Spoon (Wo)Man

The count for today, so far:

Number of pees taken mid diaper change: 2

Number of sneezes while mid diaper change which caused pooh to shoot across the room: 1

Sorry about the stains on your fabulous design, mom.  

Need a laugh, or just a small smile?  Me too, so let's watch this together.  It's better if you do a little dance too. 

I'm taking up a new hobby.  Studies show parents who maintain their hobbies are happier than those who don't.

Shelby

She's Here!

And I was wrong!  Our little bundle has arrived wrapped by the stork in a pink blanket rather than a blue one.  Don't fault my mothers' intuition for my mistaken prediction of male offspring - these things take time to develop.  And news travels fast!  Do you think the 151 page views on the day of our girl's arrival is coincidence? Me thinks not!  Sorry not to have updated you sooner, but I've been fairly pre-occupied.  Besides, the media have taken care of updating you for me.  

You can read about our little celebrity here, here, there, over here, and also there. And much like Beyonce and Jay-Z's little arrival caused some name confusion at first (was it Ivy Blue or Blue Ivy?) the media has once again reported a baby name with some inaccuracies.  So let me set the record straight as I know this detail matters much to the world out there.  Allow me to introduce Gracie Marlowe (not Marlo or Marlow) Quinlan.  Born at 10:24 am on May 5th, weighing in at a somewhat hefty 8 lbs 2 ozs.

Tonight's another big game for proud papa Quinlan, so keep your fingers crossed out there.
Go Rush, go!
Shelby

Nursery Sources

And now, in case you have some nursery decorating of your own to do but don't have a mother who will do it for you (I don't know how you survive, you poor thing), here are the sources for all of the finds from our lovingly designed room.

First up, the wall decal, the only thing in the room I had anything to do with.When this room was the guest room, we had one branch (the lower one on the left) on the wall anchored by a bookshelf.  We had purchased the branch at our local Rona.  When we took the bookshelf out of the room, the branch was lonely, floating in the middle of the wall.  So my mom came up with the idea to turn it into the tree of life.  I took to Etsy to find someone who could custom design a tree around our existing branch, and Wilson Graphics was up to the challenge.  After sending many pictures and measurements, they designed this beautiful tree for us.  See how it even wraps around the corner on the right?  I just love how it turned out!

This unbearably cute lamp came from Home Sense.  After I bought the elephant piggy bank (which came from Indigo online) on the dresser below, my mom wanted to incorporate some other jungle animals, and this fit the theme perfectly.

I love the shapely legs and the pulls on this dresser that came from Ikea. Unfortunately for you, it is discontinued.  The Q in the window, the yellow hippo book ends, and the white tray all came from Home Sense.  The sheer curtains, curtain rod, and all of the fabrics for the bedding and chair came from Fabricland, and were sewn by my mom (alas I cannot sew on a button).

The crib and change table were hand me downs, having housed my younger sister in her babyhood, then used by my niece and nephew in more recent years.  They're made by Stork Craft, a company still in the baby furniture biz.  The chair is the best find in the whole room, in my opinion.  My mom found it at Home Sense for, are you ready?  30 dollars!  It was on clearance, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with it, except that the fabric didn't match our room.  The price and the size (you can see we don't have a lot of room to work with) meant my mom couldn't turn it down, and spent several torturous hours recovering it by hand.  The storage baskets on the change table came from Ikea as well.

Isn't it gorgeous though?  I love, love, love the nail head detail.

The rug was another Home Sense find, and it was the only thing I got to see before the room was put together.  My mom wanted to make sure I would like the rug because it would give the room the vintage French nursery feel she was going for. And . . . I didn't love it when she showed it to me!  It just seemed so grown up for a baby's room!  But she explained more of the vision, and of course I trusted her.  I knew I didn't want a room with a total kid-like feel (no Disney characters for me) so the rug stayed, and of course I love the results.

The drum light was from Home Sense again and it was another steal at 13 dollars! Since Home Sense can be hit or miss (in that no two stores have exactly the same stock, and what you see one day could be gone the next) it took several trips to many Home Sense stores in our city and even down highway 2 in Calgary to find this light.  But it was worth it! 

