Blog Neglect

We've been pretty busy lately, so here are a few pictures.

Margaret Tanner Conley

After some wild days of high blood pressure and other lab tests, on Tuesday, May 18, my doctor decided to go ahead and induce for the safety of the baby and myself. We left the doctor's office to pack our bags (I know, it should have already been done) and headed to the hospital. My mom and dad hopped in the car, not knowing if Tanner would make her arrival that night or a few days down the road. After 36 hours of induction drugs, labor began on Thursday morning and Tanner joined the world at 2:35 in the afternoon, weighing 5 pounds and 10 ounces.

We are so excited and proud to name our daughter after two remarkable women. My paternal grandmother, Margaret Corinne (May 20, 2010 would have been her 83rd birthday), and my childhood best friend, Tanner, who is named for her mother's dear friend, Tanner Musso. She will go by Tanner and we can't wait to see if she's a adventuress like her Aunt Tanner, or a comedian like her great grandmother.

We've enjoyed having family visit and help for the past two and a half weeks. Now it's just the three of us (and Baker, of course), trying to adjust to our new life and the absence of sleep.

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.