25 weeks

Dressed up for Prom Day for Spirit Week! :)

Baby Girl is the size of a rutabaga!  She is over a foot long and over a pound and a half!

Hey Little Mrs. DeYoungcita,

That's what the kiddos have been calling you the past couple of days in my class.   When I turned on the computer the last google search was for "homemade ninja turtle costumes".  I wonder what your dad is up to.  You probably won't know who they are but they were like the COOLEST THING EVER back in our day.  

This week has been Spirit Week and the kids in my class have had spirit and energy like WHOA (a little TOO MUCH sometimes).  Here's a photo of your dad dressed up for Prom Day.

Your dad made a homemade tux shirt for prom using sharpies.  Isn't he a stud?  He also made me a 3D flower corsage out of construction paper.  He pretty much rocks my world.

Check out your dad's sweet moves on the dance floor.  I won't blame you at all if you are a total daddy's girl. :)

 

Brother and Sister breaking it down at "Prom". 

Today was "Career Day".  We had a lot of doctors, a couple of teachers, a baseball player, a rock star, a salesman, a mad scientist, and a few others..

 

I dressed up as your momma! (but I won't really cart you around in my apron like I did with this baby doll all day :)

 

Your dad was pro surfer dude - here he is surfing on the cafeteria table with another Hawaiin ;)

(photo credit Jessica Ensing)

I'll share some more Spirit day pics next week when we get there.  At school, we also celebrated Leap Day (with fun froggy centers) and Dr. Seuss's bday this past week.  I can't wait to read you Dr. Seuss books - I love all of them so much and have loved reading them with my kids!

Also, this past week, it has been like HOLY VISITORS!  And it's only going to get.. better ;)  There are SO many people coming this month, probably mostly to see you in my big fat belly.  Speaking of fat, the doctor put me back on the weight gain diet because I've only gained 8 pounds this pregnancy - how can this be possible when I am SO BIG?!  Are you creating some kind of optical illusion for me?

This past week your Uncle Tim, Auntie Paola, and cousins Ana Leah and Rachel came up to visit.  How fun is it that you have 3 girl cousins so close to your age?  I think it will be SO FUN!

Rachel who has been staying with us for 3 weeks also flew out this week, but not without leaving lots of American goodies for us!  Here's a pic of her at Carnival (which is another reason things have been crazy here... meaning Carnival was crazy, not Rachel ;)

  

 

We spent our last day here hanging out by the pool.  I swear I put on sunscreen, but somehow I screwed up.... check out this tan line... (don't ask me how I did it)

 

We also took her out for her last night to eat at a Colombian restaurant - I wonder how you liked eating Colombian food for the first time? I loved every bite of it.

This past week our visitors included these 5 kids who stayed with us for 3 nights while their mom was out of town visiting dad in prison and trying to get documents so they could go to school (mom is part of our sex trafficking ministry who is trying for a new start at life)... these munchkins were ages baby, 2, 3, 4, and 7.  Which made them a HANDFUL and a half.  Besides the fact that where they come from, they don't have so much as a toilet or diapers, so we had a lot of cleaning up to do.  But we loved them and had so much fun with them and I was really sad to say goodbye when they left.  I look forward to working more with their family.  

 

This baby girl loved your daddy.  He was so good with her, and she couldn't get enough of him.  I bet you'll love him just as much as she did.

This is the house they went back home to. (photo credit - Rachel Lanouette)  I was SO thankful to Rachel for bringing down lots of clothes for them.  They usually chill out in the yard naked (using the baño wherever since they don't have one) and now they have lots of new clothes.  Your dad said the other day maybe we should just do that with you, and let Santa train you to go in the yard. (that is a JOKE.... kinda a bad one)  But anyways, just let pics like this be a reminder to never take anything in life for granted and always help others less fortunate than you. 

 Okay, so now for my pinterest photo/quote of the week.  I think I have to do this every week now cause a board just full of them for you.  Maybe we will print this and hang it above your crib.  I don't know,but I love this.  And more than anything, it reminds me of your dad.  He has gotta be the most original person I know.  He beats to his own drum and does what he wants and what he believes is right no matter what, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks (just look at him dancing in that video :).  It's one of my favorite things about him.  When I first met him on our mission trip in Chicago, I kinda called him the weird kid in the group (hopefully he's not reading this so don't tell him).  I remember when the rest of us were heading to Ed Debevericks our first night there, I found him wandering into a pizzeria by himself across the street.  I ran across the street rolling my eyes and asked what are you doing!?  He said he was in Chicago and wanted Chicago pizza and that was that.  He didn't follow anyone else, and everyone else ended up following him there.  When the rest of the group was all huddled in a corner together when we were painting in the projects at Cabrini Green, he was off on his own slapping a homeless man's back telling jokes and laughing like they were old friends.  He just didn't really fit in with everyone else in the group.  But I secretly loved that about him.  The day after our trip, I was hanging out with your Auntie Tracey and she said "If you don't like him and thinks he's weird, then why can you not stop talking about him all night?"  And she was right.  I was smitten with your dad's uniqueness from that first weekend.  And now I'm so glad I didn't end up with some ordinary guy, but got an extraordinary one like your dad.  So baby girl, learn from your daddy and JUST BE YOURSELF.  Don't try to be anyone else cause no one out there is better.  Like Dr. Seuss says, "There is no one in the world who is more YOUER than you!"  Love you baby girl and can't wait to meet you in 99 more days!  Love, Your Momma