Month: April 2011

Pregnancy Update – 35 Weeks

 33 Weeks
35 Weeks
I cannot believe there are only 30 days left until our due date.  I am HUGE.  I’m still measuring 4 weeks ahead, so basically I look and feel like I should be giving birth this week.  Let me tell you, things are getting a bit uncomfortable.  Next Tuesday is our doctor’s appointment with an ultrasound where we will get to see the baby and see how big the fibroid tumor has become.  I’m nervous about that, but excited to see the baby.  I had a nightmare last night where the tumor had grown too large and forced a c-section.  Jed, on the other hand, had a great dream about us having a really cute baby boy.  Maybe I’ll have a good dream tonight.  
We are working hard to get ready for Bun’s arrival, but it is slow going because of our jobs.  Most of our stuff is still in the packages and only semi-organized.  Hopefully we can get more of it done this weekend.  Our hospital bag is mostly packed, with a list on top of all the things it is missing so we don’t forget anything.  We figured out how to install the car seat, but it took about 30 minutes and lots of help from our neighbors.  We were amazed by how tricky it was.  The entire time we were thinking, “We both have college degrees, surely we can figure this out.”  
The next things on our list are to finish decorating the nursery and wash the linens, clothes, and cloth diapers.  We are trying to figure out what exactly we need to do to prep the cloth diapers.  More on that later.  
What did you to prepare for your first baby?  
What do you wish you had done?  
What turned out to be a complete waste of time?     

A Very Festive Baby Shower

I am so blessed.  We have lived in Dallas for less than three years, and are already surrounded by an amazing community of friends.  Six of our friends recently threw one seriously festive baby shower for Baby Bun and me.  They are a creative bunch, and the shower had so many unique touches.  They handmade name tag corsages from paper and felt for everyone to wear.

The party took place at the home of our friends the Ballards.  They had only moved in one month before, and then were robbed right after buying the house.  I was pretty impressed by how moved in they were.  I have a tendency to live out of boxes for way too long.  The girls used bright, fun colors to decorate, and served a buffet of breakfast burritos.  Yum.

The tables were decorated with fresh greenery, nests of burlap and moss, and blown out brown eggs with “baby” written on them.  It was so different from the typical baby shower pink or blue, and I LOVED it.

See those brightly colored beads in the vases?  They keep plants moist without the mess of water, apparently.  Very cool, and festive.

For dessert the girls served homemade pralines and mini cupcakes in lemon and chocolate.  I tried to use restraint and failed miserably.

Each guest was asked to share a favorite family tradition to give us ideas of new traditions to start with our little family.  The girls put them all together on a metal ring and sent me home with a massive stack of ideas.

There were three round tables set up outside, and we had a beautiful Texas morning.  Each table was decorated with a straw wreath, moss, the burlap and eggs (like inside), and vases filled with individual flowers.

Inside there was a mimosa bar set up, with water and plain orange juice available as well.

I am so thankful that so many friends and family came and showered us with gifts.  We are so truly blessed.

My sweet mama came into town for the shower, and Betsy (one of the hostesses) made her a special corsage with her grandma name (Dede).  My sister in law came up with Dede as an easy name for my niece to call her, as her non-grandma names are Deborah and Debbie.

Here are four of the six hostesses: Morgan, Whitney, Allison, and Betsy (Asia and Ellen are not shown).  I’m the rotund one in the middle, of course.  I am so thankful to these girls for throwing an amazing shower for me and going to the trouble to get seriously creative.  I felt really special.  I showed you a bit of my Arkansas shower earlier, and I promise to show more of that one soon.  Some amazing friends from work threw me a lunch shower as well, but I’ve got to get the photos from one of them.  Once again, we feel so incredibly blessed.  

So, in keeping with the shower idea… 
What is your favorite family tradition?  
I’m sharing this festive baby shower post over at some great parties.  Check them out on my right sidebar and join the fun.  

