Day Old Child

The day I arrived home from the hospital, I opened a present from Nannie - amc's grandma. There were a few darling items for Savannah and she had also included a sweet poem. It touched my heart and gave me an understanding of the miraculous reality of this day old baby girl. 

I've had moments of feeling completely overwhelmed and helpless. And I remember a few times when those feelings were coupled with frustration. And just as quickly as I wanted to vent that frustration, I remembered the miraculous reality that Savannah truly is. A few Sundays ago, we gave our baby girl a name and a blessing. Amc did a beautiful job. He told her that she was dearly loved by her parents. It was sweet and promising. Afterwards, amc leaned over to me and had a solemn, sincere tone in his voice as he whispered, "She isn't ours". My chest and throat tightened as I nodded my head to agree. It's so true. 

I am here to love her. Teach her about her Savior's gospel and His beautiful plan for her life. To help remind her of the love that her Heavenly Father has for her. And how much He absolutely adores her. She is His precious baby girl. And we are so lucky to have her. Being her mother has shaped my life and has set me on a path that will keep me feeling forever grateful. Each day, she gives me the chance to love even greater. Strengthen my patience through serving. And beg for help from the Lord to guide my decisions and bless me with understanding. I have realized that I need her in my life to become the type of woman, wife, and friend that I so desperately want to be.

Savannah's first photo in her new home

My day old child lay in my arms

With my lips pressed against her ear

I whispered softly, "Oh, how I wish--

I wish that you could hear

I've a hundred wonderful things to say

(a tiny cough and nod)

Hurry, hurry, hurry, and grow

So I can tell you about God"

My day old baby's mouth was still

And my words only tickled her ear

But a kind of light passed through her eye

and I saw this thought appear --

"How I wish I had a voice and words

I've a hundred things to say

Before I forget --I'd tell you about God

I left HIM yesterday."

Carol Lynn Pearson

Yours truly, Me

Hunnybun's Crib

As soon as we learned the gender of our little Hunnybuns I feared images with the pink Peptobismol color spewed all over the nursery. I was hoping I wouldn't contradict myself but I wanted a baby room to be classy and sophisticated. Initially, I was imaging a monochromatic scheme of colors. I found some beautiful bedding that had a creamy pin-tuck satin fabric paired with a gorgeous dusty rose color. It became the inspirational piece for the nursery. We had so much fun searching for great deals and finds.

I snagged this chocolate brown changing table from Craiglist. I wanted a table with lots of storage beneath and one that could grow with Savannah. I loved the sleigh curves! My handyman took on the task of refinishing this to be a soft almond color. I switched out the wooden knobs for six pink glass and one metal knob. The results were beautiful! 

I also found this brown crib on Craigslist. We repainted it to be a soft almond color to match the changing table. I'm in love with the matching sleigh curves, scrolls, and spindle legs.

I'm all about camouflaging small windows with tall and wide curtain panels to make them appear larger and taller.

I stole this 80's brass chandelier from our dining room. I used a few coats of paint in the shade Antique White. I really wanted to glam it up by draping on some crystals but they were entirely too expensive for my budget.  I scored a few crystal beaded strands from here and a few individual crystals on clearance from a thrift shop.

Even though I was tight on space, I was really hoping to create a reading area in the nursery. I found the glider on Craigslist for a great deal and felt spoiled when my mom went to pick it up and gifted it for Savannah. We have quite the collection of classic nursery books over here! 

I switched the floor lamp from our TV room to the nursery. You can view this link for a great tutorial. I updated the shade by sewing on rows of ruffles! And when I say I, I really mean my mom because I have no idea how to sew.

Amc found these beautiful pink ornament balls in the Christmas clearance section at Joann's for 75% off! Cheaper than DIY.

I found some talented crafters from Etsy.com selling button monograms on canvas. I thought it would go perfectly with the nursery but wasn't willing to pay $100+. I added it to my list of DIY nursery ideas on Pinterest with hopes of creating the craft before Savannah arrived. I picked up some canvas, burlap, buttons, ribbon, and crafty flowers from Hobby Lobby. I spent a couple hours parked in front of the TV while selecting and arranging buttons to fill the 'S'. I asked my creative mother-in-law to help me glue ribbon onto the sides of the 'S'. I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out!

Walmart sold faux canvas photos on sale for $10, available in two sizes. I ordered three photos of the faux canvas and was very pleasantly surprised with the results! I mod podged (2) 8x10 photos onto canvas to complete the newborn wall gallery.

(2) 11x14's, (2) 12x12's, (2) 8x10's

I love the hand-made look of these darling floral balls! Here is the link for a great tutorial on how to make them. I used a hydrangea punch to cut out petals from scrapbook paper. I glued two petals together and then attached each flower to a styrofoam ball by using pearl tipped pins. I placed the Pomander onto a glass candlestick tied with a ribbon. It's beautiful and elegant - one of my favorites parts of the nursery!

