Almost 36. Which means a week away from full term. Which means, oh my word, this is really happening...
C'mon little girl... We're ready for you!
Just countin' down the days now...
Getting Ready for Baby
The only thing more fun than actually welcoming a new baby has to be the preparing. We've been in full getting-ready-for-baby-mode the last few weeks and we've loved every minute! Josh even told one of his senior account exec's last week that, "No, I will not come in over the weekend to help you with a proposal because I'm nesting." She got a kick out of it and promptly repeated it to the client, who found it so endearing it may have just sealed the deal ;-) Any who! As promised, I wanted to show you a few more of my favorite baby things. They're just too adorable and/or fantastic not to!
If we can ever pry her from our arms without panic and tears, this is where baby girl will rest her sweet little head:
I mean, c'mon. Have you ever seen such a beautiful bassinette?? Technically it isn't mine, but rather on loan from my Deb (Josh's step-mom). What makes it even more lovely is that she bought it years ago from an antique store when Dakotah was a baby, and her mother dressed it all up with ribbons and lace. I simply love the family heritage. She offered it to us via skype the moment we told them we were pregnant, and I said yes without hesitation. Wouldn't you??
Then there's this:
We searched everywhere imaginable before finding it. From Babies R Us to all our favorite thrift stores, no one had anything we liked in the way of a changing table/dresser. I wanted something equally beautiful and functional with lots of storage, and most importantly, I didn't want it to look like a changing table.
Josh found this guy on Craigslist and negotiated it down to $150, an absolute steal compared to the five and six hundred dollar options (minimum) in most stores. It's antique, absolutely beautiful, and just happened to come all the way across the ocean from an old farmhouse in England. Hello? Sold! We just adore it.
I lined the drawers with a beautiful sheer white fabric and packed it full of all baby girl's tinsy shoes and blankets and diapers and... stuff.
Look at all her itty bitty girlie clothes! *happy sigh*
Moving on! Speaking of frilly, girlie clothes, how stinkin' adorable it this??
It's a strapless lace romper! Are you dying inside at it's cuteness?! Imagine a sweet baby girl all dolled up in this for infant photos. Maybe a tiny string of pearls or two and a vintage-y headband... Something like this. Or this. OMG. I can barely handle it. My sweet friend Brittany, who just welcomed her own tiny miracle girl, surprised me with it. Squeals of delight ensued... ;-)
I also searched high and low for the perfect diaper bag. I wanted something that would easily double as a purse, and again not look like a diaper bag. (This of course prompted Josh to demand his own man bag, refusing to carry anything even remotely resembling a purse. I assure you, his is very appropriately simple and manly, more like a messenger bag than anything else. I actually really love it. ;-) And when we were in Nashville recently Deb and Dakotah insisted we check out this adorable baby boutique where we stumbled upon this:
Totally doesn't look like a diaper bag, right?! It comes with all the basics like changing pad, bottle insulator, etc, and also these amazing stroller clips that attach it perfectly to the back of your stroller for security and super easy access. Genius. But my favorite part is the great matching clutch for mommy only items! So great. I'm loving timi & leslie.
And finally, drum roll please! She's finally arrived! The most gorgeous stoller in all the land...
Remember when I mentioned that Josh and I had fallen head-over-heels for a stroller and couldn't stop staring at photos of her online?? Well, imagine the chaos that ensued when Josh's dad and Deb surprised us with it! There was dancing and squealing with lots of hugs and exuberant thank you's! So fun. We couldn't believe it. Because this gorgeous aqua color was new and not yet available, they wrapped a photo in a box, inside another box, inside another box, with a note saying it would be shipped as soon as it was ready. We tracked it for days online until it finally arrived. *Love it*
And I know, it seems SO terribly silly to get so excited about stuff. Right?? I'm generally much more interested in relationships, experiences, memories. Stuff is just stuff. It doesn't mean anything worthwhile. So given how unattached I generally am to stuff, I've given this one some thought. It really isn't about strollers or bags or girlie clothes at all. It's entirely about what those things represent. It's about what they communicate in these sacred months of waiting for a baby. At every glance they whisper, they remind me, "You're carrying a CHILD in your womb... a unique, sacred, precious little life. You are charged to care for her, teach her, protect her, raise her up with intention and Truth. It's your greatest, highest calling. Are you ready??"
