A Special Mother's Day Prayer...One Year Later

     Sunday was my first Mother's Day. Mom, Sophie, and I had a great day just relaxing at the house. I had looked forward to this day for a year and it all began with a special prayer. Last year on Mother's Day I took my mom with me to Lakewood Church. While we were there Dodie Osteen prayed for moms. She prayed for all moms, and then particular groups including the single moms, grandparents raising children, and also for women who were wanting to become moms. For the women who wanted to become moms she prayed for our bodies and for God to give us a child. She prayed that we would become a mom before this Mother's Day. I believed in this prayer and continued to think about it long after that day. When we found out we were pregnant and due May 1st I realized my prayer had been answered. I can't put into words what this prayer meant to me.There were many prayers during our pregnancy and each one was answered. We have a beautiful and healthy baby girl who was brought into this world through an wonderful pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Although I haven't been a Mother very long, I can already tell it is one of God's greatest gifts. With my Mother's Day prayer answered, I want to offer a prayer for women who want to become a Mom.

Dear Lord,

Please watch over these women. Listen to the desires of their hearts. Prepare their body to carry a healthy child in their womb. Prepare their heart to trust in you and seek you in all they do. I pray that by next Mother's Day they will know the love of being a Mother.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!

Babymoon!

     During Spring Break between working like crazy to get the nursery ready, Brian and I took time to go on a Babymoon! We went to Galveston and got a hotel room on the Seawall. It was great to get away and enjoy each other's company before Sophie arrived. I'll admit it was hard not to talk about things that were baby related. We ate at Rainforest Cafe' the first night and sat on the balcony of our hotel room looking at the gulf. The next morning we got up before dawn, ate at IHOP, and walked on the beach looking for sand dollars. Then, we ate lunch at Saltgrass and walked around the shops on the Seawall. After buying me a cute hat, we left Galveston and decided to go by Kemah where we looked through the shops and played some games. We didn't have to go far or be gone for long to appreciate our little getaway.

33 weeks

Sophie's Nursery!

I finally get to post this one! I have been patiently (and sometimes not so patiently) waiting to get to this point where I can say it is DONE!---well close enough! :)

Sophie's nursery has been a project that has lasted the length of this pregnancy. We wanted a room that she could enjoy as she grew, and not just as a baby. I think it turned out gorgeous, and portrays exactly the atmosphere I was hoping to create for our little girl to enjoy for many many years (or at least until she is old enough to convince her Daddy to redo it.) Many people helped create Sophie's room, and it couldn't have been completed without their help. Thank you to Brian, Brian's dad, my mom, and my sisters for all they did throughout the months to help make Sophie's nursery all it is.

Before I can show the finished product I have to show you where this room began. When we moved in this room was red (I mean red!). We knew it would one day become a nursery, and didn't want to paint it just to have to paint it again so it stayed red.

These pictures show the room when we first moved in.

First on the list: Get rid of the red!

Next steps: Paint it PINK and put the chair rail up!

Next: Assemble furniture and paint chair rail!

Dad being goofy!

Me at 33 weeks!

Starting to look better!

Let the decorating begin!

My amazing friend and art teacher at our school, Tonya, painting Sophie's tree!

And now...the finished product!!!

View from the tree/glider corner looking towards the entry door.

Only thing missing is the cross that is going under the hearts with the scripture, "For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart." 1 Samuel 1:27

Mom is painting the scripture on the cross.

The crib and quilt that I love love love!

View from the entry door. The tree isn't complete yet, but looks beautiful so far!

I love sitting in the glider just taking it all in. It is so calming.

Taken from the window/crib area.

View of the dresser, bookshelf, and closet taken from the window/crib area.

View of Sophie's closet showing her 0-3 month clothes and all her blankets!

Here is a picture of Sophie and me at 39 weeks and 3 days!

Now all there is to do is wait for Sophie to arrive! I hope she loves her room as much as I do!

I'm named after dogs?!?--How we decided on Sophie Ginger

I can just imagine Sophie saying this to me one day. Why?...because this is what people have asked me when I have told them her name.

Here's the story: Dana has a miniature dachshund named Ginger (who actually became a mommy just a few days ago!) Ginger used to belong to my nephew Gavin. Before this Ginger there was another Ginger though. When I was in 8th grade we got a miniature dachshund and named her Ginger after my middle name and because she had the red hair. Years later Ginger died and Gavin got this dachshund. Well he was still young and didn't really understand, so when asked what he wanted to name the dog he said it was Ginger #2. So our family has had 2 dachshunds named Ginger.

