Since my child has put herself to sleep...

... thought I'd share some photos of her (finally) (almost) finished bedroom.

We caught a lot of flack from folks when we didn't know what gender our baby would be, and we told them the room was blue. LOTS of people immediately replied with, "well, you'll have to change that if she's a girl." Um, no. It turns out that we like the color, really like it with red accents, and guess what?? Our baby has remained a girl despite the blue room.

We'll start with her crib, which came from IKEA. Notice how pristine it looks? Notice how there are multiple death traps near it? (Soft toys, hanging blanket, pillow...) That's because she's only used it for the occasional nap, and now she's starting to hang out in there a bit while we're in her room so she'll get used to it. This is the secret to having an immaculate crib - don't use it! Print on the wall is by the amazing Black Apple, and the pom poms are a MonkeyBean creation from my first shower. (Awww.) The blanket you can't see was mine, made by a great-aunt, and has the tightest crochet stitches I have ever seen.

Next we have the rocking chair, source of immense angst for my younger brother. Mom had a different chair for each of us, and this is actually his. However, when we moved to Georgia, Mom put my rocking chair in his room, so he's attached to that one. Thus, I have his for Bethany. Confused? Imagine how I felt when we tried to sort all this out when I was 9 months pregnant. Yeah. The gorgeous afghan was made by Lindsey's sisters' step-grandmother. More Black Apple art on the wall, and another print by an artist whose name I've forgotten, so I'll have to look that up and report back.

This is the crazy amount of stuff I have temporarily put on her bookshelf. I know that it will all have to go when she starts pulling up, but for now, I like it. You can see some of her MonkeyBean newborn portraits, as well as a Pete the Cat print - he's riding the St. Charles streetcar, of course. A whole bunch of vintage books, a vintage baby bonnet, a doll I bought in Prague, and a little ceramic box made for me when I was little round this out. You don't want to see the shelves - trust me.

The color on this shot is off, but you can see the canvas piece Kinsley made for Bethany, as well as my very clever (ha) use of a picture display mobile for Bethany's art cards. This is hanging above her changing table, which is really a pad on top of a dresser. Couldn't get the whole thing in a remotely decent shot, so you'll just have to imagine the dresser. Bethany loves to stare up at both of these things, since they're black, white, & red.

Finally - gratuitous cuteness.

Snow Report!

Let me just apologize now for the formatting nightmare that is this post. It is so much easier to link to the videos on flickr, but flickr insists on this wackadoodle right-hand alignment thing. GRRRR. Here. Look at the pretty baby. It will make you feel better.

Phew. Now you can watch her on video:

Bethany Makes a Snow Angel - February 13, 2010

Originally uploaded by sarahblascovich

Bethany loved being outside this morning, in our whopping three inches of snow. It has, of course, sent all of Atlanta to a standstill - again. Two actual snows in one winter? And it's not even March? Unheard of! We are fortunate we don't have to go anywhere today, because apparently the roads are icy disasters - again. One day, the city of Atlanta will have an appropriate number of sand trucks. Until then, we're snowed in every time there is any accumulation. There are worse things, I know.

Bethany - Two Months

Here is our lovely family at two months-ish. We seem to be doing worse at these self-portraits. By the time she's a year old, none of us will be looking at the camera. As you can see, I have not had a haircut since before Bethany was born - it's sort of a Three's Company look, I think.

At her two month check up, Bethany was 12 pounds 3 ounces, and 22.8 inches long. I am not going to quibble with the four medical professionals who were involved in measuring her, but where I come from, we don't measure inches in tenths. If you want tenths, use centimeters. Moving on. She had to get three shots and an oral vaccine. Fortunately, our friend Belen, whose family owns Mi Barrio (best Mexican restaurant on the planet), was able to give them to her. That made Mommy feel better, but Bethany was still underwhelmed.

Bethany still loves to stare at any ceiling fan she can find, and will actually seek them out in new places. Hopefully this will develop into some sort of engineering skill as she gets older, rather than just a freaky hobby. She is learning to grab, and practices most often on Mommy's hair, but will also hold her Sophie giraffe and her crocheted rattle. Other things - not so much.

She smiles a lot, and is trying to talk. We think she tries to match pitch, as well, which is unfortunate, since neither of her parents has perfect pitch. (That last sentence was what we call an understatement.) We need Uncle Dr. T. to move back to Atlanta, and be a musical role model for her. In the meantime, we encourage her to sing and dance. Mommy does this by playing lots of songs about New Orleans & Louisiana (her favorites are "Twist and Shout," "Jambalaya," and "At the Foot of Canal Street"), and dancing around like a complete fool. Daddy does this by playing soothing classical music while reading Beatrix Potter books aloud. If only I were kidding.

We have braved several outings, and she has done well most of the time. Nana and 'Aunt' Shelly have both had the pleasure of hanging out with "that baby" in restaurants, though. She handles church fairly well, probably because she gets to eat during the sermon. Add that to the list of bad habits we'll have to stop eventually.

Bethany says that's enough blathering about her. In fact, she's giving you a visual clue about just what she thinks regarding this post. Too bad, dearie, because up next - we have a snow report!!

Bethany refusing to talk.

Bethany refusing to talk.
Originally uploaded by sarahblascovich

This is our child, not doing the amazing amount of talking she was doing shortly before I went to get the camera. Hmpf.