One Week and One Day!

Ugh!  I just finished writing a gigantic post about how hard it's been to adjust to a new baby, and how we have no routine anymore and all is chaos.  Then I put Margot to bed, at the same time and in the same way I've put her to bed since we've been home: in her jammies, nurse her, change her, swaddle her, nurse her some more, lay her down in her crib.  I was rocking with her while she nursed and I thought, "Wow.  Everything I just wrote is completely not true!  THIS is a routine.  And it's worked so far.  It might not work tonight, but it's worked so far, and I should erase that post and start a new one."  So here you go.  Much less complaining, lots of baby pictures.  Hooray!

Margot is one day old here.  I think she already loves her big sister!

Sylvia thinks Margot is the greatest and most wonderful being on the planet. Here's proof. Sylvia is very attached to two toy trains - Thomas and Percy. She carries them all over the house, they go with her where ever she goes, and one day last week we left them at Grammy's and OH, THE DRAMA! Well, the first morning Margot was home, she was snoozing in the bassinet in the living room. Sylvia came out of her room and saw her, then ran to the bassinet and tossed Percy in at Margot's feet. "Here ya go, Margot!" she sang, and walked over to the breakfast table, where Sylvain and I sat with jaws on the floor. It was awesome.

Aww, look at me sleeping.  You thought is was me, didn't you?  Because this kid looks way more like me than the other one does.

I highly recommend marrying a teacher and having your babies at the beginning of the summer.  We have six entire weeks home together as a family of four.  There's no rush to get things organized or scheduled.  My only job is to feed this baby and get some sleep.  Sylvain takes care of everything else.  I'm in charge of Margot and he's in charge of Sylvia, but we make sure to spend plenty of time with "the other one" during the day.  Sometimes we feel like a tag team, handing each other kids and switching from two year old talk to newborn talk at the drop of a hat, but it works for now and that's all that matters.

This job would be four hundred times harder without our family around.  Mom kept Sylvia during our time in the hospital and I couldn't be more grateful.  Lots of family have come by to visit, bringing gifts or food or just a couple of open arms to hold a baby and play with a toddler.  And we get to sit back and watch, and take a little break.  I'm convinced that having Sylvain home and having just the right amount of visitors has helped ward off the "baby blues." 

Margot sleeps like a champ (knock on wood, you never know what each night will bring)!  She can go for three to four hours between feedings at night, and she always goes right back to sleep after a feeding (except for her first night in the hospital and her second night home - those were all-nighters where we partied together like rock stars)!  Once again, the sleeplessness doesn't worry me one bit, because I know that while I'm up all night, Sylvain and Sylvia are sleeping soundly and I don't have to worry about her in the morning.  No matter how rough my night may be, she gets to spend the day with her Daddy, so I don't have to feel bad about sneaking in an extra nap while Margot is napping, which she does all day long.  I think she was awake for almost 45 minutes this afternoon - a new record!

Someday I'll have a picture of her with her eyes open, I promise!

Sometimes Sylvia gets a little whiney and needs Mama's attention.  She's been in time-out a few more times than usual.  But I wonder if that's just because she's a growing two year old?  I think she's starting to understand that the baby needs me and she has to wait sometimes.  She loves to feel like she's helping and I'm starting to find good things for her to do while I nurse.  I can tell that this time of adjustment is helping her to build good character.  I know it's all part of being a sibling and it's good for her.  I get very weepy when I see them together and watch the tiny seeds of a relationship being planted.  Sylvia loves Margot so MUCH.  And I love holding them both in my lap and thinking to myself, "These are my girls!  Both of them.  With me today, gone tomorrow."  I try to soak up their smallness as often and as long as I possibly can.

The Big Sister

After Margot's grand entrance into the world, Mom went to get Sylvia from my aunt's house.  We are so blessed to have our family around to help take care of The Nugget.  I didn't have to worry about her at all yesterday, especially since my aunt's house is one of her favorite places to be.  Here's the video of Mom and Lori telling Sylvia the big news.

