Praying for your husband

A dear friend shared this over email recently (something she and her husband received at a marriage conference), and it's something I've been trying to incorporate in my daily habits (not too successfully yet) as a way to faithfully pray for Robert. I wanted to post it here since it was such an encouragment to me and a great reminder of one small way to better serve and support him in my role as his wife and to lift all our cares before the Lord.

How great is my unbelief (and small my view of my sovereign King) that I don't spend more time in prayer. In the words of that great hymn Come Ye Sinners,

He is able. He is able.

He is willing. Doubt no more.

Prayers for my Husband…


Monday - You, O Lord, are faithful and gracious to my husband, fulfilling Your every promise in his life. Lift him up this day and lighten any heavy burden he is experiencing. Be his strength, his hope, his answer today. May he find favor with God and with man as he stands for truth in each circumstance he encounters knowing that You are directing his every step and are pleased. Amen


Tuesday - Lord, I thank You for the gift of my husband and for the wisdom You have instilled in him. As he seeks to serve and honor You this day, may he know how grateful I am for his love, faithfulness, care and provision. Show me how I can better support him, and help me to be a place of encouragement, safety and refuge. Amen


Wednesday - Jesus, I praise You for a spirit of unity that binds us together in our marriage. Teach me to live in complete harmony with my husband and to have the same selfless attitude that You demonstrated. I pray that in all we face, whether struggle or joy, we will be drawn closer together and that we will glorify You. May we live joyfully and abundantly in Your love each day of our lives. Amen


Thursday - Almighty God, You have given my husband every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus and You supply all his needs. I pray he always finds his true worth in You and that I will be to him a reflection of Your love. Bless him with God-given dreams and visions for the future, and help me to affirm, support and encourage that calling. Lead us forward in perfect unity of heart and mind. Amen


Friday - Holy God, my husband and marriage are a blessing from You. I celebrate all You are doing in our relationship. Help me to see my husband through Your eyes, to value him with Your heart, and to fully express my love and respect for him in ways that are meaningful. When life gets crazy, I pray we find refuge in You and one another. Fill our home with joy and laughter. May we always delight in the love you have given us. Amen


Saturday - Lord Jesus, I am thankful for a life-long covenant partner and for all You are teaching us along this journey of marriage. Each day help me to honor my husband in thought, word and deed. I pray our marriage will bring hope to others and glory to Your name as we submit ourselves to one another and You. All praise to God! Amen

Sunday - Father, as my husband worships You this day, I pray You give him a new revolution of who You are. Draw him with your Spirit and refresh his soul. Fill him up with You, God. May the power of Your Word renew his mind and encourage his heart, and may he find Sabbath rest in Your presence. Amen

Tiffin Kicking Day-Long Football Camp

Look what came through on my Living Social email this morning...

Tiffin Kicking Day-Long Football Camp

Down, set, hike! Gather your little giants, and get on the ball this summer with today's kickin' deal. For just $49, score a day-long football camp with Leigh Tiffin of Tiffin Kicking at any one of six Alabama locations (a $99 value). Load 'em in the minivan and line 'em up...

We need to sign Trey up now. He's definitely qualified.

30 Weeks

Today marks week 30 of pregnancy. It's the fourth quarter folks. Go ahead and hold up four fingers and play that Green Day song because we're in the home stretch.

30 weeks down, 10 to go.

Though according to our recent childbirth class, it may be more like 6 or 7 weeks to go, or maybe 11 or 12 weeks to go. Apparently we need to be ready and flexible because Baby Trey is on his own schedule, and we're just along for the ride.

Speaking of childbirth classes, so far we've had one in a series of five with our second tonight. And to be honest they have been much less traumatic than I expected. For this I am thankful, though they have four more opportunities (including one in less than 12 hours) to scare the heebie jeebies out of me.

