift kick in the gut - and all is well in the world again.

It's amazing how the second you get pregnant, you become a parent. A worrying, frightened, would do anything for my child, parent. I make deals with God almost every day...."dear God, if you please just make Blank move right now, I promise I'll never be an aggressive driver again!" "Dear God, if you please just get Blank to kick really hard right now, I'll never eat 4 brownies in one sitting ever again!" It usually works...thanks God! I guess it's true what they say, from here on out, I'll just worry for the rest of my life. I'm up for the challenge!

So far everything has been going great. The babe is growing just as it should, it's moving around all day long (uh oh! We're in for it!), my doctor didn't yell at me today at my appointment for being a fatty, anddddd we only have 86 days left. Holy heck. When we were getting married, and there were only 86 days left, I was in full freak out mode. Full "omg, 86 days is NOTHING!" Well, I'm beginning to get into that mode again. I can't believe we're almost there. It's exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. But if life has offered me any lessons in this department, it's that no matter how worried I am about the future, it's definitely going to be the greatest ride of our lives. Marriage has been nothing but incredible, so I know for a fact bringing this baby into the world will be just as wonderful.

I do have one person to credit for that, and that's my incredible Paul. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again...he really is the most amazing man. He's been nothing but patient and helpful and encouraging the whole way through. He's just as excited as I am about this little baby, and I really truly can't wait to see him be a dad. He goes above and beyond what any wife should expect from her husband and I think to myself daily, that I don't know how it is that I go so lucky to have him as my husband. Seriously. Being with him have been the best years of my life...but these last 6.5 months have surpassed any dreams I have ever had and I can truly say I've never, ever, ever been happier. He makes me laugh til I cry almost daily and he makes me feel like I'm the most beautiful person in the world even though I look like a beluga whale. I couldn't imagine my life without him. And because of him, our baby will be the cutest baby in all the land! ALL THE LAND! =) He's simply the best.

Anyway...I just had to throw that out there. I was due for a few tears for the day. Ha!

So there's the update. We're chuggin' along, doing great so far. I'm hopeful things continue to move along great for the next 12 more weeks. Or 10 more weeks...we'll be cool with a slightly early arrival! We're at eggplant status right now....and just under 28 weeks. Come 29 weeks, we'll be at a squash. And yes, it does feel that big.

Thanks for continuing to follow our journey! The next few weeks should be fun! Aunt Bani & Aunt Nins turn 22 again, Aunt Linds has her baby shower, Aunt Roomie is going to do a maternity shoot for us and Aunt Lauren is prepping us for the big shoot....exciting next few weeks! I'll post again soon.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Paul, Sandy & Eggplant

At Last...Another Letter to My Wonderful Child!!!

Dear Baby Levis,

Okay, so it’s been more than a month since I’ve written to you last and I really have no good excuse. Things have been crazy, as of late, “yes” but that is still no excuse not to write to you any chance I get. So, Poppa is sorry for the long delay! I will definitely try my hardest to keep up with my journalistic duties as an informative blogger and write to you as often as possible.

So as you can imagine, a lot has happened since my last entry. Let’s look back at some of the things that have taken place in the last month or so…

We were told what you are going to be!!!! Yes…another awesomely proud moment in the Levis’ fresh history tree. Dear old dad had an idea of who and what you were going to be, so it was very exciting when the doctor told us what you are! Both your mom and I felt very proud at that very moment. The doctor almost couldn’t tell because you were so active in there, but you gave him about 3 seconds to take a look and that was just enough time to determine what you are. I must admit (now granted you are my first child), I have never seen such a beautiful baby in all the land! You have really grown up since the last ultrasound. And you were really kicking and punching in there. I think you are going to be a ton of energy for mommy and I, but that’s a good thing, because I definitely like to run around too, so you’ll have daddy always there playing with you!

You and mommy were the Maids of Honor at “Uncle Stebs and Tia Alicia’s” wedding. That was a lot of fun! You probably felt a lot of moving and shaking because mommy was having a blast running from the dance floor to the Photo Booth. Man, that Photo Booth idea…whoever started that trend of having them at weddings is GENIUS! Mommy looked beautiful as always and gave a wonderful speech! She definitely won the crowd over with, well, “glitter.” Another wedding down for the Levis’ and probably about 4 more to go!

There was a lot of celebrating going on during the month of June. Your lil’ cousin Gabe turned 5 years old. We had a good time! There were lots of kids running and playing, it was very nice to watch all the kids having fun. Soon, you’ll be out there running and sliding and swimming! I can’t wait! Another person who celebrated a birthday was mommy! She turned 24 years old (well so she says)! We went to Los Doyers game and ate Doyer Dogs and cotton candy! It was a good time and they won! I think the couple of games that we’ve gone too, they’ve won, so you must be a good luck charm! Speaking of winning, our beloved Lakers won also! Yeah, that makes daddy very happy! During the games, mommy almost went into early labor because it was so exciting and the games were very close, but in the end, we won! Back to mommy’s birthday…we also went to the restaurant at the LAX airport. The place was fun and mommy enjoyed it because we could watch all the jumbo planes come in for landing. You will soon find out that planes are the most interesting things in the world for mommy, so it was a nice treat!

Another celebration that happened was that mommy and daddy, both, got a chance to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day this year (as actual parents)! Yes! Both days were wonderful and both sets of family’s made those days absolutely spectacular for the both of us! It was an absolute amazing feeling to celebrate Father’s Day. I’ve always appreciated the day when we would celebrate it for your grandpa, but it was a tremendous feeling for me to celebrate it! I felt so grown up and “accomplished.” I know that that probably doesn’t make any sense, but it was just a GREAT, GREAT feeling…like being a member of an exclusive club or something. Most importantly, it reminded me that I was soon going to be a dad to the most wonderful child in the world! I guess I really have you to thank for that! So “thank you”!

Another celebration was Tia Becca’s high school graduation (so if you got scared by a bunch of screaming and yelling and bull horns one Sat. morning, it was the family cheering on your aunt)! That was very exciting for the whole family. She is the last one in the family to graduate from high school, so it was a big celebration. So next in line to graduate from the immediate family is…well…YOU! So keep eating away at those Prenatal pills and I’ll make sure mommy eats lots of “brain food” and maybe you’ll graduate from high school at like age 6 or something? I know, I know…that would be crazy, but we never know!

Well, let me tell you about some exciting news, in regards, to you. I finally felt you move around in there! WOAH! That was absolutely amazing! I have never felt anything so surreal in my life! I think I just froze there, motionless, because it was so amazing, so crazy, and so unbelievable that you are in there! That made things even more exciting because I was now able to feel you. It actually makes me wish that these next 3 months or so would just fly by so that I can hold you and squeeze you and have you in my arms! I know that mommy feels the same way too!

So, that’s pretty much all the major events that you’ve been feeling and hearing for the last couple of weeks. I do have to admit that it has been a wonderful experience and that each day I get more and more excited about having you in this world! You truly are a gift from God and I am so thankful that I get to be apart of this miraculous event! Your mom has been so strong and amazing throughout this entire experience and she truly deserves all the accolades in the world on how well she is doing with this. I can totally understand how difficult it can be, at times, for her and I hope that she knows how much I love her and support her (even if she thinks she acts crazy at times). She has definitely gone through a lot and she has been very tough through it all. You both are the loves of my life and I will never let you forget it!

