Waistline Wednesday- 34 weeks

Uhm wow, 6 weeks to go, that is just crazy!! And let's remember that's the latest...if I happen to go into labor at 36+ weeks, it's considered safe and baby will come! I do not feel prepared. Even though I have "experience" with this whole parenting thing, I'm pretty sure I feel less ready this time. Some of that is not having the room finished (I'm not really a procrastinator at heart but sometimes circumstances push you to that end) and the other is just the whole idea of another child. 3 kids at home with me. All. the. time. I have no idea how this is going to pan out, especially in the mix of all Maggie's therapy. Whew, by God's grace alone, that's for sure. I didn't find a dresser at thrift stores or Craigslist so retail it is. I actually found one on Walmart.com and went to place the order only to discover this dresser in the finish I want is out of stock. Nice. I tracked down the manufacturer and they're out as well. The website, did however estimate more stock arriving by 8/5. So I checked again and the new in-stock date estimated 8/12. Oh my goodness. I managed to find it at another online furniture store for a few dollars more, but at this point it just had to get ordered. Hopefully in a couple (more) weeks, I'll finally be able to finish and reveal the nursery/big boy room- since little man will be in there as well.
Dear baby Jacob,
A part of me is so excited to meet you and hold you in my arms while the other part is anxious about your arrival. I know you'll be a wonderful addition to our little family and that God is knitting you together in my womb- perfect, beautiful little you. Mommy just gets a little nervous about logistics, that's who I am, but I know it will all work out because you're a very special gift from God. He never gives us more than we can handle and I'm looking forward to another blessing in my life and helping to raise/create/mold/teach another miracle only He can provide. You are already so love, little Jake. Your brother talks to you all the time and cannot wait to share his room with and play with you. I'll warn you though, he did say to me once that he can't wait until you're old enough so he can beat you up. Haha, that is so funny and upsetting at the same time. But just for the sake of argument, go ahead and practice some moves these last few weeks in your warm, cozy little home. You may need them. Perhaps that's what you're busy doing in there all the time- you certainly like to move as much as your siblings did! I love you and can't wait to meet you soon...but not too soon. :) Love, mommy.

Front Door Update

I've wanted to spruce up our front door for a long time but like many projects, it was put on the back burner while other things that 'needed' doing got done. My main idea for the front door was a wreath, a large B or a cross. I planned to embellish whichever I chose. I finally decided to do a wreath and a B but for awhile didn't have luck finding the wreath I wanted. Yes, I know, they're not hard to find. I love the yarn and fabric-wrapped wreaths but it seems like everyone is doing them and I didn't want to be a flat-out copycat. Well, until I ran across this post. Uhm, why have I never thought to do this? No idea. But I saw this and got to work with my Cricut and made a welcome sign for the front door with vinyl!

Sorry for the blurry pic. Mine looks almost just like hers, but I have only a few font cartridges and this color vinyl matches the trim on our house, so I didn't have much choice. A couple weeks later I finally found a diaper wreath at a thrift store I could re-purpose and it was under $7! I started with this (and saved the diapers for future use of course):

And ended with this:

Details for re-constructing the wreath are here. In the future

I'd like to make the whole front porch as pretty as my door,

but for now I'm happy with the progress I've made:

Projects

In between sewing and crafting baby things, I've been working on projects around the house. Yes, I have certainly been a busy bee! But I'm determined to get some of these things done 'cause if I can't do it with two little ones, I sure can't do it with three! I ran across a blog recently named "mommy by day, crafter by night" (at least I think that was it) and it's so true! Of course, I get a couple nap times during the week too when Will is occupied with other things. Anyway, on to the projects.
First is a behavior chart for Will. He's been in a funk lately and is just struggling to listen and follow basic rules that have been in place for awhile. He did this before Maggie was born too so hopefully it's a phase and he'll be back to normal after baby Jacob arrives. Until then, we instituted this behavior chart. I've really wanted one for a long time, but never got around to it. While perusing a link party one night, I ran across  Snickety Things blog whose author recently instituted her own chart and routine. This gave me some good inspiration and I was ready to tackle it. I used her idea for "working," "looking good" and "wow" plus her behavior categories, "chores," "room," "attitude" and "listening" but I'm not quite ready to institute a money reward system with Will and wanted to make a magnet board instead of the door hangers she used. I have been perusing thrift stores for awhile now in search of baby items and haven't had luck with those, but finally came across some other great buys for other projects, one of which was a frame for Will's chart. Here's what I came up with:

