caroline's nursery

ta da! caroline's nursery is complete! well, it's missing the baby, but it sure is ready to greet that little girl. for those of you who have been asking to see pictures, here ya go. i know a couple of you (kristi and carrie) want to see details, so i've included close-ups of all the little touches that i've done to make her nursery exactly what i wanted.... if you could care less about details, then just browse away... but surely you're used to me and my details by now. :) the best part about her nursery is that i was able to use several things that i already owned (brian especially loved this), AND there are several precious family heirlooms that i can continue to pass down to my daughter. as our previous guest room/office, the walls were already painted, the curtains were hung, and the daybed was already finished (besides the ugly knobs that brian painted for me!). so no big grunt work involved... just little vintage girly touches. :) i feel like it's something she can grow into and love... i hope so, anyway!

i'll start with a little video tour...



this is the view from her bedroom door. it's a pretty small room and a pretty awkwardly big day bed, so this was really the only place to put the bed. but i think it turned out ok. above the bed is a set of hanging picture frames that i actually used to decorate the whole room around... the larger frames have scriptures in them that have to do with the meaning of caroline's name. 1 peter 1:3-4 for caroline ("beautiful woman") and 2 thessalonians 1:11-12 for grace ("grace of God"). i am pretty excited about her boppy cover... i saw this toile/chenille cover in parents magazine, and of course i couldn't find it anywhere to buy... well, on one of my ritualistic ebay shopping/browsing evenings, i saw a brand new one for sale! that was one of my most victorious ebay wins yet. :) the sunbonnet sue quilt was made by my great-grandmother. i grew up snuggling with a similar one that had pink sashings instead of yellow.







i found this antiqued beadboard shelf at hobby lobby for 80% off because the bottom shelf was missing. a basket of toys fits perfectly under there, and you would never know there was supposed to be a shelf there! i had fun filling this bargain shelf... the blanket over the top was made for me by my grandma when i was born. the books are from my grandparents' house, including old mcguffy readers. the little doll was mine when i was younger, as well as the "vintage" 1984 mary engelbreit tin box. :) above the shelf is a collage of old baby pictures from our families... well, right now, it's just my mom's side. i'm still gathering pictures from everybody else (hint, hint!!). to the left of the shelf is a doll cradle that my grandpap made for me when i was little. ethan already loves going thru the books in the cradle...i hope caroline will, too!







here's her sweet cradle. oh i can't wait to watch her sleep in there! ethan already points to it and says "bay" (for baby). a good friend of my mom's is loaning us this cradle since ethan is not quite yet in a big boy bed. the best part is that we get to give it back when we're finished with it (one less thing in the garage!). my mom's beautiful wall hanging is the main decoration on this wall. that will be a family treasure for generations to come, i'm sure.





i love this wall...above her name sign is a wooden shelf that brian stained. the frame on the left is the product of a project from my mops meeting this past week... it's decoupaged with the nursery rhyme fabric my mom is using to make caroline's quilt. a couple of ethan's stuffed animals and a doll from an antique store completed the cozy look that i wanted. finishing this shelf was the last project for her room, so i'm especially happy with it! (don't you especially love the happy couples in the picture frames? ha! those will be replaced with sweet caroline's pictures, of course!!)




so there ya go! it was just as exciting to decorate a nursery the second time around... praise God for our little girl. we are so unbelievably blessed. hope you enjoyed the tour.

our little punkin!

we had a ball this evening at the pumpkin patch! i say "ball" because that is what ethan kept exclaiming as we pulled in and he saw all the pumpkins in the grass... i guess he just saw a field of basketballs! what a dream for a little boy. :) he loved walking around all the pumpkins, and he tried a few times to pick up some really big ones! here are some pictures we snapped while he explored... and no i'm not smuggling a pumpkin under my shirt in the above picture... it's alllll caroline!

i know there's a bunch of these, but i couldn't narrow them down any further!












have a great weekend!

one reason i'm smiling today...

brrr!!!

finally a cold, blustery day!!!! kristie and i took the kiddos on a walk this morning, and they just looked so cute all cuddled up. you can't tell, but karina was wearing little puppy dog slippers... so CUTE! and of course kristie made both of their adorable little hats. i just had to share this picture... hope you're all having a wonderful day. my moods are so weather-dependent.. it's sad... but today is a GREAT DAY because it's a BEAUTIFUL ONE!! psalm 118:24!! this is the day the Lord has made- let us rejoice and be glad in it!

my talented mom

my sweet mom is so talented. she is good at so many things, and i usually end up reaping the benefits of her crafty hands. in the last 8 or so years, she has become quite the wonderful quilter. she is even more wonderful at being patient with me as i conjure up continuous projects for her! :) she had just finished caroline's adorable wall hanging...


