I know that every single parent out there will say the exact same thing and I've heard it 1,000 times, but pregnancy really does go by in the blink of an eye! I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow and I'm not sure where the past 30 weeks have gone. I just had my midwife appointment today and I was measuring 31 weeks. Little Peanut still has a strong heartbeat and she must have some long legs too!
I'm learning new things about her and what it means to nurture someone else whose life is dependent on mine daily. I guess the few years that we wanted to get pregnant and couldn't, I envied every pregnant belly that I crossed paths with and wondered when it'd be my time and why it couldn't be this very moment! Now, I know that it was because God wanted me to care for the little gal that's growing inside of me right now. And no matter the pain (ahem...the excruciating rib pain), I'll already do anything for her or say no to things I may have once said "yes" to, because her well-being is my number one priority.
And in the midst of caring for this little Peanut everyday and having her on my mind every second, I realize that it's not the big picture. The big picture is still Jesus. It's not that my journey in the valley is over and I'm free from pain and suffering (hellllo labor pains...just kidding...well, partly). The point is that this miracle should be pointing me more and more towards my Creator and some days, regardless of seeing the miracle, I forget that this child is about Him. It's to show me His love, His mercy, His grace, His unfathomable care for me as His child.
I, as a mother-to-be, should imitate His unconditional love for this child He's knitting together in my womb. Of course I'll make mistakes and embarrass the heck out of her at times, but I need my eyes on the bigger picture and not just the miracle. The miracle is ... well... a miracle and an amazing one at that! But, if I take my eyes off of Him and just focus on this miracle, the miracle will become my idol. An idol is something I definitely do not want to show my daughter. I've made too many in my life! She'll make mistakes and make her own, but I need her to see that Jesus is the only one who is precious and worthy enough to be made our idol. My prayer is that my idols fall like the leaves off the trees. Let them wither and be crushed under my foot. This isn't a time I need to be letting idols of everything baby and parenting into my life. It's a time when I need to surrender and call out to God on a daily basis for His help and wisdom.
In 10 weeks, one of my biggest challenges (dare I say the biggest) will enter my life and I need to be on a solid foundation. For myself. For my husband. For our marriage. For our daughter.
And a few pictures to update you guys on this little gal's progress!
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Monday, September 8, 2014
Nursery Beginnings
Since finding out about the precious little girl we had coming this December, I immediately started planning for her. The first stop was a couple of cute outfits. The next was obviously her nursery! Her room that she'd grow into. I didn't want it to be overloaded with little girl type decorations that we all see at the big baby stores...you know...butterflies and flowers that smile back at you....caterpillars and forest creatures with high arched eyebrows and giant smiling teeth. That's just not my style! I like elegant, rustic, and chic. And baby Williams' nursery is no exception.
The first thing we did was paint her nursery a sweet peachy pink. It's a super light neutral, but a nice subtle "girl." I had several of my good friends from church come over in the middle of the day and help paint. We were done in two hours! Our Baltimore community is amazing to be a part of.
Next, we needed furniture. Have you seen the prices for furniture in the baby retail stores, though? It's more than we paid for our own furniture. $800 for a crib?? She won't sleep in it long enough to make it worth it. Luckily, we got a really nice Pottery Barn crib for free from another truly generous family in our church community. The crib is a creamy white, so that's what we wanted out furniture to be as well. Striking up lucky once again, Kevin's parents still had his baby furniture!! How cool is that? Solid furniture that has been kept in nice condition. We went immediately to Home Depot and bought some white spray paint. I'll tell you the truth - I don't loooove painting furniture, so I thought spray painting would be easier. We bought Rustoleum's Antique White and covered all 3 pieces after lightly sanding them down with sanding blocks. (I actually stayed far from the spray paint and just watched the hubs spray away). We both noticed there were a few splotches that probably wouldn't have been there if we painted instead of sprayed, but he evened it out as best as he could with a second coat.
The beginning with sanding |
Drawers up close. |
Already in my mask, realizing this is not a good idea for my lungs and the two lungs growing inside of me. |
Starting the paint |
Splotchiness after the first coat...kind of nervous at this point! |
Second coat done! The vanilla color we were looking for :) |
I couldn't wait to put these in baby William's room. I was ready to see the finished look (although it's still far from finished). I also wanted to organize all the cute little clothes we'd gotten for her. Finally, after spraying the drawer pulls, the room looked a slightly more pulled together.
Tall dresser |
Smaller dresser/changing table. Also, the peachy pink wall color! |
Hammered gold knobs |
Nightstand/Reading corner. |
Thursday, September 4, 2014
The Big Gender Reveal
After many people praying for us for over a year to be able to have children, we wanted the village who would raise this peanut to find out who they'd be raising at the same time as us! We had a gender reveal party.
The theme was bow or beau. My sister-in-law helped out tremendously. She made all the food for the girl's side of the table and I made everything for a little boy (since I thought that's what we were going to have for weeks and weeks). I also made little clips for everyone to wear on their clothes.
