The Quilt from a VERY excited Grandma!

In a previous post I wrote about how my Mom makes quilts for new babies and weddings for our family members... I'm pretty sure I mentioned how I was excited that we would be getting one of her special quilts for our little one.

Well at the baby shower we received not only the beautiful quilt but 6 homemade receiving blankets!

Here are some pictures of the quilt and a shot of the receiving blankets!

The very excited Grandma to be:

Mom and I showing off her handy work:

Close up of the stitching on the border:

A close up of the Heart pattern:

The backing of the quilt:

The quilt displayed on the crib:

The Receiving Blankets:

People say that every quilt has a story as does this one.

Both of my parents have been wanting to be grandparents for years now... My Mom actually started making the request to both my brother and I around when I turned 20.... I am 31 now... so you can only imagine the years of bottled up anticipation and excitement.

It's very easy for me to forget that our little one is not only going to be the center of our world, but soon, she will be the center of my parents world as their very first granddaughter. I was reminded of this at our baby shower when Seana and I opened this gift from my Mom, at that moment my Mom was basking in the lime light of being an expecting Grandmother FINALLY!

This quilt and the receiving blankets tell the story of my mother's aching desire to be Grandma all these years.

For our little one this quilt is the gift of Grandma Thornton. With the "I Love Grandma" Backing and the heart patterns that represent Grandma's birthday, Valentine's Day, This quilt is an "I'm your Grandma and I will spoil you rotten with my warm love" declaration!

Thank you Mom, I'm positive that your granddaughter is going to love and cherish this quilt as much as she will love and cherish her moments with you!

The Changing Table is DONE!!!!

As you all know I decided a couple months ago to refinish a changing table that was given to us to match the color of the other nursery furniture. This project was a collaboration of many helping hands. My cousin Dustin started the project by disassembling and sanding all the big pieces during a visit from Michigan. Then my parents who came to visit from New Mexico helped finish the project. They sanded along side with me, and then took over to do the staining and polyurethane finish so I wouldn't have to be around the fumes! I did get to help paint the shelves white with NO VOC paint. My parents also handled reassembly and my brother lugged it upstairs and set it up in the Nursery! What a group effort!!! Here are the pics!

Here is a before of the changing table:

The first sanding:

It taken apart to keep sanding:

Here is me hard at work sanding the smaller sides:

My Dad putting together a work bench for my parents to sand down the smaller pieces:

My Mom sanding away:

The wood NAKED:

The staining begins:

My paint job on the shelves:

The polyurethane finish stage:

The finished product!


Once I get my nursing chair upstairs the Nursery will be complete! I can't believe it!!!!!

License to SHOP!

Well now that we have had our baby shower, I am now free to shop for what we still need! The past few weeks I have wanted to go baby stuff shopping but was told I had to wait until after the shower.... So YAY for me and my shopping spree!

As you all know we decided to go the cloth diaper route, ironically, this is the one area where we didn't get anything for at the baby showers. I think this is because most of cloth diapering supplies are best found online and buying cloth diapers doesn't sound like fun... Luckily... I love online shopping and I have really loved picking out cloth diapers!! They are like another accessory.

We have been saving up for our cloth diaper investment and boy am I glad we did! I decided to go with gently used diapers as they are half the price of new ones, and I shopped around to make sure I wasn't over paying for all the additional supplies... Even then I spent almost $500.00 on getting all the diapering supplies!!!

It seems like a lot but these supplies will cover the first 6 months of our little one's life. It ends up being cheaper than going disposable over time! Plus if we maintain them well, they have resell value!

Here are the items I bought:

24- Kissaluvs Fitted Size 0

8- Newborn Prorap Covers

1- Baby Bits Wipes Solution (3 oz box which makes 50 cups of wipes solution)

24-Kissaluvs Cotton Cloth Wipes

2-Kissaluvs Antibacterial Diaper Pail Liners

1-Kushies "On the Go" Wet Bag Large (2-pack)

1-Mini-Shower- Bidet & Multi Use Hand Held Sprayer (this is attaches to your toilet so you can spray off poo before you put the diapers in the wash)

1-Allen's Naturally Laundry Detergent (1 Gallon= 512 loads)

1-Dispensing Pump Allen's Naturally Laundry Detergent (it measures for you!!!)

I also got these which are not related to diapering...

2-Bravado Washable Breast Pads (6 pack)

A photo of the swag!!

Now I just need to finish refinishing our changing table so I have a place to put all this!

The Official Baby Shower

Well this past weekend we went up to Michigan for our baby shower with my family. I have to say I was really touched that so many of my family came and celebrated the upcoming arrival of our little bean! Plus we got presents umm YAY!

