Christmas in June!!!

Wow, so much for which to give thanks! From overwhelming attendance on Day 1 of our VBS to our dads (and Éowyn's very very cute Daddy) on Fathers' Day to generous gifts of baby gear and maternity clothes to our cute little garden growing happily under perfect conditions (HOT sun and lots of rain)... even strawberries and blackberries I'll get to pick tomorrow, and sweet friends with whom to pick 'em! All these are good gifts from a Good Father. The ONLY One who is Good, really...

But lest I wax toooo eloquent, let me focus on one item of thanks: BABY GEAR! Yesterday, yet another friend & DSCS mom (I've had one of her daughters in my preschool class each year, and next year will have Caroline again! The next year, I'll have their 3rd little girl!) brought over 7 -yes, SEVEN- boxes of baby items for our little one. Bottles, clothes, toys, one of those dishwasher baskets for all the small parts going into bottles & sippies, a really cool little crib-side "aquarium" (which fits in perfectly with our nautical-themed nursery), and bigger items like a gate and a Mozart-playing baby play mat... and did I mention clothes? I love her taste, so it was especially nice. It was like a baby shower all from one person. WOW. It amazes me that so many are willing just to give so much to us-- these people could easily sell this stuff and make a little money on it, especially since it's in good condition and really cute! :)

So last night I opened up all the boxes (it is so fun) and sorted the clothes by size. I integrated them with the clothes I've already been given from various people, and had enough to pass on some myself! (there are always about 15 women pregnant at Immanuel at any given time, and this "crop" seems to be mostly girls. Two of my friends are expecting daughters around the same week as we are!) But seriously, we are set as far as clothes go, up to 18 months for sure, and we have a good head start for clothing up to 3T! Heheh, and not all of it's pink, either. :) I've made quite sure of that. I figure the pierced ears will set her apart as a girl even if I get her up in green or red or blue, although who knows, because I've had friends' daughters get called boys dressed head to toe in pink and lace... oh well, she won't remember. :)

So now my daughter has more shoes than I do. And cuter clothes. And we have so much of what we both need and just will find convenient as we care for her. Our house is being taken over by BABY!!!!... and she's barely 2 lbs and not even breathing on her own yet... lol. Our lives will NEVER be the same!

Seriously, though, I'm thinking we may have to put "no clothes under 12 mos." on baby shower invitations, because we just don't need anymore, especially considering how grandmas are (I know they'll want to give her sweet little outfits, too)! If anyone reading this is wanting to get us a baby gift and doesn't know what to buy, how about some cloth diapers? That's one thing we haven't gotten any of yet, and something that can add up even though each item isn't that pricy.

[I've looked into lots of options and still don't know what will fit Éowyn best (since, well, she isn't here), but I think we want to do small g-diapers for the first 2 months or so (they are semi-disposable), and after that for sure some bumGenius (one-size and/or all-in-ones), though I won't want to use these exclusively by any means. Both are also available for purchase at diapers.com, and are sold at BabiesRUs & Target. Just throwin' that out there... :) Oh, for diaper covers, I have heard rave reviews about Thirsties, which are available (currently with free shipping) at nikisdiapers.com... ;)]

In He who provides abundantly more than we could ask or imagine, in ALL areas of life,

--A very thankful Mama