Wednesday, May 5, 2010

One Year Later, And We're Rockin' On...

A year ago today was my due date for Nissa.  I was HUGELY pregnant and so ready for her to join us on the outside - but of course she had her own plans.  I've been feeling rather nostalgic all day, so I found an application on Facebook that let me see all my old status updates.  Exactly one year ago today I wrote:

"It's my Due Date!  WOOHOO!  But...still no sign of baby. :P"

Little did I know that it would be another SIX DAYS before Nissa decided to make her grand entrance into the world.  Here's two pictures that sum up me on my due date perfectly.  Everything looked great from the shoulders up (except for my trademark freaky hair), but as you make your way down you are blown away by the sheer size of my torpedo-shaped belly (I was told on more than one occasion: "you could take an eye out with that thing!"):

To offset this horrendous imbalance, I had the SUPER BRIGHT idea to get a pedicure.  I figured that as long as people were looking at my well-pedicured feet then they might not notice the fact that it seemed as though I was about 15 months pregnant. My amazing sister in-law (shout out to Becky!) humored me and took me to get the pedi, but I'm sure the joke was on me when we left the salon.  Becky came away with beautiful normal-looking feet, and mine just looked like swollen-and-pregnant-for-15-months pontoons.  I'm not even exaggerating, folks:


AAAAAHHH! Ugh!  Isn't that just horrendous?!?  My feet looked like well-maintained Sumo wrestler feet.  Blech! I bet you're going to have nightmares about me now.  Sorry about that...I should have warned you in advance.  I'm happy to report that in time, my feet did return to normal(ish) looking size, although sadly, other parts of my body did not follow suit.  I won't scare you with the details about those bits, as I'm sure you've already seen enough of me to frighten you for a lifetime.

Lately I've been feeling so emotional - and it's been hard to blog because of it.  I think that planning for this move (which is scheduled to happen in a week!  Yikes!) combined with Nissa's first birthday (also in a week) is just a lot to handle all at once.  I can't believe how quickly one full year has gone by, and I can't believe that in one week I will leave the house that Nissa was born in - forever.  Every time I go to pack in my bedroom, I just can't do it.  Right now the rocking chair sits on the very spot where Nissa made her dramatic entrance (but a year ago there was a birth tub sitting there).  Whenever I see that chair I am struck by the fact that not very many people get to snuggle their babies to sleep in the exact spot that they brought them into this world.

You know what? I'm not ready to leave that spot just yet...probably because physically leaving it feels like I am leaving behind a year of Nissa's life.  A life that started in that spot, that wakes up every day in that room, that has learned to crawl around and pull up on that rocking chair, and that falls asleep in my arms at the end of the day- all in the very same place that she was born.

But as I am thinking about this, I am also realizing that even though I can't take my old house with me - I do have that not-so-pretty but oh-so-comfy rocking chair, which is much easier to transport than an entire room.  That chair has held two babies, in two houses and two states, and now it's moving with us to a third house - and our first owned home!  I don't know if it will rock a third baby, but something about having our rocking chair in the new house will be such a comfort.  I feel like I'll be taking all those beautiful memories with me, and then I'll be able to sit with them from time to time...just to remember.

I can't wait to make more memories this year.  I can't wait to watch my babies grow and laugh and play in their new (and hopefully forever) home...even though it's going to be so very hard to leave this one.

And, I'm beginning to think that I'm really going to enjoy finding the new perfect spot for my rocking chair.

(Click on a picture to view larger)

It's going to be a whole new adventure for our family.  And you know what?  I think it's gonna be great.

ETA:  I have gotten so many questions and compliments about the quilt in the photos above.  I was lucky enough to receive that gorgeous quilt in time for Nissa's birth a year ago...so it has a very treasured place in our lives.  It was sent from Heather, who owns an Etsy shop called A La Mode Fabric.  I was able to get in touch with Heather today, and she was just as lovely as I remembered.  She told me that she's taking a bit of a break from her Etsy shop because she (coincidentally) just bought a new house!  BUT!!  She does have a blog and she mentioned that any news about her shop will be shared there.  You have to check it out - she is so wonderfully talented. I am now personally drooling over these coasters and potholders.  We can't wait for you to reopen, Heather! xoxoxmahreen
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