'Twas the Week Before Baby

This poem was technically my idea, but I chose to outsource it to my mom who is better at rhyming and also composed a very similar poem for a Keil Family Christmas Letter one year. In my cleaning craze, I had snippets of this poem floating around in my head but haven't' been able to sit still long enough to make it happen. In less than 24 hours Sharyl Keil NAILED IT.

So we present to you...'Twas the Week Before Baby...

'Twas the week before baby

     And at Boersma Lawn Care...

It was business as usual 

     For the expectant young pair.

Josh was so busy

     Out makin' a livin'

While Mollie was nesting

     Always so driven!

She deep-cleaned their home, 

     Well in advance.

Then cleaned and re-cleaned 

     Upon the off-chance…

That baby might arrive 

     Sooner than planned.

All dust, germs and clutter 

     Just HAD to be banned!

His nursery was decorated 

     With detail and care…

In hopes our dear Maverick 

     Soon would be there.

The linens were washed 

     And back on the bed

While visions of freezer meals 

     Danced in Josh’s head!

And Mollie, while waiting 

     Shopped Baby Gap…

Then onto Target 

     “To take one more lap.”

When out on the lawn 

     There arose such a clatter…

Thunder and rain and 

     Non-stop pitter-patter.

Out to the deck, 

     Josh threw open the door…

Pulled out his pellet gun 

     Killed one ground squirrel more!

The State Fair and hot tubbin…

     A date every night!

Cy at the Farmer’s Market… 

     Oh, what a sight!

Then what to my wondering 

     Eyes should appear…

But gifts and gift cards 

     From friends and family, so dear!

Baby day grew closer 

     And the phone calls, they came!

“Is he there yet?” they cried? 

     “Nope! Still the same!”

Now Grandmas! Now Grandpas! 

     Now Sisters and brothers!

Now church family, friends, 

     And the rest of you others!

He’ll come when he’s ready. 

     We will call when he’s here.

In the meantime, please pray 

     As Baby Day draws near!

We’re ready and waiting 

     For our sweet baby boy!

Oh the fun we will have! 

     The delight and the joy!

'Till then we will rest 

     In our Father’s great love.

And patiently wait 

     For our blessing from above!

See what I mean? NAILED. IT. 

Thanks mommy! :)

MmB

Room Reveal: Front Hallway 'Cloffice'

Some of you may remember, but last November...I believe it was the 5th or 6th...straight up MAYHEM hit our house. It was all self-inflicted...Josh would say 95% by moi. We re-roofed our house, tore up carpet, tore out all the linoleum, went on a week-long resort vaca, hosted Thanksgiving, made a baby, decorated for Christmas, hosted our annual Christmas party, then found out we were pregnant on Christmas Day...all while our house was TORN APART and beyond stressful for this Type A, organized little freak show (me).

Anyway, this mayhem I'm describing lasted (in varying degrees) until this past Sunday when I was FINALLY to finish my last 'THIS WILL BE DONE BEFORE WE HAVE A BABY SO HELP ME GOD' project...THE CLOFFICE.

I should point out...again...when we bought our house everything was white on white on white on CARPET. It was too much to handle as a first-time homeowner at the age of 21. My first instinct to combat this stark white ranch house was to paint A LOT OF COLOR on ANYTHING I COULD. Which is precisely why I had a lime green feature wall, front closet, and front door.

Lime green to light gray. Painting this closet was truly a nightmare.

Dear everyone...please forgive me for these lime green sins I committed. I hope with this blog post you will find that I have MORE than paid for my choice of wall-color-sins and hope you accept my sincerest apology.

Moving on...I believe it was in the spring of 2012 that I had the bright idea to move our computer and 'office' into our front hallway closet. That isn't sarcasm...it really was a great idea, somewhat Pinterest inspired but 85% my brainchild since I had barely started Pinteresting at that point. Before the laundry room was turned into a guest room, I mentioned in this blog that it was just a big waste of space. We had a corner-desk set up with a computer and a big room that wasn't being used for much. And since we don't use our front hallway entrance as a main entrance to our house, this closet just basically housed a lot of clutter and some cleaning supplies...which I promptly either got rid of, or found a new 'like things together' home for the stuff to live.

This is what the cloffice looked like for the past three-ish years.