Week One we pretty much went over the basics of the third trimester leading up to delivery - true vs. false labor, signs of preterm labor, how to time contractions, when to call the doctor, danger signs, etc. Mostly I was just relieved to walk into the room and find it set up like a classroom with tables, chairs, and a projector rather than a gym with mats and big round exercise balls. There were a few graphic animated video clips showing various aspects of delivery, but nothing too traumatic. The hip skeleton model with the fake baby was a little weird, especially when the instructor, a labor and delivery LPN, tried to force the baby through the hips to show us the whole process of that eventful trip through the birth canal. Let's just say it looked like things weren't quite going to fit. Most of the information was actually pretty useful and news to my virgin ears (Ha! No pun intended... Sorry. Clearly just cracked myself up.), so at least we're that much more prepared.

To be honest, I was a little on the fence about the value of attending childbirth classes at all. It just seems like with some things in life it just might be best to remain in the dark on the details until you have to know (ignorance is bliss, right?). And even then, in the case of childbirth, to just let the doctors and nurses tell you what to do when you need to do it. I'm not all about being an expect on labor and delivery since I plan to have a room full of them and go through it at most three times during my lifetime, but then again this is coming from the girl whose birth plan is one word - epidural. In the end, I say to each her own, and more power to you, but I am glad we decided to do the classes.

I may change my tune after tonight. On the docket for Week Two is the stages of labor (with the scary labor video, or so I've been warned) and medical interventions (if that is code for "drugs," yes please). But if we survive that we get the tour of UAB's brand spankin' new Women & Infants Center including the L&D rooms, postpartum rooms, and newborn nursery.

I actually can't wait for Robert to see this. Working in development at UAB, we've given this tour to donors dozens of times. I've been at UAB four years now, and though I wasn't around for the groundbreaking I was here for much of the fundraising for this space, as well as the dedication and grand-opening. We've done hardhat tours, post opening tours,donor signage, and everything in between. I'm so proud of our facilities, especially the RNICU. This first-class facility for women and infant services now truly matches the first-class care that's always been at UAB. That's our little catch phrase, but it really is true. I wouldn't be delivering at UAB if I didn't think so.

As familiar as I am with this space on a professional level, I'll probably be paying a little more attention this time around since we'll be calling the WIC home for a few days come early July. More details on Week Two classes to come, pending I'm not so scarred from the video that I can recall them.

New pregnancy symptoms at 30 weeks:

-I'd say the first is a general slowness. Things just aren't happening as quickly these days, probably because of the second new symptom...

-Heaviness. Baby is getting bigger. So am I. Though I'm still staying active and keeping up the best I can with my walks and other exercise, my pace is definitely off. Again, I think the massive tummy poking out front is to blame. It's also the reason for the third new symptom...

-Clumsiness. Basically, I've turned into a klutz. Believe it or not, this is actually new territory for me. It's got to be due to the fact that with all that weight out front my balance is completely off. I've almost tripped trying to step out of pants oh, about a dozen times and actually find myself running into my office furniture (desk, bookshelf, credenza) while at work when I'm getting up from my desk. I'm not making sudden, swift movements (lets be honest, nothing is sudden and swift these days). I'm just trying to move normally, but somehow I manage to do it leaning or falling over. It's the weirdest thing.

-And then there are the basics - insomnia, heartburn, an almost ever-present need to use the bathroom...just par for the course. Oh, and trying oh so hard to remember to do those darn kegels. I heard the 5-5-5 rule was good. Five times in a row, for five seconds each, once every hour for five hours each day.

In all seriousness, I'm actually very grateful to still be working full time and feeling fairly well for the most part, keeping active and staying up on most of my activities. God has been good to us and continues to bless this pregnancy, and for that we are thankful and blessed.

On the nursery front, my mother-in-law is making wonderful progress on Trey's bedding. I get so excited every time she texts me a pic of her handiwork in progress - the bumpers or skirt or monogram. They'll be in town the weekend of May 20-22 along with Robert's sisters, so I'll post pics of the finished product then or shortly thereafter once we've got everything in place.