It just so happens that Brian's grandparents have 2 chihuahuas. Their names are Sasha and Sophie.

Yes, how ironic that there are dogs in our family with our daughter's name.
It has been funny to hear people ask if we named our child after dogs.

Here's where her name really came from:

Brian and I knew early on we wanted to give family names to our children, while also giving them their own name. We decided that for our first girl her middle name would be Ginger. My middle name is Ginger and I have always loved it. I love that is sounds pretty, isn't too common, and the fact that I'm named after my grandma. My dad's mom's name was Mable Virginia. My parents wanted to name me after her, but didn't want to use Mable or Virginia, so Ginger came from Virginia. I loved my grandma so much and always felt a close relationship to her. The older I become the more I realize how I share many of her characteristics (some good and even some not so good). Below are some pictures of my dad's parents. My grandpa passed away a few years before I was born, but I hope I carry on some of his qualities, because he was a great parent and was very caring. I'm very happy that we are able to pass on the name Ginger to our daughter not only after me, but after my grandma.

Excuse the photo quality. The photo has been slightly damaged.

Where did we get the name Sophie?

Well, we wanted to keep the same initials, so we began looking for names that began with S. There weren't many that we liked and almost gave up hope. When we came across Sophie it was perfect! It wasn't our intention to pick a name so similiar to mine, but it flowed so well with Ginger. We love that it is similar to my name with the "ph" and "ie", but different with its own meaning. We hope that she will love her name as much as we do, and that it will be a name that describes her well.

Sophie is a Greek name and means Wisdom.

Ginger is an English name and can mean liveliness or spring-like/flourishing (and of course the spice).

Handmade from the Heart

My favorite gifts are those that are handmade from people I love. Sophie has received so many wonderful gifts that will be keepsakes for years to come.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a blanket lover. I like to have the temperature cold, but have a blanket on. When I go to someone's house the first thing I look for is a blanket to cover up with on the couch (and then usually fall asleep-lol). As a matter of fact, I'm covered with one right now. I have even been known to be camping in the middle of summer and still sleep with a flannel blanket. I have so many blankets, but it doesn't stop me from seeing one I must have.

Hopefully Sophie likes to be covered because she has received many afghans from friends and family. Afghans are one of my favorite blankets because of the personal touch behind them and they make great couch blankets.

From left to right:

Yellow afghan-made by Anne Temple, a teacher who is now retired from my school, but made this for us before she left. She always made one for each teacher having a baby at school, and knew she would be retired before I was pregnant. It was the first gift we received for our future child, and I was touched that she thought of us and wanted to make this for us. I cried when she gave it to me at school because Brian and I had been trying for a baby, and this gave me some hope that it would happen.

Colorful afghan with pink border-made by Becky Bird, Melissa's mom, and given to us at our shower. I love the colors and it is super soft! Definitely a great blanket to use while rocking Sophie!

Pink afghan-made by one of Brian's mom's customers, Myra Long. The design is absolutely gorgeous and although it is hard to tell in this picture, the yarn she used is so beautiful. It has sort of a white sparkly color intertwined. I was stunned that someone I don't believe I have ever met would take the time to make such a beautiful gift for us.

Pink and white afghan-made by Stacy Davila, a parent of a girl in my class. You can't see in this picture but the pattern is squares that meet in the middle to a white heart. It is really cute and I was really excited to receive this from a parent.

Colorful afghan-made by Kelly Hoxha, a great friend and fellow teacher. Kelly gave this to me when she found out we were having a girl. I didn't even know she could crochet so I was totally shocked and so excited! I love it!

Pink and brown-made by Sue Clark, a dear family friend. Sue gave this to us at our shower and also showed me a star afghan she is working on for us too. She suggested to use this for a car seat cover, which I think is a great idea! It is so soft and matches her nursery perfect!

My mom is also working on an afghan for Sophie. She took a break to work on the bassinet though, so it isn't quite finished yet. The yarn is beautiful, and it will match the colors in the nursery: brown, mauve, and ivory.

This quilt was given to me by a grandma of one of my students. I was totally shocked when I received this and saw how much effort and time was put into making this beautiful Noah's Ark quilt. I took a picture of the doggy up close so hopefully you can see the detail. I have some great students this year who have been so helpful to me throughout my pregnancy and are so excited about Sophie's arrival. I am lucky to have such great parents and grandparents of these students too!

