baby on the way

It's hard to say exactly when the thought of another baby in the house excited me more than it overwhelmed me, but I think it was sometime last summer. And then one day around Thanksgiving of last year, I called Ryan while he was at work and greeted him with a breathless Guess what? After we hung up I scooped up my Ralphie and held him close on the couch for a bit, because in those dizzying moments after news of a big change, and your brain finally catches up with the pace of your heart, you just need to hold someone tight for a while. Especially your first baby.

Most of the winter was spent surviving on apples, trying to keep up with a toddler, and saying "I can't eat this," after preparing a full meal. That pregnancy nausea is no joke. Thankfully, my appetite has returned, and I've spent the remainder of the pregnancy feeling really good. I'm craving fruit of all kinds, ice cream by the gallon, and potluck food. I can't explain it, but if it can be found at any sort of church basement gathering, I would like to eat it. Jello salads, shredded pork sandwiches, potato casseroles. Cheese platters! I could go on, and in my head I do. All the time.

We're getting close to meeting this baby soon, which means I've been nesting and fussing with the nursery, cleaning out all the cupboards and closets, and not really sleeping much anymore (and crying at the drop of a hat because of that.) The changing table drawers are stuffed full with small pastel things that my sisters' babies wore. The day my sister Liz dropped off three garbage bags full of little girl clothes was a fun one, that's for sure. I spent an entire Saturday sorting and washing it all, realizing suddenly that we didn't really need to buy a single thing for the first year of this child's life, unless we wanted to. Which we did. The little gal will be dressed mostly in hand-me-downs, with a few new goodies from friends and family and her own dear old mom and dad mixed in, and that feels pretty special. (I've gathered the links for anyone curious-- all of my favorite baby things, new and old, down below!)

I'm just a few weeks away from full-term now, so the waiting game will begin soon. Things like Braxton Hicks contractions and swollen feet are popular topics of conversation around the house. Nightly foot rub negotiations are in full swing. I'll dish up the ice cream if you turn on a show and rub my feet. There are just a few items to check off the to do list, like packing the hospital bag and settling on a name. I have yet to crack open any of my books about labor, but I'm sure that'll come soon. Until then, I'm having more fun dreaming about what this baby might look like, sound like, sleep like...Six weeks and counting!

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And now for the baby goods. Some of the very special baby things we've collected so far, both gifts, courtesy of sweet family and friends, and late-night-computer-glow splurges (you know the kind) courtesy of mom:

berry baby gown from the kind and lovely folks of Winter Water Factory
baby's first gift from momma, a little garden cap from Red Creek Handmade
the softest baby blanket from Fog Linen
dotty bloomers and a sweet teething blanket from Willaby
floral bloomers from Darling Clementine
a wooden rattle from Schoolhouse Naturals
tiny terry romper from Gap
fancy bottled belly rubs for mom, from Storq

and some hand me down favorites from the first time around:

my favorite swaddle blankets
our trusty Moses basket (ours was a gift from my sisters and this one looks very similar)
wooden hairbrush
soft, washable breastpads