Moving In

So, you know when you or someone you know is about to get married - they start packing up all their things and taking them to a new location. I remember when Kevin and I got our first apartment together. We got it a little over a month before our wedding and started moving a few of our things in. I had just graduated from college and had moved all those things into the apartment and started living there while I looked for a job in Springfield. Kevin still had his place close to campus where he stayed, but started moving some stuff over as well. We had boxes and gifts from showers just piled all over. During the day we worked and at night would get the place in shape, looking forward to the coming day when we could both stay there together.

Now it's 6 years later and we are starting a similar ritual. If you were to step into our tiny apartment, in the back room you would see transition - boxes of items, a couple pieces of furniture and small little baby items piled all over. We are awaiting the day when our little precious girl will come home to her new room. During the day we work and go to school, but at night we prepare our room. So far we have sold our desk, a bookcase and the blue rug. We still need to sell a little bench and a big futon, but I know those items will go easily. We have boxed up some of Kevin's books and are still working on other items on our list of things to do. Although it's hard work moving things around and trying to find where it all will fit, I'm enjoying this time of simplifying our lives to add more joy than we could ever imagine. Yesterday I purchased her baby quilt. It should arrive in the mail on Saturday and I'm so excited to see it!

Not only are we preparing physical things in our lives, we are preparing other things as well. Pr is such an important part of life and I know I do not bring enough to the Father - something I am working on. From day one we started pring for our baby and continued to do so when we thought we might lose her. We want to build up our faith in Him so that we can be effective parents who raise our children to know Him and to follow Him. Please join us as we pr for her and as we pr for us to be her leaders in this world.

It's a GIRL!

On Thursday, Kevin and I went to see the doctor and we knew this was our time to hopefully, finally find out the gender of our baby. The sonographer showed us different parts of our child on the screen, measuring it's head, belly, thigh and looking at it's internal systems and vertebrae. We also got to see her heartbeat and listen to it...a beautiful 157 bpm. Then finally the moment came...it's a girl! We were so excited and I cried so much. We made sugar cookies with pink frosting and took them to work to share the news with our co-workers.

Friday evening we went to Barnes & Noble and grabbed a couple baby name books to try to find a name for our little girl. That took a while. When you have 100,000 names to look at (well, maybe cut that in half since the book is for boy and girl names), it takes a while. We jotted down a few ideas to ponder in the coming weeks.

Now we're in the process of getting the baby room ready. I know, it's sounds really early. But trust me, with all the junk we've collected over the past two years, we need to start now. We're going to buy the furniture set from our friends, which includes a crib, changing table and armoire. They're getting ready to leave the country and will be leaving at the end of October, so we'll be getting the set then. So that gives us about 2 1/2 months to get this room ready, which means we have to sell our huge desk and get a smaller desk, sell a large bookcase, a huge futon and move another bookcase into the living room.

If you know Kevin very well, you know he loves books. Getting rid of a bookcase is a huge sacrifice, so we're having to box up un-needed books and store them in our closets. Then we have to go through the other closets to get rid of other things we don't need to make room for those boxes of books, and so on and so forth. It's gonna be a big job, but I'm glad we have the time to do it. We did find a beautiful smaller desk to replace the gigantic one. We found it at a thrift store that benefits a battered women's shelter here in Tarrant County, Texas. So we're glad our money for the desk is going to a good cause.

Anyway, please pr that we can sell these items we need to get rid of and use that money toward the baby furniture. But most of all, pray for the health and safety of our little girl as the next 5 months she will continue to grow healthy and perfectly.

Babies 'R Expensive

Recently, Kevin and I have been looking into all the stuff we have to do to get ready for baby. Doctor bills, baby furniture, strollers, safety gear, etc. It all adds up. No wonder the baby department is a multi-million dollar-a-year industry. They charge an arm and a leg for everything in site. Even maternity clothes cost 10-20% more than regular clothes. But when you HAVE to have a safe carseat for baby and a crib where it's head can't get stuck between the bars, I guess they can charge $200+ for it. We've been looking for ways to cut costs, but not cut safety. It's difficult, but I think we can do it.

We've...well, when I say we, I usually mean me...narrowed it down to two bedding sets for baby. One for a boy and one for a girl. I think. I tend to change my mind from time to time, so even this post will come as news to Kevin when he reads it. Here are the pictures:

I really like both sets and they will both look good with the furniture we might purchase from our friends who are getting ready to move out of the country (one way we are cutting costs). I wanted to make all these decisions by the time we find out what we're having so we can go ahead and register for gifts. (Gifts...another good way to cut costs.) And a big thank you to my friend Kristin for helping me to complete my baby needs list. Experienced moms know best.

So, if you have any good tips on how to cut costs, without cutting safety, please send them our way. We love the advice of experience.