I Finished Sewing the Baby Bedding!

HAPPY DANCE! HAPPY DANCE! I can finally say that one of my three major sewing projects is complete. This is the second set of baby bedding I have sewed (first was for Grace and later used by Jack). Both times I have sewed the bumper, a quilt, and the bed skirt. It is always a labor of love and helps to pass the time as the baby grows.


Today, the Ragazzi crib was pulled out of storage and I spent the next hour decalcifying (demilking) and adding a fresh lather of furniture cream to the wood. Six years ago, I purchased the crib for a decent sale price. It was a bit of a splurge, but I had hoped that the 15 yr/3 child warranty would hold. After a light remoisturizing it looked exactly like the day I had pulled it out of the box two children and 6 years ago.

Ken and I put it all together this afternoon. After a little furniture rearranging in Grace's room, it looks like thankfully the girls will both fit. Grace, sensing impending changes ahead, commented with a smile that her room will never be the same again...

Cue Up The Music For Mr. Hicks

Mr. Braxton Hicks, that is. Apparently this is the week that Mr. Braxton Hicks decided to fly into my abdomen and stay. I really don't know what to think of him though, as his contractions always get me giddy and excited, but deep down I know they are pretty meaningless. With Jack, Mr. Braxton took up residence for months, but Jack still showed no sign of giving up his 9 month residency, and stuck around for 9 days post due date, until his final eviction notice was sent via Nurse Pitocin.

So, being that my due date isn't until January 24th...I need to just enjoy them and not get my hopes up too high that Baby Faith is going to kick out of here on her own free will. That said, if any child of mine has had the strength to break my water, she wins my nomination.

Oh...there's Mr B. Hicks now...see you again in seven minutes Hicks.

Meanwhile, I have been working today on sewing those bumper pads, and removing the cobwebs from what feels like eons ago since I had a baby (only 4 yrs.) It just occured to me yesterday that I need the simplest of things like wet wipes and nursing pads. I can maybe understand forgetting to order new nursing pads, but forgetting wet wipes???

Whatever Baby Faith is making is doing wonders for my body image, and has flushed out more compliments than I have had in 10 years combined --- (I wish I could bottle it) --- but she's also frying the synapses between my neurons faster than I can create new neuron paths for perserving my memory. Apparently, she's working overtime in the portion of my brain that houses names...as that feels like it has just taken a severe hit from an EMP bomb (electro magnetic pulse bomb).

Can you tell, we're in the middle of watching season 4 of 24?

It Is Finished.

The Christmas tree of 2005 is down. It is a short lived life of glory, if Christmas has past and you are a Christmas tree under the careful watch of a nesting pregnant woman with 4 weeks left to go. Alas, the chainsaw in the backyard buzzes merrily along as I write.

She was a good tree...

Tick Tock...Tick Tock

I feel like I am in the middle of one three month long crescendo. It started with November and the Thanksgiving scramble, then moved into Christmas with the gift purchasing and Christmas Newsletter writing, and finally THAT is all behind me. All of this surrounded by some ridculous nesting practices going on in my house.

What's left? The Big Kahuna...BABY FAITH.

I've got one month (maybe less) and still no cradle or crib bumper pad sewed. I've got clothes, but the changing table is a wreck and there is little order or thought in the madness of it all at this point. Our bedroom has the unfinished remnants of my last nesting mania along all sides of our walls. To increase the feeling of impending changes and excitement, a few contractions have begun here and there over the last two days. I'm hoping that this will be the first little one I've had that doesn't need a shot of Pitocin to get things kick started. But I need all 30 of these next days just to feel ready and focused.

Poor Ken...he's surviving the grueling torture of listening to his wife snore throughout the night (as a result of my swollen sinuses from the pregnancy). Sometimes he finds he needs to sleep on the couch it is so bad. I am so NOT a snorer so it's pretty embarassing. Oh well...he's being a good sport. And he's been thoughtful. He pulled out the cradle and put it together with Jack a few nights ago, turning it into a Daddy/Son project. I never asked. He just did it. Wasn't that nice?

Of course, he could also be simply hoping that the sight of the cradle will trigger some maternal instinct and put me into early labor -- which might not be such a bad thing... a nice tax break and an end to the blasted snoring!

Is There Insomnia in Heaven?

I love listening to my children talk about heaven. I think there is a purity present in those types of discussions between two children that is difficult to surpass. Today, I was entreated to another dissertation on the topic of Heaven.

Grace: I can't wait to get to Heaven, Jack, can you?

Jack: Yeah.

Grace: Its going to be so great. Did you know that God is building a place for us in the clouds in heaven RIGHT NOW?

Jack: *** silence ***

Grace: I bet He never stops working on it. I bet He works on it all night long and never sleeps.

Isn't it true? Our Father is longing for the day when He can gather us all unto Himself. I find myself smiling at Grace's comments. I bet she's right. If God needed sleep, He'd be missing sleep over us in anticipation for that day. I can't help but turn the question around on myself. How often do I miss sleep over the anticipation of meeting Christ face to face? As young women, we all did it as we'd lay our head down for the night, dreaming about the future and the men who are now our husbands. Why not our Christ?

A Moment In Time

One of my only goals this year was to become a better picture taker. Months could go by in our family without the camera every seeing the light of day. Blogging weekly, has been a great encouragement and reminder of this goal, and it has certainly been a contributor to keeping me on task with picture taking.


Above is a picture of Grace from Jack's birthday party in October. It is my all time favorite for her this year. Ironically, I didn't take it! A friend of mine did, and she clearly has a natural eye for timing. The children all were taking delight in climbing upon a small grove of cherry trees. This picture is now hanging up in our green room.

It is one of those photgraphs, that as a mother, makes you fall in love with your child all over again, while just thinking, "That's my beautiful daughter."