Cabinet question

Would you put white cabinets in your kitchen if you could see the kitchen from the front door and if the kitchen, dining area, and living room were essentially one room with just a slight bit? Our other cabinet option is a medium oak. We like a cozy feel to our living area and are afraid that the white cabinets would be too much. We're wondering if the dark oak wood floors that extend from the front door on through the kitchen will be cozy enough to offset the bright white of the cabinets. Our first thought for the color of the counters, if we used white cabinets, would be a dark blue.

We'd appreciate any opinions on it. We have the samples with us tonight and have to make our choice by tomorrow morning at our appt.

Oh, and what color countertops would you choose if we went with medium oak for the cabinets.

Christmas gifts

I know...in July? Yes, I'm already thinking of what to give this early. I sat down the other night and wrote down everyone we give gifts to and ideas for what to give. I like to get all my gift making, shopping, and wrapping done by Thanksgiving, so I've got to get started early...especially if I am planning on sewing/knitting/crocheting/"insert other hobby" any of the gifts. I also included ideas on my list for upcoming baby gifts and the few birthdays and anniversaries that are left this year.

I had a couple of ideas for gifts I thought I'd share. Hope they help others get their creative gift-giving juices flowing:

1. Buy homemade jars of jams, salsas, BBQ sauce, raw honey, or other specialty goods from your local Farmer's Market. I plan on doing this, and it's another good reason to figure out what you want to give, since most FM's are done in September or early October.

2. I plan on making a travel tissue holder for each of our grandmothers. It's a simple project that will probably take me just an evening or two, but it's special, prettier than the plastic travel tissue packets, and homemade.

3. Buy a children's book and record yourself (on tape or CD) reading it, complete with a ringing bell or some other sound to let the child know to turn the page. Give to your favorite little child. My family (yes, my dad, mom, two brothers and even exchange student sister) did that a couple Christmases ago for Becca. I finally got the tapes out and played them for her today and she did quite well following along on her own. She loved that she knew the people who were reading the stories--and they made it personal by mentioning who they were and that they were going to read to her.

Helpful Hints

Been meaning to share these for quite awhile, but I keep forgetting.

1. My grandma taught me how to easily retrieve that tiny bit of egg shell you accidentally let slip in with the egg when you cracked it: use another piece of shell. For some reason, it is so much easier to scoop up shell with shell than with your finger or a spoon.

2. A teacher I taught with in Texas gave me a hint about how to more easily get the shell off a hard-boiled egg. Once you crack the shell open, slide a spoon under the shell to separate it from the egg. It doesn't work every time, but it can help if they don't seem to want to separate.

Children's and Family Music

While searching for the artist who sings the song "Blueberry Pancakes" that I heard on a video on a blog of a friend of a friend (complicated, I know), I found this site: Zooglobble--a site run by a dad who reviews lots of music, including many children's artists (Dan Zanes, Laurie Berkner, Raffi, etc.).

By the way, the artist is Frances England, and the song is on her debut CD called Fascinating Creatures. England is a pre-school teacher in California. You can find his review of her CD here. I love her voice and the folksy sound of some of her songs. You can see her debut music video for the song "Tricycle" on YouTube. I showed it to Becca today, and we watched it many times over.

Sewing for your little boy too

Thought I'd pass along a link from my friend Jen. It's a super easy way to re-purpose t-shirts to make pants for toddlers--either for girls or boys. I haven't tried it yet, but I know I have a few friends with little boys that might benefit.

Make some easy kid's pants

Happy sewing :)

Nursing Blanket Project #2

I finished another nursing blanket (my final one for myself) last night. I had it cut out and just needed to sew it together. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.
The material is a little heavier than the other one I made. This one is a light corduroy material. I think if you click on the picture you can see it enlarged. The print is a brown paisley with some pink, green, and blue in the design. I used boning in the top so I can see the baby while nursing. I also added boning to my other nursing blanket. I now have two nursing blankets for less than I would have paid for the one that I liked online. Plus, Nate's mom is using the leftover material from this one to make Becca a jumper.

Becca demonstrating how to use the nursing blanket--her baby is under the blanket.

