Reed Baby Blog

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post.  First, we’ve had some internet connection problems. Second, we’ve been incredibly busy for the last three weeks.  Each weekend since September 13, we’ve had a shower for Carter on Saturday and childbirth classes for Cory and me on Sundays.   I simply cannot believe how many people love us and are already spoiling Carter. Our first shower was hosted by some of Mom’s friends and the guests were mostly from her Sunday school class. It’s pretty amazing that anyone showed up, since Mom was the one that suggested that the class no longer throw showers for other members’ grandkids. However, not only did people show up, but they were incredibly generous. Carter received his bassinet and the portable stroller, as well as blankets and clothes galore. He will be one well-dressed baby. If you can mind the belly, click on the picture below to see more pics of the shower.

The second shower was here at our house and hosted by both grandmoms, my best friend Suzanne, Janie’s friend (and Cory’s “second” mom) Annette, and my sister-in-law Jennifer. Special kudos to Jennifer for this shower. She pulled off something spectacular and made this a very special day. It was a very diverse crowd, well at least in terms of how we knew all of the guests. A surprise visit by our old neighbors from McKinney also helped the crowd not seem so white and Republican. Brian and Anne were the best neighbors imaginable and it was a real treat to see them. We also got to see old friends from college, as well as friends of Janie’s that we have not seen since our wedding. Again, everyone gave Carter way more than they should have. He got his glider chair from my parents, his travel system from Janie and Dave, an exersaucer, a play gym, changing pad, more clothes and two hand-made blankets. This kid already needs his own storage room. Click on the tasty cake to see more pictures of this event.

The last shower was this last weekend, hosted by my friends from Our Children’s House at Baylor. This was by far the most elegant shower. It was held at the Chocolate Angel in Richardson. My friends from Baylor and Cory’s friends (or their wives) from Belo attended, as well as the grandmom’s and Carter’s Aunt Jennifer. This turned out to be the educational shower for a couple of reasons. First, the size of Carter’s library doubled or tripled with the amount of books he received. Second, each guest filled out a card with advice for me as a new mom. Of course, he got more adorable outfits, his bathtub, some toys, much needed diapers and lots of cute little shoes. Casey was kind enough to be a photographer and uploaded the pictures to a Kodak gallery. You might need to register (free) to view the pics.

Thanks again for everyone’s generosity. I’m slowly cranking out thank you cards, so you should get yours soon.

Cory and I had a busy Saturday last weekend, as we decided to paint Carter’s room.  Of course, the plan was to go to Home Depot first thing in the morning and get started early, but an after-breakfast nap took priority for me.  We ended up starting the actual painting about 6:00, but were comfortably finished and in bed by midnight.  We started with plain white walls and are pleased with the way the Oxford blue looks.  The furniture, which is being borrowed from Luke, also looks great against the blue.  The final product will come later, as a wonderful friend of Janie’s is going to be painting a mural along one of the walls.  Since the theme is frogs, I think the plan is to do some sort of pond mural on one wall and some additional lily pads along the others.  We can’t wait! 

I’m officially on the every two week schedule at the OB. However, things have been looking great. Carter is a little over 3 1/2 pounds and is measuring about a week and a half early. He is sooo active, enough so that I briefly had a thought about whether you could start your kid on Ritalin while still in the womb. Although, he tends to be shy when other people try to feel him moving. He’s great with Cory, but it took three attempts for my mom to feel him, and he has yet to cooperate with Janie. Mom says he’s stubborn like me, but I think he’s just shy.

We had a little bit of a scare yesterday afternoon, as I started having some cramping (perhaps contractions). I called the doctor and was told to drink lots of water, lay on my left side, take 2 Tylenol, time the cramps, and call back in an hour if they weren’t gone. After about 45 minutes of cramping every 2 minutes, they subsided. Once the cramping was gone, I was just sore…like someone had kicked me in the belly. Wonder who would have done that? We took it easy the rest of the day, and all is well this morning. Getting plenty of rest this weekend is probably a good thing, since the showers and childbirth classes will consume the next three weekends. I guess I really am going to have a baby!!!