Mara's birth story

We're so happy to welcome our sweet daughter to our family! Little Mara Grace has been with us for almost four weeks now - unbelievable.

I have rather prompt children, I guess! Both my son and my daughter were born on their due dates, an experience that I'm told is rather rare.

One day old!

On Friday the 16th, I had my 40 week obgyn appointment. My due date was Saturday, January 17th, and my doctor said she would sweep my membranes to try to get things moving. It was painless for me, which was great! I had a few contractions after that and throughout the evening, but they were inconsistent. My mom had come into town, as she had planned, and we had a nice time together. It was good for her to follow Joshua's regular schedule with me, as she would be caring for him when we left for the hospital.

I awoke at about 5:30 the following morning to real contractions. Time-able. Had to breathe through them. I woke Brad and had him pass me his phone so I could download and use a contraction timer app. As I breathed through the pain, the first words that came to mind were these from Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Over and over. I focused on those words of truth and felt peace settle over me through the pain. God is my strength. He is my help. He holds me. Do not fear.

I timed for about an hour before I realized that the contractions were already between three and five minutes apart - time to get to the hospital! 

Meanwhile, Joshie and Nana had already gotten up and started breakfast. The smell of coffee was familiar and comforting, reminding me of my childhood. I don't drink coffee, but it was calming. So good to have my mom here.

I dressed myself between contractions and got downstairs to the armchair to wait for the on-call doctor to return my call and to tell me to come to the hospital. I waited and breathed and centered myself on the scripture. Joshua looked over at me from the breakfast table and wondered if Mommy was okay. Mommy's belly hurts, I said. But everything is okay. The baby will come out today, and the doctor will help. Mommy and Daddy will go to the doctor, and baby sister will come out.

The ride to the hospital was a mere 20 minutes, but felt so long with contractions every three minutes or so. And oh, was it cold! But it was a clear, sunny day, with passable roads. Just what I had prayed for. And I remained peaceful.

The triage experience was less than fun. They require a urine sample as soon as I set foot in the door. That was difficult to manage during my frequent contractions! Then the belly monitors were put on me for a fetal non-stress test and to time my contractions. As I waited for that, they also tried to insert an IV. And failed. It took three attempts and two different locations and two different nurses to get my IV started! So frustrating. It became difficult to focus and center myself with the bright lights, people talking to me through contractions, and the extra pain from the needle pricks. And I was already at 4.5cm dilated - all on my own, with no drugs. I felt proud of that, but was already beginning to feel less than strong. It was probably about 45 minutes there in triage before we were taken to a birthing/recovery room and I was given a steroid to take the edge off my pain.

Since things were seeming to progress quickly, my epidural was started by about 8:30am. Instant relief. The anesthesiologist who gave the epidural was calming, confident, and quick. I felt so much better and slept a bit. I was able to read a book and text and laugh - and didn't feel a single contraction - until the insertion point got bumped and started to come out. I ended up needing a second epidural.

My water did not break for hours and hours; the baby was sitting so high, and hadn't descended into my pelvis to cause the water to break. The doctors didn't want to rupture it for me, as it could've caused the umbilical cord to get stuck in the birth canal and cause a dangerous situation for the baby. So we waited. And waited. The nurses were wonderful about helping me.

I was fully dilated by early afternoon, but was not allowed to push because of the baby's position. I was getting frustrated and tired, and felt emotional. I asked to sit upright, and had my feet lowered. A couple hours later, my water finally broke on its own, and things began to move quickly.

By 8pm, it was time. Nurses brought in the delivery items, spread out instruments on the tables, and laid out smocks for the doctor and nurse practitioner. The baby's isolette was brought in, as was the scale and other items to clean her up when she was born.

At 8:15pm, I began to push. Not more than eight pushes and four contractions later, little Mara Grace was born at 8:31pm! The cord was around her neck, so it had to be cut early. I'm glad for the doctor's quick attention to her and to keeping me safe, too. I didn't tear at all, and didn't have to have any stitches this time. So thankful.

Mara was whisked to the table and dried vigorously, and then she began to cry. What a strong cry! She was adamant about wanting to nurse. She weighed in at 7lbs, 12oz, and was 20.5" long. As soon as she was ready, I started to nurse her. And she nursed for an hour and a half! Poor Daddy didn't get to hold her for that long. He made many phone calls, though, and was elated when he finally got to hold his little princess.

