So much for a busy week...

...would you believe it was a crazy month or two?  Obviously, what kicked things off was Baby G-O's 1st birthday which was crazy-hectic in and of itself.  I made all the decorations and a couple family members joined us to set everything up the day before at the hall where we held the shindig.  After that, we spent a little over a week entertaining family members who were visiting from a ways away.  Then, we were stuck in a quagmire with our escrow with delays in paper work leaving us living in chaos being semi-packed and ready to move and facing the daunting challenge of speed-packing and moving as soon as our escrow finally closed.  (Now where is that cookie sheet?  Oh, yeah...the box under those other five!)  Yeah, and did I mention that we had already given our landlord notice, like, a month ago???

Originally, we got the okay from our lender and our realtor to submit our 30-day notice with our landlord.  We even talked to our landlord when we gave him notice asking if he would be willing to be flexible if we needed a little bit more time, although we didn't anticipate it.  His answer?  NO.  Absolutely, NO.  He needed a firm date so that he could get new tenants in there.  Ok, well, we asked and we didn't think we'd need extra time, and we also understood his side.

Wait...wasn't this supposed to go smoothly?

Flash-forward to the week our lease ran out (due to our 30-day notice) and our escrow still showed no signs of closing.  WHAT?!?!

Mm-hmm.  We seriously thought we would end up homeless for at least a few days.  Thankfully, our landlord had a change of heart and let us stay a few extra days (we of course paid a per diem for those days) and, hallelujah, our escrow closed the day after our 30-day notice expired.  We were able to get everything packed, moved, and thoroughly cleaned out in three days thanks to the help of four of our blessed friends.  The Mr. and I switched on and off between watching Baby G-O and packing/cleaning.  I'll admit it: it was HARD and I was mega-stressed over all of it and lacking sleep with all the hard work it took between vigilantly prioritizing our little one's sleep schedule and trying to make the change as seamless for her while getting as much done as quickly as humanly-possible.

This last month has blitzed by as we've settled in to home-ownership, attempting to unpack and organize things with a walking, talking, climbing one year old, and trying to make this house feel more like a home.  We still have a L-O-N-G way to go, people....a looooooooooooooong way.  Still, it's feeling more and more like, well, like US.  We've painted Baby G-O's room and gotten that fairly set.  We've put up curtains and blinds.  We've been working on keeping up the yard and figuring out our sprinkler system and the Mr. has even switched out several sprinkler heads and done multiple other fix-it projects.  I guess he just needed a house to bust the tool man out in him!  Way to go, Babe!  We're also getting used to the new sounds our house makes...and the sounds our family makes in it, too.

There's so much more to do.  Our bedroom is pretty disorganized as we lost some plush closet space from our old rental.  Another bedroom is utter chaos as it has become the catch-all room for boxes yet unpacked and the garage is another dumping post for all tools, outdoor gear, and holiday decor.  At least our furniture is all where it should be, right?  (Please, humor me on that one.)

Now, life is slowing down as we pace ourselves with the organizing and just figuring out what we want our house to be.  We know we want this house to be a blessing--not just for ourselves--but to our friends, our family, and our neighborhood.  We've already met several of our neighbors and we are so blessed to see several kids in our little cul-de-sac that come out to play almost every day.  We have a few ice cream trucks that drive by, so we try to resist the temptation.

As for this week, we'll be celebrating the Mister's birthday.  I'm excited because we'll be going camping for the first time with our, now, 13 month old...who's almost 14 months old now.

Ah...it feels good to be back here.  It's really a sign that normalcy is returning to our schedule...and that's no small thing.  :)

Family

This week kicks off a busy (but fun) week for us.  We don't live very near to our family so this will be a treat.  Our G-O Baby will be turning one in a matter of days and both of her grandmothers and an uncle will be visiting.  We are so excited to see everyone...and we can't wait to see how they all respond to our little one.  She has grown and learned SO MUCH since last they saw her.  Seriously...her uncle hasn't seen her since the DAY SHE WAS BORN.  Yeah.  I think it's safe to say she's changed just a smidge since then, don't you?

Anyhow, I'll try to stay on top of the blog this week, but if I take an extended vacation from the blog while we live it up with our folks and continue packing and (hopefully) moving in these next couple weeks, consider yourself warned.

If I'm a bit spotty on the posts, don't worry--I'll be back!

Blessings!

