somebody put the bean in a corner

we were super excited to welcome a much-anticipated new baby into our family last week.  and it was extra fun because the parents had chosen to keep the gender a surprise - damn near unheard of these days, right?  i always wondered if i could hang for the whole 40 weeks without knowing.  i'm such a planner, but i love surprises too.

leave it to me to turn the convo around to make it about me.  heh.

anyway, i (and, as it turns out, 95% of other folks) was convinced that it would be a boy.  you know what that meant, right?  yup.  here's the gift i was frantically sewing together on the morning of our visit to the hospital:

not to mention, i don't know how to make any boy gifts yet!  ha.

when i picked up the bean from school, i told her we were going to see a new baby in the hospital and asked her to help me pick out something to add to our gift.  okay, i actually already knew exactly what i wanted to get, but it's always fun to let her think she came up with the idea.  and voila - baby's first hello kitty!

the bean was quite enchanted by them - "they're JUST LIKE MINE, mommy!"  she thought that was pretty stinking cool.

as it turned out, i had to deliver some disappointing news when we got there - you had to be 14 or a sibling to be admitted to the new mom wing.  i felt like such a weenie when her face twisted in agony and she crumpled into a ball into her sister's arms.  "but...i wanted to say hi to the baaaaaaaabyyyyyy!"

i promised her that i'd take a picture so that she could see, but that didn't appease her - at least at that moment.  when i returned from my abbreviated visit, i showed her the snapshot i'd taken of that sweet baby girl, and she melted.  "awwwwwww, she's sooooo cuuuuuuuuute!"

yes, she drew out her words just. like. that.

my mom asked me to do up some cookies for a weekend visit, and because i was making half of them vegan, i decided to tint the dough for the "regular" ones pink.  i told her that she'd be able to remember which was which because my favorite color is pink, and i'd eat the regular ones if i were given a choice.  heh.

i can't wait to take the bean for a proper visit to baby a when they're settled in.  yay for little girls!