April Showers Bring May Flowers... and Baby Showers!

YAY! PAR-TAY! Ok, so perhaps not in the traditional sense, but it was certainly a celebration, and the first of two. Yep, that's right- I've had my first baby shower... and what an experience!

I love my team soooo much. They have been tremendously supportive from the beginning of all of this, but they blew me out of the water with the shower. It's the end of the semester, cash is running low for most, and finals are in our midst. I assumed that would translate into a handful of people and many thoughtful cards, which, to be honest, I would have been overjoyed with anyways. Instead, there were streamers, balloons, delicious cake, a mountain of gifts and loads of friends fighting over who gets to babysit first!

Moreover, it was fantastic to see the boy finally get some attention for his role as daddy-to-be. He really has been fantastic, especially over the last month or so. My grandma passed away right in the middle of all of the national tournaments for speech and me being perpetually ill (I am, by the way, feeling better!), and the end result was an emotional wreck of massive proportions where his girlfriend had once stood. Not that I had been this pillar of strength and logic before hand, but I was certainly a monster in the aftermath. In any case, he has been supportive and more patient that I ever could be, but because he works a great deal and had kind of become disenchanted with forensics as his career came to a close, he was never quite the center of attention as far as baby things go. My family (God bless 'em) has been very vocal and involved every step of the way (which is what I needed, frankly), but his family is a little more quiet and subdued, especially on this issue. So, after all that babble, the point is- he was the center of attention for a little bit.

It was adorable watching him open the gifts! He'd get all excited about one thing or another. At one point, I was about to reach for the next package when he starts nudging me and goes, "No, wait! You've got to see this!" I turned, and he's grinning like a Cheshire cat, holding up a little pink outfit. "It's got a hat!"

He totally melted my heart.

He was enthralled with how many different products go into bathing and changing a child, and by just how small some of the little accessories were. He beamed with pride at the sight of a little teething toy that said "I Love My Daddy." I think it became very real for him in that moment, but instead of running for the hills as many men might, he got more and more excited.

At the end of the shower, toasts were made, and I was fighting back the tears, they were so sweet. Again, the boy was given some attention and love, as teammates testified to the fact that he was going to be a great father. Have I mentioned how much I love my team?

As we transported all of the beautiful gifts into the room that will be the nursery, I, on the other hand, panicked. There's still so much to do! I am 28 weeks, 1 day, which means I've still got some time, but I don't know that there is any amount of time that can prepare someone for pushing an infant between their legs and taking on responsibility for a new life. Don't misunderstand- I will step up to the plate swinging on day one, but it doesn't mean I'm not nervous now.

A couple of things have been resolved, though. For example, I am coming back to compete, though I am done, done, DONE with Parli. I think it's for the best, honestly. Looking into next year, I think I'd go crazy if I had to worry about all of the uncertainties associated with partnerships and travel. I'll be doing IEs and LD, and my Director of Forensics has asked me to function as a student worker for the program, keeping track of times for pieces, managing the extemp files, and helping out with some novi. Weeee!!! Here's to figuring things out :)

School has finally come to an end. For awhile, things were looking a little scary; I wasn't sure professors were going to be understanding about my month of hell. However, they all came around, and while I may get a C in one (at worst, two) classes, I have one A for sure, might pull off another, and potentially could get two B's afterwards. We shall see, I suppose. I'm just glad none of them failed me!

My schedule for next semester has been set up as well. I'm taking a lot of evening classes to help stave off the need for babysitters (not that there's a shortage of volunteers). We'll see how things wind up panning out. I over-registered so that if I need to drop one, I can. Time will tell how things shake down.

We've moved into our new place! Kind of. Sort of. Well, almost. It's a cute little duplex, and while we have a neighbor, hell if I know who the are, as they have yet to be here. My landlord (who's really cool) told us that she's almost never there, which I guess will be a good thing with a screaming child next door at 3 am. It's got plenty of space, is in good condition, and the landlord has given us free reign to paint/landscape/do what we want. Plus, we don't have to mow, but we get a yard! Yay!

I have already painted the living room, which was quite the ordeal. Before you start gasping in horror for my child's brain development, I followed the rules. Latex paint. Windows open. Mask. Frequent breaks. A room that should have taken me a day to paint took me 2 1/2. It looks great though! Only room left to paint is baby's... though I may have the boy figure that one out for me.

Well, I've got to go make some money a la transcription revision. Next baby shower is May 17th! I can't wait!