Se Hace Camino Al Andar

  

Things are shaping up slowly but surely around here. We’ve thrown out two bookcases, packed up 10 boxes of books, moved our beautiful but large coffee table out of the living room, had the place painted and hung or re-hung our photos and artwork back on the walls. (I still have a ketubah and a cool cyclogram being framed at the shop.)

The kitchen is nearly done, with just a few cosmetic things to be fixed. I’m slowly but surely figuring out where I want things to go and getting the kitchen organized. The next project is carpet in the bedroom and window treatments. I said to my mother the other day, “I almost feel ready to bring a baby home.” We’ve got just under a month to go and I’m feeling less overwhelmed now that I can see that the apartment is ever closer to baby-ready.

The question is: Am I baby-ready? Maybe. As we get closer to the date, I feel more twinges of nervousness and anxiety. My tendency is squash them right away and go look at the many gifts I’ve already gotten, ahead of my shower. Two events will bring out a girl’s previously-hidden shallow nature: weddings and baby showers. This past weekend, I received two big things from my parents that have helped to quell the anxiety a bit: a stroller and a crib. The stroller issue was fraught with anxiety, believe it or not. There are so many choices out there and so many factors to take into consideration. For us, a big factor was mobility–is this a stroller we can travel with? Does it weigh 5000 pounds? Does it fold and unfold easily? So far, the answers seem to be yes, no and yes. As for the crib, most of the anxiety came from wondering whether I’d get one as a gift or if we’d have to buy it.

So, the stroller:

and the crib:

The crib won’t be set up for awhile, as we need to put those ten boxes of books in storage, which we can’t do until after the baby is born. (They are going into my dad’s basement, three hours away, which is too far for us to travel this late in the game.) The baby will be in the co-sleeper for the first few months anyway, so I’m not feeling anxious about this and I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that she won’t have a proper nursery while we live in this apartment. Instead, she’ll have a corner, delineated by lots of pink stuff, probably. (Yes, I know… I could go with a different color but honestly, folks, I happen to like pink. I really do.)

So, that’s a slice of a life that is currently consumed by the imminent arrival of a new family member. Boring to you, dear readers but an endless source of excitement for me.

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