the witching hour and sleeping through the night

she's done it: seven weeks old and jane slept through the night.*

*no, i do not assume this is a new habit. but it happened and i am thrilled about it!

jane is generally a happy baby. we get lots of coos and smiles from her and every day she becomes more interactive. but most evenings when ben gets home from work, she gets a real fussing spell that lasts until 7 or later. i've heard this called "the witching hour" and it seems a common thing among little ones who are overtired at the end of the day.

ben is so great about taking her when he gets home so i can get dinner ready. he usually puts on music (oldies or current pop music that makes me roll my eyes and laugh) and dances with her.



jane hasn't been taking long naps during the day and she had just snoozed a few times yesterday. i knew she was overtired and we put our cranky baby down before 9. she fussed a bit and finally fell asleep around 9:30. well would you believe she slept for more than 8 hours last night? she did.

but just because she slept through the night doesn't mean i did. i woke up a few times thinking, "wow, she made it this long!" and then finally around 4am i woke up scared instead of amazed and ran to her bassinet to make sure she was breathing. she was.

strangely enough, i missed seeing her last night. i'm excited for this new day and grateful for the sleep i got. thank you, Lord, for each day with our little girl. what a gift she is.

jane: one month

if i can manage to stay on top of this, i'd like to take a picture of jane in her nursery glider each month for a year. it will be so fun to have a whole lineup of pictures to look back at her growth each month! i've also seen people do this with a toy or animal for comparison, so this month i took one with just her and one with a sweet lamb toy given to us by my friend caroline.

jane at one month

even now, she looks so different from when i took these a week ago. i can't believe our little girl is five weeks old already. we are so crazy about her!

baby jane!

well, i guess i didn't do such a good job of keeping everything up to date, but our little girl is here! jane ellen was born on july 11 at 3:07 a.m. she was 7 pounds 5 ounces.

ben came up with her name——she is named after our moms (my mom's name is mary jane and ben's mom is mary ellen). we love her so very much.

ben chose psalm 103 as a special chapter of Scripture for us to pray over her life.

    Bless the LORD, O my soul,
        and all that is within me,
        bless his holy name!
    Bless the LORD, O my soul,
        and forget not all his benefits,
    who forgives all your iniquity,
        who heals all your diseases,
    who redeems your life from the pit,
        who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
    who satisfies you with good
        so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
    The LORD works righteousness
        and justice for all who are oppressed.
    He made known his ways to Moses,
        his acts to the people of Israel.
    The LORD is merciful and gracious,
        slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
    He will not always chide,
        nor will he keep his anger forever.
    He does not deal with us according to our sins,
        nor repay us according to our iniquities.
    For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
        so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
    as far as the east is from the west,
        so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
    As a father shows compassion to his children,
        so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
    For he knows our frame;
        he remembers that we are dust.
    As for man, his days are like grass;
        he flourishes like a flower of the field;
    for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
        and its place knows it no more.
    But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
        and his righteousness to children's children,
    to those who keep his covenant
        and remember to do his commandments.
    The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
        and his kingdom rules over all.
    Bless the LORD, O you his angels,
        you mighty ones who do his word,
        obeying the voice of his word!
    Bless the LORD, all his hosts,
        his ministers, who do his will!
    Bless the LORD, all his works,
        in all places of his dominion.
    Bless the LORD, O my soul!

we thank God for our little jane and for everyone's prayers and support for our little family of three. what a wonderful two and a half weeks we've had with her. such a miracle.

nursery sneak peek

i'm still pregnant! no baby yet. just this afternoon, i feel like i've come down with the flu, so that's no good. or maybe it is? it feels like everything can be a sign of "early labor." plus, i've been reading into every little sign like crazy. i need to be still and trust God!

i'm sorry to be such a horrific tease, but i only had the strength to take a few pictures of the nursery. it's missing something important . . . oh yeah, our little lady! ;) maybe this week? that's what i'm praying for.

bunting flags downloaded from aubrey + lindsay and printed at kinko's.

that's all i have for now. as always, thanks for coming back, even though i string you along terribly!

nesting: nursery ottoman, burp rags, and diaper changing station

hello friends!

well, i am less than two weeks away from my due date and feeling fabulous. i was certainly prompted by that little trip to the hospital to get some things prepped for baby! we installed the carseat (and i met with a city police officer to have it inspected), packed a bag, narrowed down the pediatrician options, and finished a few more things around the house. ben said before he felt underprepared, but i think we are both feeling more ready now! i'm going to share a few little details of fun things i've been working on for baby.

first, a pretty easy before and after. we bought a comfy glider, but the ottoman was $200+ so we decided against it. i found this guy at a neighbor's estate sale a few months ago and paid ten beans for him.

i borrowed a paint sprayer and found enough foam, batting, and fabric in my stash to make a new cushion and cover. so the total cost for this redo was just the cost of the ottoman: $10! love it. and it makes a nice little extra seat, too.

i haven't had the chance to do much sewing for baby girl, but one afternoon i got a hankering to make something. i was inspired by my friend tiffany's lovely gift at one of my showers——she added fabric and ribbon to embellish a cloth diaper for a burp rag. i liked her method better than the one i had used before, so again, i dug around in my stash for pretties and added them to a pack of diapers/burp rags i had received as a gift.

 

these will be the pretty ones i'll take to church. ;)

and finally, today i put together a little diaper changing kit to keep in our main level living room——i received this suggestion from a few people. i'm not sure how i'll feel about climbing the stairs to the changing table in the nursery in the days after delivery, so we'll use the living room floor for a while. diapers, wipes, a changing mat, and some soft burp rags and blankets in a small basket make me feel a little more ready.

hopefully i'll find time to blog some more projects from the nursery in the next week or so. and i'll keep you posted with any baby news! 

enjoy your weekend!