As millions of mothers across the nation are honored Sunday during Mother’s Day celebrations, Kim Hall of Centralia will be doing something very special.

    Getting ready to join their ranks.

    “I’m really excited,” she said with a wide grin while lightly touching her bulging belly. “It’s really hard to imagine what it’s going to be like but I’m really looking forward to bringing a whole new life into this world.”

    Hall and her husband, Nikolai, are expecting their first child this month. And they’re in good company. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 4.3 million women in the U.S. give birth each year, about 40 percent of those being first time births.

    The Halls moved to Centralia in December 2008 from Oregon. Nikolai works as a forester for Sierra Pacific in Centralia. Kim has been working on her master’s degree in resource economics from Oregon State University for the last three years. She recently completed and submitted her thesis and will be facing a board to defend the paper this week.

    “Right in the nick of time,” she said.

    Married about one and one-half years, the couple met as members of the forestry club at the University of California, Berkeley. Nikolai was a fifth-year senior and Kim had just transferred to the school. They said the relationship just seemed natural from the beginning.

    “He’s really friendly and happy-go-lucky and I just enjoy his company,” Kim said of what attracted her to her future husband.

    “Kim is just really easy to get along with,” Nikolai said.

    Nikolai is the oldest of seven children, the youngest of whom is 10, and said he always knew he wanted to have children. Kim said it took a little convincing to make her want to take that step. But she said when she became a convert, she was sure.

    “All of a sudden babies started looking cute to me and it just seemed like there was no reason not to do it now,” she said.

    Although she said she is having some understandable mobility problems today, Kim said her pregnancy has gone very smoothly. Nikolai said watching his wife’s body blossom into motherhood has been one of the most enjoyable parts of waiting to welcome their first born.

    “She just looks lovely,” he said.

    The Halls are waiting to find out the sex of their baby when it is born. Luckily for them, the rental house where they live had a white room just perfect for a nursery for either sex. Around the top of the chair rail in the room, the couple has decorated their baby’s room with black and white illustrations of animals, as well as family portraits. One particularly dear photo shows a much younger Nikolai tossing his youngest brother into the air, making him laugh with glee. Nikolai said while having his own child will be a new experience, helping take care of babies is part of how he grew up.    “I changed a lot of diapers when I was a kid,” he said. “When my mom worked full time my brother and I did a lot of helping out. Everything that had to do with caring for infants and toddlers, we did it.”

    For Kim, getting ready to become a mother has meant gaining a lot of wisdom from the women in her life, especially her mother and mother-in-law. Originally from South Africa, Kim said with a laugh that her mother has been telling her about all the baby equipment she used with Kim in South Africa and how it was so much superior to the American gadgets today. She also said sharing her pregnancy with the two grandmothers-to-be has helped ease her mind and get her prepared.

    “I’ve been talking to my mom and Nikolai’s mom a lot just getting excited and passing on stories of when Nikolai was a baby or I was a baby,” Kim said.

    Kim has already joined a moms meet-up group in Lewis County to meet other people with children in the area. She said since they just recently moved to the community, she thought it would be a great way to meet new people and gain a community before the baby is born. Kim’s plan is to stay at home and continue working toward her doctorate after the baby is born. But until then, the Halls said waiting for Kim’s own private Mother’s Day to arrive has been an experience they won’t soon forget.

    “Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the experience. It’s been fun,” Kim said.

Mother’s Day Facts

• There are an estimated 82.8 million mothers in the U.S.

• There are about 9.8 million single mothers in the U.S.

• There are about 5.3 million stay-at-home mothers in the U.S.

• The first Mother’s Day in the U.S. was celebrated in 1858, though the holiday did not become official until 1914

• More than 60 nations worldwide have some sort of annual celebration of motherhood

• May 1 was actually Stepmother’s Day in the U.S., though most people choose to celebrate stepmothers on Mother’s Day

    Carrina Stanton is a freelance writer who lives in Centralia. She can be reached at carrinastanton@yahoo.com.