 

Two

Joshua is two!

It's unbelievable, really. My tiny baby is now a 35.5" tall, 25lb, talking and toilet trained toddler. What?!

The morning of his birthday, he had birthday pancakes. We sang the "Happy Birthday" song to him, and he got to blow out candles for the first time! He has been saying "Happy birthday Joshua, I blow fire," ever since. Too cute! 

Later in the morning on his birthday, some of our neighborhood friends stopped by with a gift for Joshua: a new dump truck! They also stayed and played for a little while, and enjoyed reading a book together with "Grandma Sue."

On Saturday, Nana and Grandpa were here all day! There was much playing, reading, jumping, and even a trip to Trader Joe's and Five Guys for lunch. 

He loves tractors and construction vehicles lately, so his party had to be full of tractors. I made cupcakes and a pan of brownies to stand in for a cake. Yes, I did buy the wrong boxed mix at the store. Hazard of shopping with said toddler.

"Digger" tractors like backhoes are his favorite, so I mixed up some yellow frosting and piped that onto the brownies. I crumbled some Wegman's brand "oreo" cookies into the front loader to stand in for rocks and dirt. Dirt was one of Joshie's clearest first words. A sign, perhaps?

Joshua again enjoyed having people sing to him, and the opportunity to "blow fire" with Daddy.

 

 
Joshie was excited about the paint he got from Brad and me, and asked to paint right away. That was a no-go, but he did get to play with the set of construction vehicles that Aunt Elizabeth sent! He didn't let go of the "digger" tractor for about four days straight, even taking it to bed and naps with him.

We had Joshua's good friend, Jo (and his parents and sister, of course), over for the party, and all of Joshua's grandparents were all able to be there this year. Much fun was had by all!

please note that Joshua and the tractors are inseparable

Still can't believe we've been parents for two years, and that our second sweet blessing is coming so soon!

mini Captain America

This is probably the last Halloween that I can officially choose Joshie's costume without any input from him, so I made it a good one: Captain America!

The forecast for October looked chilly this year, and the trick-or-treating night proved cool and damp, indeed. I planned his costume to be cozy, using his snow boots and warm fleece pants. I put him in a thermal shirt and cozy socks, and used his navy blue fleece zip-up hoodie to complete the cozy. He absolutely loved holding "Daddy's" hand and running up to each door with his best buddy, JoJo. He quickly learned how to say "Trick-or-treat" and "Happy Halloween" and did a great job.

I ransacked our drawers for the right t-shirt material colors to make the stripey portions and the essential Captain America shield. Luckily, one of Brad's old undershirts, one of my red tank tops, and a royal blue onesie from the too-small, too-old-to-wear pile were just the right colors to use for the project. 

I made a "pinny" of sorts out of the undershirt, first, so that I could pull it on over Joshie's coat. I then used strips of red to make the stripes, sewing right onto the pinny.

The star was made of more undershirt material, but I first attached interfacing to make it stiffer. I then sewed around the shape of the star, cut it out, and cut it in half. I attached it to either side of the zipper on the fleece hoodie, using large stitches to make it easy to remove later. The letter "A" on the hood was made using the same process.

For the shield, I used a frisbee and traced a circle onto the red tank top fabric that was about 3" larger all around. I then made a channel to thread elastic through, and set that circle aside. I added two white circles and a blue one, with a final star in the center to complete the look. I threaded the elastic through the red fabric and stretched it over the frisbee. Hooray, a shield! I added two pieces of elastic to the back of the shield so that Joshie could wear it on his arm or his back.

Here's the whole look:

The red snow plow is an essential part of getting out the door. We always bring a tractor, truck, or ball when we go out!

"app-eee ah-ween!" "tick uh teet!!" says Joshua. :)

baby girl frills

I've been dreaming of putting flowers and bows and sparkly accessories on my baby girl since the first moment I found out about her!

A few weeks ago, I picked up some fold-over elastic at Jo-Ann Fabrics and tucked it into my sewing box. It really has taken this long for me to make it to the actual crafting stage. Life with a toddler, friends! It's beautiful, messy, full, crazy, hard, wonderful, and too busy most days for crafting.

But, today, I did a little bit.

Behold, the polka dot and floral cuteness:

Also, ignore the poor quality phone photo. This is life, currently - can't always pick up my nice camera!

