Having a Baby: Things Learned (or, perhaps, remembered)

Found these notes I made on my phone in the middle of the night one night during our hospital stay. True words, these are.

Things I learned or remembered during our hospital stay, in list format for your convenience:

1. Lactation consultants are intense people. They have very strong things to say about how you sit, how you hold your baby, how many pillows you prop up with, the evils of pacifiers and bottles, the semi-evil-ness of pumps, the great evil of formula...they are just really intense. I imagine they would prefer the term "passionate." Thankfully, this was my second baby, so I knew to let much of it roll right off, just saying, "Uh huh, you're right" and then do whatever worked for me. (Note: I am not anti-lactation consultants. I am just much more moderate in my opinions about breastfeeding and already have a year of experience under my belt.)

2. You use your stomach for EVERYTHING. You realize this forcibly post c-section. Coughing, sneezing, laughing, rolling over, sitting up, laying down. Everything you do hurts after a c-section because the doctor just cut into your stomach muscles and made them angry.

3. Hospitals are the least restful places. Oh man. The. Worst. Beeping things. Blinking lights. People coming in and out every couple of hours to check everyone's vitals. Babies needing to be fed. Worst sleeping conditions.

4. Medical professionals examining your body is a free-for-all. (not just your baby's body- yours, too.)

5. As is discussing your bodily functions.

6. And your birth control methods. Numbers 4-6 are kind of embarrassing to have discussed and whatnot, but nobody cares about your feelings on that. They will insist on doing these things at regular intervals, indiscriminate of how much it hurts/how loudly they are speaking/how red your face grows, due to embarrassment.

7. After you have been on fluids for 24 hours, you have to use the bathroom A LOT. A shocking amount, actually. Which is also a little bit painful, thanks to the truths mentioned in #2.

8. Lab folks will come in the middle of the night, turn the harsh overhead lights on before you've registered that they're even there, and will then bruise your arm when trying to hit a vein. And then they might do it again on their second attempt. You will be very bruised for weeks. Oh, and then their colleague will come the next night and do the same thing.

9. After you've been diabetic dieting for several months, hospital ice cream cups are divine.

10. Nurses really are fantastic people (the majority, at least). They do such hard and good work. It really is such a noble calling. Thank you, nurses! You make hospitals easier places to be.

Snippets and Stories: Just another evening with a newborn

Claire is only 3, but apparently, Brad and I have forgotten basically everything about what life was like with a newborn. How that's possible is just beyond me, and yet. We've seemingly forgotten things like blow-outs and spit up and the poor timing that newborns have when doing those things. For example...

About 10 days after Lily was born, our friend, Hillary, was bringing dinner over. Brad actually had somewhere to go for dinner that evening but was holding Lily while I finished baking some banana bread for him to take with him. Things were going so well...until they weren't. At the same time, the banana bread (a recipe I have made MANY times and have never had a problem with) started to burn, AND Lily had a blowout that soaked Brad and puddled on the floor. Hillary had already texted me that she was on her way, so I knew we had mere minutes to try to rid the kitchen of the burnt smell, attempt to salvage some banana bread, clean Brad up, and change Lily.

Brad was desperate for me to help him, and simultaneously, I needed to deal with the burning banana bread so we didn't end up with a smoke detector situation. Thankfully, my mom was still here, so after I pulled the bread out of the oven and started up the vent, she took over salvaging the banana bread so I could help Brad (note: I still have no idea what happened. At all.). I took Lily to start cleaning her up, and Brad frantically started to change his clothes. At one point, he shut the front door (we had it open with just the storm door closed), which greatly upset Claire. She thought that by closing the door we weren't going to let any friends come in. So, while we're all tending our respective situations, Brad hollers to Claire, "We have to close the door so daddy can take off his clothes!" At which point Mom and I laugh hysterically and Brad attempts to restate his meaning in a less shady-sounding way.

Mom managed to semi-salvage the banana bread (enough for Brad to take a decent-looking plate of it to his dinner), and Brad got his clothes changed. I was doing well with getting Lily cleaned up (clothes, diaper, skin) when Hillary arrived. And at that very moment, Lily spit up in a spectacular way; she covered herself, me, the floor, part of the couch, and the coffee table with spit up. She was very thorough.

