A dozen cute things

I am a woman in the final months of a pregnancy and, therefore, in the midst of nesting.  This particular phase comes with a heightened appreciation of all things cute.  Here is a list of a dozen very, very cute things in no particular order.

1.  All of the outfits the grandmothers have bought for Baby Girl Gensic (from now on referred to as BGG).

2.  These two sets of brown eyes.

3.  Shepherd's dance moves:

4.  BJ fretting over "stupid teenage boys like I used to be" ever getting near his daughter.  It seems like a premature concern to me, but I think it is keeping this poor daddy up at night.  This is his reasoning: he knows what to do with a son as a teenager because that is just one stupid teenage boy.  It is the legion of stupid teenage boys that lurk around teenage girls that he doesn't know how to handle.

5.  This face:

6.  BGG's coming home outfit.  I picked it out a few weeks ago, and even BJ agrees that it is cute.

7.  Shepherd signing and saying "please" with his cute little toddler's speech impediment.

8.  Newlyweds.  My brother and his gorgeous wife of almost three months will be here Saturday morning.  I can't wait to see their cuteness.

9.  Aunts playing with their nephew.  These are some picture from our weekend with my family and our week with BJ's family in early May:

10.  While it is also rather annoying, Gus crying every time Shepherd cries is kind of cute.  He has no idea how much crying is in store for him once two babies are in this house.

11.  Baby bumps.  Despite being monstrously large and feeling fat all of the time, there is just somethings cute about knowing a cute little baby is growing inside of there. 

12. BGG's hiccups.  And every little movement she makes.  This is the main thing I miss about pregnancy once it is over. 

On anticipating my daughter's arrival

The due date for the birth of my daughter is officially less than two months away.  During the final stretch of my pregnancy with Shepherd, I did several posts documenting what I was thinking.  Here are a few thoughts as I anticipate my little girl's arrival:

1. I can't believe there is going to be a little girl in this family.  Shepherd is so very, very, very all boy.  He rolls in mud.  He chases frogs.  He smells bad most of the time.  He is just a boy.  I literally cannot fathom what a girl is going to be like, but I can't wait to find out.

2. I often hear people who are having or have a daughter say that they don't like things "too girly." I say, is there any such thing as too girly. I'm pretty much up for any level of girly-ness. I figure this may be the only daughter I ever have, so bring on the pink and purple and flowers and ruffles and bows.  I can handle it.

3. I hope my second child knows that we are just as excited about her as we were about Shepherd.  Subsequent children often feel cheated somehow (although my parents never made me feel that way.)  I'm trying to do everything for her that I did for Shepherd, which mean that a baby book has been started, she has her own painting by me, I've embroidered and sewn her a Christmas stocking, and I am currently working on making her space in our bedroom very special.  Honestly, it's a lot of work.

4. The thought of loving another person the way I love Shepherd is both exciting and terrifying.  It is such an overwhelming love, it is hard to imagine what life will be like when these feelings are suddenly multiplied and flowing out to another little person.  Of course, I already feel a huge surge of love for her, but I know that her actual presence in my arms is going to be like getting hit by a train; a good, happy, lovely, mushy train, but a train none the less.

5. I'm really excited about her name.  It is nothing fancy or unusual, but it is special to me and our family.  And the shortened version of the first name is super cute for a little girl!

6. It hit me the other night as it does all pregnant women at some point that, once again, this baby is going to have to come out.  Last time, I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting into.  This time, I'm quite clear on the particulars.  I'm not sure which is worse.

7. Shepherd as big brother is going to be a sight to behold.  In fact, it will probably be beholded quite a bit on this blog, so we can all look forward to that.

8. There are many physical attributes among my family that I would get a kick out of seeing in one of my children that didn't show up in Shepherd, like my skin that freckles, my father's incredibly light blue eyes, or my brother's curly hair.  I'm very curious to see if any of these show up in our coming attraction.

9.  BJ is often thought of as a harsher personality.  This is in fact not true at all when it comes to being a husband and father.  I predict that when he holds this little girl, he will basically turn until a giant bowl of mush.

10. I'm excited to bring her to our church.  She is going to be so loved there, and any gift God has given her will be encouraged and nurtured in the best possible way.  I am so grateful God put us here for the birth of our daughter.

On that note, Shepherd just ran by the computer leaving a very pungent small in his wake.  I should go take care of that.

You know you're looking pregnant when...

I was doing my grocery shopping late last night when I had one of those moments that assured me I must really be looking pregnant.  I was on one side of aisle across from a mother, father, and their 7 year old boy.  All of the sudden, a man's voice from behind me yelled something, and the little boy went running towards the man.  Turns out, the voice belonged to the couple's much older son who was simply giving his little brother an exuberant hello.  Apparently, I was jumpy last night, because his yell startled me enough to cause me to jump.  The older brother immediately apologized for scaring me, but it was what his jokingly gruff father said while scolding his older son that made me realized just how pregnant I must be looking: "Son, if you burst that woman's water, you're mopping it up!"

Just returned

After over a week of family time, we have just returned to Ardmore.  Two Fridays ago, we headed down to Ft. Worth for a weekend with my family, and then we went to Alton, IL, last Sunday for a week with BJ's family.  We had a wonderful time, and I was fully intending on posting some pictures, but I forgot to get my camera out of the van, and BJ has the van at work this morning.  Sorry.

Suffice it to say, it has been a wonderfully relaxing and revitalizing week and a half.  It was wonderful seeing so much family, Shepherd just seems to thrive when he is around his grandparents and aunts and uncles, and BJ, Shepherd, and I had fun spending so much time together since the past couple of months have been too busy for much family time. 

I want to take a second to tell my favorite story from the week.  One day while we were in Alton, Shepherd was happily digging in the kitchen trash can when I caught him from behind in the act.  I clapped my hands three times to get his attention and said a very stern, "No!"  He immediately turned around, clapped his hands once, pointed a little chubby finger at my, and gave my a equally stern and clear, "No!"  I had a very hard time not laughing.  As Shepherd is learning more and more words, it is becoming clear to me that we are entering a very entertaining phase.

What Shepherd did yesterday

He got a toy bowl from his room, took it to the bathroom, used it to scoop water out of the toilet, and drank it.

He used tomato sauce meant for the dipping of bread sticks at lunch to paint his torso and arms.  He proceeded to try and lick it all off.

He put a running hose on top of his head and let the water absolutely soak him.

He "helped" me in my ever-going attempt to create room for a second baby by taking all of his old clothes out of their storage box and putting them on the floor of my closet.

Guess what I did yesterday: I cleaned up all the messes from everything he was doing.  I can't wait to see what he comes up with today!