Step 1 of things not to do in early pregnancy:

Go to Babies R Us.

Whole. Lee. Crap.

If you haven’t ever been there, this is a giant warehouse of baby crap. It is literally floor to ceiling stuff. Its like a hoarder lived in a warehouse and collected so much baby stuff that you need heavy machinery to bring things down.

Step 2 of things not to do in early pregnancy:
Go to Babies R Us, hungry.

I went to the registry desk thinking, sweet….I’ll go in, register and get out.

Oh. No.

They gave me a gun!  Now, before you think-yay!  stuffed animal target practice!!  Pull back a bit. This was a little shopping scanner thing that you walk around with and click on things that you may want.

The gal gave me good advice-“here’s a list, and don’t just get new born items. You’ll have more crap than you’ll need”. Best advice I heard that day.

I roamed around Babies R Hell, scanning myself into a frenzy, seeing how many dance moves and James Bond style scans I could get in. A girls gotta make this fun, right?  And it kept other people away from me, as I am sure they thought that I was nuts. Meh.

I now have close to 100 things on a registry, most of which are functional and most of which were cute. The best part? Some nice guy saw that I was clearly not having fun, and gave his voucher for a $10 gift card. Score. I got to dance, wave my scanner around like James Bond AND I came out ahead. Not a bad way to spent a Saturday.

Speaking of scores…of sorts…My Grandma got me maternity clothes. Please note: My grandma is, well, a Grandma. She knows I love vintage things, and she knows I am not quite sure what I need. She got me some things that aren’t quite my style, but the thought behind it was pretty awesome. She did get me a pant suit made with glitter fabric, that she initially bought for herself.  I’m curious to try this one on, as my Grandma is itty bitty these days.  Here, for your gawking pleasure: the one thing I will be donating (and letting her know that I donated)…While it may look like a skirt/sweater combo with a bacon print, don’t be fooled. The pattern actually looks like microtubules:

So how does this story wrap up? I eventually go home, after stopping at 5 more places, which results in patterns for baby clothes and diaper covers, decaf ginger peach tea, stamps for baby shower and announcements, and a car full of bell and hot pepper plants; a flat of raspberries, a 15 lb box of green beans and a case of strawberries.

Lesson learned?  When you go to Babies R Us, you have to locate more awesome things as fast as possible to get passed the craziness that is that place. Mission accomplished.

Here’s to finding your bit of crazy and a way through it!

Raina

Today is a big day for me.  Today, I:
*Turned 34!
*Hit the 13 week mark in my pregnancy.


Oh, wait. You didn’t know that did you!?  I have been keeping this a secret-with everything that has been going on in my life lately, and the amount of stress that has been hitting, one worries. Well, I don’t know if that ever changes, but I didn’t want to make a huge announcement and then lose the baby.  I got to see the baby a few days after finding out about my Dad. It made the hurt lessen, and I had a unbelievably huge sigh of relief when we saw the little one moving around a little and the flicker of a heartbeat. I just felt like it was all going to be OK. 


It’s truly been “The Ultimate Craft Project”, except that it’s way cooler than knitting.  I started trying this past January, and then after a couple of months, it stuck. It has been a crazy whirlwind, and now that life has settled down a bit, I am looking forward to really experiencing this pregnancy for everything it has to offer.


I’ve been pretty lucky. I haven’t really been sick. No real morning sickness (just a few days at night). Nothing.  It’s been quite nice. The occasional shortness of breath and increased need to tinkle can suck it, but in the scheme of things, that’s not so bad. I still don’t look pregnant, just that I saddled up to an all you can eat diner table and ate a bit much. Again, not so bad.

Because calling your growing critter “it” feels weird, we’re going with Noodle until we find out what we’re having. Whether calling your baby “Noodle” or referring to the little being as a “critter” is any better than using “it”, I dunno. The name Noodle makes me laugh, and if the baby was anything like I was, Noodle will be long and lean.

There’s so much that I can say about this, and so much to feel, but for now I’ll just say this: 34 is going to be an amazing year, and I feel so darn lucky to have amazing people in my life, amazing adventures, and now an amazing little person that I am going to be able to bring into this world.

And without further adieu, Noodle, of course, this is now over 5 weeks old. So imagine a slightly smaller head and more…well…baby-ness going on in there.  That may be the cutest baby, ever.

All my best, to all of you!
Raina

Every child begins the world again…. ~Henry David Thoreau