The art work are a set of oversized counting cards that my mom found at Home Sense.  Because of the aforementioned difficulties in shopping at Home Sense, you should know that these cards can also be found at Chapters and Indigo.  When I looked online, I saw that they even have different sets featuring different animals. My mom framed them with white frames from Ikea to turn them into the room's art work.
And there you have it!  
Guess what?  Today marks my 80th blog post!  An odd milestone, but a milestone nonetheless.  It's also the bébé's due date, but I need all you readers to keep your fingers crossed that labour holds off until late tomorrow evening at the earliest to Jimmy can make it home!  And it wouldn't hurt if you sent winning thoughts to Jimmy's team as they play their first play off game.
Much appreciated,
Shelby

The Pay Off

Well, it turns out whining via internet pays off.  A lovely friend took pity on me after my moaning and groaning as seen here, and delivered the most thoughtful of gifts. Knowing how I love Pinocchio's Royal Vanilla ice cream, she made a special delivery complete with blackberries and a trashy magazine.  What more could I ask for, really?  The blackberries are long gone, so I've moved on to strawberries and bananas, with a little chocolate sauce I had in the fridge for just such an occasion.

Healthy, right?

No wonder this baby isn't in a hurry to go anywhere.  He or she knows that there will be no ice cream for them on the outside.  

Shelby

The Big One

Today is my dad's birthday.  And it's a big one.  I'm sure he'll be ecstatic that I'm mentioning not only him, but making vague reference to his age, so let me bolster his ego with this:
Last week my sister and I were getting pedicures for her birthday, and my dad stopped by to bring birthday smoothies.  After he left and we were discussing our appreciation for our dad, the esthetician said to me, "Your dad?!  I thought he was your husband!".  And that is not the first time such a mistake has been made. Yikes!

Unfortunately it doesn't look like he will be sharing his birthday with the newest grandchild to hit the block.  Sigh.   Oh well.  Happy birthday dad!
Speaking of husbands (it was two paragraphs back - try to keep up!) my real husband has been very sweet as my grouchiness clouds up our house waiting for peanut to arrive.  But there were a couple gems from a few weeks back I thought worthy of sharing.
In regards to his inability to attend our prenatal class during which we'd learn infant CPR:
"It's just two fingers, right?"
When I asked if I should contact the trainer who works on the bench if I go into labour while he's playing out of town:
"Yeah, because that would help me play real well!" 
We have since worked out a plan that satisfies all parties involved - worry not!  And know that he always says things with the intent to tease.  We're both sweating a little bit over the fact that the bébé may decide to arrive on the scene while he's out of town.  It would make a good story, and blog post I guess . . .
Shelby

Mall Mania Photo Shoot Part Three

I figured I should post the final fashion shoot installment before I am no longer actually pregnant.  And so we return to the blurry soft focus pics my mom snapped in the Forever 21 dressing room.

The story:  A stretchy skirt provides the comfort and expansion room needed to enjoy a coffee date with friends.  Clasping your hands firmly under your belly will prevent others from noticing that your shirt is straining to cover the miracle of life housed within your person.

The story:  Show some leg in a dress inspired by Charlie Brown's t-shirt.  If I could change one thing about this outfit in retrospect, it would be to add 3/4 length gloves.  They would've hidden the super attractive veins enhanced by all that prenatal pumping iron.

The story:  Another stretchy skirt/roomy top combo.  Thanks to the long top though, you won't have to keep your hands clasped around the bell, making this the perfect outfit to wear to a cocktail party where you can double fist sparkling apple juice.

The story:  Some might say that horizontal stripes are a risky venture during pregnancy.  Not so in this buttery yellow number, perfect for a final movie date before house arrest begins.  After all, any butter stains from the popcorn will be cleverly hidden.

 The story:  A boldly printed tunic will leave you feeling sassy enough to stay up past 10 PM for a night out with the girls.  Just try not to get too wild and drip gelato on your belly.  This is a poly/viscose blend!

I'm not kidding when I talk about house arrest, though.  I'm reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, MD, as recommended by my sister-in-law and sister.  This guy is telling me that up until 12 months old, my baby will likely need to sleep after 2 hours or less of wakefulness, and that after about 3 months old, all of this sleeping should take place at home and not in a stroller, car, or baby carrier in order to be truly restful.  If I mess that part up, says he, I can kiss any hopes of consolidated night time sleep goodbye.  Sleep begets more sleep, he claims.  I guess I can be okay with never leaving the house, ever.  I am already a house marm, and I really don't function well on little sleep.  If it's night time sleep he promises, I'm willing to try his crazy methods.  But he needs a better editor.  Just saying!

Shelby