Home Sweet Home

It's so good to just be home.  In fact, I think we've almost enjoyed being home a little too much!  Is that possible?  We've enjoyed being home and just enjoying our little family, especially now that there are four of us.  Now, that doesn't mean we've just come home and sat around.  It's been back to "normal" for us - Andy's usual work schedule, church services, meetings, shopping and errands, playdates, rehearsals, and visitors to accommodate.  And we're doing all of this while still adjusting to our little Madelynn.  So, I guess we're back to the new "normal".  

Madelynn is 2 months old now.  She recently had her 2 month check-up and is doing great!  She's growing well and impressed her doctor with how strong she is.  She holds her head up entirely on her own and can even fully support her body with her legs.  Her doctor was so surprised by this that he said to Madelynn, "Well, I guess the next thing I should be asking you is if you want to go for a walk!"  Having already had one baby, I am clinging to the days that she is not yet mobile.  Baby steps...

Madelynn has so far been a wonderful, easygoing baby.  She's fairly easy to please and is very happy.  She's so close to belly laughing.  When she smiles big she often squeals and makes a little cough noise like she really wants to laugh out loud!  She continues to pretty much sleep through the night - usually to bed between 10 and 11 and not rising until anywhere between 4 and 7 the next morning.  Hey, I'll take at least a 6 hour stretch every night!  

This week we will be moving Madelynn from the bassinet in our room to the crib in her room.  She has pretty much outgrown the bassinet, and she's sleeping so well that there's really no reason to keep her in with us.  We're also working on getting out of the newborn "sleep when I want to" phase and into a routine that works for her.  In the process we have discovered that she is quite a little princess... that is, princess of the 45-minute nap!  She has an internal alarm clock that unreal!  I'll take 45 minutes for now, but hopefully she'll begin to stretch some of these short naps into longer periods of time.  

Jadon is a great big brother.  He's always been Daddy's boy, but he seems to cling to him and want to do what Dad does even more than before.  He's rough and tumble, always covered in dirt, and always on a mission for this or that, but he rarely passes up on the chance to snuggle or play with his baby sister.

Life is good right now.  There are lots of ups and downs... good days and bad days... and days when I wonder how it is that I haven't pulled out all my hair.  So yeah, life is good.  But God is greater than the worst or best days.  I'm so thankful that for a God who knows me, even when I wonder who I am and how I got here; a God who cares for me, even when I haven't been the most caring wife and mother I can be; a God who is patient with me, even when I'm impatient (which seems like all the time).  When I think of all the ways that I - this novice mother of two, pastor's wife, and sinful child of God - fail Him, it makes me grateful that I serve a God who doesn't sigh or roll His eyes when I mess up.  Praise God that he fails me not.  Some further change is on the horizon for our family (minor adjustments in the course of our everyday life).  How great it is to have our Savior lead us by the hand.  

~ Carrie ~

Life24/7

Expectant Love

 

Great Granddaughter

Madelynn's Room

I am finally getting around to posting an update on Madelynn's room.  It was a long process, but it was completed in time for her birth.  The room had been a guest bedroom, and now accommodates all that is needed for our baby girl, in addition to still having room for a full-sized bed for guests to use.  

When we first moved into our home, this bedroom was probably in the worst shape - gray walls, navy blue trim, and old stained carpeting.  We opted to rip the carpet up and put down a temporary area rug.  We weren't too worried about the floor in that room since it wasn't going to be used very often.  So that's how the room sat... until February of this year.  That's when the new carpeting was installed and the room finally began to take shape.  

So, after several lots of web surfing and pinning on Pinterest boards and lots of shopping and crafting, the room is done and I love it!  Here are the after pictures...

At this point the room is still serving as a guest room, hence the full bed still in the room.  It definitely makes the room tighter than I'd like, but it's meeting a big need right now.  We already had all of the bedding, and eventually I'd like to make or find some pillow shams and/or throw pillows to dress the bed up a little.  

Above the bed is a vignette I put together.  I had the "All Because Two People Fell in Love" sign (that coordinates well in the room) already.  The 3 - 8x10 frames under it were from the Christmas Tree Shops ($4 each or so).  I made the mats for the frames out of scrapbook paper.  Then I inserted a picture of Andy and I with Jadon when he was first born, a wedding picture of us, and an ultrasound picture of Madelynn (which will be replaced to match the one of us with Jadon).  It was an easy diy project that took very little time. 

The canvas painting was one done my husband's grandmother who passed away a few years ago.  It's a wonderful addition to the room that ties in the whole color scheme.  I look forward to telling Madelynn about her loving and talented great grandmother who painted this.  

Now onto the actual nursery part of the room... 


All of the nursery furniture was the same that we used with Jadon.  It was given to us by a family member in a gently used condition and has served us well so far.  Nursery furniture is so expensive, so we were so grateful to have received this crib, changing table, and dresser set... and will get as much time out of it as possible!  


Above the crib is a vinyl wall decal that I ordered from Etsy.  If you've never perused this online store of anything and everything homemade then you are missing out!  Check it out!  This decal came just as it was pictured, only personalized with Madelynn's name of course.  It took both Andy and I about 20 minutes to get it up on the wall.  We took our time to really be sure it was straight, but even still... don't look too closely!  

As I mentioned a while back in a previous post, the crib bedding came from Target.  It took a lot of searching, but I finally found bedding that (after patiently waiting) ended up being in my price range!  The stuffed animals are two that I had when I was a little girl! 

Now, there are 3 windows in this room, and it gets the morning and most of the afternoon light, so I knew that curtains were essential.  I didn't want to spend a lot though... So I ended up finding some blackout energy-efficient panels from Target that matched the shade of purple I was going with perfectly!  The thing was that I didn't want to buy 2 panels for each window because of the expense.  So, I went with one panel and made my own ties for each one.  I didn't want to block out the 100% of the time, but I wanted it to be easy to tie and untie - no hassle.  So, without giving a whole tutorial, I made the ties out of a receiving blanket that matched the crib bedding.  The best part about them is that even though there is a button sewn on them, the ties actually all velcro together.  Like I said, no hassle at all!   The double curtain rods and sheers were all purchased from The Christmas Tree Shops, so you know they were a good deal! 

Moving to the last part of the room is the changing table area.  The white shelf was one I bought from a yard sale many years ago (just needed a coat of paint and was ready to hang).  The three pictures above were inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, but I definitely put my own spin on it.  

Once again, without getting into a whole tutorial... the frames were purchased from The Christmas Tree Shops for about $4 each.  The rest was all made from my scrapbooking supplies.  I scanned some of the pictures from Madelynn's quilt (the crib bedding) and traced silhouettes of those pictures (a dragronfly, two flowers, and a butterfly) onto the scrapbooking paper and cut them out.  A few decals and some hand-drawn details finished up the project easily.  


It's been fun doing all of these little projects, and I was really happy with all of the results.  I'm glad to just enjoy the room now though.  Ironically, we haven't used the room a ton because Madelynn's sleeping in a bassinet in our room for the time being.  I'm sure she'll enjoy it more once she's completely "moved in"!

Here are a few more pictures of the room...

Jadon has a similar one in his room, so when I found this one on clearance at HomeGoods for $7 I just had to get it!

Also, I already had the mirror (a CTS buy), and the picture frame on the dresser was one that I made.

 

A final shot of my baby girl hanging out in her crib for a few minutes!  Loving her new room!  


~ Carrie ~