Room with a View

Yesterday Keith and I received a very special gift! It is a custom piece of artwork commissioned especially for Baby Brown! It is from Megan and Tony, and Tony's sister Heather. Heather is the artist; you can see how talented and creative she is. (Check her out at http://www.gentiledesigns.com/) I have admired her work for many years and now we have this very special piece in the nursery. It matches perfectly and we will hang it above the crib. Baby Brown is a very lucky boy. Thank you, Gentile/Collins clan!

Speaking of Megan, a lot of you are asking how she is doing. While she does still have a long road ahead, she is doing pretty well overall. This last week she had the week off from treatments and she will begin again next week with chemo. The doctors say she is cancer free right now, but they want to do another round to make sure there is no cancer in her brain, which Megan said is common with leukemia. So I am sure she is in for a long week...once again, please keep her in your prayers. She is so brave!

A Wonderful Time

Here are some photos from my work shower last weekend. My girlfriends Darcie and Chris threw it for me and it was so much fun. I am so lucky to work with such great people. At Crate&Barrel we always like an excuse to throw a party...we like to eat, drink and be merry!


I also had a Crate&Barrel shower back in Denver thrown by some of my old co-workers, and more importantly friends, Kathleen and Sharon. We have one more shower this weekend for family and friends. My Mom is hosting and I am sure she will outdo herself once again!!!!!

Keith came towards the end of the shower to say hi and open some gifts. Everyone thought he was quite funny and charming, of course!

.....and a current photo of my growing waistline!

The Nursery

Finally, here are photos of the almost completed nursery. We cannot wait to see our baby sleeping peacefully in his crib, and to use the glider for feedings, rocking and reading.

Keith did such a great job with the room. Of course I helped with some things, but he chose the paint color, bedding, wainscoting, etc. I am encouraging him to work at Crate&Barrel as a designer!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A man of many talents.....

Let's hope our boy loves dogs as much as we do! I have a feeling he and Charlie will be partners in crime causing all kinds of mischief for Mom and Dad! Scout will be a great watch dog, protecting the baby by barking at each passing car and person walking down the street!

Who, me????!!

A Revelation

Today I was meeting with my co-worker Chris who will be covering my maternity leave. We were going over the calendar for October/November/December and the finer points of what will be happening while I am away. As I was counting 12 weeks from my due date, that put us at January 5th as my return date. Really, when you think about retail jobs, I will be away during the best 3 months...Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. My co-workers tease me that I planned to have a baby in October just so I could be gone for the Christmas season! While that is definitely not true (after all we went through...we would have been happy with a baby born at ANY time of year!), it really will be nice to be "home for the holidays" with the baby. It is sure to be unlike any holiday season we have ever had! And ironically, I will probably be twice as tired as I have ever been working a Crate&Barrel holiday season!

Then I had a revelation. What if the baby comes early?! A week or 2 early puts me back at work right around Christmas week!!!! Can you imagine a worse time to return to your retail job and adjust to juggling family and career? I cannot be early!!! Later would be fine! My mom keeps telling me that you don't really have to worry about being early with your first, but I am not ruling it out. This baby has to stay put for as long as possible! If only we got to pick the date...

But I guess if I have learned anything during this entire process, it is that things happen in their due time. There is so much in life that you cannot control and are not meant to control. (Keith would argue that there is plenty that I control!) Everything unfolds exactly the way it is supposed to which is so hard for most people to trust. I firmly believe that now! So, I guess if I have to go back to work the week of Christmas then that it what I must accept. But don't think that I am not going to at least try to convince the baby into staying in as long as he can! Is it too early to start bribing little James Brown??????

My Boy's First CU Win, Technically...

It's the end of the labor day weekend and I was able to watch the Buffs from the University of Colorado take it to our home town rivals, the CSU Rams. It was particularly enjoyable because with me was my son. Well, he could hear me rout for the buffs, who looked pretty darn good I might say. Amy and I went over to Joe's house and we were able to see the game and enjoy the evening. Watching the CU game was great, not only because it's football time again, but also because I will be able to watch the games this fall with my son, for real. I doubt he'll love it when I throw the baby bottle at the screen or kick the diaper pale in disgust, but he'll understand eventually.

