Empty

Our house seems a little empty these days. Our living room is no longer littered with a bouncy seat, swing, activity mat, diapers, etc. My arms are a little empty too.

Overall the past 10 days have been a great experience. Not many people get the opportunity to have such an extended period of time to see what it's like to have a newborn without actually having a child themselves. Here are a couple lessons I learned the past few days:
1. Boys are not girls (seems pretty obvious, I know) and all that entails (i.e. They will pee on you)
2. Newborns are really never on a schedule (as soon as you think they are, they will prove you wrong)
3. Even though they are small, but they have big smells
4. They will choose to barf at the most inopportune times (at 4am, at church, right after a bath)
5. Even with all these "negatives", it is entirely possible to fall in love with a child after only 10 days even if they can't express that same love in return.

Most importantly, I learned that I could not have made it without Bryan. He really stepped up to the plate in ways that I didn't expect. I assumed he would hold the baby and help feed the baby, but I wasn't sure what else he would be up for. Turns out he's quite the multi-tasker. He could hold the baby while

eating


checking email

sleeping

and flying an airplane

He didn't just take the "cushy" jobs like holding him while sleeping. He also helped feed him, burp him (which is quite dangerous with this little guy and his barfing), change him (even poopy diapers!), and take the early morning feed so I could sleep in a little bit. I even termed him the baby whisperer because there were several times when the baby was screaming and as soon as Bryan took him he would calm down.

(you can't tell me that isn't a precious picture of them!)

We really had an amazing experience over the past 10 days. We feel blessed to be able to help out and will always remember our first adventure together as "parents." We still have a couple more years before we will have kids of our own, but it is good to know we were able to survive for at least 10 days!

Kid Crafting

I love to make baby stuff, but not having a baby kinda limits me in that area. That means that given the opportunity (i.e. 10 days with a baby) I decided to make a few things for the little guy.

I've been making embellished diaper cloths for awhile. I've tried several different "styles" but they are all pretty much the same. They are quite functional, so it's a good standby. I mean, if you are going to use burp cloths, they might as well be cute!


That said, I wanted to expand my horizons and come up with another baby shower gift idea. Why not use this opportunity to practice for the real deal (after all, if it didn't turn out well, I just wouldn't give it to him). I branched out and went for a super simple snuggle flannel blanket. I already had the animal fabric at home, so I just picked up a coordinating fabric for the other side. Of course I couldn't leave the blanket without some applique so I added his name. I also used a few scraps from the animal side fabric for some pizazz.

His name is hiding under that rectangle. I didn't want to put his name out there for all the world to see!

I've also wanted to try my hand at making a personalized book. I experimented a bit with Scrapblog and came up with a design I liked. Simple (to save on ink) and sweet. Each page has a letter of his name and something that it "stands for." For example, "M is for Made by God" I can't show too much of the book because each page has pictures of him, but I figured this one page could be shown since it's just his hands and feet.

Overall, I'm satisfied with my newest ventures into new crafts. If nothing else, I learned what things work and don't work. (and it was nice to see that there is still time for some crafting, even with the little guy around!)

Money Well Spent

When we bought our new furniture they offered us the Gold in Home plan. At first we just saw it as them trying to get more money out of us, but after a little thought we decided that with as much as we entertain and that we will have kids at some point that it might not be a bad idea.

Let me just say that in one week alone we have definitely gotten our moneys worth out of the protection plan. This couch has now been barfed on, peed on, and had formula spilled on it just to name a few. Each time all it takes is a wet rag and a little fluffing and it's good as new. The protection plan was definitely a good purchase!

p.s. Only 2 days/3 nights left with the little guy.

Initiated

When S dropped off Baby M she gave me several warnings. One of them was: "Watch out--he barfs." In fact, when we met last week this was one of the things her kids loved to tell me about. Apparently one of them has already been barfed on and the other doesn't even want to come near him for fear she will be barfed on.

