sugar and spice

With all the craziness of moving, working, the holidays, parties, Christmas shopping, and so on, I don't think we have really wrapped our mind around the idea that our baby girl is going to be here in a month and a half. While I am ready to say goodbye to my new friend acid reflux, and momentarily losing my breath everytime I put on or take my shoes off, I still can't believe how fast the time is going. A month and a half ago seems like yesterday, so really I think we are going to blink and wonder how it's possible that we now have a screaming human on our hands.But just because the time is flying and we have packed schedules doesn't mean we aren't getting ready for her arrival. Between an overabundance of baby showers (seriously, this girl is spoiled), and our own excitement to research and pick out the very best baby products, her room and her 'stuff' is gradually starting to come together.
Last night Joshua and Jakob built the crib, and by next week we will have her changing table. Her room has been used as a storage area since we moved in, and the huge bookshelf that is currently housing overflow decorations and a flatscreen TV needs to go somewhere else. The rapidly filling closet needs to be organized, her clothes need to be washed, and we are missing a few significant odds and ends - the most important being that she currently has no place to sleep in our room when we come home. (But don't worry, this January baby's super swanky stroller is all assembled and ready to go...nowhere, if the weather is anywhere near as cold as it is now when she arrives).

I also have to confess that I am overwhelmed by all the pink that having a little girl apparently brings. Not that we haven't bought into it ourselves, with her tulip crib bedding, but I think this child owns approximately four things that don't fall somewhere on the rose-to-fuschia spectrum. Joshua and I were both pretty convinced this baby was going to be a boy, so I just keep thinking how hilarious it will be if the little karate kid we keep calling she turns out to actually be a he. I think its unlikely after two very convincing ultrasounds but of course, everyone knows someone who knows someone who had a teeny weinie surprise at the birth.

I happen to think Joshua looks great in the one pink dress shirt that he owns, but I am pretty sure I'd feel funny bringing home a boy and sticking him straight into this crib. Only (a very short amount of) time left until we meet our baby daughter - who is hopefully just as sweet and girly and happy to wear pink as everyone else is to gift it to her in any way possible!

tis the season...

...for lots of photos...

Our halls are decked, our stockings are hung, our tree is trimmed, and our home is overflowing with both holiday decor and Christmas spirit.

As I may have exclaimed the other day, our new camera takes pictures that can seem more beautiful than real life.

Yes, that's Pam in a bedazzled sombrero. That tiny hat came from a box that was left in the basement of our friends' apartment and was filled to the brim with decorations for a fiesta-themed Christmas party. The box also included a full Santa suit, a Ken doll in a tux who has now traveled the world with us and our friends and so many other random treasures. I think Pam looks particularly smashing, and also rather devious.

Helo also had a chance to try on the sombrero, and he wasn't so much of a fan. He prefers to watch holiday decorating from the relative safety of his blurry corner of the couch.

He is, however, very intrigued by the new camera and the satisfying click each time we take a picture. Luckily, since he now spends a lot of time trying to rub his nose on the lens, he's also incredibly photogenic.

And just in case you were wondering what the holidays look like from my point of view...here's our baby girl at 32 weeks saying Merry Christmas!

Holiday Spirit

I absolutely love making our house look beautiful for the holidays. Some of my favorite memories from being a kid are the nights we spent decking the halls, the walls, the tree, and everything else possible for Christmas. My dad would haul our well-worn cardboard boxes full of ornaments, lights, and garlands out of the basement, and every year I felt the same thrill of rediscovering my 'favorite' Christmas decorations.

Joshua and I have amassed our own cardboard boxes and plastic tubs full of holiday decor, and it's all I can do to wait until after Thanksgiving to start stringing up lights and hanging up stockings. I've cheated once or twice when we were going out of town for Thanksgiving - just for the joy of coming back to a Christmasy home.

But my mom is coming into town this weekend, and we have never decorated for Christmas together here in Chicago. So we are waiting (patience isn't my thing, exactly) until Friday night to transform the condo into a winter wonderland.

It's making me crazy. Today I went downstairs into the storage room to just stare at "Christmas Corner", as Joshua calls our ever-growing collection. I tried to decide if I could just put out one snowman, or find one pine candle to light. At one point the holiday welcome mat I threw in the cart during our recent trip to Home Depot (again!) was actually in my hands.

I didn't do it. I'm more excited about having my mom here for all of it. And Joshua, of course. And Cari. And the zoo - the cats are relatively indifferent to the sudden glitzy changes in their world, but I think Helo is really going to be crazy over the tree and the lights and the ornaments. It's sweet and terrifying all at the same time.

Another terrifying - but really thrilling - twist to this years' holiday decorating is that our new camera should be delivered on Friday afternoon, just in time to document exactly what happens when a dog is confronted with a live tree in the comfort of his own living room. I'm taking bets on how quickly he pees on it.

Joshua and I took advantage of the Black Friday sales (from the comfort of our couch; I'm not much of a 4am crowd trampler) to find a great deal on a Canon Rebel T2i. I have less than no idea what I'll be doing with such a sophisticated camera, but I can't wait to start taking lovely, dreamy SLR photos. Even if it does takes me a month to learn anything other than the automatic settings, I'm just thrilled about how rarely I'm going to have to use the flash now!

Lately I've been feeling a little sore and a lot sluggish so the excitement of the holidays has been a wonderful distraction from that. As soon as this house is fully bedecked and bedazzled, I'm sure I will feel even better. It may be taking all the willpower I have not to start looping garlands down the stairwell right this minute, but I know I will appreciate the experience of getting ready for the holidays so much more with the people I love.

Pictures...shiny, beautiful PICTURES...to come!