Three categories for behavior and four areas he's expected to behave, as mentioned above. I made the chart and smiley faces on the computer, printed them out and cut the faces. I thought a simple 'stop light' color code would work nicely, particularly because Will loves green and that's the best one to achieve. He has responded really well to this so far- having something visual helps both of us measure his progress/behavior throughout the day and he's well aware of the consequences for receiving reds and the rewards for receiving greens, particularly if he gets four of them. And he has a couple times- not surprisingly, the first time was when he spent the day with Daniel last week when I took Maggie to CRS.
So where's the magnet board I mentioned and the frame I bought at the thrift store? WELL, we bought a small piece of steel at Lowe's along with magnet tape, but the piece is too big for the frame. We thought it would be, but they don't cut the steel to size and I decided to get it on the premise that our friend, Brett, had something to cut it with. He doesn't. Well, Daniel thinks it works really well on the fridge, so I'll either return the steel or save it for another project. Hopefully I can use the fabric I cut to size for something else too. :)

This next project was completed last month but I haven't written about it yet. It's a camera purse and is inexpensive and super easy. These are all over the internet right now, but my original inspiration came from here. One of the things I miss most about my point and shoot camera is that it fit nicely in my purse and could go anywhere. When Will dunked it in water, I decided to save for a DSLR and about 9 months later had enough to purchase it! I love the camera, but it sure isn't space savvy like my little point and shoot. Many months ago I ran across this tutorial and knew I had to try it. Eventually I bought a purse, some foam and used fabric scraps to complete the purse. I didn't follow her tutorial exactly, in fact when the time came, I just winged it. I like hers better, so I may add more foam and update my purse. Here's what I came up with:

The best part was I wasn't worried about seams looking pretty or precise, I just closed the fabric around the foam- it's just sitting in the purse after all! I definitely recommend doing this, but follow her tutorial, it came out better than my "winging it" version! Come back soon to see some other projects I've recently completed!

Thankful Thursday- CRS

Child Rehabilitation Services, CRS, is a division of the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) and serves to assist families with getting equipment for their disabled children. Marliese told us about this shortly after Maggie's CP diagnosis- they only help with certain diagnoses- but it takes forever to get anything done. We had to be referred, fill out paperwork, have an interview and then get scheduled for a clinic where we visit CRS doctors/therapists so they can determine if she's eligible for the equipment we're asking for. In between all this, I made several phone calls asking if we were ready to take the next step. Marliese prepared me for all the hoops I'd have to jump through, but once Maggie's in the system, they cover the cost of equipment insurance doesn't cover. 

So, we finally went to our clinic last week- it's similar to a doctor appointment in that a lot of waiting is involved. We saw a nutritionist, speech-language pathologist, physical therapist and orthopedic doctor. The nutritionist gave me assurance that I'm doing well with her diet- she is small, only in 3% on the growth chart (which I think I've mentioned the pediatrician is always concerned about) but when you compare her weight to height, she's in the 20%, so that was nice to hear. Basically, she's a healthy weight for her height. The SLP actually said the words, "most likely she will talk" and augmentative communication devices will help with that. That is likely to be our next step with Sally, who has discussed this with me before, the communication sheets I've mentioned in previous posts are sort of the beginning of this. The PT and Ortho doc agreed she needs her own pair of AFO's/braces and recommended a gait trainer over a walker. We've used one before at therapy but have been using a walker more this year. The advantage of the gait trainer is that it straps her in, so she's more secure and independent. As she gets stronger, we can remove parts down to its base structure which is a walker. They gave me all the paperwork so this week or next we'll start the process of scheduling a fitting for her braces and ordering the gait trainer. Hopefully it won't take too long for everything to come in. I'd like her to have some practice in her new equipment before baby Jake arrives. 

