A little girl's nursery

I am starting to have a few mini panic attacks about having everything ready for baby girl. When I was pregnant with Colton, I had a plan. I researched nursery "themes" and looked for hours upon hours, and settled on a nautical theme fairly quickly after we found out the gender. Of course, I had much more time to research and choose, back when I had no job and no child, and we lived in a new place where I barely knew anyone at first!  I knew which exact bedding I wanted, Blake by Nautica. We are renters, and so I knew his walls would be plain colored, which helps a lot when deciding on what to get. By the time I was 31 weeks along, which is how far I am now, I pretty much had everything figured out. We had purchased or been given everything we knew we needed, or had a plan of when to purchase it. I did spend the last month doing all of the finishing touches, but that was completely intentional. We moved during the last two months of my pregnancy to North Carolina, and Brad almost immediately left for a month of no contact training, SEER school (Survive, Evade, Escape and Rescue school - basically POW school). But I had a complete plan. I was calm, mostly, and extremely excited about getting everything ready and perfect for our upcoming bundle of joy to change our lives forever.

The bedding we picked for Colton's room. Isn't it adorable?!

This time, I have a bit of a different perspective. I do not have hours upon hours to sit and research what exactly I want to do in the nursery. I have a sweet little boy who keeps me more than busy, and hates when I sit down at the computer. The limited amount of time I have spent trying to research and decide, has left me frustrated and discouraged. Needless to say, I keep putting everything off. But I now feel like I am at the point where I just need to make a decision and stop stressing. As much as i want her nursery to be absolutely perfect for her, as great as it makes me feel to have everything "ready" to welcome her into our hearts, arms, and home, I know it just isn't going to happen. The nursery I pictured whenever I would think about having a little girl is NOT coming together. I completely understand that not having everything perfect will definitely not change how much we love her, want her, and are excited about her. But I still want her room to be planned and prepared for her!

My favorite fabric for baby girl's room

So here is my dilemma. We moved into this rental home, that we absolutely love, and have a two year lease. To paint a room, we have to pick a color, submit the color and plan to the property management office, and they will pass it on to the home owners. The home owners then have the option of agreeing to the paint plan, or nixing. The owners live in Germany currently, and don't seem to be the easiest people to get ahold of. Also, we really just don't want to paint. So baby girl's room color is: light pink. And yes, all of the trim in her room is dark pink, including the two closet doors and the hallway door. It is a pink overload! I am all about pink, honestly, but I don't know if that room can handle any more pink without feeling like the inside of a pepto bismol container! So I need to find bedding that incorporates the pink, while not BEING pink, if that makes sense. My thought has been to not buy a bedding set, as the AAP now recommends no bumpers anyway, using a plain colored crib sheet, and picking the fabric I want to make the crib skirt. Also, I want to make the curtains to either match the crib skirt or coordinate with it. But I just can't find material I like, in my  price range! Here is a sample of the one I am absolutely in love with, but at $30/yard, it is definitely NOT practical! Plus a 2 yard minimum on each order, I just can't get it. Not even for a little "pop." But I love that it has the two colors of pink from the room, plus a pop of tiffany blue in it - I love tiffany blue in a little girl's room!

So I am on the search for fabric. Cheap, sweet, not entirely pink fabric.


But I did find a crib mobile I love that I think I can recreate (it's from Etsy).  It has the birdies that I love and want in her room, with enough dimension and contrast to be very visually stimulating. I imagine it will take quite a bit of time to cut all of those birdies out, in two or so different card stocks each, but this may actually be a project I can work on while Colton is awake. If he is coloring at the table next to me, he is usually fairly content with me doing something a bit different than him, as long as I am next to him. So as soon as I pick fabric, I will get the paper to match and start on this cute bird mobile!

