Baby Sling

Last night Mark and I were online looking at all of the crazy baby stuff there is in the world and we ran across some videos on you tube about how to make your own sling. Of course, today we were off on a sling adventure. We picked out some fabric and found some rings and came home to do some sewing. I want to brag on Mark and say that he made the whole thing. However, I also want to assure you that it was a VERY simple project. Mark succeeds at sewing because he has the patience to last through when the bobbin thread runs out, the thread breaks, the needles break and much more! I'm so thankful for his patience and his mechanical and (housewife) abilities. :-)

Below are two pictures of my new sling. Not the prettiest pictures of me and of course it will be much better when there is a baby in the sling and not Sophie! I think she is getting tired of being the baby!!

Analyze this...

I think dreams are very interesting and I had a strange one two nights ago. I dreamed that I was participating in a triathalon. I, and all the other participants that were female, started the triathalon 9 months pregnant and almost ready to deliver! After we completed the swimming portion, we gave birth to our little babies. Then the babies were taken from us to be cleaned up, etc. and all of the women jumped on our bikes for the second part of the race. After the bike portion, we had to go into this holding area to retrieve our babies. The goal was to run the last part of the race with our new babies strapped on in little carriers. I never actually got to the running part of the race because the holding spot where we were supposed to get our babies was backed up! I started getting really nervous that they weren't going to give me my baby and that it was taking so long for them to bring our babies to us. They kept bringing babies in and all of the women would ooh and ahh and then wait to hear our name called to see if that baby was ours! Very strange! I'm not really sure what happened after that, I just know that I felt really anxious in my dream. The whole triathalon, labor concept was very interesting though...

My Second Piece....

of furniture is complete. I built this side table for the nursery. It will hold a small lamp, a book, and a cup of tea or juice or whatever.

I built this out of about $45 worth of Ash which I'd never worked with before. Ash is VERY easy to work with, very hard, has great grain figure, and cuts and machines very nicely. It's often used to mimic oak because of the figure. And it's very cheap. I think I'll build the coffee table out of Ash when it comes time to tackle that project. This was a dream wood to work with. The picture below is the lower shelf and I absolutely love the way it turned out. It was the most challenging from a woodworking point of view because of the way it attaches to the legs (half-inch tenons on both sides of each leg). Because of how it was put together, it all had to go together at the same time, gluing it all together in a flurry of clamps and straps and drips.


This is the detail of the legs and aprons. I used a 1/2" core box bit set to 1/8" deep. It gave the legs an elegant look while the aprons didn't seem right until I thought of adding the line there too. The distance to the bottom of the apron to the groove is the same as the side of the leg to the groove. I'm sure that's some sort of rule or something, but I decided to do it and I think it looks ok. The finish is three coats of Red Mahogany Minwax stain followed by three coats of Minwax Poly (semi-gloss). The legs were ripped from 8/4 (wood lingo for 2") stock while the rest was from 5/4. I thought that would make the table look a bit more beefy.

Come out, come out...

wherever you are. Well, I know where she is, she's in my belly. I definitely want a healthy little girl and know that she should cook a little longer but...I'm getting more and more ready for Caroline to come out and play! I have had a very good pregnancy so far with very little sickness and overall feeling good. However, I have gotten to the point that I hear most women talk about...I'm just ready for her to be out of my belly. The past two weeks or so I have felt kind of like I am back at the beginning of my pregnancy. I have been hungry a good bit and my stomach doesn't ever feel quite right. I also have not been sleeping well and my body is just tired.

Please know that I am not miserable and that I will make it through these next several weeks!! :-) I think there are two things that will help me get there. One is holding little Kelsey. Lindsay has been such a sweet sister and lets me come and visit frequently and she even offers to let me hold Kelsey whenever I want. I LOVE snuggling with her. It's so peaceful and nice and it helps to take my mind of my own body for awhile. The second thing that will get me through these next several weeks is a massage every night from Mark. He has been so giving and every night he offers to rub my back for me! I feel like a princess since he offers to often and it really helps me to calm down and relax. Thanks Mark!

A Thought On Breath

So obviously every single thought I have is wrapped up around Caroline coming soon. I am amazed at how God is building her so that the instant she feels air for the first time, she's perfectly equipped to breathe it in, and to live on it for the rest of her days. That made me think about how we as Christians are born again. We are built, even as sinners, with the idea that the second we accept God into our lives, we are able to rely on Him forever!

We talk about having life itself breathed into us by God but I think it's neater than that. God built us so that we would one day breathe. Also, He built us so that we would one day live for Him.

I hope that makes sense and that I'm not rambling.

