Selecting a nursery theme

First of all, I want to give a big SHOUT OUT to my friends Tamara and Michael, who will OFFICIALLY adopt their little girl, Mia Elizabeth, this afternoon. They attend our former church in Lexington, and were part of our small group. They're adopting through the foster care system, and it's been amazing to watch their journey and see how God has worked in their lives and in Mia's life to bring about this event. I am SO SO happy for them and Mia. She just doesn't know how good she has it!

In other news, now that I'm nearing the 14-week mark of pregnancy, James and I have begun talking about baby stuff. Specifically, we have begun discussing what we want the nursery to look like. We want to go with a gender-neutral theme, even though we're planning on finding out if Baby Money is a boy or a girl. I initially suggested an "under the sea" theme, which was rejected because we've done that before for our bathrooms. James wants an "outer space" theme with planets and such, but we can't find one that we like...they're all very light-colored. So then I suggested a penguin theme, and James liked that. Slight problem; we can't find ANY crib sets with that theme. I've Googled and I've tried Ebay, with no success. Grr...my other idea was a rainforest theme....same result.

Yes, I know that I could, technically, buy fabric and make Baby a crib set. However, I can't sew to save my life (I'm not just being modest; I really can't sew). And paying someone to sew something like that would probably be really, really expensive. We shall see...I think we'll head to Greensboro next weekend to look for nursery furniture, so maybe we'll find something then. Who knows??

Welcome to the world, Trey!!!

Our friends Stephanie and Daniel had a baby this past Thursday (July 27). He's their third child and first boy. His full name is Daniel Wilson McSpadden III, but they're calling him "Trey" because it means "three." Isn't he cute?? Congrats to Stephanie and Daniel and big sisters, Megan and Lily!!!

The McSpaddens are friends of ours from Lexington. They were in our small group at Christ Church.

Isabel!!!

During our move from KY to NC, we met my friend, Amy, and her six-month old daughter, Isabel, at a Wendy's in Tennessee. This was my first time meeting Isabel, so "Aunt Patti" had lots of fun! Isn't Isabel adorable? The last picture on the right is of Amy holding Isabel.

Babies Galore: Ainsley, Breanna, Maggie, and Cooper!

OK, so James and I are part of a couples small group at church. We are currently the only regular attenders (out of six or seven couples) who aren't pregnant or have a newborn baby.
-Jeff and Barb just had Kiersten on Friday (see previous post)
-Brian and Laura had Ainsley on December 14: she's child #3 for them
-Michael and Tamara are foster parents (and hopefully future adoptive parents) of Breanna
-Scott and Kristin had Maggie on January 15, who is child #2 for them
-Matt and Jennifer had Cooper yesterday (January 21) : this is their first child
-Daniel and Stephanie are expecting their third child in August

We're very happy for all the proud parents and devoted siblings. My day off this week is going to be spent cooking meals for new parents. :)

Meanwhile, James and I are waiting for him to receive a job offer and me to get a church before we join the "baby boom." Hopefully I'll be able to throw my birth control in the garbage sometime this summer. :)

Welcome to the world, Kiersten!

Kiersten Isabel Anne Stryker was born today at 1:35 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. The proud parents are our friends Jeff and Barb Stryker. Jeff and Barb lead our small group at Church. Kiersten has six (6) adoring siblings to dote on her: Pieter (14), Annika (12), Stefan (10), Sascha (almost 8), Katrina (5), and Shane (almost 4).

Kiersten is, according to the nurses, a "miracle baby." When she was born, they discovered that her umbilical cord was tied in a knot. Most babies die when this happens, because they don't get the necessary nutrients and therefore starve to death. We're all giving thanks to God that Kiersten was delivered two weeks early!

We can't wait to meet Kiersten. Here's a pic from her "baby webpage" at the hospital. Woody is excited about Kiersten's arrival, too. He loves the Strykers, and is thrilled about another kid to play with.

P.S. from Woody

I found a couple of more pictures on Mommy's computer. One is of my girlfriend, Nikita. Isn't she cute? The other one is of me and the six Stryker kids...and a few other friends. I love the Strykers, because they love dogs and have a big yard. Whenever I go visit them, I get lots of attention and space to run.

(left to right) Anna (Shockley), Annika, Shane, Lily (McSpadden), Stefan, Megan (McSpadden), Sascha, Pieter, me, and Katrina.

Isabel Mae DuVal

Isabel is the daughter of Chris and Amy, two of my good friends from college. She was born on November 8, 2005. We all let out a sigh of relief when she was born healthy, because her big brother Isaac (born on October 1, 2004) had some major health problems and died only a few hours after birth. :(

This pic was taken right after she was born. Isn't she beautiful? Amy and Chris live in TN, so Isabel hasn't met her "Aunt" Patti yet. But hopefully that will happen soon!