Our miracle

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done. Sing to Him; yes, sing His praises. Tell everyone about His miracles. Exult in His holy name; O worshippers of the Lord, rejoice! Psalm 105:1-3

The psalmist goes on to recount the many things that God did for the people of Israel - leading them in Canaan, providing Joseph as a leader & protector, taking them out of slavery in Egypt, providing for them in the wilderness, etc.

This reminded me of the greatest miracle that has happened for Barry & I -- little Scooter. The doctor said we'd never have a child. Then we had 3 miscarriages. Each time it was a miracle -- because it wasn't supposed to happen, but each time it also was a loss. This miracle of life is more than we deserve and yet God chose to bless us with him. Sure it's been tough the last week as we try and decide what should be done for his delivery, but no matter what - this is our miracle! God has blessed us with a miracle!

Happy Anniversary!

It's my parents' 36th anniversary on Tuesday. I made this card for them. I used 5 papers, but tried to use the circle theme while making it. The R is a chipboard diecut that I painted white. I wrote Happy Anniversary! on the front.

We're excited to celebrate in person once Scooter makes his appearance!

Trip to OB Triage

Well, Wednesday afternoon/night I had difficulties with getting my blood pressure down. I rested while waiting for Barry to come get me from work and my blood pressure just wasn't going down. We came home and I rested more, but it still was high. I called the doctor on call (who just happened to be my doctor!) and was told to come in to OB Triage at the hospital on Thursday.

They checked me all out and monitored Scooter and all was well. But, my doctor put me on bed rest. I have 1 week to go till my due date and I have to sit at home. :(

UPDATE: Monday when I went to the doctor, she sent me again to OB Triage. She's concerned that I may develop pre-eclampsia & lab work is the most accurate way to know. We're still hoping to make it to his due date so more relaxing on the couch for me :(. Thursday I'll go again.

Baby Love

I've wanted to do a picture like this for a while because 1) you can see that Scooter has basically eaten my belly button and 2) it's just fun!

It's hard to believe that we're almost to the end... A little baby boy could be here any day!

Blood Pressure, Yikes!

When I went to my regularly scheduled doctors appointment on Monday, I found out that my blood pressure is a bit high. The doctor wants me to check it 3-4 times a day at various times during this next week. Instead of having to buy a cuff, my co-worker is letting me borrow hers.

Come on, Scooter! Less than 2 weeks to go!

Diaper Cake

Today I got this pretty cool gift! It's a diaper cake. Two girls from my office made it. As well I got a package of diapers from an anonymous gifter.

The doctor's appointment today was a little challenging. Although Scooter is doing good and staying in the right position, he is still pretty high in the birth canal which can mean that labor will be long. Today I had a higher blood pressure reading than normal so now she wants me to take it 3-4 times a day and report back to her next Monday. I really think that there had just been some stressful events that had occurred that morning, but the doctor wouldn't listen to me. So, we'll keep praying that God will work things out and Scooter will come when he's ready.

Card Making

We had a quiet weekend so I spent some time Saturday morning making some cards so that I could get a little ahead in case Scooter makes an appearance. Each of these are about 3"x5".

This was for my former boss who has a birthday on Monday. He kept teasing me Friday that Monday would be a good day to have a baby! :) I used 4 papers and a diecut letter G. I wrote Happy Birthday in red.

This is for a co-worker who's birthday is February 1. He is good friends with my previous boss so I have a relationship with him too. I used 4 papers and some 3d tape with the diecut letter B. I wrote Happy Birthday! in blue.
This card is for a co-worker who has a birthday on Jan. 29. I used 4 papers and some red organdy ribbon. I added the red die-cut A to personalize it for her.
Last but not least is a birthday card for Barry's co-worker who has a birthday on Tuesday. I used 4 different papers and some cream organdy ribbon. I used the die-cut J and wrote Happy Birthday! in pink.

Birthday cards for family

We had two birthdays over the weekend and I had to wait till after they got the gifts before I could show the cards!

This is for my niece who turned 4 on Saturday. It's just 2" x 3". I used 3 different papers and a die-cut letter C. There is also a piece of organdy ribbon and a pink sequin.

This is for her mom who's birthday is Sunday. I used 4 pieces of paper and some cream organdy ribbon. I painted a piece of chipboard white and wrote happy birthday in pink.

Happy birthday!

Getting Ready

We spent some time over the weekend getting our bags ready for the hospital. The black back pack is Scooter's and we have it stocked with diapers, an extra set of clothes, a blanket and all kinds of little things we've gotten. We got a good bit of things packed in the bag for us, but have a couple lists of things that we still need to get or things to put in at the last minute.

With the concern over Scooter's position, it's possible that this won't be as spontaneous as we thought, but we'll just have to see whether he stays head down or moves again.

Can you identify this body part?

Hmmmm! Can you tell what the body part is that we got a picture of? It's quite a mystery and this was the best picture she could get.

So, it's a foot. Which one, who knows, but it's a foot.

We found out that Scooter is breech. Therefore, they had a tough time getting anything to come out very clear. He is weighing in the 52nd percentile - 6 pounds 15 ounces so he's doing well.

Looks like a C-section is in our future and we're waiting for the date.

37 weeks!

