Dear Colton
Dear Colton,
Let me begin by apologizing for not writing more, or sooner, for that matter. When I was pregnant with your sister life was a lot less busy. I wasn't chasing any 2 year old girl with lots of energy around, for starters. So, I hope someday you are not bummed when you find out that I wrote detailed letters as often as I could to your sister while she was in the womb and that your pile is severly lacking. Because even though I am not writing to you often, I think and worry about you just as often as I did her.
Here is a very abbreviated bit about our journey together so far, in case you wondered. We found out we were pregnant with you in early October of 2014. I felt a little off and decided to take a late night pregnancy test, because timing is everything, of course. When I saw the positive test result, I yelled out to your Daddy already in bed, "Shit!". Which is a bad word that you will not be allowed to say. He asked me what was wrong and I told him "I'm pregnant!" And I immediately began to cry because sometimes we adults are selfish and I knew this meant that I wouldn't be able to do a lot of things I had planned on doing the following year when you'd be born. Most importantly, things like not be able to attend my best friends wedding, which was devastating to me. Your Dad, of course, was not thrilled with my timing of finding out I was pregnant because we were then up wide eyed the rest of the night, in shock. My bad. I think your Dad just said "Wow" a lot, because we really did not see this one coming. Just like your sister, you were a surprise for us.
Side note: When we did share with your Aunt Nicole and Uncle Luis that we were expecting you and that it would most likely conflict with their May 2015 wedding date, they were super awesome about it all. I had nightmares of Nicole screaming and yelling at me, but she instead hugged me and wondered why I was so scared to tell her. She and I have been friends for a very long time and I should have known she'd be so amazingly supportive, but Mommy is nuts and was so very relieved by their happy response to our news. They did say, however, that you "better be awesome", so no pressure little guy. I'm sure you won't disappoint them.
In December of 2014, We put together an adorable little announcement video to share with our friends and family that we'd be expecting you in June of 2015. Michaela, your big "sista", allowed us to dress her up in ridiculous (and pink) leg warmers, wrist warmers, and even a sweat band on her head. You should know she hates wearing anything on her head. I can only explain her leaving it on for the filming as her first act of love for you. And perhaps some M&Ms encouraged her. The idea of the video was that she was "in training" to be your big sister. She also wore a shirt that said "Guess whose gonna be a big sister?", which was given to her by her lovely Aunt Joanna. Not be confused with your other Aunt Johanna, but we'll get there. Lots of Aunt Jo's and Aunt Alison's with different name spellings will confuse you in your future. Be warned. But anyway, the announcement video went over really well. Daddy edited it together to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger"and someday your he will show you the Rocky films so you get the reference because although I love that song, I hate those movies.
We had to wait until the middle of January to find out if you were going to be a boy or a girl. And unlike your sister, we still hadn't picked your name. I don't know what it is about the 2nd child, but it was very difficult to pick your name in advance of knowing what you'd be. With your sister, we had Michaela and Gavin picked out almost immediately. Can you imagine if she had been a Gavin? So weird to think about. Anyway, you were way more cooperative than your sister was at what they call the Anatomy Scan where they make sure all your other body parts look good, as well as tell us if you are a boy or a girl. They very quickly were able to tell us "It's A Boy"! I had a feeling all along that you would be a boy, mostly because you hadn't given me heart burn yet and your sister gave me heart burn through my entire pregnancy with her. And also because I tended to enjoy salty foods more this time than I did the last. With your sister in my belly, I ate about a gallon of ice cream a week. I wonder how I gained so much weight that time? Hmm. So thank you for that. I credit you, and maybe a little of my own self control, for keeping me off the ice cream this pregnancy.
Soon after finding out you'd be a boy the crazed questions in my head began. What am I going to do with a boy? What am I going to do with all the clothes I have from your sister? Will he look good in pink? (Don't worry little dude, your Dad has vetoed a lot of re-use clothes on your behalf.) Were we going to be able to agree on a name? Why are boys names so boring and hard to choose? How often would I be peed on? Can I handle this? Will he like us? The list goes on.
