Saturday, January 24, 2009

Welcome, Weslee!

Our little guy!

Weslee Adonijah Cook made his appearance in this world Friday January 23 at 11:11pm. He weighed in at 6lbs 10oz and 20 inches long. I only labored for 9 hours, after having my water break when I was having lunch with my friend Stephanie at my favorite Thai restaurant. We headed to the hospital and labored naturally until I was 7-8 centimeters, at which point I decided I needed some help. Since I was so far along, I could only get half a dose of a medication called phentanol, which wore off in about 30 minutes. I hadn't progressed so my midwife allowed me to have a little more of the medication, and I was able to concentrate on using the birthing ball to get through the contractions. That dose did wear off during the pushing phase, so I felt all of the pain of the delivery.

I have so much respect for all those women out there who labor naturally, because it is NOT easy! I am so thankful for those who were with me through the labor, and the support they provided. They encouraged me to push through the pain and stay focused on Weslee, and all their effort paid off. Ken was such a wonderful helper, especially. After his initial shock when I went into labor, he was calm and collected and a rock through the whole process.

God has so blessed us with an addition to our little family, and such a cute one at that!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

baby blanket

Weslee's baby blanket

I started this blanket last time I was pregnant (my first attempt at something like this), and put the project on hold until I was about halfway through this pregnancy. First I made all the little white squares (I used 49), and then put a yellow border on each square. I used a basic stitch to attach all the squares, and put a little finishing border around the edge so it would look more put together. The blanket is big enough to last Weslee for a couple years, hopefully, and I get the satisfaction of having made something with my own hands for my child. It makes me feel very domestic.

And all this from somebody who only knows a basic crochet stitch :)

cloth wipes

Cloth wipes
Jungle print with white terrycloth
Blue and yellow dots with blue terrycloth

I decided that I would make my own baby wipes because Ken and I are going to do cloth diapering. It just didn't make sense to buy wipes that need their own trash can when I could make reusable wipes for a fraction of the cost and throw them in the wash with the diapers. I think I got 80+ wipes out of about 6 yards of fabric.

I first sewed them inside out, then righted them all and did a stitch around the edge to keep them closed. I followed a recommendation online and made one side flannel and the other terrycloth to give me a couple of options. I did make two different sizes (the one with the dots is bigger) just in case I need extra cleaning power. They're also great for washcloths!

I've found multiple recipes online for a homemade wipe solution, and I think in the next couple week's I'll try a few and see what I think. If anybody has their own wipe solution and wants to share it with me, feel free!

time passes, the old passes

Last weekend marked the one year memorial of Ahlai's death. Ken was away on a high school youth retreat when I remembered what day it was, and I had to stop and think about how I was going to handle that. I surprised myself. I didn't cry, didn't feel that same intense, gut gripping pain I felt when we first realized our baby was gone. Instead I was reflective, and thankful for all the Lord has done with me in the past year.

There was a time when I couldn't imagine not feeling crushed when thinking about Ahlai. Now I can lovingly recognize that little gift God blessed Ken and I with for 14 weeks, and praise the Lord that He holds our son in His arms in heaven. God has done so much for us over the past year. He has blessed us in ways I would never have imagined. Ken and I are just weeks from the birth of Weslee, which we never thought would happen this soon. We are living in a house, and have family and friends that love us. We may be one of those poor married couples, but we are so richly blessed in so many other ways. I've been telling Ken this week how happy I am that we're not "well-off" because I see people being controlled by money every day, and it saddens me.

The Lord teaches us all how to rely on Him, and sometimes He does that through life's tragedies. As a Christian, we must be in the Word and realize that He uses everything for good, even if it is not our standard or preference of "good", and even when we can't see how He will use our situation.

There is a song, and the lyrics ring so true for me:
"You give and take away, You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name"

Saturday, January 3, 2009

caterpillar project

In progress
On the wall
Up close


Ken and I have been pretty busy getting everything ready for Weslee's room. One of my bigger projects was painting letters for his name and making a caterpillar to hang on the wall. We're kind of going for an Eric Carle-type theme, but sticking to the very hungry caterpillar. I love the way the author uses colors in his book, and how detailed things are.

This project has actually been going on for months. I made the name when we found out we were having a boy and decided on the name, and have been working all this past week on painting cardboard cake rounds for the caterpillar. Word of advice for those who want to try this and have animals-- cats like the fuzzy balls and pipe cleaners used for the antennae. I spent a couple days trying to find the green fuzzies that the cats had stolen and lost.

Today I finally got around to the hot gluing, and Ken helped me hang the things on the wall in Weslee's room. I can relax a little more now that this project is behind me. Next is the cloth wipes, which I've never made before- wish me luck!