6 Months Along

Can you believe Helen Grace is six months closer to being a part of our family?! I just shake my head sometimes when I think about how fast the time has passed. We had a little scare three weeks ago that turned out just to be growing pains, thank goodness. We had several ultrasounds, and the technician felt sorry for me and snapped this quick picture of HG's profile. She was around 21 weeks along in this picture.

We have made a big step in the nursery progress- we ordered furniture!! We found a great sale on the line that I have been eyeing for a while, so we just went ahead and ordered the dresser, chest, and bookcase in the dark wood color so that we can use it for future nurseries as well. I explained to John how I wanted to get HG a whole new "big girl bed" when she outgrows her crib, and he just snickered. I think he thinks I've lost my mind with all of this! :)

We had the Olive Branch High School Soccer Banquet this week, and we made it through with minimal tears. We both get so connected to the girls that it's hard to let the seniors go. It has been fun to watch them grow over the years, and I look forward to seeing the grown women they will soon be. Two of the seniors that John has coached for several years, Amanda and Christy, put together a really sweet picture frame of pics through the years and a very very nice note that we must frame. :) The team has started a tradition of wrapping John's car with Saran Wrap and/or toilet paper after the banquet. We were spared the shoe polish this year, but they left funny and sweet notes on his car. I'll take pics of those and post soon. We are very honored and grateful to be a part of the OBHS soccer family. They take such good care of us, and we wouldn't be the same without the girls and their families.

Bubba, Jeanne, Peg, and I went to see Riverdance on Sunday. I was very interested to see how Bubba would like it, but I smiled the entire first half as I watched her watching the dancers with her mouth hanging open. "How do they move their feet so fast?," she kept asking. :) Helen Grace liked it too. She was dancing along with them. We will definitely have to find a local Irish stepdancing studio by the time she gets to be 2 or 3 so that she can dance like that when she grows up. It was ALMOST as good as 42nd Street, and you know how much I love that show!

Still working on the car shopping...I got a little creeped out by the shady salespeople after two dealerships. It appears the economy has made a big impact on their sales strategies, and I don't like feeling like fresh meat. We will have to take this slow and maybe try to shop the lots at night so that we won't be bothered. ;)

Bedding for a Princess

This crazy pregnant lady and her opinionated husband have come to an agreement on bedding for little Miss Helen Grace!

We...I mean, I..went with the bones of 'Emma Claire' by PolkaTotDesigns (http://www.polkatotdesigns.com/)...

And then added some splashes of the polka dot and paisley fabrics from 'Marley' for accents like sheets, pillows, table skirt, etc.

We kept John happy with the soft pinks and let me spice it up a little bit with the bolder prints. It should arrive by the end of March. Can't wait to see the finished product!

I have so much to learn!

I've spent a good bit of time in Target's baby department over the years, but it was mostly only to shop for friends' babies and I didn't really know what I was buying. Now it's my turn to sign up for a baby registry, and I'm so overwhelmed! Luckily, Brandy has taken me under her wing, and she and I had a shopping date last night at Babies 'R Us and Target. Man, we shopped 'til they closed the stores! For the big items like strollers, car seats, pack-n-plays, etc., she would explain her personal experience with each item and then tell me what the consumer reviews had said about it (she is like a walking encyclopedia of children's items- and also suffers from insomnia). For the other stuff (including tacky, brightly colored stuff that I can't stand but know that is necessary for my child to develop and be stimulated), she'd tell me to point and scan the barcode. :) We've gotten most everything picked out, although the hunt continues for a high chair. Now we just have to explain to John what all this stuff does- ha!

If I had a dollar for every time that John has said in feigned exasperation this week, "I want my wife back!!," I'd be a very wealthy lady. My mind has completely left me. I can't think of obvious words or names, and I definitely cannot interpret a conversation correctly. I don't know how he and I can come out of the same discussion with such totally different versions of the decision. I wonder if my mind will come back to me upon Helen Grace's birth, or am I doomed with the lack of intelligent thought for the next 18 years??

Serious Progress

Miss Helen Grace has a crib! John and I got motivated to start making some progress on her room, so while the room has yet to be painted and we are still trying to find a place for all the guest room furniture, we took the double bed apart and started working on her crib. It was a two day process (our gun safety class yesterday kept us from finishing it), but tonight, John finished it off and it's beautiful! Also, we took a 21.5-week belly pic...finally starting to look pregnant if I'm wearing the right clothes.

Bringing in the bed

And the mattressMocha really wanted to help tooDay Two
Making serious progress now

The Final Product

21.5 Weeks

21 Weeks

Can you believe we are over halfway there? I am almost a little sad. I love having this little baby growing inside me, especially now that she is wiggling around. But I know it will truly be a blessing to hold her in my arms! John and I have been having a color war for the nursery...I want to keep it the blue that it already it; he thinks pink is the only option for a girl's room...so it will be pink! I had to make a minor shift in my thoughts for bedding, but it's not too hard to get into the pink frame of mind. :) I hope to get some fabric samples in the mail tomorrow that will seal the deal. I am trying to calm myself down as we try to find furniture for the nursery. It's a constant battle to not think about it 24/7- these baby hormones are a force to be reckoned with! I am almost exclusively wearing maternity pants now. It's not the cutest option but definitely the most comfortable. We've set the dates for our parenting classes in March, and we're starting to think about taking a little weekend getaway sometime in the spring. Any ideas? Somewhere within a few hours' drive and some place that would be nice, slow, and laidback. Also, we hope to do some car shopping next week, so little princess Helen Grace will be riding in spiffy, new, safe carriage with less than 100,000 miles. So much to do in so little time!