GROWING PAYNES

Over the last two months I have slowly been completing Easton’s nursery.  Though it is still not finished I thought I would post a few pics of the projects I have completed.  Most of them are sewing projects and it was my first time tackling them.  The last thing I have to finish are the walls which you will see are mostly bare so just use your imagination to fill them

Curtains: I had to splurge for this material because I just couldn't imagine anything else up there. This was the perfect fabric to incorporate all the colors into the nursery!!! I will probably end up backing them with blackout lining but I will enjoy their light and airy look for now! Giraffe Rocker Cushion: upholstered by my main man Pablo who also made my bumper! Animal Wall Plaques: I found these at Babies R Us and thought they were the embodiment of "Modern Safari." I put them on my registry and when I showed up at my shower in Tampa the girls had used them to decorate and then let me take them home!!!!

Giraffe Applique Pillow: One of my favorite things I have made to date. I found this giraffe graphic on the internet and printed it off. I went to kinkos and enlarged it a couple of times. I then traced the enlarged giraffes onto the orange fabric and cut them out. I adhered the giraffes to the blue fabric using heat bond tape and then sewed around the edges with a zig zig stitch. Then I put the rest of it together as you would normally construct a pillow. Overall it was pretty easy... it just took a long time...and Easton will probably spit up on it with in the first week

Diaper Stacker: I had no pattern for this I just winged it. I am very happy it turned out ecspecially because I didn't want to have to buy anymore of this fabric because it was the most expensive fabric in the room!

Tag Blanket: I had so much fun picking out all the ribbon for this blanket and it didn't take a long time to make. For those of you wondering what the heck this is...it has a few purposes. First, supposedly babies like all the different textures of the ribbons so it provide a sort of sensory stimulation. Secondly, you can put links through the tags and attach toys to them and then attach the whole blanket to your shopping cart so the sweet babies don't constantly throw their toys on the ground We shall see if it works!

Dresser: from Ikea...being my complicated self... I was trying to design cabinets for this area and my sensible husband sweetly walked around Ikea and finally sold me on this. I love this dresser...the drawers are extra deep and they make little drawer organizers that fit perfectly inside to organize all Easton's socks, onsies, sleepers, blankets, and on and on and on! Changing Pad: Josh made the frame to go around the changing pad and even found a way to secure it to the back of the dresser so the little wild man doesn't go flying off the dresser

Another great Ikea find! The bookshelf just fit so perfectly within the molding box on the wall I had to get it. I thought about having Josh make a book rack to hang on the wall but I felt as though I had abused him enough This would also allow Easton to axcess his toys and books on his own once he got a little bigger...no I don't think about these things on my own, my friend Jen helped me out on that!

Overall View or atleast the best I could shoot with my camera

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Josh and I have been so blessed by the generosity and outpouring of love people have showed us while we await Easton’s arrival!  So far we have had 4 showers!!!!!!  AND we still have one more!!!! 

Showers are always a weird time for me.  Those of you that know me well probably think that is odd…usually I have no problem coming to a party, socializing, laughing and talking (usually very loudly), but showers are different.  I don’t know if it is because I am the guest of honor and the attention will be on me whether I want it to or not????  I  just don’t know.  All I know is that the couple of hours prior to a shower are filled with a little bit of anxiety.  I think I get overwhelmed knowing that people are coming and gathering in my honor… I wonder if I will have the right words to express my appreciation…will I be able to spend time with everyone that comes and let them know how much their love and support means to me???? Who knows????  I guess this would be the appropriate time to thank all of those who have sent gifts, come to a shower and most importantly those who have hosted a shower!!!!  Josh and I are so excited to meet Easton and share him with you, but with that comes a little bit of nervousness…wondering how we will deal with the challenges of parenthood.  These showers have given us a peace though in knowing there are literally hundreds of people praying for us and here to support us whenever we might need it.  We know that God always has been and always will be with us as we start this journey, but realizing the support we have from all of you (here on earth) is probably the greatest gift we have received from these showers.  Enjoy the pics!!! (click on each pic to see it in full size)

