woohoo!

Today's addition to the nursery: Rocker/glider (ooh la la!) and crib mattress (the bedding came in a while back so we went ahead and made the bed.)

Nearly there!

Ben was quite the worker bee this weekend! He finished painting the trim, put up the blinds, moved the big desk...AND he put the crib together. The nursery is really taking shape! Hopefully, our rocker/glider will be on the Pease delivery truck tomorrow! I can't wait! 

I really have to hand it to Ben, so far he's shaping up to be one super great husband and a dear ol' daddy! I'm a lucky/blessed wife and mama.

It's a very good start!

Dear Baby,

          Over the past few days, while you were busy playing,"Mama, Guess what limb THIS is!" and I was busy hunting (the internet) and gathering (just the perfect baby items for you), your sweet old Daddy has been busy fixing up your awesome bedroom. A few weeks ago, your dear Daddy began moving furniture, cable and junk out of your room and then the real messy work began. He taped up all the walls and painted everything with a thick coat of primer and then he began the fun part... 
Painting the whole room in two coats of this beautiful green just for you. Your Daddy and I agree that it's just about the most perfect shade of "Welcome home, brand new baby" happiness EVER!  Of course, the blue painters tape will come down and we'll paint the trim bright shiny white this weekend. Hopefully, by next week we'll have your crib put together and maybe the new glider will be delivered soon after.  A few other odds and ends here and there will need to be done but after that, all that we'll have left to do is wait for you! Don't worry, Stella and Georgia already know that that room is...(see below)

We hope you like it! We love you!

love,

Your lucky folks!

Look-y here!

My new favorite purchase for Baby England... why, Union Jack babylegs, of course! You know if I could have found them with the Irish flag or shamrocks then I would have snatched those up too. As it stands, this child already has plenty of "Kiss me,I'm Irish" gear so the O'Connor/McDonald/Durnin blood will be well represented. I can't wait for this little dumplin' to get here so I can kiss that sweet little nose and nibble those little baby toes!

at long last...

We have begun working on the nursery! We've moved our cable for internet as well as Ben's desk out of the baby's room and into the front room. There is much to move/ throw out but I'm feeling very confident that things will be moving much more quickly over the next two weeks!

Family Medicine Graduation

(My redeye photo editor gave Ben the crazy eyes... Sorry!)

Dear Baby,

           Last night I watched your handsome, wonderful daddy complete his formal training in family medicine.  Your dear father worked very VERY hard for 23+ years of formal education to get to the podium last night. It took lots of sacrifice, not only from him but from his amazingly supportive and loving family (which happens to be yours and mine too, now, and yes, we are quite lucky). He made everyone at our table very proud last night. He EVEN won the Dr. Moon award. The Dr. Moon Award goes to the graduating resident that most exemplifies what it means to be a family physician. The presenter said that your daddy was a very smart, very good physician that genuinely cares about his patients and their families and giving them the best care. They said he had an "Amazing" bedside manner... and Baby, do you know that your daddy is so humble that he said he didn't deserve it? That daddy of yours is something else. 

             Baby, if you grow up to be even half as spectacular as your daddy then you will be at least twice as spectacular as nearly everyone else I've ever met. I hope you get more than just that ol' daddy's nose. I hope you get his super-smart brain, his work ethic, his great big loving and humble heart and maybe his dimple... I also hope that you always know how much I love your daddy without even having to be told about it. I love you, too, sweet kicky baby. You are, by far, the coolest miracle I've ever been blessed to be a part of. 

love,

your mama.

I should have stayed in bed today...

Our sweet boxer baby, Georgia, is brave when it comes to big scary strangers and monsters that go bump in the night but when it comes to thunder and lightening, well, she falls all to pieces. She has woken up Ben and I with whining and nudging and whimpering every other night for the past week whenever the thunder starts. We've tried benadryl and blankies and snuggling to no avail. She woke us up at 4:00 am this morning shaking like a big furry leaf... and I should have known then that staying in bed  would have been the best plan of action.

Since I got up extra early this morning thanks to my nervous puppy alarm clock/weather warning, I decided to get ready and head out to hardee's to treat baby England to an egg biscuit and orange juice. Did it go smoothly? Oh no. I busted a big fat flat tire pulling into the  hardee's parking lot. Called ye olde hubsy wubsy to bring me some clean scrubs (because I'm a brave and independent woman and was fully intent on changing that flat ON MY OWN) but darling hubs was nowhere to be found and I couldn't get the tire out of the trunk... A nice gentleman that pulled in next to me kindly pointed out that my spare was flat so... I called a tow truck and 45 minutes later help arrived and husband was still unreachable... 

Friendly Mr. Tow Truck man helped me into the cab of the big tow truck and loaded my little red beetle on the back (It is admittedly somewhat amusing to watch regular sized men try to maneuver in and out of my drivers seat without moving the seat back). He dropped me off at work and toted the love bug off to get new shoes. Hubs was still not heard from. I was starting to get nervous. 

Then I started to panic. 

Then I became convinced that my darling husband must have passed out in the shower and was drowning.

Then I was certain that he had choked on his cereal and the dogs were unable to give dear Ben the Heimlich maneuver and I would find my blue faced husband dead in the kitchen and be forced to raise this wild kicky baby all on my own. 

So what did I do? I called and paged and texted and emailed AGAIN. Then I called the graduate school of Medicine. Then I called the UT dermatology clinic. No one had seen or heard from Ben. I also sent URGENT text messages to Ben's brother, Kip, and my peach of a mother-in-law (who knew exactly how I felt). Let me just say that if there were a "Worry Olympics" that Cindy and I would be stars on the US team. Likely gold medal winners. 

Finally, I called in the big guns... Cousin Caroline. The reigning queen of South Knoxville. I begged her to pull a drive-by and see if Ben's truck was still there. Being that she's a complete angel that would give the shirt off her back to help out a stranger, she was more than agreeable.

When she drove by, his truck was there!!! She found Ben... Very much alive and obliviously puttering around the house. My gratitude was overflowing. Ben had no idea how  much peril he truly was in.

The good news is that NOW the car is happy, foot loose and flat-tire free, Georgia is calm and happy and brave (until the thunder starts again) and my sweet, beautiful kicky baby has a daddy that is alive and well and treated us both to a big juicy litton burger for dinner. 

Thanks be to God!!!