Friday, February 28, 2014

Five on Friday: Nursery Projects

Hello, blogosphere. I haven't done Five on Friday in a while, and it just so happens I have approximately five baby-related things to share, so here it goes.

{one} Our white Jenny Lind crib came in the mail yesterday! I haven't taken it out of the box yet because of the whole "I'm not supposed to lift heavy things/I lack motivation to assemble anything today/Husband is crazy busy" factor, but it's in our house.

{two} I have done several nursery/little lady projects in the past weeks, including this original paper doll art. I might add a border at some point, but the '50s paper dolls were free, and the frame was a $4 Goodwill find, so I'm feeling pretty good about it for now.

{three} Because I like projects that involve cutting and ModPodge, I also covered wooden letters from Hobby Lobby with scrapbook paper for an alphabet wall in the nursery. Please excuse the lackluster picture where you can't really see all the subtle, yet different patterns of the paper. I'll post a better photo once they're up on the wall. Tracing, cutting, and a few layers of ModPodge are all well-established skills in my craft repertoire, so I felt pretty good about this one. I love how they turned out!

{four} I tried my hand at headbands last weekend with some elastic and flowers I got on sale from Pick Your Plum. They have different clothes, housewares, jewelry, and craft stuff on sale everyday, and I'd been waiting for headband supplies to come back. All the cutting, sewing, and arranging is done on my set of flowery/buttony newborn headbands, so all that's left is hot gluing the pieces together. Baby girl's head will be adorned with preciousness, so I can check that off the list. :)

{five} Husband's sister gave us a Project Life kit, and I've put the cards in some semblance of order and started filling in some of the current prompt cards. With Project Life, you get a whole set of cards that fit in different arrangements in clear sheet protector pages, and the baby girl kit is like a super-easy-to-follow baby book/scrapbook with tons of different gorgeous cards. Simple is right up my alley right now with all the To-Dos in the next three months (eek, 3 months!), so the Project Life set is awesome.

In other news, as of last night our little lady has developed the strength/motivation to make my entire stomach move when she kicks/somersaults, and I love it. She also responded to a few pokes by jabbing some appendage in the area where I lightly poked my belly. It was like having our first two-way conversation.

Have a blessed weekend, and may all your To-Dos get checked off your list!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Our Little Valentine


February 16, 2014

Dear child of mine,

Happy belated Valentine's Day, little sweetheart! You're growing steadily, which means I am too. You and I celebrated the day of love by eating heart-shaped pancakes and strawberries, going to see Winter's Tale (with movie popcorn, one of my weaknesses), and working on the alphabet decor for your room. Your nursery is going to be precious, and I hope you appreciate how much love is going into its creation someday. :)

Our Valentine, Husband/Daddy, was at a convention for work, so he didn't get to join in on the actual day, but we went on several dates the previous weekend, and now he's back safely at home with us. Last weekend, we registered for some stuff we think we might need to take care of you, and I have characteristically strong opinions about some baby brands, but I fully acknowledge that I am a first time parent and really have no idea what we'll actually need. I have no doubt that you'll be fine and all your needs will be met somehow, even without all the crazy "must have" baby gear. 

We also went to a gender reveal party and found out that you'll have a little girl friend at church. Your Bible class currently has five babies set to be born within a couple months of you! That night, you attended Urinetown, your second live musical, at a local high school. (The first was Hello, Dolly at another high school.)

We got to see you again on Tuesday at my last appointment, and the doctor said you look perfect. I'm not sure how their "scoring" system works, but you got 8 out of 8 for your heart rate, movement, and general wellbeing. You seem to like sugary foods, so I'm glad our glucose test was postponed until my next appointment. :)

Your Grandma and Granddad took us out to lunch yesterday and we got to spend some good time visiting with them. All your family loves you so much already, and they're doing so much to help us prepare for you. I'm all set to get your room ready and keep getting bigger every week for the time being, so all the help and hand-me-downs are very much appreciated.

Keep growing, sweet girl, and go ahead and stay comfortable in there for the next several weeks.

Lots of love and kisses,
Momma

Monday, February 10, 2014

Still Here

I didn't plan to take a blogging hiatus, but then I got the worst stomach bug I have ever had. It was not pretty, and I couldn't keep anything down for 24 hours, but I managed to stay hydrated and the baby has been as active as ever in spite of my brief sickness.

If you've never had an upset stomach while pregnant, take my word for it, the precious baby somersaults and kicks turn into the bane of your existence. My mom reminded me that our sweet girl was feeling all the heaving and hearing all the stomach gurgling, so she was probably uncomfortable, too. :)

And then to make up for all the work I missed, last week was crazy busy at the office. (And now I'm having trouble uploading pictures.)

Anyway, there's been a lot of growing and nesting happening around here since I recovered, and several nursery projects are in the works. My extremely generous sister-in-law brought over boxes of baby clothes and baby items, so we're starting to sort, clean, and ooh and aah over the immense preciousness of all things baby girl. Husband and I started registering on Saturday, and I've also started reading up on natural childbirth and baby sleeping/feeding necessities.

I'll try to check in before another two weeks passes, especially since we have nursery prep, childbirth class, belly expanding, and baby showers in the near future.