Diaper Stacker

I just completed my diaper stacker! It was more complicated that I originally thought, but after a few hours of work, I completed it! It is certainly a little rough around the edges, but no one will notice those spots except me! It turned out well and looks like what it was supposed to be! So I call it a success!


On the right of the changing table is the crib that the people I baby-sit for gave us! They used it for their now 2 year old and we finally drove it from their house to ours! It's going to be beautiful when it's all done and put together!

Nursery Fun

Take two... I typed this all out and then our computer got angry... So here goes again!

So I said in a post recently that I couldn't find baby "stuff" that I liked, meaning bedding, curtains, etc... So I was going to make it all (or get help making it all). So I asked Jeremy for a super early birthday present (my birthday's in September) and he got me a sewing machine! We got a good deal on it at Target. It's nothing super fancy, but it works great! So I read the owners manual and taught myself kinda how to use it! I've done a few things with my mom, but never on my own. I typically am very good at figuring things out on my own, I get impatient when people try to teach me, so it works well that I learn fast on my own. So here's my attempts at sewing! It seems to be going very well for starters!


I had also found some fabric that I really like that really matches the walls in our nursery. They were painted a teal color by the past owners and its really pretty. So I found a teal/brown paisley and a teal/brown polka dot. They are really pretty and very gender neutral depending on what I pair it with. So I started my sewing endeavors! And I found super cute ribbons to match.

I started by sewing a curtain. I later realized it was good to start with something not very close to eye level as the work is not perfect by any stretch, I'm still learning... I thought it turned out pretty cute! And there may or may not be newspaper stuffed up in the top because it was too heavy and sagged... I'm recycling...

Then I made two pillows. One to put on the big rocking chair and one to put in a little rocking chair that I have from when I was a kid. The first pillow I made, I made wrong, so I had to undo it and redo it, but in the end, they turned out cute too!

That was all of my sewing for the day. The other thing that I did was make a lamp shade. I found a lamp stand at Target for super cheap and painted it brown. Originally it was white and blended with the shelf and made it look like the lamp shade was floating. So I just spray painted it. I thought it turned out cute too! Here's a picture of the lamp and the surrounding items on the shelf.


I've really enjoyed this so far. My plans are to make a cute crib skirt, a diaper stacker, a changing pad cover, and some basket liners for baskets on the changing table. I also want my mom to make a quilt with the different fabrics I've used. I also am enjoying the fact that I've done all of this and have all of the fabric to make the rest for less than 50 dollars! I find that amazing as no set that I can find (cute ones at least) is anywhere near that price. And I think it's cuter! It's kinda fun to have another room to decorate since the rest of the house is done! Now all we need is the baby... :-)

Here's the art work I did for the room to... It's what you can see behind the lamp. It's the prayer from night prayer that we say every night and I think it is a really beautiful prayer!

A confession of sorts

So I was sitting in Mass this morning and I remembered a dream I had last night. It was very realistic and not like many of the weird dreams that seem to occur where strange things happen in weird orders and you can't make sense of any of it. This one was very real. In it we were chosen as adoptive parents by a birth mother. I got to be with her during the birth and three days later we took home a baby boy. I vividly remember comforting the birth mom and consoling her during this hard time in her life. Again, it was very very real. I woke up and it was one of those things that was so real that you have to distinguish reality from dreams.

So anyway, I don't know if it's just been on my mind a lot or what, but it got me thinking nonetheless. I am just so happy right now as we wait for our first child. In a way we are "pregnant" in every sense except the physical. We are making preparations both physically, emotionally and spiritually as we know that we will have a child in the (hopefully) near future.

However, I was not always so happy and a I was praying today I was reflecting on the peace that I feel right now. I am at peace now and thoroughly enjoying every minute of this journey, but a year ago I was not in the same place. I was struggling immensely with feelings of jealousy and even envy towards those who were married right around the time that we were and who seemingly had no trouble conceiving. It was VERY hard for me to even appear happy for them and I'm sure I often came off grumpy or overall rude. I was at a point where they had something that I wanted and I didn't understand why I couldn't have it (writing that makes me sound like I'm 3 years old:-) but in a way, that was my mentality). So basically as much as I wanted to be happy for people having their beautiful babies, I was bitter and hostile.

