Amnesia, please.

Do women who have children acquire post-delivery amnesia? I think that they must. At 38 weeks, 6 days (yes, I am counting), I cannot imagine wanting to be pregnant again. I haven't had a horror-story pregnancy...no daily violent vomitting (just lots of dry heaving coupled with constant nausea for the first 20-some weeks), no high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia, no required bedrest (just sciatica pain so severe that I am limited to the bed or couch for most of the past two weeks), but still! I'm guessing that the sight of one's own child being brought into this world or the birthing process itself casts an invisibility cloak over all of those negatives...if not, it seems that the world would be filled with only chlidren!

Having a boy...making a skirt

I began to create a baby registry...ugh. In doing so, I realized that I liked NONE of the crib bedding options. They were either very gender-specific (pink, flowered, cupcakes OR blue, baseballs and trucks) or just plain ugly. So, I spent some time (okay, a lot of time) researching other options. Once I decided to make my own crib skirt (thanks to younghouselove.com for the instructions and reassurance that despite my woeful lack of sewing ability, I could, indeed, create a cribskirt), I spend some time (okay, a lot of time) researching for the right material. Spoonflower.com, fabric.com, tonicliving.com all had adorable fabrics and colors, but the choices were a bit overwhelming for my already indecisive proclivities. So, Hubby and I decided to take a little break from the house during the last 60 degree weekend. We ventured to Old Town Alexandria and found a cute little home store in which a well-dressed, well-spoken, well-groomed man directed us to the holy grail...the perfect fabric.



The only problem...$35 per yard plus shipping. So, conservatively, I would spend over $150 on fabric for the skirt and valences IF (and that is a big if), I didn't make any mistakes requiring recutting. This thrifty girl left empty-handed.

Baby D wasn't letting me sleep that night, and hubby was still up working on one of his gazillion projects, so my iphone and I surfed the net and found a similar pattern for $16 per yard...10 more minutes of kicking (Baby D, not me), and I found the same fabric for $10 per yard plus free shipping at onlinefabricstore.net. SOLD! The fabric arrived last week, and this morning, I tackled the crib skirt. The skilled decorista (yes, I just created that word) at younghouselove.com said it took her 40 minutes to make her no-sew crib skirt. Me...four hours minus a lunch break and a visit to the tea shop. Nonetheless, I was truly in my glory. There is definitely something to this nesting thing. Here is the final product.

It's a...

BOY! We found out the sex of the baby during my 20 week ultrasound last week, and let me tell you that we were both shocked. When the little penis appeared on the ultrasound tech's screen, we both did a double-take. Hubby had wanted a girl...friends and random others told me that the signs (terrible morning sickness, weight gain in my chest, etc.) indicated a girl was on the way. So, I was convinced they were probably right. Even though Hubby had wanted a girl, he said that he adjusted to the idea of having a boy rather quickly. Me...not so much. All that I could think about on the extra long, Thanksgiving-eve drive to my parents' house was, "What am I going to do with a boy?" I am a girl (obviously), so I have a little insight into what to do with one of those, but my niece is a girl (again, obviously) and I have two sisters and I wasn't around boys while I was growing up. So again..."What am I going to do with a boy?" reverberated through my thoughts. My family, who, with the exception of my dad who has been surrounded by sisters, daughters, and female pets all of his life, wanted a girl. Needless to say, they were beyond shocked when we told them. I think they were disappointed. But alas, the important part was that our boy has a healthy heart, bowels, lungs, spine, brain, and extremities. Whew...a sigh of relief.

After a lovely Thanksgiving Day filled with turkey and other gluten-free goodies (everyone LOVED my gluten-free stuffing), we lurched into an awkward day-after-Thanksgiving ritual. The ritual of purchasing an ornament on the day after from local crafters isn't the awkward part, but interacting with my sis and mom (between whom the the tension was thicker than GaGa's eyelashes) definitely was. I was honestly a bit relieved that we had to leave early to welcome our new renters (another story for another time).

So, after one more breakdown last night, my uber-supportive Hubby (who also made me gluten free cc cookies and sang to me for my b-day last night) made me sit down and start looking at boy nursery ideas. He knows that I need something tangible to reduce my anxiety. The result was, as predicted, a relaxing reduction in anxiety, and I found lots of cool, non-blue, non-teddy bear, non-baseball bat themed rooms for CHEAP posted by women who want to have children without literally buying in to the consumerism and commercialism that comes with that dangerous four-lettered word: BABY. Here are some of my favorite designs

Baby Donahue

So, the other really big news...I'm pregnant!

Return of the blogging

It's been a hundred years since I have last written a blog post. Life has been busy. We moved out of A's house and are still working on getting the Sparks house rented or sold. Most importantly, we FINALLY moved in to our new old home. Note that I didn't say that our new old home is finished. The reality is that it is still very much a construction zone. Hubby couldn't resist not sleeping here despite the dust, bare unpainted walls, mud for a backyard, drafty windows, etc. So, here we are! The truth is that our house is beautiful, and I am amazed that all of my thrift shopping and the family painting efforts have culminated in an (almost) Dwell-worthy home.

The TO DO list:
Paint all trim
Paint ceiling touch ups
Srape paint from all windows
Repaint all windows
Paint exterior of house
Obtain and install storm windows
Acquire random pieces of furniture
Sand and polyeurethane stairs
Grade yard and install concrete patio
Install fence
Get remainder of household goods that government has skillfully "misplaced"
DECORATE
Throw housewarming party :)

More paint please

Hold on to your seats...this will shock you....we spent this weekend...wait for it...PAINTING!!! Yeh, not a big surprise. We were delighted that my friend S donated more hours of her time than she had planned to cover my office closet doors with a second coat of paint. And, even though Matt's college buddies bailed (one, who shall remain nameless, even said that he couldn't help because the new Harry Potter movie was being released...really? that's all you could come up with?), one drove out to help on Sunday. They say that during a crisis, you find out who your real friends are. I think that during a major house renovation and a call for painting, your true friends shine through. Thanks S and R!

One is Silver and the Other Gold

New friends lent a hand today as Matt and I were struggling to move a piece of the sectional that we bought from the Re-Store through our front door. Without missing a beat, our soon-to-be neighbors provided tools to remove the front door, moved the difficult piece that I was trying to navigate, and volunteered to assist hubby the remaining 3 trips to pick up the other pieces. Thank you new friends!

Old friends gathered to celebrate the wedding of my dear childhood and college friend (the groom). The setting was a lovely, family-run vineyward in the middle of nowhere mountains of Western Virgnia. Hubby got a chance to see three of his closest college buddies, and in addition to chatting with them and their wives/signficant others, I was able to catch up with an old high school (and college) beau. Even though the college buddies don't see each other regularly, and I haven't really talked to the groom in a few years, those old ties bind. Hubby and his buddies fall right back into their silly antics and recollections from the "good old days." How many times is the "hot wings" story funny? Apparently every time that it is told!

I think that old friendships become new again as we share new experiences. I'm reminded of my old Campfire Girls Days and the song, "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."