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Sallie Schaaf Borrink

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You are here: Home / Archives for Our Cozy Family Life / My Pregnancy & Baby Stories

My Pregnancy & Baby Stories

Caroline’s Pink Baby Room

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November 20, 2018 | Sallie Borrink
19 Comments
View Full Post with Embedded ContentCaroline’s Pink Baby Room

I thought it would be fun to bring back some older posts related to baby things including Caroline’s pink baby room. I took them off my site at one point because they didn’t fit the “niche” I was supposed to develop. I’ve decided I don’t really care and am happy to share this post about Caroline’s nursery.

I originally wrote this when she was five and a half months old in March 2007. I’ve edited it slightly, but it is mostly original as are the comments. I hope readers who weren’t around in 2007 enjoy seeing these photos from that happy time when we were finally blessed with a child after many years of waiting and praying.

Decorating a Baby’s Room

Yesterday Katy left a comment with the following questions.

How do you feel about all of this “infant stimulation” stuff? I keep reading that your baby’s nursery should be all in bright stimulating colors (I thought that room was for sleeping.), and that they need these stimulation toys and videos (like Baby Einstein). What does Caroline play with? How do you keep her environment?

Katie’s questions spurred me on to finally take pictures of Caroline’s room and post them. I’ve been meaning to do a post about decorating her room so I’ll combine the two.

Please keep in mind that I am not a professional psychologist, child development expert, etc. I’m a certified elementary teacher, but I think my greatest qualification is that God gave Caroline to me (and David) to raise so He must think we are the best equipped people to raise her. So I’m a Caroline Expert-in-Training. What works for us might not work for everybody else. But I’m happy to give you my take on things. 🙂

Caroline’s Pink Baby Room

Caroline’s room is what was previously David’s office. We had already refinished the original wood floors and had painted all the trim, put in new windows, etc. All we had to do to make it a baby’s room was change the walls and other decorating items. When we were looking for nursery decor, I knew that it was going to be all girl! I was interested in pink in some form.

I looked around a long time and finally ordered bedding I found online. It came and I didn’t like it. I wanted something soothing, but this was washed out looking so I returned it. We kept looking and finally found something we really liked at Babies ‘R Us. I didn’t necessarily want something cutesy, but ended up with bunnies and rose buds. And we love it. Since Caroline is too young to sleep with a blanket, we used the quilt as a wall hanging.

I am a dream come true green sign above white valence curtains in pink baby nursery

It was our intention to look for a used crib and changing table that we could paint. Money was squeaky tight at that time and that was all we could afford. My parents graciously gave us money for a crib, mattress, and changing table so we were able to find something nice and new at Target. I didn’t specifically look for a crib with a drawer underneath, but I love it!

White baby bed with drawers in baby room with pink walls

My mom suggested that we put white beadboard on the bottom of the walls and we were so pleased with how that turned out. The pink walls are two colors. We painted on a base coat and then ragged on another pink color with cheesecloth. It far exceeded my expectations. It is beautiful and we were tickled pink (!) when it was done.

We already had a very nice Dutailier glider in David’s office (that we had purchased at an upscale baby store). We simply bought new light green cushions for it (and sold the medium-dark denim ones, which were like new, on eBay).

The heart-shaped wooden stand next to the glider was one we already had. It was stained a light oak color and I painted it white.

Glider chair with light green cushions in pink baby room with white woodwork, white changing table, and white bed.

I wanted a bookcase in her room so we asked David’s father (who is an incredible craftsman) if he had any extra wood we could use for a bookcase. Our intention was to paint it so we weren’t worried about whether it was super fine wood. He had plenty of wood that would work.

So we purchased a piece of beadboard for the back and the rest of the bookcase came from scrap wood David’s father had. He made the bookcase components, David put it together, and we painted it. So it was a very inexpensive bookcase, made to order with high shelf space to easily fit larger picture books. (Very important!)

