annnnnnnnnndddddddddddd here we are. 11 days from the birth of our child. I’ve been overcome with lots of different emotions in the past two weeks. Extreme joy, overwhelming love, gratitude, frustration, scared sh*tless, unbelievable excitement…. sometimes all of these emotions come in a matter of minutes of each other. Aren’t I a ball of fun??
Let’s start with the extreme joy and overwhelming love…. This is what I feel when I think of Lane. I could not be luckier to call him my husband, best friend and father of my child. He is the most selfless, dedicated, hard working, thoughtful and incredible person I know. He always puts me first. Hell, he even puts the needs of our dogs before his own, as evidenced by his strange sleep positions to be able to accommodate my 394 pillows (clearly all necessary when you’re 9 months pregnant!) and the two dogs who find it impossible to sleep anywhere except in our bed.
Here’s example A: Lucy. Asleep with her head on my pillow, her body half under the comforter, between me and Lane…
I am so excited to share this new adventure of parenthood with Lane and can’t imagine doing it with anyone else. He is going to be one unbelievable father and our son is already so lucky because of who his daddy is.
I keep watching this slideshow that I made for Lane for our anniversary and the tears keep flowing. I’m overcome with joy and love because of the man that chose to spend his life with me.
Gratitude has come in the form of our parents and friends helping us get moved into our new house. We are so excited to finally have two bathrooms. I know, right? It’s the small things in life that really make a difference. We were sad to leave our old neighborhood behind (my Kroger especially), but absolutely love our new neighborhood and how everyone has welcomed us. We’ve met more neighbors in the 3 weeks we’ve been here than in the 3 years we were at the old house.
Lane’s parents came for a few weeks and really helped get things started at the house...painting, constructing, cleaning. It was amazing. We are so thankful that they are retired and are able to pick up and go anytime they’d please… Especially when it’s to come perform manual labor for us!
My parents, who are renovating their lake house, helping out a friend in a highly competitive political race and running a business that is beyond crazy busy, have spent their last two weekends (their only “free” time) in Dallas with us helping unpack, organize and get ready for the baby. My best friend, Mary C., a mother of two who leads a very busy life, even took time out of her schedule to come unpack boxes with me. I just can’t help but think how lucky we are to have incredible parents and friends who are willing to put their lives on hold to help us do tedious tasks and annoying housework.
One of my main priorities was to get the nursery complete. While the rest of the house is in complete disarray (see: Frustrated) the nursery is done, thanks to all of our helpers! It’s better than I imagined it would be and I’m so excited for Wright to be here in it!
The monogram over the crib is probably my favorite thing… Lane’s good friend, Brandon, designed it for us and my super talented father-in-law made it. I love it so much!
Aside from all the joy and excitement of a new house and new baby, I also get so frustrated. Frustrated that I can’t do much when there’s so much to do. The last few weeks have been really tough for me physically. I just can’t move around like I used to and my feet look like elephant feet at the end of the day. All I want to do when I come home from work is put my feet up and take a nap. So, I say this for those of you that plan to visit us. Please know that our house is a disaster. Truly. Whatever image you have in your head, make it ten times worse and that might compare. We still have boxes to unpack, furniture to buy and arrange (our coffee table is currently serving as our TV stand and our dining room is currently serving as the box black hole) and lots of organization to do. I have high hopes that I can get a lot accomplished in the next 11 days, but I’m not superwoman. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Finally, the scared sh*tless and unbelievable excitement come when I think of being a mommy in 11 days. I am going to go from being pregnant to not in a matter of minutes. I still can’t wrap my brain around it. All I can think about is how I want to snuggle with him. I’m afraid I won’t let anyone else hold him. I know it’s going to be the most challenging thing we’ve ever done, but I am so excited. I pray constantly for a safe delivery, healthy baby and quick recovery so that I can spend every precious second getting to know my son. My son. I’m going to have a son. See? It’s crazy. Here come the tears again.
