What's in a Name?

Inevitably, one of the main questions people ask when they find out you are pregnant is, "What will you name the baby?" Before we knew what we were having, Jared and I made a list of boy and girl names that we liked. After we found out we were expecting a girl, we decided pretty quickly on a name. I was a little hesitant to commit to a name so quickly, but Jared knew it was perfect and he was right! We had been discussing a bunch of different girl names, and we both liked names that had "Bella" in them. (No, not because of Twilight! Although I do love me some Twilight.) We wanted something a little more unique than Isabella or Anabella, especially since there are a lot of Bella babies lately! We found the name Arabella, and thought it was so pretty, but the meaning of the name is actually what sealed the deal. While there is some debate as to where the name Arabella comes from, the Latin origin of the name means "answered prayer" or "beautiful altar." Arabella is certainly an answer to our prayers, and we love that her name will reflect that. We had already talked about Faith as her middle name. (you can read about that here), so after that the decision was easy! Our baby girl will be Arabella Faith Parham. I'm sure she will have nicknames- probably a million of them thanks to her daddy!- but I love her name and what it means to us, and I can't wait to share that with her one day!

Nursery

So the nursery is finally finished- at least for now!- so I thought it was time to share! I did a lot of DIY'ing in the nursery, which I am honestly so proud of. No, it's not perfect, but I love that I was able to put such thought and time into making a special place for our baby girl. So, without further ado, here are the pictures.

 Her room is really small, so it was pretty much impossible to get a picture of everything all together. Here is a shot from the doorway looking in.

 The crib is the Graco Lauren crib, but I got it on Craigslist with the mattress for almost half the price! The chandelier was a not-so-pretty brass one that we had taken down in another room. I spray-painted it pink, and now it's fit for a princess!

Wall decal from Expressing You's shop on Etsy. Quilt I made using the Bloom Quilt pattern from Amy Butler. It's hard to see so I may do a more detailed post about it, but we all (all three of us that read this!) know my blogging history so don't count on it too much!

 I agonized over finding a chair for the nursery. They are all either so expensive or look very uncomfortable, and the room is so small I wasn't sure how a bigger chair would fit. I knew I needed a place to nurse and rock Arabella- or just to even sit and read books when she is a little bigger, though. My mom was looking to make some space at her house, and just happened to have the perfect chair! It was dark brown with a green cushion, so I just painted it and recovered the chair and made a new cushion. LOVE it! Thank you Mom and Dad! The shelf and lamp are things we already had in another room (from Target), and the faux wood blinds and white curtain panel are from Target as well.

 Collage of art above her changing table. Jared painted the ballet slippers and ballerina, which are probably my favorite things in the room. I need to take a better picture-they are beautiful! Arabella is one lucky girl to have such a talented daddy! The lower left frame holds this print that I downloaded from Lay Baby Lay, the bird at the top is this print that I received as a gift from my sweet friend Stephanie (this is actually just a printed copy of it until the real thing comes in, but I love it!, I made the "sweet pea" print at the top and the two small white ones at the bottom right (I'll try to take a better picture, but one says her name and the meaning and the other has 1 Samuel 1:27, and finally the ballet shoes were mine when I was 12 and I just hung them with some ribbon from an empty frame. Most of the frames are just painted thrift store frames from Goodwill.

 The dresser that I found and painted. You can read about it here. In the corner, there is just a small garbage can and little hamper.

 The armoire is something we already had in another room (from Craigslist). There is no closet in the room (it was used as an office by the previous homeowners), so we brought it in as extra storage for hanging clothes and other things!

 Diaper cakes from her Aunt Amy and Sally!

 This photo needs some explanation. For some reason, the door to the nursery just will not stay all the way open, so I made a doorstop using this pattern out of leftover fabric from her chair and quilt.

And finally, this is the outfit Arabella will wear home from the hospital. My daddy bought it for me to wear home when I was born, and I can't wait for her to wear it, too!

So that's the nursery! If there are any last minute updates, I will try to share them, too!

First Things First

Ok...so I have to start this post by saying I am probably the worst blogger in the world- I haven't blogged since January! I am going to try to do better, though! I have fun nursery pictures to share, but first I wanted to talk about something a little different.

Our church, Highpoint, is in the process of buying the building we are meeting in, and, as a result, our pastor has been preaching on tithing the past couple of weeks. I know most people normally shy away from this topic or are, at the least, bored by it, but it has really been a great series and I am learning so much. We were given the book, The Blessed Life, to read through each week during the series. I was a little skeptical at first, but God has really already taught me so much through the first few chapters.
While I really appreciate the lessons the book teaches on financial success and security in God's eyes (especially right now as we are about to have a baby and paying taxes and everything!), but I am really learning something even more important (I think) than that.

