Archive Page 73

The big reveal

Published February 16, 2012 baby stuff , home improvements 4 Comments
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Although working on the nursery has been one of my favorite projects I’ve ever tackled, I’ve been more than hesitant to post pics of it  – partly because I’m having trouble capturing the space in pictures, but mostly because I keep waiting for it to be “done” before I do so. But the truth is, it’s essentially done and I’m not sure it’ll ever really be done done (as in to the point where I’m completely satisfied with it). In fact, I’m sure it won’t be — there are too many obstacles in the way, like not enough space in the area we’ve carved out for Baby Girl, the floors will never be clean enough (vinyl + winter + a sheddy Gracie = perpetually dirty floors), too many cords running around (I know: this one probably sends up a safety flag for more than a few of you) and the obstacle known generally as Kate. I keep ordering new things from Etsy to put on the walls or decide a different table needs to replace the one by the front door or I just don’t get around to putting the freshly laundered (thanks, Aaron) sheets on the crib mattress and, because I do these things, I decide the space is not ready to be photographed. But, sigh, let’s just have at it anyway, shall we?

Ok, here’s some pics to help orient yourself a bit.

Living room, before baby

Then, sometime after the holidays, we got to work on reinventing the space. Specifically, Aaron got to work putting together the Ikea bookshelves that operate as our room dividers.

The secret to a nursery in a living room

And then Aaron had the brilliant idea to put the shelves perpendicularly to the spot we had had in mind for them originally. Brills!

De facto walls from Ikea

Now, we have the living area on one side and baby space on the other. Let’s take a look at the baby space, shall we? Here goes.

View into the nursery

The crib, white dresser/changing table and rug are all from Ikea. This really helped us save a lot of money. And thanks to Baby Bargains recommendations and advice, we felt like we weren’t even cutting any corners in doing so.

Crib

Ikea dresser with Anthropologie pulls and Target storage

The space is rather narrow, but adequately long so that we are finding — as of now — we are able to fit almost everything we want to in the room. And yes, although it might not really qualify as a room for real estate purposes, it counts as a room for us. And for Baby Girl. And sometimes even Gracie seems to think it’s a room of her own.

Another view

All of the money we saved buying things from Ikea made us feel like we could buy the world’s most awesome glider. At least it’s the glider we think is the most awesome — it’s small and sharp-looking, fitting perfectly where we needed it to. Thanks so much, Rubin’s!

Super glider

In case you are wondering, that little side table was on super sale at West Elm and the lamp is from Urban Outfitters. My computer and I have been very busy the last couple of months, and the credit card has been putting in extra hours.

Etsy has been instrumental in helping me pull off all of the things I’ve wanted to … I came home yesterday to the sweetest little crocheted owl hat that I can’t wait for Baby to try out and a few days before that, I received these adorable sheep decals in the mail. I just love them.

Etsy sheep decals

We’ve also received a million and one things from the great showers our generous friends and family have thrown — from onesies to burp cloths to bedding to pacifiers to toys to books to the car seat to bouncers. Holy stuff. Where to put it all? Well, remember those bookshelves that you thought were just there to divide the room? Voila! They’ve been doing double duty as an excellent place to store all of the great things that are here waiting for Baby Sweet Potato’s arrival.

Ikea bookshelf & Target storage

Elephant lamp

I still don’t feel like the photographs capture the space in quite the right way, but you get the idea. I hope you like what we’ve done with the place.

Parents just don’t understand

Published February 9, 2012 baby stuff , bling blog 12 Comments

I assume that most of us with parents who are part of our lives still feel like a kid. At least every now and then. And some of us probably more than others, no matter how old we are. I’m beginning to think, though, that that feeling must change quite a bit once the kid because a parent. In other words, I feel like in addition to being on the cusp of my entire life changing, my entire life is going to change. If you know what I mean.

Anyway, so, as you know, I’ve been watching Felicity again — from beginning to, well, right now I’m in the midst of the third of four seasons. I had kind of forgotten how intense this show was. Rewatching the show brings me back to my college days and it all still feels so fresh and familiar – the friendships, the relationships, the classes and finals, money problems, stress, blowing things out of proportion (though maybe they’re in the exact proportion they’re supposed to be in at that age). One constant on the show in particular, though, has been on my mind more than the show’s other themes.

Parents.

On Felicity, parents aren’t just the humorous, clueless entity they are in many a show in the young adult genre, instead they are truly a force of negativity and a source of stress and problems in their children’s lives. Generally speaking, they are selfish, self-absorbed and weak.