What do you think? I can't wait to put it on my sweet baby girl!

654

6:54pm is one of my very favorite times of day. I'm usually snuggling my sweet little boy, smelling his clean, wet hair, and giving him gentle kisses as I repeat these words to him: God is always with you. I quote Joshua 1:9 and Hebrews 13:5b-6 to him, and hope he internalizes it. We rock. I pat his back. Sometimes he lifts his head from my shoulder and gives me little baby boy kisses. He is precious.

By that time, we have already prayed and thanked God for all the important things in his day. At the forefront these days are friends, dirt, and tractors. And ROCKS! and Daddy. And Daddy's guitar, mandolin, and bass. And any other relatives he can remember to list. I have sung him a bedtime hymn, and he has had a wonderfully fun bathtime.

Most of the stress has begun to melt by 6:54. I remember how much I love my son, how thankful I am to be his mommy, and how blessed we are. I feel tired, and sometimes I still have yet to cry the tears I held back all day. There's still dinner to make for when my husband gets home, and I have just a few minutes to tidy the house and do something for me. Like blogging. Or reading a magazine. Or eating a chocolate chip cookie without sharing.

But 6:54? That's a moment of peace. A moment of all-is-well. An embodiment of my love for my family and for the God who allowed it to be like this, today. And yesterday. And so many bed times before.

little boy wall art

I have been meaning to do this for a very long time. Thank you to an artistic and musical acquaintance at church whose word art and writing have been so inspirational! This woman does some amazing chalkboard art, not to mention crafting some incredibly moving and transparent blog posts. Her book is going to be a must-read. My attempt at word art is far from as polished and professional as hers, but, alas, here it is.

When Joshua was born, I wanted to be sure that I chose some meaningful scriptures for him to internalize as he grew. Some that stood out were Joshua 1:9 and Hebrews 13:5-6. I have been repeating parts of the Hebrews verse to him each night as I put him down to sleep; it seems soothing to him to hear again and again that God is always with him, that we can trust Him, that we don't need to be afraid.

Ever since I knew I was pregnant with Joshua, I had been praying that my baby might be a leader, a difference-maker in this world, someone who would bring glory to God and do it with humility. The name "Joshua" is perfect for my little guy - someone that God will certainly use to lead others. And boy, is that leadership potential apparent in toddlerhood. AmIright, parents? I have a little Director on my hands who is learning and being disciplined each day to become a self-sufficient, example-setting, people-loving leader. This is a messy process, friends.

His room is loosely decorated in a nautical theme, with a pretty Monet poster, navy grommet top curtains, a vintage U. S. navy towel in light blue and white, a blue and silver banner that I made, and some Nautica kids bedding - all with white walls and a wood floor - so that I can change his room theme easily, later.  This word art completes the theme, I think, adding just the right amount of red. Someday soon, I hope to make him an oversized letter "J" pillow to toss on his soon-to-be-a-toddler-bed.

Without further ado:

our life right now

Our life is changing, along with the seasons. Joshua can say more words clearly, my belly grows larger, and my husband continues to excel at his job, too. We found, or rather, a car fell into our laps, and we were able to purchase it. We somehow, suddenly, have a second vehicle, a second car seat, and I can take Joshua out for the day. The little guy started showing an interest in toilet training, so he's doing that, too. And to top it all off? Our little tiny baby is not a second son, but a daughter. A girl!

Talk about a change! Bring on the glitter, flowers, frills, tea parties, and dollies. This momma is so excited.

And I am embracing every solo moment with my sweet, kind little boy. Exploring outside, learning about dirt, rocks, and tractors, playing with his little friends. Even when he has an accident on the floor or an untimely tantrum. No, those are not fun moments, but they pass so quickly. And he needs me to be invested in him, not in what he does. I am trying. I wake each day and pray for strength and wisdom to meet the challenges of the day. This song comes to mind, and sometimes I sing it to Joshie at bedtime for his lullaby:

Day by day, and with each passing moment, 
Strength I find to meet my trials here.
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best.
Lovingly, it's part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day, the Lord himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour.
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He whose name is Counselor and Power.

The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on himself He laid.
As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure -
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me, then, in every tribulation,
So to trust thy promises, O Lord.
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation
Offered me within thy holy word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a Father's hand.
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
'Till I reach the promised land.

little things: a long time coming

The last time I published was in May. There are many excuses. But here I am, anyway, with good news!

