The Mom I Want To Be

As a librarian, research is kinda my thing. Before making any major decision I like to know my options, plan ahead, and get some kind of data to support my reasoning (except, ironically, the decision to have a baby, which I made almost entirely based on emotions). So, naturally, before embarking on the MOMentous task of putting together a baby registry (many family and friends have been asking!), I wanted to do as much research as I could. The bad news is that there are so, so many decisions to make (Which items? Which brand? Will you co-sleep? Will you formula feed? Are you planning to have more kids after this one?). If you read my previous blog on wedding preparations , you might already realize that making decisions is not my strongest suit (just ask my husband about how I get when trying to pick a restaurant for dinner). I can often see the good and bad of both sides, and the fear of regret in making a "wrong" choice can be paralyzing. I often have to make last-mi...

Last week we spent several days in hard core adulting, accomplishing such things as: General cleaning and chores Making a space for Baby in our bedroom Making a space for nursery items in Hubby's "man cave" until the nursery is cleared out and ready for decorating Spending four hours at a car dealership to get a vehicle big enough for strollers and car seats While we're by no means done getting ready for Baby, our reward at the end of all the work was the anatomy scan 20-week ultrasound I've been waiting for! Yesterday, January 16, I left work and headed over to the High Risk Pregnancy Center office where the ultrasound would take place. After a quick check of blood pressure and weight, they informed me that I would be getting two ultrasounds, one to check the cervix and then to see the baby. And boy did we see Baby! First, the top of the head, then little by little each body part--the heart with blood flow, the spine, the legs, arms, fingers, feet...

I feel like there's really only one New Year's Resolution I need to work on. Growing a tiny human is exhausting enough! But with the start of the new year, I've definitely been thinking about things I want to focus on, things I want to do differently, things I want to do for self care, and all the things we need to do to prepare for Baby. My "official" resolutions were posted on Facebook and pretty much fell into three categories: writing, reading, and Baby. For writing, I want to focus each quarter of 2019 on a different goal: editing, researching agents, submitting for publication, and writing a new story. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I should stop doing the things that make me "me"--the things that get me excited. After all, my novels and novel ideas were the "babies" I had before Baby. For reading, I changed the notification settings on my phone apps so I don't get alerted the second someone contacts m...