And here's the video that makes me all weepy.  When the girls are teenagers, and Sylvia refuses to drive her little sister somewhere, and Margot slams the door to her room and shouts, "She hates me!" I'll make her watch this.  And I'll say, "See! Your big sister loved you the minute she saw you.  Even after we all heard your first poop."

Tonight, Sylvain and I are at the hospital, preparing for a long night with our little rock star, Margot.  Girl wants nothing more than to cry and to eat!  She's sleeping at the moment, which means I'm about to get some sleep myself, if I can pull myself away from my new favorite past time - kissing her perfect little round head.  It's so soft!  It smells so good!  Looking at it just isn't enough.  I have to get close enough to soak up all that baby goodness - which is why God made kisses.

Look What We Did - Again!

I'd like you to meet our sweet girl, Margot Louise!  It's 10:00 pm on her birthday, June 21st, and I can't stop replaying her birth in my head, even when I try to close my eyes.  At the moment, she is snoozing away next to me and Sylvain and Sylvia are safe and sound at home, so now is as good a time as any to write about our story.

I knew it would be fast.  Everyone's been saying "Wow!  That was fast!"  But I promise you, every sweet second of it felt like an eternity.  I feel like today was about five days long.  At least.  But it was worth it!  Here's how it went down.

I started feeling some contractions last night before bed, just like the last few nights.  These were a little different, though.  These contractions told me "Hey!  Let's start thinking about getting this kid out, okay?  Why don't you get some sleep and we'll come get you in the middle of the night?"  I obliged, preparing for another 3 am birth.  Imagine my surprise when I woke up at 7 am by myself!  The husband didn't wake me up, because he moved to the couch when I started snoring.  Margot didn't wake me up because those contractions weren't ready to get serious yet.  Sylvia didn't wake me up either, sweet, precious, blessed girl.  I woke up at 7:00 and felt pretty darn great.  Then I got out of bed.  Different story.

I felt a contraction when I stood up, but I could handle it, no big deal.  I still wasn't sure if it was a "real" contraction, so I took a few minutes to straighten my hair and eat some breakfast.  Girl's gotta look good if she's gonna deliver a baby, right?  No sense in wasting a perfectly good morning.  Sylvia woke up at 7:30 and I went into her room to get her up.  I got her out of bed, changed her diaper, gave her breakfast and then BAM!  A contraction hit me like a freight train and said, "HA HA!  YOU'RE HAVING A BABY TODAY, WOMAN!"  I had to stop talking to Sylvia and get down on all fours, which is nothing new at our house because Sylvia watched me do it for the last 20 weeks while I was trying to get this baby up and out of my pelvis.  She ate her butterfly waffle while I breathed and "cow-catted" on the floor like a lunatic. 

I told Sylvain to pack the car and I started timing contractions.  They were about six minutes apart and they hurt like hell, so I called Mom.  She agreed to meet us on the way to the hospital to get Sylvia.  Sylvain called the doctor and they wanted me to come into the office.  I thought that was weird and I wanted to go right to the hospital, but whatever.  I decided I could have a baby just as easily in a doctor's office and it would be their own fault, so we went there first.  We met my Mom to drop off Sylvia, who still wasn't the least bit concerned or curious about all the commotion.  She was just excited that I let her wear her pajama top with a skirt and that she was going to play with Abby and Tyler, so WHO CARES if Mama is moaning and groaning in the front seat?  As we were driving to the doctor's office/hospital (they're the same place, really), I commented that it was so nice to be delivering a baby in the daylight.  This drive to the hospital was every bit as painful, but not nearly as scary as the last one.  Thank goodness.