I started out with stickers, since I couldn't find anything pre-made that I liked or cost effective for a budget! I found these at Target and knew I could do something with them.
Bow and "Beau" stickers |
There's a bit of white on some of them, but I was pretty satisfied. |
Modeling how to wear these clips! |
Not everyone added an idea, but we got some input |
One of my favorite decorations! Simple, but super cute |
After mingling for a while, it was time to bite those tempting cupcakes sitting on their own table away from everything else. They were the "sacred food" that no one could touch until we said so! Felt a bit empowered by that idea....Actually, they were on a different table so no child would accidentally pick up a delicious looking cupcake and eat it :)
Our cupcakes from Harris Teeter |
We had no idea what we were having, remember. We dropped an envelope off at Harris Teeter entrusting them with this!
We all bit into them at the same time. 3-2-1...
It's a girl!!!!!! |
Both Kevin and I were in complete shock! We both cried tears of joy. Tears of a new adventure. Tears of God's grace. Tears of a new story beginning. And again, my mom screamed (just like when she found out we were pregnant). It was such an amazing moment to have our support system around us while we were doing this. Not that it mattered if it were a bow or a beau, but really to tell everyone how much we love and thank them for their fervent prayers. To show them that God answered their prayers and ours. We have such a faithful community and a faithful God. Having children seems like such a given in this world, but it's not! And it should be celebrated, whether you struggled to conceive like us or had no problem at all. I'm still in awe of what God has given us. It's brought so much joy.
Labels:
Babies,
Baltimore,
Celebration,
Crafts,
DIY,
Gender Reveal,
Girl,
Grace,
infertility,
pregnancy
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Looong Time No See
So...This post is looong overdue. I'll cut straight to the point, so there's no wondering. Since my last post in March, we became pregnant!! We found out April 2. A day I'll never forget. That night, we went ahead and shared the news with Kevin's parents and sister. We had a nice dinner out with them celebrating their anniversary, so nothing was suspected. We gave them a bottle of wine with an Easter egg tied around the top. Kevin's dad politely said, "thanks." So, we had to nudge the two of them to open the egg. Inside was a pacifier that said "coming December 2014." His mom screamed and his dad was thrilled. Our little nephew at the table was still a bit confused, but he's definitely come around!
Then, that weekend we already had a trip planned to see my parents in South Carolina. Totally unsuspicious. We packed them a little gift bag with two Easter eggs. One saying, "you'll need this soon..." and other saying "this big." The first one had a pacifier just as Kevin's parents' egg. The other was filled with poppy seeds, because at that time baby Williams was only a speck! My mom doubled over in tears and excitement. My dad smiled and congratulated with warm hugs!
It was such a great experience. That first trimester was tough, though. And I'm not talking morning sickness! I actually never had one funny feeling (thank the Lord). I was terrified of losing this little person we had just created. Around 10 weeks, my cousin gave me a used heart rate doppler. I cannot tell you how many times that little piece of technology put my mind at ease. It was definitely three months of fully trusting the Lord with what He had blessed us with.
And we're 27 weeks tomorrow! Throughout these past weeks, we've put the size of the baby (compared to a fruit or veggie), length, weight, weeks, and milestones (which I don't think you can see from the pictures). It's been crazy watching the bump grow. I can't wait to show her one day!
Then, that weekend we already had a trip planned to see my parents in South Carolina. Totally unsuspicious. We packed them a little gift bag with two Easter eggs. One saying, "you'll need this soon..." and other saying "this big." The first one had a pacifier just as Kevin's parents' egg. The other was filled with poppy seeds, because at that time baby Williams was only a speck! My mom doubled over in tears and excitement. My dad smiled and congratulated with warm hugs!
It was such a great experience. That first trimester was tough, though. And I'm not talking morning sickness! I actually never had one funny feeling (thank the Lord). I was terrified of losing this little person we had just created. Around 10 weeks, my cousin gave me a used heart rate doppler. I cannot tell you how many times that little piece of technology put my mind at ease. It was definitely three months of fully trusting the Lord with what He had blessed us with.
The first stick! Taken at 5:30am. In shock.
First belly picture!
How "big" our little peanut was on that day.
Just wanted to see it written out...insurance :)
And the first picture of our little peanut. God is good.
Now, at 6 months pregnant, we've found out we're expecting a baby girl on December 4th! She's starting to kick, and play, and has already found my ribs (yes, they are bruised). We're thinking she may be a soccer player!
From that little peanut to the 2 pound girl she is now....
12 weeks |
13 weeks |
14 weeks |
15 weeks |
16 weeks |
17 weeks |
18 weeks (in Paris) |
19 weeks |
20 weeks (gender reveal party!) |
21 weeks |
22 weeks |
23 weeks |
24 weeks |
25 weeks |
26 weeks |
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