Since you’re only really 29 once, I decided not to go to work today. (I’m not skipping; I took it off officially.) Took the spouse to work at 7:30 a.m., then headed to Dutch Bros. for a chemical-free decaf mocha (safe for baby, happy for me?and first real coffee since morning sickness set in back in early May). At 9 a.m., I head to the spa for the husband’s and parents’ present to me: pedicure and facial. And it’s beautiful and sunny outside, but it’s not supposed to get too hot. I think it will be a lovely day.

Our nursery (and box remains in living room)?over the course of the evening:

This post brought to you by my dad, who drove us to T-C in his pickup to get the crib and dresser. He is awesome.

Also, the spouse and I have temporarily come to an agreement on a name: Veronica. (I liked Viveca also, but that one was nixed.) Now, please, please, please, do not mention Veronica Mars to him. He claims that if the Veronica Mars reference comes up too much, he’ll veto the name. And we’ve only just barely agreed on it. Now we’re on to arguing over a middle name. Hadley was still not approved.

The crib and dresser (the one on the right, four drawers)?

Today, we also experienced the wonder of stroller/car seat travel systems. Tested several brands: popped out the infant car seat, attempted to use one hand to fold down the stroller (they all claimed to have one-hand fold-down capability). And, to please the sister-in-law, we set up our registry at Target with a few things (toys! toys! toys!). Also hit Costco so our freezer is packed with frozen strawberries for slushies?yummy?and ravioli. Stopped by C & H’s to watch them pack up the last of their boxes before they head to Taiwan for the year to teach. The spouse bought materials in preparation for wiring the hot tub this next weekend. All in all, an expensive, er, eventful, day.

Just finished: Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp. My advice: skip the entire first section unless you’re really into evolution and caveman theory talk. Skim the second half (ditto on the caveman theory talk). It was good information: importance of swaddling, side holding, shushing, swinging and sucking, I just didn’t care for the author’s writing style. Overall, good to know, but a skimmer.

Currently reading: Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacker and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett

What to Expect When You’re Expecting (ongoing)

Your Pregnancy week by week by Glade Curtis and Judith Schuler (ongoing)

These two are the survivors of the seven or eight month-by-month and week-by-week guides I started out reading.

Still to read The 90-Minute Baby Sleep Program by Polly Moore

The Official Lamaze Guide: Giving Birth with Confidence

The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goldeman

Mommy Guilt

The Attachment Parenting Book by William and Martha Sears

And those are just the ones currently sitting on my shelf. I have had more suggestions that I need to pick up from the library. Also on the to-read list: Stephenie Meyers’ new book, but I’m trying to hold off for paperback or library borrowing. We just took two huge boxes of books to Goodwill and I’m trying not to buy books to overrun the bookcase.

Friends, quesadillas, strawberry rhubarb coffee cake and Power Grid. What more could you ask for on a Friday night?

Does wanting to play Power Grid and Puerto Rico count as a pregnancy craving??

I’ve decided we have room for one more onesie: my co-worker presented me with this one today, shown here by the father-to-be.

Garage cleaned: check.

Car washed: check.

Grocery shopping (including stop at farmers’ market) done: check.

Laundry done: check.

Tweak the budget: check.

Misc. shopping, including baby shower for co-worker gift shopping, done: check.

Hanging out with cool people and their adorable baby girl: check.

Eating said cool people’s delicious food: check.

Yes, it was a productive day. The spouse helped M. H. put together a gazebo, then we all sat around under the finished gazebo and ate E.’s delicious zucchini (fresh from the garden) pasta and?cannellini rosemary olive oil garlic amazingness dip with farmers’ market tomatoes and yummy bread. I love summer and friends and good food.?

And thanks to said friends we now definitely need to buy a dresser to hold all the baby clothes I received today. I don’t think I’ll ever have to buy a onesie. Between E.’s generosity and grandma’s yard sale finds, we’re going to be set for the 0-6 month time frame. We even have?on loan?a bassinet for the pre-crib stage.

Have I mentioned our friends are awesome? They volunteer to teach the child to fish and learn about superheroes and paint characters for the nursery (thank you, Langster). They share the bounty of their gardens with us (ahem, even if they don’t necessarily mean to, because we raided their tomatoes while they were gone for the weekend, thanks c.). They make strawberry rhubarb coffee cake. (OK, that was a blatant attempt to get some of M.’s amazing coffee cake.) They promise to introduce me to the MOA.

Obviously, I’m feeling a bit sappy. Must be the hormones. I am thankful for all of you. I promise to be more my usual cynical self tomorrow, but at the moment, I’m just happy.

Today was the big ultrasound. Baby looks to be healthy (two arms, two legs, left and right hemispheres in the brain, etc.) although the little one did not want to stop the hand-waving long enough to get a really good picture of whether it will be a little Susannah or a little Stu. (Actually, neither of those names are in the running, but I’m still mildly miffed about my preferred names of both genders being unceremoniously nixed and I’m not energetic enough to start reading yet another baby name book for possibilities.)

But, the u/s technician was 85% sure it is a girl.?

Reaction of my niece (my only niece, to the six nephews) went something like this: “Yeah, she’s going to be my little girl. I get to play with her.” She might have to fight off her auntie Holly J. for cuddling rights.

In other news, we’ve begun divvying up the life duties: fishing lessons (the Langster is in charge of those) and video game lessons (her daddy is going to teach her to beat all the older boys at video games). Anyone else want to call dibs? ?

The spouse posted some ultrasound pictures. Head over there to see the details.