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My oh my!  Have I been bad!!!!!  I know I am long over due for a post.  Things have been busy around here and I just haven’t had time to sit and focus on writing.  Today I am going to play catch up and fill you in on all that has been going on in the Payne household…this might take several posts

The last time I posted was just after Thanksgiving so I guess I will start by filling you in on how the rest of our holidays were spent…

Since I was in my third trimester Josh and I were not able to travel for Christmas and New Years.  We were blessed though to spend those holidays with close friends.  For Christmas Eve all we had to do was put on our pjs and stroll next door and hang out with our neighbors, Chris and Courtney and their children.  We helped arrange a scavenger hunt for the kids which led them to a Christmas present that they got to open that night.  Conveniently, it was Super Mario Brothers for WII…which the adults played all night once we sent the kids up to bed so they could wake up early for Santa   If that wasn’t bad enough we came over the next day and the adults played the game all day and night, occasionally giving the kids a turn.  By the end of the night Josh and Chris played most of the time while Courtney and I sat next to them and yelled commands about when jump or what bricks to break with their heads.  And everytime they beat a level Courtney and I knew it was due to our great coaching

Our New Years Eve was spent with some of our closest friends from church.  Our friends Kyle and Isaac hosted everyone at their house. Of course, it was a great time of fellowship as always, but the spread of appetizers was just too much for me to handle this time   They had all the food sitting out on a large pub table…I just pulled a chair right up to it and grazed on the appetizers all night   Well, I grazed most of the night and then the other part of my night I layed sprawled out on the couch because my belly was so full :-)  I was still able to participate in the coversation and games, but since then I have learned to pace myself.         

Other than celebrating the holidays Josh and I spent rest of December preparing the house for Easton’s arrival.  Yes, even Josh was nesting…maybe even more so than me.  He was on a mission to purge the house of all things not relevent to our life anymore…in other words things that have been sitting in boxes since we moved in and haven’t used in the past two years.  This included many pieces of home decor, linens, drapes, curtain rods, lamps and pillows that I have been saving for that “one time I might use them.”  There was a little heart ache for me to see them go but Josh talked me through it and just told me how happy the shoppers at Goodwill would be to have such beautiful things in their homes :-)  But don’t think that he was void of uneccessary collections of junk…like 45 different types of cables/cords for his various, never ending supply of electronic gadgets.  Other pieces in his junk collections included numerous headphone sets, old cell phones, speakers, random desk top knick knacks…and this is the best one…a collection of over 100 Beanie Babies!!!!  We have yet to part with them, however. 

After we completed our “get rid of” pile Josh made several runs to Goodwill,  Salvation Army, and the Airman’s Attic to drop off our donations.  Now it was time for Josh’s fun to start…he got to reorganize his garge in order to accomodate all the “junk” we decided to keep.  This called for a trip to IKEA!!!!  Josh got to pick out and design a new workbench/ storage system for the gargage and he was so into it.  He was a little put off though when I started to tell him how to hang the tools on his peg board so that it would look more organized…he said I was “overflowing” and that he could handle it   The funny thing is…I knew the whole time I was “overflowing” but I just could not help myself and I just continued to sit on my chair in the garge and “suggest” where a better place to store XYZ would be.  We got through it though and now we have a new code word for ”you are too involved in this and you are getting on my nerves.”  We simply say “you are overflowing.”

Other preparations for Easton included cleaning out our closet which was hard for me, because I have no idea what clothes are still going to work with my new “post pregnancy” body   Even though I didn’t purge many clothes we were able to better utilize the space by hanging hooks and new shelves in order to better organize hats, belts, tee shirts, purses, etc.  We also added one of those over the toliet shelf units, which I am usually very opposed to, and now our master bathroom is much more organized. 

