Talk Derby To Me

Wow...after reading what I just posted, and the several posts before that, I realize that this blog has become the "all about baby" blog! I promise, there are some other things going on in our lives other than the baby (though not much!), and I do have interests beyond our nursery! It is just that as the due date gets closer, my attention seems to zero in on all things baby.

As you'll recall, baby girl is due on May 3rd, otherwise known by the citizens of this great state as Kentucky Derby day. Of course, the odds of her actually being born on Derby day are slim, but what a cool story would that be?!?! The timing is a little bittersweet, though, because everywhere I turn in Louisville, I am bombarded with these gorgeous spring dresses that would be perfect for Derby - or to be worn by any woman who is not almost 9 months pregnant!! In commemoration of the Derby season, I thought I would post a few of my favorite hat pictures....these come from the website for Dee's, a local crafts store that seems to always come up with some great Derby hat ideas. They are actually the ones that recreated the hat I wore to Oaks last year, which appears at the top right corner of this blog.

The first two would look fantastic with a cream strapless dress (and a good spray tan)....



I can't seem to get away from the pink and brown theme of our nursery....


Finally, I love the bright tropical colors of this last one, though I think I would ditch the flowers (but definitely keep the feathers):


Hopefully these pictures will inspire some of you ladies who are currently on the quest for a fabulous Derby hat! Have a wonderful time at the running of the roses....hopefully I'll be in a labor and delivery room at Baptist East Hospital, not going past my due date!

Busy, Busy Weekend

Warning....long post ahead! It seems that the closer we get to baby girl's arrival, the more jam-packed our weekends become (but in a good way!). I was 35 weeks as of yesterday, so it means I have 34 days till the due date - yeah!!! Don't get me wrong, this pregnancy has not been very difficult on me (knock on wood...), but I am ready to have this baby to welcome her into the world. It will also be nice to enjoy a couple of glasses of good wine, too!

We had our second baby shower last night that was here in Louisville, hosted by Amy, Amanda and Natasha (who unfortunately could not make it because of her work schedule - we missed you Natasha!). We had a great time, and I even think most of the guys in attendance could say that, too!

Amanda, myself and Amy:


The very cute cake:


We played the "yarn" game where guests cut off a piece of yarn which they think represents how big I am around the stomach. (Uh...Andy, I think the goal is to measure around the pregnant woman's stomach, not the father-to-be's stomach!):



A few pictures of Ryan and I opening gifts. I wish I could remember what was being said or who we were looking at in the third picture - I look bemused and Ryan looks just confused! Also, note Ryan flashing the double thums up in the last picture:






Perhaps the funniest moment of the evening came when two little girls met for the first time. To set the scene, two babies were at the shower - the first is Hattie, daughter of Hayden and Catherine, who turns 1 next week, and the other is Charlotte, Amy and Nick's daughter who is about 1 1/2 years old. Upon meeting on the couch, Hattie promptly started leaning over to give Charlotte nose kisses. The look on Charlotte's face was priceless....she wanted nothing to do with these new signs of affection! Equally priceless are the expressions on Catherine's face, who had a front row seat to all of the action. We were all laughing so hard - I laughed to the point of crying, so it's a wonder I don't have mascara streaming down my cheeks in these pictures!:





We had a wonderful time at the shower, as you can tell from the photographs. Once again, our friends were entirely too generous - below is a picture of one of the gifts we got, which is the infamous swing (my parents are still amazed that this thing has an Ipod hook up, which actually is pretty wild!). We assembled it today and it is waiting to be used in the corner of the den:


We've also already assembled the stroller and its matching carseat, which were generously gifted to us by Ryan's mom and stepdad:


I think the only thing that remains to be assembled is the very cute pack and play that my Mom and Dad bought us to keep on the first floor.

In addition to the shower, some other excitement this weekend was that Ryan's dad and step-mom came in this weekend to see us and came with armloads of gifts for the baby....

