by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 29, 2009
Cue the theme song by “Europe.” We’re in the final stretch. And because so many of you have asked, I am posting my last belly shot. I have a strong amount of shame right now, so I reduced the size significantly to protect myself. That is a BIG baby in there.
38.5 weeks pregnant
I visited my doctor’s office on Wednesday. At that time, I was 75% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. She encouraged me to go ahead and schedule the delivery due to Baby Boy Carroll’s size. He weighed 8 pounds at my 37 week visit, so she guessed he was already 8.5 pounds at 38 weeks.
I called yesterday to schedule the induction for June 4. If I don’t go into labor before then, our baby will be born on June 4!
His brother and sister, Boudreaux and Fiona, are very excited– don’t they look excited?
My parents are leaving Dallas on Monday to drive out here. They’re picking up my brother on the way and everyone should be here for the scheduled delivery. My mom will help me put all of the finishing touches on the nursery when she arrives. She is an In-Home Consultant for Calico Corners on Inwood in Dallas and she coordinated everything for the draperies, table cloth, chair, bed skirt, and bumpers. I can’t even tell you how wonderful and happy everything looks!
We don’t have any nursery photos yet because I am still waiting on the crib and dresser to arrive. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Ahem, delivery company! I’m not too concerned, though. Everything else is completely finished and ready to go. We have the pack ‘n play set up and it has a built in changing table, so he’ll have a place to sleep and be changed if the furniture doesn’t arrive before the big birthday. No worries, right? I’m letting go and going with the flow.
Here’s a sneak peak of an incredible gift we received, though. Our wonderful family friend, Janice Wood (in Birmingham), painted four 2×2 boards for the nursery. They’ll hang in a grid. The others are a surprise because one has his name on it, but here is one of the boards. How adorable is that frog and the little bugs? It’s so little boy! I absolutely love all four paintings and can’t wait to show y’all the finished nursery!
And because I think she’s silly, I scooped up Fiona and all of Baby Boy’s stuffed animals, and put Fiona in the middle of them. It resembles the E.T. in the closet scene when E.T. is hidden in the middle of all of Elliott’s stuffed animals.
I’ve enjoyed every moment of my first week of maternity leave. Being home has been so nice and I’ve gotten a lot done around the house. I’m in the process of making Paula Deen’s banana pudding (my favorite) to take to a birthday party tonight and this will be our last big outing with our friends. South Carolina temperatures have officially reached “hot” and I’m so glad that by this time next week (hopefully) I won’t be pregnant anymore!
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 28, 2009
They say that pregnancy takes away some of your smarts. I can’t say that it’s true– I have the occasional blonde moment anyway, so I don’t think blaming ditziness on pregnancy is totally fair. You tell me…
The Stage and Scene:
Todd and I went to the Original Pancake House on Memorial Day before running 800 errands. We sat down and it took a while for our server to arrive, but another server came to our table and here’s how the conversation went:
Server: Oh, aren’t you cute?
Me: Me?
Server: Yeah, look at that belly!
Me: Oh. Thanks.
Server: I’m not your server, but I can go ahead and take your drink order. You shouldn’t have to wait! You’re pregnant!
Me: Cool. I want a large chocolate milk. {hold the judgment!}
Todd: I’ll have a coffee.
The server leaves and comes back with our drink order.
Server: Do you know what you’re having?
Me: Yeah. I want the sausage and eggs, please.
Todd: Erin. She means the baby.
Server: Yeah, remember, I’m not your server.
Me: Oh. It’s a boy.
p.s. Find my server immediately because I’m 38 weeks pregnant and starving!!!
We’re at a restaurant. The question, “Do you know what you’re having?” usually means that someone wants to take your order, right? Even after 38 weeks of pregnancy, I guess I’m still not as obsessed with my belly as strangers are.
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 27, 2009
As I get excited about the arrival of our little boy, I also think about his future. I think about the important things and the not-so-important things. One thing I think a lot about that may seem trivial is what kind of music he’ll listen to and who will be his musical inspiration.
I grew up in a house that was full of music. There was a lot of singing, a lot of piano playing, and a lot of listening to my Dad’s records. My taste in music was formed by my parents and there was always some great old Chicago album or Billy Joel album playing through the house. I realize that The Eagles, Chicago, and Billy Joel aren’t everyone’s favorites, but they have withstood the test of time. I also grew up to love Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, John Mellancamp, The Beatles, Styx, Kansas, Boston and many others!
I’m promise I’m not trying to put down my generation, but it’s disappointing, isn’t it?
I look at the artists today that are making records and winning Grammy awards. I see the lyrics to the songs to the song and, I’m not trying to sound prudish or old-fashioned, but the lyrics are ridiculous. I know my son will listen to it and I can’t protect him from all of that, but is that really who he’s going to grow up listening to?