Heavenly Day – Our 3rd Anniversary

Three years ago today, I married Jed in a picturesque field in the mountains of Weaverville, North Carolina.  I cannot believe it has been three years already.  Now we have made a new home in Dallas, though we still miss the mountains and our wonderful friends there.  We have a baby due in a few weeks and will soon be a family of three (plus one wiener dog).  We have learned so much about loving each other well, compromise, selfishness and selflessness, getting on the same page about money, serving in ministry together, and being each other’s biggest fan.  I’m praying for 67 more years of wedded bliss and life together.  Thank you, Jed, for loving me so well and being everything I could ever want or need in a husband.  You will be an amazing daddy to our little Bun.  I hope we get to dance to our wedding song today.    
“Heavenly Day” by Patty Griffin

Oh heavenly day, all the clouds blew away
Got no trouble today with anyone
The smile on your face I live only to see
It’s enough for me, baby, it’s enough for me
Oh, heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day
Tomorrow may rain with sorrow
Here’s a little time we can borrow
Forget all our troubles in these moments so few
All we’ve got right now, the only thing that
All we really have to do
Is have ourselves a heavenly day
Lay here and watch the trees sway
Oh, can’t see no other way, no way, no way
Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day
No one at my shoulder bringing me fears
Got no clouds up above me bringing me tears
Got nothing to tell you, I’ve got nothing much to say
Only I’m glad to be here with you
On this heavenly, heavenly, heavenly, heavenly
Heavenly day, all the trouble’s gone away
Oh, for a while anyway, for a while anyway
Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

Happy Easter!

Here we are, giant belly and uncooperative wiener dog included.  We hope that you and yours had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Lord.  

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.  
-Hebrews 7:25

Nothing But Jesus

Image from Pinterest
“Nothing but the Blood” by Robert Lowry (late 1800s)
What can wash away my sin? 
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Oh, Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my pardon this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
For my cleansing, this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh, Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus

Nothing can for sin atone
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Naught of good that I have done
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh, Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus

This is all my hope and peace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh, Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus
That’s it, friends.  Just Jesus.  Nothing else can make us whole again, nothing that we can do can cleanse us of our sins.  Only Jesus.  This weekend we remember and celebrate His work on the cross and His defeat of death.  It is a morbid holiday weekend, all about dying and being raised from the dead, blood and sin.  We can try to gloss over it all we want with Cadbury eggs and fluffy bunnies, but we can’t get away from the truth.  Jesus took on our sin so that we could have real life in relationship with God.  Pure and simple, we are free because of His suffering.  What separates Christianity from every other faith on earth, is that there is nothing we can do to be good enough for God.  He has done all the work for us, and gives it to us in this free gift called grace.  Every other faith is about man trying to reach God.  God reaches out to us, and I am blown away every time I think about it.  Thank you Jesus for your work on the cross.  I do not deserve your love, but I am so grateful for it.  

Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life

Thirty years ago today my love was born, and I am so thankful every day.  He is everything I needed and nothing I expected and exactly who the Lord intended for me.  He loves me so well, and I am so blessed to have him in my life.  He is a man of God, kind, loving, faithful, selfless, hard working, and so much more.  I cannot wait to see him hold our baby in about a month.  I know  he will be an amazing father.  I pray that we get to grow very old together and have a long and blessed marriage.  Happy birthday my love.  You are the very best man I know.      

Green Day – Hanging Solar Powered Light Jars

 In celebration of Earth Day this week, and as a part of my “Green Day” eco-friendly series, I’m sharing one of my favorite projects with y’all.  Jed gets all the credit for this one.  It was all him from beginning to end, with just a few opinions from me.  He keeps asking when I’m going to share it on the blog, so here we go.

 We found a great deal on solar powered outdoor lights at Lowe’s, but we don’t have a walkway or appropriate place to put them.  You know the ones I’m talking about, those little ones that stick into the ground.  Then we searched high and low for jars that would hold the solar cell and battery in the lid.  We are partial to mason jars at our house, but couldn’t find any that fit.  We found these at Big Lots, so they were super cheap.

 Jed painted them on outside with frosted glass spray paint.  He then took the stick lights apart and used silicone glue to attach the solar cell to the inside lid of each jar.  He tried gorilla glue first, but it was a big fail.  You can find the full tutorial at Lifehacker as trying to get Jed to explain the details of each step is not something I’m up for right now.  You now how men are with explaining details.

 He looped each jar with thick but bendable wire, and hung them from hooks along our front porch.  I think they look super cute during the day and fit our front porch aesthetic (a work in progress) nicely.

 Here’s the best part – they get enough sun each day to glow every night without ever needing new batteries or help from us.  The sun provides everything they need to light up our porch.