So now is where I insert my apology! I truly apologize, from the bottom of my heart, to those who this hostility was directed towards. Whether you noticed it or not, it was there! And I truly am sorry for feeling that way towards anyone! In my defense, however, I have come to learn, through our adoption training and my own prayer and reflection, that this was my way of dealing with my infertility. It is a natural part of the "grieving process" and that I am not alone in the way I felt. It is actually very common to feel that way, although that does not make it right. It was a relief, though, to know that I was not some monster who could not be happy for others. I was just in a time and situation that made it difficult to love others and be joyful for them as I should. It truly was a time when I disliked who I was and I strongly disliked the way God was planning out my life.

This was one of those things where no matter how many times people told me that "God has a plan for our lives and we just need to be patient", I still had to actually come to that realization on my own. So after finding out for sure that we will not have biological children and realizing that we were very strongly called to adopt children, I truly became a new person. It was literally as though one door slammed shut and another one flung open. I stepped into a new period in my life and my whole outlook changed. I can honestly say that I am joyful for others, especially for those who are having children! It is such a blessing and I feel so happy for others now! It's amazing how quickly it changed. I also am more happy with myself because I do not feel as though I am constantly criticizing others or feeling jealous of them. I always wanted to be happy but just couldn't do it! Now I can, and it is truly genuine!

It feels good knowing that I can look back, recognize my wrongs, and humbly repent of them and seek forgiveness. It is not easy for me to swallow my pride, but it is something that God has continually given me opportunities to do, despite my protesting! I have truly come a long way and hope to continue working on it!

Now I really need to work on patience, this waiting game is not really my favorite thing! But it is something I have had to relinquish control of and simply wait for!

Summer Vacation!

It is so nice being a teacher and having a Summer Vacation! Although I am "working", it still feels like vacation. Here are some updates our our lives for the last month or so!

SCHOOL: I finished up the semester teaching Sophomore Theology. It was quite a challenge, but very rewarding as well. I really enjoyed the experience overall despite a few moments where I wanted to pull my hair out! I'm ready to continue subbing in the fall!

EXAMS: Jeremy took his Actuary Exam so he is free from studying for like 8 weeks while we wait for the results! He feels like he did very well, so we're hopeful he will pass this one and be able to move on to the next!

ADOPTION: This is probably the most exciting thing that's happened the last month or so! We are FULLY LICENSED! Yay! We flew through the process very fast and all of our paperwork is in, our profile is done, our video is done, and we are officially in circulation. So basically at any point we could get a phone call for a baby! We are really hoping for a 2010 baby, but it's in God's hands at this point! So pray for our patience as we wait for the arrival of our first baby!

Also with this, I'm starting to (okay, not really starting but continuing) to decorate the nursery. I've spent a lot of time looking at nursery bedding/decoration stuff and don't really like anything. I know what I want in my head but can't find exactly what I want. So we decided to have my mom help me make it... (She doesn't really know this yet :-) but she likes to do that kind of thing!) So I bought fabric that I love and we'll gradually make things and make it how I want it! I really enjoy decorating so this is a fun project for me to do while we wait!

VACATION: The last week of school we took our vacation to Florida. I'll have to do a whole separate post on this cause it was awesome and we really enjoyed it! For now, all of my pictures are on facebook.

SUMMER JOB: So I can't really call it a job cause it's not really work, but I do get paid for it... I am watching a 9 year old girl for the summer. I'm watching her 4 days a week (the 5th she goes to State Farm day camp) and I get there in the morning and take her to swimming for 2-2.5 hours! So I have that time to go to daily Mass, run errands, clean up around the house, etc... Her parents leave us money to go do fun things and hang out. We play wii, we go on walks, I help her with her summer Math, she practices piano, we play games, watch movies, etc... It's a lot of fun and very relaxing. A few days I'll have her little sister too, who goes to daycare year round while their parents are on business trips or whatever. It's a lot of fun and she's the best, most well-behaved 9 year old I know. She's really a pleasure to hang out with all day!

Other than that, we have softball games for Jeremy, work picnics, yard work, etc...