...with plans to start working on her coordinating nursery rhyme quilt (with this fabric)...


...when i decided that caroline needed a floor quilt. see, a good friend of hers made a cute little floor quilt for ethan, and i originally planned to just use the same one for caroline. when i looked at it again, it just seemed too boy-ish for sweet little caroline. (i know... like she will care... like she will notice...) but i called up 1-800-MOM-QULT anyway and put in my order for a vintage-ish floor quilt. my mom didn't really think that caroline NEEDED this, but what's a grandma to do besides spoil her grandchildren? so she agreed to take on the project. we went to pick out fabric probably 2 weeks ago... and guess what was delivered to my door yesterday by a sweet, sweet gram???


isn't it beautiful? i wanted something simple and whimsical but something that would also look good in our living room (translate: RED!!!) and my super mom delivered! the focus fabric is mary engelbreit, whom i love. it's almost a toile, but a little more whimsical than classic toile. i just love it. here's a closer look.


so i just had to brag on my mom. she gives and gives. and today she brought by two squares from the nursery rhyme quilt! projects a plenty! caroline's room is alllllllllmost done. just a couple more finishing touches, and i promise i'll post some pictures. it's looking good. now it just needs a cute little baby in it!

oh dear...

here's me at 38 weeks with ethan and 36 weeks with caroline....


as if that weren't bad enough...

here's the same picture of me this week compared to me at 40 weeks... on my DUE DATE....with ethan...


thanks for your prayers as i get thru the next few uncomfortable weeks!

a little update

slowly but surely, things are getting done to prepare for caroline's arrival! my mom and i finished her name sign for her room... i'm happy with how it turned out! i love the little mary engelbreit letters (they're actually magnets). now we just need to paint a shelf white, and we'll hang that and her sign above the changing table. that's pretty much it for her room... then i'll post some pictures. (i'm sure brian is laughing because i will find something else that needs done in her room as soon as we hang those things!) ethan already loves playing in her room. he is rediscovering all the little toys he had last year, and he also is enamored with the baby swing. he figured out how to get in it by himself, and he knew he was too big for it! he gave me this look like "hey mom, look! i'm being silly!" i almost caught it on camera....





kristie and i had lunch at nana's with the kiddos yesterday. ethan always has fun playing with the toys in her little play tent, and of course, the dog is always exciting (till she waps ethan in the face with her tail!). we tried to do a mommies and cousins picture, but as you can see, ethan was not exactly thrilled about being pulled away from the toys!





that's about all that's happening around here... just waiting for our little girl to come. i'll keep you posted. have a great rest of the week.

progress!

well, caroline and i are beginning to make progress... i had my dr's appointment today, and he was "very encouraged by my exam". so glad i could encourage him. :) ha! i was dilated 1 cm and not effaced the last time i was checked (4 weeks ago), and now i am dilated 1.5 cm (still not much), 70% effaced, and her head is at station -2. SO that is progress, my friends. i looked in ethan's baby book, and that is exactly where i was with him 4 days before his due date. (actually, i was only dilated to a 1 with him...) and here we have over 4 weeks to go. i'm not getting my hopes up that i'll go much earlier than my due date (nov. 14), but at least my body is starting to work toward labor. i realize i could walk around just like this and not dilate anymore for the next month... so yet another lesson in God being in control of everything in my life! even dilation and effacement. :) please continue to pray for a safe delivery and healthy caroline.

ethan is starting to notice babies more and more (have i mentioned that already lately? sorry if i'm repeating myself). it's so funny b/c when cousin karina was born 2 months ago, he was more interested in the buttons on auntie kristie's hospital bed than the cute bundle wrapped in pink! today, kristie and karina were visiting, and he just couldn't keep his hands off her. he was so excited and kept exclaiming, "bay!" (for "baby")... he didn't really appear jealous when i was holding her, but i will say that it was quite a challenge to ward off his quick little hands from attacking delicate karina! i think i just had an elbow free, and i'm not sure how i managed to keep that baby safe. :) ha. so i got a little taste of what it will be like around our house very soon. but at least i won't have this big belly in the way!! :) we are so looking forward to the growth of our family and to watching ethan love his baby sister.

