Merry (late) Christmas

I guess to start off, I'll hope everybody had a great Christmas! Since I turned 13 weeks yesterday, I didn't get a chance to post my weekly update, so here goes.

















Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

So baby is now about three inches long! Can you believe it! Christmas went well. We went to church (for the first time just my husband and I) on Christmas Eve. It was an emotional affair and I'm sure it was made worse by my hormones. My husband dropped me off and while I was waiting in the lobby for him to come in after parking the car, I saw so many families with children and I couldn't help thinking we should have a 1 month old baby with us. Than I started to think, God forbid something would happen to the baby I'm carrying now. I was on the verge of tears, but was able to hold them in. That was until my husband and I had a mini argument about where to stand, since the place was packed. He almost made me leave right than, but I stopped the water works. Than during the homily, the priest said Christmas doesn't end and asked what we want for Christmas. My husband reaches over and rubs my stomach as I was thinking all I wanted for Christmas was a healthy baby. Of course, I started to cry again. And again, we almost left. We stayed through the Sign of Peace, and than left. We figured communion would take forever and that leaving the parking lot would be a nightmare. Over all Christmas Eve at my husband's grandma's house went well and so did Christmas at his dad and step mom's house. At dinner we had a "recap of the year" and everybody went around and said what there high and low points were. I was sitting there thinking that half my year was the worst year I have ever had. So when my turn came around, rather than saying what events were good and bad, I just decided to go with dates. After some debate with my sister in law we decided February 7th was a high and a low. The events on February 7th were low but a high point was my father in law is still alive. Than from April 17th through 2 Thursday's before Halloween was a low point with random high points, like my sister in law "finally" getting married (after 10 years of dating). Than anything after that date has been a high point. It really was a low year. And as my father in law was sitting there talking about you never know when your time will end and how life is fragile (in so many words) I had to choke back tears. Losing Jordan really made me realize that anything can happen and how life can end in the blink of an eye. To not take anything for granted.

I had another emotional epiphany, if you want to call it that, on my birthday as well. I went to the Christan store to get my friends baby his Christening gift and got her a book and two Vegi Tales DVD's. One being a story based on the movie "Wizard of Oz". It really got me thinking that even though Stef is physically not here, she lives on in all of us. So many times, we, meaning my friends who all knew and worked with her, always find a way to bring her into gatherings or gifts we give. Stef loved the Wizard of Oz. It was her favorite movie. That's why I decided I had to get Caleb that specific Vegi Tale's story. At Kate's baby shower (Caleb's mommy) we made onsies for her and we made one "From Stef". At my bridal shower, Kate gave me scrap book paper she had gotten from Stef house when she went over there after she had passed. We always find some way to keep her memory alive, and that's what's important. She made such an impact in all our lives that she will continue to live on in each and every one of us.

On a lighter, happier note, my neighbor found out she was pregnant this week, so our babies should be about 2 months apart! That will be fantastic. Baby will have a neighbor friend to play and hang out with. How perfect is that!