Ready or Not, She's A Comin'!

The realization that we’re four weeks away from our due date has hit us and we’re still in disbelief. The reality is that little Lyla could be here in just two or three weeks - aggghh!! It’s not that we’re scared or anxious or anything, we just can’t really believe it. I guess that’s normal. At 36 weeks I’m still feeling good most days. I’m still working full-time so by 3 o’clock my back and feet are definitely cranky. It’s those last three hours of work that I wonder how I’m going to make it working full-time another three weeks. But, I know somehow I’ll make it.

We’ve spent the last several weeks getting prepared for the arrival of our baby girl and also getting in some quality time, both with each other and with our friends and family. Here are some highlights:

• We went on a little BabyMoon to College Station, TX in mid-October where we spent our time eating good food and doing alot of nothing. It was soooo nice to get to sleep in and not have to get up for any reason. I showed Michael my old hangouts, where I used to work and live and then we walked around the A&M campus. We also got to meet up with our good friends Joel and Erin one night for dinner at Maddens. It was a much needed get-away!
• We’ve had a couple of great Baby Showers over the last few weeks! Both showers were so sweet - the hostesses went above and beyond to make our showers so perfect - down to the last detail! It was so fun to get to see all of our friends and family at our showers and to have them there celebrating with us.
• We had our 35 week appointment last week and our doctor said everything looks good. Her heart, kidneys, etc. all appear to be functioning normally so that’s a relief. He estimated that she weighs about 5.1 lbs. so it’s likely she’ll be a 7 pounder. Hey - I’ll take that!
• After 5 long weeks of living at the Rehab facility, Ditty finally made it back home last Thursday. She’s still in a wheelchair, but she’s slowly gaining her physical strength back. We’re all so glad to have her out of there! Now, we’ve just got to convince her to take it easy and not overdue it. Pray she listens!

With less than 30 days to go (or so) we’re just trying to get everything ready for Lyla’s arrival. I have peace of mind now that we have the car seat bought. Now, we just have to put the finishing touches on the nursery, pack our hospital bags, and finish washing her clothes. Other than that...we’re ready!

10 Weeks Away and Counting!

Now that we're on the 10 week countdown (till Lyla is born) and we have most of the house in order, my focus has certainly shifted to getting prepared for her arrival. We just took an infant/newborn care class this weekend which was insightful and fun. We've also made a lot of progress on the Nursery recently which has certainly made me feel more sane. After sampling a few paint colors, we found the perfect color green for Lyla's room. To start the transformation, I taped and Michael painted the room a couple of weeks ago. Then we put together her crib, which was suprisingly not too difficult. This past weekend we purchased the crib mattress and then dressed it in the Love Bird bedding. We've decided to mix a little contemporary (the bedding) with a little classic. We're going to hang a few of Michael's old Beatrix Potter pictures from his baby nursery. The colors go perfectly and somehow the styles merge together just fine. It has turned out to be a darling room. Now for the finishing touches...But first, that brown shade has got to go!

A New Season...

Wow! The last five weeks have been a whirlwind of things to do. Ditty and Ginger (Michael's grandmother and mom) moved from Charlotte, NC down to Austin the weekend of September 10. When thinking about how much we've accomplished and been through lately I'm just so thankful for the timing of everything. I was still in my 2nd trimester which afforded me the energy and ability to take on this monumental move. As we approach our 1 month anniversary of all living together under one roof I feel like we've already begun to grow closer as a family. As all families living together experience, we've had our share of petty disagreements: over furniture placement or whether to keep a 60 year old hand-mixer (when we already have one). We're also learning how to best care for mom to meet all of her needs. It can be challenging at times and certainly takes comittment and patience. Just as we were all finding our groove, Ditty fell and broke her hip last weekend. She underwent major hip surgery and was just recently moved to a Rehabilitation Center, where she'll have to reside for the next 4 - 6 weeks. She's doing alright, considering her situation - better than I would have thought! We just hope for a speedy recovery so she can return home where she's most comfortable and around the people she loves. But, more than the frustrations and challenges, we're experiencing a new kind of love and joy in this family. It's not always easy and can be incredibly exhausting at times, but we know that it's all worth it. We have been so blessed and thankful:

• First to God for giving my husband a kind of strength and love he probably never knew he had until recently.


• Michael - I love you soooo much! You have labored over all three of us in this house and without any complaints or resentment. You have somehow managed to care for and meet the needs of mom and Ditty and still take the time to ask your pregnant wife what she wants for breakfast in the morning. Thank you babe!


• I'm incredibly thankful for how unified Michael and I have been since the move began. Despite our deepest fears about how our marriage would be impacted, we've shown each other more grace, support, and love than we could have imagined.


