Our Nursery: Anticipating a Little Girl

When Ben and I were touring our now home about a year and a half ago we couldn't help but picture one of the bedrooms as a nursery. In fact looking at the whole house we couldn't help but picture each room being used by a growing family. And as we've redone each room, they've all be in preparation for our future as the family God has planned for us. So now that we've put some finishing touches on the nursery, it feels like "mission accomplished" as my husband put it. It's all been in anticipation of this little girl (and maybe her brothers/sisters someday). We obviously are no where near finished fixing up this home, but we feel ready to bring a new little person into our home.

Of course the physical surroundings are minor and rather insignificant when it comes to preparing for a baby, but man is it fun to put together a nursery! Seriously I had a blast, especially when you consider where we started in this room! See below:

It was pretty blah. But now, at a month before the due date (!!!), I'm happy to reveal where my daughter will spend time playing, dreaming, and growing. It was a blast to put together, and it's probably not officially finished, but it's ready for her.

Soon to be daddy putting up a new ceiling fan! Bay is very interested.

Putting together the crib!

The next few photos are done by my sister at kelseyklausphotography.com. Check out her work if you get a chance.

Few sidebars: yes the room is blue and yes we are having a girl. I am a girly girl, but not necessarily a pink-on-pink-on-pink kind. And no there is not really a "theme." There are some owls and a lot of various prints, but that's about as far as a theme goes. Regardless, I'm so happy with it.

The Details:

Beautiful owl my mom had made sitting next to an ultrasound picture.

She has a lot of dresses. 

This photo was taken by me, but it wasn't quite ready when my sister was snapping photos. The doll on the shelf was one my mom made for me.

And since we haven't taken any maternity photos yet, Kelsey snapped a few of those in the nursery as well. 

I adore these curtains! They were my splurge :)

Bay was interested in the shoes.

Baby shoes are the cutest. 

Favorites!

We can't wait to meet you little girl! 

Thank you Kelsey for these wonderful memories in photos!

Barbie Baby Shower

Thank you doesn't even begin to cut it in showing my gratitude for the shower my sister and friend threw me. Seriously, I'm just happy you both are having babies soon so I can do something in return for your little ones! So hugely blessed and thought I'd document via blog using the pictures my sister took. She's incredible talented behind the camera, so check her out at www.kelseyklausphotography.com!

And yes, it's a girl if you couldn't tell by the vast amounts of pink. It was also Barbie themed because my sister and I were in love with the dolls as children. Kelsey has since gotten me something Barbie-related for many holidays as gifts and our parents actually got us the Disney princess Barbies last year for Christmas just for fun. Really happy I'm having a girl so we can put those to use someday.

The lovely ladies who threw me the amazing shower! They are due within about a week of each other in October!

My mom and I <3 I was so thrilled that she was able to be here for my shower. She left a lot of things back home (16 hours away) to be here for me and it meant so much.

The decor was so beautiful and very pink.

It's terrible, but I've been addicted to Lucky Charms during this pregnancy! 

Flowers and baby's breath and Barbie memorabilia everywhere!

We were ridiculously spoiled.

My friends are so talented that we got a lot of handmade items like this dress from my sister and a ton of other items that put my sewing skills to shame. 

And since I'm a bookworm, my sister asked that everyone bring books instead of cards. Love it!!

The ladies also made onsies of every size and wrote wishes and hopes for my baby girl to read someday. I was about in tears later as I was going through them.

Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped celebrate this new life, my daughter! 

Three Things NFP Has Done for Our Marriage

Last month we celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary! And just this week we celebrated seven years since we first started dating.

Seven years ago during our first summer of dating <3

Seven years is a long time, and I think I love our relationship more today than at any other point in that time. I think I'm pretty blessed to be able to say that, too. There are days or moments where I have to sit down and wonder, "Why do I deserve this?" I haven't figured it out yet, but whatever it is, I know my husband was created for me and vice versa.

One of the best things we ever did for our relationship was switch from contraception to NFP. I think that switch has created permanent guardrails for our marriage so we can avoid many of the ravines other couples fall into. It certainly wasn't something we ever planned for and it meant a lifestyle change for us both, but it was worth it if it meant making our marriage more like what God wants it to be. And as a way to keep my thoughts going in a coherent direction, I've decided to list three things that NFP has done for our marriage, one for each year.

It's Created A New Level of Respect
If NFP does one thing, if applied properly in a marriage, I think it is creating a level of respect that wasn't there before or at least supporting that level of respect on a day-to-day basis. I've heard a lot of women say they don't want their husbands to help them chart because they don't want their husbands to know about their cycles. Yes, pretend they don't exist. I'm sure he'll never notice .... All joking aside, I can't tell you how appreciative I am that Ben knows how my body works as well as I do. A woman's ability to grow a life inside her is incredible and all the functions that support that are equally so. My fertility is not something to be ignored, rejected, or suppressed, but celebrated and worked with.

