Holiday pajamas for babies (and other rambles)

1, 2, 3, 4

I made the mistake not putting Lizzy in her Halloween pajamas until Halloween actually rolled around. To be fair, I was afraid she might ruin her "costume" before the main event. She's adorable, but messy.

She's going to start wearing holiday pajamas now to avoid that problem :) These are a few favorites I've got my eye on at the moment, but in reality, I'll probably hit up TJMaxx and Once Upon a Child for some cute options...in size 12-18 months because she is still a giantess.

It's way too early, I know, but I am so excited for the holiday season this year. Part of this is because I feel like I've really hit my stride in the last few weeks with working, playing with Lizzy, sleeping (knock on wood over and over and over), and just generally enjoying life together. 

I don't want to make it to sound like things were going badly before by any means. Peter and I have seriously been on cloud nine since Lizzy arrived six months ago. But going back to work was so hard for me (even though Lizzy thrived at daycare from the beginning), and I feel like it's taken this long to wrap my head around it. 

I still have waves of missing her during the week, but she's becoming so much more of a person these days - someone who is such a delight to be around - that I feel like our mornings and evenings and weekends are full of quality, fun time. She totally knows who Peter and I are now, and lights up when she sees us. She plays with toys, eats dinner, loves dancing and being tickling, and plays peek-a-boo. (I'm getting dangerously close to one of those monthly update letters that are only interesting to grandparents. Sorry!)

All this is just to say that I can't wait to decorate the house and show her all the lights and the tree and the songs and, in the evenings, when she's all cleaned up after lounging around in the bath and smells so heavenly, I'm going to zip her up into some holiday themed pajamas. 

And I'm really looking forward to it.

Looking, Playing, Wasting

Making: Excellent use of our new island - it makes our kitchen such a happy place to hang out in
Cooking: This perfectly autumnal mushroom lasagna
Drinking: A splash of wine nearly every night after Lizzy goes down for the night
Reading: This should say "slogging" since I've been working on this since August, but Longbourn
Wanting: Track pants, real bad
Looking: Oh so tired these days - I need an industrial strength eye cream or something :)
Playing: On my new iPad (I've become one teeny tiny percent more hip!) 
Wasting: Time searching for the perfect baby Halloween costume
Sewing: A new valance for my kitchen window (a total cheat answer because my Mom actually did the sewing for me!)
Wishing: I felt more clear headed
Enjoying: The evening routine we've worked out, which involves playing with Lizzy for a few hours when I get home, then her bath, stories, and bed, followed by dinner, a TV show, and dessert - always dessert - for Peter and me
Waiting: Until the October madness calms down in Salem before checking out this lovely looking exhibit
Liking: How settled our house is feeling these days, even as I make plans for a few more adjustments
Wondering: If we'll be able to pull off a big trip in 2015
Loving: My little clan more and more each day
Hoping: To make a batch of this in very near future
Marveling: At these awesome floating babies in Houston
Needing: To get some dates on the books with friends - we've been somewhat hermetic 
Smelling: Lizzy's head every night at 5:00 p.m.
Wearing: Ballet flats as much as possible before the endless season of boots begins
Following: The new-to-me blog Aspiring Kennedy
Noticing: How beautiful Boston looks this fall - the leaves have exploded in color in the last week
Knowing: Some Top 40 songs for the first time since college, thanks to a lingering Sirius XM subscription in our new-to-us second car (my current fave)
Thinking: That our new normal is starting to feel just that
Feeling: So excited to tag along with my sister to do some wedding dress shopping tomorrow
Bookmarking: Tons of recipes from Jamie Oliver's magazine - it's been a treasure trove of inspiration 
Opening: The windows just a smidge to get some of that delightfully crisp fall air in the house
Giggling: Over Lizzy's seemingly deep voice - it's seriously just like this when she laughs
Feeling: Lucky, lucky, lucky 

This post was inspired by Meet Me at Mikes!

Boston Date

On the last Friday of my maternity leave, Peter, Lizzy, and I went to Row 34 for lunch, and then walked around the seaport. I'm not sure I'd call it a "workingman's oyster bar" - we were next to a darling couple bemoaning the fact that Facebook was down during our first visit - but it is a delightful, delicious spot. And totally baby friendly, thanks to its large, open dining room (that's Lizzy's stroller in the foreground of the pic above). 

We went again last weekend for dinner when my parents were in town. Still delicious, still a-okay for Lizbert.

