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Monday, November 22, 2010

Nana's Early Christmas gift...

Jeremy's mom has always had a thing for gifts. Gift giving is definitely one of her love languages. Even from the days when we were dating, she has treated me (the daughter in law) with the same love and has given many a gifts to Jeremy and I both. Typically, each Thanksgiving, she'll give us the latest Hallmark ornament (the lady really should take stock in Hallmark) that somehow relates to our life. The year we got married, it was a "first Christmas" ornament, then the year we bought our house, it was a toaster (housewarming/first Christmas in new house), I'm guessing this year will be something about "baby's first Christmas" So, I decided to get a little crafty myself, and return to her a wonderful gift that she'll *hopefully* treasure.
Now, I might add that I am an artist - a musician. I don't do the crafty things. Part of my brain can visualize it, but I can't execute the idea. So, I end up with something that looks cute only because it looks like a 4 month old did it. Thankfully, that's the way this one was.


I was inspired by my friend Sara who recently did this onesie for her sweet McCord for Thanksgiving. So I got my materials together: white (clean and ironed) hanky, fabric paints, and baby feet and hands.
I painted Miriam's bottom right foot with brown fabric paint to maek the reindeer head, then painted each palm on her hands for the antlers. Now, surely there's a better way to do this, because the product of the handprints, well, don't quite look like reindeer antlers...but they'll work. I took some red fabric paint to give my cute little reindeer a nose.
Then, taking a fabric pen, I wrote (with very un-neat handwriting and off center - I had to make it look homemade :)) "Nana's Little Reindeer" for the finished product:


We can't wait to give this to her on Thanksgiving Day. I hope Nana will use this as a cute towel decoration in her kitchen this holiday season. I hope she likes it!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Fantastic Four Months

To our dearest Doodle Bug,
Today would have been your 3 month birthday.  Instead, we're celebrating the fact that you are almost 19 weeks old!  You have started following your daddy and me whenever we walk into the room or whenever we sing to you.  Your have been perfecting your smile over the last 2 weeks and you love strangers! Your eyes glow (just like your Nana's) when your face lights up.  Your favorite time of day is the morning when mommy comes to wake you up and we sing "good morning, good morning, good morning to you"  You love to snuggle with daddy after mommy feeds you in the morning while she gets ready.  You've grown to like your daily nap in the car seat on the way to mommy's office every morning (although it's about the only nap you take). You have a way of telling us you don't like what you're wearing - and it typically involves a wardrobe change and Baby Oxyclean on either the shirt or pants - or both! You are coming around on the paci, although I think you really would like to eat your own fingers instead.  Although you don't get to see mommy at night before bed most nights, you thoroughly enjoy your bottle and bonding with daddy and an occasional visit from your Nana (daddy's mommy). Just the other day, you started making noises and talking to us. You sure do have a lot to say.  Today you even started singing with the music that was playing. You are changing more and more each day.  We can't wait to see what the next month holds for you! 
You saw Dr. Nick today, and although that nurse hurt you so bad with those shots, you faired pretty well (you had all of that tolerance built up from the heel pricks).  You checked out great, and these were your stats:
Weight - 15 lbs 5 oz - 80th percentile
Length - 24.75 inches - 20th percentile
Head - 15 inches - 5th percentile.
You have lots of growing to do....we're just not sure we're ready for it yet.
We love you, right up to the moon and back,
Mommy and Daddy

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

I am a mother of....