 The jars begin to glow at twilight, and look so lovely when we are doing a little front porch sitting.  We have a rocking chair and a 2 person glider on our front porch, which are perfect for our spring evenings.  Our neighbor’s honeysuckle makes it smell amazing, and we just sit and rock/glide away.  We are hoping that our porch fan will keep the mosquitoes at bay and allow us to enjoy the porch into the summer.

 Below you can see how the jars glow at night.  So cool, right?  I love that my husband is creative and is always building and doing fun projects around the house.  He works so hard at his job, and then comes home and works hard here too.  I can’t wait to show y’all his current project – cedar log side tables.  They are incredible and should be done soon.

We are always looking for new ideas.
What is your latest green living project?  
  
I’m linking this project up to some great parties on the right side bar.  Check them out, find some inspiration, and post your own.  

Visit thecsiproject.com

Verse of the Week – Luke 19:35-41

*image from Pinterest

They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it.  As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.  When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
”Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”  As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it.
Luke 19: 35-41

Today is Palm Sunday, when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  I’ve been doing a Lenten study for the past few weeks, and I have learned so much about the last weeks that Jesus walked on this earth.  Before this study, I don’t think I’d ever noticed verse 41.  Jesus rides in to the city on a donkey so that He could fulfill the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9.  The crowd is celebrating Him, acknowledging that He is the Messiah.  They wave palm branches, a national sign of freedom, and lay their cloaks under His feet.  The Pharisees try to shut up the crowd, worried that the Roman soldiers will come and regulate on the crowd.  All the while Jesus is riding on a young donkey, mourning on the inside for a city and a people that He loves.  He alone knows that He is riding to His death.  He alone knows that the cheers will quickly turn from praise to condemnation.  Imagine His thoughts as He rode through the cheering crowd.  The Son of God was so overcome with emotion that He shed tears for the lost.  Thank you, Jesus, for taking my sin so that I could live in freedom.

Join me this week in remembering His love for us.  
   How do you celebrate Easter week? 

A Ribbon Mobile for Baby’s Nursery

We are hard at work on Baby Bun’s nursery, and my favorite part is the decorating.  I saw a ribbon mobile I love at Pottery Barn, but it was almost $70.  I decided I could make one pretty easily for a lot less.  I piled up the coupons and went to Hobby Lobby.  Ribbon was half off.  Score!  I bought ten different colors of ribbon and a wire wreath frame.  I already had paint for the frame and craft glue.  The wreath was that floral dark green, so I painted it light aqua.  The aqua repeats itself throughout the nursery, as do most of the other colors.  As you can see we did not stick solely to the traditional gender neutral colors of green and yellow.  I can’t wait to show you all of the nursery when we get done.  

 At first I cut the ribbon into strips, but they were way too long.  I wanted to make sure the baby couldn’t grab it even when he/she is able to stand in the crib.  I cut each piece in half and it was perfect.  Check out the massive pile of ribbon.

I glued strips around the inside ring first. I folded each strip over and putt a dot of craft glue on it, then held it in place for a few seconds.  This was effective but a bit messy.  I think you could double the length and knot it in half for a glueless mobile.  After the inside ring, I decided to skip the two middle rings and go straight to the outside ring.  I glued the ribbon around that ring, and love the way it looks.  Then I measured from the hook (centered above the crib) to see how far I wanted the mobile to hang.  I divided that measurement in half and then added 2 inches for a little give and the knots.  I tied each of those ribbons to the middle ring with a knot and then hung the mobile from the hook.  I love how some of the ribbon is starting to curl.

 Here is Baby Bun’s view.  Fun, right?  
I hope he or she will love it.  

 I think it is simple, yet bright and fun.  Below you’ll find a little sneak peek into the nursery.  Jackson is mystified by all the goings on back there.  As you can see we have rugs in place (that used to be in our bedroom) over the weird rent house carpet.  There is only so much you can do in a rent house, but I hope to do all that I can to make it lovely.  The fabric hanging over the crib is an eyelet crib skirt made for my bassinet (32 years ago)  by my sweet grandmother.  She died 6 years ago, so I love that I have a piece that she made in the nursery.  Hopefully we will get it in place soon.  One step at a time.  

What is your craft project of the moment? 
I’m linking to some great craft parties.  Check them out on my right sidebar and find some inspiration for your own projects, or join in.