Pregnancy

Due to the recent birth of our beautiful baby girl, Nora Faith, I’ve rounded up an All-Star list of moms who effortlessly seem to manage work, home, family, life, and everything in between! You can read all their words of motherly wisdom here, as well as how they manage to “do it all” while still living a life they love.

I’ll be sharing my own thoughts and baby updates soon enough, but right now, I’m simply soaking up their trusted advice while cuddling with my new baby girl! 

The following is written by Sarah from Clover Lane:

When I set out to write a post about having a baby I thought of all the important advice I could give ranging from diapers to breastfeeding to managing on little sleep.  I thought of all the neat products I used — which I am sure are outdated now!  I could fill up pages with everything I’ve learned over the last 17 years. 

I’ve had five children.

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The first born, a surprise when I was 24, ten months after our honeymoon! The fifth born, heartbreakingly tried for when I was 39, and panicked from the potential loss of fertility I never before contemplated.  All my five babies had very different personalities and temperaments - ranging from easy- peasy to 16 hour-every-day-colic.  I‘ve read dozens of books on all sorts of different parenting practices, and asked and listened to advice from many friends and relatives.

And no doubt, I’m not the only one who is filled with advice.  There are many mothers out there who did things different than the way I did — and it worked wonderfully for them, their babies, and their families.  They made different choices, bought different products, chose different birth plans, had different schedules, and different views on everything from feeding to diaper changing to sleeping.

No one of us is right or wrong, and that’s good because we all had different babies!

It took me a long time to have the confidence and the experience to realize this, but these are the three most important concepts I have learned about being a mother:

1. No one but you will know and love your baby MORE than you do.

Not the nurses at the hospital, not your mother, not your best friend, and certainly not me.  Trust your instincts!  Read, ask, learn… but then put it all aside and listen to your mothering heart.  You and your baby… you are connected by that heart forever and no one else can claim the same.

2. Walk bravely the path of internal and maternal growth and change.

Form a close bond with your baby by opening yourself up to the incredibly intense, almost scary emotion of mother love. Let go of the control, let the world fall aside from the moment you are handed your baby and then for the days and weeks afterwards.

I think many times today we try to compartmentalize all our duties and priorities we have as women, and sometimes I see the same being done to the role of mother.  We are afraid to let it go because we feel we have to be the ones running things, keeping all the balls juggling, staying on top of the game of life.  We have to keep up with what it means to a woman in today’s world, which in essence means doing a dozen things really well, while raising our tiny innocent dependent babies on the side.

When they place that baby in your arms, let the world rearrange itself. Let YOUR world rearrange itself.

This is scary!  What you thought was so important might plummet to the bottom of the list.  Let it happen, and don’t fear change.  You will become someone new — the birth of your baby is also a rebirth for you.  Be open to that.  Often I hear the lament about motherhood “I feel like I lost myself.”  Yes, you will become someone new and different, a new better version of your old self if you are willing to change.  You will become selfless and generous.  You will become confident and secure.  You will become tender and patient.   I will bet that some of things you will lose won’t even compare with the worth of these qualities that you will gain if you let yourself.

3. Remember the little things, but don’t forget the big picture.

Here is what a baby NEEDS:  a mother, a father, food (you come with a free supply, isn’t that cool?), soft clothes, blankets, and diapers.

I can’t believe how much stuff is now considered necessary.  Sure, some of it is convenient but most of it just seems to be invented for the pure sake of making our lives easier, making the pace of our lives faster so we can do all that multi-tasking.  A mother could get away with not touching her baby all day!  There are swings to rock them in, carriers to set them in, back pack to stick them in, gadgets that sing to them, and for goodness sakes, there are strappy things that hold a bottle so you don’t even have to feed them!

Baby’s needs are very simple and not at all materialistic – food, warmth, and tender loving care.  A mother can supply all of those without ever setting foot in a store.

