How To Make Me Cry At My Desk

a.) Send me the following via e-mail to read upon getting to my desk:

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.

'The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?' God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.

''Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.

''But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.' God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.'

God said, 'You will simply call her, 'Mom.'

b.) Play the closing theme music to E.T. on the classical station.

A Turn for the Better????

Last night I got Luke to not only tolerate our new wrap/carrier but he fell asleep in it. I was shocked. Absolutely shocked! Of course he screamed bloody murder when I tried to take him out, but hey, it's a step in the right direction. I got a Moby wrap - this long piece of fabric that I wrap around myself and pop him in. He actually seems to enjoy it. The next step is to try to go shopping with him in it.

I have to admit, I kind of like the fact that he wants to be close to me to sleep. I'm relishing it now because once he's a hulking behemoth of a teenager he won't want to be in the same room with me.

Not So Bad

Well, today was my first day back at work. And I'm a little ashamed to say.....it wasn't bad. I was glad to wear a dress. I was glad to wear heels. I was glad to stop at Starbucks on my way in and grab a mocha. It felt good to go back to work. It felt good to be needed and have purpose. It felt good to complete tasks.

But I covered Luke in kisses when I got home and ate him up!

AND....after Tommy left for school, Luke behaved well enough in his swing so I could make a real dinner.

Woo hoo!!!

My Kid's Got Mad Class Yo

So capping off my delightful weekend was a concert given by the Long Island Philharmonic. The program was an "All American" variety, consisting of Bernstein, Barber, Copland, and of course Gershwin. It was probably one of the best, if not the best concert I've ever seen. It opened with Bernstein's 'Overture to Candide' and closed with Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'. I got goosebumps and tears in my eyes when they did "Adagio for Strings" and again during "Rhapsody in Blue". And it was just obvious that the music director, David Wiley was just enjoying the hell out of it. He was smiling and bopping along while conducting. That's probably what I enjoyed most - seeing him and the piano soloist for Rhapsody enjoy the heck out of playing that. It was almost like a series of private jokes between the two of them.

But apparently I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it. Baby Jordan woke up up during 'Candide', and was incredibly active the rest of the concert. They seemed to like 'Fanfare for the Common Man' which opens with HUGE drum blasts and a gong. I kid you not though, the entire concert this kid was all over the place. Which means either they really liked it or were being highly bothered by it all. I'm hoping for the former!

Who Are You, Who Who Who Who?

Subject line courtesy of watching CSI marathons. But I'm starting to get uber-curious as to this little person getting ready to make their grand appearance. It makes you question your own sense of identity and who you are. I recently was able to email someone I was close friends with in high school. And in relaying the events of the last 15 years or so, she responded back by saying she always remembers me being incredibly optimisitic. And that made me wonder what parts of my personality have remained the same since high school. What parts have changed? What parts of me changed after going through the whole cancer thing? What parts will change after this baby is born?

Enough introspection. After our sono on Thursday we discover Baby Jordan has turned and is ready to rock and roll. *Phew* I was nervous about that. Hiccups occur frequently as does scootching around. This baby is definitely not a morning person. I feel most movement after about 10 or 11 a.m. or so. If I give him/her a nudge when I wake up, I get a swat telling me, "I'm not awake, please leave me be." Cutie. I still think this baby is a girl who will be the clone of her daddy, who is also not of the morning variety. We shall see..... If nothing else, this baby looks an awful lot like their daddy.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Okay. So I tried doing the "good mom" thing and was visiting "babycenter.com" frequently. I liked the little calendar they had that gave me a little tidbit each day. I liked being able to click on my week that I was at and get a little synopsis of what was going on.

But then they changed their format. Now I can't find anything. No little weekly calendar and all I get is my weekly synopsis. So I figure let me try the bulletin boards there and see what other women who are due in December are up to.

BIG MISTAKE.

They're all crazy. Seriously. They all have little animated cartoons of themselves all pregnant-like in their signature. They all post things like "What's for dinner tonight?" Ummmm.....let's see, I have to teach a lesson and I work all day, so whatever Trader Joe's is demoing is for dinner. The following posts there weirded me out:

"What outfit can't you wait to dress your baby in?" - How about I'm just looking forward to getting them out of my body in one piece let alone thinking about what I'm going to dress them in.

"What are you wearing to your shower?" Ummm.....aren't showers supposed to be a surprise?

They just all give me the heebie jeebies.

Pregnancy Watch '07

I feel like a wayward, horrible mother. I should be furiously journaling. Or scrapbooking every lab result. But I haven't. It's actually been a blissful pregnancy so far; very little nausea, still eating everything I love and adore be it a balogna sandwich or Taco Bell, and I'm still in some of my regular clothes at 6 1/2 months. Baby Jordan is growing bigger by the day and taking up more and more of my lap. I sing and talk to him/her in the car all the time and just wonder "Who are you?" "Who are you going to be?"On a funny note, the baby had hiccups twice today. (S)he doesn't like it when I sleep on my right side and (s)he seems to be a very mellow baby. I'm glad I have a somewhat crazy playing schedule ahead of me otherwise I'd spend every waking minute counting kicks and staring at the ultrasound pictures that I had to put in an album for fear of wearing them out.

***Caution - Healthy Baby Under Construction***

We had our big sonogram on Friday. I had turned down all genetic testing (too many false positives for my liking) and so I was a little nervous. But everything looks PERFECT! Baby Jordan is growing the way they should and exhibited a few personality traits even (in the interest of avoiding confusion I will refer to the baby as "her" since I think it's a girl, but we didn't find out):

She kept her tiny hands in front of her face the whole time, as if to say "This isn't my awake time, please come back later." Refused to move them, so the 3-D pictures show a teeny hand by the face at all times.

She's a very "mellow baby" as noted by the doctor.

She's got an incredibly sweet face, which includes most of her daddy's features, but most likely my nose. (Poor kid.)

She's smart. She's stretched out over the width of my body, with her head by my right hip and feet by my left, hence why I still look tiny. She's using all the space she has. (If that doesn't say girl, I don't know what does!)

She's perfectly healthy. (I know that's not a personality trait, but I can't stop saying it.)

Last night Tommy and I agreed, that we've been patient and not anxious, but after getting such a glimpse of the baby, we can't wait to see and hold her. We got a fix last night when we saw nephew Ismaeel at a SURPRISE SHOWER (impromptu since Merry Berry is here visiting) and held him. He settled in watching baseball with his uncle and promptly fell asleep. Tommy didn't acquire the nickname "Uncle Sandman" for nothing. We recieved many a lovely gift, adorable little sleepers - some of which are baseball themed. I think Tommy's favorite gifts were from my sister Annie (Ismaeel's mommy) - two storybooks about baseball and little teeny Converse that look like baseballs- white with red stitching. I kid you not, if there was gift giving as an Olympic event, my sister would have the gold wrapped up - she always buys the most perfect gift.

Baby Jordan is adding their $.02 as I type this so consider that a greeting!