Baby Mobile

My latest do it yourself project.....and by latest, I mean pre-birth. While I was waiting for the arrival of Mr. Burt, I was scanning through Pinterest, duh, and found the cutest baby mobile.

Tutorial for this mobile can be found here.

Did you know that baby mobiles on average are 30 bucks!?! Ridiculous! And they are not even that cute! Baby stuff is a racket y'all!

Enough of my ranting.

So at the end of my pregnancy, I had to get my nesting on. I was going to stick it to the man and make my very own mobile, with some assistance from my mom.

Here's how it turned out!

 

I didn't follow the tutorial perfectly! Instead of just cutting out circles, we made cardboard cut outs of a turtle, alligator, and frog. We also added some little buttons where the ribbons attach to the hoop for a little extra pizzazz. At the bottom we bought some wooden beads, painted them, and tied the ribbon in a knot for some extra weight. 

I love Burt's little homemade mobile! Thanks for the help, Mom!

He Is With Me

So after the labor, the first few weeks of no sleep, the incoming visitors, the baby having a cow's milk allergy, the traveling to visit great grandparents, the hurricane, and then more visitors.....geez..... these past few weeks I got to actually have some downtime at home. Maybe I liked having all the chaos because I started missing my family and friends.

Isn't that crazy how that works!

In the midst of the craziness, you want some downtime and in the downtime you long for a little craziness.

But anyway....

They say that the baby blues occurs during or after pregnancy. I didn't think that I had these so called blues at all. Everything is perfect and super duper! Um no.

Is this all I do now...... bathtime, naptime, feeding every couple of hours, changing poopies, washing tiny clothes, cleaning up pee-pee off the wall, and comforting an upset baby boy. I am a stay at home mom...WHAT? When did this happen? I had the wife, special education teacher, sister, daughter, granddaughter, and friend roles all sort of figured out, but being a MOM?!? I am not sure if I even qualify being a mom. I am still amazed that the nurses and doctors allowed me to leave the hospital with my baby. Total doubt of my capabilities. Yep, the blues for sure. I could go on and on about all the discouragement and depressed feelings, but that's depressing in itself.  

I knew that I needed to get out of the house and meet some folks. Since my mommy friends are so far away, I knew I needed to meet some moms. At church I noticed that the women's circle meetings were starting, and I should probably get involved, so that I would not become a recluse - stay at home - mom (that's just asking for the blues). In need of some fellowship, I started going to a women's small group .

We are studying the story of Martha and Mary. You know the one where Jesus came to their house, and Martha did all the preparations for the meal, while Mary went and sat at Jesus' feet to listen. Martha asks Jesus to tell Mary to help her, but Jesus says that Mary has chosen what is better.

I needed to remember to listen to what Jesus has told me about himself. I needed to sit at his feet and remember who he is.

He is with me, do not fear.

It is quite frightening to know that this little boy depends fully on Andrew and me to take care of him. I don't have all the answers to bringing this baby up in the way he should go. I am anxious of the mistakes that I will make in the future. I am comforted in knowing  that we are not alone in all of this. God has given us his Holy Spirit, parents, siblings, and friends to help us. In the women's Bible study group there are four other girls that have recently moved to this area, many moms with little ones, four girls expecting babies, and others ladies that I am extremely excited about getting to know. I have already received some little nuggets of wisdom from some of them, and I cannot wait to find out how God will use them to teach me about being a Godly woman and mother. 

God is good like that. When you need encouragement, he gives it. When you need help, he gives it. When you need grace, he gives it. When you need forgiveness, he gives it. Maybe I won't be such a sucky mom to Burt Burt like I thought. 

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior." Isaiah 43:1-2

Fear not, He is with me.

My Granny Burt

I want to write a memoir one day about all of the crazy stories about the Burt side of my family. Most of the stories would include my Granny Burt. Most of the hilarious stories that I would share about her would include a few choice words. When you hear an 85 year old lady drop a curse word, you are always caught off guard. You would definitely get some good stories or one liners after she has had a glass from her boxed wine. Mind you she is not a big drinker, but she does like the occasional glass of homemade muscadine wine or boxed Franzia (yucky). One of my favorite stories of her involves an uncles ex and my brothers ex and her old self wanting to trip them.  She obviously doesn't like it when others mess with her children or grandchildren.

The lady never stops. Even at 85. I mean what other 85 year old lady mows her own yard and prepares a meal every Sunday for a family of 15? Whenever I go to stay with her, she makes my favorite things either pecan or lemon pie, butter beans and fried okra. All of my sweet memories of growing up with her has her cooking in the kitchen, picking out of the garden, stocking up the freezer, or sweeping off the porch. Lady knows how to run a home.

I think often about my Granny Burt. When I need a little bit of her wit and charm to cheer me up, I call her. When I need a little advice about how to make turnip greens, fry the perfect piece of chicken, or make meringue, I call her. When I need to be reminded about my father, I call her.

