Baby Shower #2

How lucky am I to be given not one but two showers?? My mom's relatives gathered together at the Fondue Stube (yum yum, Carol!) for cheese, chocolate, cake, presents and chatting. It was a blast! Click here to see more photos from the Baby Shower.

Grandma almost made it...she even had her hat on! But at the last minute she decided to bail.

Diaper Bag!

I have great news everyone! I finally decided on a diaper bag! I did not expose all of you to my desperate quest (it was pathetically obsessive and to those of you who were kind enough to hear me out, give me advice or slap me when I started babbling, thank you, you're a real friend) but it was pretty much all-consuming for many days (weeks, months??) in a row. I've actually been on the hunt for the perfect diaper bag since I got the positive reading back in the stick peeing days, but in recent weeks I started to really get involved. Anyway, I'm happy to say all my google searches, department store scavenger hunts and internal debates over the merits/hazards of insulated bottle pockets, machine washable changing pads, luxury branding and stroller clips are now officially in the past. End result: Le Sportsac Liz in gray. It's a very clever design, the ultimate I could find in terms of functionality. It's almost boring to look at, in a good way. I considered getting a more whimsical print, but was concerned I'd just get sick of it immediately. I like that this bag will go with anything and doesn't look childish...after all, I'm the one carrying the bag and by now I'm supposed to be a grown up! It has enough room to hold my belongings as well as Abernathy's, but I might just end up with an extra bag to bring around for just me. In other words, a new quest has begun...

Special thanks to Auntie Loco for all her help, especially for recommending this bag! xox

Baby Shower!

Thanks to everyone for coming to my shower yesterday! It was so much fun to celebrate and catch up with you all, and especially to open the presents and coo over the massive cuteness! I had such a great time!

A special thanks to Susan for hosting! Your home was the perfect place for this shindig and it couldn't have looked better! The food was fantastic! I had so much fun, I really didn't want to leave. Thank you so much for all your hard work!

Also, thanks to Bethany for taking so many great photos! I'm so grateful to have them! To view all the photos from the party click on the picture above.

Most improved...

I wish I had a "before" picture so you could really tell how much better our new closet system is. I am so happy with our latest Container Store purchase!

So now that this closet exists we can start the really fun work: decorating the nursery! I'm so excited! In other baby news, I have an appointment with my midwife today (I work with two midwives actually, Jennifer and Amy, at A Woman's Place in Lincoln Square) and I am anxious to hear her little heart beat again. It's something I always look forward to, but it'll be especially reassuring this time, as I have been feeling paranoid lately that I might have squished her or something...Oh dear, I hope not! I don't know what I'm doing really with this big belly. It's weird. Anyway...Hopefully/most likely all is well. My mom is going with me today, to meet my midwife- I'm not sure who will see us today- and check out their office. I'm looking forward to having her with me today!

Baby's First Pics!!!

I know you all have been excited to see the results of little Wilhelmina/Sloane/Abernathy's first photo shoot, but I haven't had a chance to scan them. Finally I just gave in today and took pictures of the pictures. They didn't turn out that great, but you can definitely tell it's a baby, which is about what the original photos convey. Without further ado here she is:


I have no idea how but from the picture above our doctor was able to almost positively ascertain (he said he was 95% sure) that our baby-to-be is a girl. I don't see it myself, but I have a soft spot in my heart for this picture because he wrote BABY GIRL on it and made my day!

Isn't she adorable????? swoon.

Feeling Generous?

If you are interested in getting us a present, we are registered at MyRegistry.com! Please feel free to help furnish our modern nursery or fill our child's bookshelves with our favorite read aloud books. We are still working on our wish list, so please check in regularly...if you care.

To find our registry click on the link above and search my first name. I'm the only Mikhaila on the site, so it should give you only one option: ours. Click on the link "Go to Registry." On the next page you will need to enter a visitor's password. The password is "mikbaby." After you enter the password you should be able to view our registry. I like to change the Gifts Per Page setting in the top right corner to "All" so I don't have to go back and forth between pages, but can see everything on the same page.

I am concerned that packages shipped to our house might arrive when no one is home and be abandoned by the deliverer on the street outside our house. To avoid this situation, please ship all gifts to:
Mikhaila Woodall
1731 N. Marcey St., Suite 518
Chicago, IL 60614

Photo of Bugaboo Bee stroller from modernnursery.com

Lemongrass Nursery

This is my inspiration for our nursery decor. I love the paint color (benjamin moore, chameleon, eggshell, but I think of it as a sunny lemongrass). I like how the color itself isn't girly, but it works nicely with the hot pink accents. Our nursery doesn't get a lot of sunlight, so I wanted to choose a lively color to brighten up the space. I like the giant stuffed animals too. I have to admit I always wanted giant stuffed animals when I was little....I guess I still do.

Photo by Laura Resen
Domino Magazine February 2007 p103

Mikhaila at Home

Hi there.

I am starting a blog today. But just for a little while. I actually have a very busy day ahead of me. I am planning to go to a yoga class this morning from 10-11:30am. Mark and I are also in the midst of completely making-over our house and our list of projects is never ending. Today we are painting. What we have left to paint: The master bedroom (including the inside of my closet, which is most assuredly NOT happening today), the nursery, the kitchen, the accent wall in the dining room, the rest of the house. Oh it’s exciting! We are actually starting to put a dent in it...I swear.

Our main project, however, is creating the nursery so that, when she’s born in March, our little girl will have someplace to stay with us. This is a very high priority! But it is not a simple task. Oh no! The room which shall eventually (hopefully sooner than later) become her room is currently our Media Room and Mark’s dressing room. That is, he uses the closet in that room so that the closet in our room is solely mine. Therefore, before we can move his things into our bedroom to make way for Baby’s things we need to make enough room for his things in a closet that can hardly contain my things! It is a thing overload we’ve got going on in our home. To further complicate the issue, Mark and I are equally sentimental and possessive of our items, so we have a hard time simply throwing out or giving away clothes that we no longer wear to make a little extra room. Yeah, I know, we’re just going to have to get over that. There has been a truckload of Ikea, a rearrangement of the layout of the master bedroom, and an installation of cable to aid us thus far and we are pleased with the progress we have made. But there is still much to do. I’ll spare you the details for now....