Baby Shower #1

Who ever imagined having more than one baby shower for the same baby? Not I! My first baby shower included my family and close friends. My mom came down from Maryland to host it with my M.I.L. from central Florida, but secretly...I was piecing everything together because it was at my house. Several friends had never seen my house before and everyone wanted to see the nursery, so it was best to have it at my house.

All I can say about this shower was that I was overjoyed to have my family present and some of my dearest friends. Each of them out did themselves by showering Emily and I with not only their presence but all the presents. I couldn't believe the amount of gifts!!! If Emily decided to make her appearance today, I think we would be ready for her because we have the essentials...clothing, diapers, wipes, bath products, blankets, burp cloths, bibs, carseats, stroller, toys, and books. Thank you so very much to everyone who attended and sent gifts from afar. Emily, Daddy, and I are truly grateful!

Now enjoy the pictures that captured the festivities. One last note, it must be said that the games were fantastic fun (Thanks, Nana!), the food and punches were delicious (Thanks, Grandma Mimi!), and the decorations were adorable (Me).

Guess That Baby Food!

How Big is the Belly? (String works best to have only 1 winner.)

Poopy Diaper game. This guest is having way too much fun...LOL!

Memory game. The guests are deep in thought.

Calling On ALL Family & Friends

So far only 5 people have played Guess Emily's Birthday game. Not sure if you aren't seeing it or just aren't participating. To make it more enticing, I am offering a prize to the winner of the game. Who ever guesses the exact or closest to her birthday, weight, length, and time of delivery will be awarded a mystery prize.

How to Play: Simply click on the gadget (icon) to the right of this post that says Guess Emily's Birthday. You will be directed to the website that hosts the game and just enter your name, relationship to Emily, and your guesses. I'm locking the game before going into labor, so you have less than 8 weeks to play. Good luck!!! What am I saying that for? I want to win! I promise my guesses have not and will not change. That is why I did it early. ;)

First Catastrophe

Hubby and I have been working for 4 days on Emily's nursery. I was ready to post an update with photos when hubby mentioned that I should wait until after the women attending my baby shower see it this coming weekend. Good idea to me!

Now I have something else to blog about in regards to the nursery. A catastrophe is how I'm describing it. To hubby and others it is not the end of the world. Here goes...

Months ago, I bought the dresser/changing table from IKEA. When I got it home, I was advised to leave it boxed up in the garage. Today, three months later, I open it at 5pm and to my horrifying surprise...it is NOT the right finish. That afternoon in the warehouse, I asked for a man's assistance to load the two boxes for the WHITE dresser unto my flatbed. What color is in the box?...oak washed white. Who wants oak washed white?!?! Not I!

After about 20 minutes on the phone with an answering service representative for the store, I left a message with customer service in the store and hopefully I'll get a call tomorrow giving me good news. The good news would be that I can exchange this dresser for a white one on Tuesday without the receipt. 20 minutes on the phone is nothing compared to the 4 hours I will have to spend in the car Tuesday if they let me exchange it. What a waste of a Tuesday, but I'm willing to do anything to have the nursery 95% ready for guests to see in 6 days. The ironic part of today was that I chose to set up the dresser last. If I had only opened those boxes first instead the other furniture in the room, I maybe could have gone to IKEA today. Not dwelling on what could of been though.

Please pray for me and Emily because I think I gave Emily her first taste of anxiety tonight. Sorry, Baby Girl!

Emily's Paradise

Again, I've wanted to post daily updates but too busy. Almost two weeks ago, hubby and I spent Thursday and Friday after work and all day Saturday and Sunday working on Emily's nursery. Daddy painted, and it should be noted here that it was his first 100% paint job ever. Congratulations to him for a job well done! He has been amazing putting in hours of manual labor after coming home from a full day at work. Emily has a loving, caring, awesome daddy!

Note to Emily: Daddy painted & carried the furniture parts up the stairs, and Mommy assembled everything. ;)

I wanted everything ready for the baby shower with my family and close friends this past weekend. Well, I didn't accomplish my goal entirely, but all the furniture is ready and some of the accessorizing. All that still needs done is the wall projects which include shelves, a decal, mirrors, and art. The decal hasn't arrived, but should be here at the end of the week. Hanging shelves and wall art that needs leveled is probably my least favorite part of completing a design. The studs are never where the stud finder indicates and the nails or screws always end up being a hair (or five) off from where I measured with the level. I'm a perfectionist if I haven't already mentioned, so it drives my a little crazy after putting such much time and effort into the design.