The thought of holding my boy while watching the black and gold go up and down the field, hopefully not chasing the opposing team, is quite a thought. Brings a sense of accomplishment or a renewed sense of pride, in that the Brown legacy is being continued and hopefully, but not mandatory, my love for CU and Colorado football will be shared with my son.

We finished the nursery and we are waiting on a few more touch ups to show the room on our blog. I got a great gift from Amy's former co-worker in Park Meadows. Kris is a die hard buff fan and she got my son some great T shirts, as well as the coolest kid's book called "Hello Ralphie". Here's me reading it in the nursery. I love this book. It has the real names of the buildings on campus like Norlin Library and Ole Main. Amy's friend Kurt is sending his daughter to CU this fall and he said the tuition for in state is now about $75,000 for a five year education. I can only imagine what out of state costs are, but I had better start saving now. Either that or we move back to Denver or give them my parents address. Ummm, just thought of that. Nah.

Amy's past 33 weeks now and we have the baby shower coming up on September 15th and basically that will be it. We are going to try to de clutter the house with Gary and Donna's garage sale on September 19th and 20th. Other than that, and watching the Ryder Cup and CU and Bronco Football, my fall is pretty much laid out. She is starting to pack the overnight bag for when the kid comes. If he's like me, it will be at the most inappropriate time. I am hoping it's not on a Saturday or Sunday when football is on. Kidding.... They have TVs in the birthing rooms!! How great would it be to have our son delivered right when CU scores a touchdown:) Wow, I hope no one reading this is taking me seriously, but actually I can see several people shaking their heads and thinking "Yep, that sounds about right".

Getting There

It is the beginning of a long holiday weekend. Monday will be my last vacation day until the baby arrives! I am trying to save up my paid vacation time so that I can use it while on maternity leave and am hoping that I am able to work until the very end of my pregnancy. Right now Keith is golfing and I am about to get ready to go see Megan.

Megan is my dear friend from college who grew up in Milwaukee. She coincidentally ended up marrying Tony, who grew up in Oak Brook, just miles away from my hometown! Lucky for me, they ended up living in Downers Grove and we now live just a couple of miles away from eachother. Who would have ever thought?! Tragically, Megan was diagnosed with leukemia at the end of June, when her newborn son was only about 7 weeks old. She has gone through 2 rounds of chemo and is coming through it like a champ. Although she is constantly tired, she was able to get through the treatments without any nausea and the doctors are speaking very positively about her being in remission and don't think she will need a bone marrow transplant. Currently her white blood cell count is low which landed her in the hospital last week and she is due home tomorrow. So I am going to visit her this morning. Her spirits sound pretty good and she is really being a hero right now considering what she is going through. She has 2 little boys at home; Mason is 2 and Michael is now almost 4 months. She is exhausted from treatment and very susceptible to any and all illnesses. Can you imagine, with 2 little ones at home?? Her chemo is over for now but she will be monitored very closely for the next several months. She and her husband Tony's lives have been turned upside down and they can still maintain positive attitudes and keep their priceless sense of humor intact. Please keep them in your prayers!

That certainly does put things into perspective for the rest of us. Jumping into a topic like the crib seems trite. But let me try. We got the crib on Thursday and it looks great in the nursery. I will let Keith share the story and the photos on his next blog installment, because he did all of the work and there is a cute little story to accompany it.