Side note: I'm kind of, um, cray-cray. But I mean well, I promise.
It took us a while to agree on your name, but we finally did it. You should know that there have not been any boys born on my mothers side of the family since your Uncle Gregory in 1986. So you won't be surprised to learn that your middle name will be Gregory. I hope you like it. Ya know, in case you don't like Colton, Gregory is not a bad back up, right? Just be gentle on us when you break it to us that you don't like your name. Probably best to wait until I have a glass of wine or two in me, okay? Although I'm sure you'll absolutely LOVE it!
I'd really like to thank you for making this a really easy going pregnancy thus far. You've given me no morning sickness, hardly any heart burn - except for that one time that was awful - and you've always moved around when I started to worry that you were not moving around enough in my belly. Sometimes when you move around it feels like you are kicking all of your legs and arms at once. It's giving me the impression that you are going to have lots of personality just like your Daddy.
Speaking of Daddy, you should know that he's nervous that he's not playing music on my belly for you enough or talking to you enough or as much as he did for Michaela. But don't worry, he's just being silly. What he should be is proud of himself for working so hard the duration of this pregnancy on two different projects at once. It is actually quite impressive. He has always been a wonderful role model for his nephews, but I am so happy that he gets to have a son of his own and teach you everything he knows about being an awesome dude.
While I don't know anything about what it is like to be a boy, I hope that I can offer you a lot of guidance in the 2nd born department. Yes, sometimes you will be too young to do the things your sister does. And yes, sometimes your big sister will want you around all the time and other times she will push you out of her room and need her space. But remember one very important thing, she loves you so much. From the moment we shared the news with her, she has been kissing my belly ever since. (Sometimes she kisses my boobs thinking that's where you are located, but that's because she's 2 years old and doesn't quite get it yet. It is kind of adorable, I have to admit.) And as you age and you two begin to fight - because trust me you will - and that love you guys share is hard to remember, come see Mommy and I'll do my best to remind you of it. Because if anyone can relate to being number two, it's me.
You should also know that you have a very large and loving family who are all super excited to meet you, but the majority of them live on the East coast in New Jersey. I'm sure you are already familiar with most of their voices because we use wonderful modern technology called FaceTime to see their faces and talk to them often since they are so far away. You'll be happy to know that we travel to New Jersey to visit our family as often as we can. And even happier to know that a lot of them plan to travel to California to meet you once you are here. You're a very lucky boy because while we have our blood related family back east, we also have our friends who have become family in Los Angeles. Most importantly in L.A. we have my Uncle Larry, who I know you will love as much as your sister and the rest of us do, despite how goofy and weird he is. You have so many Aunts and Uncles and Big Cousins, it's really incredible. And of course I can't leave out the other family and friends scattered across the rest of the country. As I write about them all, it just brings a giant smile to my face to think about all the loved ones you will have and how excited we are to show you off to them.
On Wednesday we will begin our 29th week together. Your expected to arrive on June 17th, so please do your best to stay on the inside until then. Your sister did try to come out early when she was in the womb for 31 1/2 weeks, but luckily the doctors were able to keep her from coming out. Since Mommy spent the end of her pregnancy with Michaela on bed rest, anything you can do to keep me on my feet will be appreciated. I'd even be willing to consider you as my favorite child, for that reason alone. Don't tell your sister.
In all seriousness, I am feeling all the feelings about your arrival that is right around the corner. I am super nervous, super excited, scared, overjoyed, overwhelmed, sometimes confident. It's a very confusing state to be in. I have no idea if we are ready or will ever be, but I do know one thing: you are so loved. Always remember that although our attention will always be split in two from the moment you arrive, and this is something I will have to explain to your sister as well, I hope you both always remember how much you are loved. We are not perfect. I'm a little crazy, your sister is very dramatic, your Daddy gets a little OCD at times, but all that aside we get through all of it because we love each other so much. And also we laugh a lot. So don't come into this world thinking it's going to be cool to be serious, because it's not. Laughter is kind of a requirement for our family. You'll see.