And last but not least I finished quite a few sewing projects for Easton’s nursery but I will put those pics and details in the next post!  Im the mean time enjoy these pics of our other completed “nesting projects” :-)

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 Most of the time the beginning of your day sets the tone for what the rest of your day is going to be like.  Well, today that was not the case.  My morning started off pretty rough.  I had my 28 week appointment.  Not only did I have my usual nervousness but on top of that I knew I was going to have to do the evil glucose tolerance test   Turns out the test was the least of my worries.  Before I could even get 1/2 of my drink down the nurse had taken my blood pressure and it was extremely high…160/110 on my right arm and 152/90 on my left arm!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow…that was a first for me.  She calmly told me my blood pressure was high and sent me in for my normal exam. It made me a little nervous but I thought they would just send me home and tell me to rest.  As my doctor was finishing up the exam I thought I was home free and then she said out of no where…”I think I’m gonna send you to the hospital.”  (Ohhhh boy I hate hospitals) Automatically, I thought does “she think I’m in labor.  The only time you go to the hospital is when you are ready to deliver…isn’t it???”  Apparently not.  She informed they would monitor me for a few hours and if my blood pressure didn’t go down they would probably keep me over night to run some more test.  Surprisingly, I remained pretty calm but automatically started dreading that sterile environment.  Maybe I would pick up a plant or some flowers on my way over just to make the room feel more homie   Thankfully, Josh was able to get off of work and meet me there.  Turns out everything was fine…my blood pressure was on the high side but stayed in the 130-140/70-80 range the whole time I was hooked up to the machine and little Easton’s heartbeat was a consistent 150 the whole time.  And of course as soon as they hooked up the monitors to Easton he started showing out!!!  Josh and I passed the time watching my belly move around and listening to Easton’s heart beat.  They also ran a bunch of blood tests and checked my urine for protein and all came back fine.  I didn’t get off that easy though…I get to spend Sunday collecting my urine and then go drop it off at the lab on Monday!!!!!  Fun times!!!  

But after what seemed to be pretty much a wasted day…I came home to experience a mini-Christmas.  The remaining fabric for the nursery came in (for the curatins and chair) and also the cd with my maternity pictures on it!!!!!!  So the day ended up on a high note and now I have some new pictures to show ya’ll.  But let’s talk about this maternity photo thing for a minute…it is not a glamourous as they make it out to be.  Don’t get me wrong we did get some great pics out of it…but pregnant bellies (without a bunch of airbrushing) just aren’t that precious looking in their raw form.  My sweet friend Teah runs a portrait studio in St. Louis and she was so patient with me.  Probably every other picture we took I said…ummmm no that won’t work….ummm don’t like it…ummm can you get a different angle of that…ummm lets do that again but put the light more over here   In the end, I just didn’t really like seeing my bare belly but there are some other very cute ones.  So I hope you enjoy!!!!  

This was suppsoed to be a joke but I ended up liking it

I like this even better in black and white.

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I thought I would write to give an update on the Swine Flu scenerio.  As you can see by Josh’s handy work in the nursery he is doing just fine.  He is almost back to 100%  with just a bit of a lingering cough.  I finally let him out of quarantine on Friday, however he did not get to sleep in the same bed with me until Saturday night Supposedly, you are no longer contagious 7 days after your onset of symptoms so we should be in the clear. 

 It also appears that I am gonna stay clear of contracting this flu too.  On Friday I finally made the decision to get the H1N1 vaccine.  I have debated this for many months and after praying about it I have decided that was the best decision to give me a peace of mind about mine and Easton’s health.  When Josh was coming home with this virus my doctor wanted to immediately put me on Tami Flu…an anti viral drug that up until this year they never gave to pregnant women.  I just couldn’t see going taking the drug with out having any symptoms and needless to say I did not take it.  After I did more research on the H1N1 vaccine I learned that they were giving pregnant women the injectable form of the vaccine (dead virus) as opposed to the nasal spray (live virus).  They don’t give the live virus to women because it can cross the placenta and effect the baby.  This is what finally helped me make my decision.  My original thinking wasnot to get the vaccine and thought if, by chance, I get the flu then I would just take Tami Flu.  After learning that the live virus crosses the placenta I realized this is essentially what would happen if I contracted it naturally.  So, not only would I have the live virus in me, but then I would be forced to take the Tami Flu which is not known to be safe either.  So it seemed like a double whammy.  Instead, I felt that getting injected with the dead virus with the small chance it might turn out to have side effects was the best for our family. Whew….first major decision in parenting under my belt!!!!! And many more to come.  

