Nursery time! (phase one)

Before:  not terrible, but it doesn't really say "a cute baby lives here"



I took the advice of the bibliophile and evilducky and bought a paper tiger and liquid fabric softener (mixed 1:3 with hot water).


We learned right away that the wallpaper itself was basically completely impermeable, so we ended up pulling the paper layer off and then using the fabric softener to loosen the glue so we could scrape the backing off the walls.


MB and BoMB kicking ass:


Supervising us was quite exhausting:


Finally done! I'm hoping we can get the walls primed next week and then choose a color and paint two weeks from today, which is my next Sunday off.



We still have a lot of work to do!

And for fun, 31 weeks!

Labels: pardon the house obsession, the brachiopod

A day in the life

>> 6:15 wakeup call
>> 8 dozen donuts
>> 15 Tiger Cubs
>> carload of recycling
>> two naps
>> hospital class
>> Thai food with friends
>> RPG prep session
>> little bit of laundry
>> baby gymnastics
>> blogging

Man, no wonder I'm tired. I did the first of three before-hours breakfast events at work today. It went really well, even though I had one of those annoying "I'm at work and nothing's going right" anxiety dreams right before waking up this morning. All the kids and parents seemed to have a good time, and they learned some neat stuff. Plus, there were donuts. LOTS of donuts. I really feel like I have developed a knack for coming up with strong programming at work, which is both fun and rewarding. I just have to hope it keeps paying off, I suppose.

Because I'm a nerd and a bit of a Type A personality, MB and I signed up for four different preparatory classes at the hospital. We've completed two weeks of a six-week Prepared Childbirth course, we took infant and child CPR, and today we had a basics of breastfeeding class. I wasn't sure how helpful it would be, since the mantra of breastfeeding tends to be that it's natural and your body will probably know what it's doing. We went over lots of good info, though, including how many wet and dirty diapers a baby should have each day (there was a color chart of what the poo should look like. MB studied it intently and pronounced it "very helpful," and I think he was right...though it was helpful in a trainwrecky don't want to look / can't look away kind of way), how to encourage a good latch, how long I should wait before giving the baby a bottle and trying to pump for milk, and even different ways to hold the baby while nursing. It's hard to say how much I'll remember in January, but I figure having the information and the notes from the class definitely can't hurt.

I'm still a bit shellshocked that we're almost through our list of classes. I signed up for them back around 20 weeks, because we were encouraged to enroll early in case they filled up and I needed to be able to choose dates that fit with my due date and my work schedule. I distinctly remember how foolish I felt back in August, sitting at my computer with barely a belly and selecting baby-prep classes for us to take. It all seemed abstract and far-off to the point of absurdity, really. And today, MB made a widget for his desktop with a tear-off calendar announcing that there are only 60 days remaining until "Hugo's Big Day." (Still lacking an actual name for our baby, we've lately taken to calling him Hugo.) Someone told me when we announced our pregnancy that I was facing the longest seven months of my life, but I feel like it's been the opposite. This year has slipped away so fast, and as happy as I will be to meet our little dude, I am having faint panicky clutching-at-straws feelings about how soon it's going to happen. We're excited, but OMG ARE WE READY? HOW WILL WE KNOW? And realistically even if we're not ready, it's too late now! I suppose, though, this is our greatest adventure, our leap from the precipice. At least we're doing it together, and I couldn't ask for a better companion for the journey.


Speaking of the passenger, I'm attempting to win a mei tai carrier so that he can ride around in style. If you're interested (or just curious), visit Hobo Mama and check it out. You don't have to have a baby to enter, so you could always consider entering to win on my behalf ;)

Labels: the brachiopod

Photo Friday

View the entire Photo Friday collection on Flickr.

Labels: Photo Friday

3...2...1...it's a meme!

One of my favorite parts of doing NaBloPoMo is being exposed to new blogs and new things that other bloggers recommend. I thought it might be fun to make up a meme to facilitate discovery of new blogs and new things.

To play along, post on your blog listing your favorite books, movies, and music from this year. It doesn't matter which order you put them in, just choose three from one genre, two from another, and one from the last. Leave me a link in the comments so I can stop by and read your list!