Well, lets just say that about 4am, Baby M decided to show me what it was all about. His feedings was going well and he was almost done. I had already burped him once and would burp him one more time when I was finished. He was just about done when it happened. I'm not talking about a little spit up. I'm talking about an all out-exorcist-style barf. He soaked the front of my shirt and shorts, his own bib, blanket, and sleeper, and a big puddle on the floor. Lovely. Just what everyone wants to happen at 4am. Needless to say, I had to change his clothes and my clothes, get him a new blanket, get him settled in, and then clean the carpet.

Oh the joys of a 3 week old! (Don't feel too bad for me, he's been really good so far--only cries when he's hungry and pretty much sleeps the rest of the time. Here's hoping we can add a barf-free night to that list!)

We're having a baby

...stay with us for a little while!

I love a good tease--even if people see right through it...

As Alisha guessed, the news isn't really what I was implying it might be. Our big news is that Bryan and I have decided to do respite care with a local foster agency. We've had connections with Focus on Youth for quite some time. The director attends our congregation along with several other workers. There are also several families at Northeast that are foster parents. Awhile back I went through the training to get certified to babysit and have done that a couple times.

The last time we babysat for our favorite foster family she mentioned another family that might need help. That's where the baby stuff comes in. Turns out that her friend S had a brand new placement, and by brand new I mean he was 3 days old when she got him. Her family had already planned a huge vacation and with the baby being so little, there was no way she could take him. Allison told her about us and the rest is history. Basically, we ran around like crazy this past week to get certified to keep kids in our home overnight and the little guy arrived today. He is now just over 3 weeks old and will be staying with us for 10 days. I won't be posting pictures of him here, but you might hear a story or two. So that's our big news...We're having a baby...stay with us for 10 days.

Sneak Peek

I'm sure you are all waiting with bated breath for the BIG NEWS. Well, I'm not quite ready to reveal the news, but I will show you a few pictures of items that might be coming in handy...




Hmmmm....wouldn't you like to know?

Bahama Mama

WARNING: WAY MORE PICTURES THAN YOU REALLY WANT TO SEE...

Our grand, relaxing vacation didn't start out exactly how we planned. In fact, it didn't start our relaxing at all. The good news is that everything worked out just fine. We woke up super early in Atlanta, hopped on a plane for Ft. Lauderdale and then took a shuttle to the port of Miami. We were to the ship by about 11:30am and so our lovely cruise officially began.

We sat in the port of Miami until about 5 pm, but that didn't mean the fun couldn't begin. We started with a fantastic lunch and then just spent some time relaxing/enjoying the view from the room.
And there certainly were some beautiful views...

(I am referring to the sky in this one, not the people--although I do find my husband to be rather attractive)

The second day we stopped at CoCo Cay (the Royal Caribbean private island). We had a para sailing adventure all lined up. As we got on the boat I got extremely nervous.


The ride was absolutely amazing! I was really surprised about how smooth it was up there. It was so peaceful. (and I have to admit I kinda enjoyed the rush each time the wind caught us and we jerked higher). I absolutely LOVED this adventure!

We also had a little time at CoCo Cay to enjoy the ocean and relax on the beach.


Our second stop was Nassau, Bahamas. What a beautiful place!


Snorkeling with the sting rays was on the agenda for this day. (Don't worry, the sting rays were de-barbed and didn't have any teeth.) We don't have many pictures because they were taken with the underwater camera and we haven't developed them yet. This was also a super cool adventure. We were able to see, touch, and even feed the sting rays. Amazing!

After our day in the Bahamas, it was time to climb back aboard the Majesty of the Seas and head back towards Miami.

We started getting off the ship about 8:15am and we were settled into our hotel by 9:30am. Quick, easy and painless. (and a huge thanks to the lovely Holiday Inn Express for letting us check in super early!) We rested for most of the day, met some friends for dinner, and then hit the sack since a 4:15 wake up call was waiting for us the next morning. The flight back was uneventful and now we are back to normal life again (whatever that means!)

p.s. Stayed tuned for some BIG NEWS in the near future...