Love,

Daddy Levis

P.S.

My mom just called me at work to tell me she saw a picture of me from February and that I looked "skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinny, skinny, skinny then!"

Thanks mom. I totally needed to hear that today.

Remember to eat healthy!!

Yes, yes I know. This is my dad's daily adage and it finally hit me this weekend that I'm pretty sure he thinks I look fat. Though, he is kind enough to know that telling a pregnant chick that she's fat = instantaneous death to the sayer of these words at the hands of said pregnant chick. While I'm not eating only chicken and broccoli on a daily basis, I also don't think I'm doing too bad in the weight department either. Well, minus the one day at my cousin's house that shall go down in infamy. Let's just say there was a deep fryer involved and I was definitely tied to a chair and force fed deep fried oreos, taquitos and empanadas. FORCE FED! Oh and my drunk husband was definitely involved in creating the hysteria. Damn Laker game. I will say I took one for the team though, because our beloved Lakers are where they should be right now. All because of my torturous bout with the fryer!

Nevertheless, I apparently am noticeably fat. And I'm not writing this out to garner sympathy from the 4 readers of our blog. There's no "you are NOT fat Sandy! you're beautiful!" necessary, PLEASE! I'm aware from the outside looking in, pregnancy is beautiful. Skinny or fat, a pregnant women is a work of art (gag!). But from the inside looking out, it's kinda reallllly hard to see the beauty in this Monet. From the pregnant's perspective it's kind of like Monet took Opium + Absynth + Crack Cocaine + drank a 40 of Jager and attempted to copy the Mona Lisa "a'la Monet style." Kinda looks like a bad hangover that almost resulted in an overdose. No matter how far back you stand, you can't see the beauty in it.

Having said that, feeling-down-on-herself pregnant chick can absolutely see the beauty in what's going on inside her. I mean, I can see the beauty in what's going on inside me. =) I really can, and because of the amazing experience of feeling our baby moving around inside me every single day, I'll take the gross outer appearance feeling any day of the week. And I'll take the jabs from people too. I may not be Halle Berry, only gaining 5 pounds my entire pregnancy, wearing non maternity True Religion jeans until I'm 9 months pregnant, but I still am equally as cool as her in that I'm creating a real human. So while the container may not be as attractive, the end product is truly the most beautiful thing life has to offer, and I'm fully aware of it and feel incredibly blessed to be able to go through this experience.

Besides, I know I can run better than most (well except Monica apparently!) So once Blank is out of incubation, I'll run til my hips fall off and look like Jillian Michaels before you know it. And/or I know how to properly (and healthily) starve myself to at least look like a normal person. Either A or B will apply! But come wedding season starting in April, I'll be a MILF (excuse my language lol!) for sure! My wonderful Paul suggested I buy a killer "goal" dress and hang it around the house somewhere to keep me motivated. I just may do that. I love goals. Almost as much as I love killer dresses!

AND! I'm allowed one "swollen" pregnancy. Next time, I'll be Halle. Or something. So yes, I will eat cotton candy when I go to Los Doyer games, and yes, I will bake brownies every 3 months, and yes I will eat lots of cheese. Cuz I heart cheese and its gooey wonderfulness! The skinnies can take the hit with their boring meals of baked fish and cauliflower. Next time I'll join you in your misery. This time I'll do my best to eat right, but I won't deny myself the luxury of some pudding here and there.

For those keeping track, by the way, we are finally at the point of monthly fruits and vegetables. So until the end of the 24th week, we're at Papaya! Can I tell you how much I loathe the smell of Papayas? I really do! They smell awful and I don't know how people eat them! But they are big, so I'll take the comparison to show us where Blank is at right now. Oh, also, this week we turn 23 weeks. So thankfully, Papaya only has about 2 weeks left to play.

Well that was my blog for the day. A little bit of 'woe is me' mixed with a lot a bit of 'this is amazing!!' We've continued to feel great and we're continuing to trek on as we get closer and closer to actually meeting beautiful baby Blank!

Thanks again for reading so far. I'll update soon again.

Love,

Paul, Sandy & Papaya

It's all downhill from here...

In a good way though. We're at 21 weeks! YAY! That means that we're further than half way through this pregnancy. So hopefully, from here on out, time will fly. Hopefully!

Wellll!!! We officially know what we're having!! And we're both so excited about it! But I won't mention the sex here, because Abuelo reads this blog and he still doesn't want to know what it is. He wants to wait until the baby is born so he can be surprised. So I'll do my duty and not mention it, though I'm pretty sure the whole wide world knows what we're having by now. Good luck to the person that spills the beans to him!

Aside from finding out if Blank is a boy or a girl, our ultrasound went great. Everything is continuing to grow as it should, all looks healthy, and Blank was swimming around perfectly. We saw it's arms, legs, eyes, mouth, ear (only one ear because Blank apparently felt like leaning up against my uterus on the other ear and wouldn't give us a peak), kidneys, liver, heart, toes, fingers, and it's bits. HA! Good times at the doctors office! We saw little Blank swallow some fluid just like it should be doing, which was way cool. And we saw it be shy for the camera....arm in front of it's face the whole way through. Apparently it doesn't like the paparazzi! All in all, everything looks great so far. We get one more peek on July 30th and then we wait til birth. As of right now, by the way, Blank is the size of a Banana! Awwww! How cute!

I'm still continuing to feel great, though I've caught a little cold. But this cold has been way easier than the last cold I had last month. I think this one is actually dwindling away nicely without the need for meds, phew! Other than that, I'm feeling like my old self again....with the added benefit of a basket ball under my clothes! I tell people that I don't necessarily feel any different that pre pregnancy, but then I walk in front of a mirror and I'm like "WOAH! Where did that come from!" For a split second I think I have to go on a diet...but then I realize, it's Blank doing it's thing!

Speaking of Blank doing it's thing...holy heck it's moving a lot! I feel it swimming and kicking every day. Blank tends to be most active from 6 pm to about bed time. Paul calls it "my time on the throne of laziness" aka our chaise on the couch. While I wish I could sit here and tell you that it's as comfortable as it used to be, it really hasn't been lately. But it does wonders for my swollen feet, so I continue to be lazy on the throne. I think sometimes Paul wants to pull his hair out from all the "relaxing" we're doing, but he's been a good sport about it and has let me be a lazy fat porker on the couch.

We decided to take a walk last night...so we walked about 2.5 miles over to Aunt Bani's house. It was kind of challenging, but it felt great. If only I could get my tush off the couch more often, I'd do it nightly. But if you threw sitting on the throne of laziness vs. walking out to me, chances are thrones would win. =)

Anyway...things continue to progress nicely with this little bundle of joy. I'm hopeful that they will stay that way for at least 19 more weeks! We're both super excited to meet little Blank and we're super excited to get started on the nursery in the coming weeks. I'll post pictures of the progress on the blog once we get started. And yes, I'll actually post pictures, unlike my promise to post belly pictures....which I still promise I'll try to do soon =)

In the meantime, Blank, Paul & I thank you for continuing to read our story!