We got stuff that we needed and some little outfits that are absolutely adorable! I have to say, I was quite the naysayer in regards to getting more outfits for her because we were given so many hand me downs from Scott and Mindy... but our little bean deserves some outfits bought just for her! Some times I need to take a step back and realize that there is a joy in both shopping for baby stuff and giving what you want to our little girl after all she deserves the best!

Most importantly we were given some great words of advice.... see below!

32 Weeks 2 Days

Here are my belly shots for 32W2D, I think I am bordering huge! Don't mind the serious face, I just wasn't sure when to smile!

With Shirt

True Belly Shot!

Yup MJ has to have a background check too.

As you know, I have to adopt the Queen Bean and have started that process. I wanted to vent about a few things with the process

1. I have to have a physical including my cholesterol. Explain to me how my cholesterol affects how good of a parent I will be?? And if you think they won't turn me down if I have a high number, you are wrong. A guy I work with was denied being a foster parent to two kids who already lived with him because his cholesterol number was high. He had to go to the Dr., get on Lipitor and reapply a year later. That is just flat out wrong

2. Background check for everyone in the house. Now I get that I need a background check, but get this, everyone who I live with also has to have one. So let's say MJ had some felonies on her record (which she doesn't). I would be denied an adoption because I live with her even though she is the birth mother!?! Say again!!!! ....... Yes that is right, if MJ has a record then I can't adopt because I am putting my adoptive child in danger in my household with its own birth mother. This makes me mad in ways I can't even explain.

I am lucky I have a lawyer because I am pretty sure I would thrown out of court on contempt. Hopefully I will make it through this process in one piece. I just have to keep my eye on the prize - which is the bean.

Who wants to be naked in front of strangers?

If you read MJ's blog than you know we have decided to do a home birth. And I have to say for being a worrier, this makes me worry less. For being pragmatic, it actually makes the most logical sense. I am all for preparing for the worst, but why not try for the best first?

Here are the reasons I like the home birth :
1. Hospitals treat you like you are sick and MJ isn't sick; she is pregnant. If a true emergency arises, then we are close to a hospital that can help her.

2. I want MJ to have all the time she needs and not feel rushed. I don't want any nurse saying "she isn't progressing and needs pitocin". If the baby wants to take 24 hours, then there is a reason. And MJ is strong enough to handle it with me as her coach and her team of Midwives.

3. I am very logical and the thought of trying to give birth lying down makes no sense. Your tail bone would get in the way and make it harder, plus you aren't using gravity to help.

4. Who wants to sit still when you are in pain? I think MJ should have the right to walk around, labor in a tub, lie in a bed, sit on an exercise ball etc. Whatever she wants.

5. Who wants to be naked in front of strangers? I feel the most comfortable at home and I thought of walking around while in labor in front of others does not sound like a good time. I would want privacy. I would want quiet, and darkness and calming music. I don't want busy hospital and lights and people treating me like I am a ticking bomb.

6. I have the option to catch my baby. Yes you did read that right. What an amazing opportunity that would be. The first hands to hold her could be mine. We will see how it goes, but having this as an option is amazing.

7. We get at home help and coaching on breast feeding. The midwives will come every day if needed until the bean figures out what's what.

What it really boils down to is this - I want choices. I want our birth to fit into a timeline that works for the baby - not that works for the hospital. I want an attendant there, that I know, the majority of the time, not our Dr showing up for the last 30 minutes. I want to be treated like we are the only patient that day - not one of 100. So because of all that, we are going with a home birth. We will see how it goes, but I am very excited and confidant. I feel like I am empowered and I am excited that our midwife takes more than an hour with us on each visit - not just 7 minutes like our Dr.

When I ask people to tell me some of the best days of their lives, a child's birth is at the top. So I started to think "Why am I dreading what will be one of the best days of my life." Now that we have chosen a home birth, I can hardly wait for the Queen Bean to arrive.

Changing it up!

Ever since we saw the documentary "The Business of Being Born" we have contemplated doing a home birth. Well a few weeks ago I found a group called Home 4 Birth, and decided to set up a consultation appointment. This was mostly prompted by the fact that I wanted a waterbirth and I really want to optimize the opportunity to experience a natural childbirth.

Well we had our consultation on the 29th of June and right away we both felt even more comfortable with the idea of a home birth.

Home 4 Birth is made up of 2 midwives, who take on 6 births every month. They work as a team and only split up if by some off chance two of their patients are in need of their assistance at one time. The also have an apprentice who works with them and if given permission would also attend the birth.

We decided to think about it, but it really didn't take much more thought. It is what we want. I have sent them an email today to officially request to be placed under their care.

We feel confident in their abilities, and know that they put our interests first. We also know that if an issue arises they are experienced in recognizing the severity of the issue and will execute a transfer to a hospital to ensure my safety or the baby's safety.