A too cute child-sized chair with the first initial of baby girl's name monogrammed on the seat (Yes, we have selected a name, but for some reason I hesitate to announce it on the blog! Maybe you can figure it out from the pictures if you don't know it already!):



A huge stuffed Laborador Retriever (looks like Pearl has found a new friend):




And a cute pink and brown monogrammed bag for overnight trips when she is older:


Wow, this is a ridiculously long post with an overload of pictures! As you can see, though, we had a lot to share!

Too cute to drool upon....

I really think I'm going to have to buy this bib for baby girl. How appropriate is that?!?! It could be a gift from our first "baby" to the new baby.

Baby Shower #1

Well, folks, we are getting down to the wire!! I have about 6 weeks, 5 days till my due date, but hey, who's counting? It's hard to tell who is more excited - us or all of our friends and family! Baby girl is fine. We think she's moved around so she is "head down" now - or at least it feels that way, based upon all the kicking she is doing in the vicinity of my ribs. I wish I could explain to those who have not been pregnant how this feels - it's so weird to look down and see your stomach literally shift like a tidal wave as this little being inside of you does somersaults! I have my next doctor's appointment a week from Friday, and then I will start going once a week for the 4 weeks until my due date (or until I deliver, whether before or after Derby Day). I have about 3 1/2 weeks till I am considered "full term" so that if the baby comes after that, she won't be considered premature.

The nursery is really coming along, especially due in large part to the generosity of all of our friends and family! We had our first baby shower this past Saturday - it was an all girls shower, consisting of my mom, Ryan's mom, Ryan's aunt, a bunch of my sorority sisters, friends from college, friends from my last firm and friends from my stint in the Junior League (oddly, only one of us remains in the JL, the rest of us are JL dropouts!). My sweet and dear friend Lavin hosted the shower at Standard Country Club in Louisville - Lavin is a real trooper to have thrown this for me, particularly in light of the fact that she and her family moved the day before into a new house! The day was wonderful and I had such a blast celebrating with all of these wonderful women/

Here I am with my huge belly that is obstructing the view of the hostess, Lavin!:


My sorority sister, Tara, made the incredible cake. Not only was it a work of art (all of those flowers are icing!), but it was one of the best cakes I've ever had (yummm...strawberry). Tara, I've said it once, I've said it a million times - you could make a fortune in the wedding cake business!:


Here's some random shots of the guests, and one of me opening presents:




This last picture is great - it's of my sorority sister, Kim, and I. Kim is due 5 days ahead of me with her first baby, a little boy. We're already playing matchmaker with our kids! Everyone cracked up when Kim arrived and she and I hugged hello - we had to do a side hug because of our bellies!


Thank you to all of my wonderful friends who came to the shower (in spite of the rain showers outside!) to help us celebrate this wonderful time in our lives.

Nursery Update

Happy March!! The weather in KY this weekend has been fantastic (expected high of 62 degrees today!) which makes me hope that it is not too much longer until spring is on the way. The coming of March is further significant to me because it means baby girl will be here the month after next!! As I'm typing this, I'm 31 weeks and a day to be exact so we only have about 9 weeks to go. With that being said, we have had A LOT of activity going on with the nursery the past few weeks and I wanted to post a few (okay, several!) pictures to show you our progress. The furniture is all in, the window treatments are up, and the overhead light fixture has been switched out. Please keep in mind that it is not yet complete and is a work in progress - there are still pictures to be hung, shelves to be filled, etc. So with that being said, here's a peek at our daughter's nursery......