here's a picture of karina today on her personal ottoman-- my belly! (looks like she's gonna be a thumb-sucker like her cousin!)

sleep is a wonderful thing

i just had to share that i had a GREAT night's sleep last night! what a blessing it was to wake up feeling refreshed and without an aching back! thank you if you've been praying for me to get some rest. i think the key is that i went to bed before my back started hurting (which translates: "before i've done too much around the house and before midnight")... i was comfortable for the first time in several weeks. so yay for sleep!!!!!

it's been a busy place around here, getting final things ready for caroline's arrival. i keep intending to post more often, but i've just stayed busy cleaning out and fixing up... that nesting has surely kicked in! i still want to post that sermon from joshua harris... i'll try to do that soon (i know... i said that almost 2 weeks ago!)

all is well here. i have a dr's appointment in the morning, so maybe i'll be back tomorrow with exciting news of how i'm progressing. i'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it just doesn't seem like she can stay in here 5 more weeks! i'll let you know. :)

my day today...

actually, ethan has been quite wonderful today (unlike the pouncing children on the couch in this comic!)-- i am blessed that he played by himself very well this morning... i did not sleep well at all last night, which means i am taking every one of my child's sleeping moments to catch up on my rest. which means that by the end of the day, my living room will look like this lady's, and hopefully my hair won't look that bad! ha! i am thankful that i have a very understanding husband who knows that my daily housework has to suffer on days like these so that i am somewhat rested and comfortable. it will probably continue to suffer for the next 6 weeks as i get more tired and more achy... but praise God that my justification is not in what i get done in any given day! praise God that my justification comes from Christ alone! joshua harris has a wonderful message about this very thing... once i can figure out how to link to it, i'll post the message on here for you to listen to. so check back soon.

not too much longer!

well, almost 6 weeks and counting until caroline's arrival....i'm getting to that point where i'm so ready to not be pregnant anymore, but it's shocking when i think about having another baby in 6 weeks!! ahhh!! we are so excited to welcome this baby girl into the world, don't get me wrong! i've just already forgotten what a newborn cry sounds like in our house, and i was thinking the other day about how strange it will be to dress a baby who can't sit up or even hold her head up yet... i'm sure it will all come back in an instant-- though neither brian nor i will miss the little boy sprinkler that comes fully assembled at birth. :)

i am feeling pretty good... i really can't complain. my back is pretty sore most of the time, but i know that's just a part of pregnancy- especially toting around ethan on top of this belly of mine! it's pretty hard to sleep well at night anymore (i'm SUCH a stomach sleeper), but that's to be expected too. i really think that this is one way God prepares moms-to-be for the middle of the night feedings once the baby comes.... i'm not used to a good night's sleep right now, so i won't miss it too much more once i'm up to feed caroline. i'm thankful that overall, i'm still feeling ok. i went to the dr. friday, and she said i'm measuring a week ahead, but i know that doesn't mean much of anything. everything looks good for now... caroline continues to kick and kick and move and shove every possible body part against my belly as much as she can! please continue to pray for God's peace and guidance as we anticipate this little girl's delivery! i just can't wait for her to be here!

the nursery is (finally) pretty much done. we still have a few odds and ends to put together, but at least she'll have a place to sleep! i'm really happy with how it turned out. i'll have to post some pictures of it soon. it's a vintage nursery with old kids' books and dolls and a precious ABC wall hanging my mom made, and nursery rhyme things..and my doll cradle that my grandfather made me years ago.... not your typical pink girls' nursery! i don't think there's an ounce of pink in that room, actually. :) lots of primary colors with a vintage tone to them. check back for pictures.

here's a picture for you... on the left is me at 33 weeks with ethan... on the right is me a few days ago at 33 weeks with caroline. my belly is SIGNIFICANTLY larger this time around! look at that girl sticking out!!! but i was happy to notice that i don't look quite so miserably pregnant in my face this time around-- i guess everything has gone to that belly of mine! just thought this was a pretty entertaining comparison... i wonder how big she'll be!


have a great week! enjoy the beautiful fall weather God has given us!