The State of Things

Asters in honor of a new September baby!

This was an exciting, tiring, fun, full week in our household. The biggest and bestest news is that our niece, Caroline, arrived! I got to swing by the hospital on the day she was born to meet her. She feels absolutely light as a feather compared to the heifer I usually tote around. She has a darling, sweet little face, lots of dark curly hair, and is just such a dear. Peter and Lizzy haven't gotten to meet her yet because they were both fighting colds, but I'm hoping they'll be well enough for introductions over the weekend.

Because of the new baby, my mother in law has been staying with us for the last few days, and it's been such a treat. Lizzy is loving the extra attention, and Peter and I are getting spoiled by her cooking.

Since going back to work, I look forward to our weekends so much. Probably too much, because I hate feeling like I'm just "getting through" the majority of my week/life. On most Tuesdays, though, you can find me tearfully telling Peter that the weekend is way too far away and I can't possibly make it. But then I do (time hasn't stopped yet on a Tuesday, but my fear that it will is alive and well!).

It helps - tremendously - that Lizzy is over-the-moon happy to arrive to daycare each morning. She spends her days there being smiled at, played with, given toys, and toted around, and I really think it's her idea of heaven. I miss her way more than she misses me.

I also completely recognize that we are in a very, very lucky position right now - this a Champagne problem. We are all healthy and happy, and I know how lucky I am to not only have a job, but one that I really enjoy.

Anyways, I feel myself rambling along. I started this weekend tangent intending to say that I look forward to having two uninterrupted days with my family so much that I feel like I need to pack them to gills with fun and productivity. Have meaningful time with Lizzy one-on-one! Go to the farmers market! Establish ourselves at our new local church! Paint furniture, vacuum, clean out my closet...on and on. I don't exactly know what to do about this because it is actually the best time to do many of these things, and I want to have a balance of fun mixed in with everything else that needs doing. I'm sure we'll figure this out, but if you have any advice, it would be most welcome.

Wishing you all a very happy weekend. TGIF to the max.

Oh, and P.S.! Thank you for weighing in on the island. I went with white, but did pale green stools. Looks cute! I owe you a pic.

Feasting, Sleeping, Beaching

Happy Friday to you!!!

I seem to have fallen into the habit of posting sleeping baby pictures. Are we okay with that? Lizzy's just started rolling over, and when she does it in her sleep, she just sleeeeeeeeeeeeps and sleeps forever and it is glorious. Also, this gives you a decent view of her mullet-ish hairdo. I want to cut it off, but Peter thinks this is mean (!??!), so please weigh in if you agree with me. Just kidding, you can also weigh in if you think we should keep her party in the back hair going strong.

Peter's students came back this week and Lizzy had four days in a row at daycare, so even though it was a short week, two thirds of the household are very tired. I'm the most awake one! This hasn't been the case for four months and a few days (a.k.a. since Lizbert arrived), but it's nice to carry the torch of enthusiasm for the family once again.

Tonight we're doing a slightly lower key version of our annual back to school feast. There's a bottle of Sofia in the fridge, Peter's picking up a frozen yogurt pie from Cabots, and I'm going to make some kind of seafood pasta dish like this, but with more seafood :) Peter and I might get really crazy and watch one whole 22 minute episode of The Spoils of Babylon.

Tomorrow, we're hoping to squeeze in one more beach day, with a stop at the farm stand for cider donuts and corn on the cob. I haven't had my fill of corn yet at all, and this delicious looking polenta is calling my name. Then we'll probably do boring homeowner things on Sunday like mow the lawn and weed the "gardens" (quotes because you'd have to be very generous to look upon our plot o' land and think garden).

And maybe (!), we'll get to become an aunt and uncle this weekend! We're anxiously awaiting the arrival of our niece, who I absolutely can't wait to meet.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! Perhaps you should have an end of summer feast yourself, regardless of any ties to the school calendar!

Newborn Favorites

1; 2; 3; 4; 5

When I was pregnant, I pored over other people's recommendations for their baby registries. This is not that kind of a comprehensive list (for that, check out Design for Minikind!). Instead, these are some things that people turned me on to that I didn't even think to ask for, but loved.

The first is the Miracle Blanket. Lizzy slept in this for the first six weeks of her life before she started busting out (then she slept in a Halo sleepsack for a few more weeks before she just wanted to be free). But for the first few weeks, it was a life saver. She really liked it, and I loved that it made her less flopsy when I was holding her and transferring her down for naps and bed.