Can you tell I am trying to do this nursery on the cheap? We are using the dresser/changing table from Colton's room and purchasing him a new dresser. The crib that matches the dresser will also be in baby girl's room. We purchased Colton a new crib that converts to a toddler bed, so he will be in that. Actually, we didn't purchase it new - we purchased it from someone, but it looks brand new. Their baby decided to be a complete co-sleeper, and now that she's 3 and has slept in it less than a handful of times, they decided it wasn't worth it to keep it. Score for us though! We will be using the glider from Colton's room, we have his old swing and vibration chair for her as well. She gets to use his car seat, luckily it's gray and green so no worries about it being too "boyish" :) Really, we haven't had to purchase very many things for her at all so far! My mom's sister has a daughter who is turning 2 soon, so we have been given all of Mayli's hand-me-down's from when she was tiny, so baby girls wardrobe is pretty set. :) We will probably purchase a few things, since I have never gotten to shop for a girl before, but it's nice to know that we don't have to! So really.. I don't know why we are stressing. Lots of little things to get (girly paci's, blankets, swaddle blankets, maybe a few girly toys, etc.) but none of the "big stuff" besides bedding and curtains. And I have right under two months.

Two months.

Oh gosh, if I am going to be sewing something, I better get on it. I only have two months.

If you're still reading this, give yourself a pat on the back. You have just read my repeated rambling thoughts for the past week. Sorry it's so long and not that interesting!

Loves, Jessica

It snowed in Texas!

A week or so ago, here in TEXAS, we had a bit of snow. It didn't stick, but we had big ol' pretty flakes falling from the sky. Colton and I quickly got dressed for snow, which isn't hard when really it's not all that cold, and ran outside to experience our first, and possibly only, snow of the year. I got a couple of pretty great shots of Colton loving it. He was very excited to point at the snow, and try and "catch" the flakes. You can see a few of them on his jeans in the photo where he's sitting in his adirondack chair. What a sweet little boy. :)

Birdie canvas

Tonight, I made this cutesy birdie canvas to put in baby Eliza's room. I bought the canvas a few weeks ago, and stained it right away. But it took me awhile to have the time to finish it. I knew i wanted birdies (that's the nursery theme!) and I knew what verse, but I just never did it. Finally, I took the time to complete it! The dishes may be sitting on the counter, dirty from dinner, but the canvas is complete. :) what do you all think?

Note: my etsy manager (aka husband) decided to list this on my Etsy site! This is only my second listing, I never did make another pouf to sell, after I sold the first one. (Oops!) Check the link out here:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/92753060/singing-bird-canvas#photos

Love you all!

Blessings: 02/06/12

Hello again, dear friends. Week #3 (can you even believe this!?). Let's jump in!

1) They say it's my birthday (na na na na na) and it was! Feb. 1 I turned TWENTY-SIX! I love birthdays. Mine, yours, Brads, Coltons, everyone's really. Any reason to make an ordinary day extraordinary is definitely good by me! Colton surprised me with a very extra special gift: saving all of his poops 'til Daddy came home from work! (It really is the little things in life, isn't it?) I wonder if he knew it was my birthday...

The beautiful cake :)

This is the chosen cake mix ... seriously delicious!

2) Brad BAKED me a cake. YES - BRAD BAKED A CAKE! My husband is not one to spend any time in the kitchen. Ever, really. The kitchen is my domain - and the garage is his. But on a very special occasion, he will get in the kitchen and make or bake something. My birthday apparently constitutes one of those times, and the cake he baked was to die for - triple chocolate cake, with a chocolate glaze frosting. I wish I had some right now! But we definitely ate it all!

Working hard in the kitchen! 

3) Taking away the paci has been.... difficult. Re sleep training has been ... challenging. I think it may be even harder to re sleep train this boy than it was to initially sleep train. Initially, he LOVED being rocked and cuddled. Now that he hates it, there is not much we can do to calm him down before bedtime. He knows when it's bedtime - we have our routine - but nothing really works help him self-soothe, or soothe at all really, but the paci.. which we aren't giving in to. So as hard as it is to set a screaming toddler in his crib and allow him to scream, that's all we can really do. Luckily it only lasts maybe 5 or 10 minutes TOPS, but those minutes are excruciating. The rest of the day though has been SO NICE without it - he "talks" more, he hasn't even really missed it. Such a blessing to not need to take it everywhere with us -and to know when Baby Girl gets here, we will not worry so much about how to teach Colton that she can have the paci, but all of a sudden he can't. It will be more "normal" by then! Pressing on towards this goal...

