Any Day Now!

Well according to the Doctor, we're ready when she is! Today is a little more than a month before Sophia's due date, but as it stands, she is already 6 lbs, and I could have her any day now. It isn't very settling for me, being the planner that I am, not knowing if that means she's coming this week, tomorrow, or 3 weeks from now! But we're about 99% ready!

As you can see, we've gotten a LOT done this month. The nursery is finished, the shower was so much fun, and everything is assembled and out of boxes. Better yet, the guest room is complete and ready for Camilo's family to come visit from California! Everyone has been so helpful and I want to take a minute to thank everyone who came to the shower, especially Heather and Allison for putting it all together and making everything so beautiful! Also, to Michelle for the incredible key lime and chocolate cake, thank you! Most importantly, my parents have been absolutely a blessing. Between the twice weekly visits, assembling curtain valences and making pillows, helping decorate, taking us out to dinner to escape the madness, buying and delivering the spare bed and rocking chair, helping pick up and buy the pack n play, swing, and other fundamentals that I could not have done on my own, and for doing it all with love and no complaints, they have both been the most wonderful parents ever. I can't wait for Sophia to meet her GiGi and Big Mack (as they've decided they want to be called!)

Camilo has been the best husband and father-to-be as well. He deserves a lot of credit for working so hard to support us, while taking every spare moment to assemble furniture, help me clean, write thank you notes, and take care of me. He makes me feel so loved and special, and he is truly an amazing man. He also deserves a good bit of credit for putting up with my pregnant mood swings and cravings, let's not forget! He is beside himself with excitement to meet his little lady, and I know Sophie is bound to be a daddy's girl.

Here are some pictures of the baby shower. I had so much fun!

Now it's time to pack the bags for the hospital, install the car seat for the ride home, and sit back and wait! Stay tuned...

10 weeks to go!

Well, Sophia Faith is coming in about 2 months or so, and she may possibly be the first female to play for Barcelona at this rate (which would make daddy very proud!) She is kicking me all day, every day, and it's adorable. Camilo and I just finished putting the final coat of Parakeet Green paint on her nursery walls (thanks to my decorating consultant Aunt Becky), and are about to attempt assembling the crib!! We'll see how long the teamwork lasts ;o) So far that's about all we have done. I ordered the most beautiful paisley fabric for her crib bedding, and my dad has built valences for me to put over the windows. I have painted some picture frames and letters that spell out her name to decorate the nursery with. Thanks to mom and dad, we have a full sized bed now so we can set up the spare bedroom for Camilo's family and other guests to join us when our little one comes. Mom and I have had so much fun finding adorable outfits that we can't live without, and Camilo's mom, my dad, and Camilo himself have already gotten in on the cute clothes action! My favorite thing so far: Camilo's sister Lupe had Sophie's name embroidered on her first set of Minnie Mouse Ears!!

The baby shower is in about 20 days, and Heather and Allison have officially kicked me out of the planning process, knowing that I would certainly take over and throw myself the shower if I could. I know they will do an incredible job, and was so excited to see the precious invitation they picked out! What fun that day will be! And well needed too...since all we have for Sophie so far is that crib and some clothes :o) I can't wait to see all the family and friends I haven't seen in so long, and I wish Camilo's family was here in SC to be able to come. We will miss having them here for all of the fun! :o(

The good thing is Camilo's friends just moved to SC from Hawaii, and we had dinner with them and met their 6 month old daughter, Marisol, Friday night. Being around the new parents and their sweet little girl made he and I both so anxious and helped us prepare a bit for the big life changes ahead. We talked about parenting the whole time and can't wait until it's our turn. I just hope Sophia decided to join us before she gets to be 9 lbs...which is going to be sooner than her due date if the Doc is correct!

Well, it's time to build a crib! Stay tuned :o)

IT'S A GIRL!

