Privileges

Now that I'm 36 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I finally took advantage of "Expectant Mother Parking" at Best Buy today. It still felt a little wrong. Maybe once we're a "Family with Infant", I won't feel so bad.

P.S. If Kroger had such parking I would be all over it, instead they have about 52 handicapped spots so I get to walk even farther.

The Nursery is Finished!

This is my nerdy, font-loving designer project.

I have to give a shout out to Dad and Brian for hanging these...all 28 of them.

Sitting in the glider is like being hugged by a teddy bear.

The 14th Time is a Charm

Ever since the day I found out I was pregnant, I've had a working file of potential birth announcement layouts, there are 14 potential designs. I have a hard time designing for myself. I toiled and stressed over my own logo and business cards for weeks, as if I were trying to create something brilliant like the Nike, Apple or FedEx logo. I have to remind myself that it is just me, not some hot shot million dollar client.

Last night I finally came up with the announcement that I consider the front runner, lucky #14. I slept on it, re-opened the file this morning and actually still really like it. It incorporates her nursery colors, stats and a photo or two. We'll see what actually ends up in your mailbox, hopefully there won't be 14 more layouts. Thankfully, it is one more thing to cross off the list.

An Old Friend Joins the Nursery

I know, he's scary looking. But, if you had been around since early elementary school, survived junior high and high school, gone to camp many times, lived on a dude ranch in Colorado and lived through 4+ years of college, you might show a little wear as well. My dad bought Leo the Lion for me at the circus long, long ago. Leo wreaks of drool and his eyes and nose are missing and his head doesn't quite sit straight any more, but according the The Velveteen Rabbit:

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

I'm not going to actually let the baby play or sleep with him because I would be devastated if something happened to his ratty self. He's just there for decoration for now, she'll make her own thing real.

Family Wall

Since we live far away from all of our relatives, I thought it would be a good idea to include their pictures in the nursery so the baby will know who's who. I limited it to immediate family and spouses, otherwise, the entire wall would be full. There's also a few frames for baby pictures of Brian and me.

And true to form, as I was hanging them, I dropped one, breaking the glass and the IKEA frame. I'm pretty sure I've salvaged the frame with wood glue, but when I'm done here, I'll be googling "pre cut glass" to replace what broke into several pieces.

The Nursery Just Got A Little Smaller

After a great Saturday spent with friends from college, our church in Birmingham and various other places, we returned home with a car full of goodies for the baby. The best part was catching up with dear friends and spending time with family. On Saturday, I saw all six of my bridesmaids from six years ago-which is no easy task!

The nursery that previously felt huge, seems to be a little smaller now that it's filled with a pack and play, rocking seat, clothes and many other brightly colored baby necessities. We received a perfect balance of practical and cute, girly gifts. It now looks more like a nursery and thanks to our generous friends, we're almost ready for her arrival.

The drive home on Sunday was fun, with a loose rattle jingling in the backseat every time we hit a bump. Now, if we could have somehow bypassed the UK fans and SEC basketball tournament traffic in Nashville, it would have been about an hour and a half shorter.

We are so grateful for all our friends who have supported us along the way and are celebrating the upcoming arrival of our little one with us.

The yellow bookcase made the trip to Louisville from Birmingham.
In its previous life, it was in my childhood room.
It will be painted white in the coming weeks.

This tasty treat is a Sara Marsh original and was delicious - leftovers
didn't last very long, especially after learning that I passed my glucose test.

Aunt Tanner made the trip!

Seeing my favorite little man was another highlight of the weekend.

Crafty, crafty

In searching for a cute mobile for over the crib, I found the perfect one on etsy.com, but, it was pricey. Inspired by my sister, I decided to do it myself. I turned to the cabinet in my office that is bursting with paper and ribbon from weddings, showers and other random festive occasions. It ended up costing me less than half of what it would have cost on etsy.com.