Bye Bye Crib!

Recently, I was training in a new babysitter and Aidan was acting up so I placed him in his crib for a timeout.  As we were sitting at the kitchen table, I heard Aidan say (in very close proximity), "I'm sorry, Mommy."  

So I asked him, "Aidan, where are you?"

"I'm in the living room."

"How did you get in the living room?"

"I climbed out."

I knew it was only a matter of time before our boy was done with his crib.  When we got home from lunch that Sunday, Brian and Aidan took off the front rail.

 One last picture before the rail comes off.

Daddy's best helper wants to use the wrench.

 So strong!

So happy trying out his new big boy bed!

 Trying it out.

This is how he climbs out.

Our boy is so proud of his bed!  He has been doing an excellent job - he doesn't climb out unless he's given permission to get up and he's still been taking excellent 3 hour naps each afternoon.

He's also excited about putting up his baby sister's white crib that arrived last week.  Mommy doesn't want it to get dusty, though, so I think we'll wait until the last week in June.

 

Nursery

I've spent a lot of time "pinning" ideas for baby girl nurseries and have been agonizing over deciding on just one.  Normally I make decisions very easily and go for it without second-guessing myself.  This has, unfortunately, not been the case with Baby Girl's nursery.  The only thing I knew was that I wanted to make a Chevron quilt to go with whatever decor & bedding I chose.

However, when the Pottery Barn Kids magazine arrived last month, I fell in love with this nursery!

I decided to use turquoise for the rocker (instead of the wall) & pink for the bedding.  I love how the paisley sheet will tie it all together.

After ordering the sheet, bumper, curtains, and quilted sham, I began making my Chevron quilt.  I am so thankful to Mary from Country Threads who drew out the pattern for me.
 Yesterday was the perfect day to sew - it was cold, blustery and very, very wet.

 I put Aidan down for his nap, turned on White Horse Inn and got to work.

It didn't take more than a few hours to sew the squares together.
I just LOVE the final product:

It's exactly what I was hoping for.  And it's a perfect size for a crib quilt.  Mary is having a big sale this Friday & Saturday so I'm hoping to find some turquoise fabric for the backing and binding.

My parents bought me a fabric rocker from Walmart that I'm having recovered in this fabric:

I am so excited for it all to come together.  Target has a huge sale this week on their Graco items so we were able to order the white crib for a real deal!  This is so fun; I told Brian this morning that this room will probably be my favorite room in the house.  Now I just pray that the LORD will keep our baby girl healthy and safe so we can meet her in July.  I'm also praying that God will help us give her the perfect name - we are having just a terrible time agreeing on one.  ____ Jane Lund is as far as we've gotten.  Any ideas?

Easter

Easter 2013

Mommy, Aidan and Grammie are all ready for Easter service.

 After church, Aidan discovered that the Easter Bunny had visited and filled his basket with all of his favorite things.

 Thomas & Diesel!

Aidan also received the book Bear in Underwear because last week he went on the potty for the very first time.  We're not sure he's ready yet, though, to take the plunge.  He'd still rather go in his diaper and isn't all too excited about his potty.  The Easter Bunny was hoping this book and some Thomas underwear would encourage him.

 He's so excited!

Grammie Jane & Bop Chuck gave Aidan some Easter gifts too!

We also tried to get some photos of our family all dressed up for Easter.  Unfortunately, they had to be taken inside because it was too cold and blustery outside.

Baby girl at 25 weeks.  Her daddy is already smitten with her.

Eggs!

On Sunday we decorated Easter eggs with our boy.  He was extremely excited!

 

Of course the blue one had to be very close to him and continuously stirred.

 We stripped him of his church clothes, placed him in a too-small, unbuttoned onesie, and...made him wait.  The eggs were slow (actually it was Mom).

He passed the time by balancing spoons on the edges of the glassware.

 Once the eggs were ready, I told him he could just use his fingers to (gently) dump the eggs in, but Daddy had other ideas - ideas that involved using that wimpy, too flimsy egg-lifter that comes in every egg-dyeing kit.  They aren't made for two-year-olds.

In this picture, they're still tackling the flimsy egg-lifter but, by the end, both of them had blue/green fingers.  Yes, fingers work best sometimes.

Unfortunately, Brian wasn't too thrilled because he had a Lent service to attend just after our egg-dyeing adventure.

While dyeing, Brian and I were getting serious about baby girl names.  He decided to go to his computer to google Scandinavian names.  Well, the very responsible mother that I am, I soon found myself on the couch next to him...yes, we left our son alone at the table for a few minutes.

Here's what we came back to:

Aidan dumped every color into the empty egg bowl.  He then took the colored eggs back out of the carton and recolored them in the mixture he'd created.

Oh, he was just so proud.

And, no, we still haven't come up with a girl name that we can agree on.

Happy Easter!

Quilting Update

I'm still quilting!  Although I don't have much time to do it at home, I meet with my church ladies once a week.  My favorite parts are chatting and being out on the farm.  So fun.

I made this little tablerunner for Brian's grandma.  She turns 80 next week.

I think it's one of my favorites so far.

Mary helped me plan out a Chevron quilt (Pinterest inspired) for Baby Girl.  I just need to confirm nursery colors...such a huge decision!  Pink for sure!  Maybe with gray or turquoise.  Pottery Barn Kids came in the mail today so I'm going to peruse that for some ideas this afternoon.

23

Moms Need the Gospel

Reader beware:  I was just dusting and going off on a tangent in my mind against the law-based "gospel".  I heard it again this morning at MOPS and walked away more discouraged than encouraged.

Why?

Because I was told that in order to be a really good and Godly mom I must:

1. Get three piggy banks for each child (one for savings, one for church, and one for missions)

2. Stay-at-home

3. Homeschool if there isn't a Christian school in the area

Etc. etc. etc.

UGH.

The speaker gave us an idea-filled "to-do" list, patted us on the back, and sent us on our way.  I left thinking:  I do and will fail as a mom.  I may not homeschool (oh, please no, LORD).  And it is very likely that I will not want three piggy banks per child cluttering up my house (although I do want to instill in my children a love for giving to the Church and teach them the skill of saving).

I love parenting ideas.  I love gleaning from the wisdom of older, more Godly women.  However, when the gospel of Jesus Christ is left out of the equation, you're left with feelings of despair.

What should the speaker have told us today in addition to all of her good ideas?

That we won't always be able to incorporate her ideas or, if we do, they might not all work.  It has to be the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of us and our children, drawing us to Christ.  

And we will miss opportunities with our children - we may be impatient with them, forget to show tender love, neglect to pray for them or, heaven-forbid, place them in a public school. ;)  But we can take heart -  God's grace is sufficient.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

II Corinthians 12:9

So look today to the cross.  It's there where Christ died, purchased forgiveness for our sins, and granted us the power to grow in godliness.  We won't be perfect mothers or remember to incorporate every good piece of advice into our mothering - but Christ has promised to help us when we're weak, providing us grace to love our children.  He will do it - He will provide it all.  Rest in what He has done for you on the cross, and trust Him in all of your parenting.