Waiting Patiently, Patiently Waiting

No real news on the baby front yet. I do go in tomorrow (Monday) morning for an amnio to check and see if the baby's lungs are mature. If they are, we will be inducing on Wednesday. Getting closer now, but seems to also be taking such a long time. I am just really anxious to see my little girl. And I think the boys are really excited as well.

One major task was completed this week and that was the Nursery!! So here is the final installment of The Nursery Diaries.

I finally got the artwork for above the crib this week to finish off the room. The color is a little more red than I would like, but I still think it works. Plus I just love the idea of paper dolls. I can't wait to make some with her! Also, just got the bedding tied on properly today, and it looks fabulous. Thanks, Mom!! And yes, I know the picture is not centered. When I was working on the crib today, it got moved around a little. I just noticed it in the picture, so I will be sending the husband up to fix ASAP:)

I was trying to get a wide shot of the room, but again, my photography skills are lacking. I'll blame it on the camera. But you can sort of get an idea of the set up of the room. Walk in the door, crib to your right, window straight ahead, glider in the corner, you get the picture. The Husbands Aunt Karen made the window treatments, recovered the glider, and made me some fancy pillows to "throw" around.

As you walk in the door to the left is the changing table and closet (which, by the way, is maybe my favorite place in the room). Aunt Karen made a liner for the basket and added some ball trim to the outside since we all know how much I love trim. It's on the windows, the glider, the baskets, the pillows. Makes me happy!

Here is a shot with the curtains closed. I wanted this room to be as dark as possible for when she naps since I ran in to problems with it being too sunny in this room with the boys. I love those plates on the wall. If you can't tell, there are gold metallic birds on each plate. I got them at a great little store in Marietta called Simple Pleasures.

And finally, the glider. I have a feeling I will be spending quite a bit of time in this in the near future. With Joe Finney, I was here every two hours round the clock. Let's hope she is a little bit better of a sleeper than that!!

Well I plan on sending out updates as I can as far as the birth of this little girl. I will also try to get some pictures posted as soon as I can. Wish me luck for a healthy girl and a speedy delivery!!

Emily

Say A Little Prayer For Me

I would love if everyone out there who reads this could take a second to say a little prayer for my mom today. She is currently in Las Vegas and has had a lot of not so great things happen while she was out there. First, I went into labor on Friday night (which was stopped, obviously, since I still have that little bun in my oven). But I know that this caused her lots of stress and unnecessary worry. Sorry, mom. And secondly, she found out that one of her retinas is detached (i.e. vision loss) and had to have laser surgery while in Vegas to repair the "good eye". She is flying back tonight and having surgery tomorrow to try to fix the eye that has the detachment. Now I am not quite sure what the surgery entails, something about a gas bubble being placed in the eye, and resting face down for a week, but quite frankly I am very nervous and I know she is too. My mom loves to sew, play with her grandchildren, and make cookies, all of which require vision, so if you could please keep her in your thoughts, I would be very very grateful.

Which brings me to this:

Isn't it fabulous??? My mom gave this to me last week for the baby girls room.Such a perfect quilt. I just love it. Not only is it beautiful, and meaningful, but it is sooo cozy as well. It was such a nice surprise. My mom is the best.

And this is a picture of the finished bedding for the baby girls room. I know my mom was up late nights working on these things and I hope she knows how much I appreciate it and how much it means to me. I can't wait to tell the baby all about her grammy and how talented and wonderful she is.

And finally, the quilt on the crib. So perfect. I can't wait to show you all the finished room. Just waiting for the artwork for above the crib to arrive, then I will take some full room shots. By the way, I had mentioned before that we had already picked out a name for the girl, but I am not 100% sure anymore, so it looks like we will name her upon delivery. Too bad I had already gotten a couple of things monogrammed!!

Emily

Recent Activities

Well not much to report on the baby front. Went to the doctor (twice) yesterday, and was told that everything looks good, baby weighs over 6 pounds (BIG GIRL!!!), and that I will probably be induced. Didn't give me a date or anything yet, so I guess it will be a surprise. Will keep you posted when I find out more.

So this weekend, the boys (including the husband) and I met the sister in law and her fam at Hubers for some early fall pumpkin picking. What a great time we had! Hubers was packed so I guess everyone had the same idea that we had. We started out with lunch, but the kiddos were anxious to get to the pumpkins, so off we went on the tractor to the pumpkin patch.

We must have spent an hour in that pumpkin patch looking for the perfect pumpkin for each kid. We searched through the whole entire thing, and Joe Finney must have fallen about 12 times. Totally worth it.

I had to sneak this picture of B5 since he was in one of his moods, but I actually like the way it turned out. He was worried that the tractor was going to forget to come back and pick us up.

And a picture of me and the husband. It is very rare that we are in a picture together since one of us is usually behind the camera. So happy the enormous belly didn't make the picture. Thanks, Allison!!!

. And last week at grammys house. B5 had found a gingerbread haunted house (seriously) when we made a trip to the fabric store. I was reluctant to buy it, since I knew how much effort it would take, but I bought it anyway and we ended up having a great (messy) time putting it together. B5 and Joe Finney had a good time decorating (eating the candy and icing) the house after we got it put together. Let me warn you, people, if you buy one of these things, put aside a few hours to work on it. And, my belly was covered in icing when we were through. That thing keeps getting in the way!