Becoming a mother is the best thing that ever happened to me, and the hardest journey I’ve ever had to walk.  It isn’t easy and I don’t mean to gloss over the hard stuff {leaking breasts, sleepless nights, and never-ending worry.} But one day, when you are paging through photo albums, you will look with wonder at that tiny wrinkled little newborn and wonder where the time has gone.

Enjoy every moment, the good, the bad, the easy, the difficult… and know that you have been given the greatest gift ever — the opportunity to be a mother! 

What is most important thing you learned after becoming a mom/parent?

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Sarah is a mom of five, ages 3-17, which means she is giving driving lessons and potty lessons and everything in between, all in a day’s work. She loves babies, clean floors, writing, photography, good books, orderly piles of laundry, and old-fashioned values. She blogs at Clover Lane.

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Due to the recent birth of our beautiful baby girl, Nora Faith, I’ve rounded up an All-Star list of moms who effortlessly seem to manage work, home, family, life, and everything in between! You can read all their words of motherly wisdom here, as well as how they manage to “do it all” while still living a life they love.

I’ll be sharing my own thoughts and baby updates soon enough, but right now, I’m simply soaking up their trusted advice while cuddling with my new baby girl! 

The following is written by Brenda from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles:

In my family, I am the oldest of three girls. To this day, we joke with Dad about how lucky he is to have four women (including Mom) in his life. I’m not sure that “lucky” was how he thought of it during our teen years, but he did manage to gently plow through all of our emotional messes and come out on the other side, still his jovial and unfaltering self.

Since having two girls of our own, I’ve been touched with a newfound appreciation for the meaning of daughters. And I give huge credit to my husband for that, because watching his relationship with them has blessed me more than I ever imagined possible. When I found out that Andrea and Dave were going to have a baby girl, I was instantly smiling at my computer screen.

I gave Blake a little book on Father’s Day a number of years ago called “Father to Daughter – Life Lessons on Raising a Girl”. It’s a sweet little cube of a book comprised of quotes from dads about what they’ve learned in bringing up a daughter. Some quotes make me giggle. Others tug real hard on my heart strings, bringing tears to my eyes.

Of all the things these dads shared with the book’s author, there was one common precept…

It was, and is, important to be involved in their daughters’ lives.

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The quotes that especially stick out for me, after watching my own husband and girls, are the ones where the dad’s actions encourage a girl’s healthy self esteem. Where a girl gets wrapped up in her dad’s unwavering love, and learns to stand tall, feel beautiful, be courageous, and believe in herself.

Here are a few of my favorites from the section that encompasses the early years:

Sing to her while you’re rocking her. She’ll love hearing your voice – and it’s a great way to pass the time at 1 a.m.

When you get home from work, hold her as much as possible. This is for your benefit as much as hers.

Ask her about her day, every day. Share her wonder.

Tell her from day one that she can accomplish anything. And believe it yourself.

Make her part of your world – let her see you shave, work, read, and relax. She’ll love you, no matter what you’re doing.

Have tea parties with her. Nibble on whatever she puts in front of you. Tell her it’s delicious.

Play with her, tickle her, give her piggyback rides. Show her how to have fun.

But never, ever, make fun of her.

Keep her secrets. Teach her what it means to be able to trust a man.

Praise her often. Let her know you love her the way she is.

Encourage her to try new things while she’s very young, and she’ll be more willing to try new things when she’s older.

Encourage her to trust her instincts, especially when her safety is involved.

Display her artwork in your office. Prominently.

Don’t miss a recital, play, game, or any other performance of hers. Not now. Not until she graduates.

Dance with her always. She’ll never be too young. Or too old.

Be her hero.

Be her first love.

Andrea and Dave, I pray that you treasure every single moment with your new little girl. And I hope that the smallest of each daddy-daughter interaction sparks an awareness of the incredibly important job you two have as parents. May you always feel on-your-knees grateful for this awesome responsibility.

I am so excited to watch your family grow together. Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl!