Love,

Paul, Sandy & Baby Blank...who's actually a boy or a girl now! YAY! I mean Banana, for now!

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!!!!

Dear Little One,

It’s Poppa here, once again! I’m sorry that I haven’t written to you in a while. I’ve just been trying to get all my feelings and emotions down on paper before I post to you because I don’t like it when I write something that just sounds like words and thoughts all thrown together. I guess I’m a little neurotic about that, so please don’t think that dad is crazy or off his rocker…I just want my little notes to you to be worth reading when you get old enough to read them.

So today is a HUGE day for you! Happy Pre-Birth Birthday!!!! You are exactly (approximately) 20 weeks old!!!! That’s right, you have made it through the first half of pregnancy! Congratulations!!! That’s a huge accomplishment! You have grown all your organs and extremities. Your brain and heart are really working hard now. You are a beautiful little person and your mom and I are so very excited! You have definitely grown a lot in the past couple of days. Mommy’s belly went from “looking like she ate too much cheese” to looking fully pregnant! It’s beautiful! She looks amazing and she is doing very well! You guys are eating good and actually getting a lot of exercise (I thought that exercising would be at the bottom of the list for mommy…boy was I wrong). According to Mommy, you are really working on your Karate skills or maybe your ballet pirouettes? I’m not sure what’s going on, but Mommy says that you’re really moving around in there. That’s great! Keep up the kickin’ because it makes both your mom and I so happy when she can feel it. Unfortunately, I can’t feel it yet, but that will soon come and than you’ll be hearing a loud voice from outside saying, “Keep Kicking!!!” That loud voice will be me because I want you to get big and strong while you’re in there. But I know that you are going to be a bundle of energy when you get here. You’re a Levis…

So tomorrow is a big day for everyone. We, finally, get to find out if you’re a boy or a girl! YES!!!!! I think everyone is 50/50 of what they think you will be. This is very exciting! I’m actually a little nervous. I’m not nervous because I have a preference…I really don’t care if you are a boy or a girl, but I think I’m nervous because this is a major life altering experience. I mean, this will determine what kind of a dad I will be. Don’t worry, you’re still getting a dad who will love you and support you no matter what! But after we find out if you’ll be a boy or a girl, I get to start thinking about all the things that life will have to offer. If you’re a girl, I’ve got to start prepping myself for dress shopping, tea parties, Barbie, teenage-hood, & boys (CRAP…boys!). I should definitely start a wedding fund early! If you’re a boy, I’ve got to get ready for sports stuff, cars, Transformers, Star Wars, & bugs probably. If you’re a girl and you want to play with boys’ stuff, I’m cool with that. If you’re a boy and you want to do girlie things well, I’ll be okay with that too…as long as you are happy and having fun! That’s all I really care about! I want you to be as happy as humanly possible and I want you to enjoy everything that life has to offer! See these are the things that get me a little nervous. I get nervous because things have changed so much from your generation to my generation (I don’t know if you have a generation yet, but that’s how fast things change around here). I know that as parents, we’ve got to battle things like computers and Internet and technology. I’m good with computers and technology, but I’ll probably be a dinosaur by the time you’re ready to use a computer. These things really scare me, because sometimes these concepts can have negative characteristics to them and it’s my job to protect you from it. I don’t want to fail! That’s my biggest fear in life…I never want to fail you or your mom or any of your future brothers or sisters. But with help from your mom, I’m sure I’ll be ready for whatever comes. I know that both sets of grandparents are VERY, VERY excited! We’re just all anticipating your arrival.

Well, I just wanted to write you a little note before tomorrow’s ultrasound because I want you to know what was going on in dear old dad’s head. Please know that I love you dearly and that my love for you grows every single second. I love just knowing that you are inside Mommy’s belly and that you are going to be with us soon! I’ll be talking to you soon…literally…because now you can hear my voice, so I’m going to start reading or talking to you. It’ll be weird because I’ll be talking to a stomach, but I think it will be nice for you to know my voice! I love you!

P.S. I guess Downey is bad, SO “if I ever catch you in or around the City of Downey, YOU ARE GROUNDED!” Ha! Ha! How was that dad moment for you!?! I really have to work on that, huh? Oh well, I've got time to practice!

The City of Downey

Dear Baby Blank,

It's your mommy! HI! I hope you're having a nice time swimming around in my belly. Turns out you recently started peeing in there. Meh sorry. I'd go in and clean it up for you a little bit but, um, well...that's kinda impossible. So for the time being, just stay away from the warm spots!! =)

In all seriousness though, Blank. Your mom has a situation going on in her life. It's a huge, ginormo problem. It's called "The City of Downey." Blank, just so you know, you are never, ever, ever allowed to step foot in that city. Ever. It's a bad, bad city, full of ghosts, goblins, and lying liars who lie. Those Lying Liars also like to steal people's identities! SCAAAAAARYYY! Trust me, it's scary ok. If you go to Downey, only bad things happen. Heck, even if you DON'T go to Downey, bad things happen.

Just know that your name will have more than one meaning to it because of this SCAAAAAAAARY city. Your name will be picked out of love and also because we don't want you to be like every other person in California. See, your mommy had a very common name. Almost everyone in Southern California had my last name before I married your daddy. And turns out, almost every woman who had that same last name ALSO had my same first name. And it also turns out that even those that didn't have my same name liked it SO much that they decided to steal it. In addition to also stealing my driver's license number, my birthday and my signature! AND THEN (omg you may want to come closer to mommy cuz it gets even more scary!) and thennnn, they decided to be bobos (that's dummies in espanol) and get into a car accident in the city of Downey. But seeing as they really weren't me, they just skipped away and giggled because they really didn't get in trouble. They just thought to themselves "poor, Sandra Perez, wherever she is! She doesn't know what's coming to her!" To add to that, they then decided to open up credit cards in mommy's name and go on a shopping spree. WEEEEEEE!! Fun for fake Sandra Perez, not so fun for your mommy. =(

So Blank, because of this, you won't be named Emma or Aiden, Madeline or Noah. Nope. You want to know why? Well sweet angel, because when you start Kindergarten, there will be 9 Emma's and 7 Aiden's in your classroom with you. Wouldn't that be boring? Don't you want to be unique? Trust me, my love, you'll want to have your very own name...different then the rest. Don't worry though, mommy and daddy aren't all that crazy. (Well mommy sometimes can be classified as slightly loony, but it comes in waves. Thank God Daddy is sane!) We won't name you anything like Pilot Inspektor or Apple or Moxie Crimefighter. We'd never do that to you. But, we will pick a name that isn't in the top 10. Perhaps not even in the top 100.