4) Colton has gotten to be quite HILARIOUS lately. He honestly does the funniest things I have ever seen! Last night, he realized his drum can also be a hat... so he has been walking around with it on his head since then. All last night throughout the Super Bowl, all this morning, pretty much as often as he can. He will take it off to eat, and of course to sleep, but other than that he loves his "hat". He plays with his cars, while wearing the hat. He pushes his push-car around, while wearing the hat. He builds with his blocks, while wearing his hat. Here's a pic to show you what I mean:

Don't be fooled by the slightly sad face - I took this with my phone and had a hard time catching  his happy face! But he LOVES it!

5) We found a playgroup on post in the Youth Activity Center, and Colton had a BLAST there! He was a little unsure at first - it's a big open gym with tons of toys, for only kids 3 and under. After a few minutes of grasping my hand so tightly while exploring the gym, he let go and took off running. It was so sweet to see him having such a good time! He found a couple basketball goals, and figured out how to make a basket. Several times, he tried from different distances from the goal to see if he could make it. He is actually a really good shot! Honestly, I could not get him away from this corner of the gym for almost 45 minutes. Afterwards though, he finished exploring and found many blocks, trains with tracks, ride-on toys, tents, tunnels, cars with roads to drive on, etc. I kept trying to play with him, but this boy was not interested in mommy at all. He would give me the stink-eye and walk off, continuing to play on his own and with the other toddlers. What a blessing to know that he is so independent! Although it occassionally made me a little sad when he would snub me, I really am glad that he (already!) is not 100% needy of me. Hopefully that will help to ease the transition to life with a new baby!

Basketball! 

I think this is all I have for this week. Thanks for reading! :)

01/29/12: Blessings

First off: Happy Birthday, Kansas! We love you a lot and do miss your rolling prairies and amazing spring thunderstorms. And, of course, we miss the people there as well! :)

Some of these blessings may sound like a stretch, but if "every good and perfect thing comes from above" (James 1:17), then maybe they aren't stretches, just not as obvious? :) Colton and I have had the sickies for a little over a week now, so we have been confined to our house for the most part, and haven't done too much. But here we go:

-I have a little boy who is 100% not into anything snuggley: no cuddles, no long hugs, no leaning against me and reading a book or watching a cartoon, nada. BUT when I have a sick little boy, the usual 5 minute time span of wanting to read with me, will turn into a 30 minute time span. I always love to read with him, so every day I attempt reading at least 5 or 6 times (Okay.. some days its actually more like 12), but 5 minutes is about all I can get out of him. I cherish those 5 minute time spans, and hope that one day he will enjoy it more consistently. This week, has been SUCH a blessing. I have not gotten to hold him like that, for that amount of time, in many, many months. And I ate. it. up. We got through several "peter rabbit" books, the whole "old testament Bible stories" book he was given for his birthday, and the pop-up farm board book that is his favorite. It almost makes all the coughing and sniffling worth it. Almost. :)

-Even with two sickies in the house, breathing and coughing everywhere, Brad has not gotten sick! I know his immune system has got to be better than a pregnant woman and a one year old, but it astonishes me that he hasn't caught this. I am so thankful! He gets up so early every day, around 4:45 or 5:00am, to get to PT, that any time he has a cold he gets run down so fast. I prayed and prayed that he wouldn't catch this, and so far the Lord has answered that prayer and granted Brad health! Thank you, Jesus!