Brenda Score is the blog author and photographer at a farmgirl’s dabbles, where she shares stories of family and fabulous food. You can find Brenda at www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com, on Facebook at A Farmgirl’s Dabbles, and on Twitter @farmgirlsdabble.

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With joyful hearts, Dave and I welcomed our precious baby girl, Nora Faith, into the world yesterday, 11/22/11, at 3:40pm {less than 4 hours after getting to the hospital!}

She is PERFECT — weighing in at 7 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring 21 inches.

I first fell in love with the name Nora way back in my sophomore year of high school when I played volleyball against a Nora. However, the main reason we chose the name Nora is because my grandma’s name is Noreen — and now Nora makes 4 generations of women on that side of the family! 

Her middle name, Faith, is after my mom’s middle name, Faye.

Below is MY four-generation photo with my mom {left}, grandma {right}, and great-grandma {center}. I can’t wait to get another four-generation photo with Nora!

Nora is doing great, and I’m actually feeling really good considering all that has just happened! I’m told that I had a “dream labor” and was a “model patient”. I think it helped that Nora was just REALLY ready to come out after being inside for so long!

 Yes, my mom {and all the other grandparents} are just a little excited!!

Dave is a natural! 

Oh, and just for fun, here is a side-by-side of my newborn picture, Dave’s newborn picture, and Nora’s newborn picture. Anyone see a resemblance either way? I think she has my nose

And here we are, just a few hours before Nora made her arrival. Yup, I was ready to be done!

We aren’t accepting any hospital visitors other than immediate family members, but instead are planning to relax as much as we possibly can and enjoy these few moments together with our new little family.

We’re SO glad she’s finally here — on the outside now

Thank you so much for all your thoughts, prayers, emails, comments, messages, tweets, etc.

We feel loved!

More updates to come!

! 

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Waiting is NOT my favorite activity… and patience is still a virtue I’m working on.

So these last 2 weeks have not been particularly easy for me… and yes, I’m STILL waiting {not so patiently though} for this baby to arrive!!

Depending on which due date you want to use, I’m anywhere from 40 – 42.5 weeks pregnant.

Yup, I am ready to be done! I’m ready to not feel so huge, ready to not have people touching my belly, ready to not have people asking me why I haven’t had the baby yet {or look so shocked when I tell them I’m over due}. And of course, I’m SO ready to hold my little girl “on the outside” instead of just feel her “on the inside”.

However, I DO feel blessed that I still haven’t experienced many of the common pregnancy side-effects I hear so many women talk about. I’m not sick, I’m not swollen, I don’t have stretch marks, I haven’t gained THAT much weight, and besides sleeping, I’m not even extremely uncomfortable.

So I suppose I can hang on a little bit longer… if I must! 

But I’m getting restless…

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Since I had a few different due dates, and since I just LOVE to plan ahead, I told myself that I had to be 100% ready to go by November 1 {which was actually after my very first due date}.

And, as I’m sure you can imagine, I WAS 100% ready by November 1.

The nursery was ready, all the cute baby shower gifts were washed and put away, I made a few returns and purchased the items I still needed to buy, our freezer was reasonably stocked with freezer meals, the car seat was in the trunk, and our hospital bag was pretty much ready to go.

But here I sit, 17 days later, still waiting

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Over the past few months, I’ve turned down organizing appointments, really fun speaking engagements, extra virtual assistant jobs, and many more fun activities that required reservations because I didn’t want to sign up for something I wasn’t sure I could follow through with.

At the time, I had to say no to those opportunities, but now I’m kicking myself and wishing I had more things to keep me busy {hind-site is always 20/20, right!}.

So I feel like I can justify the long list of the little projects I gave myself last week to help me stay busy until this baby comes!  Don’t worry, nothing is too strenuous, and I’ve been having a great time “getting stuff done” while I wait… and wait… and wait!

Here’s my ‘Waiting for Baby’ Project List:

• Completely clean out and reorganize all our kitchen cabinets — DONE!