Still waiting on the rocker and hoping it comes in the next three to four weeks. Ordered the rug for the nursery last night along with the chandelier. Am close to finalizing the artwork and need to paint a few pieces of furniture, but for the most part we're on the home stretch with nursery prep too.

It's the fourth quarter folks. Here's hoping this one doesn't go into overtime.

P.S. - The journalist in me decided to just bite the bullet and include the 30 week photo at the top of this post...with the following disclaimer: Holy Moly I'm huge!!!! Everyday people at the office or around town say nice things like "you look so good" or "what a cute baby bump" or "you're so little." But now that I see this photo that Robert took I'm beginning to think they're fudging the truth. I'm ginormous. Where on earth did that belly come from?

April recap

I'm a little behind on blogging the non-pregnancy-related events from April. (Let's face it, these days most of what I, even what we, do is somehow pregnancy-related.) But I wanted to be sure and capture some of the fun memories from this month and the good times we have had with family and friends.

First off, we had a wonderful trip to Lexington, Kentucky to visit Robert's younger sister Liz and her husband Mike.

We managed to halfway surprise Liz with our visit, and she was a great sport about taking two last-minute visitors in stride. It was so fun to see them and celebrate her 27th birthday. We also timed our trip with Keeneland again this year after we had a blast at last year's race. Our betting was definitely off this year, but it was just as fun. And the weather was gorgeous. I love visiting Kentucky in the spring. Everything is is bloom.

This will probably be my last big (six plus hours in the car) trip until baby comes. I like to think that I've gotten pretty good at traveling in long car rides now that I've married into the Adams family, but this time around it was definitely more difficult with an ever-growing baby sloshing around in there and positioning himself on your vital organs without warning and at random intervals in between heated kickboxing sessions.

We also had a great time with my brother David and his girlfriend Emily at A-day in Tuscaloosa.


Emily and David scored us tickets in the Ivory Club courtesy of the generosity of Emily's sweet dad. Let's just say I could get very used to 50-yard-line tickets and buffets that last four quarters.



April also marked my baby brother Ryan (white tux jacket and Bieber hair, center) attending his senior (and hopefully last) prom. Unless he becomes one of those sketchy old graduated guys who gets invited back by the younger girls. Here's hoping he doesn't and instead upholds the family's honor.



Doesn't he look sharp in his tux though?



And of course we had a great time with my immediate and extended family celebrating Easter and Christ's resurrection. For many of my cousins, it was the first time they had seen me (or rather very visible Trey) since we announced our pregnancy at 12 weeks on Christmas Eve. Let's just say I got a few comments about having grown. :) If you missed the customary Summerville family Easter pic, check out the short but sweet Easter post.

Easter

Hope you enjoyed celebrating His resurrection this Easter season!!

27 weeks: Trey in 4D

We had our 27 week doctor appointment last Thursday. So very thankful for a good report and especially for a great ultrasound tech who took lots of personal time with us and then gave us some of the first 4D shots of Trey we have seen. It's amazing to see his features and be in awe of what God is forming as he knits together our son in the womb. I happen to think he's a pretty cute little guy. Surprisingly to me, these pictures really made me so excited to meet him. Just the day before I had told a friend that yes, I couldn't wait to meet him - but maybe I could wait a little bit longer! There's just so much to get ready for with such a big change in life. But then after seeing him, looking all baby-like with defined features, including a cute little nose and what I swear is Robert's chin, I really just couldn't wait to have him here.

We ended up with three nice 4D shots. His eyes are closed in all (he's not really old enough to open them yet), but the first time I saw the picture immediately below I saw it from the perspective of his eyes being open, like one of those trick images where they ask if you if you see the wrinkled old woman or the beautiful young woman, and it's all about your perspective. So of course, then Robert starts seeing it that way, and now it's hard to go back and see it the normal/actual way with his cute little eyes closed. So now we jokingly call this his mean, shifty eyes portrait because from that perspective it looks like he's not happy with us for spying on him in utero.