Peek! Baby Ella is all done nursing. :)

38 weeks (minus a day)

I had a very quick appointment today at the birthing center during which I met the third midwife that works with the center. She briefly told me about herself, asked me all the usual questions (how are you feeling--just fine; any swelling--nope; how's the baby moving--a lot!; any questions for me--not right now), told me I do not have Group B strep (yay!), commented on my only one pound of weight gain in two weeks (not sure how I'm doing that since I am eating well--maybe something to do with having an active toddler in the house :) ), and then we moved on to the measurements.

My blood pressure was even lower-98/sixty-something. I measured 38 cm. Baby 2's heart rate was in the 130s, but bumped up to the 150s when (s)he started moving around. Baby 2 is still head down and she recommended that I try to do pelvic tilts/rocks a few times a day to keep baby in a good position. They are a good thing to do anyway and I had been doing them about once a day.

The last thing she asked before I left was if I wanted a pelvic exam--when they check my cervix to see if I'm dilated or effaced at all. I said no, I'd rather not and she was totally cool with that. She said that the other midwife doesn't check at all until you are in labor and she always just likes to ask. I said that besides the fact that I hate pelvic exams (they are so uncomfortable), knowing whether or not I am dilated tells me nothing about when I will go into labor, so I didn't see a point to it. She agreed with me. It's so nice to be at a place where I have the option to refuse those kinds of things and they don't make me feel guilty for doing so.

Here are the pictures. You get two of actual belly and one with my beautiful daughter in the pic with me. If you don't want to see my bare belly, then don't scroll down. :) These were taken this morning.

Names

We'd better be having a boy, because if we are having a girl, she probably won't have a name. We just can't nail down even a couple names for more than a few days. Actually, there are a couple that have survived our many name discussions, but we're still not sure. I feel such a huge responsibility toward my son/daughter in choosing a name for them. I felt it with Becca too.

Tomorrow is my birthing center appointment. Friday marks 38 weeks. I'm ready to meet our baby and not be pregnant anymore, but not so excited for the labor part. At least I've been through it before, so I know from experience that my body can do this, by God's grace. I also am not trying to get my hopes up for Baby 2 coming in two weeks or less. I know it could be more, and that's okay too.

We are getting ready around here, though. We'll put the car seat in the car this weekend. Tonight Nate rearranged our room a little to accommodate the port-a-crib, where Baby 2 will be sleeping. We put it on his side of the bed, since with Becca, he would often get up and bring Becca to me in bed to nurse her during the night. Plus, that gets the baby away from the fan (my addiction) and the window (once it's cooler we like to have it open at night). I have lots of food in the freezer ready to be used when needed too--soups, pasta casserole, pesto, frozen pizza dough, etc.

Demolition

On Saturday we brought my folks to see our house. Today I brought Nate's mom to see the house and it was quite a difference. They've really moved along in the demolition phase. All of the siding is off and most of the inside is ripped up. The workers were there, so I was able to get a couple of pictures of the inside, but only the main floor. In my pregnant, unsteady state, I didn't want to risk going inside. It is quite a mess in there.

I'm glad we came by, though. The tree you see on the side of the house is actually coming out of the foundation, so they will have to rip it out. But they will also be ripping out another tree in the backyard for some unknown reason. They told me they could leave it if I wanted them too, and I said I did. I hope it will actually still be there. A friend on the street said that we could get as many trees as we want through an organization in the city called Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, so we will have to take advantage of that.

And now for the pictures:

The yellow color on the front of the house is paint, not siding. There is no siding left on the house. You can sort of see the tree in the picture. There's not much left of it. It's a skinny one to begin with.

The left front side of the house, to show the door which has been covered with plywood. Not sure if the steps will be going or staying. It used to be an entrance to one of the three apartments in the house.

A view of the back. Again, not any siding, just some paint on the wood.

Last, but not least, the inside. This is a view from the current back door, so the back left corner of the house. You can see through to the front door.

Siding, trim, and roofing choices

I had no idea it would be so hard to choose these. Our goals in choosing were:

1. Don't be too bland--we want more character than the cookie cutter houses.
2. Don't stand out too much.
3. Have a light-colored roof for energy efficiency.