Well, we finally found out today! After she made us wait until we were 23 weeks along, on the third attempt, she finally gave in. Little Sophia Faith is no longer breech and is doing realy well. The Doc says she is in the normal size range, but may be a big baby. No surprise there, as myself and my brothers were all big babies. We are SO excited, and my mind is now going a hundred miles a minute as I think about registering, patterns, colors, painting the nursery, bedding, monograms....I could go on forever! Mommy and Daddy are doing well. I still haven't been sick or really felt bad at all, and I can feel her moving around a lot lately. Camilo is working hard as always so that Sophia and I can have this beautiful home and food in our bellies. We have only 4 months left now to get everything ready for her arrival. Gotta get a crib, bed, dresser, car seat, high chair, stroller, clothes, bottles, diapers...oh boy....money money money! I also want to make sure we have a guestroom set up so that the California family can all come and stay when Sophia arrives, and we will have to have a dining rom table so we can all sit down to dinner....poor Camilo! What a good hard-working man he is! More updates to come...

Nanny Nanny Boo Boo

Okay so I was hoping to tell you the bambino's sex by now...but it has become a waiting game. Mom and I went to see Dr. Hutchinson on June 1st, bright and early, only to find out our baby is a comedian! We didn't see much below the belt, but what we did see was our adorable baby with it's thumb on it's nose, wiggling all five fingers, as if it was saying to us, "I'm not telling you...nanny nanny boo boo!" Or, as Big Mac (my dad, McKi, as we've decided the baby will call him) would sing, "I've got a secret and I won't tell..." It was absolutely adorable, and we did get to see the baby's sweet profile and little hands and nose! It is still so hard to believe that it's real. I don't feel pregnant in the slightest, but I am definitely showing. I've never had a tiny tummy, but the bump is pretty profound already!

As for everything else in mommy and daddy's world right now, we are so happy! Our new house is beautiful, and my mom and dad and Wes have been here so much helping move things around and hanging bird feeders and planting flowers and all of the fun stuff. Our backyard is already home to thousands of lightening bugs, a few deer, and other furry critters. We had our first birds on the new feeder this week, which Javi and Ricky love to watch, and try to jump through the windows to catch. Most of the house is still in boxes, but every day I try to take on a few at a time, and I am hoping the nesting phase everyone tells me about will hit soon so I can finish up. Camilo is working hard, as always, and loves having a lot more room for his tools and truck. He is also closer now to most of the stops on his daily routes, so it saves a little time. He has decided to revert back to the infantry division of the SC National Guard, so hopefully he will be drilling in North Charleston from now on and a lot happier where he feels more utilized and comfortable. This will also mean that he doesn't have to re-train for a new specialty, so he won't have to leave work (and us) for 6 weeks! Yay! It isn't finalized, so our fingers are still crossed that they will accept his transfer. Other than that, there isn't much going on. Once my car is fixed, which I hear James is starting tonight, I will be in trouble. Just thinking about all of my free time and all of the things we "need" for the new house and new baby, and all of the money I don't have to spend...not having a car for 4 months may have been a blessing in disguise! I will just have to remind myself of all the new bills that will come with the new house that we haven't seen yet!

Coming up....another appointment on June 29th! We'll see if Butterbean decides to cooperate!

It's about time!

So I know I've been bad at keeping up with this but so much has been going on! We went on our long awaited honeymoon (more on that later) and have finally gotten a closing date for our house and will be in by the end of May! The house is out on Brickyard at Hardscrabble - which is in a great location for proximity to the hospital where we'll be delivering and where all of my appointments are, the interstate to get to family, tons of restaurants and shops on Two Notch and at Sand Hills, and best of all in the middle of Camilo's Snap-On route. It's a brand new house, so they're fulfilling our wish list with gas lines for the fireplace and oven, screens and storm doors, cable outlets, and a fenced in paved area for the Snap-On monster of a truck to park. I will post a few pictures here for you to see, but the house has almost 1900 square feet and a 2 car garage, and best of all, the back yard is a protected wetland area, where we saw our first deer neighbors yesterday. We plan to put out food for the deer and birds so we can have forest friends... it's so Snow White ;o)