Thankfully, Hillary has her own 3-year-old and 6-month-old, so she had nothing but sympathy and a few chuckles for us (plus a fantastic dinner). We chalked the whole series of events up to "we have a newborn and this is what they do + how could we have forgotten so soon?" We're probably going to use that line of reasoning for a loooong time. Until it's no longer socially acceptable.

Bless us all.

Lily and the odds and ends

There are so many things about Lily's birth and the subsequent weeks that I'd love to document well so that I have a record in years to come. I'm not sure if documenting everything would even be possible, but I'm doing what I can during my waking hours (I should have Brad double check the things I write...I'm pretty sleep-deprived these days. Who knows what kind of crazy might emerge?).

Here are some odds and ends that I don't want to forget: 

We had the most wonderful nurses at the hospital: Laura, Reagan, Lawanda, Calyn, Claire, Stephanie, Sandy, and Pam. They dealt with all of the gross post-partum things, brought me medicine and ice and graham crackers, helped me deal with my migraines, and raved about how sweet and pretty my baby was. Laura and Reagan were so encouraging and capable during my c-section. Calyn dealt with my second round of frightening clots/blood loss and remained super calm and reassuring. Stephanie and Sandy were so kind and attentive to me during some bad migraines. I just had wonderful women taking care of me through the days and nights and am so grateful. Thank you, nurses, for all you do!

My parents ordered the most beautiful roses that brightened up my hospital room and were a great reminder that I'm loved!

My Bible study small group leader and her little girl dropped by the hospital with a jar of flowers from her garden + ridiculously yummy cookies. There's no picture of the cookies because I dealt with those bad boys ASAP (or maybe I should say STAT since I was in a hospital).

The hospital is located about 2 blocks from a Chick-Fil-A, and when patients are discharged from Mother/Baby, they are given two free sandwich vouchers to CFA! You better believe that we stopped there for lunch on the way home (and CFA took care of the rest of our bill after seeing that we'd just left the hospital). SO NICE!

Our church set up a meal train for us. I was so humbled by it; the schedule was set for three times a week for three weeks. Y'all. Only one of those slots wasn't filled. We were so blessed by so many folks, some that we already knew and some that we didn't. Blacknall took such good care of us.

Our neighbors have been incredibly kind to us, as well. We've been given gifts by three of them and a chicken pot pie, as well. We live in a neighborhood comprised primarily of older couples, most of whom have grandchildren that live elsewhere. Claire is a favorite for this reason, and now Lily has joined the ranks. We're very thankful that our children open up opportunities to get to know our neighbors better.

We've also had a sweet time having good friends over to visit and meet Lily. And just hang out with us in general. The Boswells are facing a rough summer of having quite a few friends move away, some expected and some very unexpected. All hard. So, we're trying to make the most of the time we have. (I'm trying to be adult about it, but in reality, it's breaking my heart and making me want to cry in the corner. I need prayer, guys. And chocolate. And new friends now...)

Some of our favorites. We're so excited for their opportunity to go to Notre Dame, but we will MISS them! So much. I can't talk about it.

Happy for you, friends, but I really wish I could keep you.

Very recent but very dear friends who are headed to Texas in a few (very short) weeks.

Lily's first few doctors appointments have gone very well! She's gaining weight like a champ, and I'm quite proud. Claire had to go for tons of weight checks when she was this small, so it's nice that we don't have to do that this time. They have us take her diaper off every time she's weighed, and she soaks the table every single time. Bless her.

Getting checked out.

She's just not sure about this.

Claire was so excited to help give "Wiwwy" her first bath. We're doing our best to involve Claire in as many Lily things as possible, hoping to create positive feelings and connections between Claire and Lily. Bath time has definitely been a favorite for Claire.

Prepping for bath time. Claire was helping with the towel.

Lily's spa day.

Family affair.

Helping to dry Wiwwy's hair. We're all still in shock that she even has hair, truth be told.

