Cherry Blossom

Dear Cherry Blossom,

This morning marks our 13th week of pregnancy. You are our tenacious little bud. In weeks 5 and 7 we had a few scares, so it's very exciting to be here with you today. Last night when I couldn't sleep, I was thinking about you somersaulting through the rubber room of my womb. I almost imagined that I could feel you squirming about. I can picture your little fingers and your toes. You are starting to grow more and more real in my imagination. They say you can feel your subsequent children kicking in your womb about 2 weeks earlier than your first child. By my count, I might be feeling you as soon as 2 weeks.

I can't wait.

We have big plans for you. We are kicking around some room decoration ideas. I am thinking that theme for your room might be India-- exotic, colorful, Eastern. Just like I picture you. Ok, I don't really picture you that way, but it could be fun to have a nursery decorated like a very colorful, rich, and dynamic country that your dad and I visited early in our romance. Maybe the cherry blossom theme will stick and become a motif as well. Your Grandmother Ellis asked about your name and wondered what we would do if you were a boy. Your dad, quick as a fox, said, we'll call him Cherry Balls. So either way, your stuck with the nickname inspired by one of the season's most succulent, and in our house, controversial fruits. (We'll talk about that later.)

Here's why I love cherries: besides being juicy and delicious and really rich with flavor, cherries are imminently portable and it's possible to control the runaway juice from a cherry in ways I can't with a peach or a nectarine. Cherries are dark and go great with chocolate. They are adorable to look at and when I get a big bag full of cherries from the farmer's market, it's possible to have less than 1% not meet my standards of perfection. I love them. They are the hershey's kisses of the fruit world.

As we head into our second trimester, I wanted to take a moment to offer gratitude for you, for summer cherries that are full of surprises, for your impossibly perfect heartbeat I got to hear last week on my birthday (best gift ever), for this chance to mother you and to attach to you as we prepare our lives for your arrival.

Love,
Mama