A bit of boring backlog

OK!  I finally did it!  I'm 99% packed for the hospital.  Now, I just have to add my camera, laptop, and cell phone to my bag and I'm ready to go.  Y'all should be very proud of me!  :o)  Here is my master packing list:

*PJs
*Slippers
*Nursing bras and tanks
*Nursing pads
*Outfit to wear home
*ipod with baby-birthing playlist
*Camera (batteries charged, extra memory card, charger)
*Video camera
*Snacks (dried fruit and almonds)
*Notebook and pens (I like to make lists!)
*Bible
*Toiletries (shampoo/conditioner, soap, facewash, makeup bag, lotion, nail clippers and emory board, razor, comb)
*A couple of extra surprises for Jesse in his blue bag (big brother t-shirt, new book, magnet playsets, coloring books and crayons, present from baby Micah)
*Baby bag (a couple of outfits that Jesse picked out, receiving blankets, little brother onesie, baby care kit, nursing cover)

Ahhhh....(deep sigh of relief)!  Now I can check packing off my list!  Hooray!

Plus, I've been busy checking some other stuff off the list as well (between naps of course)!

1.  Make Jared's Father's Day gift (I have such a fun idea for this, but can't talk about it until after it's finished!)  Pictures and tutorial on it's way!!!

2.  Sew comforter cover for the crib.  

3.  Move furniture into nursery (Jared's job).

4.  Art for nursery walls.

      4a.  Start birth announcement wall hanging.

      4b.  Hang animal print picture.

5.  Buy and start Micah's baby book.

6.  Print out pictures and add to Jesse's adoption book.  (My Mom commissioned a friend to make us this amazing scrap book, and all we have to do is add pictures, captions, and journal entries.  I'll post pictures when it's done.)

7.  Clean the house (difficult when you're on bedrest).

8.  Finish up thank you notes for the people at church who have been so sweet to us during my time on bedrest.

9.  Finish gifts for my Mom, Mother-in-law, and Lizzy (for the lovely shower they threw Micah and me).

10.  PACK FOR THE HOSPITAL!!!!

Baby Project #4 - Vivian

Vivian is the beautiful baby girl of a friend, Natalie, who lives down the street.  Up until she was 36 weeks pregnant, Natalie was told that her baby was going to be a boy.  So, like all good parents, Natalie and her husband Aaron, painted the baby's room blue, and had a host of little boy things to welcome their son into the world.  Needless to say, Natalie and Aaron were shocked when the ultrasound tech told them their baby was going to be a girl, and they scrambled to get their home ready for a daughter!  They changed the nursery to pink and brown, and brought their baby girl home to a grande girly welcome!

My choice for Vivian's embroidery was easy!  It needed brown and pink, and when I found this embroidery pattern, I knew I had to stitch it up for her.

I trimmed the embroidery with some  of my reproduction 1930's fabric I received for Christmas from my Mom and Dad (by the way, it is THE BEST Christmas present ever!!!), and placed it in a frame, so that Vivian can always remember that she's surrounded with love!

Baby Project #3 - Josiah

When my sister and brother-in-law had difficulty having a baby, and desperately wanted to be parents, they searched their hearts, and God's will, and started the process of fostering to adopt.  Their journey to parenthood is chronicled here, and it is amazing - please check it out!  So, to make a long story short, Josiah entered our family a little over a year ago.  He is still in foster care, and we don't know if he will be a permanent member of our family, but we love that little piglet!  And, so he didn't feel left out when his younger sister got something from his Aunt Amy, I made him a little embroidery, too.  It's not as elaborate as Molly's, but I have plans to make him a wall hanging like hers if/when my sister adopts him, complete with "gotcha day" date and adoption date.  Until then, this little giraffe will have to do (found here)!

A visit to the hospital

I think that Jesse took it the worst when I was in the hospital for preterm labor.  He was acting out at home and even started breaking out in little pimples.  When Jared asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "All I want is for Mommy to come home."  Poor thing!!!    So, in an effort to make the next hospital stay more relaxing for the little guy, (hopefully after July 7th so I will be able to deliver at the hospital near our house) the hospital offers a sibling tour to see where Mommy and new baby will be during labor and delivery, and postpartum care.  I signed us up for the tour and we borrowed a wheelchair so that I could come too.  The sweetest nurse, Wendy, took Jesse around and explained to him what would happen when it was time for Micah to be born.  She showed him where baby Micah would get cleaned up.

She showed him what they use to clean the baby after he is born (to get rid of the baby slime).

They showed him how to work the bed that Mommy would stay in.  (He really likes to push all those buttons!)

And then, Wendy took him to the nursery to show him where baby Micah would be if he wasn't in the room with Mommy.

Then, Wendy proceeded to talk to Jesse about when the baby comes.  The highlights of the conversation are as follows: 

    

    Jesse - "When Micah pops out, Mommy can hold me again."

    

    Jesse - "My baby is not going to be brown.  He's going to be white."

