From Wife to Mom

To become a mom, all you have to do is have a baby, right? Oh, so very, wrong. Though that is definitely a necessary first step, becoming a mom is about so much more than just having a baby join the household.

Transitioning from wife to mom happened deep within, in my heart, as I quickly learned that love takes on new meaning when you bear a child, and that it grows so very much so very often. That silly little things my son does bring up so much more love and joy in those moments than I knew possible!

Easy Bib Storage!

Here's my solution, if you don't feel like reading my ramblings :-) Looped a strip of cloth through the top strap holes.

Our house is not very large and is really lacking storage. I've been storing the bibs in with the burb clothes in Jordan's room... it's not that far to walk to grab a bib, but I knew there had to be a better solution for bib storage.

Enter: google.

DIY Crib Rail Teething Guard

{Leave me a note you stopped by! Or let me know if you use the tutorial & send me a pic!}


Well, my little J-man has started pulling himself up to his knees in his crib... so since I had the material to make teething guards for his crib, I thought I had better get them done sooner rather than later! 

I decided to make my own because the cheap plastic ones don't fit the rails on my convertible crib and buying a cloth one is ridiculously expensive. I am oh, so very, pleased that I made the choice... even though it did take me a little more time than I initially thought it would! :-)

So, there are multiple tutorials for this online, but I didn't find any that included pictures and details for the way I wanted to make mine (specifically, with a layer to make it waterproof), so I took some pictures as I went so I could post a tutorial, too! (Here is the tutorial I kind-of went by when I made mine, FYI!)

My Birthing Story

This is long, so if you don't feel like reading a lot, you can exit now :-)

Pregnancy and giving birth are experiences that go beyond what words can describe. Yes, there is discomfort and pain, but that is DEFINITELY not what I think of when I think of those things! (Don’t ask Josh, though, haha…) When it came time for Josh and I to decide what kind of experience we wanted to try to have for the birth experience, I came to the decision that I really wanted a natural birth. We signed up for the Bradley Birthing class – 12 weeks of 2 hours a week. That ended up to be an… interesting… experience, but we learned quite a lot from it, and felt quite prepared for a natural birth, even though we opted not to go with a midwife to help us through. I wanted no induction, no medication, no interference, just my body doing what God made it to do. That’s not how things turned out. Though at times I think, If we would’ve just done this or that, maybe I could’ve still had a natural birth, I know that we made a wise choice in order to get Jordan into our arms. This is our story.

We have a baby!

Obviously, I'm not just realizing we have a baby. Jordan has been in this world with us for 228 days, aka 7 months, 2 weeks. I can hardly believe it has only been that long, yet I can hardly believe it's already been that long! 


Here's a post I began a couple weeks after Jordan was born:

Life sure has changed. Baby "junk" clutters our house, cloth diapers need washed and hung to dry, a majority of the house doesn't sleep through the night, burp cloths grace the arms of the couch and everyone's happier when pacifiers evade their hiding spaces. Baby cries, grunts & coos fill the house and a tiny little boy steals my heart again with each sound (and each outfit change! ;)).

Our son Jordan made his entrance into this world two and a half weeks ago. In that very short amount of time, a lot of different emotions have been felt and each day brings new adventures that we never could have imagined! The first thing I have to say is that people were right, babies cause lack of good, sound sleep. They also cry, poop, and pee a lot. I have spent some time in tears over lack of sleep and over struggles breastfeeding. Those things, though, are not what actually comes to mind first as I think back through the days since June 18... What comes to mind first is the absolutely astounding amounts of love and joy that Josh and I are experiencing in an entirely new way. Josh and I love each other a lot, but we have both decided that somehow we love each other even more now! Life is a lot different, but it's definitely better!

I certainly still agree that life is better with Jordan. We can hardly remember what we did with our time without him. Or who/what was on our mind.

We've had quite a few difficulties that we, of course, did not anticipate, which have tested us in many ways. Through it all, though, we have learned a lot more about faith and trust in Jesus. I, myself, have had multiple encounters of feeling much closer to my Savior than ever before. How amazing is our God, and how amazing that he could give His Son. I cannot fathom. More on this later, I think!

I've wanted to include some updates for awhile now, but just haven't gotten to it. But now, finally, I am taking some time to do so, especially because I enjoy it! So, get ready to read some posts! :o)

Announcement

Happy Baby Boy Birth Announcement

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View the entire collection of cards.

Nursery Fun!

So I wanted to post a little bit of the progress of the nursery!

We got the furniture May 9 and the dresser came as one piece undamaged, but the crib headboard was damaged. :-(

Giant boxes!

Damaged :-( (had chunks missing like this on both ends)

They sent us a replacement crib, which came May 20, and we switched out the headboard for an undamaged one, yay!! We put the crib together and are just waiting for a mattress (thank you Mom & Dad Klein!) :-) A special "thank you" to a family whose children I've cared for that bought the crib and dresser for us!!