I still have not been able to persue a part time job because my car is very broken. James has (thank you!) begun to fix it, but there are so many steps involved and it's going to be a looong process, so we have to find somewhere for him to borrow a lift where he can also leave it between work days. That and his not having much spare time has been the hold up. In the mean time, I have tried - very unsuccessfully - to learn to drive a stick shift, but before I even consider driving Camilo's Audi, I have to make sure I've nailed the technique so we don't have 2 broken cars (and a very upset daddy-to-be!) So far I've stalled more than I've driven, so I'm carless, which means I'm leaning on friends and Camilo - when he has time - to take me to the grocery store, bank, appointments, library, and everywhere in between! Thank God for friends!

The one thing I can't wait to do is start on the nursery! I have already found these adorable baby shower invitations that inspired me. Now we have to wait to find out the sex. (18 weeks I think?) I'm so in love with all of the little jungle themed clothes and toys I see everywhere. Little giraffes and tigers and lions...great for boys but is it okay for little girls to have pink striped tigers & purple polka dotted giraffes? I think so!

As for the honeymoon, Italy was phenomenal as we expected. Anyone who experiences the cities we traveled to should be considered blessed and enlightened - and we have Jim to thank for that! What a wonderful gift! He thankfully booked our flight arrangements and hotel accommodations, so that weight was lifted off of our shoulders, but there was still much to do! The traveling was the hardest part. We drove 4 hours to Raleigh, flew out to London, and arrived in Milan after a 4 hour layover at Heathrow. We immediately had to get to the train station to figure out how to take the 3 hour train to Venice, and then taxi-boated it to our Hotel to finally crash after the longest leg in vacation history. I will keep my negativity to a bare minimum, as I enjoyed every moment of Italy despite the first trimester ill-feelings, but I will say that traveling by car, plane, taxi, metro, train, bus, shuttle, and finally boat will definitely make anyone feel a bit under the weather. I intend to file a movement to clean up the public transportation systems' bathrooms for the unfortunate ones who don't have stomachs of steel. If you only knew...

Venice was out of this world spectacular, as you might imagine. The gondolas begin at 85 Euro, which is over $100, but it wasn't hard for me to pass up leaving solid ground again after that first day, so we watched from the bridges. The plaza was gorgeous, and Hitchcock could have filmed his sequel there, "The pigeons!" Italians are so nurturing and welcoming, and are incredibly helpful; most speak at least minimal English and all are surprisingly willing to help with directions and train schedules. We had our first official Italian pizzas, and Camilo began his Chianti taste-testing, which continued every night throughout every city and has even followed us home. I was so jealous! What I wouldn't have given to have a glass of wine in Italy! After leaving Venice, and the most gorgeous hotel room I've ever stayed in (thank you Jim!) we headed for the train to Florence.Firenze, or Florence, turned out to be our favorite place on Earth. Maybe because we were exhausted by then and had 5 days to see it, or maybe because we adored our chauffeur, Valentino, and desk concierge, Luca, but the city itself is incredible. You can walk the entire historically magnificent city on foot, no matter where you're dropped off. The shopping was incredible, the food was to die for, the people were welcoming, the sights were rich in history and so beautiful, and the museums and cathedrals that are spread all over the city are breathtaking! Here we saw the Biboli gardens, complete with our first feline friend and quite possibly the largest cat I've ever seen in person. We walked through castles and churches that were older than you can wrap your head around, and saw sculptures and paintings by all of the Ninja Turtles all in one city! (Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo!) We watched a LOT of calcio - or soccer - and even the Italian versions of Bog Brother and Wheel of Fortune, which was my favorite of all time!

