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building a fortress

Here is the face of Valor a week and a half ago, at 32 weeks. What a chub! Look at that chin! At that appointment, he was measuring in the 64th percentile for size, estimated to be 4 lbs. 8 oz.!  We couldn’t help but think of little Jamesey, who struggled so hard to get to the four-pound mark during his second month in the NICU. He hit it four or five times before he finally kept the weight on.

While Valor dreams on, hungry and stretching and growing, waking up when Mommy opens the freezer door or Daddy makes loud raspberries on his warm house, we have been dreaming up the rest of his medieval nursery.

Keying off Mom’s inspiration hanging, we ordered a crib set in solid hunter green and John designed 12 shields for the crib bumper. Mom created them using a beautiful mixture of piecing and applique. We hope he enjoys looking at the bright shapes and colors.

Our friends John and Jen helped us choose a light green for the walls. They came to paint yesterday, and when we moved the dresser out from the wall we found one of James’s purple strings of beads, a used lancet cartridge, and a cotton ball with two spots of blood on it from a heel prick. It brought back memories of that extremely rigorous routine we kept, checking his sugar every couple hours, constant little pricks that we hope didn’t hurt him very much. And the beads reminded me of how he loved to play and smile. He brought so much change with him, and left such a gap behind.

I have been trying to say goodbye to James’s room for a few days now. I remind myself that James doesn’t need his room now, that he has a much better room in his heavenly Father’s house (John 14:2), and that he is happy for his brother to be in his old room. It’s still hard for me to make the transition, though, and I think about all the times I rocked James in there and just miss my little fragile, beautiful man.

You can see the new wall color in the above photo. It matches the lightest green on the dragon hanging. Mom helped me make the crenellated valance a couple weeks ago, and I really liked the effect so I added a crenellated border to the bottom of the crib skirt  all by myself (it just takes me a lot longer than it takes her). Here it is, draped over the loveseat.

My most fun project for the nursery was the crib mobile. I couldn’t find any medieval-themed mobiles, so I thought I would put little stuffed dragons on a stripped-down existing mobile. Then I came across this set of finger puppets, and decided they were lighter and cuter to boot! After they arrived, I used them to entertain a friend who was about to have surgery (you know those hospital privacy curtains that have netting on the top? great stage). John enjoyed playing with them, too: here the knight is boxing the dragon with his bare fists.

We named the knight Sir Valor and the wild-haired royal Prince Hairy. I sewed loops on their backs and weighted the people’s torsos with some wooden beads, and here are the preliminary results:

Not a bad crib mobile for under $30. So, those are the main pieces of our medieval nursery-in-the-making. Our friends the Lis are visiting for the next week or so, so we are waiting to put it all together until we have a little more space. We’ll post some pictures of the final version when we do.

18 thoughts on “building a fortress”

  1. It is just awesome how miraculous the Lord is. He just keeps on blessing us over and over again. God id good with all His glory.

  2. How fitting that a young prince like Valor shall come home to dwell in so formidable and spectacular a palace. Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain! Labor on in His strength, dear ones. Well done.

  3. The room is really coming along! (And so is baby Valor) I guess since you’ve been working so hard I can forgive you for keeping us waiting so long for a new post. 😉

  4. The name Valor and his nursery theme are so inspired.

    The bumper pad is beautiful but I just wanted to share with you the some recommendations from The American Academy of Pediatrics (http://www.aap.org/family/inffurn.htm) and the American SIDS Institute (http://www.sids.org/nprevent.htm):

    Remove pillows, pillow-like bumper pads, quilts, comforters, sheepskins, stuffed toys, and other soft products from the crib. – AAOP

    Place infants to sleep in a baby bed with a firm mattress. There should be nothing in the bed but the baby – no covers, no pillows, no bumper pads, no positioning devices and no toys. Soft mattresses and heavy covering are associated with the risk for SIDS. – ASI

    Many prayers for a safe, happy and healthy labor and delivery!!!

  5. Looking great- and terrific job on the cribskirt- talk about bravery! One question- where are you going to put the castle? You must be having a blast putting this all together- it’s a lot of fun to see!

  6. I was randomly sent here to see your nursery set, then got caught up in reading your family story. I just want to know that reading your story has blessed me so immensely. I love seeing how God works through all things to bring glory to Himself. I will subscribe to your newsfeed, because even though I don’t know you, it blesses my heart to see God bless others!

  7. I lost my first child when I was 40 weeks pregnant to a cord accident. In a following pregnancy I eventually had to turn HIS room into her room…it was one of the toughest, yet most healing, things in my grief process. I had to work hard to make it very very different (gender helped) but even rearranging furniture happened to ensure she had a space of her own. I still remember the room I so lovingly prepared for him and am happy to know he had a space in our home, even if never lived in that room. Your new room is going to be amazing.

  8. Hello again, don’t know if you are reading the comments on this post anymore, but I was just wondering where you found the solid green crib bumper, I’m having a bit of trouble finding plain bumpers in solid colors!
    Thanks Rena

      1. Thanks very much for that website John, I can’t believe how hard it is to find bedding without designs on it!

        Thanks again!

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