Today marks five years since the death of my daddy. Oh I miss him like crazy. Such a devastating time, but also a time where the Lord drew me to himself. I often think about how my Granny felt during this time. How much pain she felt when she found him. How her heart broke losing her first born son. I often feel the heaviness in my own chest if I think about it, and I know that's how she feels. It also makes me think of God as well. Did he have that same heaviness when Jesus died? Did he grieve and mourn for those three days until Jesus was resurrected?

I know this all seems dark and morose, but knowing Jesus especially during these dark and difficult times makes it so much better. I think I would still be stuck in my grief full of denial, bitterness, anger, and depression if it weren't for the gospel. I know that we live in a fallen world that is groaning for redemption and restoration, and that's where Jesus gives us hope.

My Granny has been calling me more often since Burt was born. The little rascal looks so much like my dad, and she just cannot get enough of him.

The Lord does take away, but he gives abundantly more.

Give It Up or Give It One More Shot

My dearest blog,

I have been thinking a lot about you lately, and I really want to give you up. You are a scrappy little thing, and you keep clawing your way back into my mind.

Meeting a few friends with totally sweet blogs (12 Reasons Christians Should Blog click here), and being encouraged by my mom to get to blogging has  made me reconsider keeping you.

I need you.

I promise to post atleast twice a week.

Love,

Casie

So Much for the Cradle List

I am back after the year of no blog. I skipped "The Cradle List" and went straight to the cradle! I wanted to blog about each step in the pregnancy, but to be honest the first trimester was totally Sucksville and the second we found out we were moving. The blog of course was put to the side until after the move, after school let out, and until I had a moment of sanity. So here I am 8 months pregnant! Whoo! We are settling into Mobile, AL after a week of stressful moving, and I am just now feeling like a normal human being. And by normal I mean, I don't have to worry about moving, children at school, and not living in a separate city from my hubs.... not so much the swollen hands and feet, the not being able to reach my feet, the minutes it takes to roll over in the bed, the insane appetite that I have taken on (which really impresses my husband), and of course the inability to fit into any clothes, so I have resorted to wearing an XL t-shirt, gym shorts, and squeezing my fat feet into a flip flop when I need to run to the grocery or Redbox. Andrew hooked us up with a sweet house in the historic district of downtown Mobile, and I am slowly making progress getting things in order. I am pretty excited to finally get to look at all of the amazing goodies for our little guy. Once his room is set up you can expect a picture. It's going to be cute!  Like my good friend Nicole says, "It's the 4th quarter"......so the blog is back and just in time for the good stuff!

 And here is the cheesy pregnancy picture!

#12 Settle In

So I am on Spring Break in the big city of Jackson. As much as I want to sit outside on our apartment's front porch and read my book and sip some Diet Coke or be a couch potato and catch up on every terrible reality TV show that I possibly can.....I can't. I have to do taxes. I have to unpack boxes and settle into this tiny apartment, while reminding myself that I can live in this little place for just 6 months. I have to get the resumes ready, fill out applications, visit schools, and meet principals. THIS IS THE WORST BREAK EVER!! I am being a bit dramatic!

This morning while getting ready to visit some schools, this load of anxiety began to build up inside of me. The once fresh and so clean, clean outfit is drenched with sweat. The once straight and neat hair begins to poof up. I have trouble breathing and start to get self-conscience. I check the mirror a million times to make sure that every thread  of my clothing and every strand of my hair  is perfectly in place. I lent roll my pants at least four times to get the Suki hair off. I read over my resume several times to make sure that I have not made any grammatical errors. I go to the bathroom twice before walking out the door. Who does this!?! I guess you have realized now that I have these anxious fears of meeting principals and just getting a job in general.

Am I the only one that gets like this!

So the Providence of God of course gives me a good smack in the face when "Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah" comes on. I make this song my prayer and I head out with the assurance that God is my Helper, my Strength, and my Strong Deliverer.

I have checked off everything on my to do list.....resume, taxes, cleaning, applications, etc...  I'm not worried or anxious about what will come of those applications or resumes.....knowing the Sovereign God is quite peaceful! It is time to read my book on the front porch and drink my diet coke!

Bid my anxious fears, goodbye.

#6 Attend Numerous Concerts

I meant to post this a week ago.....

So, right smack in the middle of moving we attended a concert. Probably not one of the wisest decisions, but it was well worth the four hours of sleep........ before we packed........and drove 5 hours into delirium the next day.

I have been following Band of Horses for the past two years or so and knew I could not miss the opportunity to FINALLY see them. Last Memphis in May we had tickets to go see them, but with the torrential downpour, we stayed put. So Jonathan, Andrew and I headed off to Tuscaloosa to see BOH and Avett Brothers at the new amphitheater!

BOH was amazing! I definitely goobed it up singing every lyric and bobbing my head like the rocker I am! Ha! 

This is a little clip of "The Funeral" by Band of  Horses.

Next up Avett Brothers.

 This is a clip of "I and Love and You" by The Avett Brothers.

Oh and I got to see Emma!!

 The no sleep and terrible move Saturday was completely worth it! Next concert is in the works.....I'll keep you updated!