I think we accomplished it. We were slightly limited in our choices, but I think we will be happy with what we chose.

Siding: Linen
Trim and scallop shakes**: Mountain Blue --it is a little darker than it is shown on the screen
Gutters: Traditional Blue--a darker blue than the Mountain Blue
Roof shingles: Dove Gray--the lightest we could go

**You can see what scallops look like by going here. They are in the picture on the right. They will go on the front of the house and maybe the side in the triangular areas at the top. They are the alternative to having diagonal siding in that area. Plus, they'll give a nice contrast and help us with the trying not to be bland part. :)

Christian Nurture of Children: the role of the priest

Our pastor is taking a break from preaching and we are hearing from our new family and youth ministry coordinator, Mark, for a few weeks (plus a few others later). Two weeks ago he preached on the Christian Nurture of Children: the role of the prophet, and next week will be the role of the king. This past week was the role of the priest. I didn't take good notes on the prophet one, but I did one the priest and wanted to share it here mostly for my own edification. This does not just apply to parents, but also to those who are spiritual parents and grandparents to those children in the church.

The scripture for the sermon was:
Numbers 18:1-2: Where God calls Aaron and his sons and fellow Levites to the priesthood and all that entails>

Numbers 25:3-13: The Israelites are influenced by the "daughters of Moab" to worship the baals. God calls for the execution of those who are worshipping the baals and sends a plague on the Israelites. While most of them are weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, one Israelite man brings a Midianite woman in front of them all into his tent to make her his wife (God had told them not to make any treaties or covenants with those who worshipped the baals--including no marriage covenant). Phinehas, Aaron's son, follows them in and kills them, thereby turning away God's anger and putting an end to the plague that had already killed 24,000. Not a happy story, but it shows in a key verse following Phinehas's actions what the priesthood is all about: in verse 11, God says that Phinehas "was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy." A priest is jealous with God's jealousy. God has a right to be jealous for his people, the Israelites (and the church), to worship him only because they are his bride just as a husband and wife can be jealous in their marriage to protect it.

1 Peter 2:4-5: Through Jesus Christ, we are part of a holy priesthood. (I hope that's a good summary of those verses--feel free to offer another one).

First he discussed the word "priest" and all the different thoughts, definitions, and sometimes baggage that we come with when we approach that word. Then he defined it.

Priests point us toward God and represent man's movement toward God. They are called out from among the people, like the Levites were. Priests no longer have the role of making atonement for the people, since Jesus as our high priest made himself the guilty part and was sacrificed for us--this is often called his priestly atonement.

Roles and Duties of the priest:

1. Identify with those we are a priest for--specifically, in this sermon, he was talking about identifying with our children, but this applies across the board.
Two ways we identify:

1. By nature--Jesus became man, Jesus calls us brothers (and sisters)--we are family. We can identify with our children by saying "what you did was wrong, but you are still my child--I'm still willing to be connected with you."
2. By experience--Jesus suffered for us and obeyed perfectly in our place. For us, our job is to suffer with our children, to have sympathy and mercy towards them. Also, we need to practice obedience, and show them how we try to obey God.

2. Leading our families to worship of God--both in church and at home. Also offering sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise to God before our children.

3. Read the Word of God to our children--more important than any morals or teaching of good behavior is to teach them to listen to God's Word.

4. Create great celebrations and traditions that revolve around our worship of God in our church and home--use art, music, pageantry, beauty, enjoyment. Chase away the ugly. Engage senses.

5. Pray for our children--intercessory prayer--like Job prayed for his children.

6. Protect our children and their young faith from sin--set boundaries: this doesn't enter into our family/home/church. But also expose them carefully to the world and help them deal with what they see. Be jealous for your children's hearts to worship God.

7. Pronounce God's name upon our children in blessing--
Numbers 6:22-27:

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

"So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."

