The Nursery

The door is closed to the nursery at our house.  Before we arrived home from the hospital friends took all the baby stuff throughout our house, neatly put it in that room and closed the door.  I don't open it.  I'm not quite ready to feel the void of what should be in that room.

In all honesty part of the reason I don't want to go in is because I have such good memories of getting the nursery ready.  For me it represents joy, anticipation, and projects with my husband and friends.  I smile when I think about:

• Tim and I having a hard time picking out a color for our room, so he let me pick the nursery color.  I chose gray, of course.

• Alicia helping me paint the nursery, since Tim hates painting.  I helped with trim, and she rolled it.  Two coats in two hours.  We were up against the clock, but don't worry we still made the meeting we were in charge of on time, with just a little paint on our skin.

• Going to Lauren's to get a pallet and hearing Xavier convinced he saw the helium balloon that Emery let go of a week earlier.
• The difficulty we had in taking apart the pallet...  It's a lot harder than it seems like it should be.
• Asking Tim and Andrew to help us attach the letters to the pallet project.  They may have laughed at and fixed some of our handiwork.
• The pizza party we threw to get so many friends to help us move all Tim's office stuff out of the soon to be nursery.  
• The many gifts piled in the room to the point where there was no where to walk.  Thanks to everyone who came to my four showers.  Yes, four! 
• Marlies' excitement to organize all the gifts, and even thanking me over an over for letting her have the "fun job."

• How much harder it was to get the dresser than anticipated and having to order it.  Who knew they don't keep those things in stock?
• Tim and I sitting on the floor forever putting together the dresser and crib.  It took forever even using Tim's drill instead of the itty bitty allen wrench they give you... We laughed about their time estimation.
• Alicia being a much better painter of the pallet than I was, but she never admitted it.
• Tim literally making 19 holes in the wall trying to hang the pallet.
• Tim doing a pull up on the pallet after it was hung, telling me he wanted to make sure it wasn't going to "fall and squish the baby."  

• Asking Tim to hang and then move the picture Ashely made for us.  
• Having Julie help us hang the converse shelf... Is it straight?

• Filling the dresser and putting everything in it's place.
• Putting on top the black t-shirt with tattoo sleeves that my family got the baby.  

• Tim laying on the changing table pretending to be a baby and crying.  

• Hanging pictures that Tim's family made during their shower for us.  

As I consider this pregnancy a gift, preparing a nursery fits in that category too.  Tim and I really enjoy doing projects together, and getting a space ready for our anticipated baby was all the more fun.  I am so grateful for that time with Tim as well as with the friends who helped.