There will be another little one added to our family in mid-January! We got to see our tiny baby just last week via ultrasound, and six weeks earlier saw his or her strong, beating heart. What a blessing and an answer to our prayers. God is good to us!

The baby will be about 25 months younger than Joshua, which I think sounds just about perfect. They'll get to grow up together, play together, and have each other to lean on as they go through life.

I'm praying for strength, peace, and grace to be a good mommy to the two little blessings that we've been given!

I do think I could now do a list of the little things, don't you? 

1. Our tiny baby with wiggly hands and feet, and a strong heartbeat
2. My Joshua giving me kisses and picking flowers for me when we're outside
3. Having the opportunity this past June to teach at summer music school again
4. Being able to be there for a friend as she adjusts to her newest little one
5. Sharing maternity clothes with friends
6. Already being past the nausea and food aversions, and feeling more energetic
7. The blessing of peace in place of my fear for this pregnancy
8. The conversations Brad and I have already had about possible names for our littlest
9. Quiet evenings and nights of unbroken sleep, thanks to a certain newly sleeping-through-the-night toddler
10. Being blessed in so many ways because God is good. He is holy, sovereign, and in control. That he has his glory and his purpose in mind, even in the most difficult of times. That he hears our hearts' cries and holds us in every moment.

I may someday share about the depth of pain and struggle that we've been through, but for now, it's enough to know that God is faithful, that he is present, and that we are held in his hands no matter the circumstance.

I am so thankful!

A children's song

I sing to my son all day long. Sometimes they're songs I know from my childhood, sometimes hymns, sometimes songs I make up. We listen to so much music. Classical plays in his bedroom. Anything on Daddy's iPod in the living room. Pandora everywhere else. I like to think that he's constantly in his own personal music education classroom.

That said, some of these songs I learned in my childhood have lyrics that I'm not sure I want my son to internalize.

One little, two little, three little...Indians? Um... I replace that with "children" or something similar, but it doesn't quite work at the end of the song. Sing it through. You'll know what I mean. "Ten little happy boys" might work as the last line.

Anyway, the song that stands out in my mind is a classic - "Jesus Loves the Little Children."All the children of the world. So far, so good. It's the third line that bugs me. "Red and yellow, black and white" just doesn't work anymore, if it ever did. People take offense to being labeled with a color. Besides, I'm not white. My skin is light peach. Or tan. With freckles. And blue veins and red-flushed cheeks.

So I changed the words. Here's the original if you want to reference it. The first verse here is not entirely mine - I'm pretty sure it shows up in the blue Covenant Hymnal, but Hymnary doesn't have that information. However, I did make up a second verse.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Every color, every race
They are covered by his grace
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Every country, everywhere
Jesus hears their every prayer
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

I'm working on coming up with a third verse, but it might be a while before I get it just right. I'll just keep singing to my baby. He doesn't mind.

What do you think? Any songs you know from childhood that should be revamped for today's kids?

short sleeves for spring

My mother-in-law loves to dote on her grandson. This makes me a happy momma, indeed!

Last week, we stopped in at a local children's resale shop, and she picked up a haul of great deals for Joshua to enjoy this spring and summer! A couple pairs of shorts, a Fisher Price bubble mower, and their everyday 10 onesies for $10 deal.

Four of the onesies happened to be long sleeved, and that's not so suitable for spring, right? But I had an idea...

...and I made them into short sleeved onesies!

You may remember that I wrote a silly little lament for my sewing machine. The machine is still out of commission, but a good friend of mine let me borrow her (new in the box!) machine for my little project. So generous! It was a dream to sew on such an easy-to-use, smooth machine. Everything went so perfectly. Thank you, Dena!

I cut off the sleeve at the length I wanted the finished sleeve to be. I used an existing short sleeved shirt of Joshua's to be sure it was a good length.

Then, I cut off the original shirt sleeve cuffs, turned them inside out, and fitted them over the newly-shortened sleeve so that the raw edges lined up.

Lastly, I stretched the fabric out and sewed straight-line stitches to reattach the "new" sleeve cuffs. Turned them back to the right side, trimmed threads, and there we go!

Cute? I think so! I'm pleased and happy to have some "new" play clothes for my little boy! Thanks, "Grandma!"

play dough, for real

Yesterday, I felt like super mom. Made dinner in the crock pot, swept floors, played with baby, made homemade play dough. Today? Let's just roll with it and let it be what it is!