I'm very thankful to have access to this service so that we can get the necessary tools to help our little girl develop and become independent, she sure wants it. I'm thankful, also, that our out-of-pocket expense in regards to the equipment should be very minimal. Living away from family certainly comes with challenges, but the more I deal with Alabama's Early Intervention system, with UCP and their child program- Hand in Hand the more I realize God has us here for a reason. AL has one of the best EI programs and all the resources connected to it- there's many states we could live in where we wouldn't have access to the quality programs and services they have available here. I'm thankful for God's wisdom when he placed us here. 

Waistline Wednesday- 32 weeks

Wow, only 8 weeks to go! It's been a couple weeks since I posted about my expanding waistline and the sweet, tiny little boy who resides in my womb. I'm happy to report I've made some preparation progress since my last post. I've finished bibs & burp cloths, bought a crib and finished wall letters for the nursery. I'll buy or make more bibs when he gets older, but I have enough for now and plenty of burpies. I finally found a crib on Craigslist, right before I was about to give up and buy a new one. I'm going to give a couple thrift stores and Craigslist one more go-around before I buy a new dresser. Once we have one, we'll be ready to set-up the room he'll be sharing with big brother Will. At that time, I'll reveal the pics of all the projects I've been working on. We officially agreed on the name we've been considering as a top choice for awhile, thus the finished bibs & burps. We plan to name him Jacob Daniel.
Dear baby Jacob,
Daddy plans to call you Jake, which means you'll eventually be just Jake. That's okay, though, we don't call Will William either. We thought about choosing Jake as your given name, but I really like Jacob, its biblical connection and its two syllables that are sometimes needed. You still move plenty and have seemed very active while I'm sewing- which has been alot lately- and when music is playing. Perhaps we have another music baby on our hands. But you're also active other times and your movements seem to be occurring later at night than they used to. I still enjoy feeling you move and grow inside me and love showing other people your movements. I often tell your brother, sister and daddy, "look, watch him move, he's all over the place in there!" Your siblings were also very active, so I think you'll fit right in. We look forward to meeting you little Jacob, Jakey-poo, won't be long now! Nursery reveal pics coming soon!

Craft room reveal

This has been a long time coming! I should really put craft room in quotes because our dining room has actually been converted to my craft room. Nonetheless. Last fall we ran across some cube storage solutions at Michael's and I told Daniel how nice it would be to have a craft room. He asked why we couldn't just convert the dining room- it was my craft area anyway, especially since I started sewing. He was immediately ready to go to work taking down my computer desk from the other room and moving everything around in the dining room. I, however, wanted to have a better idea where we were going, how much storage I needed and how to set up the room. I purchased cubes little by little as I could (during their 50% off sales) and acquired the last several with gift cards and Christmas money at the end of last year. So why the long wait after that? Well, there's a lot of little and big reasons but most were my uncertainty about what I wanted and how I wanted it.  But it's finished now!

What we originally started with:

Last fall Daniel did assemble the six cubes I was able to purchase, so things moved around a little. This is our 'before' the day of the move- I waited a little too long to take the before shots.

And the mess in between:

The after:

There are small changes I would like to make, but spacing issues made all our placement decisions necessary. In a perfect world, I would have my very own room- like a bedroom or large bonus room/basement space I could decorate and arrange to my hearts desires- but I'm happy to have a space, period. My hubs worked very hard to make this room happen for me and we made it work as best we could with the space we have available. Thanks babe, love you! Looks like some storage is too readily available:

Little moosie keeps crawling in and helping herself to my paper stash. Maybe one day she'll craft with mommy :)

Will the bicyclist

We gave Will a bike for Christmas for his 'big' gift. He's ridden it off and on since then- only a little during the winter months and some in the spring but was a little nervous. The last couple weeks he's gained some courage in that area and no longer needs me to hold on or walk beside him. Will is full on riding his bike big boy style! He wants to ride every day now and will go all the way down the street and back up by himself. I'm so proud of you little man!

 he prefers jumping off to turn around, but I'm sure

he'll get more confidence soon

 "I did it!!!"