Almost there...

Why hello everyone....I know it has been quite a while since the Lantigua's have posted anything, and for that I am sincerely sorry. David and I have been very busy preparing for Sofia's soon arrival. We have been in the nesting phase for the past month trying to get everything ready; nevertheless, I check the blog every week enthusiastically awaiting a new update from all of you. And I am so excited to see the Tompkins family has finally figured out the blog! Yay! So, let's forget the excuses, and move on to the update....oh boy...how far back should I go? I will start with my baby shower.

My baby shower was on February 21 in South Bend. A good friend of mine, Ana Hahn (yes she is married to Scott Hahn's son, Michael), hosted it at her apartment. Because I do not have any family in town, it was mostly friends from my old job and Notre Dame, but I was so happy that Jack and Christina were able to fly up for the event! Christina represented the family at my shower and I was so proud to have her there with me. Overall, it was a great shower! Everyone was very generous! I felt very thankful to have such a wonderful support group here in town, but also to be showered with so much love and support from my family and friends from out of town who also sent gifts or sweet notes. One of the highlights of the shower was a surprise guest, our neighbor from our old apartment, who is an amazing baker and brought the most wonderful, beautiful, tasty cakes! Check out the pictures below: the teddy bear is also a cake. He made them both from scratch! He is so talented! Thanks to David, I was very much surprised and so delighted!

My closest friends at Notre Dame who are also all pregnant! Left to right: Christina due June 27th, Christy due October 13th, Me due May 4th, Kathryn due end of September, and Ana who was due April 2nd but had Naomi Therese on March 23rd.

The surprise guest, our neighbor, Don, and his amazing cake!

Here are some pictures from Jack and Christina's visit. We received a ton of snow while they were so they were like little kids playing in it. :)

This is after Christina pelted me with a snowball. How cruel!

Of course I got her back! (no pun intended)




My angry modeling pose. Whatcha want fool?

David fascinated with my belly. Yes, we are crazy.

David listening to Sofia.

Inspired by Ryan and Mary, David and I have also taken up playing "Scrabble" on the weekends. We have such a good time playing with each other, especially when we try to make up words and then decide if we want to take a chance and lose our turn by challenging the word. As you can see from the pictures below, our first game consisted of some very big words (ahem, a certain crude word that starts with a 't' was David's word. Oh yes, I challenged it and it is not slang). Although I did win the first time we played, David has succeeded in beating me every time since. I have decided this is the least I can do...let David win so he feels better about himself. I mean c'mon, how ego deflating for him would it be for his wife who just has an undergraduate degree to beat him, the PhD candidate, every time. It's part of my strategy for a happy home and marriage. lol. Just kidding of course. He wins because he is that good.

Our first game. Winner: Marisa

Loser: David

Our 2nd game. Winner: David

Loser: Marisa

As I said before, David and I have been very busy nesting the past month. Here are some pictures of the finished results: Sofia's nursery.

See our hospital bag? We are packed and ready to go!

The changing table.

The nursing throne. :)

Easter was a very nice for David and I. We partaked in the Triduum at Notre Dame and then celebrated Easter Sunday at the Basilica as well. It was a very spiritual weekend for us. After Mass on Sunday, we enjoyed an Easter feast at the South Dining Hall with our friends. There was so much food and a wide assortment; it included everything from lamb to seafood bisque to all sorts of cakes and desserts. We stuffed our faces to say the least.

Easter morning outside the Basilica.

David outside the Basilica.

Me outside the Golden Dome.

Well I am getting to the last week or two of my pregnancy and getting more and more anxious and excited to meet Sofia! According to our midwife, she is a long baby! I guess this explains why she sticks out so much. :) Here are some pregnant lady pictures. It's incredible to go back to my first picture when I found out I was pregnant and compare it with my latest one. There has been alot of change to say the least!

31 weeks

34 weeks.

38 weeks.

David and I will be sure to keep you all posted when the big day arrives so keep your phones on and near you. We plan to call everyone, that is family, right away. Until then, please keep us in your prayers for a safe and smooth labor and delivery, and healthy baby! We love you all very much. We think of you often and cannot wait to join you all in Florida in the summer. We bought our plane tickets yesterday so its all set! We will be arriving June 27th (Christina's due date) and leaving July 13th. And the baptism is set for July 11th at St. Lawrence. We hope everyone can be there!

God bless,

David, Marisa, and Sofia

P.S. Good luck Joe on your last few weeks of school! You are in our thoughts and prayers! And good luck Angela and Teresa on your ballet recital this weekend!