dear little prince

remember when you were all tiny and tucked in a pike pose? just about 19 weeks old?

how times have changed. and how close we are now.

dear little prince,

i am writing to you a tad early this week because i wanted to commemorate the ONE MONTH TO GO MARK with a little letter. today is may 22. that means that your due date is exactly one month from today.

i could wax poetic but instead, let us get down to business, shall we? i am talking dates. i am talking scheduling.

so, i am all about your arriving when God has intended and when you are ready but i must confess that there is that part of me that craves "control". you know, the pick-a-birthday, scheduled birth stuff. don't get me wrong, i wouldn't trade a healthy, normal, boring, non-intervention pregnancy and regular, spontaneous natural birth for anything... BUT, knowing the arrival date would be pretty great. i am all about a deadline and a goal. and i will admit that this "estimated" due date business is the pits.

back to scheduling. i know that only God knows the date and time. and i know that you care very little about such things. BUT, i did offer up some suggestions to your sister toward the end of her in utero time and that seemed to go pretty well so i figured i would do the same with you. just in case it means anything. and just in case you are chatting away with the Almighty and He asks your opinion. put in a good word for us, would ya?

here are some joint-family suggestions for your arrival:

• please stay put until at least june 1 so we can get to 37 weeks. i know that "full term" term is up for discussion but it would be nice for you to make the most of the next few weeks (plus, we would really appreciate those weeks AND may is already a pretty packed month).
• please do not arrive until after june 9 as your aunt bree + uncle paul + cousin sawyer are traveling and we would hate for them to miss out on the fun.
• please do not try to arrive between june 11 and june 14 as i have an event that weekend that i would really enjoy wrapping up and participating in before your arrival.
• hey, as of june 15, we are pretty much in the clear. that would put you about a week early which it totally fine with me. BUT, if you do decide to come a tad early, how about steering clear of june 17...that is our anniversary. if you must come that day, we will most definitely share the special date on the calendar but would prefer a special day for mama and papa and your own special day, just for you.
• sunday, june 21 would be a fabulous arrival date. father's day. what a special one that would be!
• and of course, we love june 22 - your due date. AND, your great-grandma may's birthday. how cool would that be?
• p.s. anywhere in the june 22 to july 22 timeframe would put us in the same "sign", i have been told. so...do what you will with that. apparently, some folks think that would be a little much to have two Cancers under one roof. like it might disrupt the cosmic balance or something? i dunno about all that. i mean, from my limited knowledge about such things, i am really more of a Leo when you get right down to it. and if you arrive before june 22 you will share a sign with your Neena and BooBoo so that would put us at three Gemini's which seems excessive. isn't that the twin sign? does that double the personality or something? zodiac stuff. sigh. just felt like i should pass along some sage advice from some strangers in whole foods... aren't you glad we don't have to stress about that? God is on His throne and put the planets and stars into motion and has numbered our days, that's all i need to know.
• back to the real considerations. if you would, please do not decide to come on june 28. that is your aunt faith's birthday and i don't know how she would feel about sharing... really, other than sharing a birthdate with your great-grandma may, most would prefer that you have your very own special date on the calendar...
• IF YOU MUST MAKE US WAIT AN EXTRA WEEK AND TAKE US INTO THE MONTH OF JULY (which i do not recommend) then shoot for july 1. canada day! that would be kind of cool, right?
• maybe don't share a birthday with America, though. it is kind of a big deal around here. and as fun as it would be to always be guaranteed a barbecue cookout and fireworks on your birthday, i don't really want to be obligated to throw you a patriotic-bald-eagle-stars-and-stripes themed party every year.
• and beyond that...well, enough said, right? please do not keep us in suspense that long. two weeks past your estimated arrival date is a bit much, don't you think? i hope that by the double-digits of july, we have all that birth stuff behind us and are settling into life together. my goodness! we are going to have such a great summer...

all our love,

mama + papa + elinor