And last but not least, the jammies I made for the boys. I was able to finish B5's pajama pants when I was taking my sewing class, but I was on my own to make Joe Finneys after the class was over. All in all, I think they turned out pretty good. I still have a lot of work to do before I would consider myself a decent sewer, but for one of my first projects, not too shabby. I also made shirts to match with appliques. Actually, I bought the t-shirts, but I did do the applique myself. I have come to realize that in sewing, everything takes at least twice as long as you think it will. As much fun as I had doing the pants, they took me way longer than I had hoped. But maybe with time, I will get faster!

So I think thats it for tonight. I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open too late these days!!

Emily

Busy Busy

Hello friends. Long time, no post. When I first started this blog, I had high hopes of posting at least every other night. But, as we can see, that has not been happening. I think I might be staying busy getting everything (and everyone) ready for baby. I find out tomorrow when this little girl is going to make an appearance, and I think I might save the rest of my post for then. I have some pictures to share and some updates as to what we have been doing lately, so be prepared; tomorrow will be a good one. Good night!!
Emily

Make This

I made a really simple but really yummy dinner the other night. No pictures, but definitely recommended. You need 4 main ingredients and dinner is done. Here you go, you can thank me later.

Southwestern Chicken Soup

1. 1 jar salsa verde
2. 1 cooked rotisserie chicken (taken off bone and shredded)
3. 1 can navy beans (rinsed and drained)
4. 32 oz chicken broth

Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Top with 3 cheese Mexican blend and sour cream if wanted.

Now, since that was so easy, why not make your own tortilla strips to serve atop the soup.
Get a package of corn tortillas. Cut into 1/2 strips. Pour 1/2 inch of vegetable (or canola) oil into pan and heat over medium high heat. Drop one tortilla strip into the oil to make sure it is hot enough. If the strip quickly bubbles and rises to the top, you are good to go. Put the rest of the strips in, making sure not to crowd the pan, and let cook for about 4 minutes. Remove to paper towels using a slotted spoon. I like to cover them with lots more paper towels and shake them around a bit to get rid of most of the oil. Sprinkle generously with salt (and lime juice) if you like.
Serve atop Southwestern Chicken Soup.

The husband (who is extremely hard to please) said that this recipe was a keeper. Enjoy, my friends.
Emily

Message To My Little Girl

Baby Girl Saylor,

If you decide you would like to make an appearance before Halloween, I am ready for you. Please see below.

If not, that's okay too. But I am very anxious to see you. Your brothers are too. Just tonight they asked me if you would be so kind as too bring them presents when you arrive. Specifically they asked for "Diego castles". We'll have to see what we can do about that. Also, I think I have figured out your name. At least I hope it's going to be your name since I am already having things embroidered. But we can share that with everyone when I am 100% sure. Mommy seems to be very indecisive as of late. Must be the hormones, or my rapidly increasing belly.

Just wanted to let you know how happy I am that you decided to pick me to be your mom. Love you baby girl.

Mommy

Hurry Up and Wait

6 weeks left and counting. I feel like I have so much to do and so little time, yet it still feels like it is taking FOREVER for baby girl to get here. I just can't wait to see her little face, what her hair looks like, how her brothers will react to her. So many emotions going right now; excited to see her, scared of how life will change, nervous that she will be healthy and perfect, and ready to complete my family. The "nesting" must be kicking in because I lately I have been wanting to stay in and get everything ready for her. So, as I mentioned earlier, I have been taking a sewing class. I decided that I need to at least be able to make a simple dress for her. I mean, that's what all good moms do for their little girls, right? Well, I am not sure if I am up to "dress making" standards yet, but after this class, I can sure make her a decent pillow case, apron, and pajama pants. We made the pillow case on the first night of class, and it was actually fairly easy. On the next class we made an apron, which I would rate about a "6" on a difficulty scale of 1-10. The instructor told us it was going to be easy. But that is coming from a woman who has been sewing for 40 years. For us newbies, I would say it was intermediate. Then, last night, our final class, we made pajama pants. I had planned on making a pair for B5 and Joe Finney, but time got away from me, and Finney got the shaft. Poor guy, I promised him I would finish them up this weekend. B5 was so excited about his, he wore them to be tonight, and that's why they are not in the following picture.


Now I just need to figure out how to applique so I can make them some cute t shirts to go with their "jammie pants".


Now, on to Part 3 of the nursery diaries. The husbands aunt finished up the curtains for the nursery last week, and I am beyond thrilled with them. I spent many many hours searching the Internet and magazines, trying to find exactly what I wanted these curtains to look like. Nothing I came across was right. So I basically just picked out the fabric, gave to to Aunt K, and let her go wild. She found the perfect trim at Hobby Lobby to tie it all together. She's amazing, I tell ya!

The curtains go all the way to the ceiling because we have a big, arched window in the room, that makes the room super hot and lets in an awful lot of sunlight (enough to wake sleeping babies from naps). So as much as I hated to cover the beautiful window, it had to be done. They are also functional, and close all the way, totally blocking all light from coming in. Why didn't I think of that sooner. Could have gotten me some extra sleep when the boys were babies!

Aunt K also covered our glider as well. She used the same fabric as the main part of the curtains, and then used a pink ball trim for the ottoman. If you can't tell, I love trim. I would use it on every single thing in that room if I could!

So the room is thisclose to being done. I just need to figure out some art for above the crib, waiting on bumpers and changing pad cover, and I am working on a basket for the changing table. I think that's it. I would love any suggestions or creative ideas on how I could finish this space up!