I felt like the shower was for someone else or another event because I just couldn't believe it was for our SECOND child. As in we already had one and were about to welcome in our 2nd baby. Molly took all these candid shots as I opened the gabillion presents that are coming out of the windows of the nursery. Thanks Molly! I know how you love taking pictures (dripping with sarcasm)
Speaking of the nursery, it's all but finished, just waiting on a few more wall hangings and wallah it'll be finished and pictures soon. To say I'm in love with it is an understatement. It's right next door to Lily's nursery so it's absolutely amazing to stand in between them to see the contrast, but similarities between the 2. They look so different, but both were created with so much love. Lily goes in there every night before bed, rocks in his chair, rolls on his soft rug, & kisses my belly good night.
And when I say every night, i mean if we forget, then there's lots of incessant begging and reminders. When we were pregnant with Lily what I looked forward to most was seeing David with Lily or eavesdropping on their conversations/silly games. Now that I'm pregnant with #2 all I can think about is seeing Lily with him and how they'll interact. I picture the kisses, the cuddles, the hugs, the reading of books, the cooing and it makes me giddy with excitement. It's going to rock her world in a big way too and it will probably hurt to share the spotlight a bit, but I'm going to do everything to protect her little heart. To think she'll feel slighted the least bit by any of this pangs my heart to even think about it, but I know it'll be the best gift we can ever give her and that'll be my focus.
And these 3? OMG! The time, effort, late nights, emails, texts, phone calls and love that went into this shower was so special. I'm not usually out of the loop when it comes to family info, but they did a great job with this covert operation, not telling me any of the details of the big day. I kept telling them thank you before, during, and after because I knew how much work went into the shower, but those 2 words didn't seem to match fulfill my gratitude. Not only how much work went into it, but the love they always give me in good times and in bad.....and to quote Sandra Bullock, "they always have my back" and that means the world to me. Oh, and this chair is special because Jen sat in the same room, in the same chair when we threw a shower for her firstborn, our first baby of the family 15 years ago for Jordan!! 15 years ago! We did this same pose 15 years ago, but Jen was in the hot seat. Major tears at that thought!
And Grandma Dottie pulled a rabbit out of her hat with this one! She likes to save things and she still had David's first pair of walking Stride Rite shoes she bought on 7/29/1972!!! 1972 people!!?!?!? As in 1972; like almost 40 years ago for those not so hot in math. She had the original box with a date and price too! They were $9.50 and to think David wore these and our SON will too is too much for my little brain to comprehend.
I saw this banner in a catalog and had to have it so I scoured the internet to find one that matched the nursery, but came up short. After talking with my mamacita about it, she did what every amazing mom does; she offered to make one! And at a fraction of the price! Cha-ching! And it's definitely more meaningful that we picked out the fabric, ribbon, and being hand made by grandma makes my heart smile every time I look at it in his nursery right above the crib.
Oh and what's that? That amazing picture of Lily kissing my belly?? That was the invite to the shower Jen made (gasp) so we changed the words, blew it up in a 20x20 canvas and included his name for the nursery. I love this so much I want to sleep with it every night. There's a picture wall in his nursery too and this will definitely complement it. I love that Lily's heart-shaped hermangioma on her upper left shoulder is in the picture too. It's so subtle, but something I notice every time I look at this picture.
Our son's name will be Grady Wayne! You wouldn't believe all the names we threw around and how long it took, but we finally settled on Grady because it's Irish, it's Colleen's maiden name and just felt right since the moment I found out I was pregnant with Lily. It's been my boy name for years and I couldn't imagine anything different once we found out it was a boy. Now, David on the other hand had some other ideas. Within an hour of finding out it was a boy, he sent me an email titled "In the Running..." with his list of names he liked. I couldn't believe all the opinions he had. Grady was on the list, but not sure it was his favorite... but he finally came around to liking it too. Either that or was bullied into it and knew his name choices were a little extreme to be considered in the running. Let's just say one of the names on his list was "Udell". (DJ stops playing, record scratches)
Okay, enough said.
He did have some other really cute names like Colby and Cooper, but he lost a lot of credibility when he threw out Adley and Pablo. (Pablo has been ongoing jokey name, but no offense to any Pablo's out there)
Then the middle name. OH, how I love his middle name. Guess who else has that same middle name? MY DAD!! My sweet dad's middle name will be the same as our son and that makes me so happy I can't stand it. If Grady is half the person my dad is then we'll have a dreamboat for a son.
We'll be a family of 4 in just 4-5 weeks and it all seems so surreal. There were many days and nights and weeks I lost hope thinking we'd never have kids in our lives and now we're about to welcome #2 and I can't think of anything that makes me happier and more fulfilled in my life.
Our days used to be so empty without them and I have so much more faith in life that everything works out just the way it is supposed to no matter how long it takes or how hard the road is in getting there. Now when life presents its challenges, I just try to think back to how hard it was getting to where we are and channel that feeling into the current problem; the big and small ones. It's a reassuring feeling and helps to put things in perspective.
Life is good!