Cherish Your Time

(Image from here)

A couple days ago I had a very scary morning with my G-O baby.  It was a whirlwind of a morning, but everything turned out fine.  Praise the Lord!

Suffice it to say that it made me even more thankful for each day of life I get and for each breath I get to share with my loved ones.  I hope I haven't taken for granted any of the time I've been blessed to share with my husband or my daughter, although I'm sure I have.  I'm just so humbled and full of gratitude.

James 4:14 says, "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."

I know what it's like to lose a loved one.  I also know how it makes you remember how fleeting life really is and how important it is to truly cherish every moment with loved ones...and how, over time, that sense of urgency is supplanted once again with the hustle and bustle of daily life.

So, for now, I want to treasure each breath, savor each smile, love each laugh, and reflect once again on what really matters--relationships.  May you be inspired to do the same.

That's Pinteresting! - Growth Chart

I did not have one of those childhoods where your family has roots in a community and you grow up in one house in the same neighborhood with lifelong friends.

We were more like nomads...moving from apartment to apartment, city to city.

Don't get me wrong.  One upbringing is not better than the other.  I enjoyed many benefits from moving fairly often.

One of the things that I missed out on, though, was the stereotypical markings in a door frame to note your growth through the years.  You know what I'm talking about?  They often show it in family-type movies.  I know it's such a small thing, but it became kind of a symbol to me of growing up in a real community.  It's not just in the movies, either.  I remember going over to friends' houses and seeing the markings on their walls or doorways noting the dates, ages, and names of the kids as they grew.  It always held a special place in my heart--dunno why.

Being a new mommy in a metropolitan area, knowing that odds are we'll move several times, I still want a way to track our family's growth.  I just need something portable.  I found this growth chart on Pinterest:

(The Brimfield Growth Chart by Karen on Etsy, found here)

My hubby was trying to purchase it for my birthday earlier this year, but it was back-ordered.  Being impatient and all, I decided to try and make my own personalized version.

Off I went to JoAnn's (again), with coupons in hand.  I knew the growth chart above was printed on artist's canvas.  I had already looked at rolls of primed canvas, but knew I would never get around to using that much...so the price was way too high for my smaller project.  Instead, I purchased a half-yard of 60" outdoor canvas and asked the cutter to cut it in two equal pieces (each piece finishing 60" long by 9" wide).  Woo-hoo!  I now had the basic fabric for my custom growth chart.

At first, I thought I might use iron-on transfer paper.  I bought a pack at Michael's (using another coupon), but after a quick test learned that the white areas that are not cut off the transfer remain completely opaque and glaringly white.  Bummer.  The font I planned to use had WAY TOO MANY jagged edges to make that a hassle-free endeavor.

So then I tried permanent marker on another scrap.  Nope.  It bleeds.  A LOT.  Lastly, I tried acrylic craft paint.

It worked.

So here's what I did: 1) I stitched the two pieces of canvas together on one seam, short-sides together to make one really long strip of canvas. 2) I used stitch-witchery to iron seams on all sides to keep the fabric from fraying.

3) I used pencil to mark out the inches on each long side of the canvas and to freehand the numbers at each foot mark. 4) I hand-painted the measure marks, numbers, and letters on our growth chart.  Here's the finished product.

I still need to decide how I want to hang it, but that's for another day.  Right now I'm just thrilled I got it done.  (That's a big accomplishment right now...)

I gotta say, I'm actually really pleased with how it turned out!  We now have a portable growth chart, specialized for our little family that coordinates with our style--and is 100% unique and handmade with love.  It's not professional by any means, but I kinda like that about it.  I can't wait to find the perfect place to hang it in our *hopefully* new place.  Hurrah!  I get to start a new tradition with my family.

I love it!

A shiny, new dress

I was perusing the web for photo ideas for Baby G-O's one year shoot and I stumbled upon these precious pictures:

(Photo by Rachel Richard Photography, found on etsy here)

(Much larger photo from rmrr21 found here)

What struck me about these pictures are how the olive green and bright teal colors make the girls' features pop.  They especially stood out because my little G-O baby has gorgeous hazel eyes.  Her irises are rimmed in blue that transitions to green, which further transitions to brown around her pupils.  With that said, a peacock headband and a blue/green/brown outfit would really make her sparkle.