Your saving grace, however, will be your awesome last name. Sure, sometimes people will think it's Lewis. And you may even get a Levi here and there. (Heck, at least you can pretend you're part of the Levi's Jeans conglomerate!) But trust me my tiny little Blank when I tell you that you're exceptionally lucky to have a rather not so common last name. After all, isn't that the purpose of last names? To distinguish yourself from the rest of the world? So that instead of 900 Gertrudes that have no distinction, you have Gertrude of the family Smith and Gertrude of the family Jones. And we'll have Blank...of the family Levis. You're a special little kid Blank! And you're not even here yet!

So back to my original point. STAY AWAY FROM DOWNEY! And Blank, if you're a girl, I may not speak to you for 3 weeks if you tell me you're going to marry a Perez or a Gonzalez or a Smith or a Jones. This is probably all talk from me because I'll love you that much. But as of right now, three weeks black list.

Just know that at this very moment, mommy is practicing her breathing techniques so she doesn't blow a gasket. Also you should know, that stealing is a VERY bad thing punishable by jail time and fines. One day we'll show you a TV show called "Locked Up" on MSNBC about jails and prisons. They are almost as scary as the City of Downey. You don't want to end up there, so please make sure you don't steal anything from anyone ok? Not even their names or signature k? It's for your own good. And it will prevent you from having to have tears tattooed on your cheeks. I heard that really, really hurts. And that's not fun right?

Anyway, I hope you have a peaceful day doing flippies in my belly. Know that mommy and daddy love you very much! And just to go over things once more:

A. Stay away from the warm spots in the pool you're currently swimming in
B. Stay away from the City of Downey
C. Don't steal
D. Try not to marry a Jones or Gonzalez
E. Mommy and Daddy love you!
F. It's fun to pretend you own Levi's Jeans (as long as you don't steal them and/or the company!)

That's all for now. I love you very much and can't wait to see you!!

Love always,

Crazy Mom

Update Fail

Yes, yes. It's been way too long since the last update. I'm sorry! Life has been crazy and I have been lazy =) The good thing is, we are not total and complete update slackers.

We have been taking our weekly belly shots. Not that I have any here with me that is, but some day I can post one. And at the very least, some day little Blank will see it's progress!

So where are we at? Tomorrow will be 19 weeks! MANGO! (I'll get to that later) WOAH! For those of you who are interested, at 19 weeks our little Blank is measuring about 7.5 - 8 inches in length from head to toe and is weighing in at about 8 ounces or so. Awww so teeny yet so NOT teeny. Get a ruler out...hurry quick. And measure that out! I'll wait.

SEE!! That's big! Considering my belly doesn't look like it's holding an 8 inch baby in it! That's so very surreal to me that there is a human that size inside of me right at this very instant! WOAH WOAH WOAH. Additionally, little Blank has been making itself be known too. I have been feeling little movements here and there for the last few weeks now. It's so comforting to know that it's in there moving around like that. Kinda like Blank is saying "I'm here mommy! See! BAM! (punch in the bladder!)" So cute! I'm already letting it walk all over me. And my intestines. I guess that's what life has in store for us for the next 18 years or so right?

The last month has been a really pleasant one so far. Aside from the normal fears and worries of a pregnancy, things have gone well. Yes I fear and yes I worry. Every little twinge, ache, and tug makes me wonder if everything is ok. What can I say, it's a motherly instinct? But then I try to think logically (and then I research, and then if the worry is THAT bad I call my doc) and the logic sometimes creeps itself back into my life. I need to start doing my Crunch Mama Yoga videos. Maybe that will relax me more? =)

Really though, I've been feeling great, I've actually been able to sleep, and my nausea is completely gone. I can't really ask for more for now! I would love to fast forward 21 weeks and be at the end of it all, but for now I'll enjoy the quiet for a little longer.

Next week will be a big week for us! Monday I'll have an appointment with my regular doctor, like normal. But then Thursday we have our big ultrasound! The best one of the group! They will tell us that day whether little Blank is a he or a she!! YAY! Both Paul & I are so excited! I really wish I could say I'm leaning towards thinking its one sex or another, but really I have no idea. I have no leanings in either direction. Perhaps because I really do find this all so surreal still? Who knows. But I think next week will really put things into perspective big time. Then it's on to decorating the room. I can't wait to start picking colors and furniture and all the cool stuff that goes along with that.

So back to our Mango. Mango huh? I really, really, really want to know where in the world they have 7.5 inch mangoes. Because I want to visit there and sit in a pile of ginormo mangoes and eat to my heart's content. I think the website where I get these fruit/veggie comparisons kind of got lazy with this fruit thing. Mango is not even close to what I had in mind. But whatever, I'll take it. It's still fun to see a new fruit every week. And mangoes are really yummy. So our little 19 weeker is a Mango.

Anyway, I guess I should end this now. Just wanted to update everyone as to where we were at. Feeling great, growing right, and enjoying the ride (bumps and all!). Hopefully Papa Levis will update soon too. HINT HINT!

And hopefully I won't be so lazy and update way sooner than a month from now. Good job friends for hinting on the update.


Love,



Paul, Sandy and Mango (not from SNL. The fruit. I guess that doesn't help to take away the SNL vision. The actual God created edible fruit. lol, how's that?)

P.S. Spell check says 'Mango' plural = mangoes, not mangos. I don't like it, but I'll follow what spell check says. Hmm I wonder if this spell check is British?

To Daddy's Lil Angel...

Dear Baby Levis,

So, it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve last written to you and so much has happened since than! I really don’t know where to begin because a lot has happened in the past couple of weeks. I guess, I’ll just start writing and hopefully I’ll write out everything that I can think of & it won’t sound retarded.

Well, first of all, you are currently about 14-15 weeks along now. I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by. It seems like only yesterday your mom and I were sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to find out if you were real or not. I guess I should get used to time flying because I know that Grandma Levis always tells me that and I totally understand where she’s coming from now. It will only be a matter of time before you are with us and than from there the time is probably going to really fly by. I hope that it doesn’t go too fast for me!!!!