I just received this yesterday in the mail from my Great Aunt Peg in Kansas! She is such a special person to my family. When my family moved to Kansas City, MO, Aunt Peg was only about 45 minutes away, so we were able to see her when we visited. I love her so much, and love that she made these items for Sophie. I really hope we get to make a trip up to Kansas and Missouri once Sophie arrives to show Brian where my extended family is from and to visit Aunt Peg. The top is a fleece blanket and the bottom is a "Taggy" made with the fleece too. The tags are supposed to give her peace from the different tactile feelings. The size is perfect for carrying around in the diaper bag and car too.

As with the other blankets this one has a story as well. My Great Grandma Snook used to make these type of blankets for the grandchildren and great grandchildren. It is a flannel blanket that is great for when you want to lay the baby on the floor, and is easy to wash. My grandma passed away several years ago, but her daughter, my Great Aunt Peg, made one for Sophie. She knows me well because she found this adorable cupcake fabric. I love the purple trim too! Despite what this nursery looks like, I love purple, so I am glad to have a purple blanket. I am thankful that although my grandma isn't with us anymore, because of my Aunt Peg I feel like I have a piece of my great grandma that is for my little girl.

These are some hats Sophie has been given. The top white one was made by my Great Aunt Peg's daughter, Pam. It is called a Boobie baby cap and is really cute. She sells many items on her Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/GypsythatIwas

The bottom one was given to me by a student and one of her mom's friend's made it for Sophie.

The pink one isn't handmade, but is adorable and has Sophie Ginger embroidered. A guy Brian works with, Baker, and his wife gave this to us. It will definitely be going to the hospital with us.

Also going to the hospital will be the adorable wreath my sister, Christa, made! I absolutely love it! It will hang on Sophie's bedroom door after we get home from the hospital.

Last is a project that I worked on for a few months and collaborated with many people to get the perfect design. I wish I could say I worked on it for months making it myself, but that was just me trying to design the quilt. I can thank Kristen Bourdier for passing along the name of a fabulous artist, Lisa Cartier Gruen, on Etsy who creates these wall quilts. This is most definitely a one of a kind and a true keepsake that Sophie will have forever. I am so proud of this quilt and couldn't wait for it to be delivered. I love it so much!!! Now it is ready to be hung above her crib!!! If you are looking for someone to make a quilt or other nifty handmade items please check out her shop. She was fabulous to work with and really helped me get the perfect design. She even rushed the order so I could have it at my baby shower.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/moonspiritstudios?ref=seller_info

Some crafts I've made for Sophie's room...

Finally ready to post some pictures of things I've worked on for Sophie's room. First, her letters. I decided to hang her first and middle name rather than just her first. Yes it is long, but oh well! They aren't hung up yet, but will be soon (like maybe tomorrow if I can talk Brian, my mom, and Dana into it--haha!)

This wasn't my original idea, but it came to me and turned out well-at least I think so. I decided to use scrapbook paper and Mod Podge it on each letter.

I took many pictures throughout this process so I could remember which paper I chose for each letter. Excuse the beach towel to protect my dining room table.

The next step was to paint the edge of each letter. I used pink, cream, and brown for the edges.

Then, I cut the paper and used tacky glue to attach the paper.

Next was to use tacky glue to wrap ribbon around the edge of each letter. I only did one. My mom did the others! Bless her! Getting ribbon in those tight areas was not an easy task, but it looks great! Last, we used Mod Podge to gloss each one. The final step will be to attach ribbon and hang each letter. This picture shows the letters in her crib.

Another project was her bow organizers. I got this idea from the boutique in the same shop as our photographer. They have it without the frames. I later saw something similar in Pottery Barn Kids, but it wasn't used for bows. A trip to Hobby Lobby and this project was underway.

I used foam board, quilt batting, fabric, ribbon, 3 frames, a mirror, and cardboard. This picture shows how I originally thought I would hang them on the wall.

However, when it was time to hang them up the bows would have been to high for me to reach. Instead, we hung them like this.

The mirror is above some cubicals and wound up being in a great spot. Now that these are up, I'm thinking I might have to make two additional ones to fit more bows! Maybe with a different background and create a square layout but on two walls.

Another project was her coat rack. This was a project that occurred to me later after I saw some friends on Facebook create something similar. I didn't have much wall space to put a coat rack, so went with something small to fit a few coats and/or diaper bag. I decided to paint it brown and then use Mod Podge to attach the scrapbook paper I had left over from her letters. Brian and I worked on it together one night while watching Miss Congeniality. haha!

Hanging on the wall



The last project...for now.

I saw these crosses and had to get them. I'm not much of a painter, but hope they turn out good once finished. I'm going to have my mom paint a scripture on the pink one once they are glued together. Then I'll use Mod Podge to make it glossy.

"For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart." 1 Samuel 1:27

This will probably hang above her changing table.