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...