Baby Prep

We've been prepping for this baby and slowly we are working our way down the list! We've checked some major things off our list and we're feeling pretty good about it.

A name. We're pretty set on baby girls name at this point. After months of having baby names written up on our mirror, we've wiped them all off except one. After seeing our list in our bathroom, Lydia started her own list in her bathroom. Her list included: Elizabeth, Eliza, Ali, Ady, and Holly. Even so, she's pretty happy with the name Lucy. For a while she was pushing for Lousie Anna so we could call her Louisi-ana, and once I mentioned that my mom's middle name is Anne - she decided that Lucy Anne was acceptable to still be able to call her "Lou-see-ann-a". I wouldn't be surprised if Lucy-anna is one of baby girl's nicknames.

This blanket. *sigh*  It's got quite the story behind it - but the most important thing is... It's FINISHED! (Baby girl can officially come, now.) Sue has made a super-soft, minky baby blanket for each of my babies. Lydia's was a surprise, and since then I've loved going with her, picking out the fabric, and working to complete each blanket together. It's been a special way to bond with her, and with each new baby. These blankets are so special to my kids and they use them all the time. 

Sue's health isn't great right now, so I went to the fabric store and took pictures of dozens of different fabrics and combinations and then sat with her while we poured over the pictures picking out just the right fabrics and patterns. I went back and bought the fabric and we've been working on it ever since. We've been spending every other Tuesday afternoon with Sue since January and it's been so nice. Sue mostly sits in her bed offering her supervision and expertise, the kids play upstairs or in the family room, and we spend the afternoon chatting and working together. 

Here's the sad part of the story: we were just under halfway through this blanket when I decided to take it home to trim. I folded it and put it in my diaper bag to take home... and then the very next morning my entire diaper bag was stolen out of my car while it was parked in my garage. 

My purse/wallet, brand new water bottle, cash, gift cards, favorite diaper bag, AND this beautiful half-finished blanket. I cried for days, knowing that whoever took it just threw it in the garbage on the side of a road somewhere. I was more upset about the blanket than anything else! I asked David if he thought that they felt bad when they realized what they'd taken. His response? "No, I really don't." But I held on to the tiny hope that maybe they'd bring it back once they realized. *sigh*

I had to work through the stages of grief, including a very snarky stage regarding the whole thing (snarky meaning I talked about living in the ghetto and I made remarks like "Did you grab the diaper bag? Ohhhh... no- you didn't. Because we don't have one. Because it was stolen.")  After I worked through that all (and stopped crying whenever I thought about it) I went back, bought new fabric and we got to work making another blanket. We cut it pretty close, this has been one of the things that I really really wanted to finish before baby girl comes. When I went to work on it the very last day, Sue had finished the binding all by herself - stating that she wanted to do at least some of the actual work on the blanket. She loves her grandchildren and I'm so glad that Lucy will always have this reminder of her Grandma's love.  I treasure my time working with Sue on this project and hope that baby girl knows just how much love went into making it for her, from both of us. 

Bedroom Prep

We are moving baby girl into the corner of our bedroom and it's been a nice little project. Previously we had a big bookshelf full of... stuff... plus two white bins also full of... stuff. On top of one of those white bins were hundreds of papers that needed to be filed or shredded. David went through all of the stuff and all of the papers (he's a champion) and we removed the bookshelf. Austin has been a huge helper in shredding all of the old documents (including hundreds of old primary papers, too). The progress has been fairly slow-moving, but the corner is finally finished and I'm so happy! It's not super fancy and the only thing that I bought was an $8 print of a little name sign that I put together, but it looks so fresh and ready for a new baby. Plus, all of the baby clothes have been washed and put away in the drawers. I can hardly believe that pretty soon we will bring home a new little baby to sleep in this bed. I hope she loves it. Favorite things from this corner? -Blessing dress hanging on the wall. -Geometric pattern around her "Lucy Holland" sign. -Minky Baby Blanket draped over the pack and play cover I sewed.





Baby Swing
So here's the deal. We were given a baby swing when Lydia was a baby and we were SO grateful for it. But it was battery operated, and as time passed that started being more and more of a problem. Because batteries are expensive and swings use a lot of battery power! I think with Caleb I replaced the batteries one time, then used the swing as more of a holding place for him, sometimes asking Lydia or Austin to go and push him back and forth in the swing. The swing was getting old and the seat was a little lopsided, always ending up with the baby's head almost falling over the edge. And so after Caleb was big enough, I sold that swing on Facebook because I knew if I waited until our next baby I would just keep it instead of buying a new one like I'd wanted to do for so long. This time, we found a swing that plugs in and we are thrilled about it. Knowing that this is probably our last baby, we decided to just get the pink swing because it was the prettiest, and it really is SO pretty. And I'm just so happy that it plugs in. We bought it a while ago but didn't set it up because we didn't want it sitting in the way for three-months unnecessarily, but David built it one night last week, and now it's all set up and ready for baby girl!



