The Excitement Is Building

 …The excitement and expectation of the arrival of Isabella Alaina. 

Our daughter Holly is 33 weeks along and doing so well, however the doctors do not expect her to go the full 40 weeks.  A week or so ago Holly and Richard were home (from Florida to Alabama) for a weekend filled with baby showers.  They received tons (really) of wonderful and thoughtful gifts, hugs, love and well wishes from lots of family and friends.  It could not have been any better.  Here are a few photos shots from one of the showers.

The door hanger I made which was hung on the door at the church

Thank~You favors

 

Daddy's Love Bug

Watermelon drinks in frou frou jars

with stripey paper straws

Richard and Holly with God's blessing

As you can see by the invitation insert above, we asked

that everyone attach a book instead of a card to their gift,

leaving a special note to Isabella inside.

She got lots and lots of books that we will enjoy reading to her.

 

This is the book I chose for her. It also reminded me

of Holly....when she was little, she loved to go!

I called her Holly-Go-Phillips!

On Monday we arranged a photo shoot for maternity shots of Richard and Holly.  They turned out so darn cute… thanks to the magic of Framed and Frazzled Photography.

She also took the shots at the baby shower too!!

~One of my faves~

~Too Sweet~

~~LOVE~~ 

After a FULL long weekend, Richard, Holly, Isabella and fur baby Willow returned home to Jacksonville and low and behold they got caught in the flooding from Tropical Storm Debby.  A portion of I10 was closed with water over the interstate so they had to detour which led them to an accident on I75…an 18 wheeler had overturned stalling traffic to a dead stop for miles.  Now use your imagination here with me and picture a 32 week pregnant woman sitting in stalled traffic in the pouring rain with a dog who has a small bladder.  Yep you guessed it…..they got out on the side of the highway in the rain….Hey nature calleth!  They finally made it home through more flooded back roads etc. which turned their 4.5 hour trip home into an 8 hour long tiring ride.  But God is good….He got them safely home….Amen.

Jackie and I have just returned from the 4^th of July long weekend visit, where we finished out Isabella’s nursery.  Well almost finished that is…they still lack the floor covering. They just purchased this house and the carpet was so bad it had to be ripped up....leaving a cement floor for now. 

There was a lot of painting, hot gluing, burned fingers,

and creating before it all came together. 

Happi Tree designs and the door hanger that I made.

This is the chest of drawers that we used for Holly when she was born.

Of course I had to strip it down to the wood and repaint it.

These are Holly's bonnets and baby shoes and

Richard's cap and his baby shoes.

This is a birdie mobile that I made.  They are made

from wood and match the birds in the Happi Tree design.

They hang in front of an antique framed mirror.

God is so good to us!

The frou frou corner.  Holly and I made the feathered lamp

and the feather and tulle covered table.

The rocker came from a dumpster in LA.  Holly found it one day and

it was in perfect condition....Jackie and I stripped it down and painted it.

See the before photos here in another post.

The changing table is an antique buffet which I painted, added

some scroll work and replaced the knobs with pink glass ones.

 From white feathers and tulle froufrou …all the way to hanging a mirror in an antique frame, everything turned out beautiful.  Holly wanted me to paint the brown baby bed….but I refused to paint another thing!!  It would have looked better maybe, but I think it looks very nice with the brown tree trunk and birdie limb hanging from the ceiling.  Next up in the near future is the flooring.
We cannot wait until the arrival of Isabella.....the excitment builds everyday along with a little anxiousness, but our faith and trust in the Lord far outweighs both! 

  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh

 down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,

neither shadow of turning.  ~James 1:17.



Reflections…

This is how I spent ringing in the new year…..

Yes....the empty chair is mine!! Temps in the 70's and lots of relaxing
with some shopping, good seafood, and fireworks over the ocean!!

The warm beaches of Panama City in sunny Florida were a welcome treat as the year lingered for the last time. As one door closes new ones will open….and I look forward with anticipation..........