Josh actually cut off the ends of this table and re-built it inside the closet, on an afternoon which he affectionately refers to as, 'the worst afternoon project of my life.' AHHH but why focus on that...we had a new space for our office AND a guest bedroom with a double bed. It was a win win, even though it cost him a frustrating afternoon. ;) I'm prepared to stay in this house until we're ready to build our dream home, so re-inventing and re-imagining is required in order to make that happen. So the cloffice was born.

Like I said, Josh RE-BUILT this desk/table inside the closet. So when it came time to tear up the flooring, and lay tile...we had a bit of a problem. For a few months the desk was hiked up using ratchet ropes...then it was set back down...but I was waiting to truly put everything back together until I'd gotten rid of the lime green. It just didn't make sense anymore with the green erased from the living room and the front door. Plus it made the office-space really dark and I wanted the hallway to seem lighter and brighter.

During that time the computer space moved from the living room coffee table, to the buffet, to the dining room table. All terrible, horrible stressful places to have a computer for this Type A organized little freak show (again..me).

So on Sunday...with the cloffice freshly painted light gray with TWO coats of paint...paint on the shelves and on the desk...I was able to put the storage bins, the computer, and the decor all back. AFTER NINE MONTHS OF MAYHEM YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW GOOD IT FEELS TO HAVE THIS STUPID CLOFFICE PUT BACK TOGETHER. YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

A glance at the hallway.

Sooo much brighter now!!! Lots of storage, less clutter on the desktop, and still a hint of vintage charm. :)

This has nothing to do with the cloffice, but it was a project I forced on myself last week because decorating around ugly vents is something I am TIRED of doing. So now they're all painted the same color as the wall. Trim is coming btw...so just...ignore that, ok?

This little cutie showed up a few weeks ago and it actually fits perfectly in this corner of our living room. We have the matching high chair because...God Bless Graco for making SOMETHING in a neutral, black, gray, and tan color scheme.

There's the official cloffice room reveal. Not much to it. Four black Target storage bins, an extension cord, a table I pulled out of a dumpster, painted and had my husband build into this closet, and a desktop computer. A few headaches, but overall pretty easy. And so worth it to use the spaces in our house in a smarter way.

MmB

Pregnancy Quotes By Josh and Mollie: Part IV

38 weeks and 3 days! Walked a little more than 10 miles at the fair today...which is probably a good thing because at one point Josh left me alone with a Cup of Cookies and I can't be held accountable for how many I eat at this point.

Part I
Part II
Part III

Note: Please read the following with a HEAVY DOSE of sarcasm.

"So I'm packing our hospital bags. What would you like to wear at the hospital?" - Mollie
"My regular uniform." - Josh
***Josh wears the same thing every day. This refers to his work shorts, dry-fit shirt, and Nike hat. For labor.***

"This baby is going to hit us right in the face." - Josh

"You know he could come any day now and it would be totally fine." - Mollie
"If he ruins our weekend at the lake I'll never forgive him." - Josh

"Did you read my blog today?" - Mollie
"Ya. Apparently we hate Maverick." - Josh

This has nothing to do with baby stuff...but it was funny...
"I'm ready to trim your eyebrows." - Mollie
"What are you doing?! You're just going to free hand it?! What makes you qualified for this?! Last time there was a comb involved!!!" - Josh
"You want me to go get the comb?" - Mollie
"YES!!!" - Josh

"So the baby could come any day now? Like he could come right now?" - Josh
"Basically." - Mollie
"But he can't come right HERE right now because the floors. They're not refinished." - Josh

This one is actually a Jamie quote...
"I can't wait to bring Maverick down to my apartment with all his stuff and babysit him!" - Jamie
"It would probably make more sense to babysit him upstairs...since this is where all his stuff will be...and because you only live downstairs..." - Mollie
"HAHA OH YEAH." - Jamie

"Have we called Winston yet for the C-Section?! I could be his assistant! Until I pass out." - Josh

"What if he comes today while we're at the fair?! I don't like this." - Josh
"He better not if we've already gotten down there and paid admission. That would be a really big waste." - Mollie

MmB

Mourning Our Childless Life

I don't know another way to put it. I'm actually in a state of mourning over the blissful childless chapter of our lives coming to a dramatic close. OF COURSE we're excited and absolutely ready to meet Maverick in a few short weeks...but at the same time....I can't help but think about how different life is about to be. How we're saying hello to a wonderful blessing, but good-bye to an amazing, special part of life with 'just the two of us' that I know I will miss dearly.