Chapter two of the book is titled God Must Be First, and it discusses how the very first of your income should go to God- because it belongs to Him already. While we have all heard this, at least if we have been in church for any length of time, it goes further than that. In Exodus 13:2, God says,

2"(A)Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me."

Every firstborn belongs to God. In fact, God says that the firstborn belongs to Him 16 times in the Bible. That means the first of everything we have, including our money, is His. However, God wasn't talking about money here. He literally meant the firstborn. As we are so close to having our baby girl, I want to make sure that we are fully giving her to Jesus. He has blessed us with this precious baby, and the very least we can do is give her back to Him. She is already His anyway! What a sweet and comforting thought! Now, where this chapter really hit home with me is when it talks about Jesus being God's tithe. I had never thought of this before. God gave his first (and only) Son for us. It was his tithe to us. In the old testament, every firstborn was either sacrificed, or if it was considered imperfect, redeemed. God redeemed the Israelites with the firstborn of the Egyptians during the first Passover. We are imperfect. God redeemed us with His Son, His Firstborn. If God did this for us, how can refuse to give the first of our everything to Him?

With all that being said, I pray that every day Jared and I will strive to give Arabella to Jesus. I do not fully know how, but I do know that we must seek Him and make Him first in our own lives so that her life is also totally given up to Him. The book goes on to teach how our tithe is either blessed(along with the other 90% of all that we have) or cursed. I certainly pray that Arabella's life with be filled beyond capacity with blessing, and that the same will be true of any more children God decides to bless us with. She is our tithe, and she belongs to God.

Nursery: "Chester Drawers"

Before anyone comes to the conclusion that I'm totally illiterate, let me just say that I know it's "chest of drawers" not "Chester Drawers", which is saying more that quite a few of the folks selling dressers on Craigslist! However, this post is not about grammatical errors on Craigslist or someone named Chester. With our sweet baby girls arrival only 13 weeks away, I have been spending some time getting started on her nursery. A few weeks ago, I noticed a dresser on the side of the road right around the corner. I had been planning finding a cheap dresser that I could fix up and paint to use as a changing table, and it doesn't get much cheaper than free!

The nursery walls are aqua blue, so I am using lots of pink accessories, including the changing table, to make it girly! The dresser was in pretty good shape, so I just removed the handles, sanded, primed and painted it. (The color is Behr's Strawberry Freeze.) I finished it off with a coat of polyurethane. It is a changing table, after all, so I'm sure the wipe-ability will come in handy!

(after 2 coats of primer)

(after a coat of pink)

Then I just added new knobs (with her sweet initials!) and some pretty pink handles (knobs from Hobby Lobby; handles from Target).

The handles proved to be more of a challenge than I would have like because the dresser's holes were pre-drilled for handles with 4 inch centers, and most standard handles come with 3 inch centers. I just drilled new holes, and didn't bother filling in the new ones because they are covered by the handles.

(close-up of the handles)

Finally, I wanted to add one last detail. I lined the drawers with some cute patterned fabric. I just cut the fabric to size and used a thin layer of fabric glue to stick the fabric to the inside of the drawers. (Idea courtesy of John and Sherry over at Young House Love. LOVE THEM!)

So pretty and cheap! I will have more nursery updates coming soon so keep checking in!

Lynnlee Faith

When we first found out that we were going to have a baby, we shared the news with our friends Jackie and Josh. Shortly after, they let us know that they were also expecting- and that Jackie was due just about a week before me! We were so excited to share this special time together, and even joked that we could share a hospital room when the time came! However, Jackie's pregnancy, for whatever reason, was not the easiest and she experienced some complications. I have almost felt guilty for having such a smooth pregnancy while praying daily that Jackie and her precious baby would be healthy and safe.

I don't know if she felt the same way, but I just continued to feel such a strong bond with Jackie as we both progressed in our pregnancies. We have not known each other for very long, but I still felt that bond. When we both found out that we were expecting baby girls, that feeling grew stronger. However, Jackie's news that she and Josh were having a baby girl also came with news that she was having a very difficult time in the womb. Jared and I have had heavy hearts for Jackie and Josh throughout this time, and have had a burden to pray for them probably more so than anything else in our lives together so far.

One afternoon, after Jackie and Josh had been to another doctor's appointment, we saw them in the office at Jared's school (Jared and Jackie work together). For some reason, I just had an overwhelming feeling in that moment that everything would be ok. This is not a normal gut reaction for me, as I am the eternal pessimist, so I just knew Jesus was speaking peace for them into my heart. The next Sunday or so, at church, we were sitting with Jackie and Josh, and the pastor was preaching about how we should pray big and believe that God will do big things. I truly felt that God was speaking through him into this situation. Then I think the next Sunday we were sitting with Jackie and Josh in church during a baby dedication. I prayed that God would allow both Jackie and I to be standing there with our babies during the next baby dedication. I just knew, and still know, that we He would and will answer that prayer.

