Friends and Coworkers Baby Shower, Awesome Part Deux

my coworkers/good friends threw me another amazing baby shower this weekend. it was great. so much fun. the food was amazing. the games were great- the host had everyone bring a baby pic of themselves and we had to guess who was who. harder than you'd think! and then, because robb and i are weird people and have been addicted to this internet cartoon for many years and have always secretly-not-so-secretly wanted a baby dragon themed nursery...we had everyone create their own baby dragons out of scrapbooking supplies and stuff. and then i voted on the winner, which will be framed and go on the nursery wall. see below.


homemade beautiful blankets from two of my lovely girls. gorgeous! and so soft. baby's first bath robe for those casual times...


white noise generating stuffed animals, cool tactile books, fun monster bib...



lots of good friends and good times. (not to mention many, many other gifts- so much baby merch! we're well prepared for a fleet of babies now).



some examples of baby dragons that people made. so many awesome ones. might have to frame a few.


and the winner!!

Baby Shower, Family and Old Friends

monkey (accompanied by monkey mouth), cow outfit that all kids need, homemade blankie from aunt,


hark! a vagrant's fat pony family ensemble, more excellent toys, cool picture pillow from other aunt,


handcrafted kid's stool/chair from grandpa Z, beautiful cake from brilliant pastry chef (with woodworker in background)


grover bag full of awesome books, movies and more and more of cake and cake topper- how cool is that?


....shower was totally fun and i don't know what i was worried about. i didn't feel too completely on the spot and we didn't get bombarded with weird advice or criticized for our child rearing decisions or any of it. it was just wonderful and fun, full of people who love us and want nothing but the best for us. and robb was a trouper. also our dads and some other sundry male folks playing bar tenders and chauffeurs and such. i thought it was nice to have a 'mixed crowd.'

and you should see the pile of LOOT! holy cow. this baby is spoiled already!

Nail On Head

read this article, especially anyone with a history of miscarriages or who is struggling with their pregnancy weight/body changes. so good!

One Step at A Time

so, as i've mentioned before, i am one of 5 pregnant coworkers right now. actually, that's just in our little immediate PA department, there are 3 or 4 more others department wide.

and i've been feeling on the outside of their happy little pregnancy chat circle this whole time and haven't been able to put my finger on why that is. i'm even bitter and annoyed sometimes at the constant discussion of baby products and planning.

and these feelings bother me, because these are good friends of mine and i don't like feeling disconnected or grouchy towards them. it also makes me wonder if there's something wrong with me and i just have an inability to heal and be happy or something.

but yesterday this apt little metaphor occurred to me...

it's like we're all running our first marathon. but this is my third attempt at it. i started my marathon training over 2 years ago and found that i had asthma and bunions, so running wasn't easy for me. but i eventually did start the race. and when i did, i fell and broke my leg on mile 8. after i healed, i didn't want to, but i got back up and started training again, (bandaged the bunions and grabbed my inhalers). i plunged into my second attempt and was feeling great until about mile 6 when i got mugged and stabbed in the aorta. that was a real bloody mess, so it took a while to recover from that one. but despite all these injuries and misfortunes, i REALLY wanted to finish a freaking marathon. so i started training again and am currently running my third attempted marathon. i am on about mile 20 out of 26. and i feel really good, and am extremely grateful that i haven't fallen or been stabbed in a major vessel or anything. but i am also just extremely focused on getting to that finish line. i have to finish. i am watching the pavement in front of me and i don't see or hear anything else. i have to finish.

and then there's my running buddies (my coworkers) who, for the most part, decided they were going to run a marathon. trained briefly for the marathon, and then ran the marathon. and they're doing great. have no reason to believe they won't finish. and are concerned with things like matching their running shorts to their shoes. and whether or not their husband will be in the right spot to take their picture as they pass by him on the course.

i think i'm envious of this freedom, this ease, this simple joy. i hope i'm not taking it out on them or anything. i'll have to watch for that.

but i am also grateful for my own battle. i know how sweet it will be to cross that finish line. how much the photo at the end will mark my struggle, my pain, my drive to finally finish it, holes and scars and all. how triumphant and amazing and blessed i will feel.

i just had to share that, because i wouldn't be at all surprised if my cohorts in this miscarriage club have felt something of the same.

you're not alone.

'Taint the Sac and 'Taint the Bumhole; An Interesting New Development in Male Infertility

cnnhealth: "Guys Are Right, Size Matters"

but apparently it's not about dong length/girth and delivering spermies to the cervix, it's the number of spermies in the first place.

and guess where said spermies reside?

my questions: who first thought to measure this? and, if we have a boy, you're telling me now that i have to worry about my shower curtain effecting his taint length?

good Lord.

They DO Allow Cupcakes in the Delivery Rooms. So That's Good.

so, we went on a tour today of the labor & delivery unit and the postpartum mother/bebe rooms we will be using when i hatch at our local chosen hospital.

i've been there before both as a PA student and in a nearby wing, when i was a patient that fateful august stay 2 years ago. so i'm a little familiar, but i still wanted robb to see it in its entirety and to have a happy, normal reason to go.

and it was a great experience. as expected, everything was clean and organized and the staff was all incredibly friendly. it was all very positive and encouraging and i feel pretty excited to get there and get 'er done, when the time comes.

in other news, i've been a total emotional mess this weekend. raging while driving just because i was still deep in the suburbs and just impatient to get home, crying in church, yelling at the robb, etc, etc. all over the map. most of it is hormones, i'm sure. part of it is that we're having our lower floor painted in preparation to move bedrooms around and this project that was supposed to be done thursday is still in process, now sunday, with us unable to use most of our house. so i feel claustrophobic and inert. we're all cloistered upstairs in one big guest room which was fun for a while, but has gotten really old since.

and i'm letting the stress of everything get to me. so many decisions yet to make, things to still line up, questions to answer...plus my body is less and less recognizable every day. hairy in places i can't see or tame, expanding in strange and uncomfortable ways (like, seriously, have you ever seen an areola the size of a dinner plate? i have), etc, etc.

and i'm in this weird head space where the some 9 1/2 weeks i have left seems both like an eternity and like not nearly enough time.

gargh!

Falling In Love All Over Again

lying in bed, listening to the rain outside (meaning it's officially springtime!)... robb's big furry head down on my belly telling the baby all the things we're going to do for fun when it comes out...

"and then we'll go to the DIA a lot and the circus and a lot of tiger games and michigan state games and the zoo, like ALL the time, and we'll probably see the globetrotters at some point..."

i'm giggling helplessly and the baby, though unable to respond verbally, is using fists of fury to express itself. it does seem to go into turbo mode when robb's voice is around.

and that's pretty cool.