So, then I began looking at peacock headbands to buy.  The headband above is $19 on etsy, which really isn't bad...I just didn't want to spend that much on an accessory that my little girl will likely mangle and won't wear longer than a couple minutes these days.

Then I looked at ruffly little rompers like this one:

(By Cheeky Chic Baby on etsy, found here)

The romper is absolutely adorable--again, I just don't want to spend $45, plus shipping.  That and, once I pinned it on Pinterest, I got so many repins of it that I knew lots and LOTS of precious tots would soon be dressed up in the same outfit.  Sigh.  I wanted something more unique.

So, I was strolling through JoAnn's and I happened upon some clearance silk taffeta in just the right colors.  I snapped up the remnants on the spot.  Honestly, I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but I figured I just got a new sewing machine for Christmas and I might find a pattern or...who knows?

Well, I finally did something with them.  Now, please go easy on me.  I only had a few hours this last Saturday to whip up something.  I did not have a pattern and I am a total novice.  Sure, I took a costuming class in college...but we never made anything.  We just learned a couple basic stitches and sewed straight lines on one single piece of fabric.  End of sewing lesson.

Knowing that, I did not attempt any kind of tutorial.  I didn't even measure anything.  I eye-balled my fabric pieces by holding up the uncut pieces of fabric to my constantly moving G-O baby and then made sure my cuts matched.  However, I knew I wanted to fashion something that could grow with my baby girl and that could be layered so it could work in any kind of weather.  That led me to go for more of a bib-style dress with tie-shoulders and elastic at an empire waist.

Working without a pattern, start to finish (with several breaks to do diaper changes, feed snacks, make lunch, etc.) it took me about four hours to make this, including time spent ironing along the way.  Here's what I ended up with:

I didn't get a photo of my little one in it yet, but it looks cute.  Right now, the dress is more of a floor-length gown, which I love.  As she grows, we can always layer it over a sleeved shirt and adjust the shoulder ties for comfort.  I can always remove or adjust the elastic in the casing as needed, too.

Oh, and I failed to mention that I found a great peacock headpiece at JoAnn's that same day and I made a headband for under $10.  I haven't snapped any photos of it yet, either.  I'll try to remember to update this post with pictures of the headband...but I can't make any promises.  These next few weeks are going to be non-stop for our household.  Whew.

Update: Here's a quick snapshot of the peacock headband.  Not too shabby, eh?

Photo Friday - Eleven Months Old!

I can't believe how quickly this last month has gone by!  Baby G-O is now eleven months old.

I confess I am a bit sad.  I know this is the very last month before my baby girl turns one year old.  As I snapped several shots of her on her eleven-month birthday, I couldn't help but keep thinking it was the last time I would do it before she was one.  There's something sentimental about knowing your child has gracefully transitioned from one month to the next during her first year of life.  It's also a little bittersweet.  I have cherished every moment, but they were still so fleeting.  I wish I could just slow time down to enjoy each new milestone, each expression, each tender cuddle just a little bit longer.

All that being said, my oh so big little girl is now eleven months old.

Baby G-O, you continue to amaze your daddy and I every day.  You are adding so many more inflections and sounds to your vocabulary and you are trying to copy what we say more and more.  You are also mimicking us all the time and you are learning by leaps and bounds.  When I leave the room and turn the door handle, Daddy tells me you follow and reach to try to turn the handle to come with me.  When I record you on our little video camera, you pay attention and hit the exact same button I used to start it and you end up stopping the recording.  When I showed you how to use your hair brush, you immediately copied the movements and began brushing.

All this learning is also getting you into some mischief.  You now know how to open all our lidded trash cans and consider each of them to be a trove of hidden treasures.  Your curiosity gets the better of you and any time we block you from getting into something that could be dangerous or hugely messy, you attack the target that much more vigorously.  We know it's the explorer and adventurer in you and we are so blessed to watch your desire to learn blossom.

Mommy and Daddy especially love that books are some of your favorite "toys".  At least once a day you pull books off your shelves or out of your bins and just sit quietly, flipping through the pages and pointing at the pictures.  You are particularly fond of the Bible.  Any Bible.  Your Bible, Mommy's Bible, Daddy's Bible...you're not choosy.  I don't know what it is you love about them--maybe it's the smooth, light-weight pages?  Then again, we've prayed for you to have a love of God's Word, so perhaps that's it.