I must put a disclaimer on this for those pregnant women who might be debating this same thing…I did not discuss my reasoning with a medical profession so there may not validity to it   You have to come to a peace about what is right for you and your family.  This is just what has worked for me.  This reasoning in combination with my doctors reccomendation made it an easy decision.  I received the vaccine 4 days ago and haven’t really experienced any major side effects.  The last few days I have seemed to have some what of a low energy level but that is about it.  It takes about a week or two to build immunity to the virus so I won’t be in the clear until then.  Best wishes to any of you debating the same thing

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Well I know that Josh had Swine Flu last week but I couldn’t give him a whole week off of nursery work   Since he was already upstairs and going a little stir crazy I thought I could put that energy to good use.  Being the wonderful husband he is…he painted the nursery, hung molding and painted it, and put together the crib.  And he did it all with a smile.  I do want to note that he got a new miter saw out of the deal though.  But still, he is to be commended.  Then, much to my surprise, I got a call from the upholsterer on Friday night just as Josh was finishing up the molding work…the BUMPER IS FINSIHED!!!!!!  and right after that Babies R US called to say that the mattress was in.  I was so excited I couldn’t even see straight and that let me know what we were going to be doing Saturday.  Saturday morning Josh got up and went to pick up the mattress and I went to get the bumper.   The bumper turned out better than I could have imagined.  This was the first time my upholstered had ever done baby bedding so I was a little nervous, but had much faith in him because everything else he does is top notch.  We got home that afternoon and had to wait to put the crib together which killed me (not really, I’m just being dramatic for effect   We had dinner plans with a couple from Josh’s work so we thought we would take a break and finish everything up after dinner.  To our surprise the crib went together very quickly…it only took about 20 minutes!!!!!!  For anyone out there looking for a crib I will say I am so very pleased with this crib.  There were about six pieces total and they all fit together perfectly.  The crib is not only very very sturdy but beautifully finished.  And for the price you just can’t beat it! 

Below are some pictures of the nursery so far…hopefully this week we will get a dresser put together and some shelves on the wall.  Due to budget (budget??? what budget) we will probably wait until December to get the curtain fabric and reupholster the rocker chair.  Working on this nursery has made this whole experience just a little more real…there is gonna be a real live little baby in this nursery in just a few short months.   I hope he loves everything we have done to prepare…I think he approves though.  On Friday night, as Josh was painting, I was laying one the floor outside of the room.  Josh came over to my belly and started talking  Easton about all the work he was doing on the room for him and all the things they would do together one day.  Just as Josh finished and was getting up to go back to working he put his hand on my belly and Easton high-fived him back!!!! It was the first time Josh has ever felt him in my belly!!!  It was a very precious family moment and I know there are many more to come.

Josh Painting

Crib Assembly - ohhhh so easy!!!!!

Josh's handy wood work (chair to be recovered in the giraffe print at a later date)

I know the monkey can't stay in there with the baby but he looks cute right now!

You can do custom bedding for cheap if you can sew!!!! The bumper I had made for me...the sheet was purchsed...I made the crib skirt...and it all cost less than most premade sets you can buy at the big box stores!!!!