So, you have been quite the traveler as of recent. Both you and your mom have managed to go to New York and back a couple of times. Your mom surprised me for my birthday with a trip to the Big Apple. It was such a fun trip! It was definitely a trip that I had looked forward too for some time. And mom did an awesome job with the traveling! She managed to really step up and do lots of activities, even though it was probably very tiring for her. She made dear old pops very happy! We did so many things in New York, it was unbelievable. When we got there, we rested for a little bit and than we headed to Maddison Square Garden to watch a basketball game. That was a lot of fun! We then went walking through Time Square and back to Abuelo’s apartment. That night we took it east and relaxed. The next day, we got up and had some breakfast/lunch at this little café and then made our way to Central Park. It was a beautiful day, so everyone in all of New York was there. It was really interesting to watch all the people out there. There were people dancing, roller-skating, jogging, walking their dogs, playing Frisbee, & playing catch. It was pretty wild! We definitely had a blast out there! We, then, headed over to Borders and looked at baby name books. Believe it or not, we killed about 3 hours there, just sitting and reading about 10,000 baby names to each other. But it was definitely a nice and relaxing day! Later on that night we ate at this nice Cuban restaurant, Victor’s Café. The food was excellent and our waiter treated us like we were part of his family…he was so nice! What a meal! The next day, you got a chance to try Ray’s Pizza! It’s daddy’s favorite and I think you really enjoyed it because mom was feeling really full before we got there, but she ate an entire slice, so I’m thinking that you just took over and enjoyed it with her. After pizza, mom and I headed to the NY Library to look at really old stuff! It was quite an adventure because it was pouring rain the minute we left the pizza place. We stayed there for about an hour and than headed to Grand Central Station. This was a lot of fun because mom and I found this little café that sits above the main area of the station where all the people come and go. The bonus was that this café had a tower of prosciutto, which your mom and I devoured! We relaxed and watched all the people come and go and run for their trains. I had a nice drink and your mom drank her casual Roy Rogers (easy on the Grenadine). After a little bit, we headed back and relaxed some more. Later on that night we decided to try this food stand that always has a line of people. They sell Mediterranean food there. We stood in line for about 15 minutes and when we got up to place our order, I got so intimidated by what to say, that I just mimicked what the guy in front of me said. We both laughed because I didn’t even know what I had just ordered! We took it back to the apartment and I ate about half of it. When the next day arrived, we were both ready to head home. By the way, you are definitely our little “good luck charm” for flying. Before this last trip, your mom and I have had the absolute WORST luck with flying, and this trip was the smoothest flight for us ever! We even arrived early both there and back. You really are our little angel!!!!!!

Well, now that we’re back home, things are going well. It looks like mommy is finally out of the nausea stage and she seems to really have her appetite back. She hasn’t been craving anything out of the ordinary, however, she is into carrots lately, which seems new to me. But other than that, I haven’t really been on any “Food Craving” runs to the store in a while. I guess it’s still early and I will soon be making my way to the store for pickles, ice cream, watermelon, chili, pork grinds, apple sauce, or anything other crazy mixture of foods. I look forward to it and I hope that mommy knows that I will travel to both ends of the earth to satisfy both your and hers cravings for exotic combos.

Your dear old dad has recently been fighting a nasty cold, which is weird because I’m pretty super human and never get sick. Perfect timing, I assume, because all my friends keep making fun of me saying that I’m going through my “sympathy pregnancy.” I really don’t think I’m sick because I want to simulate the pregnancy, but in any event, it’s taken a toll on both your mom and I. We look forward to just relaxing in the next coming weekends before Wedding season starts for us. (I must warn you…in the next couple of months, things are going to be really shakin’ in there because we have like 4 weddings to go to, so get your dancing shoes ready!!!!).

Well, I think that’s all I’ve got for now. I’m sorry this one was a bit long and detailed. I just wanted to let you know what you went through in the past couple of weeks. I can’t wait to see you! I lie in bed every night and think about what it is going to be like with you here. I know there are many good times on the horizon for us, so please keep growing strong and I will be seeing you soon! I love you!!!!

P.S. Your mommy is an amazing woman and she is absolutely amazing for everything that she has done for me lately! Between jetting off from LA to NY with me and making me “Cuban” chicken noodle soup, she has truly taken care of me and I love her deeply for it! You both are Daddy’s Angels and I love you both with all my heart!!!!!!!!!

Someone's been slacking!

That would be me! I'm sorry I've let two weeks go by since I last posted. It's been a crazy two weeks, if that's a worthy excuse? Paul and I flew to New York the weekend after I got back from the NY Bachelorette Party! Pretty crazy right? That's what I was thinking too. BUT! It was Paul's birthday on April 6th and he and I have wanted to go to New York just us two for so long. So I thought it would be so fun to surprise him with a trip out there for his birthday. We had such a great time! We got to see a NY Knicks basketball game (FYI Madison Square Gardens smells like bums and pee. Sorry Knicks fans. It's no Staples Center!), we had dinner at a yummy Cuban restaurant out there - Victor's Cafe (hello food coma!), we had appetizers and drinks at Grand Central Station (well I had a Roy Rogers lol...Paul had a real drink), we people watched in Central Park, we ate from the famous street vendor on 53rd & 6th, we had Ray's Pizza (OMG so delish!!) and we perused the New York Public Library! What a great weekend! It really was so nice to just get away for a few days just the two of us before the craziness of parenthood gets here. I'm so happy we were able to do this! And Happy Birthday again to my most favorite person on this whole planet! My Lovey Loo Loo! =)

On to baby news! Things continue to go great! I think I'm finally past the bloated, "too many bagels" belly and on to a real pregnancy belly now! YAY! It's not huge or anything, but it's slowly poofing away. People actually have asked me if I'm pregnant, so I assume that means I don't look like I just overindulged in donuts or something. I definitely don't fit into any of my regular clothes and have slowly started to build a collection of maternity clothes. Though maternity clothes isn't the most stylish of digs, the comfort they bring is way worth it! I can finally breath! AND I can finally just walk around without having to pull up my completely unzipped pants! Phew!

I have another doctor's appointment this coming Monday. Nothing out of the norm, just the regular check up. I don't expect anything spectacular to happen. Though I do expect my doctor to tell me to lay off the bagels. lol! I have actually gotten cravings (if you can call them that) for carrots and salads. I've always been a fan of salads, but I could probably eat them daily right now. And carrots came out of left field. But they are yummy, so I won't complain.

Our little baby is the size of a Lemon now. Though today is the last day of that. Tomorrow we move on to Naval Orange. I love oranges! I can't believe how quickly this has all been coming along. It feels like just yesterday there were peed on pregnancy tests all over the house. And here we are almost at Orange stage! Wowza!

I've been feeling a lot better lately as far as the morning sickness goes. Thank you baby Jesus!! Though I have been on an emotional roller coaster. Most days its funny, silly, crying at commercials type things. Yesterday it was "junior high, hold my gold hoops" rage style. Fun times! It left me with quite the migraine last night. But I will say, the receiver of my rage deserved it 10 fold. =) We'll just leave it at that mmm-k!

Anyway, everything is going well so far. Things are progressing like they should, and we continue to get closer and closer to seeing our beautiful little baby. OH! May 21st....mark your calendars. That's the day we find out what we're having!! I can't wait! Only 5 more weeks to go.

I'll try my best to update soon again. And hopefully Paul will update soon too. His are always the funnest entries anyway. And I'll try my best not to roundhouse kick anyone for the next 5 months. AND maybe soon if we quit being so forgetful, we'll post a belly shot.

In the meantime, thanks for following our blog!

Love,

Paul, Sandy & Little Lemon

So as far as husbands go, Paulie Levis is totally boss.

He is the cheese to my macaroni. And I know that people are supposed to fall in love before they reproduce....so we did. (That one's for you Lovey!! And Little Plum [aka Baby Levis] that was a movie quote...you'll hear about 10 trillion of them throughout your life. In fact, most of the things that will come out of daddy's mouth with be direct quotes from movies adjusted to fit the real life circumstance that is actually playing out. In fact, you can probably tell when he's quoting a movie because he'll look at you with this ginormous smile and try very diligentely to stifle a giggle. Stifling giggles is not one of your dad's strong suits. It's what I love the most about him!)