When new parents used to talk about how much laundry they had, I was genuinely confused. Baby clothes are so small - how can it add that much?! Ha. Now, of course, I realize it's not just their clothes, but also their bedding and blankets, burp clothes, your clothes, etc. A girlfriend told me Oxiclean was the best for getting out icky stains of all sorts. I'd oddly been using Dreft for years since my skin is so sensitive, but this doesn't bother Lizzy or me at all, and it's actually very nice to have some scent on our clothes now.

I'm not a journal keeper, but my Mom gave me the one-line-a-day journal, and I absolutely love it. So little pressure! And even though I've only been doing it for four months, I already enjoy looking back on earlier days.

These car seat straps are lovingly referred to as Lizzy's hippos (what animal are they, do you think?!). They keep her head more upright in the car, especially in the early days. Now she loves to chew on them - not their intended purpose, but no matter.

And finally...these cloth diapers. I've never used them as diapers, but they are my favorite burp clothes, small blankets, stroller covers - you name it. So soft and easy to stash, with many purposes.

So now, of course, I need to know what the lifesavers are for this next stage. Anything great I need to get to maintain Lizzy's status as one of the happiest(ish) babies on the block?!

(Un)tethered

I'd been dreading yesterday for weeks, so much so that I half convinced myself and my family that I had appendicitis because of a persistent pain that developed on the right side of my stomach.

Lizzy slept through the night, but I was up at 4:00 a.m. (Something no one told me is that when your baby first starts sleeping through the night, you won't necessarily be able to after months of waking up. Perhaps because it reeks of a humble brag?)

I went back to bed, but popped awake minutes before the alarm was set to go off. Then I proceeded to get ready, crying in the shower, while getting dressed, and eating breakfast. If Lizzy feared her mother had gone insane, smiling at her like a maniac with tears streaming down her face, she didn't let it get her down; she was her happy, bubbly self.

Getting off the train was the worst. I felt like I was impersonating my old life - working Julie, bounding around Boston into the office. I can't explain why those moments in particular made me feel so bad. When I arrived at work, I truly had the nicest welcome you could wish for, complete with flowers, a special breakfast, and lots of doting colleagues asking all about the baby. I tried to turn off my thoughts about Lizzy and dive in, only to have to turn them back on when it came to time to pump in the morning and afternoon. I tried to do a bit of work at the time - two birds with one stone and all that - but instead I left splotchy tear marks all over my papers.

And yet. In the afternoon, I dashed off to a meeting to discuss a new project that I'll be working on. I got to share some ideas I'd collected from previous jobs, and others nodded along. Walking back to my desk, I had a crazy sense of freedom. I was alone! But I was also toting around a small cooler of milk. Tethered to my baby, but on a longer rope.

When I got home, Peter opened the door with Lizzy in his arms, and she smiled and leaned out for me to take her, which she'd never done before. I swelled with equal parts happiness at seeing her again and smelling her delicious baby smell and sadness that I had to leave again the next day, and the day after that, on and on. More tears and maniacal smiles.

I know that she didn't feel the ache that I did, and I don't think she ever will. She was happily at home with Peter, and in a few weeks, she'll happily attend her tiny daycare for the time that Peter's at school. It's me that's getting in the way here, and the selfish feeling that I want to be home with her and also speak with adults and make some money at work. It will get better in one way or another, I know that it will, but for now, I'll be the crazy lady masquerading as someone who has her emotions under control.

Cheers to Tuesday, my friends.

The Nursery

For obvious reasons, we referred to this bedroom as the "scary doll room" until it became Lizzy's cute nursery. Those dolls were haunting!

The first week we owned the house, we went over to strip the crazy blue wall paper, gave the walls a coat of white paint, and pulled up that nasty pink carpet. That made it livable for us for the almost year that we used this as our bedroom. This spring, once we finally decided to make it the nursery, it got painted a very pale grey, the closet door got painted white, and we added a real door instead of that crazy piece of folded paneling. Icky. 

Now this is one of my favorite rooms in our house. Her crib is the DaVinci Jenny Lind from Target, but I found it on Craigslist for a song. (The woman selling it bought it a few months earlier, and claimed her daughter refused to sleep in it?!) That Ikea chair was in our living room for years, but now happily lives upstairs. The curtains were a fantastic find from the Pine Cone Hill Outlet that my mom picked up. They were made for a Nordstrom's window display and were then sent back, and I think she got them for $15 a panel! They were picked up after she was born and we knew she was a girl :) The light was another great find from my Mom - I think it was $10 at a consignment shop, and Peter installed it for me.