Our first month with Lily has been so very good. We've had our wonderful parents here for so much of the time, which has been incredibly helpful, but also so sweet, knowing they're getting to spend time with our girls. Our moms, in particular, have been so selfless and giving of their time and energy. And BOY does it take a lot of energy to keep up with Claire! They've also made meals for us and stocked our freezer. I'll admit it: I cry a little when they leave (I blame it partially on post-partum hormones, though). We've also had wonderful friends send us the sweetest gifts and words of encouragement. So far, we've gotten goodies in the mail from Tennessee, Alabama, Texas, and Virginia. We have the BEST people in our lives and are so grateful (I'm looking at you, Mrs. Tidwell, Biermans, and Amanda! Hugs!). 

I know I'm gushing. It cannot be helped. I'm just so thankful.

THE Cake.

For most of my pregnancy with Lily, Claire had it firmly fixed in her mind that Baby Sister was baking her (Claire) a birthday cake. As in, that was her entire purpose for living inside of Mommy: to bake Claire a cake. We trace this concept back to a conversation we had with Claire about how Baby Sister would arrive sometime after her (Claire's) birthday. It was the best we could do at giving her a frame of reference, and apparently, the only thing that registered with Claire was "birthday," which obviously equals cake. So, for months and months, Claire would tell anyone who would listen about how Baby Sister was bringing her a birthday cake. We ended up explaining it a LOT.

It got more and more elaborate as time wore on: the cake was to be chocolate. With pink icing. And blueberries and strawberries. Once she settled on that combination, though, she never wavered. We decided that getting Claire a cake from Baby Sister was a totally doable gesture that could have very positive results in the long run. Thankfully, Lily's accomplice (my mom) did an AWESOME job prepping not only the cake but a proper birthday party for the day we came home from the hospital. I think all babies should have a coming-home-from-the-hospital party, actually.

Mom snapped this shot of Claire awaiting our arrival, and I love it.

Arriving at home! Claire is very insistent on helping to carry Baby Sister whenever she's in her carrier.

The decor. Also, Claire was pretty sure that this party was about her...and we didn't work too hard to correct her. We're all about creating positive associations with Baby Sister.

This shot was taken approximately 2 minutes after we walked in the house. We can go from not-partying to partying in no time, y'all.

It's FINALLY time for the cake!

First bite of the much-anticipated, long-awaited cake!

The cake was beautiful. Lily is really good at making cakes.

How Lily spent the time at her party. Bless.

Claire thoroughly enjoyed the cake that she had anticipated and looked forward to for so long, and we really enjoyed watching her make such a positive connection with her Baby Sister. Oh, and I REALLY enjoyed not being diabetic anymore so that I could actually participate in the cake eating. YAAAAAAY for Baby Sisters who bring cake! (and for Nanas who do the actual work. Thanks, Mom!)

PSA: A cake from the new sibling to the older sibling is a really good idea. Truly.

Lily meets the Family

Our families are actually the very best. I've written before about how great my mom and mother-in-law have been about taking care of us while I was pregnant. They each came to Durham multiple times to make us food, do our laundry, chase Claire, and provide general encouragement. I'm just not sure how we would have all survived without them (not to be too dramatic). Lily's arrival and the weeks following have been no exception.

My mom got here a week before Lily's arrival (just in case Lily came early), and my dad got into town the day before the c-section. On the day of Lily's arrival, Brad's mom drove over and arrived around lunch time. So, on her birthday, Lily was able to meet 3 out of 4 grandparents + one very excited big sister. How fantastic is that?

Hi, Lily!

I love this picture. Claire's face of concern and shocked suspicion is priceless.

But she gave Baby Sister a kiss despite her concerns.

Even though there is a lot of glare, I really love this picture with Gran and Brad.

With Poppy.

With Nana. Everyone wearing pink.

I was discharged from the hospital on Monday after a weekend hospital stay, and my sister was at my house on Tuesday to meet Lily. Amiee, who is a full-time graduate student at Baylor (in TEXAS). She had a job interview in Georgia, and on her way back to Texas, she had a layover in Charlotte. As she was landing in Charlotte, she had the idea to skip out on her connection to Dallas, rent a car, drive to Durham for the afternoon, and catch a flight from Raleigh to Dallas instead. How crazy and awesome, right? She was literally in Durham for about 3 hours; she played with Claire, snuggled with Lily, took a quick shower, and headed to the airport. #BOisawesome

All smiles.

