"Big Girl Room" Tour

Welcome to the "Big Girl Room," Come on in!

The Goal: Crisp and clean with fun "pops" of color and some functional storage.

Free crib from our neighbors! (will eventually be a daybed, but we haven't bought it or come to grips with having Hayden sleep "unjailed".) Painted it white and whipped up some pillows from the fabric my mom purchased (on sale!) at Hobby Lobby. The quilt was made for Hayden by my Aunt Barbara...it is as if two years ago when she was making it, she was channeling the "big girl room". It goes perfectly!!! The monogram was moved from her nursery...it is just holding this space until something else wonderful comes along.

The picture ledge shelves (my favorite!) These are from Ikea and allow Hayden to see her books. She can access the bottom two shelves and I use the top two as display...and to hide the books we are tired of reading.

There needed to be some flat surfaces to house all the electronics: monitor, lamp, sound machine, radio/clock etc. We love the blue table from Ikea along with the lamp (that has a dimmer for bed time story reading). Underneath are H's night time books...to be kept separate for just nighttime or we would be reading "Goodnight Gorilla" 86, 362 times a day. The photo above the table (very hard to see, sorry) is of Hayden in her "Team Chamness" onesie from the hospital...that onesie is already packed to be used by the next member of Team Chamness.

Since H has independent playtime in her room once a day we needed some toy storage. There are clear bins under the crib and these cubbies were bought on sale at Target. The photo collage above is of family members...Hayden likes to point and for us to name them.

The wicker chair is from my own room growing up. Perfect for stories and pre-bedtime snuggles! The owl painting was a gift for Hayden's first birthday from her talented Aunt Lindsi. The autographed matte/picture above was also from her first birthday party. You can just get a glimpse of our inspiration fabric/curtains. Mom whipped them up while she was here on a visit.

A few more "must-sees." The ABC, number and birth stat prints were all done on Publisher and printed at Kinkos (or whatever it is called now.)

Big Thanks go out to Eric M. for patching the very large door knob hole in the wall; to Jason F. for helping install the fan, curtain rod, and book shelves; and to Grammy (Karen B.) for purchasing the fabric and the sewing help!!!

Wordless Wednesday-Coworing (a.k.a. coloring)

Hey, Hey, Hey...

When Hayden wore her hat like this for at least 5 minutes while she played in her room this morning, all I could think of was this guy from Fat Albert...

(his unfortunate moniker is "Dumb Donald")

Quickie

A quick update and a tease...

At 37 weeks I'm hangin' out at one centimeter dilated and slightly effaced. That all sounds exciting and alot like progress, but I was the same with Hayden...and I'm pretty sure she would still be in the womb if given her preference (what a horrible mental image.) Other accomplishments...get suitcase out of closet and locate packing checklist for the hospital (check), pre register at Baylor hospital (check),and prepare draft email for Bryan to send out following Deucies birth (check). Still to do...wash newborn clothes, purchase some diapers for new baby, clean house (yuck), reinstall infant car seat, move Hayden to new room, etc., etc., etc. I'm sure the list should be getting shorter, but it seems to just grow.

As for the tease... The Big Girl Room is almost ready to document with photos and a blog entry. My mom came in last weekend and along with Bryan we were able to get almost everything done. Mom bought material and sewed up some curtains. I whipped up some pillows (don't look real close), Bryan finished all the painting, hung a new ceiling fan/light, and put up some fabulous book ledges (my favorite). Just waiting on some storage baskets and some art work.

Stay tuned...

Sisters

Oh my soul! How cute is this...?

Mom came in for the weekend and as per her norm just happened to bring something in her suitcase for Hayden...and her little sister. Can hardly wait to share "outside the womb" time with my two girls (In reality, there is still much to be done, so I'm really fine with waiting but in my daydreams we are all dressed in breezy white, reclining together in an allergy-less field somewhere, weaving daisy chains while being bathed in soft natural light and listening to a gentle performance of something classical. Is that not how it will be?)

20 Months Of Hayden

It is so crazy to remember the little screaming bundle of cute we brought home back in May of 2008 and then to see her running around here as a toddler.

I think your kid's independence kind of sneaks up on you. You are excited for all the new milestones, but then miss the stage they just moved from. The BIG things going on around here right now are the chattering and the constant acquiring of new skills! (so quick that they are hard to track and remember!)

Hayden probably says between 30 and 40 words and tries to add a few more each day. A few of her latest accomplishments are animal sounds (baa, moo, neigh, etc.), please, eat, stick (sticker), tee tee, poo poo, and repeating A, B, C, D, E after you. She will often run willy nilly around the house shaking her finger and giving an invisible someone what for in her own mumbo jumbo...way cute.

She is getting better and better at wielding the spoon and fork. I still insist on doing the way messy stuff, but I think soon she will have that down too. She can take off her own shoes and socks when she wants, though rarely upon request. There are several puzzles she has mastered and can match lots of shapes and colors. We of course find her to be brilliant.

Recently she has taken to saying who she wants to pray for in the middle of prayer...this almost always includes Mimi (the dog next door), Me (she points to herself), Mama, Daddy, Baby, and often the food or Curious George if near by. She continues to love books and has been enjoying playing with her baby dolls from Christmas.

