Our First Week Together!

So, of course there are going to be a few bumps while trying to figure out how to be a mommy, but all in all our first week was fantastic! I'm running on adrenaline alone since any amount of sleep is considered a gift these days, but I couldn't be happier! Brent was able to take off Monday-Thursday and stay home with us. We didn't do much more than just stare at our sweet baby girl and still had an amazing week. We would constantly look at her, then look at each other, and just say "Wow!" Words cannot explain how much we love our daughter, and each day that love grows exponentially!

Oh, and in case you're wondering...yes, I am definitely going to be "that mom" who shares more pictures than you might want to see and more than she might want to take. Oh well, everyone is just going to have to get used to the new me! :)

Baby Madison is here!!!

We couldn't be happier or more blessed to introduce you to this beautiful, sweet baby girl! She has already brought us more joy and love in 3 days than we could have imagined feeling in an entire lifetime! No worries, I will shower you with many pictures soon, but for now- here is our sweet Madison Grace Grygar. Born on May 28th @ 12:59 pm, 19 1/2" long, and 6 lbs 8 oz of pure bliss!

She came into the world fully aware and ready to meet her mommy and daddy:

We are totally and completely in love with you Madison Grace! Thank you, God for blessing us more than we could have possibly imagined!!

Much more to come soon... :)

Madison's Nursery!!

Ok, the nursery is officially done! Minus the baby and the few things I am likely to change once Maddie gets here and starts destroying playing with everything. I had so much fun decorating and doing lots of mini projects for her room, and I can't wait for her to be apart of it all very soon!!

View from the door towards the crib and straight ahead:

Crib Area:

I LOVE this bedding! It is Cocalo Daniella and adds such a sophisticated yet girly touch. I found that beautiful lamp at Hobby Lobby (my favorite, yet very dangerous place to shop), and the "sweet dreams" block is a nightlight I made her!

Her reading corner (yes, I'm a little early...but I'm also a teacher so I have an excuse!)

I made these alphabet letters on my computer and LOVE how they turned out! Guess where I found that adorable pink chair...yep, you guess it- Hobby Lobby!! :) And a big "thanks" goes out to Half Price Books for making it quite cheap and easy to fill her little bookshelf.

Dresser/Chair wall:

The gumball machine is the same one I have under my "projects" page- very easy and fun to make! I ordered the "Sugar and Spice" words from Uppercase Living, but if you have a Cricut, you could easily cut them out of vinyl.

Changing Table & Hutch:

So many lovely details on her hutch! I can't wait to put it to use...even if it is to change stinky diapers! ;)

Closet (I may be a tad bit obsessed with organization):

She is definitely ready in the clothing department! Oh, and her little shoe rack- I made by wrapping cardboard and wooden blocks with wrapping paper...love doing things the cheap way!

Other VIDs (Very important details):

My little sister and friend made this diaper cake for me (SO cute!), my father-in-law made this toy organizer (he's so professional...and did I mention he seldom tells me "no"- we are good friends), and I found this growth chart at Hobby Lobby on sale for around $3!

I hope you love her nursery as much as I do! I know she's going to LOVE it, and if she doesn't, I still do and I'm the mama so I win! I couldn't have gotten the look I wanted without the help of my father-in-law's mad painting skills, so I owe him a ton of thanks! Thank you also to everyone who bought and made us things that we needed to help get her started. I don't know if anyone ever told you- but babies don't come with all the expensive supplies they need! :)

Maddie- we are ready for you!

Belly Pics!

I'm super late on getting my 8 months belly pics up considering I just entered my 9th month today!! I was also a slacker at taking the pic- the shot is around 8 1/2 months instead of at the start of 8, but I'm sure you all will forgive me! :)

Guess I'll have the 9 months up soon...

Pregnancy Pics!!!

I just got my pregnancy pictures back, and I LOVE them!!  If you are in the Waco area, Rebecca Carroll is very talented and so much fun to work with!

Here are some of my favorite shots:

Ready to meet our baby girl!!

Prayers for Educators

So today was a bitter sweet day. Bitter because 200 teachers in my district lost their jobs today for the next school year. Bitter because I simply can't understand how our country can afford to lend out so much money to other countries when we are obviously struggling and in debt ourselves; as much as I love my neighbor, I cannot buy him dinner if I have no money to feed my own children. Bitter because we are told if we go to college and choose a career to build a better life for ourselves instead of living off the government or the working class, we will lead happy, healthy lives. Bitter because I cannot bare to celebrate my renewed contract knowing so many out there had to face anger and disappointment knowing they have worked so hard all year, outshined so many, touched the lives of so many children, were a positive influence and role model every day at school just to find out they will not be offered a job simply because we are out of money.

I was fortunately saved because I work at a Montessori school in our district, and they have invested too much money to have us trained over the last couple of years to let us go...as of now. Please pray for the many, many teachers out there who are facing terrible news today and in the near future. Pray for our children who are not going to get as solid of an education with class sizes going up so high next year. Pray for the administrators who may be cut if school enrollment is not high enough. And finally, pray for our country who has truly lost sight of the American Dream. We are obviously doing something very wrong to be in this position, and our future looks quite dim if things do not change fast!

From Baby Food To Party Favors

My mom decided that she wanted to set up a candy table at the baby shower she is hosting for me in May. We wanted to have something cute for people to put their candy in that could also serve as the party favors. Here's when project "Can I please help make the favors?" comes into play! As you may have figured out already, I LOVE making crafts, so while some may think spending my spring break painting, gluing, and working practically nonstop does not seem very break-like, I loved every minute of it!!

If you like the idea, here's how we made them!

What you'll need...
* Large jars of baby food
* Spray Paint
* Scrapbook paper
* Punches
* Ribbon
* Labels (2x4)
* 3D stickers with your letter of choice
* Glue Dots (Regular and 3D)

Here's what you do...

1. Empty all the baby food jars. It would be nice if there was a way to NOT waste the baby food, (feed to a baby, coax someone to eat some for you, use jars that are already empty, etc) but you may end up just throwing a lot of it away. :(  We bought lots of fruit kinds, so though it may not have been the dessert he was looking for, my step-dad cleared a jar with a smile on his face!

What he didn't eat (which was everything else but that one jar) we put in tupperware; we couldn't bare to see it go down the sink!

2. Remove all the labels. You don't have to worry about little pieces that stick to the glue, the rest will come off when you wash them.

3. Rinse out what's left in the jars and run them all through the dishwasher. Your guests will thank you for that later. :)

4. Make sure the lids are completely dry, and take them outside to spray paint. They will probably need a couple coats.

5. While the lids are drying, punch out whatever you would like to put on the top of the lids. I used a scalloped punch and brown scrapbook paper for the background, and a heart punch with pink scrapbook paper for behind the "M".

6. Once lids are dry, create your embellishment for the top of the lid as follows:

7. Create a label for the jar. I just used a label template with 2x4 shipping labels in Microsoft Word and printed them out. Stick labels to jars- make sure to cover any glue residue still left on the jars, and then tie ribbon around neck of the jar.

8. Attach the lid, and your very cute party favors are complete!

I can't wait to use them and make them again for another baby shower!! :)