Nyla's Bow Holder

My mom and I ventured out this past weekend to her church's annual Spring craft's fair.

They had some really great stuff, especially sweet little hair bows! I've always seen the bows around at the crafts fair but never had reason to stop and really see what was out there.

Now that I know we're having a girl, we of course had to look at all the hair bows that people were selling. I think there were at least 4 vendors selling bows. So much fun!

Well, I think between the two of us we bought about 15 bows. Haha!

But baby girl has no bows and this girl had some GREAT prices! She had small bows for $1 each and she had buy 2, get one free! You can't beat that.

Well I've been wanting to make a crafty project for Nyla's room for quite some time now and this gave me the perfect reason too. I needed somewhere to put her hair bows.

After we left the crafts fair we headed over to Big Lots just to see what they had, (I love me some Big Lots)! I found a small 11 x 14 pre-stretched canvas for $3. Can't beat that! I wanted to paint something cute on it and glue some ribbon to it and create my own hair bow holder. And so my craft began!

I forgot to take a picture of the blank canvas, but I think we all know what a white canvas looks like. :)

I had all the paints I needed for the project so it didn't cost me anything in paint expenses.
I started by painting the background Turquoise, (I used acrylic paint for this entire project).
Then I painted different colored polka dots; 2 different pinks, purple, gold, pumpkin orange, lime green and a light blue. I let that dry completely and then had to decide of what I wanted to do for her letter or letters.
I was debating between her full name, a monogram of her name and just the first letter of her name. I obvious chose to do just the first letter. I asked Hubby what color I should do the letter in. Black, chocolate brown or white? He liked white and I agreed. I think the darker colors would've been too harsh for the baby room.
The letter is free handed, but I think it turned out pretty well.
After the paint dried completely I attached the ribbon with a glue gun on the back. I had leftover ribbon from some other project from way back when and cut the strips evenly. I had just enough of each, made it even better!
I had a bright pink with small white polka dots and a white with multi-colored polka dots. The paint did end up matching the ribbon pretty well, which made the project turn out even better!


And that is how I made my own hair bow holder, for $3!


I did find one at the crafts fair for about $12 and it was very cute. It had a wooden letter which cute polka dots painted on and 2 ribbon strands attached to it. I have a feeling we'll need more than 2 ribbon strands, that's why I did 5. But I wasn't about to pay $12 for something I could make to my liking and since I love crafting, this was great!

24 weeks and the dreaded sugar test!

Today I am 24 weeks and baby girl is growing like a weed!

We went the doctor today for a routine check-up as well as my sugar test to see if I had Gestational Diabetes. We also did another ultrasound because baby girl didn't cooperate last time, she refused to let us see her heart, but we got a great shot of her spine!

Well, good news I passed the sugar test. I don't have to go back for the 3 hour test to determine if I have Gestational Diabetes. Thank goodness! I was fretting the whole time. I was hungry and I knew the 3 hour test would be a nightmare for me!

We did get another ultrasound of Nyla, which is always a blessing. I love seeing our precious baby! Last time we went to get the ultrasound the technician saw everything but her heart and they need to see her heart. Her back was facing out last time, well it was the same this time. She is stubborn! She better not be like that when she is coming out. Momma will not be much fun!!!

The technician was able to get 2 of the 5 pictures she needed of the heart and said all those 2 looked great, but they have to have all 5 pictures. I go back in 4 weeks for a routine check-up and do another ultrasound. Hopefully she'll cooperate then. Maybe I'll drink some orange juice. I hear that helps get them going!

We did get another sweet picture of Nyla. She is holding her little hand up near her head and it looks like she is sucking her little thumb. So cute! I cannot wait to meet our sweet girl!

She is growing and getting big. When we went at 20 weeks, she was 13 ounces. Today they measured her and she is 1 pound and 10 ounces. That is a little big for her age, but the doctor didn't say anything about it and didn't seem concerned. I was 9 pounds and 13 ounces when I was born and Daniel was 8 pounds and 9 ounces when he was born, so... we're bound to have a little chunky baby! And that's okay, as long as she is healthy!

That is the update for the time being. Please continue to pray everything goes great, as it has.
-Ginny

Baby Update: 23 Weeks

I apologize for the lack of activity around here on the blog. Truth be told, Ginny and I have been simply drawn to this healthcare debate on C-SPAN the NCAA tournament Thursday through Sunday. Nyla's bracket is looking good so far, with three of her four Final Four teams still alive. And depending on what happens, she will win the little pool I run every year. But enough about how I devised a formula so she would have UK winning Nyla's basketball-picking prowess, Ginny is 23 weeks pregnant. What is going on with my little girl is week?

Little Nyla weighs approximately one pound and measures almost a foot in length, or about half the size of Olympic female gymnasts. Ok, I made that last part up, but she is looking more and more human - though she still had red skin and is wrinkled.

Her kicks have definitely gotten stronger according to Ginny, and I can vouch for that, since I have felt kick a few times. That definitely is pretty cool, but I kinda hope she gets out of this soccer phase. I don't have anything against soccer, but I prefer indoor sports - except for golf. Now if she's doing TaeBo in there, that's ok. The more self-defense she learns, the saner I'll be in 15 years more fit she will be. And that part is actually true. The kicking is merely Nyla discovering her muscles and giving them a test drive.

