Signs, Signs, Everywhere There's Signs

I opened up my desk drawer today at work and saw this…

Well, hello there.

Nestled between the office supplies, paycheck stubs, and packets of Splenda for my afternoon hot tea (I’ve been trying to burn the infection out of my throat lately) was this miniature My Little Pony.  Why do I keep tiny toys in my desk, you might ask?  Well, so that I would have a moment like I did today, when I would remember why it is there and it would make me smile.

You see, when I was fairly newly pregnant – less than 20 weeks, because I didn’t know the gender of the baby yet – I went through a McDonald’s drive thru and ordered a cheeseburger, small fries, and a drink.  The helpful McDonald’s employee told me he could save me a little money by kind of working the old register system and when I pulled around to pick up my food I was handed a Happy Meal, complete with a toy inside.  When I opened the box and saw the toy I realized they had given me the meal specifically designed for little girls because it came equipped with a miniature My Little Pony instead of the Transformer or whatever came in the boys’ box.  When I shared this story with the women in my office, we kind of jokingly decided this was an omen that the baby growing inside me was a girl.  I mean, why else would the McDonald’s guy have given me a girl toy?  (If you are tempted to point out that perhaps he gave me the girl toy because I am, in fact, female, please keep that to yourself.  I prefer believing that God somehow clued me in to my baby’s gender through the magic of fast food.)  I kept the toy as a reminder of that first hint of girly things to come, just in case we did end up with a little girl who might someday need something to occupy her attentions while visiting Mommy at work.

So today, when I opened my desk drawer and saw the pink plastic pony looking up at me, I remembered that day before Annie had a name, before we knew she was an Annie instead of a Noah or Jonah (the names occupying the top spots on our Boys Name List), and I smiled.  Because I remembered how excited we were to be pregnant, how anxious we were to know something – anything – about the little person being made inside me.  And it made me thankful once again, for like the millionth time, that our little person is here now, healthy and happy and thriving.  And I look forward to the day when she plays with that My Little Pony I kept for her.

These days, this is how we play...and baby girl is really starting to get good at this tummy time thing.

Wish us luck as we attempt to go swaddle-free tonight here at the old homestead.  For a few nights now Annie has been waking in the middle of the night and when we go in to check on her she is mid-swaddle break, one arm kind of pinned, half in and half out.  Just makes me think she might not wake herself up if her arms are actually free.  We'll see.  Worse case scenario, I'm going to need the extra large pumpkin coffee at Dunkin Donuts tomorrow!

Annie's not so sure about our little experiment.

May we all sleep well...