You've also recently become quite the Mama's girl.  You want to be wherever I am--at ALL times.  You can go from a smiley and happy girl to a blubbering mess of tears in 2.5 seconds if Mommy leaves the room to fetch something and is out of your sight line for the briefest time.

We love you, Darling! We are so proud of you and we are humbled and honored to be your parents.

Fabulous find!

I've been looking at little slides recently.  Slides like this one that I saw at Target a couple weeks back.

It's $50, so I wanted to shop around a bit.  Now, as I've mentioned before, my little G-O baby is not too much of a napper these days. So when we find ourselves in the car and she drifts off to sleep, I sometimes drive around our neighborhood a little bit so she can get a few extra winks.  (I know from experience that I can't get her out of the car and in to our place without her waking up and staying up.  Plus, I drive a hybrid, so I don't feel too bad about a short drive.)

The other day, was one such day.  This time, as we drove around the neighborhood, I came across a pile of stuff set out by the curb.  I was about to drive right past it when something caught my eye: a toddler slide!

I quickly parked the car right next to the stack of stuff and hopped out for a peek at the slide.  It looked to be in pretty good condition--just faded from time spent out in the sunlight.  I loaded it up and figured I could take a much closer look at it back home.  If there was something wrong with it that I didn't spot, I could always dispose of it myself.  Also, if for some reason our little sweetie didn't like it, but it was in great working order, we could always donate it to our church nursery or any of the many young families we know.

Turns out it is in great shape and our little G-O baby loves it!  See for yourself:

That's Pinteresting! - birthday edition

Birthday parties were a big deal for me growing up.  My parents were both so creative and they went to so much trouble to make my birthday parties special.  In fact, I sometimes had to reign them in from going way, WAY overboard.  I don't know how they did it either.  We were living paycheck to paycheck during the BEST of times.

All that is to say that I am absolutely thrilled to begin that tradition with my G-O baby.

In April, she will be celebrating her FIRST birthday.  I'm not gonna lie, I've been pooling ideas together for months.  I sent out save the date cards...in January.

Yeah.  I'm crazy like that.

To get an inkling of where my inspiration has come from, here are some of the pins from my 1st Birthday Ideas board.

I'm not a professional and I did not hire one.  I will be making most things by myself, so please don't expect our party to turn out (quite) as fabulously as the pictures above.  For the most part, they came from party planning companies.  The inspiration is there, though.  I've got a goal.  But, of course, there may now be a crimp in my plan.  I thought I would have all of March to put the decorations together while Baby G-O slept at night (she's not too much of a napper and has recently decided she only wants to take one, short nap a day).  As it turns out, we may be packing and moving...just before the party.  Of.  Course.

So my plan needs to be rearranged.  Still, I'm excited.  I am SO excited.  It should be fun.  I'm open to additional suggestions and recommendations, too--especially given my new time constraints.  Ideas are appreciated!  Gah.  I am so EXCITED!

Mama madness--another rant

It's confession time.  Since becoming a mommy, I have become much more fearful than I thought I could be.  It strikes me in strange moments...and it even surprises me.  Sometimes I feel like I'm a different person looking at myself in those times saying, "Who the heck are you?!?!"

Now, I'm not talking "crawl under a rock and disappear" fear.  I'm not talking about paralyzing fear, either. But I am talking about how I am looking at the world around me with a whole new set of eyes that see a lot more danger.  I'm talking about the fear (and the complete realization) that I have absolutely no control over what the future holds.  I cannot guarantee anything; sickness, poverty, pain, accidents, sharp differences in beliefs, etc. They can all come unexpectedly...like a thief in the night.

I totally know why this has begun to take hold in me, too.  It's because it's no longer just me that I have to think about protecting.  It's my precious little G-O baby.  It's my family.  Over the years, I've learned to be able to deal with my own hurt, betrayal, pain, and so much more.  I know I cannot (and should not) protect my baby from everything, but it's such a maternal drive to want to.

Of course I let her wobble over, take little tumbles, bump her head (today, actually), and learn by trial and error because she needs to.  I'm talking bigger picture here.  I'm talking about our society as a whole.  I'm talking about the direction our government, educational system, and morals as a whole are, and have been, going for quite some time.

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm trying to memorize the book of James (Bible) this year and I keep thinking about James 1:21, "Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."