I had a groupon to Mixbook.com and I ordered a 12x12 Maternity/Newborn book. Completing the book took quite a bit of time because there were so many options and details available to use. I included a short version of our baby girl's birth story and a few other memorable moments, all accompanied with tons of photos! 

I received these beautiful S-a-v-a-n-n-a-h blocks as a gift from a few girls in my church. It was SO thoughtful and I'm so happy they did it!

We painted a light grey onto the walls. Unfortunately, the color was too light that you couldn't even tell it was painted! Not good. We didn't want to go buy more paint and so we thought we could get creative and use the leftover grey paint from our bedroom and add a faux finish. It's sort of a darker grey with a hint of blue.

So, what do you think?

Yeah. Feel free to say it. It looks awful! It looked as though we had covered the nursery with ugly blue clouds. And since I was 9 months pregnant and amc had been doing all of the painting, I just didn't have the heart to tell him that it desperately needed to change. The girls from my baby shower came to the rescue when they told me about a great local painting company called Five Star Painting that was having a promotional deal. Amc wasn't bothered the slightest with the change of plans considering he wouldn't need to re-paint the room himself. We chose a light grey with a hint of pink. It's gorgeous.

So that sums up our recent junk-room-turned-nursey! I hope Savannah will grow to love this room as much as I do.

Yours truly, Me

Growing Pains

Sigh. I can hardly believe it. My itty-bitty newborn is 10 weeks old today. Somehow we have entered into double digit territory. I'm diggin' each new phase she enters but am sad to wave goodbye to the newborn-ness.

Here we are at 10 weeks and she is full of sugar and spice. This girl keeps me on my toes all day long! I don't honestly know what I used to do with my time. These past ten weeks Savannah and I have figured each other out pretty well. She was sleeping 10-11 hours each night and had developed a wonderful 3-4 hour schedule.

Our supportive family and friends came for Savannah's blessing

UM... up until 2 weeks ago.

Savannah decided her mild temperament was getting a bit cliche. Day after day was the same old consistent naptime, feed time, and play time. Getting all the rest she needed to be giggly and simply the most awesome baby around. Yeah, I can see how that would wear on a baby. Say what?!
To say that this past week has been rough would be a gross understatement. Savannah would have long stretches of just being seemingly inconsolable, which has been so out of character for her. I would roll over to my phone and see 1:30/3:30am instead of 7:00am next to the screaming baby monitor. The usual 4oz feedings turned into only 1-2oz that were met by pursed lips, spit-up and a mischievous grin or an upset cry. It was tiring. We're still working through the feeding issues. As of yesterday, the good days far outnumber the bad days as long as I forget that she woke up EVERY hour last night only to finally begin our day by releasing a shrieking scream at 5am.
Her amazing cheeks and sweet personality make it all worth while to lose my beauty sleep and sanity. Good heavens, I love this baby girl.

She loves the attention

With this gorgeous spring weather, I love to take her on errands and I may find myself pushing her stroller for a few hours each sunny day. Our favorite hot spots? Grocery store, strolling through the shops at the outdoor Firewheel Mall, or through our beautiful neighborhood. I can tell already that we make a really great shopping team.

Grant and Savannah on their Blessing Sunday

Most thrilling event this week? Rolling my stroller onto the escalators in Dillards. This wasn't an umbrella stroller, mind you. Things couldn't have felt more wrong once my humongous travel system stroller was moving up onto the escalator. And I'm pretty sure that should not be allowed and that's what the elevators are obviously used for. Of course, that was a thought that ran through my mind after the fact. It was an especially humbling moment -- riding those escalators while looking like the biggest mistake for a mother. DANGit.

She is packing on the pounds and outgrowing her newborn clothes by the minute! She is recognizing faces and voices, and this girl loves her daddy.
All day long I'll make incredibly goofy smiles and squeals while receiving the most awesome toothless grins. Hunnybuns has seen sides of my personality and singing voice that no one will ever meet. I'll find myself feeling very raw and real. I can't believe how blessed I am to share with her my unreserved love, excitement, fears and concerns. I just can't wait until her grins turn into full belly laughs.
I'm working on adjusting to her ever changing schedule, figuring out how to balance everything, and taking it one day at a time.

Lunch date with Grandma and Grammie

Postpartum life at 10 weeks is going great! I slowly started back on the elliptical just shy of 3 weeks. I'm doing a mix of yoga, zumba, and running 3-4x week. I got back to my pre-pregnancy weight fairly quickly (thank goodness!) and I completely owe it to healthy eating, portion control, exercise and NOT 'eating for two' during my pregnancy. Okay, I take that back. I ate more than my fair share of McDoubles. Ironically, I've only had one burger since Hunnybuns birth and it tasted nasty. It was awful. As in, I couldn't even finish it which is a rare act of mine considering my mental psych won't let me leave a plate until its cleared. I'm confident we'll hook back up next pregnancy. Although the weight is off, I still have loose skin and abs. But I definitely feel like "me" again!
In the mean time, I'm just counting my blessings and am feeling so grateful to get to spend every day with this 10-week old love of my life.

Yours truly, Me