I can't say it enough, but I really am the luckiest girl in the world. You may actually see this said many many many more times throughout this blog. Bear with me though, I'm experiencing the 'fatherly' side of Paul for the first time, and I'm just absolutely amazed by him. Not that I expected anything less of course, it's just that it's so wonderful to know (and see!) that he's equally as excited about our Little Plum as I am. So thank you once again Paulie Levis, for bringing more warmth into my heart with your last post. What a great daddy you'll be to our little one! Cheese + Macaroni = Love!

Well, you did read correctly! We are at plum stage! Actually today is the last day of Plum stage. Tomorrow...PEACH! And today is also the last day of our first trimester! YAY! Time actually kind of flew by. But then again, it kind of didn't. In retrospect, we've known about this little baby for 9 weeks now. Wowza! That's been quite some time! But, then I get that little tinge of nausea and I remember quite vividly that I've been nauseous for 7 weeks straight now. And bleh, that sounds like forever! Paul is right, things have gotten a lot better. I definitely am not feeling terrible all day long. But I'm still struggling at night some times. And actually, I am struggling after any big meal. I'm hoping that things continue to progress and get better as time goes along. I'm sure it will, just a little more patience =)

Last week was a very big week for us. First of all, on Monday we had our regular doctor appointment (which I mentioned to you before). Dr. Trites told us that all of our blood work came back perfectly! I tested negative for cystic fibrosis, fraggle X syndrome, and I think spina bifida. It doesn't mean that the baby definitely won't have these disorders, but the chances that it will are very very slim based on the results. I'll take it! She said my protien levels, iron levels, and other important levels all looked great and that things seemed to be progressing along just fine. We then heard the heartbeat which I mentioned in my last post. Great start to the week right?

Well things got even BETTER on Thursday! We had our NT scan that day. The NT scan is a rather new type of ultrasound (combined with a blood test [sorry Bani!]) that helps to rule out a few other genetic abnormalities such as Downs Syndrome, Edwards Syndrome, and a couple others. It was a rather long ultrasound, and rather uncomfy at times, but it was the most amazing experience of our lives! Paul mentioned in his conversation with the Plum that he actually teared up....well Momma Bear was tearing up too! You all know how hard it is for me to cry under pressure (lol!) so this was quite big! It was unbelievably amazing to actually see that the little alien looking thing that we previously posted actually looked like a real life baby. Utterly unbelievable! And to top it all off, he/she was moving!! JUMPING! SWIMMING! PLAYING WITH IT'S FACE! Woah! We actually have a video of it, which I'm hoping to be able to somehow crop and post on here. But in the meantime, behold our beautiful creation:

That's our little baby! Little nose and all! I cannot believe that we actually saw such a clear picture. We saw everything from fingers, to toes, to kidneys, to brain, to heart valves, to 12 little ribs on each side of it's chest. Just incredible. The best part of the whole thing was that the doctor indicated that based on the ultrasound, it looks like our child is healthy and right on track! The chances of developing any of the aforementioned disorders were incredibly slim. The blood test results will confirm it all, but he said normally if you get a good result on the ultrasound, the blood work should come back perfect. What a great appointment! And what a load off of our shoulders! It definitely made me feel so much better about it all....I am finally beginning to realize that this is all very, very real. That plus I can't hold my gut in any more on my own...it's poofing out whether I like it or not. =) So we are both SO excited that everything is going the way it should and that we are continuing to grow a wonderful little baby that is already amazing us every day! I can't wait to be able to see it in real life! Hurry up and grow little one!


Speaking of poofing bellies....fyi it happens out of nowhere. One day you can suck your belly in and act like nothing, then all of a sudden that power just goes away. This morning I ironed some pants that I literally wore less than a week ago. Sure they were a little snug around the waist last time, but they were completely buttonable. Today? Not so much at all. Not even a little bit. So that was a bit of a surprise! I called my mom to whine to her and she said "well Sandy, what exactly did you expect? You're over 3 months now...it was bound to happen!" Gotta love her...she always throws reality right into your face rather raw. But she was right...so I hopped on the Old Navy website and did a tiny bit of shopping. I won't lie and say I wasn't slightly excited at the prospect of new clothes! I intend to do some more very soon!


And finally, I did have to mention that I took a trip out to New York this weekend for a very fun trip with the girls. It was Auntie Roomie's bachelorette party weekend so I packed her two sisters Cyndy and Lisa, Aunt Bani, Aunt Nins, Aunt Lints, Aunt Mons, and Aunt Bea all tightly in to Abuelo and Abuela's apartment in NY and we had a wonderful weekend running around New York! The Plum and I did a bit of dancing, a lot of walking, and a lot of worrying about gum on the carpet (shhhhh don't tell Abuelo!). The weekend was awesome and I'm so glad we all got to spend the weekend together celebrating Roomie's last few days of singledom. As soon as I get some pictures from the weekend, I'll post one up.


In the meantime, I guess I should end this ultra long post. I'm glad I could share the exciting news of our doctor's appointments with you. As always, both Paul and I continue to be ultra excited about the anticipated arrival of our very first little Levis! Thanks everyone for continuing to follow the blog...we love sharing our story with you!


Love always,


Cheese + Macaroni + Plum

Baby Levis...

Dear Baby Levis,

This is my 2nd entry to you and I feel like so much has happened since I last talked to you. When I wrote to you last, you were about the size of a lime and you were still developing arms and legs. Well, a lot has changed since than!

Let me start off by letting you know how things are going. GREAT!!!! Your mom and I are still eagerly awaiting your arrival. Things seem to be moving in a better direction as far as Mommy's nausea is concern (I think?). She is still getting the "grossed out" feelings, but she is starting to eat a lot more, which is very exciting to me because that means that you are growing big and strong inside! Mommy is still not feeling 100% better and she gets tired very easily, but she is doing very well. Things will definitely get better as we get closer to having you with us. We are still finding different foods that you both can agree on, which can be difficult at times, but I think we're getting it. Mommy has a very strong sense of smell...I don't know how you do that to her, but she can smell things from miles away. Maybe, you're trying to smell what this world has to offer?

We still don't do too much, but I think, right now, relaxing is the best thing for Mommy and I. We are going to have our hands full when you're here, so I think we're both trying to get as much rest as possible. Everyone keeps telling me to get all my sleep in now, so I'm definitely trying to listen to everyone's advice! We haven't started working on your room yet, but I think we're waiting to find out if your a boy or a girl before we start that project, so that's coming up soon! I wish that it would come faster because I truly can't wait to have you in my life!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Levis are SOOOOOOOO excited to see you too! We talk about you all the time. We laugh when we think about all the fun that we are all going to have when you're with us. They are going to be such fun and great grandparents, wait and see!!!! Aunt Roxie and Uncle Evan are super excited also! Aunt Roxie already bought you your first little outfit! It's very cute and I can't wait to see you in it! She is very excited to be the cool aunt and I have no doubt that she is a natural for the part! Even your great-grandma was so excited when we told her about you. She told your mom and I all these funny stories of when she was pregnant and what it was like in her day. I think the message that I'm trying to tell you is that your entire family is sooo estatic to see you and you are going to have so much love from so many people!!!!!