For example, Felicity’s parents put ridiculous amounts of pressure on her to pursue medicine, attempt to micromanage her life and cut her off financially when they don’t get what they want. Then, when they finally decide to pay her tuition for college, they decide to divorce each other and place a significant portion of the stress of the separation on her. In fact, her father moves from California to New York and insists on insinuating himself in the midst of his college daughter’s new life, just as she is getting comfortable in it herself. Although I have been known to complain about my parents from time to time, I can safely say that my dad never showed up without notice in my dorm room in the middle of the day. Ben’s parents are no better. His dad is a lying, selfish alcoholic who manipulates everyone around him; his mom is a weak woman who puts up with his selfish dad until she doesn’t. Until she does again. Julie’s adoptive parents are sweet (though we don’t see them), but they are out of touch with what their (incredibly annoying) daughter is really looking for — her birth mother. Her birth parents ultimately just want to use her for their own gain, in the form of a kidney. Elena’s dad means well, but has trouble connecting with his daughter — not paying attention to her amazing accomplishments or, really, her. Megan’s parents are very nice, but have absolutely no idea who their daughter is – to such an extreme that Megan’s entire wardrobe changes when they’re around. These kids spend too much of their precious youth trying to protect their parents. And they spend too much energy trying not to disappoint their parents while attempting to finally be who they really are.

Then there is the part of the show that deals with the main characters and their contemplations on parenthood. Ruby decides to keep the fetus growing inside of her — and her parents, we are told, are supportive. Felicity declines to become an egg donor for Javier and Samuel because she is not ready to become a parent. And then there’s Ben…but I haven’t gotten to season four yet. These three, though, seem to go through a lot more soul-searching and thought about what it means to be a parent than their own parents ever exhibit themselves. Probably not a coincidence.

Anyway, my point? I don’t really know. It’s just that as I am about to enter parenthood — eeks! — my mind is full of about one hundred million questions and worries and hopes. One of them, one at the very top of my list, is my wish that I never let my little girl down in any of the ways these tv parents have let down their children. I know that there will be more times than I will care to acknowledge in which I do exactly the wrong thing. I know that part of life is sometimes feeling alone and alienated and misunderstood and that if baby girl feels these things at some point, it is normal. But I hope and hope and hope that I never ever make this baby girl feel she needs to protect me or feel she needs to hide from me who she really is. I don’t need her to tell me everything; I don’t want to be her best friend. I do, however, want her to know — and to always feel — that she is safe with me, that she is loved and that all I want is for her to be a compassionate, kind person who is quietly confident with exactly who she is.

Nesting, a visual

Published February 4, 2012 bling blog 4 Comments

Because we will obviously never again be able to get to any type of store that sells cleaning supplies, I have stocked up. I am now ready to admit I have caught a case of nesting.

Method

Lucky

Published February 2, 2012 baby stuff 2 Comments

Inspired by Kristin’s genius, I’ve been rewatching Felicity — from the pilot to, I hope, the series finale. I’m currently in the midst of the sophomore year. Because of her break-in to the campus pool, Felicity has found herself doing community service at the University’s student health clinic, which has lead her to stage a sit-in to protest the school’s policy forbidding the clinic’s distribution of the morning-after pill. This happens right on the heels of Ruby learning she is pregnant and her decision to have her baby. Not a coincidence, I realize, but it also doesn’t feel as convenient and contrived as it sounds. When Ruby learns she is pregnant, she begins to cry and I cried along with her. It is heartbreaking to see a woman — just barely out of girlhood — have to face something as life-altering, daunting and confusing as finding herself pregnant with an unplanned, and unwanted, baby.

Anyway, watching these episodes of Felicity has provoked me to write about something I have thought of frequently since I found out I am pregnant: I am so lucky.

I am so very grateful for a million things, as I hope I make clear, but I truly wish I could thank all of the medical professionals and political advocates who have come before me — and continue to fight to make safer, better and more accessible medicine — who have made my access to birth control so easy. I think often about how limited in their choices women used to be — like, say, the choice between a relationship and an education — and it can easily bring me to tears when I think of how lucky I have been not to have had to make those choices, or how difficult it must have been for other women faced with such a choice. When I went to college, it was easy to get birth control from the student health center. Yes, the morning-after pill was not as easy to come by as it is today, but it was still available. The pill and condoms were abundant and I never felt there was any judgment over birth control options. During my junior year in college, a friend of mine had a scare and we walked right over to Planned Parenthood on East Mifflin Street for a free test. While the scare was real, though ultimately unfounded, the solutions were easy to access.

I grew up in a time, and with a family, in which I always knew I had options and support. It breaks my heart to think that there are women all over the world who don’t have either of those two things.

My real point, though, is that I never forget how very lucky I am that I was able to get pregnant when I wanted to. I mean, we were able to make a real, actual choice. I know we didn’t have control over whether we conceived, but we could choose — and did choose — to try. And I think that’s just amazing. I wish that for everyone. I try very hard never to take it for granted that I am so damn lucky to have been able to get pregnant on my own terms.