    Wendy - "What will baby Micah eat?"

    Jesse - "Milk."

    Mommy - "What kind of milk?"

    Jesse- "Mommy's milk."

    Wendy - "Can the baby drink your milk?" (Meaning the kind of milk Jesse drinks)

    Jesse - "NO!  I don't have beans!!!"  (beans = Jesse's word for breasts)

    And as we were leaving....  Jesse - "They forgot to take baby Micah out!!!"

    

That kid just cracks me up!!!  He can't wait to be a big brother, and we've been practicing our brothering skills with a rag doll that I designed and made for him last week.  It is just a prototype, and has a disturbingly small head, but Jesse doesn't care.  He plays with it constantly!  Here he is cuddling with "Micah" on the couch.

I am so blessed!!!

A little confession regarding packing for the hospital

I have a little confession to make...

I haven't packed for the hospital yet.  I know.  I know.  I should have done this a month and half ago when I started to go into labor at 25 weeks.  But, I just can't bring myself to get this one thing done.  Why, you ask?  Because packing for the hospital means that I'm ready to have this baby....and I am not ready for this baby.  Despite being on bedrest, and having all the time in the world, I still have so much to do before Micah graces us with his presence (and a lot of it I can't do because of bedrest)!  Nevertheless, here's my checklist:

1.  Make Jared's Father's Day gift (I have such a fun idea for this, but can't talk about it until after it's finished!)

2.  Sew comforter cover for the crib.  

3.  Move furniture into nursery (Jared's job).

4.  Art for nursery walls.

      4a.  Start birth announcement wall hanging.

      4b.  Hang animal print picture.

5.  Buy and start Micah's baby book.

6.  Print out pictures and add to Jesse's adoption book.  (My Mom commissioned a friend to make us this amazing scrap book, and all we have to do is add pictures, captions, and journal entries.  I'll post pictures when it's done.)

7.  Clean the house (difficult when you're on bedrest).

8.  Finish up thank you notes for the people at church who have been so sweet to us during my time on bedrest.

9.  Finish gifts for my Mom, Mother-in-law, and Lizzy (for the lovely shower they threw Micah and me).

10.  PACK FOR THE HOSPITAL!!!!

UGH!  That's a lot of stuff to do!  I think the first thing I tackle will be packing, since baby Micah could come any day, and I would at least like to have my things in order to bring with us (if he comes in the next 4 weeks, we have to go to the hospital that's 2 hours away again!).  And now that I have posted this declaration of getting things done, I feel accountable, and maybe I'll actually start tackling this list.  I'm sure there will be more blogging regarding these things to come.....

Baby Project #2 - Molly

I started a wall hanging for baby Molly a couple of weeks before she was born (almost a year ago now!).  Molly is my sister Megan's miracle baby.  Megan, and my brother-in-law, Justin, had a very difficult time having children, and had 4 miscarriages before God blessed them with Molly.  They have an incredible story about becoming parents, both through foster care and birth, and the lessons God taught them along the way.  You can read about their story and see pictures of my gorgeous niece (and nephew - more on his project later) on Megan's blog.

I wanted to give Molly something super special to welcome her into the world, and record the important facts about her birth.  The teal linen circles are hand appliqued on a piece of vintage linen, and then embroidered.  (Side note: if I ever do this again, I will embroider the circles before appliqueing them.  It was very difficult to embroider through two layers of fabric.)  The little designs are adapted from a book I found at a thrift store on Victorian Stencils.  I layered the vintage linen with cotton batting and another piece of linen, machine quilted around the circles, then applied the vintage bias tape binding I inherited from my Grandmother's stash, using this great tutorial from Oh Fransson.

I can't wait to make one of these for each of my boys!  I'm waiting for Jesse's adoption to be finalized before I finish his, and Micah's will have to wait until he graces us with his presence.  Oh, and by the way, I'm officially 2 months away from my due date today!  I'm so excited to make it this far with this pregnancy, but I'm praying for just a couple more weeks of "baking time."

Baby Project #1 - Grady

I cannot believe that it is already Thursday!  Where has the week gone?  You'd think the days would go by slowly while being on bedrest,  but I really have been busy crafting.  (Promise!!)

Since I became pregnant, I have been so tired.  It was all I could do to get up, go to work, pick up and take care of Jesse, make dinner, and climb into bed.  Weekends were reserved for playing with Jesse, and catching up on housework and naps!  (Hooray for naps!)  Since then, we've had a bunch of babies enter our little corner of the world.  I'm sorry to admit that since basic surviving took the place of baby crafting, baby presents are now sadly overdue.  Well, now I've had a bunch of time to catch up, and here is the first project, made especially for baby Grady.

I embroidered this sweet little elephant from a pattern I found and tweaked a bit from this blog, and free-hand embroidered his name.  And since Grady's nursery is all blue, green, and brown, I added a blue and green patchwork from some scraps of fabric I had left over from other projects.  Baby project #1 - done and done.