A Very Special Thank You

So we are now 7 weeks and counting before we meet our little girl. The anxiety is starting to get to me. The anticipation of seeing her and getting her in my arms is starting to consume me. I get the reminders from her that she is growing and getting ready to come out. With every little kick and movement I know that we created this little bundle of joy that soon will meet the world.



This Sunday our family and friends got together to get her ready to enter the world. My shower was Sunday and it was magnificent. It was more that I ever could have imagined. I have to say a very special thank you to Spraggle’s aunts and grandmothers for getting everything together. The food was delicious, the decorations were amazing and the people there made me feel so special. Aunt Stacie did a beautiful job on the center pieces and the wishing well, Aunt Tracy made the scrap book pages look great, Aunt BB (Aunt Jenny) kept the pictures going and making that goofy bow hat, Aunt Ashley and Aunt Jenae did a fabulous job on the diaper cake and bank and then Nonna had the cake and Tandy Kakes and decorations which lit up the place and Grammom cooked all kinds of yummy food that Spraggle loved, including a very cute fruit salad baby carriage.



All of our friends and family really outdid themselves with the gifts they so graciously had given us to help get started with Spraggle. From the bedding set, to clothes, the rocking chair and diapers, to the Anit-Monkey butt creams and fluffy monkey rug. Her room will be decked out with all the monkey stuff she got. We are on a good start to get her here. We now have to work on her room so we can get everything in place. I have been in her room every night this week moving things around, looking at the adorable outfits and blankets and trying to figure out where I am putting everything.



I want to say “Thank You!!!” to everyone who attended my shower and made this day
very special for me. I can not wait to get everything set up and have Spraggle home to play with everything. I could not have imagined a more perfect day than what everyone did for me on Sunday. Pictures will be posted once she’s here in her new room and all her new outfits.

"Gobo's Discovery" (Season 1, Episode 21)

As Spraggle’s arrival quickly approaches a few things a few things have begun to occur to us.

1) We “grown people” unknowingly assume that a baby is smarter in utero then they are after they are born. Consider for a moment that you feel the baby in the woman’s stomach, so you poke it. Soon there after you feel the baby kick, punch, or headbutt the same spot again and you think Sweet the baby is playing games with me.

No consider that that baby has been released from the confines of it’s mother. In front of you sits a newly born infant. You put your hand on her and she moves, so like in the example before you poke her. The baby is not going to poke you back. She is either going to cry or look at you like you are stupid for assuming that she has mental capacity to play paddy cake with you regardless of whether there is a layer of her mothers flesh between the two of you or not.

2) Forty weeks is not nearly as long as you think. When we first found out Michelle was pregnant we couldn’t wait to tell EVERYONE! And at the time the weeks crawled by. We spent most of our time whimsically learning as much as we could and jokingly talking about what we would like to do to the house before Spraggle arrived.

Now as week 30 approaches we think back and go “WHERE DID THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS OF THIS PREGNANCY GO?!?!” With just over 2 months until the due date we’re running around like med students crowning themselves in their textbooks the night before the test, the nursery hasn’t even been started yet, and we’re terrified. With a well laid out plan we’re hoping to get everything done in time but if not…“OOPS!”

3) Building a wedding registry is relatively easy. Step 1: Buy a house or apartment. Step 2: Realize everything you need. Step 3: Put said items on your registry.

In the case of a baby registry it’s not that easy. A baby registry must be made BEFORE the baby is born. So unlike the wedding registry you don’t get time to recognize what it is you need. You’re pretty much going into it blind. Now, sure, the store will give you a “standard” list of items to buy. However they are the retailer. They want you to buy EVERYTHING. Many items you will never need and others you can get away with using things you already own with little to no modifications.

Another option, other then the store-provided list, is to ask other people or find lists online. Of which there are BILLIONS in all shapes, sizes, and opinions. When it comes to registries and product reviews everyone, their grandmothers, and the nutty squirrel in the tree across the street has an opinion. Some product reviews are almost laughable. It is astounding how people can not read the direction on the box when construction a crib or can not comprehend how a jumper could be any fun (Pssst IT’S FOR A BABY! Sort of goes back to point 1) This brings me to my final point

4) We have learned that when it comes to product reviews, pregnancy, babies, and a person’s kids take EVERYTHING they say with not just a grain of salt but the whole shaker. LOL. If all of the anecdotes and hyperboles about pregnancy and child birth were true women would be getting their tubes tied at age 12 and/or no one would ever have more then one kid. We’re more then 3/4s of the way through this pregnancy and it’s REALLY not that bad. Sure it changes things, it can be strange and uncomfortable for the mother at times but all in all it’s actually pretty cool. Now we know that we are coming up on the most difficult stage but so far we can clearly see that people exaggerate their stories, just a BIT!

So in short: We adults are stupid (1), Time Flies (2), No one knows what the need until it’s too late (3), and Take everything with a grain of salt (4). Yeah that about sums it up.