Stay tuned for more photo updates...but here is what has been done so far...

Daddy painting.

Salvation Army leaving with our guest bed. Bye-bye guest room.

Mommy assembling the bookcase before the room was fully painted.

How quickly a guest room changes to a nursery. Mommy's design is now becoming reality. Yay!

Mommy assembling Emily's crib. Hopefully she will sleep there for many many nights unlike her mommy when she was a baby.

Daddy helping assemble the dresser/changing table.

Mommy assembling the dresser/changing table.

A Cherry Blossom in the Nursery

Finally, I was able to order this cherry blossom wall decal for Emily's nursery. This is the final touch to her space that I've been unable to order until today because the shop on Etsy was closed for the holidays. Here's praying that it turns out just like the photo and looks fabulous in the space.

Friday is the big day of this week. Hubby and I will be able to start transforming our guest room into Emily's room. Can't wait...so excited...in fact, I'm SUPER excited!!! I've been waiting to make my design board a reality as I've mentioned at least once before. What interior design major wouldn't love a design project?

Here is the cherry blossom. Now I'm just waiting to hear back from the shop owner to see when it will arrive. I'm not sure it will be here in time for my baby shower when I plan to show off the nursery to all the guests. It will be here for Emily's arrival, so that it all that matters.

Ringing in the New Year

What a way to start the new year! I've finally made progress after all the holidays and company has come and gone. Home improvement stuff is what I'm referring to really.

Our bedroom has been in disarray for quite some time now. Who am I kidding...I'm notorious for keeping my clutter in my room. So when company comes, our room gets bad. I've been ever so slowly clearing it out, but today is finally the today I made major progress. I try hard to keep hubby's side of the room clear and clean. It is my side that is the mess.

On Black Friday, I purchased curtains our room. It only took me three years. Emily is actually the reason I finally put it at the top of the list. She is going to be sleeping in her bassinet in our room for the first few months of life, and near the windows. Picking out manufactured curtains is somewhat difficult because your choices are limited as soon as you pick out blackout ones. Then, if you care about the top construction (i.e. grommet...my choice), the color, and finally the reviews. Lately, I've been reading reviews on everything I pick out with the exception of cloths. When I finally decided on the curtains, I bought them at a good price and waited for them to arrive. My downfall was with finding a rod and hardware that I liked. I first bought this modern rod from West Elm which I loved. It was awful in person and quickly returned. Just before my family came for Christmas, I ran around town desperate to find one and settled for one from Target actually. It looks nice, was the right size and does the job.

Assembling the hardware was the fun part...total sarcasm. My dad tried to drill simple holes in the drywall and hit what felt like concrete. It turned out to be a stud and required the concrete drill bit to make deep enough holes. To make a long story short, I did the whole job myself today. There were many holes to patch and I still have to repaint, but that is for another day.

I tricked hubby and told him to come help me finish the job. When he walked in our room, he was taken aback and was amazed that our room looked so much bigger. Our room isn't physically any bigger, but after the coffee table we were trying to get rid of for three months went to Salvation Army, and I moved all the other clutter from my side...our room looks like the mega master we fell in love with the day we first saw it.

The is still work to be done. My hope is to finish up the room tomorrow and take pictures to post. Stay tuned! This is part of the nesting process that we have been in for seven months now. Gosh!! I can't believe I've been pregnant for seven months already. We are getting more and more excited about seeing Emily.

Last night, several friends and family called or texted wishing me a happy new year. What came up each time was how I was sad for 2010 to be over. It was so special for hubby and I finding out about Emily. I'm also strange and love even numbers. But I said to each of them that "2011 is the year of Emily." It's going to be a year to remember forever and a truly wonderful one I feel it. Now the real fun begins with the countdown to predict if she will come early, on time, or a little late.

The weeks ahead To Do List is take classes for childbirth, parenting, breastfeeding, CPR, etc., tour the hospital, have bi-weekly OB visits, complete the nursery, attend baby showers, and that is all I can think of this late.

Happy New Year, everyone!!! Hope to see many of you this year and wishing you all good health, more wealth, and true happiness.

P.S. Just now I felt a TON of movement from Emily. I've been curious to know if I'll feel her rotate upside down. It should be happening any day now or in the coming week. Wondering if it just happened because it was a lot of shifting and poking all over. How amazing!!!