1st Diaper Cake

A co-worker and good friend of mine was recently thrown a baby shower at work. Unsure of what to get her I looked over the registry and found that nothing really caught my eye. Since I was feeling crafty I looked online at some diaper cakes and toyed with the idea of whether or not I could pull something like that off. Having never made one in my life and having only seen 1 in person I researched the topic for 3 days; I looked at designs, methods, cost, and materials. I spent 3 days working on the cake: rolling diapers, wrapping ribbon, making bows, and trying to find a place for all the fun decor. Since I had never made one or really seen more than one in person I was a little nervous about how it would turn out. I had a blast putting it all together was actually pleased with the result, I had read so many horror stories of first timers that I was surprised at how nice mine looked.

The mother LOVED the cake, I even got a hug for it, and should another baby shower arise I hope to make another one. I think next time though I'll split the cost and work with someone. ;)


The tally came out to...

Structure:
65 Diapers
68 Rubber bands
1 Large circle of Cardboard
1 piece of scrapbook paper
2 sticks of hot-glue
6 Glue Dots
1 lg. bottle of Baby Shampoo (to secure the middle)
1 travel size bottle of baby power (to secure the top)

Decor:
9ft. of fat ribbon (wrapped around each tier)
2 ft. of skinny ribbon (made into bows)
8 Diaper pins
4 Moist Wipes
2 pairs of no scratch mittens
2 feeding spoons
2 wrist rattles
1 travel size bottle of baby oil
1 tube Diaper Rash cream
1 pacifier
1 teether/ cold pack
1 pack baby stickers
1 Carebears Babies First Words
1 Sm. Teddy Bear


*I highly recommend a diaper cake for any kind of baby shower and for anyone who enjoys crafting. I learned that making one is a WHOLE lot cheaper than buying one and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be! The hardest part was picking out the decor.

Stupid Dog

My hope is that once we have this baby all my fun stories will revolve around the child and not our dog and his crazy antics. Yet again I find myself shaking my head and wondering how in the world the dog is still alive. He's provided numerous opportunities for us to do the dirty deed for him but he's also gotten into situations where he could do it himself... that would be the case today.

Over the last couple weeks we have not been allowing Tiko up on our bed. He had become territorial of it and we wanted him to learn that being on the bed was a privilege and not a right.

This morning I woke up and Tiko was not anywhere to be seen. Assuming that Brandon had put him outside I climbed out of bed with the intentions of getting ready for work. As I put my foot down I came with inches of stepping on the dog's nose. Perplexed at why Tiko's head was poking out from under the bed I crouched down and found that it wasn't just his head that was under the bed, his entire body was laying comfortably beneath my mattress and box spring. I laughed at his pitiful face and called him to me. He inched forward and stopped when his shoulder hit the side board; giving me a sad pitiful face he let out a small cry. I burst out laughing and called him again. He inched forward again and then immediately retreated crying and obviously agitated; he was stuck. I wanted to be upset, I was going to be late for work, but I just couldn't help but laugh. He looked so pitiful and distraught. His eyes were begging me for help and unfortunately I couldn't do anything about it. I called Brandon and he was as shocked as I was. How in the world Tiko got under the bed or even why still astounds us.


Since I'm pregnant I wasn't going to be able to lift the bed and let Tiko out, not that it mattered the bed was going to be too heavy for me to lift pregnant or not. Brandon and I decided that if a neighbor was unable to come and help Brandon had plans to drive home and get him out from the under the bed, stupid dog.

I left the dog crying as I went to get ready for work. In the end I decided to pull the dog out myself. My hope was that the painful experience would teach him not to get under the bed again and this would be the one and only time he got under the bed. My true feelings where that he got himself into the mess and I was not about to provide an easy way for him to get out.

I called Tiko to me and yet again he inched to his shoulders, cried, and stepped back. Laughing and talking in a calm tone I called him again. This time when his shoulders hit the side board I grabbed up under his armpits and gave him a yank. He let out a yelp but I held firm trying not to laugh and instead provide a soothing tone. When he started to back peddle I strictly told him to "come on". We struggled back and forth like this for 20 minutes; me gaining an inch or so and Tiko trying to go back under the bed where the wood wasn't crushing him and pulling at his fur.

Finally I was able to scoot the last of his butt and hips out, at which point Tiko gave me a big kiss and took off running like a mad dog around the house. You could almost see the "I'M FREE!!! I'M FREE!!!" expression cross his face and body as he bounded about with his tongue hanging out.

