On nesting.

Every weekday I drive past a house that has three stands of decorative grass separating their house from the busy road. These variegated, decorative grasses grow all year long and are about 7 feet tall. These are not small blades of grass.

One morning this week as I was driving by, I saw a little bird swoop down to pick up a piece of grass. This piece of grass was easily three times the length of Mama bird, but she was determined to grab it and fly. She swooped in, picked it up and flapped her wings like crazy to get it off the ground. She had a little moment of hesitation once she was airborne, just a little swoop, but she flapped her wings harder and off she went with that huge piece of grass clutched in her mouth. Can you imagine the nest she's building? Talk about the super deluxe model!

I had a "moment" watching this determined Mama. I felt like I know a little bit about how she feels. I'm sure if birds had doctors, they'd tell her to be careful lifting things and would probably be horrified that she thought she was able to lift this exceedingly large piece of grass. If she had my doctors, she'd be hearing about how "high risk" this kind of behavior is. She'd be hearing about all the things that could very well go wrong with her pregnancy, and all the precautions she should take. I'm sure she's (in relative terms) younger than I am, so she's probably never heard she's a little OLD to be having babies. But whatever her circumstance, whatever her path, she was determined. She pressed on. She knows she has to build a nest. It's instinctual. And she's building the best darn nest she can.

You see, I'm building a nest too. I'm building a nest for our miracle baby. I'm building a nest for a baby who has beaten every odd that's been put against him. A baby who's growing faster than the average baby is supposed to grow - even though he's supposed to be lagging in growth because of the unusual nature of his existence. So despite all the warnings, despite all the circumstances, despite all the battles, I'm building my nest. Because I believe our miracle baby is going to continue to beat the odds set against him, showing all those doctors, with all their warnings that the God who made him can defy all their odds.

So you see, I too know I have to build a nest. It's instinctual. And you can bet I'm building the best darn nest I can.

DIY Monday: Is it spring yet?

We had snow last weekend. I've been spoiled with days nearing the 70 degree mark and then - BAM - we get snow. It tried to cover the cherry blossoms and the daffodils, but they were made of sterner stuff!

In celebration of their perseverence, I was inspired to make a spring wreath to welcome guests into my home. Actually, it was to remind us of the promise of Spring as we travel back and forth to work.

Because I don't have a ton of time, I decided on the super easy version of this project. And then I went to my local Michael's to pick up my supplies:

• Styrofoam wreath (I chose the rounded rather than the flat variety)
• One package Spanish Moss (because the greener moss was way too expensive)
• Some hot glue (because I have no idea where mine is right now)
• A tiny nest (because nothing says Spring like nestlings!)
• Some turquoise ribbon
• And the thing that caused me the most trouble - tiny eggs for my nest

The first step is to attach the Spanish moss to the styrofoam wreath form with hot glue. I beaded the glue along the wreath and pressed the moss into the glue. Be careful not to burn your fingers as you're doing this.



As I mentioned above, the thing that gave me the most trouble was finding the right size and color of eggs. I'd hoped I could find some flower sprays with the eggs already attached in a tasteful robin's egg blue with brown speckles. I had no such luck. After searching the store for wooden eggs, then paper eggs and even a turn around the clay aisle (to make eggs), I settled on the glitter-laden eggs from the floral sprays in the Easter displays at the front. Since only one of the eggs had the glittery goodness, I had to walk around and find some glitter paint that would give me the same effect on the non-glitter egg that was included in the spray.

Having found the glitter paint, I spread it over the surface of the non-glittery egg to create a more uniform looks. Once that dried, I glued it into the nest and then glued the nest into the now Spanish moss covered wreath.



And that is how I now have a touch of Spring on my front door with less than an hour invested in the hunting, gathering and making of the wreath.