Dear Baby Herface

Dear Baby Herface,

Our bags are packed and it's finally here--the week that we are supposed to meet you! We are excited and nervous, but mostly excited...that is easy to say right now, since I'm not in pain yet! I thought that I would document a few things about what is going on in the world and the things we think are most important for you to know. Someday you can look back on this as your sort of virtual scrapbook.  So, let's see...

• Stamps are 45 cents each, but we never use them at our house unless mailing a package, we are pretty electronic here...hence the blog post, rather than a letter.
• Gas, which was about 90 cents a gallon when I started driving 20 years ago is about $3.75 a gallon now. Don't ask your Dad about the price increase, it'll be a long political discussion.
• You will be born in a town of about 4,300, a far cry from the city of 750,000 that I was raised in. But don't worry, I'll take you to the city often...they have craft stores and Target there, you'll love it!
• We still have a telephone in our house and a regular TV, not a flat screen...your friends will probably never have seen such and want to visit our home for its historical artifacts...if you work out the pout and puppy dog eyes, you might want to start on your Dad about getting a flat screen first...
• In this house, we root for the South Carolina Gamecocks (or any other SEC team if they aren't opposing SC). If one day you meet a boy who is just as cute as Justin Bieber or those Twilight boys (that's a cultural reference for you) and you are smitten, ask him who he roots for. If he answers nobody or any team other than SC, come see me before you tell your Dad, I'll need to smooth the way. You may also want to reconsider bringing him home if he doesn't know what football is or if he can beat your Dad at Call of Duty on PS3...
• Somewhere along the way, you earned the name Baby Herface, it was Mater's (you will meet him) version of Baby What's Her Face, which everyone called you because we wouldn't reveal your name. It's been a hot topic, your name, you would think that we told everyone we had a million dollars but they would have to wait 9 months to get it! What they don't know is that the name they have waited 9 months (really only 6, since we waited a while to tell them you were coming) to find out, your Dad and I have waited 10 years (that's right, we named you 10 years ago when we started dating and never changed our minds!) to use!
• In this house, we laugh a lot, we talk in songs, we have a dog who thinks she is human (she can't wait to meet you and please don't tell her that she is in fact a dog, OK?...), we take board games and Phase 10 seriously, we love to cook (and eat!), and we make more memories than money.
• You will be raised a PK (preacher's kid) and that will come with all kinds of expectations from others about how they think you should talk, act, dress, etc. Don't worry about all of that, we just expect you to love Jesus, love others, and be you.
• Based on your aversion to ultrasounds and the way you go still whenever your Dad puts his hand on my belly, we have decided that you are either going to be very stubborn or very shy. If its shy, you get it from me, if its stubborn, you owe it to your Dad...
• You are our first, so we'll probably make lots of mistakes, just exercise some grace with us and act like you don't notice that you are our guinea pig...
• Speaking of firsts, since your Dad is adopted, you'll hold the incredible honor of being the very first blood relative that he ever meets. You are pretty special to him already for that reason. He will share a bond with you that he has never known with another. He's written you his own letter full of the things that he wants you to know, its on the back of the large wooden letter (the one that your name starts with, well not your first name, since we aren't calling you by that, but your middle name) that he made to hang in your room.
• And finally, and most importantly, whatever you may go through in life, whatever trials you may face, know that you are wanted and loved and we are always here.

We love you so much already!

Mommy (and Daddy)