36 weeks (minus one day)

I had a midwife appointment today. She's letting me go another two weeks before my next appointment. I'm glad to not be going in next week, since Nate's mom will be here and we have enough planned without having to go in for an appointment. I don't see much of a reason to go in anyway. My measurements are good and I, thankfully, have not had any complications thus far, so there is not much to watch. After that appointment in two weeks (at which I will meet the one midwife I haven't met yet), though, I think I will be going in every week until Baby 2 makes his/her debut.

My blood pressure was 102/60. I'm amazed each time that it is so low. When I was teaching during my pregnancy with Becca, that bottom number was up in the high 80s.

My belly measured 35 cm and my weight was 171 lbs, up just two pounds from my last visit. The baby's heart rate was in the 150s. It really sounded like horses galloping this time. Becca was still saying it sounded like doggies barking. Carla, my midwife, also said she thought that the baby felt like he/she was in the head down position. Good...stay right where you are little one.

My lower back has been quite sore during the past week, especially when I'm up working in the kitchen for long periods of time. I'm thankful it's only just started now. Nate has been helping by offering back rubs and that really helps. It's helpful when he rubs my belly too. Those muscles get so sore during the day. No sciatic nerve pain yet. It is getting harder to turn over in bed, though, which I have to do a couple of times a night or my hips get really sore.

Overall, I'm doing well. After next week I think I'll get my bag packed for the birthing center and put the car seat in the car. Not that I'm expecting anything early, but I'm just ready to be ready.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...the belly shots. You get to see me in my pjs. :) Sorry about the shadows...it was now or never, since I keep forgetting to have Nate take the pictures when it's light outside.

Getting started on the house

I contacted our SEND liaison (that makes it sound really official :) ) to set up an appointment for choosing roof shingles and siding colors and found out that our contractor is off and running this week. She actually had to choose the shingle color for us because he wanted it right away, which was a real bummer to us. We asked her if there was any possible way we could still choose it, and she graciously called the contractor and set up an appointment with us on Friday morning. I'm going to laugh if we end up choosing the same color that she did for the roof.

Because of scheduling conflicts on both or our parts, we won't be able to meet with her again until July 30. At that meeting we will choose cabinets, countertops, trim, and hardwood flooring.

We'll be heading to the house this Saturday to show my folks (they are coming into town briefly so my mom knows the way, since she will be coming alone when I start labor to watch Becca for us), and I will take Nate's mom there next week when she visits us. If there are any visible changes, I'll try to post pictures.

Tagged

I don't normally do these, but I'll play along this time.

This particular game of tag is about sharing 8 random things about oneself, that people might not know.

These are the first that came to my mind:

1. In college I enjoyed wall climbing at an indoor climbing gym with my best bud Lisa pretty regularly. I even bought my own climbing shoes and harness and chalk bag. I still have them and hope to get back into it--I think it would be a fun family activity.

2. Fall is my most favorite season. I don't like being hot, so that is part of it. But I love everything about Fall--the changing colors, the cooler weather, apple cider, pumpkins...my birthday. :)

3. I wear only three pieces of jewelry--four if you divide my wedding rings into engagement ring and wedding band. Besides the wedding rings I wear a necklace given to me from my grandparents--my mom's parents. It is a delicate gold chain with a small gold "P" (for Patricia) hanging on it. And lastly, I wear an eighth carat diamond earring up toward the top of my left ear. Whenever I try to wear earrings in my bottom holes, my ears get super irritated, but that top hole has never been bothered. I don't have anything against jewelry, but I just tend toward the simple, and am happy to wear a few special pieces.

4. I don't wear make-up. Well, okay, some days I'll put on just a smidge of blemish cover-up on a few spots, but other than that, the only thing on my face each day is moisturizer. Sometimes when I get dressed up, I'll put on some blush or eyeliner. Again, I don't have anything against make-up or people who wear it, but for me it's just too expensive (to get the good stuff) and takes too much time to put on and I start not liking how I look without it.

I actually used to wear a lot of make-up--blemish cover-up, foundation, powder, eyeliner, blush (never eye shadow--my eyelids are super sensitive and would get dried out--and never mascara, which I don't like at all), but when I moved to Grand Haven in 10th grade, my two new best friends, Lisa and Kortnie, gave me such a hard time for how long it took me to get ready, that I just stopped wearing it and haven't gone back. Ironically, I think they both wear make-up now (probably not as much as I used to--they can correct me if I'm wrong :) ).

