Miscellany Monday

Good morning...or afternoon - the time of day often alludes me anymore. :)  Except when I'm feeding a certain little miss - then every second counts.  I'm happy to be linking up with Carissa and back to sharing some miscellany on a Monday! 

1.  Wonderfully weary. I.am.TIRED.  You know, in a good, crazy in love with my little one kind of way.  But wow - her little 4 week old self is very interested in the world around her, very hungry, and not nearly as interested in sleeping.  30 yr. old mommy, however, still loves a little shut eye. (30 something daddy wouldn't argue this either!) :) The adrenaline of that first month definitely catches up to you.  Still definitely not wishing this sweet time away.  I do love these quiet weekdays we have together...starting with our sweet morning reading time.  I love babies in the morning!  So wonderful to hear all her new little sounds and watch her discover the world.  Fascinating and amazing.  Today I'm obsessed with her precious feet and her squishy cheeks.  (I was testing to see how asleep she was...so I kissed her cheek...everytime I did it she would just give me a big sleepy smile.  Love that. :)

2.  Fabulous photo shoot.  On Saturday Selah had some photos taken by a sweet friend of ours who also took our maternity photos and photographed the birth.  I can't wait to take the time to look at the journey of Selah's life so far and enjoy the amazing pictures that have been taken to capture it all.  Our little girl did awesome for her photo shoot - it was in the morning so she was wide-eyed...but content, so they are going to be so precious.  Can't wait.  It's amazing how awesome it is to no longer care as much about how I look in photos because my little super star is the main attraction.  Love that.  Well, maybe I shouldn't have cared in the first place...life long journey to put to death that vanity. ;)  By the way, this little accessory was used for the photos...SO CUTE!!  Thank you Etsy.

3.  Marriage recharge.  After our photo shoot Selah then blessed her parents by sleeping soundly...so we could enjoy a "surviving the first month of parenthood" celebration breakfast at Wild Eggs - one of our favorite places.  Yum.  I had the BEST meal - the Farmer's Market skillet with basted eggs.  Seriously, perfect in every way.  All kinds of cooked veggies on the bottom along with skillet potatoes, then covered in cheese and finally topped with two perfectly cooked eggs.  Loved every bite.  It's also amazing how a conversation with your husband can be really good for your marriage.  It was like a marital regrouping session.  Much needed.  Thank you Lord for a sleepy baby.

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4.  Pretty projects. I am working hard on all my little projects for the nursery.  Truly might be the end of this month or sometime in November before I'm fully finished, but before she's 3 months old is a good goal I think.  It's crazy how sometimes I think about what I might have done differently if I had known she was a girl.  But I'm excited about following through with my bright, whimsical, and happy nursery.  So thankful to be able to add those pops of raspberry pink to an aqua, yellow, and gray pallette.  Ooooh, can't wait to see how it turns out!  I have materials for the bunting prepared to sew, Kevin just cleaned up and painted a changing table we thrifted, we have the dresser that we are going to redo and paint a yummy shade of pink - (thank you Pinterest!), and I have big plans to sew the curtains this week and maybe make the diy canvas bins for the changing table.  Whew.  That would be a wonderful accomplishment.  I've got to be honest though...I'm so nervous to cut all my fabric!  Still planning to sew the changing table cover, the crib skirt, and eventually a crib sheet.  Um, did I mention I have a newborn baby!  Ha.

5.  In the cloth club.  Love the cloth diapering...seriously.  Friday I used them for an entire day to figure out my system, and it was great!  I took all my pictures for that post...so it's coming.  Here's my preview:  Bummis Easy Fits are my favorites!  I will say it's not for everyone. Besides the oodles of money we will save, I like putting those healthy fabrics on her tush, and I prefer it to the diaper trash.  Though we are in the heavy season for that.  At least 12-15 diapers a day is admittedly a lot.  I'm learning newbie parents often change their baby...right before the big poo comes.  So back-to-back changes add to the trash load.  :)  I will say disposables are convenient and also a perfectly wonderful choice for those that prefer them for diapering a little bum.  We actually have used them two days in a row because we needed to use aquaphor to clear up some irritable bum, as I like to call it.  I know it will ruin my cloth diapers if I use those ointments with them, so I had to put that on pause.  Flexibility is key with all these new mommy choices.  I do have some Grandma El's diaper rash cream coming, which is supposed to be awesome and safe for cloth.  By the way, it just so happens that the only chore I don't have an aversion to is laundry...which is a must for cloth diapering, and probably a big part of my being a big fan.  With what I have now, I have to do a load a day in order to use cloth all day long.  I'm definitely learning in every bit of parenting to respect each and every person's personal preference...because we all like doing it differently and that's all perfectly wonderful!

Don't judge her acceptance of these by her face.  Ha.

6.  Lights, Camera, action.  Kevin and I were graciously blessed with some Target gift cards at our baby showers, and I just returned a bag or so of stuff...so we are thinking it might be time to invest in our first DSLR camera!  Needless to say, I am EXCITED.  (A little nervous too maybe??) I love taking photos and I've always wanted to learn how to do it right.  This is a big decision though, I have to say.  We've never had a camera like that.  Due to a sale, our gift cards, and reviews, we are leaning toward the Nikon D3100.  Thoughts??  I know their can be quite a debate between Canon or Nikon.  I'd love to hear any opinions out there if there are some.  I'm a little intimidated and overwhelmed by the decision...because this camera will need to be enjoyed for a looong time.  Advice welcomed. :) (Also, what's your favorite online site for housing your photos?  (Flicker, Google Picasa, etc.)  Also on our list of things to set up.)

7.  Dark chocolate deliciousness. Have you ever had these??  I could eat them for a meal.  (But I promise, I haven't.  I don't
think:).  We got them at Costco.  YUM.
       


8.  Love her.  Baby girl is grunting and waking...time to wrap it up.  I'm learning the fabulous art of super fast blogging.  Might leave out a few details and not quite have time for checking for grammatical errors anymore, so please forgive me. Going to work on writing about her name and the birth during some spare moments today too.  Will pair nicely with some journal writing...gotta get these memories and prayers on paper! :)

"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."  Psalm 118:24

Happy Monday!