Her big girl room is almost ready for her to move into. Most of the painting is complete and now we just need to finish things up. (pictures to come, I'm sure.) The timing doesn't leave but a few weeks for adjustment, but we are hopeful it will be enough to make her comfortable in the new space.

We sure are enjoying all the new fun things Hayden is doing. Bryan and I often find ourselves smiling at her and each other at the most random times. I guess cute, brilliant, mostly well behaved though very strong willed toddlers will make you do that.

Thank you Lord for our sweet girl, Hayden. She sure is a bundle of joy from You.

Deucies Picture

Sorry about the poor quality of the scanned sono pic.

Did what I could to help you distinguish what is there :)

Deucie Update

Well if the large belly and the sono pictures hadn't convinced us we were pregnant the horrible case of pregnancy brain would have. Last night Bryan asked me what time the appointment this morning was...uh, 9:15? A little unsure I looked at my calendars and couldn't seem to find anything written down (not surprising). Well obviously it was too late to check with the Dr.'s office and since I was pretty sure it was one of the first of the day, calling first thing in the morning wasn't going to be much help since we would be enjoying rush hour traffic on 75 to get there and would need to leave early anyways. Turns out my guess was pretty close...9:00 and we had left in plenty of time. Half way there I remembered the flash drive we didn't bring to save the sono pics on so I could share them with you. I'll try to get one of the printed ones scanned and posted on here soon.

The appointment went great. Deucie did indeed turn (thank you God and Mr. Bunzo, the acupuncturist)! We were all pretty sure she had by Saturday with the increased pressure on my ribs and the return of the vomiting (apparently when the kid pushes her behind, or something non breech, into your stomach your capacity for holding a full meal decreases...you just don't always realize it until you've eaten the whole thing...and then stand up...and try to make it to the car.) So we are all ready to try for the VBAC. Guess I should start studying back up on the whole birthing thing.

Deuce is measuring exactly right...around 4lbs or so. We got to see her chewing on her hands and squinting her little eyes. She apparently already has a fun hairstyle going on. The Dr. said the fuzzy stuff above her wasn't her aura, but her hair standing up. Hayden came out with quite a bit of dark hair, so we aren't too surprised. The doctor kindly reminded me at this appointment that it is all about what I choose to eat in the next few weeks that will determine the size of the baby for delivery (this was after I told her I'd had a Pepsi for breakfast). Apparently I should try to stay away from the sweets...

So thanks everyone for your prayers and thoughts on turning the kid. We sure have appreciated all the support and folks checking in on us.

Lord, thank you for turning the baby. Please help us to be productive as we prepare for the arrival of girl #2. Thank you for our loving friends and family!

Oh yeah, the other pregnancy brain moment...when I totally forgot to have the doctor confirm gender. We spent a lot of time looking at the face...but none looking at the front bottom. I guess we will stick with the Dr.'s original 90% prediction of female. I'm sure there was something else I was supposed to ask her...

Deucie Update

I haven't kept you very updated on this pregnancy. I've not taken any belly shots. I'm not tracking my weight gain..lately I just ask the nurse to write it down in the chart and not share it aloud. I haven't kept a running list of doctor questions or concerns. I've not read any of the emails I receive from websites about the development of the kid. I have no idea what piece of produce she most resembles this week. And I've not spent much, if any, time just sitting in her room dreaming of time with her. (all things I did with pregnancy number 1)

I do promise we already love Deuce, but admittedly this pregnancy seems to take a back seat (way back) to the already present toddler running around here. Can't imagine why. We've promised Deucie (and Hayden) that this will not always be the case.

So for a quick update on kid 2. She is measuring about a week ahead (Hayden always measured a week behind) and is still presenting breech. While the breech position makes it difficult to VBAC I must say the positive is it keeps her feet out of my lungs while in utero. She makes it much easier to breathe than Hayden did. Deucie is well behaved and doesn't keep me from sleeping, not that much does right now.

Because we are wanting to VBAC (avoiding major abdominal surgery being high on my list) and therefore want the kid to turn we have begun to try some fun (mostly unscientific) things to get her moving (Bryan said she obviously has his poor sense of direction). Besides the obvious and ongoing prayer, there was the warm bath with the frozen peas on the top of my belly, lying inverted on a homemade slant board (also read ironing board), the flashlight and music moving down the belly and most recently a trip to the acupuncturist. The acupuncturist was recommended by both my OB Gyn and doula. The experience was unexpectedly relaxing. Mostly done by the time I realized we had begun. He treated me for both the breech position and the sciatica pain I've been having (could it be due to carting around a toddler on my hip while pregnant...hmmm?). I go again this week and then back to the doctor for another sono next week.

Deucie's heart is sounding strong and healthy and the doctor is very pleased with our progress. Obviously we are old hands at this whole pregnancy thing...or maybe it's that we just did this a couple years ago. What were we thinking! :)

Will update you again after next weeks appointment!

Potbelly Love

Over the weekend we had our usual family lunch date at Potbellys! We love Potbelly's for several reasons...the yummy sandwiches, the usually uncrowded dining area (but what restaurant isn't pretty empty around 11:00 when we eat lunch with the kid?), and the best fountain cherry coke in town (seriously, without the cherry coke I might vote for a change of venue occasionally.) Hayden is always a hit with the staff when we visit. This weekend she was so excited about being there that she broke into spontaneous dance...her father's dance moves have obviously been passed down. We had to coach her for the video reenactment.