And I'm not afraid to say this thing that everyone else feels terrible about saying. I never really had baby fever...God gave us a baby when He knew we were ready and we knew it was time and that's that. But after chatting with a friend during our weekend at the lake and hearing her say, 'I cried when my first baby was born because I knew it would never be just Scott and I ever again,' I was like...ummm...THAT IS EXACTLY ME. Any day there will be a real live baby in my arms ya ya ya, but I think more than missing my job or my body or my schedule or my silent shopping and Starbucks time...I'll miss my endless years of Josh Boersma time and attention and cuddles. Five years you guys. Five years we've had to just be married and play. I HAVE LOVED IT SO MUCH. And it's about to be over. And I think it's OK to be sad about it.

I haven't done much crying during pregnancy because...why. But the thought of not getting Josh all to myself; for hours (and in the winter, DAYS!) on end; to do anything we want to take off and do; to sleep in on rain days; to go out for fun supper dates on a whim...sort of makes me want to cry. I know we've been spoiled with an amazing five years and some would argue it would be selfish to spend the rest of our marriage childless (though I'll admit it's something we tossed around for a while ;) with life dynamics changing in such a big way after it's been just us for so long...I think it's fair that I have some of these emotions. I would even go so far as to say they aren't all pregnancy-induced.

When Josh says something like, 'Soon there will be a baby to cuddle while we watch this movie!' I find myself thinking, 'Soon there will be a baby crying and we won't be able to watch a movie in peace together for the next 20 years.' And, brace yourself for what happens when I let my mind wander too long..we will probably be in this baby phase for 5-ish years...kid/elementary years for the 5-10 years after that...I want to die when I think about high school...then 20-25 years down the road we might finally be back to being 'just us,' but not really because those darn kids of ours will probably expect to be moved in and out of college, apartments, houses, they might move back home while they have their first job and FOR THE LOVE we just finished rental turnover and it's overwhelming to think about cleaning ANOTHER. BLESSED. THING. EVER. AGAIN. I JUST CAN'T DO IT.

Have I mentioned our parents (specifically our moms) ARE ABSOLUTE SAINTS? Because I don't think I can ever do what they do for us. It's exhausting to think about.

So yes babies are sweet adorable blessings...but I've become a bit of a realist in recent months. And the reality that I know is coming is...the next few months are going to be rough. Like...really, really hard. And not just hard because we have a newborn. Hard because we are running a business with employees who are headed back to college and a small-business that tends to explode in the fall just when we think things are slowing down (Which is a blessing! And also...stressful!). But this is what we do and until now...our crazy life was something we tackled together as a childless team with our goals and discussions all about growing a business that can sustain a family comfortably 'someday,' but now 'someday' is here and everything is about to HIT THE FAN.

It hasn't even happened yet and I already miss my endless, precious Josh-time.

I know the hard that's coming...the rigorous baby schedule and crying and sleepless nights and breastfeeding stress and all the disgusting body stuff (trust me...everyone says, "You can never be prepared!" But you've all prepared me very well...perhaps too well). So I'm mourning the last few weeks Josh and I have to be 'just us' and I'm not going to feel one ounce of guilt about it.

Some people like to soak up the baby kicks and spend time day-dreaming about their new little one during the last weeks of pregnancy...but if you need me, I'll be soaking up the Josh cuddles and kisses and undivided attention for the next 16 days.

MmB

Baby Shower Pics Part II: Glitter and Grass

As if shower #1 and it's theme wasn't already perfect enough...the 'Glitter and Grass' tagline tends to be kind of a 'life theme' for Josh and I. It's a perfect description for us...our personalities...our interests...our differences...so what better shower theme could there possibly be for our future child? Glitter and Grass it was. :)

This outfit was carefully planned and coordinated and being pregnant and pretty in the summer is getting increasingly harder. I'm hanging on as long as I can. So just...ok?

A perfect mix of glitter, grass, and vintage accents everywhere!

Some people spend their summers manicuring a lovely garden...or growing 'grass' of another kind. My mom was busy growing, watering, and hiding the fact that she was growing ACTUAL grass out on her patio. It was too perfect for us.

Highlight of the day...these ladies are some of the MOST SPECIAL WONDERFUL WOMEN IN MY WORLD.