I will try to do my best to write you again before you arrive, but please accept my sincerest apologies if I don't get around to it. Also, please don't bite my boobs. I thought I should just throw that out there now to be safe.
All of my crazy love,
Mommy (Or as Chaela says "Daddy calls you Dani?")
Let me begin by apologizing for not writing more, or sooner, for that matter. When I was pregnant with your sister life was a lot less busy. I wasn't chasing any 2 year old girl with lots of energy around, for starters. So, I hope someday you are not bummed when you find out that I wrote detailed letters as often as I could to your sister while she was in the womb and that your pile is severly lacking. Because even though I am not writing to you often, I think and worry about you just as often as I did her.
Here is a very abbreviated bit about our journey together so far, in case you wondered. We found out we were pregnant with you in early October of 2014. I felt a little off and decided to take a late night pregnancy test, because timing is everything, of course. When I saw the positive test result, I yelled out to your Daddy already in bed, "Shit!". Which is a bad word that you will not be allowed to say. He asked me what was wrong and I told him "I'm pregnant!" And I immediately began to cry because sometimes we adults are selfish and I knew this meant that I wouldn't be able to do a lot of things I had planned on doing the following year when you'd be born. Most importantly, things like not be able to attend my best friends wedding, which was devastating to me. Your Dad, of course, was not thrilled with my timing of finding out I was pregnant because we were then up wide eyed the rest of the night, in shock. My bad. I think your Dad just said "Wow" a lot, because we really did not see this one coming. Just like your sister, you were a surprise for us.
Side note: When we did share with your Aunt Nicole and Uncle Luis that we were expecting you and that it would most likely conflict with their May 2015 wedding date, they were super awesome about it all. I had nightmares of Nicole screaming and yelling at me, but she instead hugged me and wondered why I was so scared to tell her. She and I have been friends for a very long time and I should have known she'd be so amazingly supportive, but Mommy is nuts and was so very relieved by their happy response to our news. They did say, however, that you "better be awesome", so no pressure little guy. I'm sure you won't disappoint them.
In December of 2014, We put together an adorable little announcement video to share with our friends and family that we'd be expecting you in June of 2015. Michaela, your big "sista", allowed us to dress her up in ridiculous (and pink) leg warmers, wrist warmers, and even a sweat band on her head. You should know she hates wearing anything on her head. I can only explain her leaving it on for the filming as her first act of love for you. And perhaps some M&Ms encouraged her. The idea of the video was that she was "in training" to be your big sister. She also wore a shirt that said "Guess whose gonna be a big sister?", which was given to her by her lovely Aunt Joanna. Not be confused with your other Aunt Johanna, but we'll get there. Lots of Aunt Jo's and Aunt Alison's with different name spellings will confuse you in your future. Be warned. But anyway, the announcement video went over really well. Daddy edited it together to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger"and someday your he will show you the Rocky films so you get the reference because although I love that song, I hate those movies.
We had to wait until the middle of January to find out if you were going to be a boy or a girl. And unlike your sister, we still hadn't picked your name. I don't know what it is about the 2nd child, but it was very difficult to pick your name in advance of knowing what you'd be. With your sister, we had Michaela and Gavin picked out almost immediately. Can you imagine if she had been a Gavin? So weird to think about. Anyway, you were way more cooperative than your sister was at what they call the Anatomy Scan where they make sure all your other body parts look good, as well as tell us if you are a boy or a girl. They very quickly were able to tell us "It's A Boy"! I had a feeling all along that you would be a boy, mostly because you hadn't given me heart burn yet and your sister gave me heart burn through my entire pregnancy with her. And also because I tended to enjoy salty foods more this time than I did the last. With your sister in my belly, I ate about a gallon of ice cream a week. I wonder how I gained so much weight that time? Hmm. So thank you for that. I credit you, and maybe a little of my own self control, for keeping me off the ice cream this pregnancy.