You also can't help but feel a sense of wonder over the body when you understand how perfectly it was designed and how perfectly they were designed for each other. It helps you look beyond the outer shell and not want any kind of substitute, and goodness knows the world has created a lot of substitutes that have readily been accepted into marriage.

It's Called Us to Be Sacrificial
Though having used both NFP and the pill and not seen a huge increase in difficulty in application (I think the copious amount of benefits far outweighs the few extra steps of NFP), it is a sacrifice-based system since you need to abstain during the fertile periods (about 7-10 days on average) if you want to avoid pregnancy. I'm not sure when marriage became more about what you can get from of another person and less about what you can give another person, but it definitely has in our society. Practicing NFP is a daily reminder that we must make sacrifices for our marriage if we want them to flourish and that translates into more than pregnancy or not. It reminds a spouse that the other person in the marriage is there for more reasons than to satisfy their needs. And it has reminded me to sacrifice in other ways like doing the laundry when he's having a busy/crummy week. Sacrifice is necessary if you want to make a marriage work. Too often people give their worst to their spouse and expect the best in return. No relationship can survive that.

It's Made Our Relationship Less Self-Focused
For us, NFP goes hand in hand with our faith and responsible parenthood, where we are asked to be open to life and pray about God's plan for our family constantly and not just when the prescription for birth control runs out. I've never been the best at prayer. I'm more of a doer, and silence often causes my mind to wander. However, with the daily reminder of the gift of my fertility, I suddenly found I was talking to God more about what His plans were for me. And it wasn't just in relation to children. I was suddenly talking to him about work, family relationships, future goals,  and on and on. Ben and I were also discussing faith more frequently together and getting the opportunity to share with others. It's just made us aware that there's a bigger picture than our individual selves and sometimes that bigger picture is our marriage. I think one of the best examples happened when I found out I was pregnant. I was in a flurry. I couldn't even sit down. And Ben came over to me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me down to sit with him on the couch. He closed his hands around mine and started praying out loud. For him it had become habit to talk to God about new life. It might be one of my most favorite moments ever.

Thank you Benjamin for being the husband God has asked you to be and being willing and open to grow as a couple.

Wedding day :) Photo by Deidre Lynn Photography

Master Bedroom Worth the Wait

Life has been ridiculously busy lately, but abundantly blessed. However, that has translated into little to no blogging, but after a recent perfect purchase, I had to show you our master bedroom renovation. It actually began at the end of December, but I didn't have all the pieces until last weekend. Now it's finally ready for a post all of its own.

This is the waaay before picture. Can you see the potential?

Notice the dirty walls, dark trim, gold light plate, etc. It stayed like this for a year :(

Not water damage luckily in the picture below, but ugly all the same.

First, find the kitty? Not sure how she got up there, but we were impressed. Also notice the blinds. Yes, some are missing, but also some are being held up with bandaids. Lovely. Again, we had these up for a year, but other projects just kept coming up first.

It was well worth the wait! After some paint, new trim, a new ceiling fan, furniture, and accessories, our master bedroom finally feels like a true retreat! Take a look.

The final piece was the mirror above the bed. The room only has the sliding doors so I wanted to bring in something that would cast light around the room. But let me tell you, huge mirrors don't come cheap. We found several we loved at Pier 1 and places like that but at a $200 price tag or more. I just couldn't justify that for a mirror I wouldn't even use to look in! So after several months of casually searching I found it! Kohls is my favorite. This mirror also had a $200 price tag, but after awesome sales, a coupon, and a discount for a scratch you can only see if I point it out, we got it for about $40.

And how perfect is it? It has swirls along the edges just like the frames we received for our wedding and like the curtains I found for the sliding door that let in the light, but still provide some privacy.

It was a long process, but I love it.

Will this Pope Change Anything?

Habemus Papam! We have a pope!

First I have to admit that I teared up watching the live video of Pope Francis' first words to the world even though I had no idea what he was saying. Anyone else?

Also, how blown away were you when he asked for prayers from us first? That was such a cool moment to watch as St. Peter's Square became silent. The Church praying in unison for our Vicar of Christ.

There were so many cool Catholic moments :)

But do you know what one of my favorite moments were? I don't know if anyone else picked up on this as they were watching EWTN, but the female commentator asked a certain question differently than the rest of the world has been. It seems everywhere I turn lately since Pope Benedict's retirement announcement I see articles and people asking, "What do you want the new pope to change?" or "What  do you hope the new pope will do differently?" I'm wasn't sure why, but those questions felt like the wrong ones.

But the lady on EWTN I think got it right. She saids something like, "What do you think the new pope will focus on during his papacy?" BINGO!

