As the pregnancy chapter closes, a new one opens...

So as you can imagine, the last few weeks have been a bit crazy. My nesting instincts really kicked in about two weeks ago, in the anticipation of the arrival of my parents from New Orleans. I started cleaning the house from top to bottom and finally attacked those little projects we all put off (like dusting the door frames and baseboards). I must admit that I was pretty darn anxious about having everything perfect before the baby arrives, as I know life will be chaos once he joins the family (at least at first!). So I spent this past week scrubbing, grocery shopping, organizing and everything else in between. My parents arrived late Fri night (6/20) and we have been spending quality time together ever since. They will stay with us for a little over 2 1/2 weeks which is such a huge help and Matt has taken this week off from work.

Baby update: it seems like this little guy is way too comfortable in my tummy and has no plans of coming out anytime soon....so when I went to the doctor's for my last appointment this past Thursday, we made a plan. Even though I had been feeling some pressure, not much progress on the contraction forefront had been made. So we decided to schedule the c-section date for today (Tues. 6/24) but we were all secretly hoping I would go into labor before then. Well no such luck; so I went to the hospital yesterday morning for my pre-admission bloodwork and even came home wearing my hospital tag in preparation for the big day! My mom & I went shopping this morning since I knew it'd be a while before I'd get out of the house. When we told my Grandma Meynier the details of the day, she couldn't believe I was out and about less than 24 hours before the little man was due! She said: "Melanie better watch out or that poor baby is going to be born on the sidewalk!" And incidentally, my Grandma Paulhus told my Dad that she "can't wait for it to be over." We tried to spend the remainder of yesterday resting and tying up any lose ends. For dinner we took my parents out to eat at Le Bistro Montage, a yummy Cajun restaurant in Portland. We were celebrating Benz's last day as an only child. And it also just happened to be his half birthday, making him 4 1/2 years old as of yesterday.

Ahoy! It's a Boy... A Baby Shower for the Brawley Fam

This past Saturday, 6/1/08, turned out to be a wonderful & memorable day for our family! First, Benz was able to spend the day with his Grandpa Brawley. They went to OMSI (OR Museuum of Science & Industry) and also took in an IMAX movie. Meanwhile, Matt & I were busy attending the best baby shower EVER, and it just happened to be thrown for us! My best gal pal, Traci, has been planning this event for months now and it all came together so perfectly...the theme was sailboats or nautical, just like baby's nursery. So she was able to host it at the Dolphin yacht club in Camas, WA. It was on the Columbia River overlooking a marina and there were sailboats everywhere; what perfect scenery! When you walked up the deck, she had bubbles blowing and wave music playing and even seashells lining the sidewalk! The room was decorated so cute, with sea creatures, sailboats, nets and seashells everywhere. I had a personalized sailor hat and Matt wore his "World's Greatest Dad" pin. My mother-in-law helped out with the food and setting up and my other gal pal, Julia helped bring all of the final touches together.

The food & cake was delicious; Traci had the event planned out to a tee. We played some games, there was a station where people could paint toy sailboats and take them home and we opened some lovely (& practical gifts)! Some of my favorites were Julia's homemade "diaper cake," a sailboat sweater & hat from Aunt Louise, and a linen sailor suit and hat from Heather. We had a little less than 20 family & friends attend and a great time was had by all! The favors were adorable too...salt water taffy in little white sand pails! I can't thank Traci enough for all of her work and I know we will remember this party, in honor of Baby Brawley, for many years to come!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there, and for those of us who are becoming mothers again or for the very first time! We had a very nice day yesterday, which started with a beautiful outdoor mass at the Grotto sanctuary in Portland. The three of us attended with my in-laws and toughed it out in the cold and light rain mist. Mass was followed by a delicious champagne brunch at the Grotto that we all enjoyed. Matt and Benz waxed Grandpa's boat when we got back to Interlachen (yes, it's almost time to get that boat in the lake again!) and I headed off for a little shopping at the outlet stores. Matt and Benz treated me to some beautiful cards and a generous Ross gift certificate and my in-laws gave me some lovely flowers to be planted in our front yard. All in all it was a nice day which made me feel very appreciated and I look forward to celebrating Mother's Day next year with our family of four:)