Charlotte's Baby Shower

Today, Jan 28, 2012 was Charlotte's baby shower. Above is the handmade invitation that one of our ladies made, and below are some pics from the shower. My theme for Charlotte's room is a vegetable-ish, outside motif and the shower and invite matched perfectly! I am very thankful to have such generous, wonderful ladies in my church and such giving family members.

One of the games involved each lady bringing a baby photo of herself and the rest of us guessing who is who! I didn't get many right! Then another game was each of us guessing what the baggies of white powder were-ranging from flour to rice cereal to splenda. I did better on that one!

My mom was able to be in town for the shower!

Thanks for such a wonderful time, ladies! You are all the best!

Now I get the fun of going through everything and finding it a place in Charlotte's nursery! So excited!

A Busy January

 One of my favorite things to watch is Paton playing with Daddy. He plays a certain way with me and a different way with Greg. I like this b/c it gives each of us special times with the little guy. Many of the games Daddy plays involve in some way the throwing, catching, rolling, or bouncing of a ball. Occasionally, I ask Greg, "Are you sure you really want to teach him that right now? I can see this ending badly." And usually I'm right!

I guess it just goes with being a boy...but throwing rocks into a river provides endless entertainment. Early this January, the weather was so gorgeous-upper 40's low 50's-that we decided to take a walk. He's doing much better about walks--not insisting on being carried after a mere 20 minutes of walking. Though the frequent small rock does distract from making much progress.

January's ladies activity was held at Color Me Mine-a local pottery painting establishment. We had 10 ladies come, and it was such fun seeing everyone's creativity. And that reminds me...our pottery is ready to be picked up. I will need to go to town tomorrow to get my zebra-inspired bowl.

Last weekend was an anomaly. We had just had a terrific snowfall...followed by a lot of rain. Normally a heavy rainfall wouldn't have been a problem, but since the ground was frozen there wasn't anywhere for the melting snow and rain to go. So my driveway became a rushing river heading straight for my garage, and the yard melt-off gathered just below my basement windows. If we hadn't tackled it right away, the water would certainly have reached the windows and leaked into the house. Thankfully, the ground was frozen so all that water couldn't seep into the ground and into the basement floor.

Another praise was that we were hosting Ed and Amber that weekend. If they hadn't been there to help us, I'm sure we would have had a much more overwhelming task. Certainly church folk would have been happy to help, but it was nice to have that immediate assistance for such an immediate dilemma.

Then just the other day we got another terrific snowfall. So much so that I really wanted to take a picture of it. And wouldn't you know it...today we had a lot of rain...again! This time we knew what would happen and were prepared. No surprises this time!

Friends of our invited us over, and Paton encountered his first really big dogs-two malamutes and one husky. They were a little excited at first, but when they calmed down, Paton enjoyed being around them. You can see below how big the malamute is compared to Paton.

And then here I am at Awana. The theme for that night was "Homemade Superhero Night." Charlotte and I called ourselves "The Dynamic Duo" complete with my straight hair and glasses. The straight hair is definitely a once a year kind of thing. I simply am not skilled enough to straighten my own thick, curly hair without being tempted to chuck the flat iron and all other necessities out the window. Patience has never been a strength for me.

Charlotte's Nursery

Today marks the day that we're officially done working on Charlotte's room...not to say that nothing can ever be added to it. Rather, as far as we've planned, we're done! Since Paton is still in the crib, my mom got a bassinet for Charlotte until either she grows out of it or Paton moves into a toddler bed. As far as Paton goes, I'm not eager beaver on moving Paton out of the crib so it's nice to have the bassinet for Charlotte.

The walls were already painted a nice neutral color, so Greg and I decided to just keep them neutral. That decision has to do largely with the fact that while we lived in Missouri, we had to paint every wall in the house (literally...most of the walls were pink). So, you can imagine that we weren't too eager to paint yet again.

Charlotte's room is a garden theme from IKEA. My crafty mother-in-law sewed the curtains from IKEA sheets that I really liked, and my father-in-law suggested the red buttons just below the loops. The rug also follows the garden theme...hence the broccoli and carrots.

I liked some wall art that I saw online, so my mother-in-law made the ones below to complement the theme. The light is also from IKEA and is on a dimmer for those middle-of-the-night feedings.

IKEA had stuffed veggies that went along with the theme and we just had to have them! My father-in-law and I installed the shelf.

Below is Charlotte's bassinet courtesy of my parents. My dad assembled it over the holidays. Inside you may see yet more stuffed veggies!

Aaaaaand the infamous wall sticker. I say infamous because it's not as easy to install as the install video would have you believe. Regardless, I love how it looks next to Charlotte's air-filled ladybug! You know, as my husband and I were painstakingly trying to adhere this to the wall, the images that were coming to mind were of Paton systematically pulling off each leaf and joyfully proclaiming, "Look, Mommy! Leaf!"

The a fore-mentioned rug and other close-ups.

So to give credit where credit is due...I thank my in-laws, the Bakers, for all of the decorating. I'm certainly not crafty enough to have come up with all of this on my own. And also I thank my parents for the bassinet and other furniture. You guys are the best!

Reflections

Back in December, I received a call from my clinic informing me that my doctor no longer worked for them and that now I'd be given to a new doctor. However, since many were in my situation, I wouldn't get to meet him until January (week 32 in my pregnancy). I struggled with my emotions because I was already in my 3rd trimester and considered a high risk pregnancy due to my placental abruption when my son was born. Would this new doctor take this seriously? Would he be cautious and consider my worries and fears in this situation? After all, we were about 20 minutes away from losing my son when he was born in 2009. I didn't want to face that again.

So...imagine my relief and joy to discover that Dr. Smithing wants to be safe rather than sorry. He wants to see me every week and do a non-stress test each appointment. In addition, he'd like me to see a specialist in order to carefully observe my placenta and amniotic fluids. This way, we'll have a better idea on which birth method to pursue.

I had to chuckle when he read my medical records from Paton's birth. He remarked, "Wow. You had a little bit of everything, didn't you?" And through all that, God gave me a healthy (albeit preemie-sized) little boy. My mom was reminding me the other day that when I'm ready to pull my hair out with Paton, I just need to remember to thank the Lord that he's alive. Keep my time with him in perspective. With that in mind, I began browsing through my photos of Paton's first few days.

 Our first family picture--post emergency C-section!

 Our little boy was 4 lbs. 12 oz. when he was born. Once we left the hospital, he was 4 lbs. 9 oz. But the Lord was so gracious to keep him from any kind of complication...even jaundice!

 Our little peanut.

The nurses weren't sure he would pass the car seat test. Since he was so small, they wondered if he'd be able to hold up his head enough to breath. No worries...our little peanut did splendidly! I love how big the paci is compared to his head!

Thank-you Lord for giving us Paton, and we completely trust you to keep baby Charlotte in the palm of your hand...regardless of the outcome.