I walked into the office at 9:45 and had to sit in the waiting room, which was hilarious because first of all, I couldn't sit, and second of all, there was a very pregnant woman there just waiting for her regular appointment, and I'm sure I scared her to death while I stood up, gripping the arms of the chair in front of me.  Finally, they put me in a room, my favorite doctor arrived, gave me an exam and declared that I was, in fact, in labor.  Duh.  Thanks, buddy.  I was 6 cm, fully effaced, zero station.  "Go to the hospital, we'll tell them you're coming," he said. 

The nurses showed us to our room and started asking all kinds of questions.  I changed into my nightgown and started pacing, but they immediately wanted to hook me up to the fetal monitors, so I had to get into the $#@**$#@#ing bed!  Here's where things get fuzzy for me, so I'll just list the parts I remember.  Maybe in two years, Sylvain will write his side of the story and it'll make more sense.

Sylvain left to get stuff out of the car.  Our doula, Anais, arrived.  Mom arrived.  I went through about four billion contractions before Sylvain came back and I thought I was going to die.

Sylvain rubbed my back, Anais talked to me and rubbed my arms, Mom watched and took pictures, but she kind of freaked out when I started screaming during contractions.

I screamed a lot.

They finally let me get up and move around, so we lifted the back of the bed upright and I knelt against it, which felt better.  Sort of.  They still hurt and I still screamed.

I cried during most contractions, and at one point I declared that this was a stupid idea and I changed my mind and GIVE ME AN EPIDURAL RIGHT NOW! No one listened to me, except my mom, who was the only person in the room who wanted the epidural as much as I did.

People kept telling me I was doing a great job and I wanted to punch all of them because what do they know?!  Except Sylvain and my mom, because they were the only ones who weren't talking to me, so I didn't get mad at them.  I thought it was strange that I didn't want anyone to talk to me, because last time that was all I wanted.  I also kept screaming and I also kept declaring that I was done, I didn't want to do it anymore, and please can I have some drugs?

My water broke.  People got excited.

At one point I looked at the clock.  It was 11:00 am.  I thought "I can do this until noon.  Then I'm quitting."

During a contraction I decided it was time to push.  Pusing seemed like a wonderful idea, but I didn't want to MOVE from my spot.  There was a lot of rushing around, and we had been waiting for a doctor who still wasn't there, and I heard one of the nurses say to another nurse that they might have to deliver the baby together.  I didn't care one bit, because I was pushing whether they wanted me to or not.

The doctor arrived.  He made me get down and turn around, so I wanted to punch him.  He examined me and gave me permission to push.  Thanks.  He stood back and watched me push from about ten feet away with his arms crossed against his chest as if to say, "You said you wanted to go natural?  Here.  I'll just stay completely out of it and we'll see how far you get."  I wanted to yell "Is anyone going to catch my baby?!!" but I was too busy screaming at the top of my lungs and pulling on a big, long, blanket that our doula gave us.

I pushed twice.  I screamed bloody murder but it felt very productive.  Sylvain's face lit up after the second one and he said, "Her head's out!"  I was very confused.

A lady got up in my face and said, "I'm Michelle.  I'm a midwife and I'm taking over while the doctor goes to deliver another baby.  You're doing a great job!"  She then coached me through the next two contractions to get the rest of the baby out.  Her voice was soothing and she was very authoritative without being pushy or mean.  I trusted her.  I immediately fell in love with her and decided to name my baby after her.  She had a nice face.

Michelle The Greatest Lady Who Ever Lived told me to put my hand on the baby's head and push against my hand. 

Margot (not Michelle, but almost) was born at 11:16 am and was put onto my chest.  When she slipped out, I felt a rush of relief and when I laid eyes on her I felt completely at peace.  She's here.  She's perfect and she's here and I'm done.  I don't have to do this anymore.  Praise God!  I looked at her in complete amazement.  She was just on the inside and is now on the outside.  A baby.  A whole baby. 