Pre-Baby Dates
Last Saturday we got a babysitter (I love our neighborhood babysitting co-op!) and went out to the movies. We saw the new Aladdin and it was by far my very favorite of the Disney Live Action movies that they've been making lately. It was so well done and we had a nice time at our last official pre-baby date. David's note about this date: It was perfect. We LOVED the movie and thought it was so well done and so enjoyable. Plus we got a giant popcorn to share. It was so much fun and so nice.

Then, David was able to come with me to my 39-week appointment. Although he and my mom were both rooting for my doctor to just say "Oh, you're dilated to a 7, let's just send you to the hospital" - I wasn't and it was a simple "Okay, well - now you're just on watch! Come to the hospital when you start having contractions" and then we were out the door. It's a little crazy, because several weeks ago my doctor offered to induce me on the day of my 39-week appointment, and it seems a little surreal that we could have been in the hospital having a baby. (Making her birthday twins with Aunt Jenna AND her cousin Sadie). But I much prefer to let babies come on their own. We stopped for a little Carl's Junior breakfast to sneak in one last tiny date. (We did this after Caleb's 39 week appointment, too, and it's a fond memory.)

Baby Shower

My sweetest friend, Karli, offered to throw me a small baby shower/girls night with a few of my closest friends. I had previously turned down another friend's offer of throwing me a baby shower because I didn't really need much in the way of baby things and I don't particularly like being the center of attention. But this evening out was absolutely perfect. As I sat there surrounded by six of my very closest friends, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of love and support. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful women and to have their influence and examples in my life. It was low-key, we just chatted while we ate french fries and ice cream, and it was everything I could have hoped for in a celebration of this sweet girl's arrival. It's not often that you get to handpick a group to spend an evening with and it was such a wonderful night.

Last few details: 
Our hospital bags are packed and my mom came a few days ago so we are officially ready! I just feel so calm and confident. I feel like this is the most relaxed I've been (while still being excited, of course). It's so nice to have my mom here because I know that my kids will be taken care of no matter when baby girl decides to join us, whether it's in the middle of the night or in the afternoon, without having to stress about calling someone to come over. And especially without the pressure of having to decide "is this real labor or is this just pre-labor?" I'm not overly anxious for baby girl to come early, I'm content to just let her come whenever she is ready. But now I'm just sitting back and enjoying the time that we have right now to just be together as a family of five before things change again.

Shantel's September Photo Dump

Just a quick recap of some things that I missed blogging about during the month of September. 

1.  Our beautiful new stair light fixture. We've been looking for the perfect new stair fixture for a long time because we wanted something to fill up the space a little better (better than the little mushroom fixture that came with the house). We found this beauty at Sam's Club for a super good deal and we loooove it! We'd never replaced a light fixture by ourselves before - but with some good ole' YouTubing we figured it out! (Although at one point we were both up at the very top of a super-tall ladder together, one trying to hold the super-heavy fixture up, the other trying to screw it together. It was quite a sight.) 

2. David and Lydia's "matching Jammies". 

3. Super Caleb and a big sister that already loves playing dress up with him.

 4. We had this picture taken at a wedding reception for one of David's co-workers (whose wedding announcements I designed/printed). I hung this picture on the dash of my car because I love the way it turned out and I looooove this boy. Call me a cheese, but I love him more now than I ever knew I could. I still feel like a school-girl when he calls me on the phone or tells me that he loves me. I'm lucky to have him, and glad to have this picture in my can to make me smile every time I see it.

5. Lydia's bed set up in my bedroom for the nights that David was gone on a work trip. Lydia and Austin took turns sleeping in my bed with me, and the other one slept on the toddler mattress in the corner. It was a win/win/win except for the fact that David wasn't there and that was less of a win.

6. Reading books with Grandpa Peaden. Cal is always so good to play, read, and otherwise shower these kids with attention whenever he's around. I'm so grateful for kind, loving grandparents. 

7. Austin helping me carry the library books to our car. 

8. Austin is in a huge "I can do it myself" phase. And I'm frequently surprised at how much he really CAN do. And sometimes we end up with ketchup all over everything. That's the way we roll. We're just enjoying the ride.

 9. We invited a bunch of neighborhood kids out in our front yard to help eat the rest of Austin's birthday cake, and the next day our sweet neighbors, the Warnocks, came over with a delicious treat and a stack of super darling letters saying thank you. We have great neighbors and this made my day. (Katie Warnock is the kind of mother I aspire to me, she's good and kind and teaches her kids so many good, thoughtful, and uplifting things.)

10. I hosted a Baby Shower for my sweetest friend, Ali Middleton. It was super simple, and each guest brought a freezer meal to stock her meal-supply up for after the baby comes. I just love her and I'm grateful for the good friend and example she is. I'm constantly amazed at what an incredible example of motherhood she is, and really an example of just genuine goodness.  So excited for that sweet baby to join the crew.

11. It's possible that the sweetest thing in all the land is when your five year old daughter who is just barely barely barely learning to read, memorizes her favorite book and then reads it to your baby whenever he feels sad or needs attention. This girl is such a great big sister.