I painted our Expedit duck egg in Annie Sloan chalk paint, and we attached her changing pad to that (inspired by Young House Love and Pinterest). I put a serving piece on her table to store burp clothes and swaddle blankets, wipes, and diaper cream, which is also an idea I saw on Pinterest. It's nice having all those things so handy.

That little corner of a quilt is from Peter's grandmother. I believe it was a blanket that was made for her when she was a baby! She gave it to us years ago, and I'm so happy that it now gets to live in our sweet daughter's room.

Lizzy has officially moved out of our room and into her crib, and the transition was an easy one - easier for her than for me, I think! For me it felt like her first little step toward independence...and for her, I think it just meant sleeping in a bigger, more comfy bed. Ooh parenthood!

Glorious Summer

Peter requested lunch at Publick House on Father's Day, and it seemed like all kinds of young parents had the same idea. It was babies and beers galore!

It was such a beautiful afternoon that we went over to Crystal Lake afterwards for a little walk. It smelled a bit swampy, but there were tons of people swimming. Hearty New Englanders!

I said this last year, but I can't suppress the urge to say it again - summer, glorious summer, is here. I could not be more excited for school to officially get out, trips to the beach and Tanglewood, and putting all house-related tasks on hold for a few months. (Well, mostly - don't get too excited, Peter.)

This weekend, my parents are moving to their new house in the Berkshires. They sold their old condo in January, we've been missing our visits there so much. We're going to be busy getting it all set up for the next few days so that we can thoroughly enjoy it for the rest of the summer :)

Happy June weekend to all!

Old Manse

Saturday was a beautiful day, so we headed up to Concord to check out the Old Manse and the surrounding grounds. This had been on my to-visit list for a while, so it was a nice surprise that they were having an open house that afternoon!

The trails and gardens behind the house are stunning. Everything is in bloom right now! And, an important battle happened on that little bridge. (I think it looks way too small for an important battle, right? Peter assures me it occurred there.)

Afterwards we went into the town center to hit up the Cheese Shop and a few other favorite spots. Lizzy was snoozing in her Ergo, so we took our chances and ordered a drink and some snacks on the front porch of the Colonial Inn. As soon as our drinks arrived, she started crying a bit (how do they always KNOW?!), but Peter walked her around for a few minutes and she settled right down, and we were able to toast to successful little adventures!

Mysteries Revealed

Checking in from Babyville, where the laundry is suddenly never-ending (and cuter than ever). 

Lizzy is long like me, and extremely hungry like Peter, so the darling pudge is starting to fill in. We can both say, "Yes, we were just like that."

Like all sane people, she's extremely annoyed by the hiccups. And unfortunately, she gets them all the time. I sometimes take her into our downstairs bathroom where there's an unreasonably loud fan that helps to distract her a bit from the injustice of another case of hiccups.

And of course there are all kinds of things we never could have predicted, but now happily know. She loves to tightly hold our hands, tightly grips the curtains in her nursery that hang over her changing table, and sometimes accidentally hit her own face.

We call her Lizzy, but I am such a nicknaming expert that she also gets called a lot of other things, including: Lizbert, Lizzy Bean, Gremlin, Piggy, Sweet Pea, Girly Girl, Diva, Demon Eyes, Milk Face, Lippy Lou, Missy Mae, and Lizzy Bizzy (by my Mom). The use of each one obviously depends on her mood and behavior :)

11 Questions Answered

A few pictures of life lately! The most delicious lamb ragu with feta and peas; Lizzy suffering through tummy time; a walk in the wood; and a photo my sister took of Lizzy and me on Mother's Day.

Melissa invited me to answer a few questions she posted to her blog, and while my answers are far from riveting, it was fun to put together. You should totally play along!

1. What has been your most favorite vacation to date? 
Paris! It's hard to beat Paris. 

2. Do you prefer big city life, suburban life, or a life in the country? 
I love that I have a quasi-suburban life right now. We are still super close to the city (10 minutes to Cambridge, and just a bit further from Boston), but I love our little house and neighborhood and yard. 

3. What is your favorite type of food?
This sounds boring because I like to think of myself to be kind of an adventurous eater, but I think my favorite would be classified as American! But maybe fancy-ish American?! Ha. My favorite type of recipe is basically everything on Food 52. 

