27 weeks down, 13 to go!

Pregnancy has been treating me very well; honestly, I cannot complain about much. However, the one complaint I have is that I am unable to do certain "nesting" projects because of health hazards for the baby. Baby's health comes first, so of course I won't do any, but I really wanted to help strip and refinish the crib, and I wanted to have our bathroom painted before baby arrived. So what to do? Find a new SAFE project! I was inspired by Kristin's baby announcements for Evan to make my own! Armed with a Hobby Lobby giftcard (thanks Mom Riezebos) and my good friend Kelsey's artistic advice, I managed to find a great ensemble for being creative. Kelsey helped me with the layout, and I can get pretty much everything finished except for baby's picture and information, which won't take too long to attach later. Here are some preview pictures of the announcements!



I couldn't resist the little feet. I think they are absolutely adorable!

And here are some updated side shots so that you can see how big baby is getting! I am feeling tons of movement and it feels stronger every day. My stomach will sometimes look like it is bubbling under the skin, which is super weird, but amazing. The midwife said that I need to make sure I can feel baby every day, multiple times. It's a little early for a kick count, but now I will go in every week for a urine sample and to hear the heartbeat. Next week is third trimester! Only a few short months until we get to meet the active little one. You get a candid shot and a posed shot this time!

Saling with some success...

I attempted some garage saling (not a real verb, I know) to find some things for baby. I was particularly on the lookout for items like a high chair, bouncy seat, or a swing or something. However, there was not much in the way of furniture in the sales I saw, so I did not find any big items. The first garage sale I went to had some great stuffed animals for sale, and they were in awesome condition. So I grabbed some because it is my hope to decorate baby's room with animals like these!

Here is a closeup of one of the baby blankets. I thought it was cute. there are little duckies all over the other side of the blanket too!

Finishing May, Starting June

Now that I am officially done teaching, summer has officially begun. I have slowly been attacking our house, trying to get it back in order, and put the things that were never in order, in order. I am making progress! However, it is hard to be motivated when I have the freedom now in my schedule to say, "I'll do it tomorrow..." Hopefully I don't use it too often.
We were able to get away for Memorial Day to visit Amy and Marcus, which was fun. We had a good time playing games and eating brats. Can't get much better than that.
I feel like I'm getting bigger every day, which I guess is good because we want baby to keep developing and growing strong. 24 weeks is an amazing time. Even though we are praying that baby stays put for another 16 weeks, it is somewhat comforting to know that baby has developed enough that there is a chance of survival if born in the near future.
I am enjoying 2nd trimester much more now because I have a TON more energy. I am busy doing household chores and running errands all day, but am not nearly as exhausted as I used to be. I am enjoying this feeling of energy while I can, since in a few more weeks I will be a lot more uncomfortable at night to get a good night's sleep, and I know that when baby comes, sleep will be a distant memory. I will enjoy it while I can!

Beautiful Children...God's Children

Since I have been sick the past few days, I have not had much energy to do much besides sleep and sit. While I was sitting yesterday in front of the TV, I happened upon a show on TLC called "Toddlers and Tiaras". Yikes. It made me hope very much that I would not have a little girl if those are the sort of pressures that raising a little girl entails. What if her classmates compete in stuff like that and criticize her for not being pretty enough? Teaching a child to compete to be the prettiest from the time they can walk is almost sickening to me. Now, granted, the thought has crossed my mind, "What if I have an ugly child?" Then I always feel bad. Of course, I would love it if my child is moderately adorable, but I don't understand why parents push their children to look "the best", which is usually fake in those beauty pageants. Watching a bit of that show motivated me to begin praying now that our little child, boy or girl, would grow to believe that they are beautiful because they are a child of God, and saved by Jesus. No other beauty matters than the beauty of redemption and adoption in Christ. I pray that I can teach that truth to them very early on to spare them the heartaches of trying to live up to the world's standards of beauty.

Shifting Focus

I only have two more days of teaching left! It is hard to believe, but at the same time very welcome. My second year went by quickly, but not without a lot of events and stress to make me ready for summer. And not only is it the last day with my students for this year, but for awhile. After this, my focus will be shifting from teacher and director to mother and caretaker of a family. This is a huge shift, but one I am looking forward to. Now that I can actually see it when baby moves, and my skin is stretching more and more, and I am feeling more full and pregnant, I am ready to "NEST". I want to organize, clean, plan, and decorate the house so that it is in the best shape possible for baby's arrival. And summer, along with not going back to teaching, gives me time to shift my focus and get used to the new career of mothering. I will miss many things about teaching, but I am looking forward to many blessings of parenting, even though I have NO IDEA what to expect. I just have to keep praying that God will guide us and will get me through this transition, and as long as my focus of my whole life remains in the gospel, I will get through whatever other transitions are ahead.

New Furniture for Baby (and me)

We have begun our purchasing adventure for the nursery!
Last weekend we hit up a garage sale down the street and were pleased to find a crib and a glider/rocker for very cheap, but in good, solid condition. We will probably refinish the crib, which will be a good summer project for Garry, and for me to help out, as long as no toxic chemicals are involved. Just a few more pieces of furniture to get, and I can start decorating the baby's room!
We also bought a piano! Craigslist is quickly becoming something that I am less wary of as the experiences we've had so far have been great. We bought a little spinet piano and it fits wonderfully into our living room. It is in definite need of tuning, but that gives me another hobby for this summer. I am excited to play again, and also looking forward to having it around for baby to hear and eventually learn to play. A goal is to be able to help out on worship team with the piano as we have a limited number of pianists, but that goal will probably take a good year to accomplish.
Here are some pictures of our new furniture!

Lots of Movement for Baby

This is my first official Mother's Day! Hooray!
The past week has been incredible in that I can really feel baby move around now. Sometimes the movements are so strong they surprise me and I can't help but say, "Oh!" or "Woah!". Baby definitely has long periods of sleeping though, and seems to wake up right when I want to go to bed. Last night baby kept me awake for a little while as I was trying to fall asleep. I'm sure this is only the beginning of that happening! At least the movements are still gentle enough that they don't hurt or make me uncomfortable. I'll cherish these moments of movement while I can because before I know it, baby will have movements that are pushing on ribs and other sensitive parts.
Oh! And we bought a crib and a glider/rocking chair for the baby's room! We got them used at a garage sale, but they are in decent shape. The crib will be a project for Garry this summer to refinish and hopefully stain a nice color. Exciting times!
And this morning I could tell that baby can hear now. I played congas in church for worship today, and as soon as I would start playing, baby would wiggle around in surprise of the noise. Hopefully baby will grow up with a good sense of rhythm from listening to conga beats twice a week!