Hello

I cannot believe I haven't posted anything since October 3rd, and here it is... October 30th. Wow. Such an appropriate effect of how I've been feeling. I have been busy. Busy experiencing, hearing, feeling, doing...without the time, energy, or clarity to comment and reflect on it all.

I am just a couple days shy of hitting the 20 week mark. That half-way milestone is a bit daunting to me. I know we have "a lot of time left" (a comment I hear frequently), yet I know that the next two months will become very busy with holiday busy-ness, and the last month or two I may lack the energy and agility to do too much. I do not feel like I have a lot of time left. By the way, I will just say...for the record, that moms who have been moms for years, while I appreciate their wisdom and advice, do not remember some things accurately. They do not remember how much there is to DO to prepare for the first child to be born. There are so many decisions to be made and research to be done. My friends that are newer moms get this...they completley understand. But my friends that have been moms for a long time just don't seem to get it.

I am feeling great... I'm not sick any longer and I have much more energy than I did at the beginning. However, I've recently started getting extremely tired at night - and night starts somewhere between 3:30 and 6:00pm. This has been difficult. Getting my work hours in, getting my ministry commitment done, and researching/ planning all the needed baby things...AND being ready for bed at 5pm - this has all been very difficult.

Through it all, my husband has been WONDERFUL. He is showing his love for me so tangibly; I have never loved him more.

Yesterday, I had to work during the day, but we took a couple hours in the early afternoon to go look at strollers with a friend of mine. This was absolutely exhausting and overwhelming. I was supposed to keep working when I got back, but couldn't. Hubs put me to bed, and woke me up later to send me off to my bible study. I tried my hardest to keep my eyes open while I was at bible study. I was so tired! I really wanted to come back home and go to bed, but there were a few important grocery items we were out of. I called on my way home to tell I was stopping at the store, and to see if there was anything he wanted.

My WONDERFUL husband told me to come home, get in bed, and he would go to the grocery store (at 10:00pm). He really, really does not like grocery shopping. At all. I told him I really didn't mind, but without any complaint in his voice, said he would really rather go and let me sleep.

Like I said, he has been WONDERFUL. I love him.

Our ultrasound is tomorrow. Just saying that makes my heart beat faster. I wonder if we will be able to tell the gender (and yes, if it's clear, we will be finding out), I wonder if anything will be wrong with the baby, I wonder what it will be like to see it on that little screen.

I wonder what this little one will think of the jogging stroller that we just found on craigslist... hubs is out picking it up for me as I type. =)

Need baby STUFF advice

It's a backwards day at Shannon's Works For Me Wednesday, and of course, I've got one thing on my mind: BABIES. I've got one in me that's about 16 weeks old.

We are going to try to register early, hoping that we might get help with some big ticket stuff for Christmas, and so we've started the research. Oh my gosh. How on earth do you pick which car seat (infant or convertable? Which brand?), and stroller, and ALL the other things to buy?

More so, I really would rather err on the side of minimalist. I don't want baby stuff just because they sell baby stuff. If we "need" it, fine. But otherwise, my kid can cope.

So....all you mom's... my question(s) for you is what baby stuff did you love having? What things would you suggest I pass on? Were there any specific brands/types that you really thought were better than others? I need HELP!

Really need help. If I get overwhelmed and can't make a decision, I do nothing. That's not necessarily a good decision here. We've had a great debate about where the kiddo will sleep when it's first born. We'd like it in our room, but not in our bed (really - it's not an option, so you can leave out that suggestion). We had a serious discussion about the feasibility of just using a laundry basket. We're currently leaning towards the bassinet in a pack-n-play. Like I said HELP.

Thanks everyone!!