Is he going to believe that Fergie makes good music because radio stations play her songs all the time? I guess, if anything, she can teach him to spell.
Sure, there’s the occasional catchy song. But are these artists really legends?
My parents gave me the cassette tape for “We Are the World” when I was about three years old. They also recorded the music video and making of the video off MTV for me. I still love to watch it. The thing that I love the most is that there is a choir of 40 recording artists in that song and they are all (mostly) legends. Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper, Tina Turner, Dianna Ross, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and the sexiest of them all, Bruce Springsteen!
Who are the musical legends from this decade? And will my son think I’m a nerd because I have great taste in music and make him listen to music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s? Am I the only one who feels let down by current popular music?
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 26, 2009
Welcome! I’m so glad you could make it here!
I am thrilled to have my own site and my own domain– without our last names in the URL! This whole project has been so much fun and I have so many great ideas. With the birth of the new baby, I wanted a clean start with the blog. I guess nesting has been a strong instict in the house and on the blog.
If you currently subscribe to the old blog and want to stay updated on whatever I feel like writing about, be sure to update your Reader. All you have to do is click on the ’subscribe’ tab underneath the blog header. I don’t want you to miss a thing! Oh– and update your blog rolls, too!
I can’t take credit for anything on this blog except the content and color choices. Two very great friends, Mr. and Mrs. Mojito of Make Mine a Mojito, were great resources and practically set the entire set up themselves. I owe them lots of mojitos.
I also have to thank the very talented Ashley Brooke Designs for the button and blog header design. The colors make me so happy!
And… I have one more big announcement! I know, I know, I am so full of exciting news today.
I am one of a great group of newlyweds that will be guest blogging every week over at Elizabeth Anne Designs Living. I got to know Ami of EAD back when I did a week of recap posts about our wedding, so I was thrilled when she asked me to be a weekly columnist.
The posts over there will be very similar to what I write about here, but I’ll be focusing on newlywed adventures such as home organization and how to live with a messy man. You can also find recipes and the occasional Baby Boy update.
There’s a cute little button over on the right sidebar that will take you directly to my posts. For now, just click on the button below to see my first post at EAD Living!
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 21, 2009
I’m really looking forward to the few days (weeks?) that I’ll have at home to prepare before the baby arrives. There are quite a few things that I’d like to get done and just because I love making lists, I’m going to share the list with you.
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Finish reading Same Kind of Different as Me
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Read The Shack
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Finish reading The Happiest Baby on the Block
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Read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child
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Clear out my DVR
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Catch up on my Netflix
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Go to Target to get last minute items for hospital bag
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Organize closet and put away most maternity clothes (while realizing that my old clothes won’t fit immediately)
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Stock the pantry and freezer with ingredients for meals
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Make a list of desired meals and organize recipes
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Put together a good list of people to call when the baby arrives
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Begin working on big blog project
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Install car seats
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Get guest bedroom ceiling repaired
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Wait.
Does anyone have any good book suggestions or movie suggestions? It will be a long time before we can go to the movies, so my Netflix queue is in need of a good update.
Does anyone have a favorite recipe that they’d like to share? It needs to be easy and man friendly. Todd is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so the recipes need to be something that he’s going to like, too. You can email any suggestions to me at erakin11 {at} hotmail {dot} com.
Finally, would anyone like to volunteer to bring a beautiful order of sushi to me in the hospital?
Oh, and an Arnold Palmer, please!
image via Hostess Blog
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 19, 2009
We’ve had quite the eventful week at our house. The nursery is coming together thanks to my wonderful parents (no, you can’t see pictures yet) and we finished off our registry at Babies R Us thanks to Todd’s parents. Now the baby boy has everything he needs. Now all we need is the baby boy.
At my last doctor’s appointment at 36 weeks, I had an ultrasound to check out his position. At this point I’m reluctant to say anything about how things are progressing because 1) so many readers and commenters are harsh and judgmental and will tell me to change something about what I’m doing and I just don’t want to read it right now and 2) things could change at any point on their own. I don’t want to report news because I know that by my next appointment things could change.
Our little boy is currently a whopping 7 lbs 9 oz and at my next appointment on Thursday of this week I’m sure they’ll tell me he’s even bigger than that. He is in oblique position and running out of room to turn. I’ve had two ultrasounds in the last two weeks and I’ll have another this Thursday to see what position he’s in. If, at that point, he is still oblique, the doctor wants to schedule a c-section for 38 weeks. So this guy could be here before June.
We’re frantically trying to get everything ready before next Thursday as we prepare for his arrival. We’ll put the finishing touches on the nursery, finally get the car seat and extra car seat base installed, and now we’ve got one more project to tackle. We live in an old house and have had some leak trouble in our guest bedroom the whole time we’ve lived there. After a few repairs but not official diagnoses, the ceiling finally fell in yesterday. Beautiful. This is the room that my parents will be staying in when they come to help me with the baby, so it’s crucial that we get it fixed as soon as possible.