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Well now that I have pretty much completed the baby registry I have my head focused back onto the house again.  The other day I started my normal cleaning routine but I quickly realized something was different this time.  I was getting no where.  I started in my closet and stayed there for about two hours.  The normal straightening up just wasn’t satisfying.  I started noticing things like scuff marks on the wall and thought ohh those need to be touched up.  Then I looked at an area above our shoe racks and thought, “ohh wow we are wasting space.  I need to get some shelves up there…and then I can get some boxes and organize some of our junk.”  But it didn’t stop there…by the time I got through the house I had a list of 25 little tasks that must be completed before this baby comes…such as shampoo carpets, scrub and touch up all base boards, organize laundry closet, make new couch pillows…and it goes on and on.  I mean come on…after completing that registry I better do something to use my space more efficiently.  If all that baby gear is coming in this house…my oh my it could get very crowded very fast   So do you think it will get done???  Under normal circumstances I would say no…that was just a random freak out moment and the list will just go with all of my other lists and eventually just get thrown out. BUT…it has only been 2 days and I have knocked off the first item…ORGANIZE THE PANTRY!!!!  I threw out all the old junk and took inventory of what I had left.  Then I made a trip to IKEA and got some containers and swung by Walmart to pick up a label maker.  I came home and put it all together.  The whole project took be about 4 hours, including the shopping.  I think I can get all this done.  I just have to think ”ONE PROJECT AT A TIME.”  I’ll keep ya posted!

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Confined to the Upstairs

Let me just caution everyone to be careful what you wish for. Truly!!!!  My whole hesitation with starting a blog was that Ididn’t really feel that our lives were interesting enough that people would want to log on for an update each week.  Well, ever since I started this blog our lives have become seemingly more intersting.  Now, that can be expected with a new baby on the way.  Things are expected to change and definitly get more interesting with a little one in the mix, but I was not ready for what happened this week!!!!!!! 

I will just start off by filling everyone in on the last few months…June 27th Josh and I found out we were pregnant…July 27th Josh deployed…October 2 Josh comes home…October 16 Josh leaves unexpectedly for mission to Europe…Nov 1st, are you ready for this???…JOSH COMES HOME WITH SWINE FLU!!!!!!!  Thats right… I’ve seen my husband a total of 14 days in the last 3 months and when he comes home I can’t even hug him

I have to clear up the fact that this is not a confirmed case of H1N1, but it is assumed that his entire crew got it during their tour around Europe.  Thankfully, they all put the puzzle pieces together before they got home and potentially infected all of us.  About half way through their trip one of Josh’s crew members became severely ill and experienced what he called the worst 2 days of his life…fever, chills, achy body…like someone hit him with a hammer all over his body.  Being a typical military man he told no one of his sickness and just thought he was run down from all the travel.  Fast forward a week…the night before the guys were coming back to the US they were all sitting around talking and Josh complained of a little bit of a tickle in the back of his throat.  Another pilot also commented that he had the same thing.  And then it came out…everyone on his crew had experineced the same thing on their trip and it manifested itself into full blown flu like symptoms.  Well the guys went to bed…Josh woke up the next morning with a cough but the other pilot woke up feeling just how the other guys described…horrible.  Once the crew got back to the US they were met by the flight docs at the plane and were evaluated.  They were all assumed to have Swine Flu.  Apparently they don’t test for it anymore as the test were deemed to give false negatives 50% of the time anyway.  As a result we just have to proceed as though Josh has it!!!!!  

Now you all have to understand my sheer panic when I heard about this.  I have been debating over the past 3 months on whether or not I was going to get the vaccine once it came out because of the extereme complications a pregnant woman can experience with this strain of the flu.  When Josh called me and told me the news I debated for 24 hours if I was even gonna let him in my house :-)  I seriously was not!!!!!! After several conversations with my doctor and some friends in the medical field I realized that keeping my husband away for another 2 weeks was not only impractical but a little cold hearted So, I started preparing the fort for his arrival and making a plan.  