• Clean, quickly re-organize, and sweep out the main garage — DONE!

• Bring a full truck load of stuff to a local thrift store – DONE!

• Sew curtains for the kitchen — DONE!

• Help Dave clean up the yard, rake leaves, clean yard tools, put everything away for winter, etc. — DONE!

• Clean up our porch, deck, patio, etc. — DONE

• Vacuum out both cars and clean the interior — DONE!

• Get an oil change in both cars — DONE!

• Deep-clean the showers — DONE!

• Wash all our pillows, blankets, comforters, and rugs — DONE!

• Rotate/flip all the mattresses — DONE!

• Finalize the design for our baby announcements / New Year’s card {we just need to insert pictures, print, and mail} — DONE!

• Wash and organize our winter gear — DONE!

• Start a couple very easy knitting projects that I can work on in the hospital — DONE!

• Wash my make-up brushes {I always forget to do this} — DONE!

• Clean/wash the stroller, car-seat, pack-in-play, bouncy seat, etc. — DONE!

• Finish all my canning for the year and put all the canning stuff away — DONE!

• Finalize my 12 amazing guests posts for after I have the baby — DONE!

• Schedule all my giveaways for while I’m on “maternity leave” — DONE!

• Clean the stove… again — DONE!

• Come up with ideas and props for our newborn photo shoot – DONE!

• Put up Christmas decorations — DONE!  {expect for one tree that we need to buy yet}

• Sweep and clean out basement — DONE!

• Mop floors and clean baseboards — this is the last thing I’m procrastinating on

• Bake and cook for the freezer — continual process

• Stay on top of all the regular cleaning, dishes, laundry, etc. — continual process

• Keep working on our 2011 photo album — continual process

• Stay caught up with my blog and all my other virtual assistant jobs — continual process

• Make my holiday shopping list and start looking for deals – continual process

• Read more baby books — continual process

It’s amazing how much stuff I can get done when I don’t have anything else to do but wait! And it’s been great to have different things to keep me busy and keep my mind off of the whole “waiting game”.

Oh, and don’t’ worry — I’m also doing fun things like a little holiday shopping, researching/shopping for a new computer and cell phone, and spending WAY too much time on Craigslist and Pinterest!

So to all of you who have emailed me and sent me Facebook messages with your prayers and well-wishes; I REALLY appreciate it… and I’m just as anxious as you are to have some news to share!

Now, let’s just hope she makes her grand debut BEFORE all the relatives arrive on Thanksgiving! 

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I was lucky enough to have 3 different baby showers to help welcome our first little bundle of joy into this world – ALL 3 of them were squeezed into 4 days! Whew!

And even though I’ve been to a ton of different baby showers over the past few years, I learned that it’s totally different when the shower is for you!

Here are a few of my baby shower observations:

1. They are WAY more work than what you think!

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I’ve been to a bunch of baby showers but never hosted one myself… and I’m so thankful for my sister, sister-in-law, mother-in-law, and friends who hosted my 3 different showers!

2. They don’t have to be expensive.

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We used these fun pink paint chips {found at any local hardware store} for the invitations. They turned out so great!! We also used Facebook and email to send out reminders.

One shower had no decorations {which was totally fine with me} and the other two “shared” some free decorations that were also made out of the paint chips!

3. Keep the food to a minimum.

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Dave’s mom did make a full meal for our family shower, but my other two showers were pretty minimalistic when it came to food. My sister and sister-in-law made egg dishes, muffins, and fruit salad for one shower, and the 3rd shower simply had my favorite candy corn mix, caramel apples, and apple cider.

4. Over invite because people don’t show up.

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At first I was worried about inviting too many people because I didn’t know if we’d have room in our living room for everyone. However, I’m SO glad I over invited, because a bunch of people couldn’t come, and a bunch more just didn’t show up.

The final head-count for one of my showers was only HALF the people who were originally invited! If we would have had any fewer people, the games might not have worked very well.

