Notes from Away

Life is slowly getting back to normal here. I lucked into a two-week holiday break while my husband received a 1.5 week holiday. Both sets of parents have visited during the break and we’ve done numerous visits to my husband’s family and friends. We still have a few days of rest in front of us and very little planned. 

We did do some shopping after Christmas with the focus being on the baby. My mother made curtains for the nursery and we found numerous outfits. While we were at it, we picked up items for a couple of other babies either recently arrived or soon to arrive, including our future nephew. 

My parents hit the baby jackpot with their first grandchild arriving in March and then quickly followed by grandchild #2 in May. Grandchild #1 is a boy, while grandchild #2 (aka my kid) is a girl. I don’t know if it can get any better or more interesting.

Picking a name for our child was much easier than either of us expected. We have a very, very common last name so we wanted names that weren’t too common. We also decided we did not want to use family names. We wanted our child to be entirely their own person.

At first, we just joked around with names, not expecting any of them to stick. But in doing so, my husband latched onto a boy’s name. I tagged on a middle name that related to one of our wedding readings and we were happy. 

Figuring out a girl’s name was more difficult. Maybe that is why we were hoping to have a boy. After discussing it and reading through over 1000 girls name, I had a little brainstorm. The girl’s name is an ode to my maiden name tagged with a whimsical middle name.  

In sharing the names with our family and friends, they have been equally happy with the names.  Each combination has one name with special meaning to us and one more whimsical reflecting our silly  side.

We are past the midway point of the pregnancy. Now every week really puts us that much closer to meeting our child. Some days I can’t wait, but most days, I am content to have the months in front of me.  I remember this countdown from the wedding - the days when it seemed like the wedding would never arrive and then bam, it was here and gone.  I want to enjoy these weeks, as my child and I will never be closer than now. 

Pregnancy has been a weird ride. I got lucky and barely have had any nausea or sickness. I have battled fatigue and sinusitis, but we have managed. No weird food cravings though I am loving raspberries right now. I have never eaten more in my life, but they are healthy so I indulge. The baby has been kicking and gets stronger everyday. At first it was so weird, but now it is reassuring.. kind of a “Mommy, I’m good” message. 

No clue what the next few weeks bring, but I am looking forward to it.

Over the years this blog has been many things - a blog about life in Detroit, a photo-blog, and a wedding blog. Now it will move into the next stage of life with me - mommy-hood. My husband and I will welcome our own bundle of poop and joy in May. We plan to use this blog to help keep our families, who live hundreds of miles away, up to date on the baby.  

We also will record the trials and tribulations of first time parenting. Not something new and exciting on the internet, but it will be our story, which is unique to our family. I’ve asked my husband to join me here so he can share his experience as a first time dad.

As I reworked the blog to fit it’s new life, please be patient. I may be able to get past post back but this also allows us a fresh start.