As of now Josh is quarantined in our upstairs.  He has a bedroom and bathroom all to himself.  When it is feeding time…I make his food and take it halfway up the stairs.  Once I get to the bottom, he comes down, with his mask on, and takes his food up to the top of the stairs.  I sit at the bottom of the stairs and we eat dinner together   We sit and think about how we used to be normal.  Josh says that things like this never happened to him before he knew me   Josh has been home for 3 days now and has only come down the stairs twice and oh boy am I ready when he does…I Lysol every doorway he walks through and he has to Lysol evey surface he touches.  Those are not doctors orders…those are my orders!!!  And I know Josh really loves me because he does it with a smile.  He is just happy I let him come home.  

I cannot end this post without giving glory to God.  It might seem weird, but our family has been blessed through this whole thing, though we are not completely in the clear yet.  First, I praise God for keeping His hand upon Josh and sparing him from the extreme symptoms the rest of his crew experienced. Execpt for the isolation I am subjecting him to,  Josh has only suffered from a moderate to severe hacking cough and a low grade temperature of about 100 degrees.  This is the third day he has been home and he has been free of a fever since Sunday and the cough has subsided for the most part.  Secondly, I praise God for this precious time with my husband.  This separation is definitly something we would have never willing done, but it has given us an opportunity to really cherish each other.  I am so happy to serve Josh during this time and I know he really appreciates it.  And finally I praise God for making me face my fears and feel that he has better equipped me for parenthood.  The Swine Flu has weighed heavily on my mind as I have tried to keep myself and baby healthy.  God just showed me that I am not in control of my circumstances and I cannot prevent anything from happening for the most part.  But what I can do is trust in Him and know what ever happens “His grace is sufficient for me” and my family.

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Well, it is about time for another post and I have been putting it off because Josh left the country and took our only camera.  I wanted to upload a picture of my growing belly for all to see but I guess that will have to wait.  So instead, I will post about what has been consuming my life for about the last two weeks!!!!!  Baby Registries!!!!!

It all started 2 Sundays ago when Josh and I got bold and headed into Babies R US after church.  We thought this would be filled with the same fun and excitement as our wedding registry experience.  And there was a lot of excitement…but it quickly fizzled as we rounded out first corner and walked down the breast feeding aisle.  There we stood… frozen, eyes wide open staring at things we never knew existed…like nipple guards!!!!! Ouch…that sounds painful.  It was then we knew we had no clue what we were doing.  And it went progressively down hill from there.  We spent the next two hours sifting our way through the multitude of baby products having no clue what we will really need and what is just fluff.  After two hours and only getting half way through the store we decided to turn the laser gun in.  But not before Josh scanned a Wii Game Console (I’m sure that is very crucial to Easton’s first year of life).  Needless to say, I went home and erased the entire registry. 

So a few days later Josh left the country for two weeks and I decided to get some help from someone with experience…a real life mom.  So my friend Rachel and I went and she gave me her advice.  We got through the entire store in just about an hour and a half.  I was so excited!!!  I went home to look up the registry and the bozo at the store must not have downloaded it correctly because there were no pictures and no prices!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So once again I deleted the entire registry and entered each item online (am I in a Seinfeld episode???).  So now it is pretty much complete but I am constantly adding and taking away items.  This is not like picking out pretty dishes for your kitchen…which I had SO much fun doing.  This is serious business…a little human life depends on it   Now I am going to try to tackle Target or Walmart by myself and hopefully all will go smooth!

Other than that life is going great!  Easton is kicking a little more these days and he is definitely letting me know he is in control right now.  TUMS have found a permanent place in my purse and I pop them several times a day.  I’m loving the tropical fruit flavor!!!!  As far as the nursery goes…the bumper has been sent off to my upholsterer, Pablo, and hopefully I will get it back next week sometime.  Yes, I know I don’t need it until next year…but when it comes to decorating sometimes I’m just a little irrational..and that’s ok   The crib is also ordered and hopefully will be ready for pick up as soon as Josh gets back!!!!  He is scheduled for nursery duties every weekend through Thanksgiving…sorry golfing buddies

Easton's Crib

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