So while opening presents was happening...this ridiculous photo-booth was also happening... :)

The 'Donnas'...I love them.

Taking my caption from Instagram on this one...because wow. Norma really brings the photo 'likes!'
"Growing up I didn't have "neighbor kids" to play with...I had a lot of older neighbors who were more like grandparents and at the time, that seemed lame because my friends had neighbors to play with all the time. Cookies and pop in a hot pink glass at Norma's; making a 'Welcome Home' banner after she and Milt came home from winters in AZ; and regular visits to show them our little kid crafts and things are some of my favorite childhood memories. And now that I think about it, having this lady across the street was way better than having neighbor kids my age. She's the sweetest."

All these favorites came to the shower.

Making G'ma Rose a great-grandma for the first time very soon!

The girls all look lovely and then there's my dad...fresh off his trip from Guatemala in his new favorite ORANGE t-shirt. We let it slide though because it was 90 degrees and he loaded the presents in the car. :)

The Boersma side of the family came for the festivities too! I love this picture. :)

And when I got home with all the wonderful gifts and told Josh exactly who each one was from (I'm weirdly good at remembering things...that wildlife book he's reading is from Jenny and that Dr. Seuss book is from Cynthia...I can even remember who most of our wedding gifts are from!) he sat back and said, "Wow. I really love your home church." And I have to agree. They are. The best.

MmB

Baby Shower Pics Part I: Welcome to Camp Maverick

We spent the weekend at the lake and had a lovely time...but came home to a wet basement, broken equipment, and a phone call from the concrete company at 8am saying they would be at our house to start demo in 20 minutes. I can't imagine a better way to spend week 37 of being pregnant. ;)

So we're back to reality and the countdown marches on (18 days to due date)...and I keep thinking of blogs I need to post so I don't forget anything about the amazing people who have been so generous to us throughout the past 37 weeks...seriously. The outpouring of prayers and love and support have been almost too much to handle...I can't write enough thank yous or post enough sappy Instragrams to convey our deepest thanks.

So I'm just going to post a big blog full of pictures from each of our special showers so they're documented for all of time. :) When I say 'I can't even,' I'm not being a dramatic, basic white girl. I ACTUALLY CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE HOW FABULOUS AND PERFECT AND ADORABLE AND THOUGHTFUL EACH OF THESE SHOWERS HAVE BEEN.

One of the best parts about having Ellyn as the official shower photographer was that I didn't have to hurry around snapping pictures of everything while people mingled (which is usually what I'm doing). I was able to enjoy my peeps and the shower, plus I have amazing pictures for the scrapbook. ;)

These signs are foam board and (I believe?) chalk marker...and they let me take them home! So not only did I get to enjoy the decor at the shower, THEN THEY UNDECORATED EVERYTHING AND LET ME BRING IT HOME!

Nikki made a raccoon out of food. I have no words. 

My reaction to this adorable insanity.

One of the best parts about this shower were how many of 'my people' were there. Everyone from high school to college to church to work to cheer coaching...wah it was so perfect.

Best boss ever...who happened to throw a shower at work for me two months later...very sneaky.

These girls have been my buddies since they were in 7th grade and now they are just some of my favorite humans in the world.

Lifelong friends right here. They are some of my best.

When I became a pool manager for the City of Ames in 2009, did I ever guess I would be friends with my then-boss and we would eventually have babies together? Absolutely not. And yet, here she is. :)

It will be really weird not spending almost every day from November to February chatting with these girls about cheer and life and drama...so I'm thinking regular cheer practice visits will need to happen. :)

Sister and bestie who takes the brunt of my crabbiness and shields the rest of you into thinking I haven't been crabby at all during this pregnancy. Muaaahahahaa. ;) But seriously...can everyone just give me some props for holding it together so well?!?!?!?! Josh says I've been slightly sassier (fair assessment) but overall I've been a pregnant champion. EVEN in the midst of all our life craziness (see photo 1 on this blog post).

Girls from my 'old' connection group (which makes me laugh because we were all the same age in my old CG...and in my 'new' CG, we have MANY different ages and generations represented. ;)

Probably my favorite picture from the night. I'm sort of ready for summer to be over so we all settle back into a real life schedule and I can SEE ALL OF THESE LADIES AGAIN! We have sooo many fun things happening in our connection group! Babies! Weddings! Adoptions! I LOVE IT!