-On Monday, we had our 2-week ear infection check-up to see if it is all gone, and it's not. Colton has been put on a stronger antibiotic and hopefully that one will work better than the amoxicillin did. I have no way of telling, since it has not really seemed to bother him at all. During that appointment, the Doctor suggested quitting the paci because it has already started to have an affect on his teeth. (EEEK!) She showed me how it is affecting him, and although I had not noticed his top teeth forming around the nipple of the paci, I can definitely see it now! It isn't too bad yet, but it can get a lot worse if we don't quit soon. I know that braces are painful, not from personal experience, and am very thankful that we caught this in time to have the conviction to really stick to quitting the paci before it gets any worse. When I asked the doctor if this is at the point where theres a guarantee he will need braces, she said not yet. Phew!

-We were (once again) home Sunday morning with a boy who is too sick to be in the nursery at church, but not really all that sick. His nose still has some colored snot running out of it, and he is still coughing up phlegm. A pretty picture, right? We thought the other parents would probably not appreciate the possibility of passing this on to their kiddos. I am praying that he will be better by Tuesday so I can attend PWOC this week. I really did miss it last week! Since we have been home all day, we decided to go on a family bike ride. Nothing too long - just about 30-40 minutes, and at an easy pace, but it was really fun! We haven't gone on a family bike ride since the summer probably, and I forgot how much I enjoy it. We bundled Colton all up, (the wind here can be brutal!) but it wasn't very cold and he seemed to enjoy the scenery. I am getting to the point in my pregnancy where my belly is big enough that when I lean forward on my bike, my legs hit my belly. It is quite annoying after 5 or so minutes. I don't know how many more times we will be able to go on a family bike ride while I am pregnant, and it will be awhile after baby girl is born before she is able to sit in the bike trailer with Colton, so we will definitely be attempting a few more rides together before then. I know I said it before, but I am very thankful for this January weather! :)

-Speaking of baby girl... I am 28 weeks pregnant right now! And yes, I did just have to go to thebump.com to remember. I really thought I was 26 or maybe 27. I have one pair of jeans that are non-maternity that still fit. There may be a few more, but the maternity ones are so comfortable I don't even try with the others. I do try to wear this pair frequently, because I love boots with skinny jeans, but I am refusing to purchase maternity skinny jeans. I will just quit wearing boots when these stop fitting. This may seem silly... but I feel blessed that these still fit (with a hair tie around the button, I'll admit) really well while I am 28 weeks!

-ONLY 12 OR SO MORE WEEKS TO GO!! yay! :)

This probably about sums up what has been going on this week, and how the Lord has blessed me. I will admit that at times my attitude this week has been rather poor. I would LOVE to blame it on sleep deprivation - I have been getting up 5 or 6 times a night to either pee/drink milk to curb my heart burn/blow my nose/etc. But these negativities do not compare to the love the Lord has for me. And I feel remorseful that I let a few little things get in the way of me seeing "the big picture" - So thank you, Jesus, for second chances. For a new week, a new day, a new hour, a new minute, in which to change my attitude and be more representative of the Your love, and the sacrifice You have made in order that I might have eternal life for you.

There's a song on KLOVE right now that has really been speaking to me. It's Where I Belong by Building 429, and the chorus goes like this:

All I know is I'm not home yet 

This is not where I belong 

Take this world and give me Jesus 

This is not where I belong

So when the walls come falling down on me 

And when I'm lost in the current of a raging sea 

I have this blessed assurance holding me.

 And this song echoes in my soul every time I hear it. What a wonderful reminder that this life is not all there is. I am blessed, not just because of the many things the Lord has given me, or prayers He has answered, but because of His love for me. Love that sent His only son to the cross so that I can be able to spend eternity with Him. I can have assurance that this life is not all there is. I can have peace when the sea is raging around me. I can have hope if I have a Job week. Or month. Or year. (Which I am not right now.)

Lord, prepare me please. I know that this life WILL have turmoil, and that the only way to thrive is by being held in Your hand. Help me to draw near to you during the highs of life as well as the lows.

Dear friends, I do hope your week has been blessed. :)
Jessica

Colton's favorite things

Colton's favorite things...

Being on the couch/wrestling with Daddy..

Hanging upside down

Being silly with Mommy

Hugging my kitty, Lola

And playing outside, with a stick of course!!

