Seven

I am very happy to say that it is only seven (long) weeks until we meet our new baby - I am getting so excited.  I've had a couple of dreams that it's a boy, and a couple of dreams that it is a girl!  I can't wait to find out which one it is!  I appreciate that it will be more convenient if it is a boy - we have a few girl clothes, but not many, and we have all the boy toys, blankets, accessories, etc, in addition to clothes, as well as the fact that Grant's room is painted in a definite boy theme and matches his very-boy-like furniture.  I'm mentioning this because either way, they are going to share a room.  I cannot give up the computer/craft room; having it is so nice and there's no other good place to have the computer, my Cricut and craft stuff, and all my sewing things.  I have also heard that putting the kids in the same room helps them sleep better, maybe because they are soothed by hearing the other's breathing?

I've gone back and forth between wishing for a girl or boy... I would love for Grant to have a brother so close to him in age growing up, and when I think about the hobbies, activities, toys, clothes, milestones, friends, etc., that they could share, it gets me hoping for a boy.  But today is a girl-minded day.  A couple of nights ago I had one of the dreams where it was a girl, and I was SO thrilled.  There are a couple other newborn girls in the ward, and I just love looking at them.  There is a whole new level of cuteness that comes with having a baby girl - the hair bows, ribbons, headbands, diaper covers with ruffles on the bum, frilly socks, pretty dresses, leggings, and everything in a delightful shade of pink pink pink.... I could go on and on.  We have a teensy pair of black Mary Janes that nearly make me pass out from the cuteness.  I took out some clothes to take to the hospital today - a few girl things and a few boy things, and the girl things are just SO fun.  I already did the boy thing, so a girl would be so darn exciting.

And speaking of this baby, I have NO idea what we are going to name him or her!  I think our boy name list is down to just a couple, but not our girl list, and I'm not letting you in on what we've narrowed it down to either!  Even in saying that, I've realized that we certainly haven't narrowed down middle names for a boy, but we have it down to two for a girl.  Sigh!  I don't want anyone to know, aside from the master list that makes up the above poll, before we announce our baby's birth and name together.  We'll have to take our list with us to the hospital... and either way, I'm SUPER excited for our new baby!  Trevor and I love holding newborns, and I know we are going to fight over him/her every week at church!

I have also been thinking a lot of photography lately, spying on other photographer's and overanalyzing all their pictures!  There is no way I'm going to jump in head first to the wedding market without a LOT of practice, so I'm offering to do retakes of wedding photos, outdoors, any location, for only $40.  I should have started doing it sooner!  That way I can practice with a bride and a groom, and no one gets disappointed on their wedding day - not by me anyway.  I know a couple of people who call themselves wedding photographers who have really disappointed their clients on their wedding day, which I think is just awful!  So I am going to really hone my skills, both shooting and editing, before even thinking about offering wedding packages!  I have lost a lot of sleep in the past week thinking about others who charge in Lethbridge, while using what I consider sub-grade (non-professional) equipment.  Some of that can be made up for with some camera skills and some editing skills, but only to a certain extent.  I know the pictures we take now are a million times better than what we could get out of our little Rebel and I simply love the lens I use for everything.  Speaking of which, there will be new pictures of Grant soon!  I took some earlier today.

Grant is a very funny little boy, he loves doing the actions to "Popcorn Popping" and will start to do them as his way of requesting that we sing the song.  He is soaking up his new signs very quickly, and I need to teach him more this week; he loves signing, which is a huge lifesaver since he's taking his sweet time with talking!  He tries hard to be obedient, and is getting much better at the whole "cleaning up" concept.  He just has a toddler rail on one side of his crib, and will happily get out of bed most mornings and play in his room so I can sleep in a little bit!  It is heaven.

Now that I have blogged your ears off, I've got to get downstairs and finish my creation for Trevor's birthday!  There are a few things to wrap and a cake to finish; thank goodness the ward BBQ is tonight because there is no way I would get supper made too!

And finally, for those of you who are getting just a little tired of the ED ads... some parenting help from my favorite columnist.

The Questions that Parenting Books Don't Prepare You For