Sewn with Love by BeBe

Meet Dottie the Elephant

Sweet hand-embroidered pillow

Coming home dress

Tatting made by baby girl's great- or great-great-grandmother, a long time ago.

Maybe someday I will be able to sew as well as Mom M...with her teaching and guidance of course...I know I will never be able to paint like Mom B (seriously, you should see my attempts...a third grader could do better!)  Mark and I are so blessed to have such talented mothers.  

August Visitors

In August we enjoyed visits from lots of family!

Mom and Dad Boerckel (Grandma and Grandpa) came to visit from Illinois.  Since they live so far away we don't get to see them very often, so it was wonderful that they could come for a nice long visit.  Mom and Dad Moore (BeBe and PopPop) came for the weekend while they were here.  We got to see Joel, Monica, and Sean briefly on their trip down to Atlanta, and Uncle Joe, Aunt Joy, Madalyn, and Muriel also came by for an afternoon on their way through town.  How great to see so much family at once!  Mom B, Mom M, and Monica were all able to come to my baby shower...more about that later.

We so wish we could see Mom and Dad B and Joel, Monica and Sean more often.  Once again though we are thankful for the way that technology lets us stay in touch.  Though we have only seen sweet little Sean a few times since he was born, at least we do get to see what he's up to via videos!

Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of Mom and Dad B's visit...I need to get better about taking pictures (working on it!), but we were also very busy!  Dad B went biking on the Silver Comet trail while Mom B and I got pedicures.  (I'll take that trade any day!)  They graciously put up with my sporadic summer violin-teaching schedule.  We spent lots of time talking, eating, and laughing...the perfect combination for great time spent together.  

They also really blessed us by helping us TONS with our nursery!  We are so thankful for help from both sets of parents to get baby girl's room ready.  Dad B painstakingly painted our changing table while he was here.  The changing table belonged to Emily, Rebekah, and me, and then Lydda Grace and Wade.  It was a little worse for the wear, plus I wanted it white to match our nursery.  Dad worked really hard, and it went from the dark wood of the previous post to this:

Thank you, Dad!  It looks so much better!

Mom B is an amazingly talented watercolor artist.  Our house looks like a gallery of her paintings--we love it!  We were so happy that she wanted to paint for baby girl's room.  She painted one Bible verse for baby girl before they came, and then she painted another one for baby girl while they were visiting!  We love that baby girl will have two special paintings from Grandma reminding her of Truth every day.

  Thank you, Mom!  Such special gifts to baby girl!

Also while Mom and Dad M were in town, Mom M made curtains for the nursery, and we found a mirror for over the changing table.  After all of this help from everyone, here is what our nursery looks like today:

Still more to do, but it has come a long way!

Nursery Rewind

Not too long ago, our nursery looked like this:

Well, there weren't normally two lamps and a camera case on the bed, but you get the idea...not very baby friendly.

Then back in June, our nursery looked like this:

Mark called it the internet room.  Still not very baby friendly.

Finally, we started making some progress:

Putting together the windowseat

Working on the crib skirt

At the beginning of July--starting to look more like a nursery!  Mom and I made the crib skirt while Dad and Mark painted the nursery.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)  At this point we didn't know if Baby Boerckel was a boy or girl...we were still not sure if we were going to find out or not, so we were planning a gender neutral nursery.

Aunt Kay's Birthday

Still catching up from July...

The weekend before Jon, Emily, and the kids left, we also got to visit with Aunt Kay and Uncle Talley and Uncle Mike.  Aunt Kay had just had a birthday so it was fun to celebrate with her!  

Mom made Aunt Kay a beautiful quilt.  I love seeing all of your creations, Mom!

Dear Baby Girl

Dear Baby Girl,

Today I am 30 weeks and 2 days pregnant with you.  We are counting down daily to your due date--68 days to go!  Of course, I think you will be late, so we probably have many more than 68 days until your arrival.  Your daddy and I absolutely can't wait to meet you.  To us it feels like absolutely forever until you will be here--and then at the same time, we also have plenty to do to occupy us in the meantime! 

Lately we have been getting your nursery ready and also doing some things around the house.  We know you will keep us pretty busy for a while, so we are trying to do as much as we can before you get here.  I love working on your nursery, and I must admit that occasionally before bedtime I sit in your room and daydream about you.  

We have also been talking about your name a lot, because I am ready to have it 100% settled!  We have been going back and forth on two middle names for a few months now, but we picked out your first name (ALMOST for sure) a while ago.  We still might change our minds again, but I THINK you have an official name now.  We hope you love your name as much as we do!

Some day you might want to know what it was like for me to be pregnant with you.  Just in case, here are a few things for you to know:

--You are our little miracle baby.  Daddy never lets me forget that you are the timely answer to prayer after we got some bad news from Mama's doctor.  We thank God for you!

--Lots of people have been praying for you from the VERY beginning, and they will keep praying for you until you are born and as you grow!

--When I heard your heartbeat for the first time at your 9-week ultrasound, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.

--You have "eaten" lots and lots of scrambled egg sandwiches and fruit smoothies, especially in the first 16 weeks!  You made it very difficult for me to cook and eat for a while, so Daddy took over in the kitchen. He slipped lots of butter into my food (and ice cream into smoothies) to help you grow.

--If you end up not liking vegetables, well then, it started early.  I had a hard time eating vegetables during your first 4 months and it's still not always easy.

--I couldn't wait until you gave me a big bump.  I wanted the whole world to know about you!  Unfortunately it took longer than I thought it would.

--I felt you move for the first time at about 16 weeks, while we were visiting Grandpa and Grandma in Illinois.  It took me some time to know for sure that the little flutters I was feeling were definitely you!  Daddy felt you move 2 weeks later--you gave him a huge somersault, the biggest I had felt up to that point.  We both jumped!  He was completely in awe of you.  

--Now you move all the time.  Your favorite positions result in either kicking my bladder or kicking under my ribs.  You also get the hiccups frequently--the other night you were hiccuping quite vigorously, enough to keep me awake.  Daddy and I both love feeling you move.  Tonight he very gently pressed my belly and you kicked back at him!

--If you turn out to be a little musician, it wouldn't be surprising considering how much violin-playing you have already heard!  Or maybe you will be an athlete.  If so, it will certainly be in a summer sport as you have already helped cheer on the USA in the Summer Olympics!

--Even though you aren't here yet, you are already teaching me so much about what it means to be a mama.  I have worried a lot about you, and I am learning to pray more and relax in your Heavenly Father's care for you.  

Your daddy and I are completely in love with you already, but we know that our love is only a shadow of how much your Heavenly Father loves you.  We pray that you will trust Him very early in your life!

Love,

Mama