Baby Showers Continued

South Gate threw us a baby shower on Sunday, June 7, and we really appreciate everyone's kindness and generosity.  The food was delicious, the decorations were beautiful, and the presents were so thoughtful.  Taylor had been unable to attend my Bolivar shower since she and Jim were in Ireland celebrating their first wedding anniversary (Jealous!), so we were so happy that they could both come to this shower.  My parents, Robert, and Pepaw also came, and it was decided that this was the first shower of any kind - wedding or baby - that Pepaw, Dad, or Jim had attended.  I guess times have changed!  We loved all the purple themed things to go along with Baby V's nursery!

I was so happy that my family could meet many of the church members.

Robert and I went to Kansas City yesterday to have a family party for Baby V and enjoyed getting to see his grandparents, aunt, and cousins.  Serina and Bethany did a great job hosting!  I think after this trip and summer camp this week we'll officially be finished traveling before baby arrives.  I like the sound of that!

Punch, cupcakes, cookies, cream cheese roll ups, fruit, and M&M's

Robert's favorite present

I had my ninth prenatal appointment and things are still going well.  Normal blood pressure, fetal heart rate of 150 bpm, and no complaints other than always feeling hot.  I'm excited to go to summer camp, but I also know I'll need to recognize my limits and decide when it's time to get some rest or some AC.  The weather forecast looks like it'll be 90 and sunny with a heat index of 100 the whole week that we're in Arkansas.  Eek!

Changing Table

I knew that we didn’t have an ideal spot or enough space really for a changing table.  I also knew I didn’t want to just get a towel or blanket and get down on the floor to change a diaper 10 times a day right after giving birth.  We were working on rearranging the nursery and discussing how to fit in a changing station, and Robert came up with the idea of having it on top of the vanity in the nursery.  It would be a table that would stay there from day to day but could be moved when needed.  It would be tall enough to still give us access to the sink and faucet.  We had planned to get it done in June, but Ray came to town the weekend before Memorial Day, and decided he was up for helping Robert work on it.

The three of us went to Home Depot to purchase the supplies.  I was in charge of picking out the paint while the guys got everything else.  They went with ¾” plywood in pine, and had the worker cut it to the necessary dimensions (52” x 20”).  They also purchased 2 pine 1”x6”x 6’ boards and 1 pin 1”x2” with one beveled edge.  Other supplies included wood glue, 1 ¾” screws, a paintbrush, and a quart of paint. I chose Glidden Duo (Paint + Primer) in Orchid Oasis.

Went with the top color

Before the changing station

The base of the table sits on the small backsplash of the vanity.  The base has three sides put together with wood glue and screws.  Wood glue went on the top edge of the base, and then they put down the sheet of wood and screwed it down.  The measured out 8” from the sides and 10” from ends to select their spot for handles for easy removal.  They drilled out circles with a bore and cut out the remainder with the jigsaw.  Then they added the 1”x2” to add a lip to keep it more secure.  The foam changing pad will fit perfectly inside the handles.

Then they sanded, and sanded, and sanded.  Thank goodness for the electric sander!

After my nap, it was time for me to go to work painting it with Robert.  We did two coats.  The color reminds me a lot of my bedroom in high school.  Robert says we’re getting in some early SBU brainwashing for Baby V .  4^th generation Bearcat?  Works for me!

Robert says this project was not difficult and says the project took about six hours from start to finish and cost about $80, less than what one could easily spend on a regular changing table.  Obviously, this is a pretty specialized item, but hopefully we’ll be able to repurpose it in the future.

Life Lately - The start of summer

We've started the summer off with a bang!  May ended with a youth pool party, graduation parties, and more church league softball games for Robert.  My work assignment has basically finished, so I've been finding new ways to fill my time.  One thing that is a daily must is an afternoon nap!  I spent one morning filling out some pages from this adorable baby book from Bethany and Jason.

I've been enjoying teaching the middle school girls' Sunday School class since our second week at South Gate.  Aren't they great artists?

Robert randomly found this old SG jersey when he moved into his office.  This was the last week it fit me...

 We went to Oklahoma in mid-May for Robert's former roommate and dear friend Josh's wedding.  On this trip we learned that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation will indeed accept checks when you don't have enough cash to pay for the toll.

It was such a treat to go to Bolivar for the day and see Michael!  We calculated that we'd only seen him twice since our wedding, and one time was for just a couple of minutes, so it was great to spend several hours catching up on life, going to the park, and playing Frisbee golf.

Robert and I decided that it was totally acceptable for us to celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day this year even though Baby V is still on the inside.  Robert treated me to some delicious cheesecake, a nice note, and these pretty flowers.

Robert had the opportunity to preach at South Gate for the second time, and it's so cool to see God give Robert the words to say to speak to His people.

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary on May 20, and Robert took a day off from work so we could spend the whole day together.

Three years!

Mom came for a day trip to spend the morning with me, and it was so great!  We ran lots of errands together, made a Starbucks and Panera trip, and officially talked each other's ears off.

The car seat and stroller are ready for Baby V!

Mittens turned three on June 1.  It can't be scientifically proven that this is indeed her day of birth, but it's the first time we ever saw her and she was a tiny kitten so I think that's official enough.  She celebrated with some of her favorite things: her toys, lots of brushing, and her dry food - sister just won't eat fancy wet food.  Robert made her some climbing blocks for her present.  These will allow her to survey her kingdom from above.

June has gotten off to an incredibly busy start.  Our youth participated in Serve Springfield which is a local mission trip in which several area churches join forces.  Our youth had a service project each morning: working in a neighborhood garden, painting at Victory Mission, and performing random acts of kindness.  In the afternoon they would go door to door in neighborhoods near South Gate to ask for food and clothing donations and to ask if we could pray for them.  Each evening ended with dinner and worship at a local church.  It was a great experience and a cool way to show love to our community.  The very next night we took the youth to 417 Youth Night at the Springfield Cardinals.  We had front row seats on the third base line, and it was a lot of fun!

I had my eighth prenatal appointment on Friday, June 5.  It was kind of frustrating because I had to wait for about 45 minutes and then spent about 10 minutes actually being seen.  Everything is progressing well - healthy blood pressure for mom and healthy heart rate (150 bpm) for baby.

We had a bonfire for the youth on Saturday night, and we enjoy s'mores and lawn games.

And then on Sunday we had the joy of waking up to a broken refrigerator.  When I opened it up the inside was already room temperature, so we're thinking it had been out pretty much all night.  The maintenance worker was on vacation this week and really doesn't work on the weekend anyway, so it's been 60 hours and counting without a refrigerator.