Oh Boy!

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, October 22, 2010 brought us the news that we are expecting a son. I have been saying boy for several weeks now mainly due to the fact everyone we know is having a girl. Dave has said girl from day 1. He has never been so excited to be wrong in his life. And so, Jackson David, will be coming into our lives sometime mid-March 2011. He’s measuring right on target and his anatomy scan showed everything was developing as it should be. I feel very blessed that our tiny miracle is thriving.

Now to the fun stuff. After agreeing we wouldn’t start buying stuff now that we know the gender, we made it all of one day on the embargo. The Target clearance rack was calling our names.

As far as the nursery, I have some fabric picked out but don’t want to share it just yet. I am not a traditional person so I wanted Jack to have something different and that would last longer than the newborn stage. The crib bumper will be made by a lady that lives a couple of hours away but Kelly and I are tackling the crib skirt. Okay, so mainly Kelly is tackling the crib skirt but I will be her eager assistant. I wish I could sew. I can but if you want straight lines, you need to see someone else. I would love to take a class before the baby comes but I don’t see that fitting into my schedule right now. As soon as I’m sure the fabrics I’ve picked will work, I will share with all. And, of course, let you tag along on the sewing journey as we bring Jack’s room to life. But for now, I’m going to prop my feet up and give my son a much needed rest.

Toastingly Yours,

My Actual "First" Baby

Back in December of 1997, I moved into my first apartment with a sorority sister of mine. It was my first taste of freedom on my own but I knew there was something missing. Growing up, I always had cats and that was exactly what I needed to make my first place feel like home. Into my life came my “first” baby, finally my own pet in my own apartment. It was a little male grey/black tabby cat with the biggest ears ever. He was definitely a descendant of Dumbo. I was stumped for a name. After a couple of days of trying out Tiger and the such, it hit me when the Meow Mix commercial came on...Baxter. It was like the circle was closing because Baxter was also the name of my first Cabbage Patch Kid. Stupid, I know, but I love those little symbolic moments such as this. So Baxter became what my stepdad termed “the perfect kitty” and it was really true. He gave me unconditional love when I needed it, made me laugh when I was sad, and was and still is the coolest cat around. My roommate decided she wanted a cat too and by the end of December we had “Precious” a beautiful, grey fluff ball who was part Persian. She was about 6 months older than Baxter but he didn’t care. It was love at first site. From that moment on, they were inseparable. Luckily when my roommate moved, she left Precious with me which was a good thing for my love struck kitty.

Fast forward 13 years and Baxter is still by my side. He has weathered more with me than many of my friends. He’s survived and helped me survive 7 moves, marriage, divorce, remarriage, the death of all my grandparents, the death of his beloved, Precious, and now, he’s by my side as I expect my first child. If you’re not an animal lover like I am, then you will never understand the bond you have with your pets. I’m sure I would have made it through all of these ups and downs my life has thrown me alone but having Baxter with me has made them much more manageable. I truly think the hardest for him was the loss of his Precious. It was a sudden illness that took her from us 2 years ago and his world was thrown into complete despair. Never have I been so sad to hear the distressful meows he made for weeks after, as if calling for her to come back. I couldn’t even mention her name or he would begin looking around for her. It was truly a low point for both of us. But we have weathered the storm and even taken in a new cat, Annabelle. Although she will never replace his Precious, he loves to chase her through the house and you can tell that he’s happier. And today is a special day for him. It’s his birthday. Today, my baby (aka Big Kitty) turns 13 years old. Happy Birthday my sweet boy and thank you for all of the joy you bring to my life! Here are some shots of my beautiful baby.

