Baby Steps to Mom

Voting time!

Sorry for the lack of blogs lately- I've been plugging away at No Strings and spent the whole weekend away from home, so I haven't been around to post anything exciting. The good news is that we have our name submissions up for a vote, so select and submit your favorite and on Friday we'll finally have a nickname to last us 'til the real thing hits!

Nickname that baby!

My clever hubby came up with a form where our readers can submit nickname ideas for our currently unnamed child. Once we receive enough submissions, we'll be putting them up for a vote for everyone's favorite. They can be weird, wild, crazy, normal, cute, pretty, whatever! Just nothing obscene or inappropriate, please- those won't count :) Submit your ideas and we'll have a "name" to tide everyone over 'til January.

Special thanks to Alison for the nickname idea.

Aches and rain.

I've noticed the past couple of days that my right wrist has been hurting, like I strained it or something. My first thought was carpal tunnel syndrome, which apparently likes to rear its ugly head during pregnancy for various reasons- mostly because your body is swelling in all kinds of odd places, LIKE YOUR WRISTS.

...?

I'm not sure the pain I'm experiencing necessarily fits the symptoms of CTS, but it sure does hurt. I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing that will go away in a couple of days, otherwise I'm in trouble.

In other news, I get my sewing machine this weekend! YES. I glanced at it briefly when we moved Amma into her apartment a couple of weeks ago, and it is safe to say that I am going to need a semester-long three-credit course just to learn how to use the thing, but once I do, no one can stop me from the projects I'm gonna tackle. I've had piles of fabric sitting around waiting for this moment... It will be glorious. I am so thankful for such a generous grandma who saved some pretty amazing items to give to my mom and me after her journey out west :)

Still narrowing down names... and I fully plan to return that baby name book I purchased last week. When, between you and your husband, only ten names are worthy of consideration, it might be time to check out other resources. Either that, or change your last name to something that doesn't rhyme with pretty much every girl name out there... hahaha. Because we totally have that problem. In spite of that, we have narrowed it down to some truly beautiful names and we are having a rough time choosing only one. For the record, the "psychic name," as I like to call it, is still way up there on the list. Now the question is whether I can keep it a secret or not... because once we know what her name will be, it will be nearly impossible for me to keep it in!

And finally, it's RAINING!! Woo hoo! If you have spent any longer than a year living in Arizona, you would know that rain is worthy of a parade-style celebration when it actually happens. It's happening big time right now and I would love to go frolic down the street reveling in its glory, but the lighting and thunder are keeping those impulses at bay... for now, at least. THIS IS EXCITING STUFF, PEOPLE.

Perhaps my wrist pain is a weather predictor? Here's hoping...

The Two Ns.

Names and nurseries.

After a post-ultrasound celebratory brunch at Cracker Barrel (yeah, we're redneck like that), Cody went off to work and I went straight to Target to scout out their baby name books. I left with The Complete Book of Baby Names: The Most Names (100,001+), Most Unique Names, Most Idea-Generating Lists (600+) and the Most Help to Find the Perfect Name and went straight to work reading through all the lists, names and definitions, and have come up with a list of... eight names. And I'm all the way through the letter "O" right now. If there are 100,001+ names in this book, half of which are girl names, and I am more than halfway through the alphabet and have only come up with eight names... either the book stinks or I am incredulously picky.

The funny thing is, as I flipped through the pages while lying in bed the other night while Cody was trying to drift off to sleep (not something that was going to happen with a wife full of name ideas at his side), one name in particular popped randomly into my head, one that fit perfectly with the middle name we both like, and I asked him what he thought of it. His response: "I thought of that name earlier too. I like it."

Oh really?

"Like, this same name? Randomly popped into your head? Because I'm not even in the right section of this book to come across it right now. I just thought of it out of nowhere. And you did too? What do you think that means? Is it a SIGN from GOD? IS THIS OUR DAUGHTER'S NAME?!!!"

"Perhaps. Weird, I know. I like it. Going to sleep now..."

So the same name randomly pops into both of our heads and we both like it? What are the odds? Of course I wanted to analyze this at midnight the night before a maddeningly early morning for my husband, but I decided to spare him and turned out the light after a few extra minutes of searching. There were some cute names I made note of, but the whole time, that one name kept ringing in my head.

And no, it's not on our preliminary name list. I think the only way we would revert back to that is if I give birth, and a boy pops out.

And no, we're not telling you the name. For now, anyway.

Second on my list: the nursery. My whole life, I always vowed that if I was having a girl, I would NEVER be The Pink Mom. Pink is dumb! Pink is so cliche! Pink is for sissies! Pink Moms are SO ANNOYING!

Well, guess what. I am now The Pink Mom I swore I'd never be.

I am having visions of ever-so-pale pink walls, white lace, bird decorations (kinda trendy but I dig it), fresh flowers in mason jars, splashes of green and yellow, crocheted blankets, fluffy pillows... I know, I'm already getting completely ridiculous. As much as I wanted to be the mom who would do something different when it comes to her children's decor, I am a total sucker for pink. Not just any pink, though: it has to be pale pink. Bright colors have to be done just so in order for me to consider going there. My parents painted my room Pepto-Bismol pink when I was a kid, and looking back now, I'm not sure how my head didn't spontaneously combust. But I'm sure that it was a good idea at the time, given that it was the early 80s, and so many things were acceptable in the 80s that should simply never be mentioned EVER AGAIN.

I'm currently scouting the blogosphere for nursery ideas and would love to hear your favorites. So far I'm a big fan of Making It Lovely, The Lovely Little Things, and Craftynest. They aren't nursery/baby specific but have some great ideas. I love to be creative, and get some really great ideas in my head, but sometimes putting the ideas to paper or into existence requires some tactile inspiration that I have to see in order to fully realize my own visions. Shoot me some of your favorites and I will get this show on the road!

And finally, I can hardly stand another second of living without my new sewing machine, courtesy of Amma. I want to have craft days with my mom and grandma with all three of our sewing machines zipping along, making some of the cutest little girlie items ever for the fourth generation in the room. Oh, and perhaps a fancy new camera with which to document our adventures and finds- one of these days, anyway. For now, my ghetto Canon Elph with the broken, taped on battery case cover will have to suffice.