Happy Valentine's Day!

Dear Maddie,

It's Valentine's Day, and that's a day to celebrate the people we love. I love your daddy an awful lot -- he's the most wonderful guy on earth, and I just can't imagine my life without him. And he and I love you like crazy! You'll be here in three short months, and we just can't wait to see your little face. Even though you're still living inside of me, there isn't a moment that goes by without your dad and I thinking of you.

You're going to be born into a big family that loves you so much already. (See the photo above. Not pictured is Robert, who was actually in your Aunt Nancy's belly when this picture was taken.)

So happy Valentine's Day, Maddie! I love you. And you love chocolate, so I'm going to go ahead and eat another piece.

Love,

Mommy

My Little Rib Dweller

Dear Maddie,

I'm working on my thesis now, because I have to mail it to my advisor in about a week, but it's been so hard to focus on it, because all I want to think about is you, and about preparing for your arrival! I'm trying to guilt myself into focusing, though. I'll think, "Maddie would really be proud if I could just turn this thing in and finish grad school before she arrives." You're a good little motivator!

You're good at lots of things, actually, and you aren't even born yet! For instance, right this very minute, you are doing a great job of kicking me from the inside of my ribcage. Pretty wild, right? It isn't painful, exactly, it's just a very strange feeling! (Your Aunt Nancy assures me that it'll get painful in a month or two.) Right now you're head down, which is the position I would love for you to be in when it's time for me to deliver! But no pressure. You have lots of time to do some more flipping.

Lately, I get tired very easily, and I'll put on a movie while I'm cleaning or cooking, just to have something entertaining going on so that I don't sit down and fall asleep. I had the realization the other day that you haven't seen any movies, and that your dad and I will get to introduce you to all of the best ones (like Beauty and the Beast, Peter Pan, That Darn Cat, and many more), and we'll get to share with you all of the best books (like Go, Dog, Go, Goodnight Moon, all of the Madeline books -- which, you'll figure out pretty quickly, influenced our baby name choice -- and so many more). You have tons of cool stuff ahead of you, Madeline Lucille! We can't wait for you to get here.

You know, I never used to drink milk until I became pregnant with you. Isn't that weird? I hated the taste and consistency. Then, in the first trimester, I craved it a lot. I didn't drink much of it in the second trimester, but all of a sudden, I'm stealing your dad's 2% again. (It really helps with the nighttime pregnancy heartburn!) I wonder if I'll keep drinking it even after you're born?

I've noticed that your dad has been signing his blog posts "Love, Daddy." It makes me a little teary, because it's so sweet, and because he's already such a good dad! It's made me wonder what you'll call me. There's "Mom" when you're a little older (though you can come up with any variation you like. I call your memeré "Marm" a lot of the time, which I think is a shorter version of "Marmie," originally from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. That's another great book). But what about when you're still little? Or when you're older, but are feeling particularly cozy and loving toward your mom? "Mommy" is pretty standard, and "Mama" is nice, too, with the spelling variation of "Momma." What do you think, Miss Maddie?

Love,

Your Mom, Mommy, Mama, or Momma

On the Importance of Family

Dear Maddie,

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and while this probably doesn't mean a lot to you (your mom is currently napping on the couch, so I imagine the festivities aren't really pertinent to your current interests), I think most of New England is currently freaking out to some extent. Me, I'm hanging out and writing you a blog post, so I guess that says something about my interest as well.

That's not really what I wanted to talk about, though, I wanted to talk a little bit about family. Yesterday, your mom had a party to go to and while she was there, I didn't have much to do. So I called your Grandma Jill (cool grandma name STILL pending) and your Aunt Annie and chatted with them for a bit. That was nice, because I really don't talk to them as much as I should (much to your mom's chagrin, since I'm pretty sure she tells me to call my mom once every day. Let this be a lesson to you about how she'll feel when you don't call her). I've generally been pretty independent, going my own way in life and flitting about the country to suit my whims, but sometimes it's a little bit hard being away from family, and I know it's going to very hard on them being away from you, because you're going to be way more awesome than I am.

Later that day, we went to your Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy's house to spend some time with them. Your Memere was there, too, much to our surprise! I think everybody wanted to check up on you since we had a little bit of a scare last week. I think your mother would be horrified if I wrote about it here, but I'm sure she'll tell you all about it when YOU'RE pregnant someday. You know, when you're 35 and married to the first wonderful man you ever dated when you began dating at age 30, having never really had any interest in it prior to that. Your poor cousin Autumn was sick, which is never fun, but she managed to be awfully cute anyway, which I think is a talent you'll have as well. But try not to get sick. We promise to think you're cute anyway.

Anyway, we spent the evening hanging out with your aunt and uncle, going through Autumn's old clothes, which she has been kind enough to offer to you. We talked and ate and laughed, and it seemed like every time we were about to leave, we started talking about something else and spent another 20 minutes there. It was a great day, and all today I've been thinking about just how much I appreciate having such a great family. Both the family I was born into and the family I got to choose (as though there was ever really any choice involved in me loving your mom). I'm very, very lucky, and because of my luck, you're going to be very, very lucky, too. Isn't it great how that works out?

Please stay warm and safe in there. We're not quite ready for you out here yet, but we're working on it.

Love,

Daddy