Books
The Late, Lamented Molly Marx (review here)

Homer's Odyssey:  a Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life With a Blind Wonder Cat by Gwen Cooper (review here)

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson


Movies
500 Days of Summer

Away We Go


Music
Hazards of Love by the Decemberists

Labels: memes

Go to your happy place

MB and I started our six-week Prepared Childbirth class last week, and while I was somewhat disappointed that our class isn't going to involve a knitted blue-and-white striped uterus like Jonniker's did, I think it's going to be interesting. I really like our teacher, who endeared herself to me during the first class by calling the early-stage embryos in her birth atlas "critters." She doesn't seem to have a huge agenda of medicated birth vs. natural birth, either, which is a relief. A friend of mine was told at her first birth class, "This is all you need to know:  say 'I want my epidural!' and you'll be fine."

Some of the stuff we're asked to do for homework is going to be a little bit goofy, I think, but I appreciate the general spirit of the thing if that makes sense. At each class she gives us a few pages of homework from the booklet, we talk about some aspect of pregnancy / birth, and then she has us sit on the floor and learn a few simple exercises. This week we practiced relaxation and visualization, so that was a big win. Almost like mini-naptime! Before we practiced relaxing, she taught us about kegels.

She pointed out that Dr. Kegel wants us ladies to do kegels until the baby is born, and then to keep doing them for the rest of our lives. "Or," she added, "at least feel guilty about not doing them for the rest of your lives." HA. She told us that kegels are especially nice since we can do them anywhere. One woman she talked to, for instance, kegeled any time she was up changing a diaper. Someone else kegeled while washing dishes or folding laundry. "I've even heard of a woman who kegeled at red lights," she said, "but that one bothers me, to be honest." I expected her to say something about unsafe driving habits, but instead: "It bothers me because now when I'm at a red light, I'm looking at all the other drivers, wondering who is doing kegels." And now the rest of us will be, too.

Labels: the brachiopod

Because this year I might actually start early. Well, early-ish.

Every year I tell myself I'll start my shopping and crafts for Christmas early, and every year I'm scrambling to get done a few days before. Last year it really backfired -- I got some kind of zombie death virus on Christmas night and didn't get the ornaments I was making finished in time for our annual Thanksmas party two nights later. This time around I have a few gifts that I've picked up here and there, and since we're keeping Christmas very low-key and low-cost this year, I'm probably in pretty good shape as far as shopping. Ornaments, though...I meant to start them in early Fall since I knew November and December would be hectic, but of course I haven't. I don't even know what I want to make this year, so I can't start planning.

The first year we did a homemade-gift exchange at Thanksmas, I made beaded snowflakes:


(I'm sure I have a picture somewhere taken after I trimmed the extra wire off, but I'm too lazy to go find the CD of photos from that year :P )

The second year, I made tiny paper lanterns out of Christmas scrapbooking paper:


(These were popular, I think!)

Last year, I made but didn't finish these:


I was thinking about making birds from this pattern, but all in red felt. But are red birds actually Christmas-y? I always see cardinal ornaments at the stores for Christmas, but I'm not sure why.

Anyway, internet, I turn to you. Please hit me with your favorite easy-to-make but nice Christmas crafts! I'd prefer to do another ornament, and it can't be super, super expensive since the point is to save money as well as make something handmade. And I'd really like to not end up on craftastrophe for my efforts ;)

Labels: Christmas

Shower me with kindness

On October 24th, my fabulous friends threw a baby shower for MB and the baby and me. We had a yummy lunch, two kinds of cake, and pumpkins with dinosaurs painted on them:



One of the girls made this ridiculously cute dinosaur out of diapers, completed by a baby-clothes palm tree:



Several friends came in from out of town to celebrate with us, including Nick and J-Dog, who drove all the way from Chicago. People were incredibly generous, and I think it's safe to say that our baby will be the best-dressed member of the family. We got all kinds of really nice things for the brachiopod, and my coworkers unexpectedly chipped in and bought us a travel system (!!). I feel incredibly privileged and lucky to have so many people around us who want to help welcome our little dude into the world.



Even bloggy friends have joined in on the festivities! Meg from Vintage Flapper to the Rescue sent us the most painfully cute fuzzy bear suit and kickass little shoes:



Some super rad bedding. The first blanket is unbelievably soft, and I want one in my size. The last one was knitted by my mom.

      

It's really starting to sink in this week just how soon he's going to be making his debut, and I'm in a bit of shock over how fast this pregnancy has gone by. Before we know it, we'll be setting up his room and packing a hospital bag. I just hope we're ready!

Labels: the brachiopod