Here is where I gain back my sanity.  I held Margot while the nurses rubbed her and the midwife attended to me.  Sylvain and I stared at each other and Mom started chatting with the nurses and asked them why no one listened to me when I asked for an epidural.  The nurse said, "Well, they all say that when they're getting really close."  I assured Mom that it was okay, I didn't really want the epidural (I did) and there wasn't time to get one anyway. 

After a while, the nurses took Margot and weighed her.  6 pounds, 15 ounces!  Almost a whole pound smaller than Sylvia!  I was shocked because I thought she'd be much bigger.  Thank God she wasn't.

I suddenly remembered that I have another child who might want to meet her new sister.  Mom left to pick up Sylvia from my aunt's house.  The nurses left us alone for a couple of hours to settle down and get to know our baby girl.  Anais stayed with us for a few minutes to help us get settled.  Sylvain started making phone calls and sending texts and posting announcements.  All in all, we just sort of sat around and marvelled at the fact that we just had a baby.  Eventually, the nurses took us down to our recovery room, where we've had a few visitors and now Margot and I are resting peacefully.  Phew!   

So today, on the first day of summer, our sweet girl arrived and we couldn't have been more pleased.  I'm so glad I got a good night's rest last night.  I'm so glad Sylvain knew how to rub my back.  I'm so glad I didn't get that epidural.  I'm so glad she has all ten fingers and toes.  I've really never felt this blessed and lucky before.  Stay tuned for more posts on Sylvia's sweet introduction to her sister and Margot's insane talent for breastfeeding!  I love my sweet girls.  I'm one lucky Mama!

The Waiting Game

Oh, here we go.  I'm 39 weeks and one day pregnant!  I have no idea why my ticker says I have 35 days to go, but I promise you, I don't.  We're down to the final week and this is the point where the prospect of labor can really mess with my head.  Last time, it was just the two of us, spending every last minute enjoying our time together, but secretly, desperately wanting our baby girl to be here.  This time is similar, but a little bit different.

I'm starting to notice how easy it is to take care of Sylvia.  We can run around town together without having to pack much in a diaper bag, and most of the time, I just leave it in the car anyway.  I don't have to tote her around.  I just have to get her out of the car seat and help her get her two little feet on the ground, then we're off!  It won't be this easy again for a long time.  So, for the last few days, I've really tried to relish having one little hand around my finger, sauntering through the parking lots, cruising down the aisles at Target or Kroger or wherever we end up. 

We went out to eat tonight as a family of three and I just stared at her, chowing down on her grilled cheese sandwich, talking about Thomas and Percy and Mommy and Daddy and "Boo boo all behhhhh-ter!"  She's so much fun to listen to and so much fun to have around!  I'm really glad we get this special time together before the baby comes.  I'm SO glad we've had a few weeks to ourselves, to give Sylvia all the love and attention we can possibly pile on, before our world gets rearranged once again.

While I'm relishing these sweet little moments as a mother of one, I start to feel the baby move, or I go to put something away in her room, or I see her car seat set up and ready to go...and I get so incredibly excited!  I'm so ready to see her.  I want to know that she's okay and that she wants to be with me as much as I want to be with her.  I see a little baby in a carrier while we're out and about, and I get goosebumps thinking about having a teeny tiny one again.  It's definitely mixed with nerves - the thought of a newborn in the house still scares me to death - but I think that'll go away once I actually lay eyes on this child and see her in our house.

For the last two nights, Sylvia has gone to bed at 8:00, but she's laid there and talked herself to sleep, staying up until 9:00 or 9:30, which is INSANE!  I'm not going to do a thing about it, though, because she's slept until 8:30 in the morning, which means Sylvain and I have been getting upwards of TEN hours of sleep a night!  Can you believe that?  It's amazing how well-rested and prepared I feel right now.  I wake up every morning thinking "Today could be the day!" and I go to bed every night thinking, "Tonight could be the night!" and when it's not, it doesn't matter, because I get to hang out with Sylvia all day.  I'm much more calm and relaxed about the whole thing this time around.  If it happens tonight, great!  But if not, that's okay, too.  Because I do love being Sylvia's Mom, and I do love being pregnant.  We'll just keep waiting patiently until baby girl is good and ready!

