"aunt" mary's first-born, mozart, and "aunt" jenny {not necessarily in that order}

dear baby-b,

remember i said yesterday that i had something to tell you about your "aunt" mary?

well, i'll tell you today.

but first, here are some photos i took of  her.

i shot these over my birthday breakfast

{just one day after my 39th birthday...

when you were only five days old in my belly.}

though she is not your real aunt,

i'll refer to her as such,

as she is the friend i have known the longest of all of my friends.

she and i met in third grade!

that's more than thirty years ago,

and that practically makes her like a sister to me!
{which would make her your auntie.}

she may look a little bit serious here in the first shot.

but trust me... she is a goof ball!

she loves to laugh {and snort} and have fun!

and she loves life!

{as you can tell from the last shot.}

well, let me get to the point.

today is the birthday of her first-born child.

which is why i waited until today to post about this...

you see, her first-born was very special to her

just as you will be to me.

and when that little girl was born all those years ago,

someone very giving

gave a wonderful gift to my friend mary for her and her daughter.

it was a glider/rocker for the baby nursery.

your aunt mary was so moved and touched by it,

she said to the woman,

"please let me give you something for this..."

the woman insisted on taking nothing from mary for the chair.

but she had one request...

"please, just give this to someone else who will need it some day,

just as i have done for you today."

that was nine years ago.

all these years later,

i'm having you!

well, when i was at your aunt mary's house two days ago

to help her design and plan the remodel of the first floor of her house,

she told me she had something to show me in the basement.

we went down to look at some things

and she led me to believe it was related to the redesign we were discussing.

and part of it was.

but before we returned to the main floor,

she took me to a corner to show me something

and tell me the story behind it... it was that rocking chair.

and she told me that she never knew just who would be that special person

that she would give the chair to in order to keep her promise.

but she said when you came into the picture,

she knew it was you and me that she wanted to give it to.

we've been wanting one of those for you,

and we were probably going to look for a used one

on craig's list or ebay

so that we would have something to rock you in

on sleepless nights when you needed it.

i would have settled for a chair from a stranger.

but how much more special that it came from a dear friend

who used it, not just for her firstborn whose birthday is today,

but for her second child, too.

two super kids i have come to know and love...

i've babysat them

and watched them grow up.

and now i will rock you in the very chair

that she once used to rock her kiddos in.

i got tears in my eyes

when she stood and explained what it meant to her

to be able to give this to me.

little did she ever know

that i would be the one she could give it to after all these years...

and she certainly did not know that morning at breakfast!

yet, you were already forming in my womb.

{by the way, it is thanks to your aunt mary

that i was already taking care of myself and you

before you were conceived,

as she sells very healthy shaklee vitamins...

i was getting all the prenatal care i needed from her!
she also took good care of you during my first trimester...
she bought and sliced up many fruits and veggies
and made batches of homemade soup
and brought them all over for us to eat
so that i would not have to cook,
as i was ultra exhausted, as well as very nauseous,
making it hard to cook and eat nutritionally.}

well, i know you will one day meet your "aunt" mary.

she will most likely come see you in the hospital,

and she will most likely put lotion on my dry feet when she does.

this is her special way to take care of new mommies in the hospital.

i remember distinctly when she did it for another friend that
we had gone to visit together after that friend's first child was born,

and i thought it was so special...

sort of like how Jesus washed the feet of those he came to serve.

and you will also meet her two kiddos.

though they will be quite a bit older than you,

they will love you, i'm sure.
{they are already talking about baby-sitting you
and the eldest, e., has already drawn you a picture for your room.}

and speaking of birthdays,

did you know today was mozart's birthday?

i always remember it, because

a}

i love mozart's music!

b}

it's easy to remember when one of your best friends had a daughter born that day.

and c}

another dear friend of mine has her birthday today!

{i'll get to that in a bit.}

you might have heard mozart all day today.

i had the classical station on, knowing they would most likely

be playing his work throughout the day.

he is not my favorite composer,

but i sure do love to listen to much of what he wrote!

okay, one last thing.

as i mentioned, it is also the birthday of a friend i have known

almost as long as i have known your aunt mary.

in fact your real aunt {auntie angela},

"aunt" mary,

"aunt" jenny {whose birthday it is},
and i

all used to be friends in high school!

we hung out a lot!

well, jenny just came to visit from texas last weekend!

auntie angela, jenny and i

had a wonderful time catching up

and singing {did you hear us?} in three-part harmony.

"aunt" jenny happened to be at our house when you were kicking!

so she was the second person after me to feel it!

even before your own papa!

we had such a nice time of fellowship.

and she was very good to you, as she was so good to me

by taking me out for a nice thai dinner

and delicious breakfast before i had to return her to the airport the next day!

i had so hoped to take some pictures of the three of us...

especially of the two of them... during her visit.

but i never got around to it.

{but here is a photo from the last time she visited.

i did not take it, but i did the processing...

that has to count for something!}

{that's auntie angela on the left, then "aunt" jenny, then me.
isn't aunt jenny tall? she stands a good five inches taller than me at 6'1"!}

and i had also hoped to record us singing this time, too!

but that did not end up happening.

so how 'bout the below clips of us singing

from when we got together during her visit before this last one?

{main song}

{ending}

the first clip is the main part of the song.
the second clip is our favorite part... the ending
{which got cut off in the first clip}.
we were a little shaky, but that's okay.

some day, i hope to be able to teach you to sing with others

in three part harmony too!

{well, you would just be singing the one part.

two other peopled will make it three parts with you.}

=)

so here's to special friends

and their children

and their thoughtful gifts

and to beautiful music

and to birthdays of beautiful people.

happy birthday, little e. {mini-mary}.

and jenny.

and mozart!