Off to Mexico with our little Mia...

Just a quick farewell as Brent, I and our little cantaloupe head on our first international trip - to Mexico!

Tomorrow we get the privilege of waking up at 4am to be on the road by 5:30am to hit LA traffic around 7:30 and hopefully make it through the city to LAX by 9 for our 10:50am flight to Puerto Vallarta (factoring in our usual tardiness and more traffic than we imagine, we'll probably get there around 50min before our flight)!

We have our good friends Sean and Michelle to thank for the excuse as they are FINALLY getting married (a little joke since they've been strong and steady for a decade now) next Friday, an event we would be loathe to miss.

We're tacking on a pleasant 3 nights in PV's "Romantic Zone" at a little local place before heading to the beautiful Playa Fiesta http://www.playafiesta.com/ for Sean and Michelle's 5-day celebration. I'm incredibly excited to be seeing many of my Victoria friends again and of course the snorkeling, kayaking and jungle hikes won't be half bad either ;-)

Finally, the reason for my reference to 'Mia' (aka Mia Hamm - one of the few women soccer players of international repute) is due to our daughter's early soccer practice, apparently going on with my tummy as the absent ball! Either I was too oblivious to feel the initial "fluttering" of her more gentle movements, or she simply skipped that stage and went straight to kicks (which my prenatal books told me were not supposed to start for another 2 weeks). Either way, after her first three little boots back in week 17, and a week to rest, she now begins a regular tootsie drum roll nearly every morning and afternoon. I only feel bad that her dad's not usually around for them, and when he is, his warm hand on my belly has an instant soothing effect. Nevertheless, until they reach my internal organs or ribs I am loving them!

I've also started pre-natal yoga classes at a women's hospital here. I think most of the women are silently wondering if I'm an impostor as they pose with their beautiful, round bellies and I come in with nothing. Counting by weeks (as opposed to lunar months) I'll be 5 months on Monday. Where's my belly? Lately even the more substantial "evening belly" seems to be shrinking! I don't have any worries about the baby, and none of my health care providers have said anything about her size or growth, so I think it's my size that's the issue, not hers. However, if I gain the estimated pound a week over the rest of my pregnancy I'll be right on track for the lower end of the advised weight-gain spectrum. So, I guess the bulk of my maternity-clothes-days will just be in the latter half of my pregnancy!

Well I should get back to work. Yes, the job that officially ended a month ago continues. Only a few more stories to go though...

Hasta luego,

Jen, Brent and "lil' Mia"