a perpetually sick baby.
They told me it would be this way.
Being born 6 weeks early definitely has us living on the edge of our seat, wondering what is around the corner. Although they ran all of the tests, and have checked everything on Miriam over and over, it never fails that something just "comes up."  My debit card has been swiped for way too many copays in the past 4 months and today it got 3 of them!!  We've also had our share of $15 prescriptions at the walgreens. The poor pharmacist there even knows my address by heart. should i be concerned about that?
First it was the jaundice that turned into a 2 month ordeal, then a sinus infection, then GI issues and now an upper respiratory infection.  Miriam really does take after her Nana (my mom) and me...we were totally cursed with sinus cavitites that just can't take too much. Miriam is now on her 3rd round of antibiotics since she was born to help with these stupid infections.  Those poor people at the doctors office have come to love us - from our daily visits during Miriam's first month of life, her check ups, and her returns every 2 weeks. Some of them already know Miriam's birthdate by heart from when I call it in, and one even recognizes my voice on the phone. Sad.
I loved having our little girl join us early, but these 4 months have already sounded true of what they told us: "she's going to be more vulnerable to ANYTHING and EVERYTHING" and "she'll probably have some problems and digression along the way" Great-just what every parent wants to hear.

Sorry for the vent - it was just one of those days. 

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Speechless...

Now you all know that isn't true! Although, that's surely how I feel tonight. Let me take you back a few years....
I grew up on the coolest "one-street neighborhood" there ever was. My family and I moved in to the house there right after I had turned 3 and my dad still lives there today.  We started attending Ebenezer ARP Church, and I'm not quite sure how it all went down, but somehow, we met the Kimbrells.  They were a fun family and we had lots in common. They lived 10 houses away at the top of the street where we lived, and they also went to Ebenezer (along with their entire family!, well, almost..). They had 3 children, one who was older, one who was my sister's age, and then one 2 years older than me. We did lots together because we went to the same school and church. We rode the bus home together, carpooled to high school, sang in choir, played on basketball teams, went on youth trips, were discipled and discipled others, went to circle together....basically shared in life. Today, we share in life with the Kimbrells in quite a different way.

Today, I hurt all over again as I heard the news of the matron of the Kimbrell family passing away.  Jane was a wonderful woman of God and more of a servant and giver than anyone I've ever met before.  She was always kind, always thoughtful, always spirited, and always loving (unconditionally at that!). She was a wonderful friend to us all, but mainly to momma, especially in her sick days. She had struggled in life with her health. I found out that she had battled polio and rheumatic fever, and as of late had been having some heart problems.  Her wise doctors suggested she go with a surgery that would help repair all of her broken parts and give her a bit more energy and umph to make it through the rest of her life. The surgery took place last Wednesday, October 27.  She should have been out of ICU by now on the road to recovery.

However, the Lord had other things in store.  She had difficulties meeting the needs for the "step down" units in the hospital, and had complications when they went to extubate her several times. She arrested late Thursday night/early Friday morning and they were able to revive her. They discovered some bleeding, then lack of her kidneys working, then numbers were dropping, until this morning at 10:12, the Lord called Jane to Him mid-morning today so that he could fix her broken parts.

You see, this is how I know the "Lord works for the good of those who love Him..." (Rom 8:28). The Lord knew that DJ (the daughter 2 years older) and I would have similar life experiences with losing our mothers within 1-2 yrs of marriage without children while we were still young. He knew we'd need someone to grieve with, laugh with, and share stories with in the absence of our mothers. He knew we'd understand where the other was coming from and how some days would just be more difficult than others. He knew we'd know why heaven was such a much better place for our mothers, but selfishly we wanted them with us as we celebrated the joys and cried the losses in our lives. I think that's one of the reason why 25 years ago, the Lord took us to Forest Lake and Ebenezer. There is comfort to be found.

My heart had been hurting much of this week as I spent a lot of time remembering mom, remembering her laugh, remembering her presence, and remembering her love and how I miss all of that. But today, I rejoice with her, knowing that her dear friend Jane is sharing in Glory with her. After I received the news, balling, i looked into the eyes of my precious Miriam and she smiled so big I swear it was mom looking right at me saying: "see, she's perfectly healed now, and I have a friend to share this glory with." I'm not kidding.

Pray for the Kimbrell family this day and in the days to come as the journey will be hard. Even a year and a half later, it's still hard.
See, I told you I wasn't speechless.