These first few pictures are of the alcove in the room where the glider and ottoman, as well as side table, are set up. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the glider and ottoman - it's pretty but more importantly it is so comfy, which is a good thing because I expect that I will be spending many nights in this thing. The gorgeous window treatments and table skirt were made by my incredibly talented mother (with the help of my father on the table skirt!) with the fabric I had picked out. Please excuse the number of photographs, but I have to show off my mom's handiwork:






The next couple of photographs are of the crib, which unfortunately only has a fitted sheet on it at this juncture. I'm having the crib bumper and bedskirt made so I'm still waiting on the finished product and hope to have it in a couple of weeks. There are also some pictures of the other window in the room next to the crib:





Finally, here's a picture of the dresser/hutch on the wall opposite from the window alcove:


So that's the status of our work on the nursery thus far...I know, I know, it's pretty girly, but what do you expect, she's a girl! (Or at least that is what 2 ultrasounds have indicated). I'll be sure to post some pictures of the finished product once it is complete.

Oscar Thoughts

Let's face it....the Oscars were pretty boring this year, for the most part. With the exception of the surprise winner for Best Actress, all of the winners were shoo-ins weeks ago. I typically like to see at least some, if not all, of the Best Picture nominated movies prior to the Oscars but this year I have not seen a one (although I have made plenty of time this year to go see some chick flicks like 27 Dresses and Definitely, Maybe - both of which were cute!). I do really want to see Juno and No Country For Old Men - maybe they will be out on DVD sometime during my maternity leave!

No, the true reason I tuned in to the Oscars this year was to, of course, check out what the actresses were wearing on the red carpet. Oddly enough, almost all of my favorites were wearing red! Katherine Heigl (my favorite of the night), Anne Hathaway, Heidi Klum and Helen Mirren (don't have a picture of her) all rocked red and looked fabulous.




I also loved the dress worn by the Best Actress winner, Marion Cotillard. It was unique, sexy and elegant, all rolled into one dress:


There were few duds out there this year, to Hollywood's credit, but there were a few notable standouts (I failed to include a picture of Best Supporting Actress winner Tilda Swinton - hers was by far the worst look of the night!):

Cameron Diaz - I thought this was a gorgeous dress style, but the color was horrible on her:


Ellen Page - This dress just didn't do anything for me at all. You can wear black and it not have to look frumpy:


Sarah.....does anyone know the last name of George Clooney's girlfriend?? I really dislike this dress, from the ruffles to the various pastel colors. It really is a shame, too, since she is standing next to such a gorgeous native of Kentucky. Sigh....maybe I am just jealous of her!

Happy February Birthdays!!!

Oddly enough, everyone in my immediate family has birthdays in February! Dad's is the 6th, Rachel's is the 7th and Mom's is the 20th. I was born in June, go figure. I wanted to extend on my blog a very belated birthday wish to my father and sister Rachel. I love you both dearly. Also, happy Birthday eve to my wonderful mother, you're the best!

We had a chance to go up to Boston the weekend before last and visit Rachel and Jeff in their new hometown. I'd been to Boston before but Ryan never had - I love Boston but I'd much prefer our next trip to take place in warmer weather!! It was a short but busy trip with lots of walking around, shopping, and good dining had by all. We had a blast and it just made me realize how proud I am of my sister. As you can tell from the picture taken of us below while dining at a restaurant on the Harvard campus, she is a gorgeous girl, but her beauty is easily matched by her extreme intelligence, wit and heart.



I miss Rachel so much but am so proud of all the wonderful things she is doing in Boston - the pregnant women of that great city are lucky to have a wonderful doctor like Rachel to deliver their babies! She is so excited about being an aunt and will make a wonderful one. Probably one of my favorite memories from the pregnancy thus far was when Rachel placed her head on my stomach during the visit to feel her little niece kick around.

I have said it once, I'll say it again - I'm blessed with the most wonderful family. How lucky our little girl will be when she is born into an environment of such great family members who love her dearly! Happy Birthday to you all!

Lindsay Lohan as the new Marilyn Monroe??

I first heard of Linday Lohan's risque photo shoot that will run in the New Yorker on yesteday's Today show program. This raised 3 questions for me:
(1) Why on earth is the New Yorker running naked photographs of Lindsay Lohan?
(2) Does anyone truly think she looks a thing like Marilyn Monroe?
(3) Finally, does anyone truly care?!?!