It gives me chills, stirs something at my very core. And I am. Ready, that is. As much as I can be, at least. We're just over 35 weeks now... so close. A holy, sacred journey awaits us. And in no way do we underestimate it.
P.S.--Have I mentioned lately how absolutely wonderful my husband is?? ;-) Surely I have... but just for good measure... His most recent kick has been surprising me with odds and ends for the baby that remain on my 'not necessary, but how adorable is that' list. (i.e.- this cute hooded towel from etsy):
He hides them in random places and waits for me to delightfully find them. When I asked him recently why he keeps doing it, he buried his face in my neck and mumbled, "I just want to make you happy." ;-) Oh, that he does, in every way imaginable, that he does. I simply cannot wait to see him as a Daddy. I'm fairly confident nothing on the planet will make me happier than seeing him gaze with unspeakable awe and joy at his baby girl...
My Favorite Pregnancy Tea
It's no secret whatsoever that I'm a tea lover. I love to come across anything new particularly when there are health benefits, and this new flavor has been rocking my pregnant world!
During one of our very first Bradley childbirth classes a few months ago, our class instructor served all the pregnant moma's red raspberry leaf tea informing us that it helps to tone and prepare the uterus for labor (among dozens of other benefits, some not even pregnancy related). Of course I went home and started furiously researching the claim to see if there was any truth to it. Much to my delight, there are some downright amazing testimonials and research out there! (Shorter labor, less pain, prevents pre-term labor, lessons bleeding after birth, more energy, helps prevent "baby blues," the list goes on and on... A simple Google search will pull up any and everything you could ever want to know.)
But like anything else we put in our bodies, product quality makes a huge difference in terms of effectiveness. I did a bit of checking around but was pretty sure Mountain Rose Herbs would still trump all else in terms of both cost and quality, and they did, no competition.
A gigantic 1 lb. bag (raw, organic, fair-trade, essentially the best quality you can get) cost me a whopping $8. Nice! I was stoked. Thank you once again Mountain Rose, for making all my dreams come true... I've been drinking it by the pot every day since it arrived.
If ever you've had babies this is likely old news to you, but if it isn't, you're welcome ;-)
More Nashville Love
Hiking the gorgeous trails around Radnor Lake Nature Preserve. Breathtaking rolling hills and foliage. Coffee on the deck at Bongo Java. Grass-fed burgers and sweet potato fries at Burger Up. Aimlessly roaming the Vanderbilt University Campus. Driving the back roads to friendly local farms for raw milk or honey pick-ups. Meandering the adorable shops in downtown Franklin. A morning hike at the Fontanel Mansion followed by a hearty breakfast at the farmhouse. Taking in the views along the Stone's River Trail in Hermitage...
Not that I need yet another reason to love Nashville, but if I did these newly discovered little gems would certainly do the trick!
The Green Wagon. They brew their own kombucha. Need I say more?? I didn't think so. But be assured there are a thousand other reasons to love them as well: an adorable yard full of organic herbs, loads of local products, an upcoming cloth diapering workshop... I didn't even set foot inside the door and already we're bff's. (They were closed for the holidays. My heart literally broke. I pressed my face to the window pane and pouted unashamedly. Josh and his mom had to tear me away grumbling my disdain.)
We also discovered this lovely little place for the first time:
The Turnip Truck. It certainly isn't new to Nashvillians, but it was new to me! I never thought I'd say this, but I might like them slightly better than Whole Foods. Their product quality is fantastic! And even their hot foods and salad bars are loaded entirely with organics, something you rarely find with the competition. They have two locations, but I actually prefer the smaller one just around the corner from the Green Wagon. It feels more tucked away and homey. Oh, and gluten-free cinnamon buttermilk muffins?? Yeah, enough said.
