Maternity Photo Shoot

Greg and I decided to get a maternity photo shoot to document our relocation to Columbia, MO (CoMo) and what things look like in the house. Below are a few photos (taken by Lollipop Photography's Rhiannon Trask) and a link to our album on Facebook.

On Family Trees

Greg at work on the "Family Tree"

Babies look remarkably alike and remarkably different.

I spent the past week looking at a lot of old pictures. The professor I'm research assistant for is a scholar of hyperlocal photography--specifically focusing on the work of small-town Mississippi photographer named Pruitt. I also spent a lot of time in the Missouri journalism buildings, looking at the great profile pictures of past professors, deans and distinguished students for the first time. Since Missouri was the first school of journalism, those pictures go back quite a ways.

When I look at those photos, I'm struck how certain looks just seemed to disappear. When you look at pictures of square-jawed guys from the World War II, I wonder--what happened to that look? Maybe it does it exist, but the context has changed so much that they don't seem to. Or is it really gone? Evolved out of us.

Mimi's great creative project for the baby's room has been to create a "family tree" on the wall--the interesting aspect is that all of the pictures are baby pictures. Usually, when you see pictures of people in your family whether your grandparents, great-grandparents or otherwise, it's at a certain stage in their life. Usually surrounding the age when they had children or grandchildren (because that's when the most photographs are taken). But looking at baby pictures is such an interesting exercise. Who knew I had my maternal grandfathers ears? (At least the top part looks the same--see right).

Equally interesting was the search for these pictures--because in some cases no photos exist. My grandmother and grandfather both grew up in farming families in New Brunswick. My grandfather was one of three children, and thus there were two baby photos. My grandmother was one of twelve children, (and thus there were no baby photos).

The process made me think a lot about the people on the wall who will never see it. My grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side were amazing people. So brave. When my dad (the youngest of seven) was only two, they packed up and moved to Chicago, IL because that's where the work was. Leaving Grand Falls, New Brunswick meant leaving all the people they'd ever loved and known for place that must have been scary and a great unknown.

They don't make people like that anymore. Certain kinds of people disappear too. 

My grandfather on my mother's side was a man I never met but would liked to have. My grandmother gets quiet when she describes him--his family had been quite rich prior to the Great Depression and lost most everything. My family describes him is as if he was a man from another era who wasn't quite sure what to do in the middle of the 20th century. I wonder if he felt like the world had moved on from him?

Maybe it's not the people who disappear but the world that moves on without them.

This is far too serious a blog entry. On a lighter note--how about some pictures of the Family Tree!?

Me with the family tree, pointing out my place.
Note the empty spot for Little Miss P.

I really like the idea that our little girl
will get to grow up with this great history
above her.

Update=Miss P's Room

We're at 32 weeks but I forgot to Post this photo, mainly because Greg and I have been so busy. He's going to start class on Monday (busy day 10 a.m. till 6 p.m.) Luckily we are walking distance from the university, sadly this means Mondays will be pretty lonely until Miss P gets here. We are less than two months from our due date. Everything looks great. I have to re-do my prenatal blood work because my DC OB office had not sent over my medical records yet as of last week.

Friday I also went to physical therapy for my mid back pain. My new doctor has a physical therapist in house. She was able to almost instantly alleviate my pain with certain stretching exercises. I also joined the local recreation center for the next week so I can use the pool. It helps get the weight off my body (at this point I'm carrying around close to 40 pounds more than I weighed pre-pregnancy).

Here are a few photos of what Miss P's room looks like so far. We got the crib and bedding before my trip to Texas. My mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law and sister-in-law got together for this purchase.
I'm working on a mural in the room based off of a journal I purchased from Urban Outfitters in the spring. I've made a little progress on it but I still have to paint it on another wall. It includes yellow vines and blue birds. I also have blue birds coming for the bird cage in the corner (which remains from our wedding decorations). More updates to come!

Showers of Blessings

Greg and I are so blessed to have amazing and supportive family and friends. I just returned yesterday from five days in Texas. My sister Catelyn hosted a baby shower for me on Saturday. It was the third amazing shower so far. Since I have not posted any shower photos yet I thought I would do so in this post. I am so grateful for all the support we have received. The gifts are definitely more than we had ever expected.

