Happy Birthday, Chris!

Today is my brother’s 27^th birthday.

[Goofballs in Chicago, 2009]

I have blurry memories of the day Chris was born, visiting him and my mom at the hospital. My understanding was that she had produced a baby purely for my entertainment (a doll in real life!), and I was very excited to meet my new present. Once he was at home and folks started visiting, I told everyone who walked through the door to NOT touch “my baby,” in what I assume was a very sassy 3-year-old voice.

Honestly, his newness wore off quickly, and I spent the next decade teasing Chris and dragging him out of my room when my friends were over; he spent it hitting me on the back of the head with a light-up, plastic sword my parents bought him at the Ringling Brothers circus that came through Houston in 1991. The off-and-on nature of our relationship is one that I’m sure most brother-sister siblings have endured. Luckily, ours evaporated a few years later, and I finally understood I could – gasp! – be friends with my brother.

Chris and I spent one year together in high school, when he was a freshman, and I was a senior. He had joined the cross country team, and I was the editor of our high school yearbook, so we drove into school each morning around 6:00 a.m. for our respective extracurricular time. The soundtrack of those dark, foggy mornings include Norah Jones, O.A.R., John Mayer, Dashboard Confessional, and a bunch of other artists and bands, some of which are still our favorites, some of which are now extremely embarrassing to acknowledge.

Happy birthday to my brother, a guy who is kind, caring, and fiercely intelligent… someone who is so attuned to both current events and cultural references that he’s easily the most interesting person in the room… and a HUGE reason why I was so happy when we found out our child-to-be was a boy. If Baby Naumann is half as awesome as his uncle, we’re in for another great present.       

The March To-Do List

March, you are more than a little scary. You’re a constant reminder that our kid arrives next month, and I feel nowhere near ready. Is this what motherhood is like? Feeling behind and panicked 24/7? If so, I’ve been honing those skills since I started college, so maybe I’ll be a pro. Here’s what I have going on this month…

1) Start working on my summer (aka post-partum) capsule wardrobe.

Have you ever heard of a capsule wardrobe? I hadn’t until I started stalking following this gal on my daily trip around the blogosphere. I’ve been contemplating creating my own for about six months now and kept using my pregnancy as an excuse…. Until I realized I had already created a capsule wardrobe BECAUSE I was pregnant. (It’s really easy to finely edit your wardrobe when you’re gaining a half to full pound every week.)

     2)  Finish decorating the nursery.

We decided on a theme and have finished painting the walls. We also have moved the furniture (sans crib) into the room, purchased the linens, and Andy is actually working on building a small little bookcase to go in there, as well. Our theme is “storybooks” and is specifically centered on Little Golden Books… which means the last steps is to frame some pages from various Little Golden Books all throughout the room. I’m hoping the frames will look as cute in person as they do in my head. Wish us luck!  I’ll post pictures of the finished product when it’s all done.

[Part 1 of painting took place during winter vacation. RIP, Andy's beard.]

[Part 2 included adding the chair rail and painting the bottom wall space grey. 

Then we moved the furniture we're using (purchased years ago from an estate sale) into the room.]

     3) Cook something with our pasta maker.

It would be nice to embrace something I’ll likely not get a chance to do for the foreseeable future. Has anyone made their own pasta? Are some types easier to work with than others?

     4) Find Baby Naumann a great homecoming outfit.

It’s an unsolved mystery why this has become so important to me, but I’ve been trolling the interwebs trying to find something both practical and cute for the baby boy to wear when we leave the hospital. Bonus points if the said outfit can detract focus from his large head (because, let’s be honest – between Andy and me, this kid is going to have a NOGGIN). And if moms are reading this right now and have any ideas, let me know!

     5) Read All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

On April 2, I’ll be attending my last book club as a childless gal, so I’d feel REALLY good about myself if I actually read the darn thing this time. I’m normally the girl who shows up having read less than 25 percent of the book and eats all the cheese and crackers.

[Image source: amazon.com]

What’s on your to-do list this month?