I love this shot because you can see his little hand with five fingers (which trust me I was quickly counting as soon as it came into view). Being the nonscientific new mom I am, I asked the tech what the fourth dimension in 4D was, to which she replied movement/time. Sure enough, as we were zoomed in looking at Trey's face in 4D, he (for the first time cooperating) brought his little hand up to is face. It really was the neatest thing.



So here are our 27 week stats:


Trey

• Measured a week ahead per ultrasound measurements (28.1 weeks)


• Weighed in at 2.5 pounds


• 60-something percentile (can't remember exactly, but 8 weeks ago he was 51st)


• Heartbeat was strong during doppler


• Doing his thing head down - which isn't a huge deal at this stage but better than being breach

Me

• Passed my glucose test. Hooray! By the way, not eating and drinking for two hours prior to the test was extremely hard. I've been trying to really increase my water intake during pregnancy to be sure and stay hydrated. I've also had lots of dry mouth through this pregnancy, so it really was tough to lay of on the H2O for that long. And, the drink it crazy sweet, like Sunkist on crack.


• Fundal height measurement was 26.5 weeks, so pretty much right on target. First time they've done one. It's cool to me that you can measure the size of the uterus to determine if the fetal growth is on target. Obviously, this was more helpful in pre-ultrasound days, but still very neat to know that if you measure from the top of the public bone to the top of the uterus in centimeters, it should match the baby's gestational age within one to three centimeters.


• Saw Dr. Richard Davis, another man in the MFM practice who could deliver Trey. He was great. Took the time to answer my huge list of questions, which is always appreciated.


• Had lots of blood work taken. I'm pretty sure they tested for mine and baby's Rh compatibility, but I forgot to follow up on that. I'm guessing we'll find out at our next appointment whether or not we match.
  


• Total weight gain to date: 20 pounds.


• Next appointment in 3 weeks on May 2 at 30 weeks.

Nursery Part 2 - Fabrics and Crib

So, here's our crib for Trey (stock photo for now). I'm a big fan. It's a convertable, 3 -n-1 something or other, transforming into a toddler bed and then a full bed...I think. I honestly can't remember. The crib shopping was a bit mind-dizzying. There are a gazillion options, and pretty much the consumer ratings are none existent since it's basically a furniture purchase and all about aesthetics, preference, and style. That makes it difficult for a girl who likes to go with the highest rated product and check it off the list. But I do love this style. I knew I wanted white to go with the shabby chic/french county/antique mix-matched look I was going for in his nursery. I'm not sure we'll ever use the bed as anything other than a crib considering other kids down the road that will need to occupy it probably before Trey hits the toddler bed stage, but it's nice to have the option. And I do love the solid wood back on the crib.

I am so blessed to have a very talented and very giving/serving/loving mother-in-law who is custom making all of Trey's crib bedding in addition to his drapes, a pillow or two, an extra blanket and possibly a few other items like liners for baskets. The fabrics I hand-picked with lots of advice and help from both Robert's mom and mine. I think it will look great and can't wait to see it all together. It's kind of a preppy little boy meets classic navy/sailor (minus any sailor motif) look. You'll probably just have to wait and see - as I will - it all together to get the full effect, but nonetheless, for your blog viewing pleasure, here's the fabric swatches we're using. I personally adore them!

Light blue/navy argyle (where the "baby boy preppy" comes in)

This is for the corice boards above the two windows, inside crib bumper panels, and bottom edge lining of the crib skirt. Also will cover the chandelier lamp shades and one side of a blanket (if I'm remembering correctly). Sweet mother-in-law has it all down.

Navy Kimono print (where the classic sailor-ish looks comes from)

This is the front of the bumper pads and a few other places to accent. Used minimally because it's such a fun, bold pattern.