Nothing like good timing, right?
Good news, though: my last day of work before maternity leave is Friday. It’s so nice to have that light at the end of the tunnel. I’m experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions a few times every day and working is next to impossible. Sitting is next to impossible. I’m looking forward to being at home and preparing myself mentally for our lives to change!
I promise to post an update after my appointment on Thursday. Keep us in your prayers as we enter the final few days. Baby’s health is of utmost importance to me.
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 17, 2009
I was going through some old boxes yesterday looking for books from my childhood to add to the baby’s library when I found some fun old pictures. I had to pull this one in particular out because you may recognize a few other bloggers in it.
This is a photo of my friends and me at our senior prom (”Take My Breath Away” was the theme– horrible, right?) in March or April of 2000. Nine whole years ago. Not possible.
The dress that I’m wearing was really wonderful and I ended up wearing it again for something after college because it is so timeless. Too bad you can’t really see it in this picture. Like my wedding dress, it is in a box where it is being preserved under our guest bedroom bed.
Serving as the “bookends” for this picture, are me on the left and
Ms. Nonsense on the far right. My hair was pretty short back then and I was in the process of growing it out.
In the background, in the lovely raspberry dress is
Practically Perfect and next to her (standing, left) in the pretty coral dress is
Mrs. H.
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 14, 2009
A few months ago, I was approached to take part in a blogger cleaning intervention hosted by Pledge. I recently wrote a post about some of the challenges of pregnancy and how cleaning in our house has fallen to my husband (or fallen by the wayside) and the good folks at Pledge saw that post.
For the past few weeks I’ve been working for Pledge helping them to promote this product– and they are paying me and offering me some very helpful advice on how to maintain a clean, baby-friendly home. This is the new Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaner. You can learn a lot more about it and a great contest for you at How I Clean Now.
You can read my blog posts, and the posts of four other bloggers who have some home cleaning challenges, at the How I Clean Now bloggers page.
We opened up our home to a video crew and those videos will go live in a few days so you can see me talk about my challenges and our problem areas. The lovely Trish Suhr will be offering me some very helpful feedback to try to get my house ready for Baby Boy Carroll and how to easily maintain a clean house once he arrives.
So if you want to see what I’m writing about and how I’m losing all kinds of control in my home because of pregnancy, dogs, and lack of energy, please check out the Pledge blog. And feel free to leave your cleaning tips as comments on that blog.
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 13, 2009
A year ago this week we returned from our fabulous honeymoon on Maui. We both returned to work and got back into the swing of things. I always had a long list of housekeeping type things in my head that I needed to do now that I was married: get new driver’s license, change name at social security office, change name at bank, get joint accounts, change name on insurance.
Over the past year I’ve gradually taken care a few of these tasks. I keep telling Todd that I’ll do them sooner and without complaint if he’ll come with me and just sit there. You know, since he married me and all. I am taking his name.
I was allowed to change my name at the DMV without changing it at social security first. My doctor’s office, though, won’t change my name until I change it at social security and change it with benefits at work so as to avoid confusion. This is where Todd is upset and concerned. The baby’s birth certificate (which should be filled out in about 3 weeks) will show that we have two different last names and he’s not okay with that.
So, I am taking actual leave from my job today and braving the smelly social security office– with all necessary documents in hand. I hope. And Purell in hand. Blech. If I’m catching Swine Flu that’s where it’s going to happen. So, dear friends, at the end of today I will officially be Mrs. Todd Carroll. And I promise I won’t still be mad that I spent most of my day at the social security office.
Anyone else been married a year and still hasn’t changed her name?
by Blue-Eyed Bride on May 8, 2009
I can’t tell you the last time I saw my mom on Mother’s Day. It always makes me a little sad that I don’t ever get to celebrate my love and appreciation for her in person because we live so far apart.
This Mother’s Day she and my dad are on an Alaskan Cruise and then going to Los Angeles for a couple of days. Must be nice!
We have always had a very special relationship and I can see a lot of her in me. I can also see a lot of my dad in me. I remember a big argument that we had back when I was in high school and I asked her why she couldn’t just be my friend. Her response was, “Because I’m your mother. I’m not here to be your friend.” And she was right at the time.
But now things are completely different. I go to her with everything and she is my best friend. I still need advice and I ask her. If it’s decorating advice or relationship advice, I go to her. She is an amazing woman of God and I learn from her every day. Her patience and desire to give and provide for everyone she comes in contact with are truly inspirational.
She is the first person I call when something funny happens or I’m upset about something that happened at work. I know she’s always going to listen and because we’re so similar, she’s going to give me a response that either makes me laugh or gets me fired up! I’m sure she is driven crazy by the insane amount of times I call her every day.
So here’s to all of the mothers out there!