Although there is still of a bit of waiting to do, I think the time will fly until October. I have my work shower next weekend and our family/friends shower the following weekend. I am really looking forward to them! Surprisingly, I am not nervous about labor and delivery. Maybe it doesn't seem close enough yet? I just keep thinking that it is a means to an end and we cannot wait to meet our boy! I hope I can keep that perspective while I am going through labor. The only real pain I have to compare it with is getting my wisdom teeth pulled and having ACL reconstruction on my knee. Both were painful; both were treated with painkillers (and still painful at times)! 90% of people I talk to tell me to take the epidural. Considering how I have dealt with pain in the past, I have a feeling I will. BUT I am trying to keep an open mind about it and see how it goes. My only problem with epidurals is that it can slow down labor. So many people that I know have progressed nicely with labor until they get the epidural. Then it slows down, they are in labor for 20 hours, and end up with a C-section anyway. That is a complete generalization but it seems more and more common now. They say labor never goes the way you plan it, so just try to relax and go with the flow which I will try to do. Thank goodness Keith will be there to remind me since he is the calm one!!!!!!!!!!!

An Update

Time is ticking by and it still feels like there is so much to do! I can't believe how quickly the weeks pass. The summer is winding down and it is almost Labor Day! (in more than one sense!)

I still have a lot of questions, like when I should pack my hospital bag to have ready for when the time comes? Everyone says that with your first baby you typically go past your due date. In that case, I have plenty of time. But what if I go early???! I want to be ready! In 3 weeks I will be considered full term and if I should go into labor, the doctors won't try to stop it. Three weeks!!!!

Things that are still on my to do list include: finding a pediatrician (I am pretty sure I know who it will be though), continuing on the nursery, making a mix for my Ipod with songs for the hospital- both before and after baby (totally stole that idea from a friend), packing the hospital bag, starting the baby book, and getting the house ready for bringing the baby home (organized and clean!). Even the tasks that would normally seem tedious are extremely exciting when we think about how drastically our lives are about to change. Who would have thought that ordering diapers and wipes online would be such a thrill???? I also bought some comfy and cute pajamas/lounge wear over the weekend to wear around the house when we are first home with the baby. That was pretty fun as well, and I think Keith even got a little jolt from it too.

The nursery is still a work in progress but is completely exceeding our expectations of how it would turn out. We will include photos soon...the crib is supposed to be ready shortly! I know that the dogs are completely clueless as to what is about to happen, but they do like to go in there and sniff around. When Keith and I are in there, they are right by our sides and seem very curious! Scout has been through the whole baby thing before with the Schallmosers, but Charlie is not going to know what hit him!

As for the Ipod mix, I stole the idea from a friend as I said before. I want to have music playing in the delivery room (I know, I know, I probably won't even notice it). But I am thinking that when I am at the hospital in the earlier stages of labor when there is a lot of waiting going on, it would be nice to have some soothing music to help me relax. If I don't get to listen to it there, then it will still be nice to have it playing at home when we are trying to get little James Brown to relax! (Does that sound like an oxymoron or what?!) It is never to early to introduce him to good rock n' roll. Some of the artists that will be featured include: Van Morrison, Neil Young, the Grateful Dead (of course), Crosby Stills and Nash and John Hiatt. Such a fun project so far!

Everyone is asking what we are doing for daycare. We have a few irons in the fire and a lot of ideas being thrown around. My mom has been gracious enough to offer her services one day per week. Keith is off every other Monday or Friday as well. I am fairly certain that I will be returning to work, although I am still trying to work out an alternative schedule or possibly working at Oak Brook for a shorter commute (less than 10 minutes compared to my usual 45-60 minutes!) We did have a bit of a reality check last weekend when we were looking online at daycare facilities in the neighborhood. One of them had a video of the infant room where they showed the daycare providers interacting with the babies, feeding them, reading to them, etc. Not surprisingly, it was a little emotional for me seeing these strangers who might someday be caring for our child. Keith said, "Are you crying??? Don't cry, it's okay.....come on, it will be alright....okay, well.......let's turn this off for a while and look at it later..." He is so cute and handled it perfectly! (we actually had a good chuckle over it today). I knew it would be difficult to think about childcare after the baby was born, but I had no idea it would difficult before hand as well! I know that plenty of parents leave their children every day and that it is not easy for them either, but my reaction over the weekend certainly is food for thought and will hopefully help me get ready for the future, whatever we decide.