Shower The People You Love With Love

We had our shower on Sunday, June 14, 2009, which is exactly one month before Ms. Pepps' due date. It was so lovely and for once we got nice weather in Chicago. I am still recovery from the love hangover-- there was so much love and abundance showered on me, Jeff and Pepps from the second I stepped into my friend Krista's house. My mom came in from Texas and Jeff's mom was there from LA. There were Peppermint balloons and peppermint candies. The best part of all is that we are now ready for the baby. We got some critical purchases such as the car seat, the leopard print snow suit, and baby books to last through kindergarten. Honestly, the only thing missing is the baby.

This is all taking a turn for the very, very real and imminent!

I also requested the paperwork to initiate my maternity leave today. I am lucky to be at a firm that has very generous leave for mothers. 18 weeks of leave once the baby is born and short term disability for the 2 weeks prior to my due date. While I confine my professional complaints to oral expressions of displeasure and do not indulge in this forum, for all my complaints I know I am lucky to have this time off to focus on my relationship with my daughter and getting to know her and what is next for my family.

Exhausted from the shower yesterday, I decided to come home this afternoon to rest and take a nap. Unfortunately, I forgot that today Jeff is doing "demolition" on our master bathroom today so it's not the quietest environment for resting. I just went to check on him and he was covered in dust and knocking down a wall. To my great pleasure, he had on safety goggles and a mask. In my much wilder youth, I may have relished the opportunity to take a slug at the wall with a hammer, but I am content to lay on the bed catching up on the NY Times and complaining to Jeff about how loud demolition is.

So, yes, at 36 weeks pregnant, we have decided now is the time to make over our master bathroom. It's something that, if I read about another young couple doing this at the tail end of a pregnancy, I would judge them for being chaotic or having a poor sense of timing. I have decided it's our version of nesting and if at the end I get a baby and a rain shower with slate stones, then so be it. Who am I to fight against Jeff's nesting instinct? I wouldn't win anyway!

I will post some pictures of the fabulous shower gifts we got shortly. For now, I need to go check on Jeff to be sure he hasn't impaled himself on any sharp objects or left any of my Philosphy shower gel in what is left of our old master bathroom.