Baby Shower

My Dearest Baby Kimi,

Guess what? Since we are naming your Kiyomi, I came up with the nickname Kimi (first and last two letters of Kiyomi). Everyone loves it too and it's easy to say and spell. I hope you like it. Your grammy Lim is always calling you Kimi and no longer Bootsie. I will always have Bootsie close to my heart though because it was one of the first names we called you when I got pregnant.

I am writing you this letter to tell you about the awesome baby shower I had. It was on the 11th of July, 2009. We had it at the Sully Station Community Center and Pool near our house from 3-8pm in the evening. I had a friend of Tita Stella's named Ruby cater yummy Filipino food and dessert. Everyone loved it so much. Just so you can imagine, we had Beef and Chicken Empanadas, Chicken and Pork filipino BBQ on the stick with a sweet and spicy sauce, Lumpiang Shanghai, Pancit Palabok, Pancit Bihon, Lechon Kawali, and Beef Mechado with steamed rice. For dessert, we had Turon, Brazo de Mercedes, Leche Flan, Sans Rival, and a White and Milk chocolate mousse cake. Seriously, the food was to die for. We had it for merienda, dinner, midnight snack, and some for lunch the next day.

The baby shower itself was a great event but it was so much fun because we made it a weekend event. Many of our friends from out of town came just to see me pregnant and wanting to rub my belly. Really, you are so lucky because so many people love you so much already and you are still in my tummy. The people that came from out of town included, Joan & John, Fatima, Nicola, Tj & Vic, Aisha, Sara, Maureen, Jen, Joseph, Yan, Akari & Wan Chen, etc. Then, many of our friends from here came to the shower also. We started partying from Friday all the way till Sunday. Really, I felt so loved because of all that came to celebrate "You & Me." Everyone cannot wait to meet you already and are planning to come back once you are born.

I'm posting pictures below so you can see what happened throughout the weekend.

Fixing baby shower party favors on Thursday evening at our house: From left to right Joan, Mandie, Me, and Nicola.

Friday morning after a hearty American breakfast. Waiting to go have our nails done at Allure Salon & Spa with the girlies.

At the nail place getting pampered!

After a yummy dinner at Burara Thai Restaurant in Reston Town Center with Fatima and Nicola.

The real partying starts that night at our house. Your Papsi Daddy is the champion Alcoholic Drink maker...as you can see, your Mama is being good and doesn't have a drink in her hand : )

At the baby shower on Saturday with your Auntie Mandie and my twin sister. Do we look alike? Not too much anymore because I'm pregnant with a belly and wearing flats so I look so short beside her! : )

Girlfriends at the shower from left to right: Anna, Amy, Me, Aisha, Nicola, and Mandie

Being silly with a very good friend Kimmie. She is sooo happy that you have both have similar nicknames.

Your Daddy and I so excited to get such a creative gift from Paul & Mimi: A beautifully hand made diaper cake.

The after party at our house. It was one crazy and memorable night. Everyone was so happy eating, drinking, singing Karaoke with Singstar, and just hanging out.

The girlies again from left to right: Mandie, Aisha, Me, Kimmie, Nicola, and Joan. Bestest girlfriends ever. Your Auntie Fatima is out of sight. She was prolly singing Karaoke or doing pictures : )

Ok, enough pictures for now. I have tons of them still that I'll shower you one day.

I cannot wait for you to meet all these wonderful people who love you already.

I have to go now baby...time to make dinner for your Papsi and also for you. I need to feed you!

Love you always,

Your Mama

Kiyomi Marie Kubota

My Dearest Bootsie,

I know, I know! I have been such a bad mommy for not writing to you for almost 2 months. So many things have been happening this past two months that I practically forgot I have a blog where I write you letters.

I have been taking a research class this summer which consumes most of my time besides my full time job. As you can see, since you are still in my belly, I can easily neglect you which is really not something I am proud of.

Your Papsi and I have finally decided on your name. I hope you will like it and that it will suit your pretty little face. Your official full name will be Kiyomi Marie Lim Kubota. To make things easier for paper work sake, we will only put Kiyomi Marie Kubota and leave out the Lim.

The name "Kiyomi" basically means beautifully pristine or beauty of the noble generation depending on the Japanese characters we use. We have not decided on that yet since we are waiting for your grandpa Kubota to get a name book in Japan and come up with the characters.

The name Kiyomi was actually given to me by your Auntie Fatima, who is one of my best buddies from college. We call each other "sisters" because we are actually that close. She gave me the idea for your name and I fell in love with it the moment I heard about it. Since then, nothing has been better.

We decided on "Marie" as your middle name because your great grandma Mary wanted something with Mary as part of your name to honor the Blessed Mother. I did not like the way Kiyomi Mary sounded so I said...why not Kiyomi Marie instead. Plus, my middle name is Marie also, so now we both have something in common. It makes me feel closer to you since Kiyomi is already Japanese and something in common with your Papsi Daddy.

I hope you will like the name because it's sooo unique and precious. Everyone who hears the name loves it so much. Your Auntie Sammi who lives in Vancouver said that it sounds like a royalty name and suiting for a princess...which you are to us : )

You are now 31 weeks in my belly. You have been kicking a lot which I really enjoy because it's my way of interacting with you. I have to say though that you are such a good girl because whenever I'm ready to go to sleep, all I have to do is rub my belly and tell you to sleep because your Mommy is ready to sleep, and you listen! I sleep so well because either you are sleeping also or your kicking doesn't bother me. I hope you will be good too once you come out and listen to me : ). When your Daddy tells me stories of his childhood, I get a little scared because he was such a naughty child. I hope you don't get those genes from him...hehehe : )

Ok, I'm going to write you another letter about the baby shower because it was such a great event.

Love you lots my little darling, 9 more weeks until I see you. I surely can't wait.

Always,
Your loving Mama