We took a quick picture this morning before heading out to work to show the progress that Scooter is making. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday and although the numbers are all checking out, the doctor is concerned that he's either turned sideways or a bit small for where he should be. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday to have him checked out!

The bassinet is ready in our room, the car seat is securly fastened in the Jeep, we're getting the gifts from the shower tucked away and items washed... I think that we're getting close!

Blessings from Shower

We got everything home Tuesday night and of course had some inquisitive cats checking it all out. There were about 30 ladies who stayed and celebrated with me on the upcoming birth of our little one. We are so very blessed to have so many people in our lives that love us and want to help us prepare for him.

It's hard to believe that it's just about 3 weeks till he comes!

Thank Yous

My lovely co-workers are hosting a baby shower for us today. Since I knew there were 6 hosting the party, I decided to make up these cards so that I'd be ahead of the game.

Basically, I used 4 papers, but based the colors off of the striped one in the bottom right corner. I had these cool blue foam stickers that had been given to me and never used so I decided to incorporate them in the plain blue block. The light blue paper is all kinds of sayings about having a baby boy.

Here's a close up of the card. I had some smaller envelopes that I had gotten in a pack with cards that I wouldn't use so I used them to make these. The size is approximately 3"x 5". I cut white cardstock for the card. Inside it simply says "thank you!"

The nursery is done!

Here it is! The nursery is finally put all together and reality is setting in. A baby is really coming!

My good friend & co-worker, Mary and her husband Tony came by on Saturday to bring us the last big piece of the room -- the crib. They keep their grandson during the week and had a crib for him to sleep in. Now that he's 3 1/2, they are graduating him to a big boy's bed and gave us the crib. What a huge blessing!

Our good friends that moved to St. Louis gave us the beautiful picture that's over the crib. It ties the room together, don't you think? The curtains were purchased with a gift card. The quilt at the end of the crib was made by our sister-in-law in Michigan. She didn't even know the colors, but hit it right on!
Here are the two items that my co-worker, Stephanie gave us -- the rocker and the dresser. We found the bookshelf at a yard sale. The pack-n-play was given to us by friends from church.
This was the only piece that we ended up buying -- the changing table. We got it for a great deal at a discount store for $40. The diaper pail was a gift from a co-worker. My youngest sister Katie made the curtain as well as the bed skirt for the crib.
We left this wall khaki and I'm not sure if it'll stay this way, but we got the cork board/picture frame thing at a yard sale and painted green which helps pull things together on the wall. The wall decals are a fun accent that we've added around the room.

There it is... We moved our bedroom around and have the bassinet in there ready for the little one's arrival. We're hoping by having it in the room already that the cats will get used to it and not bother it. Just under 4 weeks now!

Sewing Projects

Initially when we decided on turtles and frogs, we weren't finding anything that had either that weren't kind of kooky -- frogs with sunglasses, etc. So I decided that I'd embroider a frog and turtle to have in Scooter's room. My mom had a coloring book with these two pictures so I shrunk them and this is what I came up with:

I'm hoping to get these framed and put up in the nursery.
Tomorrow we get the crib! :)

Co-Worker Birthdays

Barry has a co-worker and I have a co-worker with a birthday this week.

My co-worker with a birthday is my boss, Mary. We are doing a breakfast break for her so I made banana nut muffins. I also made a card. I used 5 papers, some pink organdy ribbon, and a burgundy letter m. I wrote inside "wishing you a fabulous birthday!"

This was for Barry's co-worker. It was his birthday earlier in the week, but he was out on vacation. I ran out of icing to write on the cookie, but was able to make some up with powdered sugar and milk that worked.

Creativity for Co-workers

Nothing like waiting till the last second! I had all week to work on these, but waited till Monday night to do them. Shame on me! The problem is by the time I get done the things that I need to do, I'm exhausted and just want to hang out on the couch! Oh well....

This card is for a boy! This co-worker took me to work during the 3 weeks that Barry had to work 2nd shift. I used 3 papers and a piece of twine.
This card is for my good friend that I worked with for 3 years, but now are in different departments. I used 4 papers, a piece of pink organdy ribbon, and a chipboard letter m. I wrote happy birthday! in brown on the front.
This card is very overdue as it was for a wedding Dec. 17. I used 3 papers and then a chipboard R that I painted black. I used gold ribbon on it because that was their primary color. I wrote their names on it with a gold pen. The R is adhered with 3d tape.

It's a puzzle...

Do you see something that doesn't belong? Ummm.... Look on the bottom shelf, in the middle. There is a cat. In fact, she's been there at least three times today sleeping on the super soft blanket Barry's sister sent for Scooter. We're going to have to figure out something else to put in there to keep her out!

We're getting close to having the nursery complete - maybe before the weekend!

Happy New Year!

Just over 35 weeks and Scooter's been pushing around trying to find some more space. He's been fairly active the last couple days - squirming and pushing, but he's got a good 5 weeks of growing to go yet.

We are so excited to be starting this year with our bundle of joy. God has certainly blessed us with more than we could hope for with the doctor's prognosis that we'd not be able to have children. There's still a lot of unknowns and a bunch of things that we need help with, but we know that this baby is coming in God's timing for us. Can't wait to see what this little guy will be like and bring him into this world!