Baby Names and House Stress

Well, we're in the final countdown now for this new baby.  Still have no name for a boy or girl, but I'm sure it will come eventually.  I've prayed for God to give us the name and it hasn't happened yet like it did with Ben, but I just realized something.  Why would I want to be surprised about whether it was a boy or girl and also want God to give us the name before the baby is born?  If God gives us a consensus on the baby's name before it's born, we'll know by the name what it is! 

I've been stressing over not having a name yet and wondering what God was waiting for, and the whole time God's got to have been muttering to himself about my inability to realize I was asking Him to ruin the surprise!  Duh.....  I'm sure glad God is smarter than me....  So, we probably won't have a name we all just "know" is the right one until after we've seen our lil one, but suddenly I'm OK with that.  There are worse problems to have in life than what to name your new baby!  :0)

Hubby's dad and brother are coming over Saturday to help us start getting the studio set up.  They'll be taking a cabinet downstairs and installing the slat wall so I can start hanging up stuff.  I can't believe we're putting this in the front room! 

One of my biggest frustrations is my house - making it function best for us, finding room with the wierd setup, etc.  I had gotten to the point where I'd rather a tornado destroy it than try to contemplate **AGAIN** paint colors, furniture placement, lighting or traffic patterns.  The biggest obstacles seem to be:
1.  Hubby and the girls have ideas for what they want the house to look & "feel" like that are very different than what the architecture of a traditional colonial seems to dictate.  I'm almost sorry I asked.
2.  Pulte apparently does not believe in lighting, so we have to install and design all our own.
3.  I have a really hard time letting myself consider just doing what works for us, without worrying about what others will think if it's not something that's "normally" done.

#3 is my biggest problem.  You know that saying "Just be yourself"?  What if what is "us" as a family means that when you walk in our front door you immediately see to the right of the foyer two big 8' folding tables and art supplies hung all over the walls, along with the paper racks, computer desk, and maybe a few "projects in progress" sitting out?  Not closed off with doors, or even a divider, mind you.  Just THERE.  In the front room that's "supposed" to be the formal living room.  Now, this studio is important to us as a family - it's what we "do" - and the front room just happens to be the room that works best to put it in because of space and such.  But it would drive my mother INSANE!  And because, like her, I tend to be stressed when my house doesn't look like a magazine cover, I know that even if I make peace with it for myself and my family, I will always be worrying about it when visitors come to the house.

I keep reminding myself that we're a young family and will be for quite a while.  The inner pep talk is something like this:  "Use those bold, bright colors Rob and the kids want in this house whether they "match" the house style or not!  Create the unexpected! Go with the flow!  It doesn't need to look like a showplace or be the "beautiful" home you always dreamed of.  That will come later in life - fun and casual is what you need now.  Think outside the box, you coward.  You're trying to create a place for young kids to live and grow up in, not a museum.  The kids will love it and so will the friends they bring home, even if the parents think you're an odd egg.  Who cares what other people think anyway, right?  What's so great about "normal"?  You're the one who has to live here, not anybody else!" 

But, I still hesitate.  Why is it I can buck trends on just about everything else, including more important things like home schooling, but THIS drives me to the point of panic?  I blame my mother, bless her heart.  And my Aunt Linda.  And Meme and Misty and LaDonna and Aunt Weenie and all those other women related to my mother.  These women in my family have such great taste and their houses reflect it so well that doing anything less than a house worth a photo spread in a mag (seemingly effortlessly, no less) would make an outsider wonder if I inherited any genes from them at all.  It's not that I don't know how, mind you, it's just not gonna work for us like that for a while.  I am one messed up bird....

So - in case there was any doubt - yes, I'm insane.  But my house will be FUNCTIONAL and FUN, which is much more important than beautiful or normal.  Right?  Hello???  Can I get an amen?  Grrrrr...