So many blog posts, so little time

I think I will just post about many events in this one post. Please know that does not lessen the significance of any of these events! :-)

A week ago Saturday, Noelle threw a wonderful shower for Lindsay and me at Mom's house (Mom did lots of work and preparation too)! I have said it a million times but it really has been so great to be pregnant at the same time as Lindsay! Showers are especially a lot better. We get to sit together and open presents and be silly. Our friends and family in Augusta were so sweet to us. Noelle thought of lots of fun details too (diaper cakes, cards, books for people to write advice in, and lots of yummy food)! Thank you Noelle!

Here's a picture of Lindsay and I from the shower.

After the shower, Lindsay and I came back to Marietta with our Grandma and Aunt Karla. They traveled from Cincinnati down to Atlanta/Augusta for the shower! It was so neat to have them here and very unexpected which made it even better. We spent a little time with them Saturday night and Sunday and then they headed home.

Mark and I then went to our first of two baby classes at the hospital. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the baby class but I'm so glad that we took it. I've enjoyed learning new things with Mark about the baby and labor, etc. It's been fun to share thoughts and conversation and overall the more I learn, the more comfortable I feel with everything. Although, I keep reminding myself that things will not necessarily be as I learned!

Mark left for out of town Monday and on Tuesday Mom came to hang out with me. We finally got the curtains made for the baby room. Sewing with Mom always turns into an adventure. Making the curtains took a little longer than expected but things finally came together. Here are a couple of pictures of the curtains in progress, the curtains and Caroline's room!

I'm so proud of my circular saw skills! Mark wasn't even home... :-)

Madre working hard!

New curtains!!!

The room partially put together...

but still a little messy! There is lots of organization still to be done!

Mom got everything finished on Friday evening and left our house and headed for home. Mark and I had dinner together and relaxed for the first time in a couple of weeks. No joke, I think we had spent less than 10 hours together alone in the past 14 days!!! We were desperate for a little time together! However, we called Mom a little later to see if she had made it home safely. Mom said, "Well I never made it home." Huh? She had gotten a call from Lindsay that she was having contractions and turned around to come back and stay with her. It was going to be a crazy couple of days! We spent Friday night a little sleepless, wondering if we were going to get a phone call saying Lindsay was in labor.

Saturday morning Mark helped some friends move into their new home and then he came home to spend some more time with me! We had a wonderful afternoon together. We went shopping and bought the rest of the stuff we will "need" for when Caroline first arrives. Before we left the house Mark said, "Every day needs a goal. Our goal today is to not come home until the back of the car is filled with stuff for Caroline." I think we accomplished our goal...

After our long shopping trip we enjoyed dinner at Bahama Breeze, one of our favorite restaurants. We then headed home and relaxed! Throughout the day, we checked on Lindsay and kept hearing that she was having contractions but nothing was really consistent.

Sunday morning we woke up and went to Sunday School, Mom and Brad arrived but no Lindsay. Vern was staying home on baby patrol! After class ended, Brad got a call that Lindsay and Vern were headed to the hospital just to get her "checked out." However, we soon got a call that she was already dialated 6 cm. and that they were going to keep her because she would be delivering in the next few hours!! HOLY COW! It was the craziest thing! Mark and I headed up to the hospital to see Lindsay and Brad and then went to our class. I think I was in disbelief that she was actually going to deliver in a few hours. During our class breaks we would take the elevator up to see how everything was going. I am so proud of Lindsay! She was so calm and peaceful the whole time. We had a break at 3:00 and Mark and I both went up to see her. However, we saw Vern in the hallway and he said they were kicking everyone out so that she could deliver. NOOO!! I want to see her one more time!! I ran in and hugged her and mumbled lots of crazy things and then left at about 3:05. I sat in the waiting room, an anxious mess. It all just seemed so strange. I still couldn't believe that it was happening so fast. I even told my family that I was going to go back to class because we wouldn't get to see them for a couple hours right?! Sometime around 4:00, Brad came out and said that Kelsey Paige Crowe had been born and that she was healthy and had red hair! I'm so glad I didn't go back to class! Just a few minutes after that we were invited back to the room to see Lindsay and little Kelsey!! It was crazy...I had seen Lindsay last at 3:05, she delivered at 3:22 and then we saw the whole family at about 4:15. CRAZY!! Lindsay was a pro through the whole thing! Below is a picture of her before she gave birth and let me just say, she looked the exact same, just as beautiful afterwards!! Of course, I'm thrilled that everything went so well for them but geez did she have to make it look so easy!! I'm going to end up with a 30 hour labor of intense pain and sweating and grossness and here she is looking gorgeous! Thanks a lot Lindsay! :-)

Kelsey Paige Crowe!!! So beautiful and so fun to snuggle!!!

