Lily's first pictures

more pictures to follow along with our birth story and first week at home......

A few shots of the nursery

Here are couple of pictures of BabyG's nursery. We still need to hang some window treatments and add a few things to the base walls, but, realistically, she won't be sleeping in there at first anyway so we've got some time. And tell me that this isn't the cutest piggy bank you've ever seen?

Time is flying!!!

As of today I have about 30 days left, assuming BabyG arrives on her due date (unlikely yes, but, we need some date to count down to). This also means 21 days of work are left, again, assuming I work right up until BabyG arrival. It's hard to believe it's so close and at the same time, I can't believe I still have to wait 4 more weeks to meet her!
Our birth & baby classes at the hospital ended last week. They were actually quite a bit of fun and we learned a lot, especially about the hospital. We got a good tour of the hospital as well so that maybe, just maybe, we'll remember where to go when the time comes.
I go back and forth between feeling like I have ready what needs to be ready, and feeling like I still have a million things to do. I made a list this morning and looking at it makes me feel totally unprepared, lol. Among the important things.....get the car seat installed & inspected, confirm with the pediatrician and wash more baby clothes. Everything else really falls into the nice to have done category. I went to Let's Dish last weekend (thanks to a gift certificate from Becky) and made 8 meals to stock the freezer with. I'll be adding a few more things to the freezer this week. Need to put together the bouncer (I'll tackle that) and the swing (Glenn can take that one), but, I can't imagine wanting to put the baby down right away :)
Well, I have to get back to work, with only 21 days left, I have A LOT to do.

A few pics of BabyG

These pictures are from a 3D ultrasound place here in Greensboro and were taken around 31 weeks. The day before our scheduled appointment I became convinced that BabyG had flipped to a head up position which means good pictures can't be obtained. The tech confirmed this immediately and we had to reschedule. I spent the next week hanging upside down off of the couch to encourage her to flip back to head down and luckily it worked.

A few shower pics

More pics to follow when someone gets around to sending them me. No rush Mom.....

So where have we been??

Well, all over the place! The holidays were wonderful and hectic as usual. We spent Thanksgiving in VA with the Rice clan and followed the usual feast with a suprise baby shower! BabyG received so many cute gifts and the start to what would quickly become quite the wardrobe. We had xmas dinner with my parents, Jimmy & Becky on 12/20 and then traveled up to NJ for xmas. The ride wasn't quite as bad as I had anticipated, but, I'm glad I won't be making that trip again until BabyG is here. It was great seeing Glenn's parents, Grandma and Brianna. This was the first time they've seen me in all my pregnant glory so it had to have been pretty shocking. Glenn's mom threw me a baby shower on the Saturday after xmas and we got to see so many relatives we haven't seen since the wedding! It meant so much to me. BabyG was once again showered with wonderful gifts! Then came the ride back home, slightly more painful since BabyG was trying to deflate my lung for the last few hours of the trip, lol. Next thing we knew, it was New Year's Eve. After some juicy burgers at Red Robin we settled in over at my parents to hang out and wait for the ball drop. I wasn't sure if I could make it to midnight, but, after a few glasses of sparkling cider I was ready to go. Sunday the 3rd was another shower for BabyG thrown by my mom & Becky. We ran around like crazy getting things done, making decorations and preparing food and it was worth it. Everything came out perfectly. And yes, BabyG received even more wonderful gifts. Pictures to follow.....

Preparing Babe for Baby

My cockatiel Babe is in for a rude awakening when the baby arrives. She has spent the last year being the 'baby' and center of attention. Constantly on my shoulder when I'm not working she thinks anything I have is hers as well and I am starting to get pretty worried about how she will react to the baby and lack of attention. While I was cleaning out a dresser last weekend to use in the nursery, I found one of Brianna's old dolls and thought I had come up with the perfect plan. I would hold the doll and have Babe on my shoulder to teach her she couldn't walk all over the 'baby' (and therefor poop all over the baby). So I get Babe on my shoulder and pick up the doll....the hissing from Babe is so constant that I'm not sure if she's really hissing or if it's possible that she's hyperventilating. Then she took off flying and for the first time ever ran away from me. Ok, day 1 of the experiment was short lived; I didn't want to find out if I could actually give her a heart attack.
We've been working up to a little more 'baby' time each day and after a week and half there is some slight improvement. She stays on my shoulder now and stares nervously down at the 'baby' for a bit...there is still the occasional hiss but she usually just closes her eyes (if she can't see it, it must not be there, lol). I'm sure all of this will be out the window once the baby arrives and doesn't lay motionless and silent, but, at least she'll be in the habit of keeping her distance.