Navy Linen (more classic look)

Using this primarily for the window panels and crib skirt. Also for the inside third of the back crib bumper, which will have his monogram or name in white (surrounded on either side by the argyle panels). Also, the crib skirt in this will have a bottom edge lining in the argyle as a little accent punch and to tie in the top and bottom of the bedding in a nice argyle package.

Grey Minky Dot (aka, the baby fabric)

This is our crib sheet. Super soft. Should tie in nicely with the grey walls and grey rocker/glider.

Here's the rocker/glider we ordered - Little Castle Capri Glider in "Bliss Putty" fabric. Originally intended to go with the grey twill fabric in the pic below of the glider, but after going to Storkland for the third time (ok, my third time; Robert's first) we opted for the heavier, higher quality damask patterned fabric in bliss putty, which looked nicer and sturdier and better at hiding spit-up stains, which will inevitably come despite the fancy "ultrashield" (sounds rather superhero-esqu, doesn't it?) fabric protectant we ordered on both the rocker/glider and ottoman. Also, the nicer fabric will work later in a den, living room, etc., since this baby comes with a 10-year warrenty, and we're hoping it lasts a while through many different family stages. It's about the most comfortable thing you've ever sat in, and considering we're going to be doing a lot of sitting, we knew this was the one nursery purchase we didn't want to skimp on. Scheduled to deliver in 6 to 8 weeks, so we're looking at the end of May.

Fabric for the glider/rocker - "Bliss putty"

All this came about after months of searching what seemed like a ton of nursery decorating options and checking out so may fun websites with custom bedding, fabrics, etc. I would recommend http://www.polkatotdesigns.com/ based out of Mobile, Alabama. Lots and lots of great crib bedding sets that help you see what fabric selections looks good together. You can browse to just get ideas, or order a set they've already put together, or even work with them to make your own. View crib bedding sets for boys, girls, or even gender neutral patterns. Even though Robert's mom is making Trey's bedding, this site helped me a ton! Also the Carousel Designs website (http://www.babybedding.com/) which lets you custom design your own crib bedding using this really cool online tool to select fabric for the bumpers, skirt, etc. Once you've selected one, it even recommends other fabrics that match for different parts of the bedding. They have a decent mix of cute fabrics for boys and girls, but the best part is the online tool. If you're a "need to see it in person" kinda girl (which I recommend to ensure you like what you're getting and to check the print size, etc., - BUT order online because 9 times out of 10 it's cheaper that way) then go to the Becker's booths at Homewood Antiques Market or Greystone Antique Market. She's got lots of great matching nursery fabrics paired together, but much much more for little girls than little boys. (Unfortunately, this is true everywhere.) I also checked out local fabric shops King Cotton Decorator Fabrics on Greenspring Highway, Calico Corners in Hoover, and even JoAnne's, where we scored the classic navy linen fabric at half off. Use coupons if you have them and shop for the best prices online after checking out what you want in the store. And, make a nice fabric swatch inspiration board. This helped me immensely. I went ahead and paid the $1 swatch plus shipping to order dozens of fabric swatches from http://www.warmbiscuit.com/ and other cute online retailers that have prints you just can't find in stores. It's well worth it to make sure you love your selections before purchasing by the yard. Also, it saved me from going with my original choice of bedding (which I thought was a pretty cornflower blue and yellow stripped pattern) that ended up being all gray and yellow with no blue. I just couldn't do that to my little boy. Actually, that gray probably inspired the gray motif that we're going with now, some you never know where you get inspiration. When I was feeling nasty and pregnant during my first trimester, what I was most excited about was getting to decorate a new room in the house and put together a custom nursery. It's been so much fun. Lots of work too, but so exciting to prepare for the arrival of a new member of the family. Can't wait to see it all come together! Still have a few items on the to-do list (purchase rug, chandelier, paint armoir, etc.), but we're getting there.