White changing table and white bookcase in pink baby nursery with wood floors

The dresser is also one we already had. It was my grandmother’s and I had stripped and refinished it years ago. It had a lovely oak finish and I cringed a bit when I put white paint on it. I remembered all those hot hours I spent stripping, sanding, staining, and sealing it! But it was just right for Caroline’s room so it was painted. I really wanted to put glass knobs on it, but in the end just spray painted the knobs I already had on there.

White dresser in baby nursery with pink walls, beadboard, chair rail, white baby bed, pink rug and wood floors

So that’s most of the room! We also put in a new light fixture/ceiling fan from Lowe’s. The curtains and rod are from Target. The green sign and the white baskets with green and white checked liners were from Babies ‘R Us. My mom bought the rug from J.C. Penney. The wooden letters above Caroline’s bed were purchased at Michael’s and then spray painted white.

So all in all it was a fairly low cost room. We were able to use many things we already had and then supplement them with some things we purchased and other items that were gifted to us.

So, to get back to Katy’s question, I think a bedroom should be soft and peaceful whether it is for an adult or a child. I can’t for the life of me figure out why a child’s room should be stimulating. I agree that a child’s room is primarily a place to sleep. Yes, they might play in there too but they can play in a peaceful room and be stimulated by the toys rather than the decor.

I’ll have to tackle the question of what toys we use in another post.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of Caroline’s pink baby room!

Caroline's Pink Baby Room

Category: My Pregnancy & Baby StoriesTag: Decorating Our Cozy Home19 Comments

Miscarriage And Grieving With The Gentle Shepherd

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November 10, 2015 | Sallie Borrink
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View Full Post with Embedded ContentMiscarriage And Grieving With The Gentle Shepherd

“Is it God’s purpose to make you feel like a sinful worm when you deal with tragedy?” is a look at an article posted on The Gospel Coalition website about “Miscarriage and the Confusion of Sinful Grief.” That original article at TGC sends up a number of red flags regarding the topic of miscarriage and grieving so I’m glad The Wartburg Watch wrote this. The discussion in the comments is also very good.

My own miscarriage before I had Caroline opened up many theological questions for me, but thankfully I never felt condemned or sinful for grieving. The church today has a significant problem understanding how to minister to people dealing with grief, depression, chronic illness, etc. It’s a huge field of ministry, but people are too enamored with Joel Osteen’s fake brand of Happy Face “Christianity” to realize this.

Losing a child to miscarriage is tragic enough. To beat yourself up and think of yourself as sinning because you are feeling and sorting through strong emotions in your grief only adds to the tragedy.

In my darkest and hardest moments, this is one of the verses I turned to time and again (emphasis mine):

“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”
~ Isaiah 40:11

In my lowest moments, I knew the Great Shepherd was gathering me close to his heart. He will do that for all the sheep who know Him.

Especially the grieving mothers.

Category: Christian Faith, My Pregnancy & Baby StoriesTag: MiscarriageBe The First To Comment

Parenting & Enjoying Your High Need Baby

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April 1, 2014 | Sallie Borrink
34 Comments
View Full Post with Embedded ContentParenting & Enjoying Your High Need Baby

Our first year of parenting with a high need baby was difficult. I mean really difficult. I know everyone says that having a baby is a challenge, but it truly was depressingly difficult. I was bewildered by this precious gift from God. I wasn’t a stranger to babies. I had done considerable babysitting starting in my teens, including the baby next door when she was a week old. I had worked as a teacher. I volunteered at church. I had spent lots of time around children.

I like babies and babies always like me. But after all that experience and years of praying and asking for a child, I was not prepared for the one I received.

Our High Need Baby

I did not realize Caroline was a high need infant until long after the fact.

I chalked it all up to us being new parents, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, the winter doldrums, being an older mom, being a bit of a perfectionist who likes things just so, etc. I wish I had found these resources the first few months. I truly believe our first year as parents would have been much happier.

