Unveiling the nursery!

We put the final touches in the nursery today.  Just in time, too... only 88 days left!!!  Whew.  The design in there is the Carter's John Lennon Musical Parade theme.  We fell in love with it because it is a combination of safari animals and music notes - we couldn't have asked it to be more perfect for us!  We started the process back in February, changing Cortney's neutral office with piano into a special nursery space one piece at a time.  You can follow our progress or just look at photos of the finished product in our Musical Safari Photo Album. 

But that is not our only great news of the day; actually there are two more great pieces of news.  First, Diamond had her yearly vet visit tonight.  We were worried going in because she is a nine year old paraplegic, and has already defied all vets' expectations, so we were anticipating kidney problems and arthritis, if nothing else.  But our worries were unfounded!  Other than a bladder infection, which is normal for her, she got a fully clean bill of health!  That's a load off our shoulders.  Then, when we got home, we found out from Cortney's cousin in Oregon that their baby girl was born this afternoon and will most likely be able to go home with them tomorrow.  This is great news, and our love and prayers remain with them as they welcome their first child, baby Sophia, with open arms.

 Today was a good day!

On the way out the door

Cortney struggles to open the door and hold on to her coffee cup.

Cortney: "I used to be capable. Now I'm pregnant."

Jon: "Actually, I think it's because you have mittens on."

Cortney: "People are so much cuter without fingers."

Preparation underway

Even though it's snowing outside, we're doing the spring cleaning now. The dust is flying as we cross paths, carting boxes for recycling upstairs and piles of office gear down. Even the front room is getting attention as it will be the new scrapbooking zone, with attached games closet. Though you wouldn't know it from this picture of the nursery pre-clean sweep, we finished emptying the room and couldn't be more excited to be picking up the crib set from Babies "R" Us this weekend.

Speaking of Babies "R" Us, we had a great time registering last week. We'd been to a few different baby stores and baby sections of department stores, and found there's really nothing that compares to their layout and selection. Sadly, they did not carry any Cap'n Crunch, so we couldn't match what we had on our wedding registry (sorry, Curtis). It took us the following week to make changes to the baby registry online, and now we're very happy with our cute, educational, and essential picks. Who wouldn't be excited about Bugs on Board?

All quiet on the Western front

No news is good news for baby development. It's been another week of steady growth for Raspberry. He has become an acrobat, busy a large portion of the time, and his swiping kicks suggest somersaults. What stimulates him the most? Singing in choir, drinking orange juice, and Cortney trying to sleep.

Our nesting instinct is working its way through the house. We've cleaned the clutter out of the basement and organized it. Next up is Jon's office, and then the nursery (currently Cortney's office). We have a musical safari planned for Raspberry's room, and we'll keep you posted as that renovation develops.

Raspberry is Unremarkable

That's what the doctor said after twenty-five minutes of measuring organs and appendages with the ultrasound machine today. Of course, "unremarkable" is to be read as healthy, normal, and of small average weight. Raspberry, as it turns out, is also chromosomally heterogeneous—or rather, Raspberry is a BOY!!! The images were fascinatingly detailed. We were treated to close-up pictures of the nose and lips, the beating four-chambered heart, and the sections of the brain. At last was a picture of the gender-defining paraphernalia, which Jon was sure was a face, until the technician pointed out the boy parts. An honest mistake :-) !

Click here to see the pictures from the ultrasound.