Her hearing is also improving, meaning she can recognize her Momma's voice. And if Daddy would read to her and talk to her - Nyla, not Momma - then she will quickly recognize my voice after she enters the world. That is what I plan on doing. Talking to her. Reading to her. Telling her that the triangle-in-2 is a junk defense.

Ginny is still doing great and starting to show now. I joked with her tonight that she was starting to waddle, and she immediately had the idea to watch Happy Feet. Go figure!

-D

Fire "The Laser"

If you've been reading my other blog over the years, first off, let me thank you for not stopping when I wasn't posting following me. And for those of you who haven't been reading, go bookmark it now. I'll wait....

If you happened to read this post in 2007, you know that completing the wedding registry was one of the best parts of the engagement, besides the counseling sessions. Friday night, we braved the wild drivers of the Wolfchase Area to stop in at Babies -R-Us to register for all of Nyla's Wii games, Playstation 3, and video iPod necessary items like diapers, bottles, and butt paste. (No, that should not be marked out.) I'm not a big fan of shopping, but that changes when I take hold of the glorious scanner gun. Yes, I realize it is a portable bar code scanner. But the scanner gun is more than that. It is power. In my hands I have the ability to force people to get me Nyla whatever I want. It is like a real-life Jedi mind trick. [These are the diapers you're looking for.] If Nyla needs bottles, scan. If she has to have a stroller, yep. If she has to have a Twilight poster, the power of the scanner gun wielder gets to say "no." (And I did.) We spent a good hour and a half probably walking up and down aisles, scanning and hearing that familiar tune of "beep." My scanner gun skills started off rusty, but soon I was scanning at approximately a 91.53% success rate, and that was because Ginny didn't hold the items right I just missed.

I also learned something. Babies today have so much more stuff than when I was a baby. While looking through the strollers, I fully expected to find some with an HDTV TV built-in as we made our way toward the more expensive ones. I figured car seats would be self-warming. And a wipe warmer? Seriously? Ok, that's actually one item I would consider buying for me if I had a taxpayer funded government stimulus some extra money lying around. Hey, if people will buy it, I will scan it.

I think Ginny said she is going to register at Target for some more items. I'm ok with that. I really found Babies/Toys-R-Us lacking in 60" HDTVs, a junior girl golf set, baseball bats for when she starts dating and digital video cameras. More scanner gun goodness to come!

-D

Interview with a Baby

Not long ago I was privileged to be able to get an inside look at what Nyla was thinking. Well, with the gender reveal party out of the way, I figured it was about time for another look into the mind of a baby in the womb - this time in the form of a sit-down interview. My little girl was so excited to have someone to talk to, and I was happy to make her happy.

DCG: Ok, Nyla, let's get the big question out of the way now. The one on every one's mind. Are you in favor of expanding the NCAA tournament?
NVG: Absolutely not. Don't mess with a good thing. Keep it on CBS, too. And you know what, why not have the local CBS stations put more games on their other digital channels? Give the fans what they want!
DCG: (Wiping a tear from my eye.) I have never been prouder. Second question, I have not told you what to say, correct?
NVG: I am my own perrrrrrson.
DCG: You clearly take after your mother. Moving right along, describe your first 5 months of existence?
NVG: Dark, wet, and warm.
DCG: Any highlights so far?
NVG: That time you read Psalm 100 to me.
DCG: That's so sweet, but you're too young to butter me up. Let's just move on to the next question. Your thoughts on global warming?
NVG: Huh?
DCG: Exactly!
NVG: No, really, what did you say? I couldn't hear you.
DCG: I said what do you think of global warming?
NVG: I'm not here to talk about the past.
DCG: Since when did you hear Mark McGwire?
NVG: Who?
DCG: Never mind. Generational gap. How about a little word association? I'll say a word or phrase, and you give me the first thing that comes to mind.
NVG: Let's do it!
DCG: Power Grid.
NVG: I will dominate.
DCG: That's debatable. Anyway, Obama.
NVG: Nebraska city?
DCG: (Laughing) Brilliant!
NVG: Daddy!
DCG: Thanks, sweetie.
NVG: New car!
DCG: Um... no, not right now.
NVG: Cell phone?
DCG: Word association is over.
NVG: Can I have a pony?
DCG: No.
NVG: Do you know John Wall?
DCG: No.
NVG: Patrick Patterson?
DCG: No. Why?
NVG: You talk about them a lot.
DCG: They play for Kentucky. You remember, Kentucky, right?
NVG: Nope. You don't talk about them enough.
DCG: Is that sarcasm in your voice?
NVG: Prollies.
DCG: You and your mother...
NVG: Mommy! Daddy is talking about you...
DCG: Aaannnd that's all the time we have for today. Nyla, thanks for taking the time to talk with me. I look forward to our next conversation. And I'm looking forward to getting to hold you in another four months or so.
NVG: Me too, Daddy.

As you see, well, like father, like daughter.

-D