Another chapter from my book

"What book?" you may ask. I'm going to write a book about all of the little things I think about. I may have about five or six chapters now, and because that's not enough for a book, you'll have to wait to buy it from Barnes & Noble or whatever.

For now, read this. "You can't listen to anyone when you have words in your mouth." You know how we only listen long enough to think of what we want to say next, then we wait until the person you're "listening to" takes a breath and then you let those words fly. We don't listen to folks any more. We just wait our turn to talk. I can't think of anything more rude. And I'm just as guilty as anyone. When I meet a customer and talk to them about what material they cut or why they like this or that, I'm waiting for the perfect chance to tell them about the products I came there to sell. I try to ask more questions and to allow them to tell me exactly how I can be a hero, but alas, it's hard to listen, with words in my mouth.

Showers of presents

This past Sunday the girls in our Sunday School Class threw Lindsay and me a baby shower. We had a great time hanging out together, sharing some yummy shower food and opening lots of sweet little girl presents. Our Sunday School Class has been so wonderful for Mark and me. We really feel blessed by the friendships that have grown through the class. One of my favorite things about the girls in the class is their honesty. We already have three baby mommas in the class and all three of them openly share the good and the hard parts of being pregnant and having a little one. It's a joy to talk with them! Besides lots of honesty at the shower, we got lots of fun presents. Little girl clothes are so cute and I can hardly wait until Caroline is here and we get to dress her up! :-)

This coming Saturday Lindsay and I have another shower together....in Augusta. My sweet friend Noelle is throwing the shower for both of us. I'm looking forward to our time in Augusta and getting to see some family and friends that we rarely get to visit.

Old thoughts

I have another blog that I very rarely write on (I'm trying to get back in the habit). Only Mark is allowed to read it though because it serves as a journal for me. :-) However, I wrote in it a few times before I had this blog. As I was reading through some of the old posts on that blog this morning I found a couple from when we found out we were having a baby. It's pretty fun to go back and read them. Hope you enjoy!

Confidence Psalm 27:13 "I am still confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."I have a big appointment tomorrow and Mark keeps reminding me to have faith. I am repeating this verse, knowing that God has good in store for us, in His timing! :-)
Sunday, November 23

Prego! I took a pregnancy test on Friday and it was positive! Mark and I have been "trying" for a few months now and are really excited about a little baby joining our family! It's a strange thing to think there is a little baby with a heartbeat! living inside me right now. Of course, it's very little, the nurse called it a piece of rice! I have not really wanted to believe that I was pregnant because it is scary to get excited about something that may not last (my, that sounds terrible negative). I was so anxious and excited about going to the doctor today (Tuesday). The doctor says that everything seems fine at this point. I'm only 5 weeks and 5 days along. He seemed very positive but he was also careful to point out that miscarriages do occur. I have not really been that worried about having a miscarriage, just more about having the doctor confirm the pregnancy (which is silly because they did a pee test just like I did at home---who knew!??!). However, now I'm thinking about a miscarriage. It seems there will always be something that I could be worried about! I know that I should not worry. God tells us not to worry. He cares for the birds of the air, how much more will he care for me! I need to not be worried and instead be HOPEFUL! Hope is a crazy thing! I once read that HOPE is expecting God to bring good in your life. My hope is that God will continue to watch over this little life growing inside of me! As I trust in God, I know that He will fill me with His HOPE. Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Posted by Nicole at 6:38 PM 0 comments Monday, November 24, 2008


Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!
Yipee! It's finally Thanksgiving morning. I have been looking forward to this day since last Friday when we found out were were having a little baby! We get to share with my madre and Vernon today that we are pregnant! Mark made this really fun little video to tell them about our good news! I feel very excited about this.

This morning as I was reading about being thankful I read this verse...Colossians 3:15 says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." Since I have been contemplating thankfulness this week, it has continually struck me that the more I give thanks, the more peace I will have in my heart. This makes total sense. My devotion even says that as I give thanks it will be like scales falling off my eyes (reference to Saul's conversion). The more I give thanks, the more goodness of the Lord that I can see and the more peace I will have in my life. I think this means giving thanks even for things in our life that seem pretty stinky. Speaking of stinky...yesterday on the way to work I was not feeling good! I stopped at a Chick-fil-a and used their restroom. First I had problems coming out one end and then after that was over I had problems coming out the other end! YUCK! However, I can honestly say that after I got in the car I gave God thanks for not letting it come out both ways at the same time! Now if I could just apply this thankfulness in the rest of my life...
Posted by Nicole at 9:47 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, November 25, 2008