Soon after finding out you'd be a boy the crazed questions in my head began. What am I going to do with a boy? What am I going to do with all the clothes I have from your sister? Will he look good in pink? (Don't worry little dude, your Dad has vetoed a lot of re-use clothes on your behalf.) Were we going to be able to agree on a name? Why are boys names so boring and hard to choose? How often would I be peed on? Can I handle this? Will he like us? The list goes on.
Side note: I'm kind of, um, cray-cray. But I mean well, I promise.
It took us a while to agree on your name, but we finally did it. You should know that there have not been any boys born on my mothers side of the family since your Uncle Gregory in 1986. So you won't be surprised to learn that your middle name will be Gregory. I hope you like it. Ya know, in case you don't like Colton, Gregory is not a bad back up, right? Just be gentle on us when you break it to us that you don't like your name. Probably best to wait until I have a glass of wine or two in me, okay? Although I'm sure you'll absolutely LOVE it!
I'd really like to thank you for making this a really easy going pregnancy thus far. You've given me no morning sickness, hardly any heart burn - except for that one time that was awful - and you've always moved around when I started to worry that you were not moving around enough in my belly. Sometimes when you move around it feels like you are kicking all of your legs and arms at once. It's giving me the impression that you are going to have lots of personality just like your Daddy.
Speaking of Daddy, you should know that he's nervous that he's not playing music on my belly for you enough or talking to you enough or as much as he did for Michaela. But don't worry, he's just being silly. What he should be is proud of himself for working so hard the duration of this pregnancy on two different projects at once. It is actually quite impressive. He has always been a wonderful role model for his nephews, but I am so happy that he gets to have a son of his own and teach you everything he knows about being an awesome dude.
While I don't know anything about what it is like to be a boy, I hope that I can offer you a lot of guidance in the 2nd born department. Yes, sometimes you will be too young to do the things your sister does. And yes, sometimes your big sister will want you around all the time and other times she will push you out of her room and need her space. But remember one very important thing, she loves you so much. From the moment we shared the news with her, she has been kissing my belly ever since. (Sometimes she kisses my boobs thinking that's where you are located, but that's because she's 2 years old and doesn't quite get it yet. It is kind of adorable, I have to admit.) And as you age and you two begin to fight - because trust me you will - and that love you guys share is hard to remember, come see Mommy and I'll do my best to remind you of it. Because if anyone can relate to being number two, it's me.
You should also know that you have a very large and loving family who are all super excited to meet you, but the majority of them live on the East coast in New Jersey. I'm sure you are already familiar with most of their voices because we use wonderful modern technology called FaceTime to see their faces and talk to them often since they are so far away. You'll be happy to know that we travel to New Jersey to visit our family as often as we can. And even happier to know that a lot of them plan to travel to California to meet you once you are here. You're a very lucky boy because while we have our blood related family back east, we also have our friends who have become family in Los Angeles. Most importantly in L.A. we have my Uncle Larry, who I know you will love as much as your sister and the rest of us do, despite how goofy and weird he is. You have so many Aunts and Uncles and Big Cousins, it's really incredible. And of course I can't leave out the other family and friends scattered across the rest of the country. As I write about them all, it just brings a giant smile to my face to think about all the loved ones you will have and how excited we are to show you off to them.
In all seriousness, I am feeling all the feelings about your arrival that is right around the corner. I am super nervous, super excited, scared, overjoyed, overwhelmed, sometimes confident. It's a very confusing state to be in. I have no idea if we are ready or will ever be, but I do know one thing: you are so loved. Always remember that although our attention will always be split in two from the moment you arrive, and this is something I will have to explain to your sister as well, I hope you both always remember how much you are loved. We are not perfect. I'm a little crazy, your sister is very dramatic, your Daddy gets a little OCD at times, but all that aside we get through all of it because we love each other so much. And also we laugh a lot. So don't come into this world thinking it's going to be cool to be serious, because it's not. Laughter is kind of a requirement for our family. You'll see.
I will try to do my best to write you again before you arrive, but please accept my sincerest apologies if I don't get around to it. Also, please don't bite my boobs. I thought I should just throw that out there now to be safe.
All of my crazy love,
Mommy (Or as Chaela says "Daddy calls you Dani?")
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