Family at Texas Shower in August.

Zeta Tau Alpha Sisters at Strawberry Shower Maryland in July.

Sweet friends Dawn, Alison and Candice at shower in DC July.

I'll post some more photos of our gifts at a later date, but I wanted to create an entry to reiterate how grateful we are for everything.

Give me MO...

This weekend Greg and I went through what I want to call "New Parent Boot Camp." This consisted of Greg's first visit to meet our new doctor at the Women and Children's Hospital, our all day birth class and hospital tour and putting together Miss P's room and crib. Tonight we round it off with our Infant CPR and healthcare class.

After three weeks of organizing, unpacking and painting Greg and I are finally starting to see the end in sight for our house projects. It has been exhausting, but we have loved it. The only room left to paint is our bedroom which Greg will be working on when I head to Texas later this week. This will also be after his presentation at the Journalism Educator's conference (again so proud of him for getting the student paper award). Below are some photos of our living room, two of our bathrooms, and Miss P's room (where I've started on a mural). Three rooms what we worked on during the past two weeks. Greg has done such a great job painting all these rooms and cleaning up after the painting. I am so grateful to have him to share in this journey with.

Living room photo progression...



Bathrooms...



Miss P's Room...

Also for those who remember my sorority sister Kara and her baby James Sikes, this week a baby giraffe was born at the Dallas Zoo and they are petitioning to have her named Jamie after James. The form is available on the Dallas Zoo website or click here.

"I'll know what a kiss is once you hand one to me"

As Mimi and I have been spending our days slaving over the house, preparing it from top to bottom to be beautiful enough for our daughter's discerning eye. We've painted most of the rooms we want to paint and hung pictures and art throughout the house. The boxes have largely disappeared but for holdouts in the guest room and in a yard sale pile.

While we've spent our days on the house, we've spent our evenings with Peter Pan. I'd never read the book myself although like a common millennial I can claim to have watched every Peter Pan movie. We've been reading it aloud to each other. Hearing the story has reminded us of our childhood and how very much like children we still are (and all adults are). While it's been a fun read for us, I think we've both been brushing up on our skills at reading aloud in expectation of doing for a baby very soon.

Last night we read chapter three. As the future father of a daughter, I gathered the morale of the story very quickly. "This is what happens when you let a boy on your bed. Soon you're jumping out the window." I'm glad I'll be able to give our daughter the lede of the story out front. (I also challenge the very gendered statement by Peter than "a girl is worth twenty boys." It seems to assume the men cannot sew, operate with reason, or keeping from jumping out windows. Which is true in my case, but that's not the point.)

I'm looking forward to reading the book to her one day and laughing with her the way Mimi and I laugh reading it. I look forward to explaining the beautiful world we live in and introducing her to all the things I've learned to love.

Until then, here are some pictures from the room. 

Here's the bed in the baby's room (not the final bedspread). Mimi made the curtains herself.
As you can see she already has a sizable number of stuffed animals.

The pack and play. How I remember this from when our friends with a young baby lived with us for a few weeks.
This is a magical device. Mimi had to explain the "Toy Bar" to me though.
I had to ask if that was where the toys went to drink after a long day of being squeaked and chewed on.

The Green Room

In Theater performers wait in the green room before the big production, so I guess it is only fitting Miss P has her own green room. Her room is coming together nicely. Greg and I spent half of yesterday and today in there getting it ready. We painted and decorated the room. We also finished painting her bathroom (yellow).

Her bedroom is Mother Nature Green (by Behr) and will have many things added to it once we are done. Below are just a few photos of what we have done in there so far in Miss P's room...
Book shelf with lamp, ultrasound photo fame and 3d bird's egg frame. Bird paintings on top of frame will also be hung in the room. Not sure where yet.
Bird shaped mirror (from Sonora) and Once Upon a time framed art from Sleeping Beauty (daddy picked this out).

More room updates to come. Right now I am busy working on curtains and a few other surprises. I cannot wait to share those with you all. Thank you all for all you have contributed to make her room beautiful.