Vacation

Obviously, we can't go anywhere for a real "vacation" this summer, but luckily, that doesn't seem to matter one bit to the Nugget!

 We spent all afternoon in the sprinkler in the front yard.  I sat in a rocking chair, in the shade, for a solid hour and she screamed and laughed and jumped and played...

...and I decided there's no way a vacation to the lake or the beach or France could ever beat this afternoon.  Ever.  It was glorious!

Last week, we took her to a sprayground.  They have these all over Louisville for free, but there are only a couple of them here, and you have to pay to get in, but we wanted to check it out.  She had a ball, of course, because she's a water bug!

We've also been to the Zoo about....four hundred times.  Sylvain's been taking her at least twice a week.  They go early in the morning and only stay for a couple of hours, which is so nice because she's not exhausted, they get to eat lunch and nap at home, and every time they go they get to see something "new" to her.  I went along last week and we're going again tomorrow, but I have a feeling this will be a Daddy-Sylvia "get out of the house" activity all summer.  They both love it!

Churtles, Mommy, Churtles!

Earlier last week, she was begging to go swimming, but it was way too cold to put on a bathing suit and I was worn out by 9 am anyway.  So, I remembered this idea I found online (thanks, Pinterest!) and I made her a fancy shmancy "waterbox!"  It's just a box of water.  And I didn't go hunting for any special toys that would help her develop all kinds of particular skills in some area or another.  I just dumped a few things from our junk drawer into the water and let her go to town!  It was a hit, and once again, all I had to do was sit in the shade and watch.  Best. Activity. Ever.

Sylvain has been VERY busy in the backyard, and here's one of his day projects from last week - our vegetable garden!  Sylvia insisted on helping.

 It's way better than our last garden because: 1. it's smaller and more managable, and 2. we were much more careful about the materials (cedar planks, landscaping fabric to keep out weeds and chemicals from the ground, and we bought good soil since our yard is at the bottom of a cul-de-sac so our yard soil is probably g.r.o.s.s.).  Last year, I couldn't really feed any of our food to Sylvia because we just used yard dirt and cheap lumber, but now I can feel pretty good about giving her what we grow.  Live and learn!

We check on it every day and we're finally starting to see some shoots and sprouts coming up.  I'm hoping Sylvia will be excited to eat the veggies that she grew herself, but we'll see.  I don't want to jinx myself here, but for the last two nights she's had multiple servings of vegetables at dinner, along with some heaping helpings of everything else on her plate!  I can't even tell you how great it feels to watch her gnaw on her fourth spear of asparagus and then ask for more!  I think she's eating well these days because we keep her so busy and she burns up so much energy.  Or maybe it's just because we're all home, and we're all cooking and eating together for almost every meal, and we're on a pretty decent schedule.  Until you-know-who arrives.......!

"No, Ig Girl!"

Sylvia is growing like a weed and developing at lightening speed these days.  I don't know if I'm just paying more attention because I'm home now, or if she's hit some sort of growth spurt, but I wanted to write down some things before I forget, and before I'm too busy to sit down and write anymore!

She is obsessed with WORDS. 

She never stops talking, from sunup to sundown.  I knew this day would come, and I thought I'd be all "Geez, kid, shut UP already!" but I'm not.  I'm the opposite.  I absolutely LOVE hearing her voice and deciphering her words.  She asks questions all day long and I love to answer them.  "Where Daddy go?"  "He's cutting the grass."  "Yeah, cut gray-us!" Then two minutes later she asks the same question and we go through the whole thing again.  Whenever she doesn't know where Sylvain is, she thinks he's cutting the grass.  Her second favorite question is "Dat, Mommy, daaat?" and I answer as matter-of-factly as I can.  "That's a bus."  "That's a dandelion."  "That's a tatoo on that man's arm."  It's not always easy and sometimes I can't answer her without laughing, but I always answer her in some way or another.  She also likes to repeat herself, especially when she's excited.  She follows the "_______, Mommy, _______!" pattern of speech most often.  Like when we're on our walks and she bends down to see a bug, then hops up and shouts at the top of her lungs while pointing at the ground, "ANT, Mommy, ANT!" or "Lay-gee bug, Mommy, Lay-gee bug!"  When she runs out of things to ask or things to talk about, she just sits by herself and starts LISTING things: people she knows, colors, places, you name it.  It's like she's a little computer, compiling a data base of information all the time!

