Adventures in Baby Land

The pack n' play had been sitting in the corner of our bedroom for weeks--just staring at us. So, we decided to see if it works. This was our first adventure into the realm of baby gear. I am happy to report that all went well. We all survived (the pack n' play included). I don't know what was cuter--the pack n' play or Ben carefully reading all the instructions and putting together basically indestructible baby gear with such care. The pack n' play will be even cuter with a little bundle of joy in it. Thanks, Mom and Dad!



Last week we received a package from my best friend in North Carolina! Not only are the onesie and burp cloth absolutely adorable, they have little man's name on them--our first monogram! It feels odd to see his name embroidered. It makes it feel so real! Well, my ever growing mid-section also makes it feel pretty real (you'll see an updated tummy shot below). Receiving this package helps me to say to you, "It's official!" His name is Grady Benjamin.


Here is my tummy at 25 and a half weeks. Getting pretty big, huh? He is certainly growing!


One of my best friends from college made a quick trip to Waco this past weekend! It was great to spend a long time talking and laughing. It is hard to believe that we have been friends for over ten years now. We had a great time together!

Registering

We finished registering today! We don't have any pics to add (apparently it's illegal to take photographs in Target...I have to bail Ben out of jail tomorrow). It was a lot of fun but we are exhausted. Thinking about all the little things we might need is also overwhelming.

SO, if you're interested (shameless plug), you can checkout our registries at Target.com (search under my name) and Pinwheel Kids in Waco (www.pinwheelwaco.com, our registry won't be up for another week or so). We also registered for a couple of things at Babies-R-Us (babiesrus.com), but since there's not a store in Waco we decided not to register for too much there.

My Birthday (a few weeks late)

Baby Boy Mangrum received his first package! It was not a birthday present for his mother, but it just happened to arrive in Waco on my birthday, which made it especially fun. Grana and Pop sent him an adorable hoody towel and a little footie that says "Team Grandpa." It is almost silly how excited a person can get over pint-sized clothing and footie pajamas.



Ben always does a great job at making me feel special on my birthday. He has always been good at that! We spent the day together doing fun things around town and then eating a steak dinner. Ben got me a new blue-ray player because our 10+ year old DVD player refused to play anymore DVDs. And, because I do prenatal yoga almost every day and I love movies, I needed a player that wouldn't eat the DVDs.

This is the first time we (and I should say Ben because he surprised me with it) have bought anything from the electronics section of Best Buy in our almost five years of marriage. Pretty remarkable. Ben prefers to spend that money on books. :)


After dinner, Ben planned a surprise dessert party at a friend's house. Since I had to turn 29, at least I had fun doing it!