Fashionista In Utero

Finding out that we are having a girl was such an amazingly happy moment for me and Brad...but I'm pretty sure that 2 seconds later, Brad's mind wandered and he could envision shopping bags and shopping sprees. (I mean, more than there are usually.) He didn't know how good he had it when there was only one girl in the household to worry about...

I assumed that the second we got the green light on pink stuff, I would be hightailing it to insert-retail-establishment-here to start stocking up on all things pink and frilly. Boy, was I wrong.

The first disappointing experience was at the outlet mall in North Myrtle Beach. I figured that a shopping trip with my sisters would lead to a squeal-fest of cuteness and bags full of stuff. Alas, for some reason, I wasn't feeling it. I took one look a frilly bathing suit with a tutu that looked too small for a Barbie doll and--gasp--was not overwhelmed by feelings of "Eeeeee!" What was wrong with me?! I love to shop. I love pink. I have a reason now to buy cutesy pink things. WHY AM I NOT LINING UP AT THE REGISTER WITH PILES OF CLOTHES ON MY ARM?!? I left with a couple half-hearted purchases. Sigh.

Enter Retail Meltdown #2. I decided to take advantage of the tax-free weekend and head over to Macy's last weekend. Standing among racks of cute little baby clothes, I could feel the familiar rush of "step away from the stuff" and again was confused. I tried to rethink my approach to focus my feelings of being overwhelmed: "She can totally wear this on the plane over Christmas" and "She will grow into this dress and it's a great deal" were thoughts (albeit crazy ones) that crossed my mind and lead me to finding a few things.

As I was leaving the store, I called Ali for a little moral support. In the midst of her "It's OK" peptalk, I wandered into BabyGap. And something clicked...and kicked--literally, I could feel her moving around in there as if to say "This. This is where we need to be." Could my unborn baby know that BabyGap was where I worked for 5 years in high school and college? Could she possibly already have the same taste that I do?? Oh, the joy of the idea of my first mommy-daughter bonding moment.

Then...I saw the outfit that would do me/us in...

Minus the denim jacket and plus an ADORABLE pair of hot pink bow shoes. (Yes, a newborn needs a cute pair of shoes...don't even get me started on the miniature pink Uggs that I'm eyeing.) I held my head a little higher and my heart was a little lighter this trip to the register. See? I thought to myself. You can do this!

I think that it's just different this time around. With Ben, we didn't know if we would be going with blue or pink, so we just went with neither--I didn't have to do any pre-shopping for clothes, so this is all new to me. It's strange to buy clothes and pick out things for someone who's not even here yet...but I'm dealing with it.

So, I think I'm over whatever funk I was in.

Sorry, Brad. ;-)