She loves to EXPLORE. 

She wants to run everywhere she goes, but she always stops to touch something or point at something or jump over something.  The excitement with which she sees the world is astonishing.  I don't know how many times I could ever get excited about an ant, but every time she sees one, it's like Christmas morning.  She will climb on ANYTHING, which means she will fall off of EVERYTHING.  She falls down at least once a day, and we've already had an entire summer's worth of bloody knees.  Thank God for Dora Band Aids.  They're like magic.  So far she hasn't gotten herself into too much trouble.  If she runs ahead of us and goes too far, we just shout "STOP!" and she stops and waits.  She knows she has to hold our hand in a parking lot or crossing the street.  Sometimes she'll get scared of a loud noise or some unidentifiable moving thing and she'll come racing back to us, grabbing onto our leg and saying "I scay-erd, Mommy, I scay-erd."  Usually a pat on the head and a quick explanation of why she shouldn't be scared is all she needs before she's running ahead and exploring again.

She is very INDEPENDENT. 

Her two favorite phrases are "My do it!" (which is usually accompanied by snatching her clothes out of my hands and trying to dress herself) and "No want it!" (which means she doesn't want something - usually food).  She is much too busy to eat, which is driving me INSANE, but I'm dealing with it.  Watching her figure things out for herself is fascinating to me.  She's starting to figure out how to blow bubbles from a bubble wand, but she only does it right about half the time.  When she doesn't get it right, she just shouts "Oops!  Try again!" instead of crying and whining and asking for help, so I love hearing her say that!  She also likes to have pretend arguments with us.  She likes to shout, "No, MY Daddy!" and waits for me to say, "No, MY Daddy!" and we go back and forth and laugh about it together.  There are so many things that she knows how to do by herself now and sometimes I forget that I can say things like, "Put your shoes on," or "Go get your robe," or "Climb up in your seat," and she'll know exactly where to go and what to do!  It's a great feeling.

She is LOUD and proud! 

I've just recently decided that I love this.  At first I wanted quiet kids.  I wanted them to be like my husband - quiet and thoughful and serene.  Not like me - loud and obnoxious.  But I'm starting to understand that being loud isn't bad, especially when you're loud about something you feel very passionately about - like bugs, or seeing Daddy walk in the door, or making a funny joke.  Now that she's using words so well, I really love to hear her shout and sing and giggle.  It's like the greatest music I've ever heard!  And speaking of music...

She loves to SING! 

You have no idea how happy I am that she can sing by herself.  ABC's, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Frere Jaques, Edelweiss, you name it!  We sing together all day long, especially in the car and at bedtime, but she sings by herself very often, especially when she thinks I'm not listening - like when she's falling asleep or waking up from a nap.  (She also talks to her Dou-Dou Bunny about all kinds of things when she's in her crib, but lately there's been a lot of talk about the new baby.)  She also loves to dance while she sings and she usually insists that we all sing along with her.  There are some songs that she won't let anyone else sing, for example, Daddy is the only one allowed to sing Frere Jaques, even though I KNOW all the words and I pronounce them CORRECTLY, I'm still not allowed to sing it.  Go figure. 

Sometimes, she breaks my heart...

