I'm tired of pregnancy, so I'm ready to be done with it. But I'm also ready to meet this baby boy and see what he looks like. Will we finally have a really Cajun looking baby or will this one be bald and fair like his mama? Or will he be somewhere in the middle, like his brother and sister?
I'm sure that our baby preparations are all I'll be writing about in the next couple of months, and then I'll disappear into my cave for a while as I adjust to life with three little ones and recover from my c-section.
We have just a few baby traditions that we've created in our family over the past few years. My husband likes to get an "I'm having a baby" pedicure for me right before the baby is born. Somewhere along the way, he heard that women love to have cute feet on the day of their baby's delivery, so he came up with this idea himself. He prefers for me to go to one of the nice spas in town for my pedicure. That's his tradition.
My spin on it is that I always get a color appropriate for the baby. For Isabelle, I had my toes painted a nice Barbie pink. For Andrew, I wanted blue. But the only shade of blue in the salon was a vibrant electric blue green, so that's exactly what I got. I received some funny looks and comments from the nurses and staff at the hospital, so I think I'll bring my own baby blue nail polish this time!
My parents' and grandparents' tradition was that the dad leaves the hospital to pick out a sweet coming home outfit. After all, back then, they didn't know the gender of the baby until it came out. But my husband and I didn't like this one. What if the baby came on a Saturday afternoon and the little baby boutiques are all closed on Sundays? How do we wash it beforehand? And more importantly, what if mom, who labored to have the baby, is less than pleased with the outfit dad has selected? Big bummer.
So we pick out the baby's coming home outfit together, and we always go with a classic, traditional style. Think Feltman Brothers, with pin tucks, Peter Pan collars, and hand embroidery.
Isabelle Rose, ready to come home from the hospital.
Andrew Jay, napping while we waited for discharge to be complete.
We also bring home the baby in a bonnet. It's a sweet little bonnet that can double as a handkerchief. For our daughter, it will be her "something old" that she can carry with her bouqet on her wedding day. Our sons can give the bonnet to their bride-to-be to carry on their wedding day. My plan is to frame both the outfit and the bonnet as a keepsake for each child.
This picture makes us laugh every time we see it. She's wearing her special dress, bonnet, and a bunting. We also added a pink blanket that a friend, Ann, made for her. Ann has crocheted a blanket for both of my babies, and we cherish them.
Each of our babies have followed the tradition of their uncles. Like JJ & Rylan, my younger brothers, both of our kids have come home from the hospital wearing LSU booties. In fact, these booties were a baby shower gift from my brothers.
Since we've never been surprised about the arrival of our babies, we always try to have a last dinner out, with or without the kids, before the baby comes. This also doubles as a pig out session for me, since I have to fast before the c-sections.
Babies are always fun and each one is special, so even though we knew we'd have several kids, we've always wanted to have small celebrations as we enjoy and anticipate their arrival.
I love hearing about how different families celebrate their baby's arrival. What traditions do you have for your little ones?
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