like a leek

We're at 38 weeks today. Not much time left until this baby is cooked and ready to make his/her debut. While I have dreams of pregnancy massages and pedicures, in actuality, I'm still working on removing the nasty, old wallpaper from the baby's closet. When my mother was pregnant with my brother, she replaced the kitchen floor. I guess I'm following in her footsteps.

I think I may have mentioned before that every closet in our house is covered in ugly brown wallpaper. (Check it out here.) It not only hideous, but it also smells and looks like someone randomly threw water on parts of it... so it has darker, dried drips throughout. It grosses me out, but Mr. Beeton and I recognize our limitations and put away our clothes anyway. But, I cannot put away the clean baby clothes in that nasty closet. So, I started to remove the wallpaper with a steamer. It comes off rather easily, but it's a pain. It's hot out; the closet is cramped; and I'm nine months pregnant. Enough said.

But, it will be great when it's finally done. The closet in Baby Beeton's room is super deep, so we are going to hang two rows of clothes - adult dress clothes in the back, baby clothes in the front. And, we are going to install another, lower closet rod for more space. In my dreams it looks a bit like this. Our hall closet gives me hope. We did a major overhaul on it (pictures to come). And, it is not only clean but super organized to boot.

If you're wondering what the veggie comparison is for this week, it's a leek in terms of length. In terms of weight, it feels like a lead filled basketball.

Photo courtesy of babycenter.com.

Keep sweeping, Martha

PS - We have to give an official welcome to two new babies this week - Baby B and Baby Q! Baby Beeton will be psyched to have a cousin so close in age, and from what we've seen so far both babies are adorable!

PPS - Thanks to the family for coming down this past weekend to help us prep for Baby Beeton! We finally removed that nasty kitchen fan and stocked up on essentials that we still hadn't gotten for the baby! This weekend, the other half of the family is coming by to celebrate May birthdays and see the nursery.

eating too much lettuce is soporific

Things around here lately have been a curious mix of the good (for instance, a birthday celebration at Founding Farmers with delicious non-alcoholic Cranberry Cucumber Coolers), bad (for instance, giving up our garden plot), and some events that were decidedly mixed (great - yet scary - beginnings). As a result, I haven't blogged about my second baby shower as of yet... and I figured I'd better do so soon because baby shower #3 is just around the corner!

At the end of April, my mother-in-law decided to host a shower at her house in Loudoun County for Mr. Beeton and me. She decided on a Beatrix Potter theme, which is right up our alley and extremely appropriate given that Baby Beeton will be born in The Year of the Rabbit.


The invitations (and stamps!) featured Peter Rabbit, and the whole place was decked out according to theme. There was an adorable "Welcome Baby" banner with Peter in the background, a spinning carousel with Potter characters, and cute Potter character cutouts on top of the cupcakes.


The tables were decorated with glass vegetables, and some of Mr. Beeton and his brother's baby clothes with Peter Rabbit on them were hanging about the house. The favors came in these adorable little Peter Rabbit gift bags and included small plants for everyone's own gardens. If you've ever met Mr. Beeton's mother (or better yet been invited to her house for a party), you know that she knows how to throw a theme party in style. She even had a Beatrix Potter game where you had to guess the Potter character (I did not fare well on this one even though I had just been to see a really compelling lecture by a former University of Delaware professor of mine about Miss Tiggy Winkle).

The food, too, was amazing. My mother-in-law had invited all of her neighborhood friends, as well as some close friends and relatives in the DMV area, and they each contributed dishes. There were excellent finger sandwiches, delicious salads, and my absolute favorite - deviled eggs.

(Sidenote: I've been getting asked a lot lately about my pregnancy cravings. I have to admit that I haven't really had them. When I first found out I was pregnant, there were definitely foods I could not stomach and foods that I could stomach - see here for details. But, in thinking it over, this last month, I really do crave deviled eggs and fruit, mainly watermelon! Many thanks, too, to The Baraness for sending the deviled egg recipe my way.)

All of the women present were so generous. They gave us so many wonderful gifts! A scrapbook, a pewter dish and cup, a snugabunny bouncer, blankets, books, and many, many more terrific items! In particular, I'm excited about the Beatrix Potter teacup and saucer, which will go in Baby Beeton's room along with the banner my mom made for the shower at her house to remind Baby Beeton of his/her two loving grandmas.

Speaking of the nursery, the stripes are finished, the fan is up (thanks to Handyman T), the crib is in, the changing table's last coat of paint is drying, and the blinds have been ordered. It's coming along nicely. Pictures will be posted soon, I promise.

In the meantime, I've got to get this house cleaned before our friends descend on Saturday for our final May shower.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Watched The Dilemma and Please Give (so, so good!)

crenshaw melon

36 weeks! Photo courtesy of thebump.com.

Watched Due Date, How Do You Know, and Creation. Finished reading Out of the Shadows by Joanne Rendell.