But this is a more realistic representation of them.

Don't mind me...I was on drugs.

A week after Lily was born, Gran, Grandpa, and Ray-Ray came over for the weekend! 

With Grandpa.

With Ray-Ray.

We totally bribed Claire with M & M's to get her to cooperate for this picture. I'm not even a little bit ashamed about that.

So far, the only close relatives (outside of great-grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and cousins) that Lily hasn't been able to meet is Uncle Tim. Not too shabby, Lily, not too shabby (note: she'll meet Tim in just a few more weeks). Thank you, family, for coming to celebrate with us! It was so special to have all of you here. 

A Baby Story: Lily

Disclaimer: This is not a gory or gross story by most standards, but it IS a birth story. So, if you are grossed out by birth/hospitals/surgery or things that happen during births/at hospitals/during surgery, I recommend you not read this post. Skip to the pictures or wait for future posts that are more about cute, squishy babies. Fair warning, friends.

For those of you who were around when Claire was born, I hope you won't be too disappointed that Lily's birth story won't be drawn out over two weeks. I should be able to get it all down in a couple of posts. My birth story/time in the hospital/recovery with Claire was very long, drawn out, traumatic (at least to me), and complicated. I used writing it out on my blog as a therapy, of sorts. It was my way of processing (as well as documenting) all of the physical pain and emotional ups-and-down that I'd just gone through. My birth story with Lily is almost entirely the opposite, thanks to a few factors that were (somewhat) within our control. I could NOT be more grateful.

Last family photo before Lily joined us! My mom took this of us after post-church lunch at Nana Taco (which happens to be my mom's- Nana's- favorite little taco spot in Durham). Also, Claire is wearing Mom's purse as a necklace.

Because I'd ended up having an unplanned c-section with Claire and, subsequently, my doctor in Boston had urged me to plan on repeat c-sections rather than attempting any VBAC's (vaginal birth after cesarean), Brad and I decided to pursue a c-section with this pregnancy. Most people, I have found, have opinions about whether or not that's the best choice, but after much thinking, reading, and praying, I felt good about that choice. Well, if not good, I felt like it was the best of my options. I also chose to follow my Boston medical team's suggestion of using general anesthesia again. This choice was more controversial than a repeat c-section, and I found myself having to discuss is a lot with a myriad of different people. I was literally still explaining my story to nurses while I was laying on the operating table and they were prepping me for the c-section. I've written about it here before, but here's the crux of it: every single attempt to insert something into my spine during my hospital stay with Claire failed. Three attempts at an epidural failed (and consequently gave me a wet tap that cause the spinal/positional headache). Three attempts at a spinal block for my c-section failed (which led to general anesthesia with Claire's delivery). Three attempts at a blood patch to relieve the spinal headache failed. Basically, 4 different anesthesiologists and 9 different spinal punctures led to a) a 100% rate of failure and b) a lot of trauma for me. I became completely terrified that future attempts would cause paralysis or something equally wretched. I knew that you have to hold still for them to insert the needles, and I KNEW there was no way I'd be able to pull off stillness in the midst of my fear. I had an anesthesia consult here a few months before Lily was born, and they agreed that general seemed to be my best option, which was encouraging. (Note: while Anesthesia felt this way, basically everyone else in the medical community thought there was no need for general and that someone could absolutely get a spinal block in. I'm sure they're good, but you canNOT convince me. You just can't.)

My c-section was scheduled for 8:30 am on Friday, April 15. I had the first slot and was super excited that I'd have a baby well before lunch time! I had to fast from all food and liquids after midnight, which was a little stressful for me- mostly because I know what a hard time nurses have getting an IV started on me and being dehydrated makes it so much worse. So, I chugged water and Gatorade right up until midnight and prayed my veins would cooperate (when I had to get fluids a few weeks ago, they failed to get a line started in both wrists and finally got one in the crook of my arm. It was a VERY uncomfortable process). I didn't sleep very well (all the fluids + pregnancy = lots of trips to the bathroom), so I spent a lot of time praying and listening to some worship music. I listened to this song on repeat for quite a while. A few hours later, while trying to stay calm in the OR, I sang it over and over in my head and was really thankful I'd listened to it so many times.