4. How would you typically dress for a night out? 
Fun patterned shirt (like so) and hot pink flats (like so). Though it's been far too long since these items have left my closet!

5. What are you go-to accessories?
Scarves, earrings, necklaces, sunglasses.

6. How do you fix your hair?
Lately it's been air dried, but typically I give it a quick blow dry and smooth it out with a big round brush. I'm useless with hair products, so I tend to skip them all together. 

7. What make-up do you wear on a daily basis? Do you have preferred brands?
I wear tinted moisturizer, mascara, and blush every day, and sometimes add eye shadow and eye liner to the mix, as well. And always (always!) Vaseline on my lips!

8. What is your preferred workout?
I'm terrible about working out in the formal sense, but I like walking a lot, and will occasionally do some yoga at home.

9. Where is your favorite place to shop online?
Oh gosh. Predictable, but probably Amazon. I also buy things from Lilly Pulitzer online when they have big sales, and like Terrain a lot for gifts. 

10. Do you enjoy entertaining guests in your home or would you prefer to be a guest? 
I LOVE hosting people here - it's one of my favorite things. But because I know how much goes into it, I also really appreciate how wonderful it is to be a guest in someone else's home. I always pick up tricks that I want to steal from our friends who are also fantastic hosts! (The trick I'm always trying to relearn is "just relax and everyone will have fun," ha.)

11. What quality do you really value in your significant other?
Goodness, this is tricky, because is truly a very long list. Peter and I have opposite personalities in many ways (similar values, though, which I think is the key). He is patient, even-keeled, focused, and is an exceptional listener - all qualities I lack, and value very much!

Lilac Sunday

I heard about Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum last spring (after the fact, of course!), and thought it would be a pretty lovely way to spend my first mother's day.

We were driving back from Connecticut on Sunday after visiting family for the weekend. It was very warm in the car, traffic was crazy near the Arboretum, and Lizzy was hungry and had a dirty diaper. We really thought about turning around since it was starting to feel a bit more stressful than fun, but I'm so glad we stuck it out and were able to take a walk among the flowers.

It will take us a little while to figure out how to handle these little outings with grace and ease, but the only way to do that is to keep trying it out, right?

When I was saying good-bye to my Mom yesterday she said, "Mother's Day is a funny little holiday, isn't it? But it's an important one, too."

I hope everyone had a lovely day, whether you were celebrating your own mother or grandmothers, or were happily being celebrated. So many of my girlfriends have become mothers in the last year, and it was so fun to text each other throughout the day to check in with well wishes. I'm sending lots of love to each and every one of you!

The View from Here

Elisabeth Mae was born on Monday, April 28 at 11:14 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs 15 ounces, and measuring 21 1/2 inches long (just like her Momma!). 

When I was pregnant, people frequently shared their absolute disbelief that they were allowed to leave the hospital with a tender, tiny baby to care for. Why were they trusted; where were their credentials?

Throughout our hospital stay, various staff members would come by with official looking folders and packets of information with charts and lists, I think partially to give parents the illusion that there is in fact an instruction manual of sorts that they can take home with them.

As Peter and I were driving to our house last Wednesday - the house we've been furiously preparing in anticipation of our baby's arrival, that we finished right in the nick of time - I certainly wasn't without fears and doubts. But these feelings were far outweighed by a sense of rightness, of fitting, of belonging. Now we are bringing our daughter home. Yes, this is exactly right. 

She' s been snuggled in our arms and we've been happily staring at her ever since.

Laundry

Laundry is getting very, very cute around here! I realize the novelty will soon wear off, but for now, good grief. Striped baby leggings and duck hats and teeniest, tiniest socks are filling me right up with happiness.

This is a silly question, but how many clothes did you bring to the hospital for the baby? Just one full outfit?! Any other strange things you placed in your bag that you were glad you had? All I can wrap my mind round is toiletries and magazines for me, and so I have a little bit of research to do...

Lots to celebrate

(From the cute Oh Joy! Collection at Target)

There's been LOTS to celebrate in the Turner house this week. On Tuesday, I presented my final project for my class this semester which was super fun. It was about Amelia Bedelia (if you're wondering how to have the most fun in graduate school, it is in a children's literature program). Tuesday was also Peter's birthday! Since I was in class until later and we are still kitchen-less, we got fancy pizza from Max and Leo's and a frozen yogurt cake from Cabots - both dangerously delicious. 