I still have a quite a few places to tick of my 'Getting to Know Nashville List', like hiking the thousands of acres of Warner park surrounding the old Steeplechase course, or heading out of town bit to explore the 'secret falls' along the Fiery Gizzard Trail. And I simply must try the organic, gluten free pancakes at Pfunky Griddle. Their menu looks divine! I want to explore both Percy Priest and Old Hickory lakes, and definitely grab a coffee at the Frothy Monkey (something I've YET to do in the 10 years we've been back and forth!). And I want to roam the newly re-done Farmer's Market downtown in full seasonal swing. We stopped in this trip, but most of it was shut down for winter. They new facilities and vendors look amazing though!
Oh Nashville, so much to love...
Am I missing anything? If you know Nashville and have a spot you think I need to add to my list, definitely let me know!
Nashville Love
We're home from a lovely trip to Nashville! We celebrated a belated Christmas with Josh's family, spent lots of time cooking and just hanging out together, and wrapped it all up with the sweetest little baby shower at the church where Josh grew up. We had friends drive in from as far as Indiana and Alabama to be with us, so we also planned a little brunch prior to the shower so we could spend a little extra time with them. Josh stayed up super late the night before making homemade cinnamon rolls (cause he's a rock star like that) and we all spread out around a huge table filled with breakfast casserole and fruit and literally half a dozen pans of cinnamon-y goodness, and simply laughed and chatted the morning away. We were so touched they all traveled so far to see us. Josh kept saying how sincerely loved he felt. (and how emotional it all made him...shhh, don't tell him I said that though!)
We truly felt so embraced and celebrated. I didn't even know half the people who came to the shower (like his childhood dental hygienist, for example! Or the adorable couple from Jackson who drove 4 hours round-trip just to attend the shower!) Really?? Only in a small southern town... I was blown away by the kindness and generosity of so many people who barely even know me, but then again I did marry the most loveable man alive so I guess it's something more like riding on his coat tails ;-)
And besides all the love and hugs and tears, there were also tons of amazing gifts for baby girl! We were seriously SO blessed. I have to show you a few of our favorites soon, but a handful of them are being shipped so I'll wait until I can take photos to tell you about them. However, while I'm on the topic of gifts... check this out:
My 16-year-old little sister-in-law spent 7 1/2 weeks knitting this adorable blanket for her niece. 7 1/2 weeks! Oh and um, she didn't know how to knit prior to this project. She literally learned just for us. That, my friends, is a labor of love. We were shocked! And touched. And still get all sorts of warm fuzzies every time we look at it. It's beautiful! She was also careful to stick to what will be the nursery color palette of creams and ivories. I so love that ever attentive little artist...
I also learned over the course of our stay that if I said things like, "I'd like a little hat for the baby," or "I think the baby needs a knitted headband," that within a few hours or a day at most, suddenly one appeared like magic! I had to make myself stop it. ;-)
And talk about another meaningful gift, look at these tiny darlings:
My Dad's baby shoes. How. Stinkin'. Adorable. My Granny passed them along to me recently in their original tattered little box, complete with a pair of his old diaper pins and a card from his shower stuffed with strips of paper where guests suggested names. I absolutely love them. I'm sure they'll find themselves displayed in baby girl's nursery at some point, a reminder of both family heritage and the limitless possibilities of her future.
And one other belated Christmas gift Josh and I both loved instantly:
It's a photo from out Epic Adventure this past summer with Caleb and Dakotah. We were in London just outside the Tate Museum when I made everyone stop to take a 'shadow family' photo. Dakotah said she remembers how excited I was about it, so they had it blown up on canvas. Of all of our amazing travel photos all over England, Holland, and France, this was the one she chose. It's the one I would have chosen, too. I simply couldn't love it more. She knows me too well. ;-)
Did you receive any really meaningful gifts this year??
29 Weeks
My husband gives me all sorts of grief about maternity photos. He laments constantly that we don't have nearly enough. I'm not kidding. He's almost devastated that we don't have weekly shots of this pregnancy. (I think we have plenty.) So today, being that it was cold and overcast in Dallas and we were holed up in the house all relaxed and cozy, I consented to a little photo shoot.
Have to say, he did an amazing job! I'm impressed with the outcome, kind of ethereal and romantic with a vintage feel...
(Did I mention we had terrible lighting, a simple point and shoot, and that I was essentially wearing pajamas?? Shhh....don't tell. Maybe no one will notice.)
Merry Christmas friends! I hope it's like none other. I know ours will be... ;-)