Healthy Baby Dispels Clouds

This fall has been a blur without many posts.  First, came the house flood.  Then, came the birth of a new grandson which dispelled the rain clouds!  Who cares if your "stuff" is displaced, when a new healthy life breaks on the scene?  Truly, children are a gift from the Lord received with joy!

The day of his arrival, one great grandmother and both grandmothers entertained Will in the family waiting area.

The short couple of hours seems like an eternity, until we got the much anticipated text:  "Baby arrived.  All is well!"

Tears of joy filled our eyes. (If you remember, Rachel's first sonogram revealed a cystic hygroma on Nathan's head, neck, and back.  This finding can be highly indicative of chromosomal defects. Even though the cyst was never seen on subsequent sonograms, unspoken caution lurked in the background (http://graciousinteriors.blogspot.com/2001/04/promise of springtime.html). Thankfully, relief and praise replaced our submerged fear.

The perfect little guy brings smiles to Rachel and Gigi's faces!

Nathan was loved from the start. His daddy and mama prepared for his coming by personalizing what had been Will's nursery.  They added a gunmetal chandelier and his name above the crib.

However, Rachel's biggest job was redecorating a big-boy room for Will John.  Since Curt played baseball all his life, Rachel chose this as the theme.  Besides, this motif can grow with the two-year-old.

After painting the room Benjamin Moore "Museum Piece" (50%), she purchased a large canvas from Michael's, covering it with white linen and attaching Curt's jersey, catcher's mask, and mitt.

Then she surrounded the display with a bat and balls, using holders from Restoration Hardware's children's division.  The lamp was ordered from Ballard Design, while the reading chair was purchased at TJ Max.  The gunmetal cafe chair at the desk came from Tolix, the book crate from Etsy, and the metal letters from Restoration Hardware.

On an adjacent wall, Rachel hung Curt's prize collection of George Brett metal newspaper galleys.

Finally, Will graduated to his "big-boy" bed, a daybed that Rachel slept on as a girl. (Bill and I purchased the French colonial antique on a Port-au-Prince street in the 1980's.)

To get into his bed, Will uses steps Rachel ordered unfinished from Etsy.  We stained them mahogany to match the bed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art posters above the bed are of famous baseball cards and were framed for Curt by his parents.

Can you see why the great grandpa, grandpas, and dad voted this their favorite room in the house?

Finally, Nathan's home-coming day arrived.  That morning the high risk obstetrician came for a final discharge visit.  She looked Nathan over, commenting, "The cyst must have been very tiny."

"No," Rachel replied; "actually, it was quite large from his head down his spine."

"Then we must be looking at a miracle," she responded!

How thankful we are for Nathan's good health!

From my perspective, life on earth doesn't get any better than this!  Nathan Curtis' healthy arrival certainly put our dislodgment in perspective.  A flooded home pales in comparison to Nathan's nine Apgar score! Won't you praise God with us?