If there is one thing I've learned it's that Tiko has prepared Brandon and I for children in more ways than I ever imagined a dog would. I guess I should be thankful, stupid dog!

First Date

It is my firm belief that every marriage needs to have a first date every now and again. Brandon decided to surprise me with one this past Friday.

When I got home from work the house was completely empty. I called Brandon to see where he was but he didn't answer. After waiting for a short time outside I finally took the dog inside, The next thing I knew the door bell rang and it was Brandon. He smiled and asked me if I was ready to go. I grabbed my sweater, put the dog out, and we headed out the door. He made some comments about me not locking my house, the neighborhood must be really safe, he really liked the neighborhood, and I had a really friendly dog. He opened my car door and off we went with Brandon not telling me where. Confused by the comments and everything else, it took me a few minutes to realize what was going on...Brandon was pretending like this was a first date.

Once I caught on I played along and have never laughed so much in my life! We weren't married, he'd never met my parents, and the fact that I was pregnant made for a really awkward moment. LOL. He took me to dinner, a little shopping, and then to see Letters to Juliet. It was a wonderful evening. At the end of the night he even walked me to the door and gave me a goodnight kiss.

I have the sweetest, craziest, funniest husband there is! :)

2 Lines

There is a statistic out there that states over 3:4 women misread a common pregnancy test. I am officially apart of that statistic. For months Brandon and I have been trying to get pregnant and for months we have had negative ovulation tests, discussions with my Dr., and even surgery for my endometriosis. It has been some long and emotional months mixed with my surgery and family stuff as well.

When I wasn't showing any signs of anything I took a pregnancy test a day early. The test showed 2 lines, which I read as negative, and I went about my day only slightly disappointed. Granddaddy was given 72 hours and in less than that he died. We spent the week with family, at the funeral home and church giving no thought to any possibility of being pregnant. Brandon and I both assumed that the emotional stress from family and the stress of the surgery is what was keeping me from having a cycle. When we came home from the funeral I was officially 5 days late so I took another test and got the same result as before, 2 lines. I took it as negative and threw it away.

While Brandon was out getting food the negative test nibbled at my brain. I began thinking about which test I bought and couldn't remember. Innocently I went in and got out the box; I pulled the test out of the garbage and held it to the box. I looked at the box, then to the test, and at the box again. For a second I thought I was seeing things... according to the box: I WAS PREGNANT!!! Not only was I pregnant but I had received a positive result almost 7 days ago as well- it was NOT a false positive.

I began to hyperventilate, cry, jump up and down all at once. The poor dog must of thought I was dying. With Brandon out of the house I didn't know what to do. I prayed and cried some more before finally calming down enough to go sit and wait for Brandon to get home. When he walked in the door I calmly informed him that his wife is an idiot. lol.

It was a good thing we didn't know before Granddaddy's death; the news wouldn't have been as sweet. Either way, we're happy!
God is fulfilling my dream; I'm going to be a mommy.

Daniel

In March I felt lead to join a woman's bible study at my church and signed up for Beth Moore's Daniel study. The women were incredible and their prayers were strong! For 3 months I openly shared my dream about being a mom and my discouragement about not getting pregnant. In return they fervently prayed and encouraged me in ways I could have never imagined.

During the study I found out that 2 friends and my own sister were pregnant; bitterness immediately set in. I argued with God that it wasn't fair, I rationalized with Him that I wanted it more, I cried with a broken heart that it wasn't me. I truly believe the only reason I didn't fall into a full blown depression was because my ladies were praying for me and because I have an incredible and supportive husband.

After my surgery, an attempt to help us get pregnant and help with monthly pain, Brandon's granddaddy took a turn for the worst, medically, and I welcomed the distraction. I poured my heart into taking care of Brandon and offering help where ever I could to who ever needed it. The more I prayed for Brandon and his family the less I prayed for a child. When Brandon's granddaddy passed I realized I hadn't prayed about Brandon and I getting pregnant in almost a month and I had not checked my ovulation either.

A revelation came to me, it didn't matter anymore. God's plan was perfect and as I learned in Daniel Christ would:

1. deliver me from the fire
2. walk with me through the fire
3. deliver me to the fire

I accepted whatever Christ's plan was for me and gave Him my dream of being a mom, every last drop of hope. Our last night of bible study I got to share my revelation with my ladies. They all knew it had been a hard couple months and were ecstatic to see me find peace. What I didn't realize for 4 more days was that as I sat there and praised God with those women Christ had already blessed me; I was 6 weeks pregnant!