5. Co-ed baby showers can be fun too.

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Maybe I should let Dave speak on this point, but in my opinion, our co-ed shower was a blast!

It was such a different atmosphere than the all-female baby shower and the family baby shower; we both had a REALLY great time!

I had to laugh at this picture of Dave because it makes him look like he’s totally “checked out” but I promise, he was laughing and have a great time with the rest of us!

6. Handmade gifts are extra special.

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Normally, I like to stick to the gift registry whenever I go a baby shower… but sometimes I get creative and make something like hooded towels, car-seat covers, burp cloths, blankets, etc. and I think they are always well-recieved.

Apparently I have super talented friends and relatives because I got some great hand-made gifts!

{from L to R: a knitted unicorn, baby hats, a knitted lady bug, and a “wearable burp cloth”}

{from L to R: blankets, small diaper bag, burp cloths, teddy bear hat}

7. Gift cards are REALLY great gifts.

I’ve mentioned this several times before — but I used to feel bad about giving people gifts cards. I thought it was a “lazy” way out — but I’ve recently started giving more and more gifts cards {I try to package them creatively} mainly because I realize how much I personally love getting gift cards.

Obviously, gifts off the registry are equally fantastic — but gift cards really are so practical and you know the recipient will be able to find something they love.

8. It’s fun to be the center of attention!

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I’m a huge ‘gifts’ person… it’s actually my #1 “Love Language”, so it’s REALLY fun for me to get gifts. I love love wrapping gifts, I love giving gifts, I love getting gifts, I love wondering what the gift might be, and I LOVE opening gifts. {Yes, I know, I’m 26 but I just can’t help it!}

So since adults usually don’t have many opportunities to open mass amounts of gifts, my baby showers were just the perfect opportunity for me to be the center of attention and get my gift ‘fix’ in… I should definitely be good until Christmas now

9. Little girl things are SOOOO cute!

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Seriously, I wish I had the time and energy to take a picture of every single gift I got… because they are ALL so cute.

And my frugal nature is already being tested when I walk through the aisle at Target and the mall because everything is simply adorable and it all seems so inexpensive. However, I have to remember that she’ll only wear it for a couple of months {at the most} and then it won’t fit any more.

So far, I’ve resisted every urge to buy cute girl things... but I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out!

Now that we officially have everything we could possibly need, a whole bunch of things we probably don’t need, and so many other adorably cute handmade items – I think we are FINALLY ready for our baby to arrive. 

Yes, that means the nursery is finished… and I’ll be posting lots of pictures later this week!

Thanks so much to everyone involved in planning my showers as well as everyone who came and “showered us with gifts.”

We feel so blessed! 

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Ever since the magazine industry found out I was pregnant, they’ve all be ganging up on me and sending me every single baby/parenting/pregnancy magazine around. And even though I’m not a huge fan of extra magazines and paper clutter, I always skim through them to see if there is any semi-useful information.

The other day, in the October issues of  Baby Talk Magazine, I found a very interesting article about the Top Mistakes new Parents Make. It immediately caught my attention so I kept reading.

Since parenting is anything BUT simple and organized, I’ve been wondering if I will make these same mistakes… and if there are other mistakes that will also top my list? Below are the mistakes listed in the article — let me know what you think!

Top Mistakes New Parents Makes:
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1. Cramming the Crib Too Full:

Apparently you really shouldn’t have anything in the crib — which I did know. But what about any type of blanket to cover them with?

2. Not Taking Care of Yourself:

Yup, I’ve seen this before! And even though I swear that I will not be one of THOSE moms who go out with her PJs on and messy hair — I have a hunch that there will be many days when I stay in my PJs all day {while working from home of course!}

3. Comparing Your Baby to Other Babies:

Honestly, is it really possible NOT to do this at all??

