South Carolina

Dear Baby,

We're at week 24!!! This pregnancy with you has been going by so fast looking back and thinking I was so excited to reach the half way mark at 20 weeks. It's also been so slow at times with the anticipation of meeting you boiling up and causing butterflies in my tummy. I suppose it's like we've climbed a mountain to the half way point and now that we've reached the summit going down is going to go by so much faster!

The last couple of weeks have really flown by! We went to the Dr.'s for a check-up, I got to hear your heart beat loud & strong and we're both healthy, right where we should be. Then you had your first taste of Thanksgiving. Your first holidays in existence is in my womb, your dad and I are really looking forward to spending the holidays with you! You're going to bring so much more joy and excitement to events than we can experience now as 'boring' adults. We went to your grandparent's place and visited with your great grandparents too. Just a small gathering with your father's side of the family, it was fun!

Photo by Timothy Capp

The day after Thanksgiving we headed to South Carolina to document your daddy's high school friend proposing!  This has been your second road trip up the east coast in my womb, the first being a North Carolina trip for a wedding your daddy photographed.  This trip was short and only lasted a couple of days - but it was so much fun!  We got to experience new restaurants. (Cookout is an awesome inexpensive fast food place - we got two burgers, two sides and a shake for just twelve dollars & it tasted great!) We went to a restaurant we found last time we were up here & just had to get some of their signature berry biscuits (Bojangles.)

Photo by Timothy Capp

We got to the meeting place where the proposal was planed to occur a bit early so we had time to look around and play, since it was at the beach! Your dad pointed out that this was my first time seeing the Atlantic Ocean. I collected some shells of course and your dad got some fun pictures.  We were right outside the hotel that your dad's friend was staying in with his sweetheart.  It was a big beautiful beach themed hotel, there were two weddings there that day as well. The proposal was supposed to take place under the pier, but they got really nervous and he ended up proposing on the balcony. We convinced them to get some really sweet photos before we headed out though.

Photo by Timothy Capp

The day after we got back from South Carolina your dad had a meeting to sell a camera and close to where we were meeting there was a build-a-bear shop! Since we've decided on your first name, we stopped in to make you a bear and leave a message for you - it was your dad's idea.  It was so hard deciding which bear to get you... there was a cute monkey, an alligator that is special for Florida shops only, there were different colored bears, and a puppy that we liked.  We wanted to get you the perfect one that would last you a while.  After we chose the perfect one we left you a message that we put in it's paw & stuffed the bear. We put two hearts in it, one filled with love from dad and one filled with love from mom - we sealed the love in with a kiss before we placed them in your bear.

Photo by Timothy Capp

We are so excited to meet you!  I feel you move more often now. Sometimes it's just small movements and other times it's big kicks!  I think I watched you hiccup today, you were making my whole belly jump in little rhythmic jumps! I've seen you kick and push my belly skin too. I was reading that your skin is growing faster than your fat cells at this point. So you're a wrinkly skinny little one right now about the size of a standard letter, but you weigh just over one and a half pounds by now. You may also have some hair growing on your tiny little head, though it doesn't have any color yet.

You're sucking up all my energy too.  I've been so sleepy and achy.  I took a nap for the first time since your first trimester in my womb yesterday. You are growing so much that my belly is cramping and stretching to make room for your last four months in there. Four months!  I'm so excited to meet you (and yet so scared of what I will go through to do so.)

I'm happy we've decided on a name for you! Now instead of calling you baby when I talk to you at various points of the day, I can call you by your name: Dexter.  We just have to figure out your middle name now...