nap time crafting

putting some pinterest ideas to use - 

you can't beat a $1.49 jewelry tray

 or the mere 30 minutes it took to make 

(which means i still have 90 minutes left in nap time to waste)

and while i've got the spray paint out, how about a little bowl makeover...

i'm pretty sure the 6 kids that live on the third floor think me and my spray painting are a little strange, at least the 3 oldest who stand around and ask me why i'm doing that 

(to make it pretty, of course)

 and i'm just hoping that the lawyers next door don't ever find out it was me that accidently spray painted their parking spot red. in my defense, it was 10:00 at night and i couldn't tell that it was spraying on my board...

what up, dawg

true story -

when i was (hugely) pregnant, i would go up to the gym on wheaton's campus and attempt to run/waddle on the treadmill. now this is a very conservative, mostly undergrad campus, so the sight of a young pregnant girl already draws some unnecessary attention.

well, when i'm running, i might like to listen to lecrae, who's a christian rapper - something's gotta get me pumped up to try to run while carrying a 35 pound basketball. the thing is, unless you know lecrae, you might not really realize it's christian rap until you really listen to the words and i'm guessing i don't really look like someone who listens to a ton of rap.

sooo, i waddle all the way to the gym and up onto the treadmill, turn on my music and put my headphones in. and then i notice it's like the people next to me are kinda intentionally not trying to look at me. but it's ok, i usually get that. i am ginormous and all.

but it keeps happening

and that's when i realize...

my headphones aren't all the way plugged in and everyone can hear my lacrae.

so i guess we know where he got this move from.

sweet blessings

the saturday before covington was born, the sweet friends in james' cohort threw us a shower to pray over us. i was really struggling with a lot of aprehension and worry over everything - getting through the last weeks of school, labor, the delivery, having everything ready in time, labor, ever sleeping again, getting the baby to sleep, labor, how it would all affect our marriage, everything. i'm going to blame it on crazy hormones, but it was not fun. james was quoting scripture to me constantly and had a list of scripture written out on my bedside table.

(little did i know that covington would actually come a mere 36 hours later, no, i wouldn't have everything at school done and ready for my sub, and no, i wouldn't have everything ready at home, but it would all work out just perfect and be the best thing that every happened to us ever.)

our sweet friends wrote out their prayers and scriptures for us and then gathered around and prayed for us. it's such an amazing feeling to hear others lift up our worries and concerns to the Lord. 

all of their prayers now hang in covington's nursery and the one in the middle catches my eye often. "we are praying that covington sleeps well, for safety in labor and delivery, for jessica's last days of school." all beautifully answered prayers. thank you, Lord.

by the way - before we moved to chattanooga, our friends prayed over us and prayed specifically for my job - i got a follow up interview and job the next day. here our friends prayed for sweet covington and he was born 2 days later, a full 2 weeks early. that says something, right? if you need something to happen, let me know and i'll just ask my friends to pray :)

thank you, Lord, for such sweet friends and answered prayers

Trouble

ya'll, i am in serious trouble. 

as james would say - this kid plays me like a fiddle.

what? you fuss so i'll stand up & hold you? sure thing.

you want to sit up, face out, & walk? alright,

need me to stand on my head and spin in circles? no problem.

but, oh goodness. you can play me all day.

lets just start praying he's a good teenager. 

5 months

unbelievable.

covington hit a huge growth spurt this month while we were home! the difference between the beginning and end of our trip is crazy. he has much better head control and wants to be up looking around all the time. he watches everything and you can just see him putting things together. he's definitely found his feet and loves playing with them and is quite the finger sucker. he is starting to tripod - legs out, leaning on hands - apparently the start to sitting up. he's even starting to fit into his 3-6 month clothes! he doesn't get upset too much, but he loves to be outside and immediately calms down when we walk outside. he weighs somewhere between 14.5 and 15 pounds and i'm anxious to see if he's moving up the growth chart any next month! he is quite the cuddler and loves loves music. this kid also loves his schedule. while i wouldn't exactly call him flexible, it's pretty easy to tell you when he's going to be happy and not so much. on our trip, we quickly realized covington is quite a people-person. we're pretty sure he's cranky some afternoons just because he's bored with us! he has this awesome belly laugh that only james can get out of him. best. sound. ever.

we're absolutely loving it!

first trip down south

we're finally back in wheaton and already missing the south - especially the food (just kidding - we totally especially miss family, who tends to feed us the good food :)

what started out as a 2 week trip ended up being 5 weeks with several stops along the way and a couple trips to the beach. this is probably james' last big break in school for the next 4 years, so we took full advantage of it.

covington was a serious trooper in the 15ish hour drive down and back. he's definitely settled on the two finger suck over the thumb and his feet are his favorite new toy.

the trip started out with a little haircut. apparently the balding-old-man-horshoe-in-the-back isn't in style down south.

james got some much needed time on the lawn mower which is more counseling than money can buy.

we had so much fun playing with sweet cousins. hayze and mary brooke were both quite entertaining.

poor thing - covington never got held or played with :)

both our trips to the beach with family were lots of fun. i'm pretty sure our pasty chicago skin blinded a few people, but after a few layers of scorched skin peeled, we back close to our normal color. covington liked the waves and sand, but wasn't real sure about the pool. i'm pretty sure he just wondered why his bath water was so cold. how cute is he is his little hat and glasses?! totally decked out. he's going to love me for that one day. 

he just wore himself out on most days.

it was such a great trip! how does 5 weeks fly by? we always spend the trip back talking about how blessed we are. 

so. very. blessed.