Baby Berto

Five years ago today, we said I do. In four weeks, we’re scheduled to become a family of three. Two of us have now become one family.

And I just want to say how much I appreciate you and all of your support throughout these last few years as we have continued on our journey down our path. We have truly taken our wedding vows to heart, through sickness and in health, for better or worse…

You see, today is our wedding anniversary. Five years of marriage and fun and laughter and tears and happiness and fear and humility and joy. Five years of me being an official “what the hell guy*” And in a few short weeks, our world gets shifted again with the arrival of Baby Berto.

And I can’t wait.

We had our final birth preparation class last night and I’ll tell ya, Kelci is going to be amazing. She is strong, patient, focused and ready to get on with this parenting thing. I couldn’t imagine going into this with a better partner.

Kelci, thank you for being you. For being my friend. For being my wife. For being Kylah’s mother. Five down, 6,824 to go.

* What the hell guy: You see a guy with a girl that’s hot and you think to yourself (or aloud) “What the hell is she doing with him?”

Tonight we had our last baby class. There was no gruesome video. There was no talk of C-Sections, breech presentations or low birth weights. Instead we took a tour of the birth center where in a few short weeks we’ll be welcoming Kylah into the world.

It just got real.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been learning about the birth process (I didn’t know the baby does almost a whole twist on the way out) and perfecting my swaddling technique. But the real work has been happening in my mind. I know I’ve talked about being nervous, anxious etc… and I am. But I’m also getting closer to being ready. I’m happy. Kelci is amazingly beautiful. And falling asleep while feeling her move brings me immeasurable joy.

We’re less than six weeks from our due date. This has been an amazing journey.

And it’s just beginning.

We love to camp. And we’re not going to let a little thing like being nearly eight months pregnant from doing something we love. So, this weekend, we I packed up and headed to the woods for three nights of fishing, relaxing and camp fire.

While camp fire smoke doesn’t cure morning sickness (yes, she still is going through it), it sure does make for a relaxing time. But after only getting the tent wet twice this year, I put it away for the final time in quite a while tonight. I don’t know when the next time that I get to set it up in the rain, sleep in the rain, take it down in the rain and come home to put it away in the sweltering sun will be. Blue tarp camper, I’m one of you.

Having a baby doesn’t mean the end of camping or time in the outdoors, but it does make it really difficult to plan these outings. And we’ll have to pack a few more things. But the thing that I keep thinking about is that the next time we go, we’ll have a baby. We’ll have Kylah with us. And the damn raccoons had better keep their distance.

Tell me, what advice do you have for us to take into the woods next summer when Kylah gets to join us?