We (Brad, Mom, and me- my dad stayed at the house with Claire) headed to the hospital a little after 6:00 am and were in a pre-op room shortly before 7. We got there right around a shift change in the nurses, but it was perfectly timed, I thought, because the nurse who came in to start my IV got it started on her first try (!) right before she clocked out. I was so very grateful. With the shift change, I was assigned the absolute best two nurses to take care of me through surgery and recovery: Reagan and Laura. They came in to continue prepping me, and I got really tickled when I realized that one of them was named Laura; when I went in for my c-section with Claire in Boston, my nurse was named Laura, and she was an absolute blessing. I had just begun suffering from my spinal headache and could hardly hold my head up while they were trying to start my spinal block. So, Laura #1 literally held my head in her hands to provide me with enough relief to sit still for the anesthesiologist. I thought that having a second Laura was a really nice touch for Lily's story.

Laura and Reagan were absolutely the sweetest as they prepped me and talked me through what was about to happen. They were great at encouraging me and keeping me calm. I can't say the same for the anesthesiologist and her assistant; they ended up being great later on, but during pre-op, they kind of freaked me out with all of the worst-case scenarios (I realize they have to explain those things to me- legally- but everything was presented in such a "are you sure you want to do this?" kind of way that it was very unnerving). It also stressed me out that they kept referring to "my decision" to use general anesthesia and the fact that it was "more of a risk," which served to make me feel like I'd made a decision that was unnecessarily putting myself and my baby at risk (which was not at all how I'd viewed the decision, especially since the anesthesiologist that I'd consulted with earlier had been fully supportive). All this to say, by the time I was walking into the operating room, my nerves were not as calm as I'd hoped for.

The operating room felt cramped, given that there were about 10 or so doctors and nurses getting things set up (my OB, the anesthesiologist and her assistant, the peds team, and several nurses). I got all settled on the operating table (which, by the way, felt entirely too small for a full-term pregnant woman) and tried to stay calm while everyone bustled around me setting up lights, curtains, surgical instruments, and baby-taking-care-of equipment. It was at this point that the anesthesiologist and her assistant became a little more warm and encouraging, chatting with me about how I'd lived in Boston and how the anesthesiologist had minored in history in undergrad. They also told me they wouldn't strap my arms down until I was asleep, which was nice; that part is kind of freaky. Right before they started the drugs, they did make a loud announcement to the room to quiet down, which sort of made me feel like a celebrity. Brad wasn't allowed to come in until after I was under, so I was actually never aware of him in the OR. By the time he came in, I was completely under, had a breathing tube in, and the doctor had actually already started the surgery. Brad got in there at 8:30, and Lily was born at 8:31. We learned that they move very quickly when the mother is under general anesthesia so that the baby is barely affected by it. Brad got to watch the peds team take over care of Lily (she scored a 9 on her Apgar the first time!). 

All suited up!

So glad Brad could be there this time.

Brad and Lily headed to the nursery, and they took me to the recovery room where Mom was waiting. When I woke up after Claire was born, my first questions were about whether or not she was actually a girl (right before my surgery, Brad had joked that she might actually be a boy, stressing me out about all of the pink things back at our apartment), and this time, I woke up asking about whether or not Brad had named the baby. Important information, friends. I was also apologizing a lot...for some reason?

Someone got me some ice chips and helped me sit up, so that I could work toward being able to hold my baby. And when I did get to hold her, I agreed with what Brad had been thinking while he was with her: she was definitely a little Lily Catherine Boswell. FINALLY. We had the right name that we both loved. And she was just so pretty. It was a great moment: I got to see my baby, she was very cute, and we finally had a name for her. Also? I WASN'T PREGNANT ANYMORE. Or diabetic! Yay!

