Impending Parenthood Playlist

I've been thinking about this for awhile, so it seemed like it might be time to get it started (since in theory, we're now 7.5 or fewer weeks away from go time). So . . . here we go. I've provided links to places where you can listen to them wherever available. I'll probably add to it as I think of more, and I'd love your suggestions!

•  "Timshel" by Mumford and Sons. I was listening to this while I was working the nursery the other day and heard the lines "And you are the mother/ the mother of your baby child/ the one to whom you gave life/ And you have your choices/ and these are what make man great/ his ladder to the stars. / But you are not alone in this." And I got chills. (It helps that the name of the song and some of those lyrics are a reference to my favorite part of East of Eden, which you can read here. "Think of the glory of choice! That makes a man a man!"  Amazing.)
• "Montezuma" by Fleet Foxes. "So now I am older/ than my mother and father/ when they had their daughter/ now what does that say about me?/ Oh how could I dream of / such a selfless and true love?/ Could I wash my hands of/ just looking out for me?" 
• "St. Judy's Comet" by Paul Simon. I love how this simple little song about a dad trying to get his little boy to sleep feels so full of the hopes parents have for their children. It's always been a favorite of mine. 
• "Lullabye" by Billy Joel. Because how wonderful is this song, really? "Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream/ and dream how wonderful your life will be/ Someday your child may cry and if you sing this lullabye/ then in your heart there will always be a part of me." 
• "Things They've Handed Down" by Marc Cohn or possibly Art Garfunkel (the version I have and love is John Gorka's from Down at the Sea Hotel). "Will you laugh just like your mother/ will you sigh like your old man/ Will some things skip a generation/ like I've heard they often can/ Are you a poet or a dancer/ A devil or a clown/ or a strange new combination/ of the things we've handed down?"
• "Quinn" by Chris Merritt. "Yeah, your arms are like branches, your legs are like bamboo/ you grow like those dinosaur sponge things/ where will you go and where will you be?/ I guess we all wind up back home again." One of my favorite songs ever about the wonder of babies. 
• "Barefoot Floors" by Neil Young (the version I have is by The Wailin' Jennys and it's just gorgeous). This is just an incredibly sweet and beautiful lullaby. I love the image of a parent walking barefoot at night singing a baby to sleep.
• "My Little Bird" by Rogue Wave. I couldn't find a video or lyrics to this one, but it's on Spotify if you want to listen. It's just a lovely and dreamy little lullaby. I love it. 
• "Mother Pray" by Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama. This is an awesome old-timey gospel number about how much he loved to here his mother pray when he was a little boy. I love it.
• "Gracie" by Ben Folds. This may be the cutest father/daughter song I've ever heard. "You can't fool me, I saw you when you came out/ You got your mama's taste but you got my mouth/ you will always have a part of me/ no one else is ever gonna see, Gracie girl." 
• "Hush Little Baby" by Bobby McFerrin and Yo Yo Ma. I remember finding this about the time I first became an aunt, and it is not exactly a lullaby (because "Hush Little Baby" doesn't usually sound like "Don't Worry, Be Happy" quite so much, but it is kind of fantastic, especially the cello.  
• "I Was Born" by Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg.  It's not particularly profound, but it's delightful. 

Also, not technically on the playlist but very much worthy of sharing: "Pregnant Women are Smug" by Garfunkel and Oates. (Do not watch if you are offended by the b-word that also means female dog, because they use it. But it is pretty darn funny.) 


What do you think I should add? Any good parent songs or lullabys you've been saving for just such a playlist?

30 week stats

 Pictures to come when I finish the quilt and nursery and do something with my hair.

• Nursery - definitely coming along. It's all painted, and on Saturday we set up the crib, hung curtains, organized the closet, and started putting things on the shelf. I still want to get some kind of changing table where I can streamline diaper stuff. Will be scouring KSL.com now that I know what kind of space we have. 
• Quilt - almost done. I'm going to put a border on it as soon as I finish this post, and then a delightful friend offered to machine quilt it with a pattern for me, which will 1) make it really easy to finish and 2) cover up the mistakes I made and hide the fact that the blocks are not completely square. 
• Physical health- feeling great (if slow and heavy) until last night, when I inexplicably threw up for the first time in a month and a half and then had pains in my stomach all night. At first I thought it was food poisoning, but I ate the same things that everyone else in my family ate, and no one else appears to be sick. Also, when I went to the doctor I told him I suspected that I had an infection, and was oddly gratified that I was right, even though it meant I had to buy antibiotics. I just get tired of freaking out about things and having everyone tell me it's normal. It was perversely satisfying to actually feel like I understood what was going on in my own body.
• Stuff acquisition - still a long way to go. Need to buy a stroller and carseat, plus all kinds of bottles and whatever babies need, but I'm having a shower in about a month, so I hate to buy too much until I see what I get. I have tons of hand me down clothes, but I have nothing in newborn sizes yet, so I'm going to have to get a move on if she's to avoid being naked for her first couple of months. Also, it's more fun looking for things like diaper bags (another excuse to buy a purse!) than breast pumps and nursing bras (ugh) so I'm focusing on the fun things. (Plus, I've been lucky enough to have some people offer me stuff they haven't used or are finished using, so I figure putting things off isn't hurting my acquisition that much - it just means that I will have to do a couple of major shopping days when I'm enormous  in order to avoid not spending money on things that I might get for free or for less.)
• Name - probably settled upon. 
• Diapers - seriously considering going the cloth route. I feel a little crazy, especially since I've already bought a couple of boxes of disposables from Costco, but I've been reading up on it and talking to some friends who have done it, and I actually think we want to do it - especially since I think I found a way to do it without spending a ton of money up front. I'm going over to a friend's house later this week so she can show me her system, and I bought a few diaper covers on sale the other day. I always swore I would never do such a thing, but I think in the long run it will save us money, and since it's not costing me excessive amounts to get into it, I feel good about the environmental aspect too without feeling like I'm just jumping on a trendy green bandwagon. Plus, I think I'll still feel okay about keeping disposables on hand for trips out of town and such when I don't want to pack around soiled cloth diapers.
• Mental health - more crying than there was earlier in the pregnancy. The reality is setting in, and the unpredictability of when she's coming coupled with the unpredictability of Eric's work schedule is driving me crazy. I'm reading lots of baby books and blogs to calm myself, which sometimes works and sometimes freaks me out more. But when I'm feeling mostly sane, I'm pretty excited for this little girl to get here.