• To "Daddy Mike" and McLean thanks for coming up and helping out with the move, unpacking, and taking care of mom and Ditty so we could have a date night.


• To my mom and Aunt Lyn for helping us move-in, unpack, and organize.


• Cindy and Justin - thanks for the tasty meal last week! That helped us out so much!


• Toddy and Becky - for feeding me lunch and dinner for a day. Translation - no cooking for me! And they were two of my favorites - chili and spaghetti!


• To our friends and family who have been an encouragement to us over the last several weeks as we've made this transition. Thanks for all your support!


• We're also thankful for the caretaker, Amanda, that we hired last month. She has truly been a Godsend. We couldn't be doing this without her!!


• Thank you for the good sleep I'm still getting most nights, yoga (when I get to go), this house that gives us the space we all need, the cool air the changing season brings, and the little kicks and punches I receive daily to remind me that Baby Girl is almost here!

Deaf Dogs, Dead Elephants, and a Darn Fine House!

Well, Phase 1 of the big move is pretty much complete. Thanks to some friends and family we were able to get quite a bit done. Our bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen are fully livable so that makes life all that much easier. Phase 2 of the move happens in about 3 weeks when mom and Ditty make the big move to Austin, TX. And with them comes a whole nother truck full of furniture and "stuff." But for now, Michael and I are enjoying the house - just the two of us. This morning as we sat out on our balcony overlooking the greenbelt, I welled up with thankfulness for this house that is so perfect for ALL of us who will be living here. It is the perfect house for us. I spent the morning sipping 1/2 caf coffee :) , reading and writing, and enjoying the cool breeze from our balcony. It was beautiful...


On the baby front: I am definitely looking pregnant - there's no mistaking me for the girl who just ate too many tacos. It's all baby, baby! I'm in my 23rd week and have felt baby girl move and kick more than I ever have before. It's sooo cool! I've had a few mild discomforts where she's pressing up into my diaphragm and it's a little hard to breathe, but it's just all part of it. I still have the usual forgetfulness (although it seems to be getting worse!) and other "baby brain" symptoms. And I guess I must mention...you know you're pregnant when you side swipe your other car while backing out of the garage! My friends warned me of this...something with car garages and pregnancy don't mix??!! Luckily, all I could do was laugh about it. And I was even more lucky that Michael didn't give me too much grief about the incident. Did I mention I have the most amazing husband! So I thought that I was doing really well managing the influx of all these pregnancy hormones...so I thought...Today I got emotional over an article I read in TIME magazine about how many animals think and feel at a far higher level than we or scientists had previously thought. I became so sad about how elephants mourn the death of those in their families and how they show respect for the bones of other deceased elephants that they pass. That got me thinking about the treatment of animals at zoos and circuses and then it just spiraled on.


On a happier note - we got our bedding in on Friday! I love it, love it! We can't wait to paint her room and get her bedroom furniture ordered. Michael's parents and Ditty have also been working hard to refinish a beautiful bassinet that not only Michael slept in as a baby, but his mom, his grandmother, and his grandmother's mother!! What a special gift that is to our daughter.



Other notables:

• This is my last week of the current school year. I'll be stepping down from a Lead Teacher role into a temporary position as an Assistant Teacher so that I can give more attention to the needs at home and with our baby.


• At eleven years old, Molly is starting to show a few signs of aging :( Poor beagle -we thinks she's starting to go deaf. The last three weeks we've noticed that she often doesn't respond to our calling - it's only when we touch her does she realize we're there. But other than that, she's still her same ole' spunky hungry self :)

Moving on!

So after battling the bank for the last week and a half we finally closed on the house today. Woo hoo! Michael will begin unloading the truck from Charlotte tomorrow and then we'll work on moving our furniture/boxes from our duplex on Wednesday. My mind is swirling with all the stuff that has to get done - all before we leave town on Friday evening! Address changes, carpet cleaning, cable set-up, and on and on. And it looks like we'll be camping out in the new dining room until after the carpets are cleaned :) All in all - we're just excited to be moving on!

It's a Girl!

Despite everyone's belief that we were going to have a boy (minus a few enlightened ones :), it turns out that our initial gut feeling was right...that we are indeed having a BABY GIRL! So for all my friends who swear by the Chinese Lunar Calendar - sorry to say but it's still only a 50/50 shot. We found out this past Tuesday afternoon, right at my 20 week marker. Baby Girl is healthy and strong - has all of her limbs and is beautiful! Infact, Michael can't seem to stop looking at all of the ultrasound pics - what a good daddy he is! Are we crazy or can we already begin to see what our baby will look like?? I think she has Michael's nose and Michael is convinced she has my mouth. We'll just have to wait and find out! We're half way there!