Reagan, Laura, me, and a bundle of Lily

Everything was going incredibly smoothly with only one hiccup: while there is always bleeding post-partum, after nursing Lily for the first time, I felt myself losing A LOT of blood. I mentioned it to one of the nurses, who took a peek and promptly went to get the OB. Everyone stayed pretty calm but went to work immediately. They explained that I was passing a large number of blood clots (gross wording, I know. Sorry about that.) and needed to get that under control. My OB began clearing out a rather large amount of clotting, which was an EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE experience for me. I was trying not to freak out about the pain or the blood loss (since there were several people in the room, and I was trying to be cool...obviously, this is the goal throughout the birthing experience, am I right?), but man, it was kind of an awful experience. They also started me on some pitocin to speed up my post-delivery contractions, helping to stop the excessive bleeding. After he finished, he and the nurses all commended me on my pain tolerance (I believe the words used were, "most people would have tried to crawl off the bed during that procedure"), so I'm thinking I did well in the "be cool" department. But, gosh, it was awful.

I had another round of blood loss later that night, and unfortunately for me, I actually caught a glimpse of it which completely terrified me and made me feel like I was going to be sick. I later learned that they had almost given me a blood transfusion because of the amount of blood lost. I'm still trying to figure out why they felt that telling me that information was helpful. All it did was make me nervous about any more blood that I lost (even the normal amounts).

Thankfully, outside of the blood loss, there were no other dramatic events during our hospital stay (which was only 3 nights this time, rather than 6). It was so vastly different from Claire's birth, and I'm really thankful for such a different experience. Lily came into the world peacefully and calmly, very much like her personality. We are so grateful for her and have been thoroughly enjoying getting to know her sweet self. Welcome to our family, little Lily!

Lily Catherine. More stories to come.

Our Little Lily is Here! (But you probably already gathered that.)

Ok, friends. I know I'm way overdue for getting started on the Baby Sister posts (c-section...newborn...medication...lots of impediments, you know). Never fear: I'm going to start now! I spent an hour last night sorting through pictures from the past week (an HOUR), so hopefully, I can get things rolling!

I'm planning to write out Lily's birth story plus some other fun, birthday-related stories. Oh, and post pictures. Lots of pictures. I've been putting some on Facebook and Instagram, but there are so SO many more than what I've posted there. I don't like overwhelming everyone on social media with pictures of my children, but here in my little corner of the blogosphere, I reserve the right to post as much as I want, thankyouverymuch.

So, until I can get some more detailed posts written, here are some quick stats:

Lily Catherine Boswell
8:31 am
Duke Regional Hospital
Durham, NC
Weight: 6 lbs. 15 oz.
Length: 20"
Hair: has some!

First family picture.

Thank you so very much to everyone who prayed for and checked on us. Your prayers were so felt, and we are so grateful. We love our little Lily and are so thrilled she's here!

A (side of the) room of one's own.

Quick note: I had the best of intentions of keeping up with my twice-weekly posting habit, but I started slipping this month. The baby will be here in no more than 4 more days, so I guess it's to be expected. I'm going to try my best to do a good job, but bear with me if things are slow. I even made an effort to prep some "random things posts" that I can put up in a pinch while getting into the groove with a new baby. We'll see how it goes. I have a serious goal of blogging as often as possible so that I can document our life before I forget things! 

Back to regularly-scheduled blog fodder:

Ever since finding out about New Baby, I, like many other moms, I'd imagine, have felt a little worried that I would have trouble making sure that she gets the same attention as Claire and feels as firmly established in our family as Claire has been. I think about it a lot during the night when she won't go to sleep and keeps herself very much on my mind...

So, I started thinking about some of the little things I did for Claire before she was born and when she was a little bitty. The first thing that came to mind was the little owl mobile that Kat and I made for Claire when she was a few months old (it's actually still hanging above her bed. Her big girl bed. Because she likes it.). I decided to try my hand at one for New Baby, as well. I started brainstorming for it before Kat came to visit back in November so she could help (obviously). At the time, we didn't know if New Baby was a girl or a boy, so I wanted to make something that could go either way (we're not exactly gender-neutral in general, but I was aiming for it with this) and something that was meaningful. I decided to go with hot air balloons. 