Well, since your mom and I both write on this blog..."blog...can you say blog? BLLLLLOOOOOGGGGGUH" (HA HA! I thought I'd just get a little bit of practice in) So since your mom and I both write on this blog, I will let her describe how things went at the 2 doctor's appointments that we had this week (Week 12, for those who are counting). But I am going to say that you did it!!!! You managed to make dear old dad cry! I didn't sob or anything...don't worry dad is still pretty tough and IS the strongest human in the world (much like what grandpa used to tell me)! But I did get a chance to see you again and I couldn't fight back the tears this time! It's just that you are one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen! So, CONGRATULATIONS for making your pops tear up!!!!

Well, once again I am going to end by telling you I love you and I will be talking to you soon!!!

P.S. Right now, you and mommy are living it up in NY for Aunt Alicia's Bachelorette party, so I hope you two are having a wonderful time! Make sure you really dance it up with all the girls!!!

How lucky am I?

Wasn't that just the most beautiful post you've ever read down there? (I'm talking about Poppa Paul's post to our little lime!) I don't know how it is that I got so lucky, but I really do have myself an incredible husband and future Dad. My 'baby daddy' as I lovingly referred to him this morning. =) But he really is more than that and I just want everyone to know that I am blessed that I get to share this experience with such a wonderful person. Paul really is the ying to my yang and with every day that passes, I feel like we really are going to be able to pull this whole parenthood thing off! Our child is in for a really fun ride...lucky little lime!!

A little update on things for everyone that's interested: We physically heard the heartbeat yesterday! WOAH. Is all I can say. What an amazing thing! I woke up yesterday morning trying to stifle the excitement...you know, just in case. I promised myself that if all went well after this appointment, I was just going to enjoy the ride knowing that everything was progressing nicely...and no more preparing for the worst. So I met up with Paul at the doctor's office and we sat there and waited for what seemed like forever! Didn't my doctor know that I just wanted to hear the heartbeat and then skip through life happily? Did she REALLY have to deliver a baby at that very moment? =) Apparently she did. So an hour after our appointment time, they finally called us in.

Our doctor is really cool. She's calm, cool and collected and just helps to bring a peaceful feeling to all our appointments. I spewed off my list of silly questions, she answered them all perfectly and then it was time to listen for that little swooshing heart! It took a few seconds for her to find it but sure enough, there it was!! Swooshing away like it was supposed to! We heard it for only a few seconds and then it went away. Our doctor said that the little guys are usually jumping around all inside there, getting used to their new found muscle ability so you can only hear it for a few seconds at a time at this point in pregnancy. She found it a few more times and both Paul and I felt an overwhelming relief. And then it hit me: OMG I'M PREGNANT! And there's a BABY inside of me! WOAH!!! How exciting! It finally felt really real. I can finally rub my belly and feel like I'm soothing a baby instead of my intestines! Although it's still all bloat and smooshiness, at least down below all that cushion there's a little guy swimming around!

So that's where we are...LIME size, hearts beating like they're supposed to, and incredible husband/dad to be writing beautiful posts! What an exciting week!

Tomorrow we're officially at 12 weeks and we move on to a Plum. But I just had to get in this blog post to make sure we chronicled the week of the Lime. It was one of the most exciting weeks so far, so just had to get it in there.

'Til we post again! Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Paul + Sandy + Lime

So, I have wanted to write on this blog for a while now, but I didn’t know what to say or where to start or what to write about? I just didn’t know what to tell people?

But than it hit me! Like most GREAT ideas that I have, it came to me in the shower! I was just lathering up my hair, when I realized that I wasn’t going to address all our adoring fans, but that I wanted to address the true reason behind this journal, Baby Levis!


What a GREAT idea! I mean, he/she is the star of the show! All eyes are on her/him! Plus this will be a great thing for us to share when he/she is old enough to read. With the way technology is going, our child will probably be born with a Blackberry and iPod in hand and I’ll be able to Twitter this to him/her. He/she will probably be like that little baby on the Etrader.com commercials!


Well, anyways, so here is my 1st journal entry to Baby Levis:


“Hi! It’s papa here! I know that you don’t know me yet, but I’m your dad and I’m SUPER excited to meet you! I can’t wait until I’ve got you in my arms. Both your mom and I are very excited to finally meet you. Your mom may not show it right now, because she isn’t feeling too good right now, but she is thrilled as well!

I just wanted to let you know that, even though, you are about the size of a lime (according to thenest.com), you have changed my life! It’s crazy because we haven’t even met yet! It’s funny because you barely have fingers and toes and you have already made a huge impact on my life. You’ve already made me want to be a better person and I haven’t even seen your face! You truly are a gift…


Your mom and I absolutely can’t wait to see you! We are slowly preparing for your arrival (see we already consider you like a prince or princess)! You might be wondering why I am not giving you a definitive ‘He or She’? Well that’s because we don’t know what you’ll be yet? It’s just a little too early to tell, but it doesn’t matter because we love you regardless! See right there is one of those things that’s crazy to me…I love you and you’re not even a sex yet! Amazing, huh! ‘It’s mind-bottling…you know like when your thoughts get so heavy that they feel trapped in a bottle?’ Sorry, that’s a line from a Will Ferrell movie. You’ll probably hear a lot of those from me over the course of your life…I apologize early for that!


Back to my original thought…so your mom and I are waiting for you to be with us. I make sure that she is eating well and that she gets lots of rest! Like I said before, mom isn’t feeling the greatest right now, so we do a lot of relaxing when we can! We chill on the couch a lot and watch a lot of movies or TV. She seems to feel worse in the evening, so I just try to make her feel as comfortable as possible. Even though it’s against my nature to sit around, I love it because it keeps your mom feeling better and keeps you from swishing around in there. But for the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that you are starting to develop your own appetite because I am heading out to the grocery store a lot more for random items (ice cream, French fries, bagels, lemon moraine pie, Scooby Doo fruit snacks, Goldfish, Cheese-Its, etc.). You are definitely getting bigger and stronger and that is very exciting!!!!


Did I mention that we got a chance to see you? Yep, you were only like the size of a pea or a dime, I believe, but you were adorable already!!!! It was absolutely amazing! I actually almost cried when I saw you and I very rarely cry. Another one of those moments when you are like, ‘I’m about to cry over a mass of cells (technically),’ but you are definitely so much more than that! I know that everyone reading this will think I’m crazy, but I did see some resemblances already! Even though you looked like a little blob, you were beautiful! You even looked a little like your mom…beautiful in every way!!!!


I wanted to let you know that I’m going through a roller coaster of emotions right now. I’m excited and anxious, scared and thrilled, joyful and happy, but most of all I just can’t wait to have you in my arms. I know that everything will calm down once you are with us and you have nothing to worry about because I can definitely be your steady rock! I will be there for you when you are hungry or scared or need a shirt to spit up on! I’ve got a lot of plans for us, so please keep growing bigger and stronger for me!!!!


Well, I’m done for now, but I’ll be sure to write to you again, Baby Levis! I guess the last thing I’d like to say is ‘I love you’ and I can’t wait until we meet!


