Psalm 127:3-5

"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!"

23 Weeks - Baby "Mango" Roland


Ok... let's just face it... it's getting hard to call our baby girl by a fruit! hahaha... it just seems weird now and she honestly feels a lot bigger than a large mango! She is about 11 inches long from head to foot and weighs about one pound (this is where they come up with the mango theory!). She is truly looking like a "real baby" now as her face is fully formed and her body continues to fatten up. Supposedly she is now able to dream as her body can fall into the deep, REM sleep. One must wonder what she is dreaming about though! haha... Maybe meeting her Mommy and Daddy one day? :-)

It's been so exciting over the last couple of weeks to finally feel her kicking everyday! Usually it's when I lay down and always at night when I got to bed. However, the last couple of days I have begun to feel her moving around throughout the day too. Two nights ago, Kyle had the awesome experience of finally being able to, for sure, feel her move. His eyes got so wide and excited when he realized that he was actually feeling his daughter! Most of her movements are still fairly moderate but every once in a while I get a big jab or kick! haha... She must be doing her exercises then! Or maybe she is kicking at the umbilical cord. Haha...

Every time we walk into Target or BabiesRUs it's so hard to not grab a ton of stuff for her. Yet, I am continuing to learn patience and discernment when looking at baby items. Our daughter does not truly need everything that the store solicits. It's actually been fun as we are seeking to decide the top priority things that must be purchased for her. Also, it has been so amazing to watch the Lord provide many "hand-me-downs" for her. We are so grateful for everyone's generosity and have no problem teaching our daughter from birth how to live frugally.

One of my desires for her and her nursery is to have a number of her toys either be homemade or "sustainable" (wooden / non-toxic). I'm sure she'll have plastic toys too, but I just think it's a great way to teach her to appreciate simple things even as a baby. I'd love for her to have cloth dolls... cloth/crocheted balls and blocks, wooden blocks/food/etc... I sometimes just want to cringe at all the flashy, showy toys that stores market for young children. They are not only feeding on the child's natural desire for more, but they are helping to plant in them the idea and mentality that more is better and better is that specific item that calls to them from the shelf! Whatever happened to having a few good "old fashioned" toys?

When I was a child, my parents and grandfather built for me a wooden kitchen set. It has a stove, sink, fridge and freezer. Along with that is a table and two chairs. (Note: no microwave... which is usually standard in today's kid "kitchens" I believe!) I absolutely LOVED it and spent many hours playing "house" with all my dolls and those kitchen toys. I am so grateful that we saved that. As soon as my daughter is old enough, I can't wait to take that kitchen set down from my grandparent's attic and place it in her room. Hopefully she will have as many good memories as I do of playing house. I truly believe that my many hours of playing "mommy" to dolls, cooking in my "kitchen," and teaching "school" was what helped lay the foundation for my life calling as a wife and mother. I could not be more grateful to my parents for instilling these values and habits in my life at an early age. They encouraged me to grow in the ways of a woman and to cherish and develop femininity. We plan to do the same for our daughter!

Ok, I will stop digressing on my soap box. :-)

Creating a nursery has begun finally. We've had her crib for a while and the changing table and chest we have collected along the way. Now I'm busy with making curtains, pillows (for decor, not for her to sleep on... in case your heart just stopped!), dust ruffle for her crib, etc... After years of sewing lessons as a child/teen, I am finally able to use what I learned for my own child! Yay! Of course, I must admit the 20+ phone calls I make to my mom while trying to figure out the fabric, dimensions, etc... for everything. (Did I mention that was phone calls per day??? It feels that way at least!) To my Mothers chagrin, I am not a measuring type of person when it comes to sewing. Yes, I do measure some, but I have a hard time with the small details (it's probably my sinful lack of patience, to be honest! ha!). So she comes to my rescue, helping me think through everything! Thank you so much, Mom!!! Your granddaughter will appreciate you even more when her curtains hang straight and even! ha! 

Most of her nursery fabric came from a great little fabric store in Texas called the Cabbage Rose. While I'm not ready to disclose her nursery to the internet world yet, here is a sampling of one fabric I ordered online to match the others.


More to come soon...

3 comments:

Kelly Irene said...

I remember one week when Adeline was supposedly the size of a "can of coke". I think I stopped the size comparisons right then. haha! I'm really excited to see the nursery when you do get it ready enough to post photos. I like the pink fabrics!

Georgia Mom said...

Reading this just gets me so excited. I hope what I'm making will match her room.
I can't believe only 119 more days to go.
Love ya'll.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I have a super nice unopened sewing machine with a thousand different stitches and such if you'd like to borrow it during this time. I don't know if you have one or not. Let me know!!

Elizabeth Y

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