Washington Weekend

Dearest Munchkin,
This past weekend we traveled to Washington DC to tell the rest of our families about your upcoming arrival. It was an awesome surprise and everyone was totally over the moon with joy. We left on Friday afternoon and made excellent time on the drive. Your Grandma and Grandpa called a few times to make sure we were all traveling safely and that we were all buckled in. When we got to my cousin Amy's house, the whole gang was waiting for us and we were able to tell them everything about you within the first five minutes. I am pretty sure we didn't talk about anything else for the rest of the evening. It was overwhelming to feel all the love that our family already has for you. I spent a lot of time chatting with your Aunt Amber, who is just starting her career as a Labor & Delivery Nurse. She is just the kind of person we need on Team Baby Beale. She had loads of good advice and funny stories for me. I am 100% percent positive that I will be relying on her a lot during the next 6 months and beyond. Needless to say...I wish she lived closer or vice versa. Your Uncle Ross is very proud of us and can't wait to become an Uncle. Hopefully you can learn a lot of good life lessons from him. He always knows a little something about everything and is very wise. You can count on him to give you good advice. He has lots of interesting life experiences and is a great storyteller.
On Saturday, we meet up with your Aunt Kristi to tell her the news. Of course, she is also excited to become an Aunt for the third time! That afternoon, we started some mild investigation of baby furniture but decided we will need some time to really research what we will use. Your safety and comfort are the most important things to us, so we don't want to rush into anything. I already assigned your Dad the job of researching car seats and strollers. It was a good starting point and I am glad we took advantage of some of the stores in the DC area. Saturday night was your first official Cubs game and they won! You must be good luck. It was a great game and the rain held off until we left the stadium. Then we were in a complete down pour. Luckily, your Mom won't melt and we were home pretty quickly. It was a long day, but we had so much fun!
Sunday morning, we all had brunch together before we hit the road. There is never enough time together and I am always so sad to leave. My heart breaks a little when I think about how much I miss them and the laughter we share. I hope and pray that you will be as close with your siblings and cousins, as we are. It is an incredible bond we share. They are truly some of the most special people in my life and I can't wait for them to meet you.
Tomorrow afternoon we have our second ultrasound and sneak peek at you. How fun is that? You will truly look like a baby now! I will write again with all the details from the appointment.
I love you very much,
Mom