Yesterday morning, I furiously painted the kitchen out of irrational fear that the next time I came home it would be with a baby after my external version appointment. I know that sounds like a weird priority, given the fact that the nursery room floor is still covered with newspapers and extra trim from painting stuff, but I can't make sense of the inner-workers of my brain, either. Anyways, that's done, and it looks good. 

Thennnnn the appointment. I had been so nervous for it, wondering back and forth what the right decision was. Where was my mother's intuition? But I did it, and I'm so happy I did. The baby flipped right around on the first try, and Peter and I are beaming with pride at his or her excellent ability to follow directions (when given a hearty nudge). 

I feel like we've been given this wonderful gift of waiting. The baby can take it's time, finish up cooking, and come to meet us when it's ready, and I'm so thankful. When I was awake at 4:30 this morning, though, I kept wondering how I would have felt if it hadn't worked. Would I believe I'd made the wrong decision? Hurt the baby and myself unnecessarily? I hope not, but it's hard to say.  

I had to sign a medical release form on behalf of the baby, and there was a slot for relationship to patient where I had to write "mother." My own mother asked me the other day if I could believe I would a be mom so soon, and I said, "No!" This seems to seriously call into question my intellect, since all physical signs point very strongly to yes, and yet still I can't entirely shake the feeling of disbelief. But making this one decision about trying to flip the baby around - the first of millions of decisions large and small that I won't be able to predict the outcome of - felt like a tiny step toward the reality of motherhood.

So, when Peter and I went to the fantastic new Alden & Harlow last night for a slightly belated birthday celebration, we were also able to toast to successfully navigating this first minor hurdle of parenthood together in tact. Here's to many, many more. 

Hooray for the end

(cute onesie)

Hope everyone had a lovely spring weekend! It was beautiful here, but Peter and I were trapped (kind of by choice...) inside, finishing up the floor and trim downstairs. I'll share some pictures soon! Our contractor very, very nicely had been letting us borrow his power tools for this project, but he is coming by today to pick them up. Hooray for the end of dust!!!

Our counter is taking longer than we hoped to come - we're currently scheduled for next Tuesday, and then appliances go in after that. Last week, I called and tried to give them a bit of a sob story about how I'm having my first baby any day now (kind of), and if there was any way they could move us up, we could be available at a moment's notice. The woman was unmoved. "Umm, I'll make a note..."

In between all that sawing and gluing, we went on a super fun date to State Park on Friday night, and then met friends for dinner at Russell House on Saturday. At Russell House, we were able to sit upstairs where the windows were wide open and it was breezy and still light out when we sat down at 7:30. Glorious. We'd already paid for parking (something we're usually allergic to, but it was a lovely concession to celebrate working all weekend/being 37 weeks pregnant) so we extended the evening a bit to sit outside in Harvard Square and share a concrete from Shake Shack. All in all, an excellent eating weekend.

I had my ultrasound on Friday, which sadly confirmed that the baby is still breech. It also looks like a frog in a jar at this point, it's face all mushed up against the top of my stomach. Poor baby. I'm doing all kinds of weirdo things from Spinning Babies, but we also have an external version scheduled for Thursday. I honestly had no idea how involved that procedure was, so I'm having some second thoughts. (If you had it, or have any stories about someone who did, I'd love to hear! The only things I've come across are tales of woe about it not working and inducing labor early, so...not really what I'm hoping to hear).

My mind has been spinning out of control, imagining an emergency c-section on Thursday while my house is in ruins and all my baby stuff is still at my parent's house in Connecticut. But the end is here (ish), whether I'm ready or not. And it truly doesn't matter if that second coat of paint makes it onto the dining room trim or not. My parents are coming up this weekend to drop off all the baby stuff regardless, so it will be in my cozy nesting fingers soon enough.

And, of course, I could still be pregnant a month of now! I have a feeling this stubborn child will be born a Taurus, so I think I've got until at least next week until we say "hi ;)"

Building the Baby's Library

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

In the last few days, the baby and I have quite literally been showered with love and attention. My shower with family and friends over the weekend was an absolutely joy - I had the best time, and we received so many wonderful things. Even though almost all of it is still at my parent's house while we finish out our renovations (next week, hopefully!!!), I feel much more prepared. 