Our daughter fits the descriptions in the Dr. Sears articles below to a tee. I can’t begin to tell you how freeing and affirming it was to read Dr. Sears talk about his own high-need baby. He was an experienced parent who also found himself bewildered by this child who was so much more than the others had ever been.

When I say that I understand what you are dealing with, I truly mean that.

If you have a high need baby, I know how hard it is.

I know that other people don’t understand why you can’t make the baby do what you want it to do. They don’t understand. I understand that.

You are not crazy! Your baby IS harder to parent.

Parenting a High Need Child Does Get Easier

I can also tell you that it does get easier. We invested so much physical, emotional, and spiritual energy into figuring out our daughter. I’m not going to lie. The first four years were tough. Each year it was a little easier, but when she was around four it reached a tipping point where it got much easier much more quickly. We are now reaping the rewards of that. She’s eight and a half nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen now and it is so much easier. She’s truly a delightful little girl young lady. We learned what works with her and what doesn’t.

It does get easier. You will get through this!

I hope you find the information below to be helpful. Please feel free to leave a comment if you need to dump on someone. I would consider it an honor to help you vent your frustrations. I will do my best to respond to each comment on this page because I know how hard it is.

Hang in there. Better days are coming!

Please note: The following links are to interesting and thought-provoking reading. The inclusion of a link is not an endorsement of all its content or the content of the site on which it is found.

Books About High Need Babies

I wish I had discovered these books sooner than I did. The Wonder Weeks book is fascinating and I could see how it played out time and again in our family. Just knowing there was a reason behind the extra fussiness was incredibly helpful!

The Fussy Baby Book: Parenting Your High-Need Child From Birth to Age FiveThe Fussy Baby Book: Parenting Your High-Need Child From Birth to Age FiveThe Fussy Baby Book: Parenting Your High-Need Child From Birth to Age FiveYour Fussy BabyYour Fussy BabyYour Fussy BabyThe Fussy Baby How to Bring Out the Best in Your High-Need ChildThe Fussy Baby How to Bring Out the Best in Your High-Need ChildThe Fussy Baby How to Bring Out the Best in Your High-Need ChildThe Wonder WeeksThe Wonder WeeksThe Wonder Weeks

My Posts About My High Need Baby

If you go through all the different topical posts on my site, you’ll notice that this is where I usually share my own posts about the topic.

Please note there is nothing here. That is how much having a high need baby derailed my writing on my website.

  • I was in sleep deprived survival mode.
  • I couldn’t figure out what to write because I was so overwhelmed and bewildered.
  • I wrote very little during the first year and nothing about babies because I had no idea what to say.

I hope to write more about it in the days ahead, but I didn’t write about my experiences in real time.

High Needs Baby Online Articles

Here are numerous helpful articles about high need babies.

  • What High Need Means – A Story about Our High Needs Baby from AskDrSears.com
  • 12 Lessons Our High Need Baby Taught Us from AskDrSears.com
  • Changing Personality Profile as High Need Child Grows from AskDrSears.com
  • 12 Features of a High Needs Baby from AskDrSears.com
  • 5 Reasons Why High Need Children Sleep Differently from AskDrSears.com
  • Parent-to-Parent: 20 Survival Tips for Parents of High Need Children from AskDrSears.com
  • 6 Ways to Help a High Need Baby go to Sleep and Stay Asleep from AskDrSears.com

High Need Baby Discussion Boards

  • Support for Raising Spirited Babies from Baby Whisperer Forum (Although this is about spirited babies, much will be helpful)
  • HELP – How to Enjoy a “Spirited” Baby from Baby Whisperer Forum

You may also find my Parenting & Enjoying Your Highly Sensitive and Spirited Child page helpful!

Category: Gracious Christian Parenting, My Pregnancy & Baby Stories34 Comments
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I’m Sallie, Christian wife, mother, and homeschooler. Welcome to my cozy corner of the world. Our little family lives a quiet simple life of home education, self-employment, and laughter. I share what I've learned to help others navigate this world with truth and beauty. Please start here. ♥ 

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