the days of preparing

This week I made a big milestone, I weigh a WHOLE POUND! I'm 8-9 inches long and about the size of a spaghetti squash or a papaya. Mama says that I'm 22 weeks old but she is already feeling pretty big and hopefully I will keep growing but she won't grow too fast.  This week I can hear better and my sense of touch is also finished developing so I am feeling all the things in here that I can to figure out where I am! Mama says everyone loved getting to see me in a picture she posted this week.

Maybe I should be a referee when I grow up, cause I look pretty good in stripes!

This week Mama and Daddy started going to a class to learn about how I will come into the world.  Our teacher is really nice and she is showing Mama lots of stretches and exercises that will help get me ready.  She is also helping us know what to eat and how to relax and how to sleep better.  Mama got a giant new body pillow this week that is bigger than she is, but it helps us sleep and it is fun to hug.  Daddy is going to be our coach when we get to delivery and Mama says he is already doing a great job of taking care of us.  Sometimes he rubs our back before we go to sleep and he carries things that are too heavy for us.  He also tells me good morning and rubs and talks through Mama's belly to me.  He tells me he loves me, tells me things that we will do together when I come out, and tells me things I need to learn.  Soon he says he will play music too, but right now I can hear inside Mama better than outside.

This week I was flipping around and kicking a lot and I got to kick Daddy for the first time! I kicked as hard as I could and he felt me and it was so exciting.

Emsley Taylor Howard was born on 6/19/15 by C-section, and Mama and Daddy and I went to see her in the hospital this weekend.  She is so tiny and she likes to stare at us and suck on her bottom lip and she hardly cries at all. She is soooooo cute! Mama says we are going to be great friends once I am born, even though she is older than me.

Mama says it's amazing after watching Emsley grow that now we can see her and she is a totally unique person (even though she looks just like her Mama).  It's strange that she has been living with us for many months but we can only start knowing her and seeing who she is now.  Mama says that she is even more ready to meet me after seeing her...but she also says I have to stay inside and keep growing for a good long while before I can come out.  I hope the time flies by.