Lynnlee Faith was born a week and a day ago on January 3, 2011 at 26 weeks. She is a precious miracle and is doing so well in the NICU. Jared and I got to go meet her last Sunday, and she is so beautiful and I know her parents are so proud. I know our baby girl can't wait to meet her, and I hope they will always be friends. I really feel like their stories are somehow entwined together. Even if not, though, I know that this has been a special time for me, and I think all those involved, to really grow in our faith.

Faith has been the major theme in this whole journey. Before we even knew anything was wrong, Jackie and I had both thought of the name Faith for a middle name for both girls. Just for the record, we didn't plan or discuss this together- it just happened! There are so many people, including me and Jared, who are praying in faith for Lynnlee, and I know that God is hearing and answering those prayers. It might sound crazy, but I even believe that our precious baby girl somehow knows about Lynnlee and is rooting for her, too!

While this is obviously not our story, and there is so much more to Jackie, Josh, and Lynnlee's story, I truly am so grateful to be a part of it. I know I have grown so much in my relationship with Jesus and my prayer life has been strengthened through this. I also feel more ready to be a momma to our own baby when she comes. 

If you want to follow Lynnlee's story and pray for her or leave a message for Jackie and Josh, go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/smithbaby or just go to caringbridge.org and type in smithbaby in the search box.

Christmas Projects!

Warning: This may be a long post. I just wanted to share some of the fun Christmas activities that have been keeping me busy the past few days. I LOVE doing little domestic projects, but usually don't have too much time for them, so it's a treat to have a couple of weeks off just to do fun things. I am usually last minute shopping and stressing over getting things done the week before Christmas, but somehow I am miraculously all caught up and have been filling my days with fun, non-stressful activities.

First, I decided to try to make a stocking based on these:
http://www.dana-made-it.com/2009/12/sweater-stockings.html

I started with an old sweater that had shrunken a little too short (even pre-pregnancy!), and cut out a stocking shape using another stocking as a guide.

Then I just sewed right sides together and turned it inside-out (or is it right-side-in?) for the basic stocking

.

 For the embellishments, I added ruffles using just some strips of white fabric I already had.

 To make the ruffles, baste with your machine using the longest stitch possible and then pull the thread gently from one end until you achieve your desired ruffly-ness.

 I just sewed the ruffles on in two rows, starting with the bottom first, and ended up with this.

 Almost there, but not quite perfect...

Finally, I created a little rosette using a strip of the sweater I had left over. Again, just baste with your sewing machine and then pull until the fabric kind of circles in on itself.

 I just hand sewed the rosette on with a few stitches in the middle and added some jingle bells!

 To make a hanger, I used a strip of fabric from one of the sleeves and sewed it to the inside of the stocking.

 All done! The plan was to make a few of these to sell over at honeydew.com, but that didn't happen, so this one will be for the baby girl next Christmas!

My next project was to make a little treat for the neighbors in our cove. I have never done this before, but I thought it would be a good thing to do with my extra time. I made this caramel corn for our families for Thanksgiving, and everyone loved it so I decided to make it for our neighbors, too. Here is the recipe for those of you that are interested: 
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Caramel-Popcorn/Detail.aspx

Last time, I made it with plain microwave popcorn, but this time I went with the good old-fashioned stove-top kind. I guess I was feeling ambitious. It was actually really easy, though. 1/3 cup of kernels made about 10 cups popped!

 This is what the caramel looks like while it cooks...

 ...and when it starts boiling.

 

Then I just poured it over the popcorn and cooked for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

 And here it is all packaged up for the neighbors!

Lastly, my niece Chloe (with the help of her momma!) asked for some baby doll diapers for Christmas. I found these tutorials online, http://www.prudentbaby.com/2009/11/diy-doll-diapers.html and http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/09/19/, so made them myself! I basically just followed the pattern and cut out the diaper templates in three cute fabrics.

 Then I cute some coordinating felt and sewed right sides together. Make sure you leave a little space to turn your diapers inside-out (right-side-in?...I still don't know...) once you finish sewing.

 Lastly, I just pinned on small pieces of velcro and sewed them on. I used a zig-zag stitch just to ensure they were sturdy enough for two-year-old use!

 Cute diapers!

 Baby doll model.

 All wrapped up for Christmas! Hope she likes them- and good thing she can't read this blog!

What fun things are you doing to get ready for Christmas? Let me know!