2011 came to a close like the slamming of a door.  It started out good….really escalated to being on the top of the world…. and then came crashing down all at once.  Life is good when we are constantly walking on the top of the mountain….however; God wants us to rely on Him in every moment.  Those moments when we are struggling deep in the valley of darkness, we are not alone.  I walked in this deep valley from August 30 until the end of the year.  I honestly do not know how people can pick themselves up and move on without the unselfish help and love of our Heavenly Father.  

He has now shut that door and I am glad to put it all behind me…not forgetting and not without learning, but moving ahead and excited about what He has in store for our family in 2012.  I have missed blogging and so appreciate those of you who “checked in” on me throughout this time.  I know without any doubt that things could have been worse and others experienced far greater tragedies than we did; so I must remember how truly blessed we are and to take this valley journey and see it as a bridge between the mountains.  While crossing this swinging dark path, I learned that there are not always answers to our questions…so we have to rely on FAITH and TRUST.  Sometimes that is easier said than done….but the sun will again rise over the hills and a new day is always there. That new door will open wide and welcome us in…..

I have busied myself with crafting and painting. Door hangers (speaking of doors)  seem to be all the craze at the moment …so I tried my hand at it, first making a couple for Holly….and then boom….everyone wanted some!! I’m not complaining, mind you, it’s good money for a hobby I love!  Here are a few I’ve done:

Aubie from Auburn University

This one is reversible!!

Not a door hanger...but still some of my work!
Gooble Gooble!!

These are all designed, cut, sanded, primed, painted,
sealed, and ready to hang.... all by me!!
Yes I use power tools....don't mess with me!! :)

So…. my reflections on the past are for making me stronger, they are for putting a few things into a new perspective, and for making me grow in the Lord and trust Him more each new day. When I look in the mirror this year and see that reflection I hope I will be smiling most of the time....and with God's help I will.

As many bloggers have done in the past by picking a "word for the year"…so shall I this year too.  My word for last year was "HOPE" and I carried it throughout each day until the year ended; but it did not end without "hope"; it was still always there….  This year my word will be

 ….too find "joy" again in everyday experiences and regain some "joy" that was lost somewhere toward the end.  So I’m looking forward to the new year with hope and joy.  I hope you too will have a joyous new year with lots to make you happy!

Our Wonderful News & Some Craftiness

The excitement of my daughter being pregnant brings such joy to my heart.  I almost cannot contain it!  Now the excitement has mounted with the anticipation of finding out if we are having a boy or a girl. Having heard that first heart beat early in Holly’s pregnancy was the ultimate thrill of knowing "this is real" !!  Now it’s become even more real…being able to put a persona with this baby, imagining what he or she will look like….and of course the Name they will be given!

Well the time has come and we now know…..

 A precious baby Girl!  I am totally giddy and either one would have been fine…we are just so proud of having a baby!

I have been so busy since I found out and I’m also going to be broke!  There is nothing like buying for little girls!  Pinks, ruffles, lacey, cutesy, frou-frou, and all dolled up with sweetness and charm!  I love it!

First up I made this banner for her room…

 It will probably hang from her crib. 

It involved this:

 and this

Cricut Machine Cutting 

 Painting

and Papering...

And yes I cut these circles out on my daddy’s 55+ year old scroll saw…all by myself!!  Yes I did!  Well…all but the letters, they came from Hobby Lobby! They were then hand painted, papered, and put together to form this cute, if I may say so myself, banner!  From the velvet ribbon to the pearly balls and the pink tulle that holds it all in place.  

 Next up are some of the cutest baby baprons *baby apron* I have ever seen!  They are practical and so easy to sew up in no time.  This baby will not lack of a bib!  You can find the instructions here:

*click on the photo*

Here are mine so far:

This one is made from an old quilt!  Too bad it didn't have much Pink!

I have gone crazy making these and I’m not finished yet….the really cute ones are to come…these were my practice pieces!

There’s more to come in my crafty ways, when I will show you the mobile that will hang over the baby’s bed.  It matches the bedding theme and required some more scroll saw cutting, papers, sticks, wings, and flowers…..hum mm, got you wondering huh?  I will also introduce our little one to you by her name!