4. Letting Dad Take a Back Seat:

I don’t see this happening to us — mainly because I don’t think Dave would let it happen. He is just so excited about this baby, and even though I know he’ll be apprehensive and a bit nervous at times {as will I}, I definitely think he’ll take a very active role in raising our baby girl.

5. Having a Rigid Sleep Schedule and Routine:

Ok, so I’m having a hard time with this one. Maybe the issue here is the word “rigid” — because I’m definitely hoping to instill some type of sleep schedule and routine ASAP!

I’ve already been informed that I need to read the book Baby Wise for lots of great information about sleep schedules, etc. I’ve since put it on hold at our local library and am just waiting for the email saying that it’s in!

6. Not Enjoying the Moment:

I can’t even tell you how many emails, comments, and messages I’ve gotten from other moms saying that this is one of their biggest regrets — and encouraging me NOT to make the same mistake.

I’ll try not to!

7. Trying to be Supermom:

Yup, I could totally see this happening to me — not necessarily because I’m trying to be “supermom”, but because I’m trying to be “superwomen”! I am definitely going to try to relax and “chill out” as much as possible because I have often been guilty of trying to “do it all” and then I’ll be exhausted.

8. Feeding the Baby Too Much:

How much is too much? Wouldn’t that be different for every baby? I suppose this is just something I’ll have to learn on my own!

9. Not Trusting Your Instincts:

I’m a little worried about this because I was never big into baby sitting, and I really don’t like being around other people’s children {Yes, I know that sounds awful, but it’s true}. So I feel like I don’t have a lot of experience with babies and I guarantee I’ll often wonder if I’m doing the “right thing”.

10. Having NO Sleep Schedule:

Praying and hoping that this does not happen to us. And if it does, it will not be because of my lack of trying

So what do you think — is this a pretty comprehensive list or do you have others you’d like to add?

Were you guilty of any of these?

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Wow — I can not even begin to tell you how blessed I’ve felt these last few weeks.

I have gotten more emails, facebook messages, tweets, and comments asking how things are going with my pregnancy, with our international students, with finishing our house projects, and everything else we have going on over here at the Dekker house.

Well, I can assure you that although we are busier than ever, things are going great! 

Baby Updates:

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As I looked back through my recent posts, I realized it had been several weeks since I gave any type of baby Dekker update — so we are definitely way over due {no pun intended!!}

I am currently about 33-34 weeks along — or about 7 1/2 months.

Yes, that means only a few more weeks until our baby girl is here… in our arms! Everyone is SO excited, but I have to be honest — I’m somewhat terrified! 

If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know that I’m big on “planning ahead” however, almost everything I’ve been told about newborn babies is that there is NO planning ahead, there is NO schedule, and there is NO “normal”.

YIKES!!  I can do this…right?

Dave has been so great and is putting up with me inadvertently waking him up EVERY time I get up to go to the bathroom and every time I need to change sleeping positions – which is way more work than what it should be!

He loves watching my belly as it moves all over the place from our little girl kicking and moving. Sometimes I feel like there is an amusement park inside of me — and I wonder if she ever sleeps!

 {love, LOVE this photo}

I still haven’t had any baby showers yet {I have 3 coming up in a few weeks} but we’ve already received so many adorably cute baby girl things from friends, relatives, and garage sales {thanks to my mom}!

There are only a couple things we actually NEED yet, everything else will just be fun to have.

 {adorable baby boots — ready for the Michigan snow!}

I just checked out a few books from the library thanks to a suggestion from a very experience mom and lovely blogging friend of mine. And we finally registered for our child birth class through the hospital. I was kind of putting it off because I really didn’t want to go, but I suppose it will offer a lot of helpful information.

{33 weeks and proudly still in my “normal” jeans!}

I feel like I’ve literally doubled in size these past couple of weeks and my belly button is about ready to pop. I can’t imagine getting even bigger… at least I have a very long torso which has definitely helped to spread things out a bit

Bending, squatting, and crouching are all getting more difficult; and last weekend, I realized that tablecloths are not a good thing for big bellies — with one simple turn at the waist, I nearly pulled the plates right off the table at Dave’s parent’s house!

