The Nursery: What to Do

I remember reading some chat rooms at BabyCenter.com when I was about 13 weeks pregnant and many of the mothers were already obsessing over nursery themes. I thought these folks to be out of their mind! I mean, I barely even knew we were having a little girl at that point and was much more focused on trying to get the rest of the house in order. March was years away in my mind!

Now that it's December and "the rest of the house" is slowly being put together (why is it so hard to find the furniture you want when you want it?) and our little girl's room sits empty (well, right now it sits full of Christmas presents for everyone as it's the wrapping room), but you get the point.

Since Thanksgiving, I've been feverishly trying to figure out how we want to decorate and what color furniture we want to put in the room. Keith likes white furniture. For the record, so do I, but I have this vision of dark cherry or other dark furniture to compliment light pink walls with mocha accents. All of the bedding and accessories that are pink and mocha tend to have "off white" coloring that doesn't look quite right next to a white crib and furniture. And then, there's the issue of "Crib for Life" for "Crib for just two years."

Everyone is happy to offer wonderful advice. But advice, like individuals, varies and in the end really isn't all that helpful. So and so loves her crib for life, but this other person would rather just get a toddler bed and grown up furniture later. For those of you who have offered advice, please don't misunderstand. I appreciate the thoughts and ideas, but in the end, it is still a choice that Keith and I have to make and one that seems to be difficult for me (Keith is sold on Cribs for Life). We did agree on colors, so we're going to move forward with painting and decorating even though we still (and again by we, I mean I) have not resolved the crib issue. Don't worry, Aunt Betty, thanks to Tami, we'll have the bassinet when she arrives so you don't have to worry about us sleeping with her (let's remember I do work in health care and I know the scary statistics about infant deaths)!

So, back to the nursery. Pink and Mocha. But what will we do with pink and mocha? I found a crib set to base some ideas off of (again, no, Aunt Betty I'm not putting anything but a baby in that crib), but the set has lots of fun accessories that I do want use...diaper bag, rug, blanket for later, cute sheets and numerous other things to spend our hard earned cash on. I am leaning towards Carter's Love Bug collection and have ordered some letters for Kate. You can check them out at: http://www.dimplesanddandelions.com/product_details.asp?Product_ID=8921. We're putting these schemes together (hopefully today) so that Keith can paint and begin the process while he is off this week! We have the name of an artist who paint murals inexpensively and are considering using her to help add some flair to the room. Stay tuned...much more to come in the next couple of weeks!

Blooming Belly Resemble Ol' St. Nick!

Okay, so perhaps the belly isn't quite as large as Santa's, yet, but some days I feel as if I am carrying a bowl full of jelly instead a sweet baby! And then, she begins to bump around and "dance" or stretch or whatever it is she does and I am quickly reminded of the precious cargo I'm hauling.

Shopping and Working: That's My Exercise!

As many of you know this is the hospital's very busy time of year so I've been working like crazy since the beginning of November trying to finish planning for 2008 (not done, yet) and bouncing from event to event (all done). We managed to squeeze quite a bit of shopping in between all of the events to finalize registries and narrow down our options for nursery funiture. Yes, that's right, we (and by we I mean I) STILL haven't decided on furniture. You'll have to check out the next posting for details on the nursery because there's too much to say for just one update!

Keith is amazed that I'm still able to pull off ridiculous hours at work and walk for hours around shopping malls and baby registry places, but my feet are beginning to complain a bit. The veins have really popped on my ankles and now I've noticed that I can't wear some of my work shoes! Uh oh. Edema sets in, but truly only mildly and I'm still way lucky. Just take a look at the shoes I wore to Keith's Christmas party this year and for my birthday!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Things have been happening so fast, my birthday came and went before I knew it. Keith treated me to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse--I was feeling a bit full since a little someone decided to sit way high last night. I opted for sides, salad and lobster bisque. We topped it off with some Banana Creme Pie that I'd been craving for about a month now! Of course, I could only squeeze in a couple of bites, but it'll make for a tasty treat later today!

Celebrating my 36th birthday seems a bit surreal. I can still remember so many pieces of my life clearly: My first communion--I felt so pretty in that dress. Never prettier until my wedding day. Not making the cheerleading squad and crying with my dad as he rocked and comforted me...don't worry, you'll find something else he said (thank God for the yearbook), finding the green bomb in the garage on my 17th birthday (I did appreciate it, really I did!), moving into my dorm room at FSU and then my apartment in Ithaca at Cornell (thanks, Joe for taking the tempermental Z28--just sorry I totaled the EXP a few years later). Then there were more recent milestones: my job interview at FARO--how I knew it was the perfect job for me, meeting Keith and riding the Montu at Busch Gardens on our first date. Something strange happened as we ascended the first hill and I looked to him for comfort, I had this strange sense of security and peace that I remember still today. Our wedding day. The Teralani 2 in Hawaii during our honeymoon (Keith says I don't remember it, but I do...the sunset was amazing). Walking up the stairs at Notre Dame. And discovering that I was pregnant. All moments of amazing joy and emotion. Just to think there are a lifetime more to come with our litle girl chokes me up and I look forward to her many firsts and helping her find her dreams.

As Keith and I reminisce about the last 10 years, we're amazed at the experiences we've shared and how quickly they all seem to have occured. Some events seem like yesterday. With a baby on the way, we know life will become even more of a blurr. We intend to savor each precious day--even the bad ones!