Baxter getting cozy in Mary's car seat

Fat cat in a little box

Aww...so cute with the rabbit feet

My absolute favorite picture from when it snowed in early 2009

For those of you that may be on the fence about getting a pet, please do. I know it’s a huge responsibility but the rewards make it worth. If you’re still not sure, consider fostering. It will be a great way to find out if a pet is right for your family while you help make room for more rescues from animal shelters to be taken in. The animal shelter in Memphis is still so crowded and although the numbers have dropped, euthanasia is still happening way too often so make sure to adopt from a shelter. These poor pets won’t have a chance if we don’t fight for them. Even if you can’t adopt or foster, you can help by providing dog or cat treats, toys, blankets or volunteering. Whatever you can do will make a difference in the lives of these wonderful animals.

Toastingly Yours,

Hello, My Name is Shanda....and I'm a Worrier

If there was some type of Anonymous group for worrying, I would be a charter member. I can’t help it. It runs in the family. From the minute those 2 pink lines popped up on the home pregancy test, worry absorbed my thoughts. Miscarriage was at the top of my list. The problem is I love to research, especially when it comes to medical stuff, and I know way too much. I can quote you numerous statistics on miscarriage based on what week your pregnancy is in but I won’t. I would say I was around 8 or 9 weeks along when my worrying reached a whole level of insanity. Luckily, my “bestie” gave me a stern lecture at which I dropped into a puddle of hormonal sobs. I was actually on the way to the acupuncture when this phone call occurred and I cried through my entire treatment. I’m sure my acupuncturist thought I had finally flew one over the cuckoo’s nest. But it was the wake-up call that I needed to get a grip.

Now I’m 17 weeks along and I think I’ve felt the little weasel move a few times. Being that I’m on the “fluffy” side, I figured it would take longer for me to feel anything so I’m not panicking that I don’t feel it all the time yet. The first time I was sitting on the side of the bed picking up something off the floor. I felt a quick fluttering on my right side. I think it was saying, ”Sit up, Mom. You’re squishing me.” The other couple of times have felt like it was pushing off the sides of my uterus, kinda like when you do laps in a pool. Very weird. From the beginning, my husband has said this baby is a girl. I agreed with him originally but now I’m not so sure. I haven’t really had any pregnancy symptoms that would sway you one way or the other. No morning sickness, no acne, etc. But since finding out we have 5 friends due between November and March that are having girls, I’ve switched teams to thinking we’re having the lone boy. Hopefully, we will find out on October 22nd when we’re scheduled for our anatomy scan. Like everyone says, I really do just want it to be a healthy bundle no matter the gender. I just hope the little booger is cooperative and opens its legs. Feel free to vote on what you think we're having. I'll have to come up with some prize to give a randomly chosen participant who picks the correct gender. While we’ve picked up a few gender neutral things since finding out we're expecting, we have also made a couple of large purchases. Dave picked out the Pack n’ Play. We had a Babies R’ Us store closing in town so we got a good deal on it. I really love the grey and yellow colors and have even been thinking of doing the nursery in those for a girl but my spouse has obviously opened some type of interior design business because he says no way.
Our other big purchase was the crib and dresser for the nursery. We decided to go with the Kalani set from Million Dollar Baby in Espresso. Although I wanted the chest, too, we decided to wait and see how these pieces fit in the room because I have also got my eye on a fabulous glider that looks like a regular piece of living room furniture.


After all that we’ve been through this past year on our journey to become parents, it’s amazing to me that we are actually buying furniture. I mean, I have a live person in my belly. I guess with all my worrying and excitement, even, about this baby, I had forgotten one thing. I would have to tell a couple of dear friends that have been struggling with fertility issues longer than me that I was pregnant. It was so much harder than I thought it would be. They both took it well but one later confessed that she cried her eyes out after we hung up the phone. That broke my heart. I never in a million years would want to hurt either of these women intentionally but no matter how gently I broke the news, it did hurt them. Just like it hurts them when they run into people who question why they haven’t started a family. Many people are so insensitive with comments and can’t even fathom that infertility is the reason there are no children in a family. My hope is that anyone that reads this will consider what they say to someone before they start asking nosy questions about family. Choose your words carefully and try to consider that someone might be in this situation. Trust me. The person will be forever grateful you did.

Toastingly Yours,