Every day for the last two years, I've asked her, "Are you my sweet baby?"  She used to say, "Yeah," or, "Sweet Baby!" or, "Mama-Silya!" but now she says...."No, IG GIRL!" for "big girl," and I get all choked up because I never taught her to say that, but it's true.  She's my big girl.  And she's getting bigger every day.  I never thought it could be this fun, or that it could possibly get any better, but it always does.  I try to explain to her that even though there's a new baby coming, and she gets to be a big sister, she'll still be my sweet baby always and forever, but she'll have none of it.  She wants to be big.  So...big she will be, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it.

Nesting

Well, it took much longer than I expected, but I FINALLY finished the baby room this week.  I just kept coming up with little things to find or make or set up, and technically I still have an empty bookshelf to take care of, but that will work itself out.  Anyway, here are a few long awaited pics!

I'm totally in love with the Blue Dusk color and white chair rail!  I found those sweet curtains and matching blanket at Ikea, which not only matched the wall color but also had lots of the coral-ish pink color I used on the dresser, so it was a no brainer...plus they were CARAZY cheap.  Sylvain rehung the curtain rod "high and wide" so the curtains could take up most of that space on the wall and make the window look bigger than it really is.  On the right side are two picture frames that just have cute cards in them from some of my showers for Sylvia, so that was free art.  The flower canvas above the crib came from The Christmas Tree Shoppe (which has nothing to do with Christmas - go figure) and it was also a heck of a deal.  I made the polka dot crib skirt out of another Ikea curtain, which took all of thirty minutes and was so easy that I made another one out of a sheet for Sylvia's room!  Then of course, there's my cherished glider/rocking chair.  Sometimes Sylvia and I climb into the rocker and talk about where the baby will sleep and what the baby will play with and what a great big sister Sylvia will be.  I love that chair so much.

Mom and I found that awesome coral colored ottoman at Burlington Coat Factory in the clearance section, and since it has a tiny tear in the back corner, she haggled them for another 10% off, or something like that - because she's a gosh darn PROFESSIONAL shopper!  It'll be the perfect spot to set my phone and my glass of water while I'm nursing, and I love that it's big enough for Sylvia to sit on and watch so she can be a part of the new baby action.  I also love anything that doubles as extra storage!  It currently houses all of the 12 month and younger toys in our house.  We'll see how long it stays that organized. 

Here's my favorite part of the whole room!

There's my coral dresser that took FOR.EV.ER to repaint, but gosh, was it worth it!  There's nothing like a $0.00 piece of furniture!  Well, I guess it cost about $30 for the paint, varnish and fixtures, but that's next to nothing these days!  I also made the ribbon mobile and I think it's pretty darn cute.  I found the mirror and tiny picture frame at Hobby Lobby, and the letter M at Babies R Us. (There's a big fat hint at the baby name for ya!  Unless I see you in person between now and then, you'll just have to wait!  Ha ha!!) I found that cute lamp at Target on clearance, but it might not stay there for long.  It'll probably find it's way to the top of the bookshelf at some point.  I'm also not crazy about the bright blue towel under the changing pad, but it works for now.  I might try to find a lighter blue one later.  OH!  And see the baby booties hanging in the picture frame?  Those are from my very first Christmas in 1981!  My Mom swears that my Grandma Neltner knitted them for me as a Christmas ornament, but Grandma insists that she did no such thing.  I don't know who to believe, but I know they are pretty stinking cute.  They've been at the very top of my Christmas tree ever since I moved out, but now they're in baby M_____'s room and that might be where they stay!

So, the baby room is fully furnished, decorated and stocked.  The dresser and closet and full of sweet girl clothes and tiny sleepers and swaddling blankets.  Our hospital bags are packed and the grandparents are on "stand by" to sweep in and take care of Sylvia when the time comes.  We have less than three weeks to our due date and I can finally say that I feel "ready!"  Not just ready, but cool, calm and collected - very much the opposite of how I felt about a month ago.  Phew!  I knew we'd make it.  Now we just have to w....a....i....t........