Thanks to my dad, we were able to do our big wish list item, which was a day tour of Tuscany! We rode out to Greve en Chianti with 2 wonderful couples from Brazil and Malta, and passed Camilo's beloved Gabbiano winery en route to il Palagio, where we sampled their reserve wines (yes I had to taste them!) and had the afternoon to shop the local markets. Camilo swears the meal of roast beef and olives he picked up at a local market is his documented favorite food of all time. I, of course, stayed as far from him as possible, and found a local bakery with pastries galore! :O)

After our relaxing time in Florence, we were ready to see Rome in a day... literally. We arrived by train on night one and checked into the hotel. Then we started at the Vatican in the morning, and saw the ancient ruins, Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Colosseum, and of course made time for our last gelato before ending day 2. Whew! So much history in one day would definitely have been a nightmare to me before now! Luckily, we were able to rest on the plane the next day and see a lot of London before having to return home.

The best part of the trip was certainly the sights, although Camilo would argue the food. Had I been less pregnant and more myself, I would have indulged in the Italian paninis, pizzas, pastas, and wine as he did. We were also blessed to find out we were in Italy the one week of the year where access to every cultural and historical sight is free to enter, which undoubtedly saved us hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Transportation is expensive, and Sprites are $7 each, which I learned the hard way every day, but it was definitely the honeymoon of a lifetime and we fell deeply in love and thank you dad(s) for making it all possible (and mom for the travel must-haves of course).

So, after all of that was said and done, it's finally time for baby talk again! Whew! Momma's exhausted! I went to Dr. Hutchinson yesterday for the 11 week check up. He loves to do ultrasounds, so were were excited to see little "Butterbean," as dad has begun calling it. The baby was flipping around, moving it's little hands, and almost dancing. Looks like it takes after me! For all of you who seem to have come to a consensus that we're having a boy, I wouldn't be so sure! We are still on track for November 20th, so plan accordingly!

We love you guys and can't wait to move in and invite you all to see the new house! The next appointment is June 1st, and hopefully Mom will be able to take me to that one, so until then...

It's official!

It's official! We're going to be parents! Scary thought for most, but we did plan it! We hoped we'd get off to a quick start once we were married in November, and God is certainly challenging us with the timing, but we are confident everything will work out.

We were anxious after the wedding, and Camilo was so excited. Every other day he would make some sort of "are you pregnant yet?" comment, or pat my belly at night for good luck. As luck would have it, on Saint Patrick's day of all days, we saw that exciting little plus sign! I had purchased the test weeks before, and was waiting until I had that little feeling to actually take it. The day before, Camilo and I had talked about taking it first thing in the morning when he woke up to go to work, because the websites all suggested doing so, and he didn't want to miss it. He woke me up excitedly telling me to "come on!" I immediately sent a picture of that cute little plus sign to Allie and Mom, then Tiffany...then of course went back to bed. I don't get up before 8am. Not for another 8 months or so at least. I'm enjoying it while it lasts!

I babysat my brothers, and then the neighborhood kids, and even at the beach for the summer throughout high school and college, so I can definitely handle one, right? Camilo is so ready he can hardly stand it. I couldn't believe he actually wanted to call and tell his family himself! I honestly think Ricardo and Javier are going to have the hardest time adjusting.

So with me not working now, I lost my insurance, so I have to wait until our new military Tricare insurance begins in April to see a doctor. Tiffany's doctor, Doctor Hutchinson, comes highly recommended and apparently does all he can to make sure I get everything I need and that the military pays for all of it, which works for me! He also delivers at Providence (Northeast) where a friend had her baby and I witnessed their incredible staff and huge rooms! I figure I'm about 5 or 6 weeks along now, but we'll find out for sure on April 6th. The Internet due date clocks all say November 20th-ish should be little baby Morago's due date! I'll keep you posted!

Until then....no caffeine...no alcohol...no raw meat....taking my vitamins...sleeping on my side...that's all I know so far. Oh and time to find a house!