I used this recipe for play dough, and found it to be good. I didn't have quite enough cream of tartar, but it still turned out well! Smooth, soft, squishy, and almost exactly like the brand name stuff. It does have a bit of a salty, grainy texture, but that didn't bother me. Also, if it gets wet, the food coloring starts to bleed onto hands. But I can live with that! It also made A LOT of play dough - I split it into fourths and put away 3/4 of the dough in separate containers for another day.

Joshua loved it!

thrifty Thursday

I love thrifting. It's thrilling to me to find something I've been needing for so much less that it would cost from its original store.

Lately, Brad has been needing jeans to wear to work. His office recently switched over  to more casual dress, and he hasn't worn a pair of khakis to work in ages! His jeans collection was starting to be a bit threadbare, and one of his last good pairs ripped all the way up the leg. Dire situation, indeed.

My mission upon entering thrift stores, then, has been first, to find jeans for Brad, second, to find clothes for my ever-growing toddler, and third, to find a couple nice pieces  for myself, since my post-pregnancy shape is so different.

Today was a triple win. Hooray!

Not one, but THREE pairs of pants for Brad:
One pair of Levi's (about $58 new), one pair of brand new, with tags, Old Navy jeans ($29.50), and a pair of Banana Republic jeans ($89!?!) for a grand total of $35.

A likely brand new baby Gap thermal (white with navy stripes) for my sweet little boy:
(Similar one $19.95) for $0.75. Boom, baby.

And a cute sweater and skirt for me! The skirt is old, from Old Navy. Probably about 2006? Let's imagine that it was probably about $15. The sweater doesn't have a tag, but it looks like it could be Old Navy, as well. I'll imagine that it was likely $20 new. Both items came to $6.50 total.

So the grand total is about $42.  It would have been about $222 new. I paid about 19% of the original price of these items.

I. Love. Thrifting.

Happy Thursday!

Joshua's first birthday

Whew, a year has come and gone! Joshua is ONE!

I started party planning back in August, I think, with this Pinterest board. I hope you can see that...let me know if you have trouble with the link.

First, a theme: rockets! How fun for a little guy, right? I thought so. And hey, I get to pick, since he's not telling me what he wants just yet ;)

I figured I'd make a rocket cake, stick with red and blue as theme colors, and maybe go with some galactic symbols here and there: stars, planets, aliens? Big brainstorm time.

In my planning, I also wrote a poem for his birthday invitation, which looked like this, thanks to some conveniently free clip art included in Publisher:

 Ta-da! Now we're rolling.
So, now for some pictures of the day.

 We gave Joshua his first-ever balloons to play with. Closely supervised, of course.

 I made star-shaped sugar cookie cutouts for the take-home gift for our guests.

The rocket cake was made out of a 9"x11" sheet cake (funfetti, of course). I trimmed the cake into the body of the rocket, and then used the scraps to form the wings on the sides of the rocket. The jets were yellow cake cupcakes in foil cups, frosted with red and orange frosting to look fiery.  I used a regular vanilla buttercream recipe for the frosting, tinting it with Wilton's gel paste food coloring as needed. Please note that it matches the rocket on the invitation; I was so happy with how it turned out!

 The rest of the yellow cake cupcakes, one of which was reserved for the birthday boy, were frosted in the same white vanilla buttercream, and sprinkled with blue sugar. Those are Hershey's kisses in the background, and one of our blue table runners from our wedding reception underneath.

 Joshua holds onto a willing hand to walk around the house and visit guests. So sweet. Also, he was pretty much permanently attached to that balloon.

 First cake ever. Clearly, a big hit.

 I kept the menu simple, with fresh fruit (thank you, Grandma Burr), a little veggie tray, crackers and cheese, and the desserts, of course. In the corner of the photo, you can see my star banner that I made! I wish I had a better photo of that, but forgot to take a good picture. We also decorated with pictures of Joshua from each month of his life, hung on a white cotton string with clothespins. There was also a banner of blue and silvery-blue triangles that we used at my baby shower for Joshua just over a year ago.

 Yes. The cake was satisfactory.

 A worn out birthday boy and two happy parents, celebrating one whole year! Also, more of that star banner I mentioned.

Happy birthday, big guy! We love you so much.