Thinking pink

Since last week's announcement of our little GIRL, I'm becoming more convinced that finding out her gender early was one of our best decisions ever.  That probably sounds a little extreme, but seriously I can't get over how much extra bonding has already occurred just by knowing that she's a she.  I talk to her a lot more, I imagine a lot more about our lives together, and I love calling her by name.  By the way, I don't think I announced last week that our little beauty is named Anna Rose.

Granted, the first time I heard someone naming their child before birth, I thought it was a little crazy.  But now that I'm living it, it feels perfectly normal and natural that the little being inside of me has a name.  I suppose it's an outpouring of my pro-life beliefs, to know that she's a person - she won't become someone when she starts living outside of my body.  She is, and always has been, an individual.  My Anna.  She already has her preferences (loves the organ music and church in general), her schedule (night owl, all the way!), and so much more that we will learn in the months and years to come.

From a house-readiness perspective, it took me a little while to switch gears from my perfectly-planned boy color scheme (prompted by this fabric, which will now be saved for Anna's future baby brother).  I needed the perfect inspiration fabric to be the starting point for the rest of the room.  I knew I wanted something soft, feminine, slightly whimsical, and not too overly "baby."  After two fruitless trips to our local fabric stores (they just didn't have the "perfect" design I had in my mind's eye, I found the ideal crib sheet during our inaugural trip to Babys R Us.

And thus a vision was born:

Future sewing projects on tap include: curtains, a crib skirt, glider covers / pillows, a new quilt for the twin bed (which will stay in the room), an alphabet quilt / wall-hanging, and a fabric pennant (similar to my lampshade decoration, but larger scale and hanging on the wall).  Ready, set, sew!  (and hopefully, blog too!)

Oh, boy!

Oh, boy for two reasons....first of all, because I fell terribly behind on my blog everyday "to blog or not to blog" challenge.  Let's blame it on me being very busy, then sick, then busy again.  But I'm back (healthy and less busy) so hopefully I can resume more regular posts!

The other "oh, boy" is because we found out the gender of our baby today!  And, naturally, just like my "blue" post, I was trying to confuse you with today's title.  Because....

IT'S A GIRL!!!

I'm primarily thrilled to report that our ultrasound revealed that she's healthy (and it seems happy!)  All of her organs and limbs appear to be developing right on schedule, and I'm feeling great, too!  (also growing right on schedule :) )

I'm also thrilled that we'll be having a baby girl...I've had a strong instinct that she was a she since about the 2nd month, so it was almost a relief to find out that I was right!  (I initially had no preference, but started to want a girl when all of my daydreams were subconsciously about little girls!)

Justin's also excited about our beautiful little lady...and glad that we don't need to do any painting in the pink sewing room - to - nursery transition!  The perfect polka-dot fabric won't be used (for a few years, at least), but I'll keep you posted as we start working on the room!  You know I'll be at Jo-Anns this week!

So, again, sorry for the absence, and thanks for the excitement many of you have already shared on facebook about our (pink) bundle of joy :)  Here she is...isn't she sweet?  

I can't help but be in awe of the technology that can show us her face.  And, even more awe for the God that can knit her in my womb in such a short time frame!

A post about not posting

As you know from yesterday, I can get pretty stressed out from not sticking to my self-imposed challenges.  But today I'm giving myself a free pass on posting because I wrote more than enough in the last two days of work.  Headed in early and home late to finish a huge grant - but it's DONE now and the office is closed for the 4 best days of the year.  See you tomorrow!

Blue

I should have listened to my husband more carefully when he warned that my self-imposed 30-day blog challenge would only cause me more stress.  I missed Sunday's post because I got caught up in finishing our taxes, heading to bed much later than I should have, but in a great mood at my accomplishment.  Yesterday, after a full-day of work, making dinner, hosting our Lenten discussion group, and catching up on the latest episode of our favorite show (Once Upon a Time), I was exhausted and ready for bed, but suddenly feeling very blue that I "hadn't accomplished anything for the day."  In retrospect, clearly that wasn't true, but you should all be warned that my brain malfunctions after 10 pm.  Wanting to give in to my own goals of writing everyday, as well as the "cough, cough" comments on facebook about my delinquency, I decided that we should quickly take a baby bump update picture and stick it up on the blog.

Naturally, it took me 10 minutes to find the camera that had been right next to me the entire time, and my bad mood was declining as the clock ticked further past bedtime.  We have two pictures (neither of which will be posted on the internet) - the first of me crying (due to exhaustion, at the time I thought it was because I had to write on the blog), and the second laughing at Justin's joke.  The second one might have made it to the blog, had seeing the less-than-flattering angle not sent me back into tears.  I gave up at that point, as you have probably deduced from the ongoing blog silence.

Revisited the bump photo shoot this evening - had bad luck getting all of me to look good in one shot, so Justin suggested the belly-only approach.  Don't worry, Mom, my dress isn't actually that tight - just holding it in for effect!

Like usual, I woke up happy, all nighttime stress magically erased.  After a productive day at work (and a delicious seafood salad sub, as per the baby's nagging request), I'm feeling much better about things in general. Seriously, the number one predictor of my happiness (aside from, perhaps, time of day) is my sense of accomplishment for the day.  I think this has some very good points and some very bad points...but I figure that at least recognizing this is an important for now.

All of that was clearly more than I needed to write - but daily posts mean the blog turns a bit more journal-esque.  And, since it's before 10 pm, I can laugh at myself and my many imperfections - and thank God for His wisdom in giving me a patient husband!

On to something much happier - but still related to being "blue!"  I naturally have been thinking about lots of ideas for decorating the baby's nursery.  I'll be moving my sewing table into a corner in our bedroom, and the sewing room will become the nursery.  Since the walls are already pink, that's the natural launching point for girl decor (and, according to Justin, a guarantee based on Murphy's law that it will be a boy).  I have some ideas for female decor, but my ideas aren't quite as developed as my baby boy ideas (very ironic, of course, since I'm nearly convinced - through a strange, unexplained "sense" - that I'm carrying a girl).

This weekend, I had the chance to visit the fabulous Hobby Lobby, and this fabric jumped off the shelf at me:

Even though I'm holding off on baby purchases until we know the gender (in just 13 days, yay!!), I had to buy several yards of this fabric.  It is such a perfect match for my vision of the potential boy nursery that I didn't want to pass it up and later have to go searching.  

I envision the walls painted a nice tan, with accent colors matching all the dots in this fabric - chocolate brown, honey yellow, pumpkin orange, deep red, cornflower blue, and celery green.  I'm not a fan of nurseries that have extensive themes or are elaborately baby-like.  True to my general decor taste, I like simplicity - coordination, certainly - but not too much matching or cutesy things.  Rest assured, I definitely want the nursery to be warm and welcoming for an infant - I don't like modern nurseries that look like adult rooms, either - but you won't be seeing any Pooh Bear wall decals.

One of my latest and greatest ideas (at least in my opinion) is to make an appliqued alphabet wall-hanging/quilt.  I am planning to make one, regardless of gender, but am waiting to find out if it will be in my pink-mint green color scheme or in the aforementioned polka dot colors.  On Sunday, I got so excited for the idea that I made a practice design - of course coordinating with the new fabric - but I'm waiting until after the 16th to start working on the real deal.

Here's the sneak peak:

I may be coming back with requests for help - I have yet to think of anything that I can draw that starts with the letter "Z"!  Please share ideas!  (Both for alphabet quilts and for late night mood-management ;) )  Oh, and baby-gender guesses are welcome, too (either here as comments or on facebook in my poll!)