We finished it!

Getting out the replacement headboard!

This weekend I also was able to find just the right bookshelf to use for storage & to put a rod next to for a makeshift closet, since there is not one in the baby room. I got some additional baskets for the storage and a changing pad & cover so our dresser/changing table looks more complete!

We also ordered the rocker on Friday, and it came Monday (thank you Mom & Dad Russell!!). When I woke up from my nap, Josh had put the chair together for me! Yay!

So we've gotten lots done and I'm excited to do more! Josh is even enjoying the preparation for baby, though I'm wearing him out with having lots of projects and doing lots at once :-) But it's making the fact that we're having a baby even more real and making us even more excited for his arrival!!


Some more fun photos :-)

All the trash and recycling from the dresser & crib :)

This is the stuff...

I love to think about and share stuff that drives me crazy and the stuff that makes me smile. Life is full of both - and we have to find ways to deal with both! (If you haven't heard This is The Stuff by Francesca Battistelli, you should go listen to it now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqqdA8LHN7I).

Having babies and lacking sleep go hand-in-hand, right? If you didn't know that already, now you do... I bring it up because it is something that people decide to remind Josh or myself of at least once a week. Although I appreciate the desire to relate to us and share from their experience, it is becoming something that drives me crazy! We definitely, 100% know that we are going to get less sleep when our son arrives, and as much as we appreciate the reminder and know people with caring hearts just don't want us to be surprised, I have much appreciated and enjoy much more people that share more positive aspects of having children with us! Two great sources: the 2 moms whose children I care for. Both of them have taken special note to share with me that having a child brings such joy. Yes, we've talked about lacking sleep, but more-so I have been told (and get to experience some now) the joy of the firsts, the cute baby things, the cute baby looks, playing, and of course, smiles (which I've mentioned before, I love!!). I have also been told about the joy that can be found in poopy diapers, messy feedings, and added laundry - knowing that the sweet child you created is doing what he/she was created to!! How awesome!
Anyway, as Josh and I try to wrap our minds around the changes that are going to come with our son's arrival, I love having some positives as mentioned above to focus on. Yes, we will be tired, but we will lose sleep because we get to care for our son. :-)

Something that's driving me crazy in a different way is thinking about the labor and eventual delivery of our baby. We definitely are praying daily and would love your prayers as we prepare for this. We are taking classes with the Bradley Method (http://www.parenting-journals.com/21/the-101-on-the-bradley-vs-lamaze-childbirth-techniques/ provides a good overview if you're interested!) and are learning a lot and feeling more prepared now than we did before, yet also less prepared as we find out how much there is that we don't know... But we're learning about those things and how to handle them as they come. I love experiencing these classes with Josh and as he initiates discussions about different things I am encouraged by his interest in our son's entrance into this world. I also am glad he is the coach and not me, as he remembers things much better than I do!

I also have some stories and pictures to share from experiences that certainly have made me smile with the boys lately. It is inevitable that I end up worn out taking care of two under two while pregnant, and it is overwhelming at times, but again, I am working to focus on the positives and the things that make me smile. Two Fridays ago we had our first outting to eat lunch with Josh at our house. We made it through, and now I know we can do it! Also, Justin was reintroduced to Josh after not having seen him since summer - he was totally afraid of him, but more aware of him :-)

This last week we were going to venture out again, for lunch with my parents and Josh, but to avoid some hassle and make things more simple, they came to join us at the house for lunch instead! To prepare Justin a little better this time, I showed him pictures of my parents and of Josh for a couple days and taught him their names. Sometime I must record Justin saying "Duane" and "Barb," it is SOO cute! He loves to say Duane the most ;). Justin was much more comfortable with Josh by the end of his time with us, as evidenced by the picture of them playing together. We also enjoyed reading some new books my parents bought, filled with different animals to name and make sounds for. He was comfortable enough to give my parents hugs "nigh-night" before heading up for his nap. Yay!

We also got out to enjoy a couple walks in the double stroller on the nice-weather days. Justin absolutely loves going out for walks, and Miles seems to really enjoy them too - I am so glad! It was definitely adorable this week when Justin interrupted his early morning play time right after Miles finished his bottle to grab his & Miles' jackets and ask to walk, moving the door and saying stroller.

We had fun watching the rain this week too, especially when we couldn't go out for walks. We went out and felt the rain, touched some small puddles to feel the water, and watched the rain on the window. Justin was very content to sit in the windowsill and watch the rain (and the birds).

I must also mention that one of my favorite parts of having these fun stories to tell is that as I tell them to Josh, he is noticeably more interested and actually enjoys my stories much more now than he used to. It makes my excitement for our coming child that much greater as I experience the beginning of Josh's transition from "just" husband to father! I've always enjoyed watching him with children, but he's much more interested in them now, and that's even more fun :-).