Then yesterday my office very, very sweetly hosted a shower, too. I work in higher ed, and I'm also part of the School's children's literature graduate program, so it fittingly had a book theme. All of my co-workers brought a favorite from their childhood, or one that their own children adore. The baby's library is now overflowing with all the classics, and also so many fantastic, slightly off-beat titles that were new to me. The ones above are just a few of the books that I probably wouldn't have picked up on my own, but I love them already. 

Of course, since the shower, I've been trying to think about what book I would bring as a gift. Such a hard choice! For babies, I'd probably do White on Black and Black on White, but when we get into picturebook territory, there are just too many great ones to pick! What would you chose?

Bits and pieces

Happy Friday, my friends! I hope you've all had a nice week. Our renovations have been chugging right along, though I've been fairly terrible about documenting any of it (hence this random, totally unrelated, but much more visually appealing pic of flowers!). Yesterday we had all of our new cabinets delivered, along with our dishwasher and stove. They were all piled into the kitchen when we left this morning, but I'm hoping that the base cabinets will be installed when I get home.

Since we opened up the wall between the kitchen and dining room, I knew that those rooms would be painted the same color. They're off of our living room, which is revere pewter, and I brought home silver mist (both Benjamin Moore). After painting the ceilings, I started cutting in with it last weekend, but immediately got nervous that it was too dark and similar in saturation to the revere pewter. This was, embarrassingly, keeping me up at night. Now that the cabinets are in, though, and I know how much white the rooms will have, I'm feeling better about it. AND, it's just paint, so I should really chill out. I definitely had less hemming and hawing about the floors/cabinets/counter tops, ha ha. (But if you'd like to weigh in, please feel free...)

Tomorrow is my baby shower, which I am so very excited for. Peter's staying home to work on laying down our new floors, which is a significantly worse way to spend a Saturday. Bits and pieces of incredibly sweet gifts for the baby from family and friends have trickled in this week, which is almost as fun as coming home to wedding gifts. We received one of those playmat thingies that are all crazy colors and flashy toys dangling from above. It's so easy for me to imagine a baby lying there, looking up at it, but it's still mind blowing to me that my baby will be using it shortly.

In other baby related news, I had a doctor's appointment yesterday and they think the baby might be breech. Of course, I've been furiously googling "how to tell breech baby" and "make breech baby flip." I have an ultrasound in two weeks to check, but that feels so very far away. I feel like I can't do much of anything, just in case the baby's in the right place now? (And of course, I know that breech isn't the end of the world by any means, and that the baby still has time to flip on its own, etc., etc.). I should probably go back to worrying about paint.

I thought this post would be a quick bullet list when I started off, but I guess I had a lot of sharing to do! The only other thing I wanted to tell you was that I finally started The Goldfinch, and gosh it's good so far (though I still believe it's fairly audacious to make any book this long).

Hope you all have wonderful springy weekends ahead!

Just beyond

A chilly weekend away in southern Maine at the end of March doesn't exactly scream "baby moon," but that's what we called it.

Over the last eight years, Peter and I have taken many, many trips - both big and small - together. Our first was to Williamsburg, Virginia about six months after we met. The town was all decked out for Christmas, and we bopped around eating and drinking and generally feeling extremely adult about the whole thing. That Sunday afternoon was drizzly and cold, but there was a promise of fireworks once it got dark enough, so Peter got a taste of how serious I am about pyrotechnics because we stayed on that town green until the bitter, celebratory end.

Then there were the weekends in New York, before we lived there. Weekends in D.C., after we lived there. Weekends in Boston, before we moved here for good. There were wedding celebrations in Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Illinois, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, North Carolina. Winter weekends skiing in the Berkshires, driving into the wilds of Canada, bopping down to Newport.

And big trips. Taking off for nearly a month to roam around Brazil, and then Hawaii. Week-long stays in Paris, and Charleston.

In the middle of our Brazil trip, which we took off on just days after getting engaged, we went to different beaches all the time, ate so much grilled meat, brought cards everywhere we went to play gin rummy because everyone around us seemed to be doing the same, and I remember one night, probably about halfway into the trip when Peter and I were out at bar where the floor was covered with a thick spread of sand underneath our feet, he said very casually, "It's so lucky that I get to spend all my days with you."

In celebration of these days together, when it is just an us, we ate fried sea food, and took a long walk by the steely grey water, perched as gracefully as possible atop bar stools, and toasted to this lovely, lucky life we have together, and to all the lovely, lucky things that await us, just beyond our line of sight.