Back in the day

Kevin and I have been having the "who is our baby going to look like" discussion and I keep telling him he better wish it's me because I was the cutest baby ever. Don't ask me which is me and which is my sister. I have no idea, but we're twins so we both were cute. The key word is "were" for her. She really turned into an ugly duckling... :) No, we were not nuns in training, just got out of the tub, thank you very much.

My sister's blog today took me back to elementary school. I don't have much of a memory at all, but there are few stories from elementary school that will never leave my mind. For one, I was in school when the Challenger crashed and I remember playing on the playground and someone started a rumor that they saw a person on a parachute fall from the sky and it could be someone from the challenger. That person got in big trouble for mocking something so serious.

Then there was the time BM's boyfriend ran away from school. That was an exciting day because school was pretty much boring each day other than that. One time, a boy named Phillip sat in front of me in class and he picked the most puffy green booger right out of his nose. Then the day Matthew Carlisle (my 3rd grade boyfriend) fainted while we were waiting in line for the water fountain. I wished I'd known CPR.

There was a major bully in our school named Angie (no, not me) and I distinctly remember being in charge of "taking names" one day when Mr. Ingram was not in the room. This meant you took names down of anyone that talked while he was out. Upon getting this responsibility I immediately wrote down Angie's name because she was such a meanie and I just assumed she would talk at some point. It was worth getting beat up. Turns out she was all talk and never actually beat me up. Wuss. :)

What's your favorite childhood story?? I realize these really aren't interesting to anyone else but you, but at least it takes you away from the daily stress of today's life and lets you travel back in the day for a while.

Got the crib yesterday. Thanks to Kevin's work who gave this for our shower. Kevin put it together in a record 10 minutes. Now all it needs is Nora sleeping soundly in it. Hear that Nora, SLEEPING SOUNDLY. . .

Ok, this is a total Saturday afternoon, hair pulled back with sweats on picture, but it shows my belly SIX WEEKS before I'm due!! Woo hoo!!
I do have something blog worthy to type, I was just at a party for my friend's 30th birthday and I was talking to another friend who is a nurse practitioner. I was telling her that the only time lately I feel uncomfortable is when I'm having twisting pains and my stomach balls up on one side. I didn't think anything of it but my friend says those are Braxton Hicks. Pretty cool...

Anyway, we're on a search for a kick butt stroller. Anyone out there have a recommendation? We actually bought an Evenflo yesterday, but Kevin read two bad reviews and wants to return it. He says that is two too many. I'm glad he's practical....I just want one that looks cute and isn't heavy. I plan on packing my hospital bags this weekend, not that I really think I'll go into labor anytime soon, but it's just one more thing that I don't have to think about. My sister has been helpful with things to bring, where, left to my own devices, I'd probably just pack pj's and a book. I have to put that because she started a blog today and I know she'll be reading this. She really sucks. :) Kidding... Her blog is www.tamandscott.blogspot.com

On a more serious note, I had a conversation with my friends today, all of whom are currently pregnant or have just had babies about taking care of each other after the baby comes. My friend Sara wrote a great blog about women supporting each other in the church after we learned of a college acquaintance that lost her battle with post pardem depression last week, leaving behind two small children and a husband. It's a serious disease and I believe it's all of our jobs to take care of each other's mental health. We are all new at this and could use the support. I thank God for my friends, I'm surrounded by tons of supportive friends here in Memphis, as well as my dear friends from college and growing up. It definitely takes a supportive network to get through motherhood and I haven't even had the baby yet. I pray I'll always have that support in place.

I'll post more pictures later and hopefully I'll look more presentable. Some might think it's crazy to put on the world wide web a picture of yourself in sweats and no makeup, but this is me- take it or leave it. I'll try to look more presentable next time if you're lucky, but the further along I get the more I can't get out of my sweats. They're just so darn comfortable.

Baby Room

I thought I'd post a few pictures of all the things we did this weekend while mom was here. You can tell from previous pictures that we added a lot in the room and I credit my mom who made all of the curtains and the cushion for the toy box. We took our closet doors off because it's an old house with sliding doors and mom made a curtain to cover that. I put a picture of the curtain opened and closed. We still need a bed but that's coming in the next few weeks and we will probably rearrange the furniture, but this gives you a good idea of how it's coming along. I'm excited!! Lots of "to do's" were marked off this weekend. Pretty soon all that's left will be having the baby...whew, can't think about that one yet. :)

I had my shower and it was awesome!! I am so overwhelmed by the gifts. People are so generous. The one picture up top is me with my hostesses (minus one). My friend Holly had to work so she couldn't be at the shower but she was there in spirit. The one of me with the onsie was one of my favorite gifts. Kevin's band is called Rind Stars and my friend Kate made a onsie that says Rind Stars on it. I can see it now, I'll come home and she'll be out of the cute dress with the little bow and into the Rind Star onsie because Kevin won't be able to keep her out of it! It's so cute and that was so thoughtful!
Thanks, Kate!! That was awesome. Kate's the one in the green sweater by the way. My mom made it here and I was so glad she was able to join me this weekend. My next post is going to be of all the things we accomplished while she was here. She's the energizer bunny and keeps me motivated to work when I'm only thinking about going to bed. :) Anyway, it was a great weekend and I'm so thankful to have so many great friends. See the next post for the baby room update...

Under Construction

So, I'm almost done with Nora's room and figured I'd take a few pictures. I keep forgetting we have a digital camera now. With help from Justin Robertson (good friend from "the church"), we knocked this out in 3 hours. I'll guess we'll be referring to him as Mr. Justin from now on. I'm not sure I like the idea of calling friends by Mr. or Ms. first name. It seems like all our other friends started doing it when they had kids though. When did that start? When I was little I don't remember referring to anyone that way. I just called them Mr. or Ms. last name. I'll have to get used to it I guess. Maybe I'll buck the system and kick it old school with the last name.

I am referring to this room as the Neapolitan ice cream room. I makes me hungry in a kind of Willy Wonka sort of way.

I'll finish the pink trim and be done. Then, I'll move on to Angie's "100 things to do" check list. I've got 8 weeks and it will take me all of that to get it all done.

Mr. Kevin

This is why I don't worry about my dog's behavior once we have the baby. Here's a picture of them after we returned from Texas and they had been cooped up in a kennel for six days. Daisy was sprawled out like Denver until she got curious about what I was doing so she sat up. They were excited at first to see us, but this is their daily activity for the most part.

Things went well over the Holidays and I got to see my nephew. He's very sweet and incredibly small. Makes me look forward to the next few weeks. I've been speed reading and marathon sleeping as often as I can before those days are over for me. Today I felt a bit overwhelmed with things to do before the baby gets here. We still don't have a crib or stroller, carseat, etc.
I realize this can be done in one day (as Kevin always reminds me) but I'm not thinking very practical right now....only listing things in my head that need to be completed and the list keeps growing. Kevin also reminds me that most of those things aren't necessary (how could he think buying a cute lamp for the baby dresser is not necessary...) and that really all the baby needs is a crib and that's it. Oh well, 9 weeks is a long time and I know we'll get it all done....I'm just having a moment. We're allowed that once in a while.

We got a digital camera for Christmas so I'll hopefully put more pictures up soon once I figure out how to work it. I really can't think of anything to take pictures of besides my dogs, so sorry if you're not a dog fan. Just wait until March and then there will be less dog pictures, more Nora pictures. Until next time...