That one word, "focus," made all the difference in my mind. The pope is not a part of our Church to change it or to lead it in the way he thinks it should be led. As Vicar of Christ, he's supposed to be just that, an earthly representation of Christ, and as such lead the Church according to the truth of the Gospels and scripture in general.

If you are hoping for "change" within the Church's teachings, I'm sorry to say I think you'll be disappointed. The pope is not meant to "change" Christ's teachings. That would be a direct violation of his role. However, he most certainly can focus our Church to certain areas that need attention. One of Pope Benedict XVI's areas of focus was on evangelization whereas Pope John Paul II had a special interest in the youth and in areas of the body. Each were pivotal in that pope's leadership of the Church, especially for the time.

I'm really excited to see where Pope Francis shines the spotlight during his papacy, and how the Church's eyes will focus on it. Regardless, I trust that God's will has been done, and congrats Church family on your new holy father!

Living Room Reno was No Picnic

You would think that after redoing half of the rooms in our home that I would be a good judge of how long a project will take. Apparently I'm not because I woke up a few weeks ago on a four-day weekend and told Ben we were going to redo our living room, which means the entry way and hallway also needed an update at the same time. I didn't think it would be that hard: paint, new trim, and new doors. 

Well after 16 hours of painting walls (the wrong color the first time); painting, cutting, nailing, and touching up 350 feet of trim; routering, cutting, painting, and hanging seven doors; and all the little things that crop up, this project took three long weekends and many evenings between those weekends. But I LOVE it! And I'm so happy we did it because it would have been near impossible with a baby.

So if you have a minute (or several since this was a huge project) take a look through the pictures below.

Before pic. Like way before. Like when we moved in. You can see the dining room and kitchen hadn't been touched yet. 

Looking back at the entry way. 

The before of the hallway.

The first step is always to take down all the trim (we've almost replaced every piece in the house already!).

All the nasty old trim and doors. The doors were so cheap and lightweight that I could carry them easily. Not the best sound-blocking doors.

Ben got a router for Valentine's Day and he was about as happy as a little boy with his first pocket knife. He's wanted one for years. He has many projects planned for this baby, but it's first job was routering the door for hinges and doorknobs. 

All the doors were slightly too wide and slightly too tall. Luckily it was still a cool day here in Florida because that was a lot of work. Thanks, honey!

This is about one third of the trim. Do you see the workspace Ben created for me? Yep, he took an old ladder apart and propped them up on the workbenches and random stuff in our garage. It was pretty genius and made painting go a lot faster. 

So this was the color I picked out originally. When we went to go purchase the paint I wasn't 100% sure what color I wanted (though we got the no fume paint since I'm pregnant. It was awesome and will be all we get in the future even when not pregnant. I loved not getting dizzy from the fumes!). I found a mustard color and thought it might be perfect but was positive Ben wouldn't agree. He must have been feeling very agreeable because he said sure so I about ran out the door with it.

As we were painting though I started to get worried. I liked the color alright, but there was a LOT of it. Our walls get very tall in the living room and then there is the entry way and hallway that all needed the same paint. 

We just kept telling ourselves we'd like it when it was all finished. Then we said we'd like it in the morning after almost eight hours of painting. In the morning I even told myself I'd like it at a different time of day. If you can't tell, I really didn't want to have to do it all over again. It was so much work. But after an hour of looking at it the next morning over well deserved cinnamon rolls, we agreed there was way too much mustard at this picnic. There was yellow EVERYWHERE! 

We tried to have fun with it as we began our second paint job the very day after having completed the first, haha.

But I did get really tired apparently. Ben took this while he was painting along the ceiling. Naptime.

Afte all that painting, we got to the parts, like hanging doors!

I can't tell you what a difference the doors made. It was night and day, especially in the other rooms we've redone like the guest room and master (post coming soon).

We looked at the home improvement stores in our area but were unimpressed with the doorknob selection. They were all so boring and expensive. So I found these online! They weren't cheap, but at least they were unique. I love them. 

This is me cuddling with our puppy while Ben nailed trim up. Bay has overcome her fear with all the power tools except the air compressor and nail gun combo. Poor thing was so worried, and there was 350 feet of trim to install. I felt like the worse puppy mom in the world.

After trim came time for hanging up pictures. The finishing touches are icing on the cake. This is my husband using a laser to hang our pictures just right. It definitely came in handy.

And the final product looks like this ...

This will soon change once again as the right-hand corner will become my office area, but that's a future post. Isn't this color better than the mustard?

The hallway! Do you remember what this looked like?! If not see below.

So dark! Now the hallway looks more like "the light at the end of the tunnel" instead of "passage to Hades." We have also purchased three can lights to put along the ceiling since right now there is just the one 80s light. The one light just doesn't cut it. We kept grumbling while painting that it was too dark. But that's another future project.

All finished! It finally feels more like home, and I just feel calm when I'm here. Sorry for the long post, but this was a long project, but one we are very happy with.