Week 16: "Put on your big girl panties and enjoy the ride"

This week our little one is about the size of an avocado. A yummy, creamy, delicious avocado…okay cravings aside! Jason and I have been going crazy with curiosity about the gender of our baby. I, like every other excited mother out there, would love to indulge in buying that cute outfit at Walmart or the baby blankets on sale at Babies “R” Us. But I must resist the urge to spend half of our paycheck on gender specific items that may or may not suit our bundle of joy. In not wanting to throw caution to the wind, I come to the realization that I CAN buy those solid white Gerber shirts with the beyond adorable mittens attached. I CAN and I SHALL! As I walk triumphantly to the cash register, with my goodies, a huge grin and my “mother of the year” feeling, that’s when it hits me. Blame it on the hormones or the fact that I can no longer breathe out of my right nostril (thanks pregnancy rhinitis!), I am overcome by emotions. Inside of my newly rounded tummy, there is a little human being…a little person…growing more and more everyday. And my eyes begin to fill with tears at one single thought: I can’t protect my little one forever. At some point, our baby will have to go out into the world. We can’t make the right choices for them, but we can love them and provide them with the skills and teachings that they will need for growing up. I wipe away the tears and put on my cheesy grin. For I know that time will fly by and our baby will be grown before we know it. But we’re going to take advantage of every second of every minute of everyday to fill these fleeting years with silliness, life lessons, and unconditional love.