It's not that hot air balloons are particularly meaningful or anything, but I decided they were whimsically representative of where I wanted to go with New Baby's decor. When we were deciding on how to "decorate" Claire's little corner of our apartment in Boston, our friend, Laura Kay, made Claire the sweetest matroshka pillow ("trosta"), which I later used for Claire's weekly and monthly pictures. Since Claire moved into her big girl bed last summer, she's been rather insistent on sleeping with her "trosta" regularly, if that shows you how connected she's been to her pillow. I was thrilled when we got LK's gift for Claire and immediately decided that matroshkas/Ukrainian-themed items were going to be how I decorated for Claire. Having lived there for 2 years, Ukraine is very near and dear to my heart, and I have quite a lot of matroshka/Ukrainian-themed items that I was able to pull together for Claire's room. I even framed a chocolate bar wrapper that I think is adorable and sports a little Ukrainian girl. When my Ukrainian friend, Nastia, visited me in 2014, she saw it framed and hanging in Claire's room and rolled her eyes at me. "Erinochka. We do NOT hang trash on the wall." Well, I DO, apparently.

I loved how I was able to use little items that were so close to my heart to surround my daughter; I see them as a reminder of a time of life that was full of adventure, independence and responsibility, friendship, relying on the kindness of others, lessons learned, opportunities to practice humility, and- most importantly- God's faithfulness in every area of my life. ALL things that I hope and pray are major elements of Bearsy's life. It will be so exciting to share with Claire the significance of her bedroom decorations as she gets older. And I want the same for New Baby.

Now, I realize that perhaps this makes me the worst Pinterest Mom ever, but I have strong beliefs that spending very much on decorating a nursery is a waste of money. At least for our family. Claire spent hardly any time in her room when she wasn't sleeping. That's actually still the case. I didn't even nurse her in her own room. We almost never changed her diaper in her room unless we had an overflowing diaper situation going on in her crib. Our family life was just not set up like that, so spending money on her room was pointless. Thus, we decorated with what we had (I even framed some of my favorite baby cards that people sent). 

We're doing the same for New Baby. The "theme" we've decided to go with is- loosely- travel/adventure/the great big world. Claire's Ukrainian theme is sort of in the same vein, I guess, but New Baby's will be a little broader, less country-specific. Brad and I have both been blessed to have traveled quite a bit, and I've lived in three different countries that were so formative for me, so we're going to use those experiences as inspiration. We want her to be surrounded with reminders that the world is big and diverse and exciting and compelling...and that our God is God over all of it. Now that I have a child(ren), I have so much more respect for my parents and my friends' parents (Hi, Mrs. Tidwell!) who supported us traveling and working overseas so much at such young ages. It kind of terrifies me to think about letting my little ones leave and go out into a world that is so unpredictable. Which is partly why I like the idea of this theme for my youngest daughter. As I worked on her hot air balloon mobile, I prayed over her and myself, asking that she would follow the Lord where He leads...and that I would be obedient, faithful, and supportive of what He has in store for her. It's scary and overwhelming, but I very much want it for her (and me).

So, her mobile is hot air balloons. Her pillow (that I made...I wish I'd commissioned Laura Kay to do it) is a koala (mostly because it's an exotic concept but not too complicated to design), and the pictures on her wall are of places that we've been or hope to visit, etc. I hope it inspires and encourages her. I pray that she learns courage and obedience and that she gets to experience seeing God at work in places outside of her immediate scope of Durham, North Carolina, the South, and the US. 

Before we left Boston, we bought Claire a "Mass Roots" burlap print from a vendor at SoWa (SIDE NOTE: guys, if you're ever in Boston between May-October on a Sunday, PLEASE go get brunch at Masa in the South End, browse the shops at SoWa, and then eat late lunch at the food trucks just past the SoWa farmer's market. Preferably, get a Green Muenster sandwich at the Roxy's truck. Then, take a nap before going to church at Church of the Cross at 4:30, obviously. You will thank me later.). ANYWAY, I took the guys' card and held onto it. A few months ago, I ordered this "Carolina Roots" print for the wee one. I was able to buy the same frame that we have for Claire's print, just in a different color. And no, in real life it is NOT Carolina blue. Like I would ever do that, as a Duke person. Sheesh. It matches the curtains in the girls' room almost exactly.