Blessings

I think I may attempt a weekly post (Oh. My. I have never been diligent enough in blogging to do a WEEKLY post.)

But this post will be a blessings post - and I think it will be good for my soul. Every weekend, or.. ya know.. whenever I get to... I would like to do a short list of ways the Lord has blessed me this week. Either through answered prayers, things taken care of for me, reminders of His love/justice/mercy, etc. In my hope, this will be a way to keep me focused on the BIG picture, instead of stuck in the little things, the muck, the mundane, the daily.

I won't bore you by relisting the constant blessings weekly. Of COURSE my husband, my son, my growing baby in my belly, etc. are daily blessings. So count those as permanents, mmkay? :) Unless the Lord re-reminds me in some specific way of those blessings, they will be assumed.

No better way to jump in to this weekly post, then to dive. So here we go.
(PS. feel free to join me on this weekly refocusing journey. I could probably use this daily, but I know for sure that won't happen. So weekly it is! Just let me know you're joining me, so I can comment!)

--We sold our washer and dryer on Craigslist. When we moved here to Texas, our rental home already had a washer and dryer. Since we have a 2 year lease, we thought... why store ours, we will just sell it and whenever we need to, we will buy another one! I listed them on CL a couple weeks ago, got lots of responses, but I am a bit picky about who I respond to. (Please. no creepos coming to my house. If your grammar is awful, or your typing has more mistakes than a 1st graders, I probably won't respond. But if you sound like I would when emailing someone from CL, then I will respond.) So I responded to someone, and they came and bought it. Thank you, Jesus, for providing this. Did we NEED the money we sold it for? No. Will it be useful? Yes. It is going towards baby girl things. :)

--The girl who bought the w/d was super nice, so we went to lunch this week. And we have the same degree, from different universities. And she loves the Lord. Seriously Jesus, how do you orchestrate EVERYTHING?

--I joined a Bible study at PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel, a Bible study on post), and picked Beth Moore's Daniel study. I have been LOVING it so far. Who doesn't love a little Beth Moore insight though, right?! :) I can tell it will be challenging for me -but in a way that I need. Somehow she (or the Lord, perhaps?) is focusing completely on things I have been dealing with. Of course. So I am excited to see how this semester plays out, and what the Lord has in store during this study.

--I won a drawing on facebook for a $50 gift card! And to a baby store, nonetheless! Because of that gift card, we were able to purchase a great lightweight umbrella-ish stroller that our car seat will snap onto, for those times we don't need a double. (Like PWOC!) We picked the Bumbleride Flite, and got a phenomenal deal. We price matched Amazon, so they dropped $80 for that, and then used our gift card for 50, and got it 130 off! Score! :)  PS.. still looking for the perfect double. Preferably on Craigslist, of course!

--Brad gets early release days every Thursday. Apparently this is standard for everyone on Fort Hood, according to the post commander. It is such a blessing to have one day a week he comes home around 3. I love Thursdays!

--The weather here has been 100% amazing. Colton and I have spent countless hours this week playing in the playset out back, swinging, climbing up the slide, tossing a football around, exploring the many different sticks in the backyard, and splashing in the water table. It really has been a wonderful time. He would spend all day outside if we could, and some days we come close to it! All afternoon, at least, plus a long walk around the neighborhood! It is such a joy to play with him, see him learning new things all the time, teach him things, see the excitement on his face as we put his shoes on, etc. I am really trying to soak up these last couple months of just Colton and mommy all day time. I know it will be a lot different with a brand-new baby, and as much as I am looking forward to it, I know I will miss these hours and hours of playing with Colton. So I will soak it all up now, enjoy it, and try to overlook the many, many kicks, steps, sitting on, etc. to my growing belly. I know he just wants to be close to me, and using me as a jungle gym is a fun way to do that. As uncomfortable as it makes me. :)

Well dear friends, sorry I am slightly MIA. Hopefully this weekly blessings post sticks, and I can quit being so sporadic with my posts. Please let me know if you are joining me in this venture so I can be thinking and praying for the Lord to reveal His blessings in your life, as well!

--Jessica