seeing you

Dear Baby,

Today we got to see you. We had our ultrasound this morning. It was crazy how much we could see. I saw all 4 chambers of your heart, your two kidneys and your full bladder. We even got to see your brain. You are perfect!

We also found out that you are a boy!!!!!!!! Daddy and I are so excited! We have decided to name you Hudson Michael. I love that I now can call you by name and refer to you as he.

I can't wait to meet you, Hudson.

Love, Mom

Face and Belly Spine Foot

friend

Dear Baby, You are incredibly blessed already! I know your mom and dad and they are amazing people who are going to make amazing parents. You're going to love Sadie, too. There are a bunch of people who are looking forward to meeting you...I'm just one of them. Love, Melissa PS- I'm really counting on you to be one of Alice's first friends. I hope that's okay with you!

done

Dear Baby, I thought we were done with this throwing up stuff. Especially the throwing up of food. I thought you were liking food these days, but I guess I was wrong. This morning your dad bought a stroller. And not just any stroller. An REI jogging stroller. It's pretty sweet. You'll have to wait till you're older to use it, but I bet your dad will take you with when he goes running. We're going to Babys R Us tomorrow. Last time I was in there, it was overwhelming so hopefully this time won't be too bad. Love Mom P.S. If you could start moving a little so I can feel you, that would be great.

2010

Dear Baby, Happy New Year! I'm so excited for what this year will bring our family. Most importantly that it will bring you! I'm also really excited that you will be born in an even year because I really don't like odd numbers. Last night, we were talking about how different next year's new years eve will be. Probably no crazy party for us. In two weeks, we find out if you are a boy or girl. I'm so excited. I can't wait to start calling you by your name instead of baby mario. And I'll finally get to see you where you look like a baby instead of a blob. Love, Mom

name

Dear Baby, We had the perfect name picked out for you. Your daddy liked it and I liked it. It was going to be so cute. We were going to name you Jackson if you were a boy. And call you Baby Jack. Then, I said your whole name outloud and everything changed. Jackson Michael Van de Casteele. Crap! Sounds like we're obsessed fans of Michael Jackson who are traumatized by his death. Back to the drawing board. Love, Mom

dreaming

Dear Baby, I've had a few dreams about you. In the first dream, you were a girl and your name was either Aubrey or Audrey. This kind of freaked me out because I've always thought you were a boy. And then a few days later, my fortune cookie taught me how to say "girl." But last night in my dream you were a boy and your name was Jacob. So maybe God is just preparing me for either gender. Either way, I'll love you. Love, Mom

wisconsin

Dear Baby, You survived the trip to Wisconsin. It was a long 16 hours, but thankfully we slept for most of it. I was also excited that you didn't even make me pee that much. This past week, my stomach started to pop out just a little bit. I'm excited to finally look a little bit pregnant. Also, this past week I started to feel normal during the day. Yippie! You're still making me sick in the morning, but I'm used to it now. I'm trying to eat more protein like the chiropractor told me, but it's pretty hard. Good thing we're in the cheese state now. Love, Mom