Cheese and Mustard Sandwich

Woke up this morning and instantly needed...HAD TO HAVE... a cheese and mustard sandwich.
If that's not the breakfast of champions, I don't know what is!
Since Mommy has never even considered a cheese and mustard sandwich before she will assume Baby Leonardo is celebrating its Rockette style dance kicks/moves with a "special" treat.
FYI sandwich was SOOOO good and yellow mustard was SO particularly tasty that Mommy nearly ate it directly from the squeeze bottle....maybe tomorrow morning! :)

Kickin It!

Soooo, Mommy is sitting in her first Ph.D. class last Wednesday, August 20, 2 hours in to a VERY long evening when suddenly, without warning, she receives a swift boot to the inside of her uterus!
No mistaking this one folks! Baby Leonardo made his/her lack of interest in the rhetoric of new media quite obvious!
It was AMAZING! I could actually feel the little one's heel when he/she booted me one more time just for emphasis. :)
Baby and I shared some wonderful bonding moments the next night when he/she decided to talk to me using their little feet again while I was lying in bed watching tv. Some of the kicks were so hard that my hand would move!
But the best part by far was when Daddy got home...we had a spaghetti dinner and then there it was...a little kick to get started. Mommy quickly lied down on the floor and Daddy put his head down on her belly. Without hesitation, as if sweet pea was patiently waiting for him to arrive, Daddy then received his very first kick to the head from Baby :)
No joke, this baby is so strong (or at the very least so close to the surface of my tummy) that when he/she kicked Daddy he got a little "thud" on his cheekbone. (Mommy and Daddy's little soccer star already!)
Everyone has been talking about how cool it would be when the baby starts moving and that really doesn't even come close to describing just how darn awesome it is!!
Now, I wait each day for those little kicks and just sit there and smile. Baby and Mommy are just "kickin it" together, having a long conversation that no one else can hear :) (except if they're brave enough to put their head down there and wait...)

Layettes and Teethers and Bottles OH MY

So although many of you have already heard our comedic stories on registering for Baby Leonardo we thought we'd add it to our blog just for Baby's records... so he/she can look back 30 years from now when they're registering for their own babies (yikes that seems impossible to imagine right now!) and know they're not crazy when they're ready to cry in the bottle aisle!

Sam and I are very comfortable with babies and baby items. We have enough young cousins, nieces, and friends with young babies to have what we consider to be a firm grasp on the basics for what is needed for raising a baby.

And then we entered the world known as Babies R Us........

This picture was taken at the registry desk where we received all kinds of free goodies :) and BEFORE we entered the Bottle Zone :) (Yes, Mommy takes the camera EVERYWHERE to document our new adventure!)

No one ever told us there would be 42 options for bottles or newborn pacifiers that are orthodontically correct (wait, newborns don't have teeth do they??). And no one told us that someone would stop us in the aisle near the organic crib mattresses and inform us that even "organic" might mean they're still using the same chemicals they use in roach killer in the inner, inner padding below the springs. If the mattress is dangerous why is a baby store selling it??

The good news is that your Daddy (thank goodness for his level thinking to counteract Mommy's overwhelmed hormones!) reminded us that when we were kids we drank out of the hose in the backyard when we were playing outside and needed a drink and we ended up ok.

So we've decided that your Pack N Play might not have the latest digital hook-ups for your Ipod...(kind of not joking here which is why this whole experience is SO scary!) but we think you'll be a better person for it. And in the meantime, Daddy will continue to spend most of his time in the toy aisle picking out the very coolest water sounds display for your nighttime enjoyment. :)

Thank goodness we ended the day with Target for the rest of your goodies!!! :)

18 Week Sonogram

Dear Baby Leonardo,

You amaze Mommy and Daddy more then anything!

We saw you today on camera and are so proud of all your fingers, toes, bones, strong heart, and EVERYTHING!

The doctor's camera even showed us all four chambers of your heart, your entire spine, the arteries leading from the umbilical cord to you, and all the strong bones in your legs and arms. We even got to look up your little button nose (hee, hee!).

We know you've got quite the personality already because when Daddy started talking to the doctor you lifted your arm and gave him a big high five right on the camera! The doctor took a picture for us just before you pulled your hand away :). It looks like you love your Daddy's voice as much as Mommy does!

We also loved how you mooned us with your little rump every time the doctor tried to look at your lower half. I know you were listening when we told everyone we don't want to know if you're a boy or a girl. You're super smart already! :)

And we loved when you got bored with all the hoopla and put your arm over the top of your head, posing and looking straight at us. Mommy and Daddy could look at our little sweet pea ALL day!

Keep growing strong little one. We love you SO very much!

PS. We've got a series of amazing pictures from the sonogram but I'm afraid one of my doctor brothers will be able to see something we can't see and accidentally slip with the surprise. So for now all they get is the hand :)

Learning the ND Fight Song

At 4.5 months (18 weeks!!) with almost fully developed ears we figured now would be an excellent time to formally introduce the Notre Dame fight song and other ND classics (including the Rudy Soundtrack :)) to Baby Leonardo.

Your great Grandpa, Grandpa, and your Daddy are all Domers and maybe one day you will be too! :)

Only one more week for college football and Daddy can't wait to watch his beloved ND games with you sweet pea (this is the perfect reason for Mommy to watch too!). He makes sure you're listening to the ND cd's every night while he is home. I think you might come out singing one of these songs at this rate or maybe even dancing the Irish jog... :) Go Irish! Go Baby Leonardo!!

A Father's Wish

Dear Baby - If at all possible, and only under healthy circumstances, please consider surfacing on December 31st of this year so that your mom and dad can take the dependency tax deduction. If you can't manage this, we're still very, very proud of you. Love Dad

Coughlin or Phelps in the Making??

For at least 6 weeks now I think I've felt the baby moving.

Doctor March says it's probably impossible that I would feel it that early (it was right around 12 weeks) but he also said I might not be able to get pregnant...he's VERY happy when he's wrong in my case! :)

Everyone keeps telling me that when I do officially feel Baby moving it might feel like a "flutter" but I wouldn't describe what I feel as a flutter. It's more like a big ol bubble rolling around in my lower left abdomen - the exact spot where Baby Leonardo is camped out!

One of the reasons I believe I'm feeling the baby is because I've discovered that Baby Leonardo LOVES the shower! :) Every time I am in the shower a disco party of rolling bubbles jumps in to action in my baby belly. AND...wouldn't you know...it happens when I'm swimming in our pool too (could this be the first sign of an Olympic swimmer in the making?? :)).

It's either Baby Leonardo sharing some serious happiness with Mommy or I've got some serious gas issues triggered by exterior water! As much as that would amuse me :) I am pretty sure Baby Leonardo is already an excellent communicator with Mommy! :)

The Blog will be the first to know when I feel THE flutter but until then Baby and Mommy are having a grand old time communicating in bubbles!

"While You Were Cooking"

Dear Baby Leonardo,
Daddy and I have been saving many of the headlines over the last 4 1/2 months from most of the big news stories...we'll be doing that for the next 5 1/2 months too....just so we can keep adding to the pages in your scrapbook titled "While You Were Cooking"
This way you will be able to look back on the year you were swimming around in Mommy's belly and know what was happening out here. I already know you enjoyed the opening ceremonies of the Olympics because I think you were practicing your free style swimming that evening :) Someday soon you'll be able to see the pictures we've saved just for you.
LOVE YOU!
PS. Family, if you see something you'd like to add to Baby Leonardo's "While You Were Cooking" save it and we'll be sure to add it to the collection.