crossrhodes

I was sitting in my car during lunch rush last week, waiting to pick up my Chinese take-out order. An elderly black woman came to my window and very kindly said to me, “God bless you. You will have a blessed year.” She came out of nowhere, singled me out in a crowded parking lot, then walked away. A total stranger sent to minister to me with an encouraging message. Hmmm… the Bible calls some of them angels.

And then my fishmongers, a nice Chinese couple, told me that 2008 is a great year to have a baby. According to the Chinese Zodiac, people born in the Year of the Rat are associated with intelligence and wealth.

(Strange things happen at my favorite Chinese-owned eateries!)

Intelligence and wealth are good. Mostly, I pray for my child to have wisdom, the kind that is not learned in a classroom or boardroom, and is greater than knowledge, street smarts, or common sense.

I also pray for a child with blue or green eyes, but that will never happen biologically =)

I gave belly pics a try today. This one is for a project I’m working on. It’s a surprise. For now, I thought I’d be brave and post the first ever photo of my pregnant belly… stretch marks, freckles, and all =)

I am so inspired by this photographer. She makes maternity a form of art.

If I could
I would try to shield your innocence from time
But the part of life I gave you isn’t mine

If I knew
I’d have tried to change the world I brought you to
But there isn’t very much that I can do

But I would
If I Could

Had the baby’s anatomical ultrasound this morning. Place your bets!!! I told the tech I did not want to know the baby’s sex but I think (THINK, NOT SURE!!!) its a girl. She let me watch the scans on a second monitor next to my bed for patient viewing. She scanned everything up, down, around, and through the baby, measuring everything from the circumference of the head, distance between eye sockets, arm and leg bone lengths, cross sections of the heart, lungs, liver, and brain, and even measured my cervix.

When she scanned the “toilet view” (that’s Lani’s technical term for what your toilet might see if it had eyes looking up from under you), I only saw 2 legs. I saw a quick flash of the baby’s bum and there did not seem to be a third leg. I could be wrong coz she scanned through “toilet view” so fast and only clipped a picture of the legs from knees to toes. And it was taken from the back so a third leg could’ve been hiding up front. I dunno! I’m just guessing it’s a girl. Put me in for $10. I just cannot wait to meet this baby already!

On that note, I wish I could have these songs played in the delivery room when I give birth. Like in movies, it’s the soundtrack that really creates dramatic effect. Click on speaker icons to listen:

• Cinderella
• Safe and Sound

Congratulate my husband. He got another raise and he earned it! But it’s not like “Hey, kids! We’re going to Disney World!” anytime soon. His salary increase (after taxes) is about the cost (before taxes) of baby’s first year of diapers, formula if I’m unable to breastfeed, and a portion of James’ college education. Sadly, the windfall is already gone before it even hit the bank =(

He’s also packing up his office today. He has a few offices: at home, at the client site, and at the company’s satellite office. They’re kicking him out of the satellite office since he’s never there anyway. It’s like, “Here’s your raise, now get out!” LOL =)

I wish I could kick him out of his home office. He has two: a room extension of the garage w/ four walls and a door to contain his noise and mess, and a corner of our living room plus half the couch. I’d like for him to pack up his “office” in the living room and make his phone calls in his actual home office w/ the door closed… please.

Anyway, going back to the cost of child rearing… did you know, according to the USDA, it costs nearly a quarter of a million dollars to raise a child from birth to age 18??? That does NOT include a college education AND that estimate was for babies born pre-Y2K. Can you believe that? Housing (33%) and food (18%) are the top two expenditures. So, before you have kids and/or divorce your spouse, keep in mind that these USDA estimates are used as guidelines to determine child support payments! More useless trivia: In 1960 — before childcare centers, video games, cell phone minutes, and professional athlete-endorsed designer sneakers were invented — it only cost $25,000 to raise a child in the US of A!