Onesies Get a Makeover

First off, for those of you who have been feeling our suspense with us, our baby's birthmother has NOT gone into labor yet! I've been doing my best not to let my cell phone get out of my sight or earshot. Darin and I hope to have news to share with you soon, but no we don't have any quite yet!

Lately I've been doing SO much knitting for little Baby Girl because I've been needing to burn off some of my nervous energy. So far I've completed four sweaters and too many hats and booties to count.

Today, my creative juices were flowing but I felt the need to branch out from knitting a bit. So I decided to try my hand at embellishing some plain-jane white onesies with a little embroidery and applique. Here are the results:

The cute little embroidery patterns came from a great book called Sublime Stitching by Jenny Hart (for anyone who is interested).

Charity Auctions Bring Out the Worst in Me

In most aspects of my life I would consider myself to be rather non-competitive. I find myself wondering at Darin and why it is so much fun for him to turn everyday occurances into competitions. I honestly have never grasped the allure of competition in sports and reality TV show contests sort of stress me out. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am so relational and"friendly competition" carries with it too much risk that people's feelings may get unintentionally hurt.

A long time ago I did discover a place deep within myself that is fiercely competitive and rather ruthless. That monster unleashes when I play board games, and those of you who have played board games with me know what I am referring to. I am rather appalled at myself in the aftermath of playing many board games and have had to ask forgiveness or even take sabatacles from certain games for months at a time in an effort to gain some self-control.

Well, I am sorry to report that on Friday I discovered an additional facet to the competitive monster lurking within: the allure of Silent Charity Auctions.

Friday's scenario began with an invitation to join Darin's sister Dawn and the rest of his family to attend a special event raising money to benefit the agency she works for that serves people with mental disabilities. Seeing as how I worked with people with mental disabilities for more than three years AND knew this was a geat opportunity to show support to my sister-in-law, I arrived eager to bid on some items for this good cause!

No sooner had I taken two steps in the large room with all the items set out for bid, when I spotted it! A beautiful basket FULL of light pink BABY GIRL items! We're talking plush polar fleece blankets, cute onesies, a small diaper bag, an adorable teddy bear, a travel size set of Johnson's baby products and a darling sleeper with little pink hearts on it. I was hooked.

Seeing as how we're expecting to meet our sweet baby girl any day now, my mommy-to-be adrenaline kicked into gear and the bidding began. After awhile, Dawn began to get approached by friends and co-workers of hers who had their names in the bid list, saw that I had the same last name as her and wanted to know who I was. After while, I realized I was competing with an actual pregnant lady and I felt kind of bad. But not bad enough.

Apparently a lot our family were fighting tooth and nail for their respective bid items, because a friend of the family's who was also present actually overheard some people passing who said to each other"Who are these Stevensons?" I was kind of embarrassed but not embarrassed enough.

I came home with my precious "New Baby Girl" basket and happily unpacked and stored my "spoils" in the nursery we've been preparing.

Maybe it's time for me to take a Silent Charity Auction sabatacle.

Deep Thought by Erika

All day yesterday and all night last night, snow has been falling. It's even continuing as I type. We have had about 10 to 12 inches of accumulation; thus I have been inside all day yesterday and today. During this time I have paused for several moments of quiet reflection and personal introspection.

I've tried to talk to the puppy about it all, but she doesn't seem to understand. Extroverted as I am, I must get these thoughts out in SOME form or I'll just burst. It is moments like these when I think, "boy it's a good thing I have a blog!!"

I had a revelation with the milk jug this morning. Before I elaborate, let me just ask:

Has the "sell by" date stamped on the milk jug ever thrown you into a minor panic?

And I don't mean panic because you realized that you may have just served your toddler milk with lumps in it. I mean panic because as you purchase your milk and bring it home, glance at the "sell by" date, you realize that some special day is approaching sooner than you had realized it and you don't feel quite prepared.

I go through milk jug induced mini-meltdowns when nearly every major holiday or birthday approaches! Take for example, Mother's Day. There I am happily shopping just to pick up two or three items I'm out of, namely MILK, and that nasty little sell by date says "May 11". I think:

"Oh my goodness! That's Mother's Day! I haven't a clue what to get for my mom and mom-in-law! And I wonder what we're going to do with the family to celebrate! Oh, and I need to get my mom something with enough time to get it shipped to Texas... good thing there is express delivery! "

And so on and so-forth.

Well, by now, most of you know that Darin and I are awaiting the arrival of our first child by domestic adoption right now! Her birthmother is due to deliver this month. And this morning at breakfast, I went to pour myself a glass of milk, and there it was, folks:

Truth on a milk jug... and it said, "You could very well be a mommy by the time I'm expired!"

Wow.