(A few of my) favorite things

Published January 31, 2012 baby stuff , bling blog 2 Comments
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I think it’s high time for a visual post. I think I’ve been too wordy and boring with these posts. So here are some pics. They aren’t very exciting pictures, but I’d like to share a few of things that have helped me along in my pregnancy.

My hero, Aaron

Aaron has been a total trooper. He has done a million things that I’ve asked of him and a million more without me even asking. I can’t imagine going through any of this without him — and I don’t want to.

Gracie

There are not words to express how great Gracie has been. She comes to my side (or, more accurately, my belly) every time I cry after a bad day or have a mini breakdown, worrying about how everything will get done. She sleeps beside me at night and cheers me by bringing me a toy every morning. She is truly the greatest.

Body pillow

In November, my friend Andra gave me her pregnancy pillow, which was a Boppy Total Body pillow. The Boppy preggers pillow has quite a unique shape; it’s sort of serpentine with two differently-shaped pillows on each side connected by a very thin, long layer of pillow. If that makes any sense at all. Anyway, within hours of Andra giving me the pillow, I took just about the best nap of my life. I hadn’t slept that well in months. But something strange happened…as I worked my way into the third trimester, the pillow’s magic started to wane. I panicked a little, rearranged other pillows, tried flipping the pillow ends, tried wrapping the pillow all around me…Nothing seemed to work. I was uncomfortable again and there seemed to be no good solution. Until I bought the above-pictured body pillow from The Company Store. Cue music. Hallelujah! Heaven. I had had an excellent prenatal massage the day after my birthday and the masseuse had me use a similar body pillow. I felt like I could have fallen asleep on the table. After the massage, and an excellent lunch at La Baguette, Aaron and I popped in The Company Store to find a gargantuan body pillow on super sale. We bought it, took it home and I again had one of the best naps of my life. I don’t really know what to attribute the new comfort to, except maybe how much larger this pillow is and how it’s not been beaten down by my pregnancy body so it’s still fluffy and big. Whatever the case, I love this pillow.

Prenatal yoga

Prenatal yoga has been dreamy. I don’t always want to go, and sometimes I just do it from a DVD at home, but whenever I am done with it, I feel so much better. I know that everyone says that, but it’s true. It’s not pretty to watch my form (even calling it ‘my form’ is a stretch –  pun intended), but I feel relaxed and looser after I do it. I just recently read an article in the New York Times Magazine about just how dangerous yoga can be. Of course, the article seemed to highlight moves involving headstands and crazy neck-stressing moves, and not the cat/cow poses I love so much, or the squats that hurt and the pelvic moves that help alleviate pain, so I don’t think I have much to worry about on that front. My hope is to do some postnatal yoga, as well.

Cupcake

This gorgeous cupcake was served at the Great Roe/Lund Baby Shower that was held last Sunday and it was even more delicious than it looks. I haven’t eaten a lot of cupcakes while pregnant, but I have eaten many more sweets than I would usually. I’m not sure if I have an actual increase in craving sweets, or it’s just that I let myself have cookies and ice cream far more frequently than I ever did when I wasn’t pregnant. In either event, though, I have enjoyed the sweet treats I’ve had. Yum.

Maps

Etsy. And Pinterest. Both of these sites have given me countless ideas for the nursery, and the rest of our house, and have made me feel more organized and less stressed about cute-ify-ing everything. I bought four of these maps off of Etsy and put them up in the dining area, replacing some ad hoc hangings we had there previously. The two maps shown are Madison and London (not shown, Florence & Rome). I just love the way they look — they have brought a crisp, clean look to a wall that had been really annoying me. I believe buying things like this fits in the category pregnancy-watchers like to call ‘nesting.’

Nursery corner

Decorating our make-shift nursery has been mostly super fun. Here is a picture of a lamp I love (bought from Urban Outfitters), a great radio my mom and Severa got me for Christmas, an adorable rattle from Land of Nod, courtesy of the awesome Tammy, and unbelievably cute mini-Chuck Taylors from Maggie (she had them sit atop the diaper cake she made us for the aforementioned shower). Oh! And a table from West Elm that was almost half-off with free shipping. Although we are limited on space, I think we have done well with what we have. I can’t wait to show you more pics. And that chair that you see in the pic? That’s just a glider placeholder — don’t worry, I will tell you the second the glider arrives.

Olivia and her tooth

This is a picture of my cousin Olivia, who was one of the greatest shower guests ever, helping us open all of the presents we were so lucky to receive. But I mean for the picture to represent my family in general because they have been indispensable and unparalleled in their love and support. We are so very, very lucky.

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