Here's Claire's on the other side of the room. 

We are a Waste Not, Want Not kind of crew around here. The fabric for the koala pillow came from my stash and the paper that I used to make the pattern was actually packing paper from inside our Ikea boxes. The papers weren't crumpled or anything, so I had Brad save them as drawing paper for Claire. And pattern-making for me, apparently. 

The finished product. Claire loves it, so I hope Baby Sister does, too.

Here are the balloons for New Baby's mobile. All of the fabric was salvaged from an old shower curtain (clean, non-moldy, don't worry) we inherited in our apartment in Boston. The filling I stole from some old throw pillows.

Finished product! I used skewers (like, from a pack you buy to grill kabobs...with the sharp tips cut off) and regular thread to suspend the balloons and cloud. The ribbon actually came off of a Vera Bradley set of pouches that Mom and Dad gave me for Christmas. It just happens to go with the color scheme in their room perfectly. How serendipitous. Claire loves this mobile and keeps calling it "the Baby's Owlies." Claire's mobile is owls, so that's her frame of reference. I think she's hoping that she'll actually end up with both mobiles for herself. Bless.

Baby Sister's side of the room. I'm hoping to add a few more items to the cork board on the end; currently, it's sporting a few pictures from a travel calendar.

I made this map when I was pregnant with Claire and had insomnia. I found a pattern (of sorts) on Pinterest and loved the idea. I used fabrics that I had from around the world and had the best time stitching it. I hope it piques the girls' interests in this great homeland of ours. I'm really looking forward to exploring it with them as they grow.

On the far end, I framed these two postcards. The bottom one is of the opera house in Budapest. Budapest is one of my favorite international cities. I've been twice (once with Brad!) and just absolutely loved it both times. I hope the girls can experience it one day. The top card was mailed to me by a sweet Boston friend when she visited the UK a few years ago. She knows of my Harry Potter love and sought out the cafe where Rowling charted out the course of the novels. She apparently got lost in the process of finding it and spent several hours searching it out so that she could buy me this postcard. I have truly wonderful people in my life. Clearly, I hope to share my passion for Harry Potter with the girls (in the right time and in the right way- I have strong opinions on this), and I would love to travel with them to the United Kingdom someday.

Here's her "Carolina Roots" print in its designated spot, next to a framed card that my friend, Karen, sent me a while back. I love this card because a) it goes with the hot air balloon mobile and b) Karen sent me this card during a very hard season for me here in Durham. We had had a brief conversation where I shared just a few of the things I was feeling and thinking, and the next week I got this oh-so-encouraging card from her that just made me cry and cry. Good tears, no worries. I love the idea of surrounding the girls with beautiful pictures, inspiring ideas, and reminders that we are so blessed to have people that love us so well. And, apparently, you never know if you will mail me something that ends up as art in my house. :)

I can't remember if I've shown Claire's side of the room before, so here's a shot for ya. On the far left are a framed shot of Bear and Amiee (top) and framed Easter egg wrappers of fancy matroshka dolls that I bought in Ukraine (bottom). Next is a matroshka that Amiee painted (!). Her "Mass Roots" print (green frame) is hanging over two framed matroshka note cards, which are next to the framed chocolate wrapper (yellow and orange matting). The poster right behind Claire's head is a vintage Soviet-era poster about reading. Hanging above all of that is a pennant banner I made out of Ukrainian fabric. It's a very colorful room, to say the least.

And that's where we stand on the "nursery decorating" front. Claire and I sure do like the way things have some together. Brad is glad that we've done something and likes the theme, but he doesn't have any particular leanings on decorating in general, so it's not quite as thrilling for him. That's fine; I'm glad he's studying important things, but I have very little specific interest in the Cappadocians (what? you aren't familiar with them?). Also, I should mention that Baby Sister will be in our room for at least the first few months while she's eating a lot in the night, so there's potential for changes to be made, if Claire and I feel the need. Or if anyone sends me particularly fabulous cards. :)