Too Many Books

my little polka-dot-peanut For first time parents, bringing home a little bundle of joy from the hospital is a big milestone. I'm sure that every parent can recall this emotional event -- the fear you felt getting behind the wheel. Is the car seat installed correctly? Is her head tilted too far to the left? Maybe we should turn up the heat a little more! Yes, this beautiful moment is marked with just a bit of anxiety, isn't it? When we brought Stella home on Thursday, December 16th, we were feeling like every other new parent: scared out of our wits! We had some bonus stress: Louisville was covered in a blanket of sparkling ice. The sleet and freezing rain had come as expected Wednesday night, and cars and trees and ground were all coated in a crystal glaze. Schools and businesses were closed -- even the bank where I work (when I'm not busy bringing new life into the world) was on a two hour delay. We didn't leave the hospital until late afternoon, and after...

I started a post and scrapped it... it was titled: "TMI Thursday, Monday Edition: Childbirth Photos." Then I was going to write "PSYCH!!" as my opening line. Anyway... Blog world, she's here! Please help me welcome: Stella Claire Murphy 12/14/2010 5 pounds 12.9 oz 19.25 inches long A few things: yes, she's almost 7 days old already... sorry this post is delayed but I have been busy sacrificing my body, boobs, and bedtime for another human life. Plus, if you've befriended me on facebook, you already knew! Still, as a reward for your patience, I will post a few photos of this December darling (and a few of them aren't on facebook yet... so they are super special.) You'll have to settle for captions tonight, but I promise there are stories to tell -- get ready for TMI's out the vagina wah-zoo. please note: she doesn't sleep here yet. Once she does, the crib will be empty of toys and other such hazards. (Musings of Amber Murp...

I'm pretty sure I'm officially obsessed with shopping for the (as-yet-unnamed) baby. Wanna see some of my finds?! I found this red and black baby carrier at a consignment sale -- it was a steal at $45. Those things are normally like $100. And, they're all the rage. I'll look soooo awesome with my baby strapped to me! This little dress is probably my favorite purchase so far. Technically, it was free because a bank customer gave me a $25 gift card to JC Penney as a gift for the baby. (In real life, it was $20, which is a little more than I want to spend on any one thing that will only fit my baby for the first 0-3 months of her life.) Don't you think she should wear this dress for her first photo at the hospital?? (I do! Hubs wants her in a Louisville Cardinals sporty onesie or something. Pishawspice.) I also love and adore this art ($5.99 at TJMaxx) and it's become a bit of inspiration for my nursery design ideas. I think I'll paint the walls that pr...

Friends, if you miss me half as much as I've missed you then we're in business... let me just get the "I suck at blogging and life" pity-party out of the way. Okay. Donewiththat. Here's what I've been up to since we last spoke. 1.) Convinced hubs to let me paint over the creepy M & M people in our nursery-to-be. (As you may recall, this wall art is leftover from the previous home owners.) 2.) Driven to Goodwill 6523 times and donated about 531213 pounds of clothes and other trivial junk lovely home decor. 3.) Cleaned out EVERYTHING from the baby's room... except for the furniture. After one more trip to Goodwill and pick-up from Cedar Lake Lodge (we're getting rid of a full sized bed, a random could-be-a-breakfast-table table, and a few other large items) I'll be ready to move the furniture out of the room and it will be empty and ready for painting! (Yeah, no. I'm not moving furniture. I'll have someone else do that.) 4.) ...

So. Hubs and I were so excited when we arrived at my doctor's office this morning. We kept giggling over silly little things. We couldn't wait for the ultrasound! Seated in the plain-ol'-exam-room, I explained to the nurse (I'd never met this particular nurse) that hubs and I were like giddy little school kids, because we were meeting with the ultrasound tech to hopefully find out the sex of our little bundle!! I refrained from squealing be excited for us! "Um, what? The ultrasound tech isn't here today..." I wanted to punch that nurse in her face. So, she took some blood from my arm (birth-defects-tests) and said she would talk to my doctor. My doctor came in and said, "So, you thought you'd be having an ultrasound today?!" She sounded confused, as if I'd told her I thought pregnancy itself only lasted four days or something. " Yeah. Because that's what you told me the last time I was here, at my twelve week appoi...

It was soooo hard to sleep last night! I'm headed to my Dr.'s appointment at 9:30, and I can't wait to find out if this little person growing inside me is a little guy or a little gal. I had the weirdest dreams last night -- hubs family and my family were "there" and throwing us some huge luncheon for the big reveal. It was utter chaos. At one point, I had to walk down a street to get to hubs (I was trying, frantically, to locate him so that we could ride to the Dr.'s appointment together.) I ended up getting a ride from these four women on a float of some kind. One painted my nails. *Must stop watching America's Got Talent.* Randoms! Anyway, there's still time to enter my elusive gender-bender giveaway. Is it a boy or a girl ? (Pink is so pretty...) Leave your guesses in the comments below or on the original post. I'll be back later with results. SQUEEspice. Best. day. ever.

One week from tomorrow -- in eight short days -- I will get to find out whether this little entity growing inside me is a boy baby or (squee!) a girl baby. I mean: I'm trying not to get my hopes up. I'll only be at sixteen weeks then, but my OBGYN says that her ultrasound-magician-woman can almost always determine the sex at that time. Still, I guess there's always the chance that the baby will be positioned in such a way that we won't get to see anything at all... but why think about that? So, I'm getting all excitedspice. And I can think of only two things: one, getting to narrow down my window-shopping to the cutest ever, teeny-tiny baby stuff in lavendar and pink... or the still-very-adorable tans and blues. The other thing I'm currently obsessed with? BABY NAMES! Here's my short list: Girl (squee!) Names 1. Stella 2. Ava 3. Claire 4. Emma 5. Piper Boy Names 1. Holden 2. Alexander 3. Mason 4. Liam 5. Oden (Okay, let me be ho...

I didn't puke this morning! Hooray!! Maybe morning sickness is becoming a thing of the past. Oh, that would just be fantastic -- as opposed to yesterday, when I hurled up cold water -- which was all I had in my system. Moving on. I'm pretty such I'm probably kicked out of my crit group, since I haven't posted a chapter or completed any crits in a full month. I don't know why I've put writing on the back burner since finding out about my pregnancy... but that's what I've done. Sure, I've been a little more tired than before -- and maybe a bit distracted -- but it's not like I'm repainting a nursery yet, or stocking up on onesies, or stalking every known baby name website. (Well, okay. Maybe I am doing the last one, you know, since hubs isn't a fan of  Simon Larter Murphy for a boy or Tina Lynn Murphy for a girl. Whatevs.) However, yesterday's Let's Talk Blogfest really got me salivating a bit. I think it's time for...