My husband brought up a great question today.  He was listening to John MacArthur on the radio and the topic was the role of the Christian in shaping societal morals.  MacArthur's argument was that Christians should not become political activists because it's counter-intuitive to what the Bible prophesies and commands us to do.  Instead, our focus should be solely on how we live our own lives and in showing God's love to all.  Morals start at home, folks.

I agree...to a point.  Jesus is our example.  He did not come to this earth and march to the political courts demanding a change.  His heart was for the people.  All people.  Lost people.  He walked THE walk.  He imparted radical change with His radical love.  Likewise, because of His radical love, He stormed the Temple and overturned the tables because they were defiling the house of God.  This is where my personal belief differs a bit from MacArthur.  I don't believe that Jesus models a wholly removed interaction with the morals of society, specifically regarding their impact on the church.  When the church walks away from it's first true love (Jesus--the Living Word) and society persecutes the church (either implicitly or explicitly) I believe we are called as the body of Christ to rise up and boldly proclaim the truth (see 1 John 4:17-19 at end of this post).  In those situations, we fight back--with love.

God is Love (1 John 4:8).

So, back to my fear.  We live in a crazy, anti-Christian world that encourages self-gratification over all else.  It's motto is: if it feels good to you--do it now and don't think about the consequences  My fear is that my sweet G-O baby will be so disenchanted, disillusioned, and disheartened by this "instant gratification" deception.  More people are unsatisfied because they don't wait, work, and earn anything anymore.  More and more studies are showing that instant gratification only intensifies the bitter discontent that people feel, which leads to greater unhappiness and lack of fulfillment.

Sigh.

Now...what do I do with this fear?

Pray.

P-R-A-Y!!!

While I cannot control the world or what the future holds for my G-O baby, I CAN PRAY.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

I want to close with this additional scripture from 1 John.  It kind of ties this whole rant together.  Radical change can only come from radical love.

1 John 4:17-19 (emphasis mine): 

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.

Amen and amen!

Friday Fun - What's on YOUR Bucket List?

Have you seen the movie "The Bucket List"?  I like that movie.  I also like that it makes you think about the goals you have for your life.

A friend's board on Pinterest inspired me to start my own list.  I thought it would be a lot easier to put together.  It's interesting to try to list and in some way quantify the things you would like to highlight your life.  Putting some things on the list now makes me kind of laugh at them.

What I have begun to realize as I collect inspiration images and ideas for my own list, is that what I want--I mean what I REALLY, DEEP DOWN WANT IN MY CORE--is completely rooted in my faith and my family.  I want what God wants for me.

Sure, I think it would be fun to learn Latin ballroom dancing.
Yeah, I would like to write and publish a book.
Of course I would love to be a globe-trotter and learn a foreign language.

Ultimately, though, I simply want what God wants for my life and my family.

Those things may not be mutually exclusive.  God made me.  He has a purpose for me.  He rooted certain desires and abilities in me.  So perhaps someday I will live in a foreign country--as a humble missionary.  Maybe someday I will write a book--to share the gospel and God's work in my life.  It could be that I will learn ballroom dancing (or another form of dance)--to worship God in another way or to minister to others in such an environment.  Only God knows.

As such, I don't feel guilty about putting together a list of things that I think would be fun to do or experience at some point in this earthly life.  However, I am taking a closer look at the motives behind those things and am also holding them out with totally open hands and will let God control what gets accomplished and why.

And some of the things on that list are not big.  They're not all life-altering experiences.  Some are things like embroidering something and learning to knit.  I plan to continue to add to my list--things both big and small.  I want to be intentional in my life, as much as I can.

What are some things you'd like to put on your own bucket list?  I'd love to hear some of your goals.  They may inspire more things to put on mine! ;)

That's Pinteresting! - Kids

I'm keeping this one short & sweet.  Here are some pins that inspire me to be a better, more purposeful and practical mommy.

31 Ways to Pray for Your Children

Seven Keys to Help Children Develop Self-Discipline

Pillow Talk: 20 Questions to Ask Your Child at Bedtime

15 Easy Signs to Teach  Baby

Do you have any more useful sites to add?  Please do!

Baby Sign Language?

Baby G-O is pretty expressive and is certainly very animated, so I haven't had too much trouble communicating with her.

Still, I wonder if it would be worth it to try baby sign language with her until she has more control and increased skill with her speech.

What are your thoughts?  Have you tried it?  Would you endorse it?  IF YOU DO/DID, what resources or websites did you use to get started?

Please share!  I'd love to get your feedback and references.