Baby Girl Francisco Speaks

Hi. I'm Baby Girl Francisco. You've been reading about me and how I'm growing inside Mom. It's nice and warm in here, and I really like when she gives me chocolate milk and Fig Newtons. Dad keeps calling me different names, and this thing called Orbit lays on top of me and makes everything vibrate. I think Orbit is the thing that hissed at me when I was brand new.

I'm 22 weeks new tomorrow, and growing more and more every day. Mom mentioned something about a list of everything I've done so far. Since I can't type yet, I told Mom the entire list for her to put in here for you. We'll add more later. Enjoy.

1. Saw the most beautiful sunset ever at Great Uncle John’s “cottage” in Minnesota, and consumed almost an entire bottle of Riesling
2. Went camping in Minnesota where every Engelman gave me drinks by the campfire, we outran a tornado, lost in bowling to Aunt Kim, and ended up sleeping on the floor of the Atlanta airport
3. Ticked off Orbit, whoever that is, by my mere existence. Hopefully we’ll get along later.
4. Taunted Grandma Francisco when Mom and Dad told her they were going to get a dog before getting me.
5. Gave Mom fierce headaches because I was screwing with her body. She forgave me so I stopped.
6. Flew to San Antonio to see Aunt Kim again, and meet the Francisco grandparents, uncles and Grandpa Filmore. He made fun of me for being a redhead. What's a redhead?
7. Made Mom throw up. But just a few times. Including in the Houston airport on the way back home. That one was fun.
8. Went to my first NFL game. It was hot. REALLY hot.
9. Flew to New York, walked around Time Square, ate at an Irish pub, climbed the base of the Statue of Liberty, toured Ellis Island, rode the subway, hung out in Central Park, met Mom’s friend Megan, went to mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral and walked the streets of Manhattan.
10. Voted with Mom. She says I’m the only one that knows who/what she voted for, and this is the ONLY time I’ll ever know. Something about Grandma Mary’s quote of “It’s called a secret ballot for a reason.”
11. Watched the first African-American win a presidential election. Everyone's making such a big deal about it, so Mom explained it to me. I don't know what colors are, so it doesn't make any sense to me. Everyone sounds the same to me from in here. Maybe people should just close their eyes so they can experience things like me.
12. Showed Mom and Dad I was a girl. It made Grandma Lil REALLY happy. Then Mom found a bunch of stuff from her own Mom, like the pillow she made for the tooth fairy and the Cabbage Patch doll she bought Mom right before she died. They made Mom laugh and smile.
13. Heard Uncle Rob teasing Mom. He sounds funny. But he keeps making fun of redheads. Again, what's a redhead? Am I going to be one?
14. Went to Islamorada for a wedding. Don't know where that is, but somehow I made Mom get bit by a TON of bugs. Sorry!
15. Started movin’ around for Mom to feel me. But Dad can’t yet. I’ll start kicking more soon. But for now it's fun to only share with Mom. After all, she's the one that gives me the chocolate milk and Fig Newtons, right?

See you all, well, I'm not sure when. But when I do, bring presents.
-BGF

My baby's a what?

So, we took our weekly progress photo yesterday morning. Belly looks about the same, so not posting it. I think we've all seen enough of the white belly for a while, right? Yes, I look like I haven't seen the light of day in years because, well, this body hasn't seen the light of day in years! After soccer ended in college, it was kinda nice to just stay inside and not worry about a sunburn every damn day. Hard to do in Florida when I can get burned driving to work, but that's why lotions and makeup have sunscreen in them, right?

Anyway, every week I get an e-mail from BabyCenter that tells the size that Baby would be right now. Obviously it's an average, but still. It's always a food item. Baby Girl has been a jumbo shrimp (which you all know I have no idea what size that is!), bell pepper, heirloom tomato, and lately a banana. So what is she this week, from head to toe?

A carrot.

Somewhat appropriate for a hopeful-carrot top, don't you think?

What a Difference a Week Makes...

Seven little days. Wouldn't think it was going to make that big of a deal. But hey, if God created the world in it, then it shouldn't come as a big surprise that in seven measely days I all of a sudden balooned up. Or out, I should say.

So for those of you who keep pestering me, and you know who you are, here are the infamous belly shots. Week 19 and then 20...

CONGRATS, IT'S A...

GIRL!!!!! Though it was a 50/50 chance, both Bob and I were a little shocked to hear GIRL instead of boy! Everyone at work, and I mean EVERY person who had an opinion, said a boy! And with so many boys on Bob's side of the family... But she's a girl! This little girl is going to be so spoiled by the family!

And our siblings better get cracking! It's hard for me to go from having almost 30 cousins to Baby Girl Francisco having NONE!

And she'll be SUCH a Daddy's little girl. It reminded me of this picture, so I had to post it...

(You'll notice the cat is sleeping with us too. That's MeToo, Mom and Dad's FIRST child.)

So nice they named it twice...

We took a long weekend and flew up to New York on Thursday for a WELL-deserved break and mini-vacation. After years of me tormenting Bob for not ever visiting New York, we went for a 3-night stay in Manhattan. Bob's only two requests: 1. Visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and 2. Watch the Longhorns game on Saturday night. For his aching heart, we won't discuss number 2 much, except to say that we got to meet up with my college friend/roomie Megan and had a great time catching up with her. More fun than watching parts of the game...

Anyway, Friday morning we headed downtown to Battery Park and took the ferry to the Statue. I have to admit that I've been to New York countless times, and never went down there. It was incredible to see how big she is, learn the story about how she was built, and actually climb the 192 steps from the ground to the top of the pedestal. Thank goodness you cannot climb in the actual statue anymore -- I was struggling with just that part! Again, hard for me as the athlete to be taken down by an interloper the size of an heirloom tomato (according to my weekly e-mails from Baby Center).

After the Statue, we took the ferry to Ellis Island. I have to admit that this was VERY cool, even though we figured out before the trip that none of our direct family members actually walked through Ellis Island on their way to America. Most came prior to the time Ellis was open, and some came from other ports -- the Engelmans apparently came up the Mississippi. But the museum there, especially with the audio tour, was very interesting and it was somewhat touching to walk where so many people came before us. We very highly recommend it. After having dinner near Time Square, which we just kept walking through, we collapsed into bed.

Saturday we went to Central Park, which is such a dichotomy from the rest of the city -- it's quiet, full of trees changing leaf colors, and even a kids petting zoo. The NY City Marathon was on Sunday, so the park was getting decked out with signage, the finish line, and the path marked out. Very cool. I miss running. :-( We stayed there for hours. Before the football game, we even attended mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The marathon theme continued, and at the end of mass, more than 200 runners that were attending the service were invited to the front of the church for a blessing. It was a remarkable site.

We did so many other things it would take too long to give every detail... ate at an Irish pub, of course; took photos in front of the bull in the financial district, walked along 5th Avenue and didn't even make Bob buy me anything at THE Tiffany's store, etc. We had a blast and I'm happy to report that Bob liked the city -- I was afraid I talked it up too much and he wouldn't like it!

And, we now have more to add to our mythical list of things that Baby Interloper has already done in his/her 19 weeks of squatting. We're going to put that list together and post it when we have a chance. First item: Reisling at the cottage and shots at the campfire in Minnesota. Yeah, it's that kind of list...

Oh, and before I post this... Baby Interloper just did something else. Tagged along as I voted this morning and just watched history at 11:00 EST.