Bath Time

Product Review: Aden + Anais swaddlers

My friend, Carolyn, just found out she is having a girl.  She immediately wanted to know what my must-have items were for a baby.  Aden + Anais swaddlers are at the top of my list.  

I got my first one at a children's boutique in Myrtle Beach, but my mom found more at Buy Buy Baby and Target also has them available online.  The first one I got had elephants on it, but now we have 4 more: 1 white, 1 turtle, 1 bee, and 1 fish.

They are made of muslin cloth so they are very soft and breathable.  This is great for summertime weather. 

 If you are nursing, this would be a great blanket for covering yourself in public because it is not heavy and you won't feel like you are smothering your little one.  

They are also HUGE.  When I fold them in half to swaddle Beck, there is still plenty of blanket left to get the job done.

Ta-da!  And sleeping like a champ.

Surprise!

On Friday, I went into school for the last time with my students to give them their awards.  The plan was to go in, attend an IEP meeting, give out awards, and head back home to be with my little man.  My team teacher and principal had both called and asked if I would be able to stay until 11:30 to have a grade-level meeting.  They needed my input for some decisions that would affect next year.  I wanted to take care of my little guy because he had been so fussy on Thursday after his circumcision.  I told them both that I would really need to get back home right after I gave out the awards and I would not be able to stay for the meeting.

My husband, however, basically told me that I had to go because I needed to tie up loose ends at school.  I had already brought things home to do and they sat undone at the door where I left them.  Beck would be fine because my mom had spent the night on Thursday night and Jeff would also be home with him.  I was not happy, but I got up at 6:00 on Friday morning to tend to Beck and go to school.

The day was pretty normal.  My substitute was still there so I went to my IEP meeting, finished up my awards, and gave them out.  Then I holed up in another teacher's room to finish some end-of-the-year paperwork.  Halfway through all of this, my team teacher told me to bring my stuff down to her room.  I gathered everything up and trudged down the hall to her room.  No sooner did I get settled than my principal, Mr. Lesley, called over the loudspeaker for us to come to his conference room/office to do our meeting.  He told us we could cut through the library because nothing was going on.  I could not believe that these people were not letting me get my stuff done, the stuff I so desperately needed to be there to do!

As we opened the door to the library, I heard a loud, "Surprise!"  There stood the entire faculty and some much-loved school volunteers.  Those sneaky rascals had all fooled me!  Not only that, but they pulled together a super cute baby shower in 8 days!  I was completely floored and of course immediately shed some tears.  Beck got some awesome clothes, toys, diapers, and gear.  I still cannot believe they pulled this off and showered us with so many items.  Thank you Spearman family!  You guys will always have a special place in my heart. 

I don't really like to be the center of attention with everyone staring at me so my sweet pal, Suze, sat with me while I opened presents.

 Demonstrating the awesome stroller everyone pitched in to buy us.  It is super easy to open and close, it is pretty compact for a large stroller, and it will come in very handy when Beck and I go on our daily walks.

 Our art teacher, Betsy Kerns, painted this for Beck's room.  It was so awesome and better than anything I have seen in a store or online.  Betsy, from what I have been told, was one of the head coordinators of the shower.  :)

 Very excited about a personalized pillow!  Sandy Reid has cross-stitched a pillow for every Spearman baby that has been born since she has been there.  It has Beck's full name and birthday on it.  The polka dots match his crib sheet and the colors in his room.

 Very snazzy decor!

Betsy also made these, which will hang in Beck's room.  

Beck-aco

n.  (buh kah' koh)  a non edible baby wrap, specifically applicable to Beck.

This is how Beck loves to sleep and he will sleep many consecutive hours in this fashion.  Even funnier is that this particular wrap has fish on it making it a fish Beck-aco.

In all of the newness and craziness of a baby...

Please pray for my little sister, Rebekah.  She is leaving next week to go on a mission trip to Tanzania.  She is quite the mission-minded young gal, especially international missions involving children.

*pray for her and her group's safety on the way there, while they are there, and for a safe return

*pray that they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and that God will work through them and in them

*pray for any opportunities that may arise from this trip

 Bekah and Beck

Bekah and me

The Name

Funny thing...someone else whose blog I read was also posting about their name choice today...great minds think alike.

We have been asked several times about Beck's name because it is a little unusual.

No, it's not because we are huge fans of the musical group Beck.

Beck is actually short for Bethel.  Jeff's grandfather on his father's side was named Bethel Eugene.  Jeff got the Eugene and he said we are stopping it right there.  His grandfather always went by Beck and we loved it  the first moment we heard it.  We also found out he was a godly and well-liked man.  Two more bonuses.

William is for my dad, another godly and well-liked man.  It was also my grandfather's name and one of Jeff's great-grandfather's names.

As we were fast approaching the day when we would have a person in our home who depended on us to make decisions concerning his life, we knew we needed something by which to make all decisions.  A desire for our child (and possible future children) that would govern all decisions made.  We came to the conclusion one night that above all else, the most important thing for our children was to know Jesus as their Savior and their Lord and to love God.  Any decision we made would be measured up against this concept.  So we decided that in order to get him started off right, we would name him after men who loved the Lord as their personal Savior and who strived daily to bring glory to God.

Beck with my dad, George William.  a.k.a. Poppy

This is the stuff memories are made of

That's what we were saying last night at 11:30 when we were in the car with tons of baby supplies and the clothes on our back.  We had to spend the night at a friend's house.  That's right folks.  Our baby's 6th night in this world was spent at someone else's house.  That makes a total of 4 nights out of 6 at a house other than his own.

Here's the reason why: smoke detectors.  We have a total of 6 in our very small house and they are all wired to each other.  In order to cut them off, you have to turn off the power or completely unhook them...all of them.  Something tripped our's yesterday so Jeff changed the batteries in them.  Then last night, they would not stop going off.  We looked at each other and racked our brains for what we could do, or where we should go.  We called some sweet friends who we knew would still be awake :) and headed over.  Their teenage daughter gave up her bed and her room for us.  So so grateful for that!  We all slept surprisingly well over there and Beck woke up like clockwork every 3 hours to eat.  We are so thankful for friends who literally opened up their home to us at a moment's notice.

Today, Jeff got an info. sheet on the detectors and proceeded to vacuum out each one because we think dust may have triggered the alarm.  Since their thorough cleaning, they have been silent.  Let's hope they stay that way tonight and every other night after that.  If not, we have an open invitation at the Jordan's Bed and Breakfast.

Oh yeah...and Beck was totally unfazed.  In fact, when they were going off today while Jeff was cleaning them, he didn't even wake up.  Last night, the sound only caused him to pop his eyes open and look around.