Baby, Life, Me...

According to the calendar, I am just over halfway through my pregnancy. I no longer look like I've just been spending time at the donut table, but actually look pregnant. I can feel Baby Brady kicking, and moving and doing all sorts of ballet. And I am having moments of sheer an utter panic that then morph into an odd calmness and excitment. And then back to panic.

So my days go on, and life goes on. I go to work, and while the dreaded "pregnancy brain" is making me occasionally spacey, I've been pretty good at keeping on top of things. Although I have reached the point of feeling a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be done in preperation for maternity leave. Especially because I'm learning there are some things that come second nature to me, that no-one else in the office can do. I don't mean that in a snobby way, it's just there are some things that I've learned over the years, on the technical side, that others haven't had to do.

Looking at what the next few months (and years) will bring, I'm happy. And determined. Determined to to enjoy it, to find things that are wonderful, joyous and blissful. And to celebrate the ups, downs and inbetweens.

Nesting, or how to annoy the husband...

It's time. Time to start getting the nursery ready. Besides the overwhelming day of registering, and a few things coming into the house, we haven't really been prepping the home life for our little girl. Partially because we've been busy, partially because we've been trying to not get too caught up in the baby and still enjoy each other, but whatever the reason has been, we've been keeping the nesting to a minimum.

Till today. I woke up, the weather was cool, I had a full day ahead of me with no plans other than some work and food shopping, and an urge to get things moving. So by the time the dear husband woke up up, I had drafted our new floor plans, moved furniture and boxes into the living room and had the cats cowering in the corner with the "she's a crazy woman" stare. It's starting to come together, and now with the crib assembled and the bookcases removed, I can actually start envisioning what the room will look like.

And the nesting begins.....

It's a girl!

Yes. We decided we wanted to know if we were pink or blue, so we did. And like the 6 of the other 8 babies in the S. clan, it's a girl. Which totally suprised us. I would have laid money on a boy, only because we had the girls name all picked out. But a boy, well the Seamus/Liam/Sean argument was still raging. Whereas a girl we were happily agreeing on a nice Irish name for her.

So are we happy? Yes. Is Jack already panicking about her being 13. Yes? Is he already making plans that whatever house we live in MUST have a second bathroom? Yes. And am I excited about the pink tulle skirt and black leather vest I saw in the store? Yes. It's all very exciting, and as I've begun feeling the flutters and kicks, it's all becoming very real.

Scents and Sensibility

For those who don’t know, one of the “side effects” of pregnancy for some women is a superhero type sense of smell. Which on days that I’m baking cinnamon rolls, or sauteing onions and garlic, is really awesome. But on days where you are driving down the turnpike, and smells of rotting food waft your way from the garbage truck that is a few trucks ahead, you begin to wish that you could shut down. It kinda brings the morning sickness feeling back all over again.

Guess who's having a baby?

We did it. We outed ourselves finally. We shared the news in person with the last remaining friends in our inner circle and then the facebook announcement went up. After I tried to find a clever way to say it. I don’t know if I succeeded, but I like to think I did. And so, the world can start preparing for the little hellion that will be joining us.