Oh, and I got crafty last week and figured out how to make those super cute newborn headbands! I’ll share the tutorial sometime soon.

All in all, things are going as good as we can expect. I’m so thankful that I’m still feeling great, and besides a little difficultly sleeping, minor back pain, and very restless legs, I’ve hardly had any pregnancy “side effects”. Praise the Lord!

International Student Updates:

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Dave and I are both happy with how our two girls have transitioned into a totally new culture, family, peer-group, school, and continent! Yes, there have been some akward moments and we’re still working out a few kinks, but overall things are going really well.

Both girls are getting excellent grades and they study all the time. They’ve been pretty helpful around the house, they are keeping their rooms clean, and they’ve even done a little cooking {it was delicious!}

 {assembling and frying spring rolls}

Our pantry is now filled with all sorts of ethnic foods — and seriously, some of them are so smelly! Dave and I have tried almost everything they offer us… and for the most part, it all tastes good, but some of their snack choices are just crazy {like dried seaweed}!

We quickly realized that even though they DO get along with each other, it is best if we talk to each girl individually to get their REAL thoughts and opinions. So we’ve started sitting down with each of them every so often to talk about school, homework, friends, life, family, etc. We get much better feedback when we chat one-on-one.

I would say the biggest change for me to get used to is that the dishwasher, showers, and washing machine are all running constantly! I can’t believe how many dishes we go through with just 2 extra people. And the laundry is way more than double too — just wait until the baby comes!

Both girls are excited about the baby and often ask me questions about how I’m feeling and if I’m craving anything — it’s cute and I think they will both be excellent “baby sitters” if I need to get out of the house for a few minutes and Dave isn’t home.

House Project Updates:

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I’ve been working furiously to finish up all the little details like curtains, wall decorations, last-minute furniture pieces, and other decorative times. I did manage to put up  most of our Fall decorations last weekend, and I’m so excited about that… I just LOVE Fall!

I already showed you the super cute curtains I made for our bathroom, and I gave you a peek into our new home office… now the next project is finishing the nursery! 

I’ve started sewing the crib bedding and painting some of the nursery furniture — which has more time-consuming than I was originally planning on, but I’m sure it will be worth it in the end. I just hope I keep feeling well enough to continue crossing these final projects off my list! 

I’m also looking for a smaller, but still really comfortable rocking chair. Any suggestions?

I’ve been cooking and baking like crazy too — trying to fill our freezer for those days when I might not feel up to cooking. Although I’m also hoping to get lots of food gifts after the baby is born… hint hint!

Life Updates:

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Dave and I are both busier than ever… but loving {almost} every minute of it.  Dave is a month into another school year, head of student counsel, and helping out with all sorts of other things at school. He will not be coaching this year {which I know he’s bummed about} but he figured that with a new baby scheduled to arrive the week of basketball tryouts and 2 international students, he just couldn’t be gone every afternoon and evening at sporting events.

I did not put up much of an argument!

I just launched a bunch of new features on my website yesterday and am glad to get that weight off my shoulders. The new web design was supposed to be finished a few weeks ago, but there were a few small issues… better late than never though, right?

We’re still pretty involved in different committees and groups at our church, although we’ve both scaled way back this year due to everything else we have going on. I can’t tell you how great it feels to be home almost every night now!

So that about sums up everything that’s been happening with the Dekkers for the last several weeks. And I just want to reiterate how thankful we are {especially me} for all the emails, comments, and other words of encouragement I receive on a regular basis.

Thank you SO much! 

Just for fun, here are a few more maternity photos — taken by my blogging friend, Jodi Michelle.

 {We actually wrote the baby’s name in chalk on the driveway with an arrow pointing to my belly — so I had to black that out for the website. I can’t wait to start sharing her name once she’s actually here!}

Happy Weekend!

! 

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