Someday, I'll get perfect outdoor Father's Day pics...

Remember last year's Father's Day photos?  Perhaps I was a bit ambitious back then, hoping to get perfect, placid, D-A-D shots with a 5-month-old who had never really spent much time outdoors... But surely it wasn't too naive of me to try again this year, with a much more worldly and experienced 17-month-old, right?

I was determined to continue the tradition we'd started last year of getting D-A-D photos in honor of Father's Day.  And while Joshua has continued to be somewhat skeptical of grass, we have had some successful "photo shoots" outdoors this spring (like the wonderful evening walk we took out on the Battlefield), so I allowed myself to dream dreams of perfectly-lit, bucolic outdoor photos of a smiling toddler obediently holding the wooden letters...

Perhaps I should have been warned by the fact that on that lovely evening walk, Joshua flatly refused to walk on the grass, running for the comfort of the paved sidewalk whenever we let him go.  And by the fact that the wee emperor has been on a throwing kick, gleefully flinging his toys all over the house...

I took him outside the day before Father's Day (yep, I didn't even give myself any extra lead time to get these photos done), stuck him on the grass, handed him the D, and sprinted back to take the photo.  And this is the very, very best I got:


Furrowed brow, confusion, and extreme distaste at the feel of wet prickly grass at his feet.  And not two seconds later, the poor D was flung to the ground.

I tried again a few times, but wasn't fast enough to get a shot with him holding the letter.  This was the *only* A photo I got:


Not exactly the face I was hoping for...

Tired, sweaty, and on the verge of a meltdown (him more than me, though I was probably close!), we packed it up and brought it all inside.  Once we were back in the comfort of home, Joshua was actually curious about these white wooden letters -- he kept rooting around in the bag for them and trying to carry them off to his room.  So I figured I would run with it, and try again on the daybed in his nursery.

Turns out, all he needed was for the photo session to be put in terms of a new game.  One where he grabbed the letter, put it on his face or on top of his head, and then tried to throw it to me while I sat on the floor next to the bed.  :)  We had some close calls (thankfully, the letters never hit my camera, though I did get a direct hit to my knee), but I think we got some really fun photos this time around:




These really capture Joshua's playfulness and joy, and are so HIM at this stage of his life.  So even though it's not what I had originally planned, these are perfect.  Which is a good reminder for this type A over-planner of a mama...  :)

And here's the final, official Father's Day 2011 set:


Happy (very) belated Father's day to all you wonderful dads out there!

Baby Preparedness

It's getting to be crunch time over here, and I think we're pretty on top of things -- insofar as anyone can actually prepare for a baby, we're checking those items off of our to-do lists!

Number one on my list for a while has been setting up the nursery. We've got all the furniture assembled and in place, bedding and baby clothes are washed and ready to go, and we've got a bunch of cute toys and sleep aids all set up. And it's all so pretty! :)


Alphabet flashcards over the daybed


The bed and closet, with Eggi's bouncy seat / rocker


The crib with the comforter hung on the wall (and check out the cute
parrot marionette hanging on the lamp -- a gift from Rachel and Shay!)


Dresser, bookcase and crib, plus cute wall hangings and useful Diaper Genie

And some detail shots:

Sleep Sheep -- a cuddly white noise machine to help babies sleep
(a gift from Shauna and Jon!)


Cute little teddy bear bookend, with the beginnings of Eggi's library
(books here are gifts from Lucy, Erin, and Emily)


The beginnings of Eggi's toy collection
(gifts from Dayle, Erin, Shauna & Jon, and Jean & Donald)

Fun times! I have to say, nursery setup has been my favorite part of the nesting impulse. :)

We've also started packing our hospital bags. I've done my research, and come up with what I think is a comprehensive list of all that we could conceivably need during our hospital stay... Because that's what I do when faced with the unknowable and uncontrollable. I make lists. :)

And we've installed the infant car seat! And gotten it inspected! And put a cute little mobile on it! As this is the one legal requirement before we can take our baby home from the hospital, I'm glad we got this particular item checked off our list. (No pictures of this yet, but I'm sure we'll have tons of cute shots of our little boy actually in the car seat soon!)

We only have a few necessary items left to get, which we'll take care of this weekend (yay for registry completion coupons!) -- it's kind of silly, but I'm really looking forward to this shopping spree. We've been blessed so richly by family and friends gifting us the items we need, and we can't say often enough how thankful we are for all of them! But this will be the first time we get to go on a major shopping trip for our little boy. How fun!

And then, when all of the checklist have been completed and everything is put in its place... all we'll need is our little son!

Bump Watch: 26 Weeks

So much for my resolution to be more on top of these bump watch posts... Emily, you were absolutely right to call me out on my impending failure. Sorry about that! I was slammed this week at work with a couple pretrial deadlines, and my parents were in town for 24 hours this weekend, which led to a lot of last-minute cleaning and prep work... But hey, part of the prep work was starting to put together the nursery, so there are crib pictures in this post!

We've been running out of white wall space in our apartment, so starting with this week's bump picture, we'll be posing me in front of the baby's crib. :)



This week's photo was taken a little later in the week than usual (again, see above-referenced being slammed this week), so that may explain a little why my belly looks like it's grown more than in other weeks... But I think KeddieCub also had a bit of a growth spurt this week!

And here's the weekly blurb from BabyCenter.com --

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

And for those of you who just scrolled down to see the promised pictures... :)


Our beautiful crib and bedding set!


The diaper stacker and the interior of the crib (with our old dressers as placeholders
for the nursery furniture we'll be getting sometime between now and January)


Daybed on the other side of the room, which pulls out to create a king bed
(this is, after all, the "nursery-slash-guestroom")

The room is starting to come together! How exciting! We'll continue to document the nursery prep process and keep you all posted!