Constant Beginnings

Wow, it seems as if all I have been writing about lately are the gifts that we have been receiving. This is another one of those posts. I cannot say it enough of how many wonderfully generous people we have in our lives. Chris, Claire and I are truly blessed. Mark & April, long-time friends, gave us the Baby Einstein Blocks, Swaddler and a $50 gift card to Target. Way too much, but we look forward to using each item. Hopefully the Swaddler will keep her nice and warm, which will result in LONG, SLEEPING EPISODES!! The pink baby outfit to the above right was given to us by Donna, who is our technology coordinator at school. Again, a very generous person. She already contributed to my baby shower earlier last week! Finally, the two brightly colored outfits below were sent from Kelly and Bekah, Chris' sister and our niece. They are certainly cute. I am sure Claire will look beach ready in each of them.

As a young child growing up, one thing was always with me--my train quilt. I took it everywhere and slept with it every night. It was a special blanket made by my Mom. In fact, years later when it was taken out of the closet, the use was evident. The poor train blanket was basically a shredded mess. It definitely told a story of how many wonderful experiences we've had together. No matter how worn it is, it is a permanent memory of my childhood and a valued gift from someone I love. That tradition has been passed down to Claire. My Mom arrived earlier this week with a beautiful quilt for Claire. The hours of time and patience is evident in it's intricate design. It is made of soft pastel flannels and beautiful diamond shapes. She will love it. I know she and her quilt will have many wonderful memories together and eventually, the wear and tear will be just as evident with hers as it was with mine. Most importantly, those memories will be surrounded by the love that went i...

Nesting is supposedly a common phase of pregnancy. I have already gone through our closets, so life is pretty much together. Chris and I decided to take further action when a brief moment of insanity came over us. We began to demo our upstairs bathroom. Chris did most of the work, chipping away the tile in the shower and floor, but I managed to take down a few tiles for fun. The before, during and after pictures are posted above. Behind the tile was some mold in the shower. We are thankful that this craziness has taken us over due to the health hazards associated with mold. Thankfully, it has been removed and the rebuilding process has begun. Chris is hoping for another 3 weeks before Claire comes to allow him time to finish the job. I was hoping to have the project finished in a week, so my Mom could see the final result, but that isn't going to happen. She and her friend, Karen are coming tomorrow, so it may be interesting sharing 1 bathroom with four people. We are looking...

The cute Pottery Barn frog towel with matching frog washcloth & the soft lamb were given to us by Judy, who is the Early Childhood Coordinator. The soft blanket was knitted by and given to us by Bobby, who is a special education assistant. The baby towel pictured below is from Fritz & Gigi, which is an upscale children's store in Concord. It was given to us by Peggy, who is a speech pathologist at the elementary school. All in all, people have been so kind to us. We truly feel blessed.

My friend, Julie, went crazy. She donated money to the special education staff present, in addition to a gift basket. In the basket was a bib, Carter's outfit, picture frame, scrapbook, 2 hardcovered books, blanket, baby, elephant bank, and bath gels. Maryellen also gave to the special ed. gift in addition to giving 2 outfits and the "It's A Girl" flower. The special education staff-Maryellen, Julie, Denise, Trisha, Donna, Beth, Holly, & Fern--gave me a $75 gift card to Bella Sante, which is a spa in Boston and Lexington. I am quite excited to receive a bit of pampering.Lastly pictured is a picture frame from my student, Joshua. Everyone has really overwhelmed us with their generosity. They are wonderful!

On Tuesday, I encountered the most shocking experience of my life. I am typically a person who knows what will happen prior to it happening. This includes Christmas, birthdays, everything. Only once in my life has this not been the case and it was fittingly, our engagement. However, #2 happened this week. I was asked weeks earlier to meet with our reading specialists after school to discuss phonemic awareness. I agreed and sat down with these wonderful ladies, began talking about phonemic awareness, but then our conversation shifted to software. We had to move into Robin's room to look at her computer. When I entered the room, approximately 15 of my colleagues were there--for my BABY SHOWER!! It was such a lovely surprise. I knew I worked with wonderful people, but I hadn't realized their generosity and kindness until then. Pictured above is a bath toy from our birth instructor, Janice. To the right of that is a "Bundle Me," and two outfits from The Rugged Bear, ...

Birth classes have begun. Actually, we had our second of three classes last night. This is what we learned.... 1. ) Contractions will get "stronger, last longer, and less time between". (Tired of hearing that.) 2.) Births are disgusting to watch, over and over again. 3.) Drugs are great. 4.) Survive birth by drugs and/or breathing, hence the ha ha ha ha, ah choo, ah choo! 5.) I am the queen of relaxation. Name the body part and I'll relax it for you. We have a private certified teacher coming to our home for the classes ($180), which has it's advantages and disadvantages. We enjoy the idea of learning in the comforts of our home, but as one of my friends said, there is some satisfaction in looking like a beached whale, & puffing for dear life in numbers. I would have to agree. Chris and I laughed several times. I am sure she thought we are two immature idiots who should not be having a child. However, I am certainly not a huge supporter of the visualization techni...

FYI: I include the prices of each item for Claire so that we have a record of what things cost. I am using this as a scrapbook too.

It is hard to believe that we are finally at this point....6 more weeks of waiting! I feel like a blimp, but other than that, everything is great. I have lots of energy, sleep pretty well and feel good, despite the 90 degree temps. I have had some swelling. As a result I was unable to wear my wedding ring to school yesterday. It felt akward. Chris and I went on a shopping spree of sorts. We purchased a pack and play ($129.99), diapers ($21.99/90 diapers), wipes ($1.99), a baby bjorn, which we later returned as Lisa said we could use their's, pacifiers ($2.99), burp cloths ($9.99/10), and some baby socks. Chris put together the pack and play, which is pictured above. I hung up the curtains, which I purchased from Pottery Barn ($22.00/curtain). All in all, we are ready for Claire. We have a lady coming over for our private birth class this week. We will meet with her 3 times for 2 hour sessions. Hopefully it isn't too eye-opening. The first picture is of a covered bridge i...