5. I like hockey. I haven't seen a game in a really long time--either in person or on TV (only two stations on our TV), but I really do enjoy watching it. Especially the Wings. I started watching my senior year in high school during the Stanley Cup playoffs and learned all the rules of the game from my friend Dan and his roommate Bjorn during my freshman year of college. Hockey is one of the very few sports I will actually take the time to watch on TV.

6. There are two things I've always wanted in a house. 1) A large front porch with a porch swing, and 2) A claw foot bath tub--long enough and deep enough to actually get all the way up to my neck in bubbly, warm water. Sadly, I won't get either one with this house, but I can always dream that someday I'll have at least one of those.

7. I'm not a fan of knick knacks in decorating. They just take up space I could use to display pictures or place candles or books and they make dusting even more detestable than it already is. I have a few special things that you would probably call knick knacks, and I'm okay with those, but I'd rather not collect any more.

8. I'm deathly afraid of any bug that can sting me--bees, hornets, wasps, etc. It's a really irrational fear, but it's there. I'm trying desperately not to pass it on to my daughter (and other children). Lisa said that I wouldn't be so afraid once I got stung for the first time, which happened just a month or so after getting married to Nate and moving to Houston. Let's just say it did nothing to alleviate my fears...and probably made them worse. It really, really hurt.

I was tagged by my friend and former community group leader Sarah (go to her blog or her online art studio site to meet her). I'm leaving the tagging up to anyone who wants to participate. So, tag yourself in my comments if you'd like.

House pictures from the outside--before renovation

Finally! Pictures of the house. Remember, you have to think of what it will be. Renovations start tomorrow...we hope!

View of the front right side

Front view

The front porch--this will be covered when it's done

The back of the house--as you can see, we actually have a lot and a half, so we have some extra space on the one side of the house that not many people have in our neighborhood.

Another shot of the back of the house and the backyard from the alley. We will have a wooden privacy fence put in and a gate to allow us to drive our car onto our pretty cement slab on which we hope to someday have an actual garage. :)

We should be going in to pick out the siding color and the roof color sometime this week.

Today and sharing some craft sites

Today was much better than yesterday--Becca had a nap and I cleaned up Nate's office area up in the loft, so Nate's mom will have a cleaner and neater place to sleep when she comes to stay with us in a couple of weeks while Nate is in Canada. Becca also helped me make cookies today and I played play dough with her (I made some play dough back in February and it's still working well--I'll have to find the recipe that I used).

Anyway, my bookmark folder for Crafts and Hobbies is full of so many fun projects that I haven't tried yet. I thought I'd share a couple with y'all. Tonight the theme is repurposing to make dresses (and a pair of pants/capris) (all for young girls).

1. Adorable Pillowcase Dress Tutorial
   
2. Another Adorable Pillowcase Dress Tutorial
3. Using an adult button up shirt to make a dress tutorial
   
4. Using sleeves of adult button up shirt to make pants/capris tutorial

Enjoy!

Our Day Today

Not that it was all that interesting, but it was a harder Monday than normal. We started out well--I vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom and used a homemade cleaner for the tub for the first time*, cleaned the hard floors, washed the shower curtain liner**, and cleaned the couch cushions for the first time in a long time. This was interspersed with reading to Becca, resting on the couch because my stomach was queasy, eating breakfast, and changing Becca's diaper.

We had lunch and then did our usual routine before nap time: put on the nap time diaper and cover, give Becca her paci, pick out two books, read said books, and sing and rock Becca to sleep. Usually works like a charm, but today, after an hour and a half, she still wasn't asleep and I was very frustrated. I knew she needed a nap and would have a break down around supper time without one, but it just wasn't happening. So I gave up and got her up.