P.S. Here is a funny picture of your mom and I! I like it and it will let you know how AWESOME your parents are.

Double Digits!

Well, we've made it to the double digits! I'm 10 weeks along now...yay! And for those of you interested in the fruit progression of this pregnancy, this now puts us at prune size. I have no idea why they chose prune to represent this week...I'm sure there's a zillion other fruits or veggies they could have chosen. Prunes kind of make me want to gag. Even without MNN sickness. (that's morning/noon/night sickness. I've taken it upon myself to rename it. Because I can.) But! Seeing as this means our little one has continued to grow, prune it is!

This week I've felt tremendous pressure to pick names for our little prune. We bought a baby name book that carries over 100,000 name choices! It hasn't done me any good. We have a few really great names for boys picked out, but nothing really that is sticking for a girl. And while I know being only 2.5 months along really doesn't constitute a time restraint, for some reason I just feel like we HAVE to choose something. Weird, yes I know. The problem is that I've always been so confident about a few particular names that I was hoping we could name our girl if we ever had one. Well when it comes down to it, we're actually growing a child...and this child will actually carry whatever name we give it...and that's a little scary! It's not like naming a car (although I do a phenomenal job at that, in case you're interested!) It's the name that this little human being will carry for his or her entire life! What if they hate their name? What if they sit there at age 30 and curse us for giving them such a boring, ordinary, common name? It's too much pressure for a hormonal, teary-eyed, nauseous person. Hahaha!

In all honesty though, my biggest concern is not giving our child too common of a name. I know our last name is fairly unique, and that will help tremendously. But I'd hate for our child to be the 5th, say, "Jessica" in her classroom. So forever and a day she'd be known as Jessica L. Also, coming from someone who recently has had to deal with a ton of identity issues because of my very, very common name (my maiden name really), I just don't want our child to have to deal with that. It's not fun and it makes you hate cities like Downey - and all it's residents. So, first and foremost our beautiful baby WILL have a middle name. And second and secondmost we'll attempt as best as we can to not give that poor kid a top 10 name. And if we do, I'm throwing a silent K in there somewhere. Avak sounds nice right? SILENT K SILENT K! =)

All kidding aside, that's my biggest worry of the week. If that's the biggest worry I have, then really I have zero complaints. I'll take that kind of worry anytime. OH! And my second biggest worry is planning my Roomie's (Alicia's) Bachelorette party. But I think I have made huge strides and it's almost all set! EEE! Can't wait!

And finally...just wanted to let you all know that yes, the rumors about hormone induced craziness are really true. While sitting at the doctor's office yesterday, I was watching the weather report on the big television they had on for all the patients. Smack dab in the middle of said weather report, I started crying. Why you ask? Well because it was going to be sunny on the west coast. That's it. Sunny weather. No other explanation besides sun. I can't even explain why that was so excitingly wonderful for me. It was just going to be sunny in Portland, San Francisco, AND Los Angeles and that was just SOOOO incredible! The little old lady next to me must have thought I was there to receive a death sentence or something. She looked so concerned. And seeing as I'm not even showing, the whole "I'm pregnant" thing doesn't really help her relate. So I just sat and wept on my own, happy as a clam for all those people in Portland.

That's all from me for now. Paul says he's going to post soon, so stay tuned for that! Have a great weekend everyone!

Love,

Paul, Sandy & The Prune








OH! And P.S. I always have P.S.'s! I'm going to try to post this video here on the blog because I think it's hilarious! I swear to you someone hid in our house, and video taped our mornings and then drew a little animated cartoon about it and here's the outcome:

Round Dos

We're baaaaaaack! I've been a little hesitant to post anything else on this blog since the last time I wrote. Don't ask me why? I claim to not be superstitious, but yet I find myself sometimes being a little superstitious? Ever since our last little baby hiccup, I haven't touched the pregnancy book that we bought when we decided to start trying nor have I wanted to post on our blog. But I guess I just need to get over my sillinesses and get on with life!

Oh wait...did I mention....we're pregnant again!!! YAY! It happened the month right after our last little snafu. Good word, snafu, huh? =) I'm currently 9 weeks along! We've had an ultrasound already, and things are looking good so far. I'm hoping things have continued to progress nicely since that last visit. Oooh...here's the ultrasound picture...it's so cute our little alien:

The ultrasound was taken at a little over 7 weeks. So it's definitely grown a bit since then. Our little one is currently the size of a medium olive (1 inch)! I LOVE OLIVES! Even now through the hurricane of nausea that I've been experiencing, Olives still are a-ok in my book.

What's that? You're worried about me and the nausea! Oh you know me well! I was TERRIFIED of this. Really I was, and still am. (For those of you who don't know, I have a huge phobia of vomit. Like curled up in a ball, crying in the corner, omg I'm dying phobia. Minus a couple alcohol induced incidents here and there, I haven't thrown up since the 6th grade. Mmmhmmm. Crazy right?) So when this process all started, my biggest fear was the whole first trimester, head-in-the-toilet gig. Just goes to show how much I really really really want this child if I was willing to take that risk. I'm happy to report that my head has not seen the inside of a toilet just yet. Cross your fingers it stays that way! However, that doesn't mean my little gummy bear hasn't taken me on the roller coaster that is morning sickness ride! Oh yes, nearly every day for the past ohhhhh 4 weeks, I've felt like I drank a whole bottle of Jose Cuervo the night before and was reveling in the hangover aftermath all day long.

And P.S., what incredibly intelligent individual decided that it would be cute to call it morning sickness?? Hmmm?? It's not morning sickness. It's ALL DANG DAY sickness. All. Day. Morning, noon, night, midnight, 4 am sickness. Oh and if I hear one more person tell me "they say it's good to have morning sickness! That means the baby is growing!" I'm going to shove a bottle of Jack Daniels down their throat and call them in the morning, "oh it's GREAT to be hungover! That means your body is just getting rid of the alcohol! Cheeseburger??"

Really though, I can't complain. Sure it's been a bit rough, but it could be worse. And I won't hide the fact that the sickness does bring a bit of comfort to me that yes, there really is something going on in my tummy. So I'll take it for now. But little gummy bear? Mommy can't wait to get to week 12! Then we can eat McDonalds again right? (I kid I kid...my mom would tie me to a stake and set a fire under my feet!

So there you guys have it. Looks like Paul & Sandy are actually growing their Plus 1. Keep your fingers crossed that everything continues to go well! We can't wait to make you all grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles! And gummy just did a back flip in agreement!

Hope to post again soon!

P.S. Paul is in AZ this weekend watching the Dodgers spring training with 9 million of his friends. All sporting mustaches. Oy. But I miss him terribly and I can't wait til he comes home. And I'd email him that so that he'd have a fun email to get when he comes home, but he's mr. techie and has all his emails sent to his phone, so I don't want to bug him while he's out there. Butttt...FROOTY! I MISS YOU!!! Hurry home! Your razor awaits! =) And gummy and I do too!

P.S.S. I just did a spell check and I spelled every right! WOW! I'm a genius! Ok bye!