We left for the grocery store and to drop off the recycling. For not having a nap, Becca did wonderfully at the grocery store. Her only request while there was to "go see fishies". I did take her over to see them, and the birds and hamsters too. We checked out after that and then rode the horsie (Becca did, not me :) ). At home Becca had a snack (a combination of some Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal, preceded by a small handful of Daddy's peanut butter M&Ms he had requested that I buy), and then Becca and Daddy took a bike ride together while I made dinner (earlier in the day Becca had said to Nate, "Please, Daddy take Becca for bike ride"--how can you resist such polite cuteness?).

After dinner we had a phone call from Nate's mom (who is vacationing in Hawaii with Dad and Cara). We also had a couple of near meltdowns--enough that I knew it was time for getting ready for bed even though it was earlier than normal. I got her ready and then we had ice cream and read a book. After ice cream we brushed teeth and had the rest of our normal bed time routine: read a story, pray, sing three songs, say goodnight and Mommy sits in the chair outside her room while Becca falls asleep.

Except Becca wouldn't go to sleep and finally had her real meltdown when she started crying in a sad I'm-so-tired-that-I-can't-handle-it way. So I had Nate bring her to me and I held her for five minutes. We talked about her day and how she will help mommy when the baby comes out and about how Becca would lie still and try to go to sleep when the beep-beep timer went off. After said five minutes I put her back in her crib. The five minute snuggle helped and she was soon asleep.

I sat in the chair (a rather comfy Lazy Boy type chair) until I finished the young adult historical fiction novel Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. I think I tried to read it at one point for some class in high school or middle school, but didn't find it interesting. I thought it was a wonderfully written story this time around, though, and was much more interested in it since I've been reading the biography about Lincoln and his contemporaries (Team of Rivals).

As I was reading, the baby was moving around a ton. I kept wondering what in the world he/she was doing in there. Baby has finally calmed down, and I'm about off to bed, since I wanted to be there 10 minutes ago. Thanks for listening to my day. I just needed to decompress and this was the best way.

*We ran out of soft scrub and I really wanted to try a homemade cleaner for the tub, so I sprinkled baking soda over the tub and then squirted some Dawn liquid dish soap into the tub. Add a little water and a sponge and you have a soft scrub like cleaner. It worked pretty well.

**We have a vinyl shower curtain liner for out downstairs bathroom. It was getting pretty nasty near the bottom, so I tossed it in the washer, set it on hot and poured in a tiny bit of bleach. It came out looking a lot better.

Anniversary Flowers

Here is a not-so-good picture of the flowers Nate gave me for our anniversary.

Instead of exchanging gifts, we decided to buy something for the two of us. We have been wanting new sheets for our bed for awhile, so I ordered some tan organic cotton ones from Target last night. They had good reviews, which is why I went with them over ones from the Gaiam or Purerest sites. I just wasn't sure what they would feel like and wasn't prepared to spend that much money yet.

New house photos

So we won't have photos of the house until next week. Nate took pictures of it with his camera phone, but the only way to get them off his particular phone is to email them, which costs 25 cents per email. Needless to say, Nate is not pleased with our cell phone company for making him pay to get the pictures, so we're going to wait until we are on our way home from church next Sunday and get pictures then with our digital camera.

34 weeks 2 days

I've been having a lot of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately. I've also had some of my back and sciatic nerve pain coming back over the weekend. I'm hoping it's short-lived. I find that I'm feeling quite exhausted in the evenings. We usually take a walk after dinner and let Becca play at the playground for a bit. I'm spent once we get back inside.

Other than that, things seem to be going well. I have another appointment on the 12th, and then I'll start going in weekly after that until our little one is born. I can't believe it's that close! I'm rereading Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way since we're not taking any childbirth classes. I feel like I learned more from the book than our class anyway--or maybe I just felt like the class was an expensive review of all I had already learned in the book. I like knowing what my body is doing throughout labor, and this book explains that well.

Oh, one more thing. I've noticed I've had to start getting up a couple of times during the night to go to the bathroom. I know that many women experience this throughout their pregnancy, but I haven't for this one. I don't really mind having to get up, since I usually can get right back to sleep afterwards. Besides, having a super full bladder in the morning is not my idea of a great way to wake up. When that happens, it's a little painful to get out of bed and make it over to the bathroom. Anyway, enough potty talk. :)