Nearly 23 weeks and covered in paint!

This weekend I decided to tackle the first big project on my baby to do list: painting the closet nursery. It took me a while to decide on a color scheme, but I finally settled on mint green, sea glass aqua, butter yellow and pale pink. My first big obstacle was my husband. First he wasn't super excited about giving up his closet, but he gave in quickly on that one. He was even less excited about the idea of me painting it. I think he knew there was no way he was going to win that one, so he pretty much gave up before he started, but his main point was 'why paint it when its just going to turn back into my closet after a few months?'

That actually makes perfect sense, but I figure if we are going to shove her in a closet, it might as well be a super special, super cute closet. I have read a lot of discussion boards on closet nurseries and some people are super opposed to them, but the main thing they were concerned about was proper air flow. Well our closet has its very own air vent, is 9'4" x 4'9" and we plan to take off the door for extra circulation and openness. This is a preliminary floor plan, but hopefully things will sort of fit in accordingly.

 

 

The wall I painted is the wall with the crib and I also painted the backs of the built-in shelves, but haven't finished that part yet. The crib feature wall before (sorry I didn't get it from a good angle):

 

 

The first step was taping off my design. After I had all the tape down I went over every piece with used gift card to secure the tape to the wall for a good seal. This project is super easy but time consuming, so I decided to do the extra step of going over all my lines with white paint to make sure if anything leaked through it would be the white so I would have nice crisp lines.

 

 

For my colors I chose Valspar's Homestead Resort Spa Aqua, Pillow Mint, Lightest Sky, and Frosted Snow. I just got the new color samples Lowes has for $2.98 each and that was plenty to get this small wall and the back of the bookshelves painted.

 

 

I was really lazy for this, I used a small roller, lined the pan with tinfoil and used a new roller head for each color. I did one color at time and did 2 coats of it allowing about an hour between coats. I tried to imagine where the other colors would be and picked the 'squares' to fill in accordingly. It pretty much took all day with drying time, but then it was finally time to peel off the tape!

 

The lines came out super crisp, and I love it! The lighting in there isn't super great, so the colors are reading a little more yellow than they do in person, but the actual colors are super soothing! So excited to get some furniture and art in there! First, I have to finish the second coat of white on the rest of the closet and paint the trim on the bookcases!

xoxo,
Brooke

 



22 weeks

It is weird to think I am already 22 weeks pregnant! Sometimes it is hard to believe I am pregnant at all! I feel like everything happened really fast. I was super ready to start a family, so I was a little confused that once I found out we were expecting I wasn't immediately bonded to our little peach. I sort of assumed that it would happen automatically, and almost felt like a bad person that it didn't. But after hearing that this is very normal from a lot of people, I calmed down and got lost in every day life.

I had virtually zero morning sickness. Minimal symptoms overall. I just felt super tired, but for anyone who knows me, I can sleep like no other, so nothing unusual there. I still haven't gained much if any weight, although my tummy and hips apparently didn't get the memo.

Everything changed after finding out we were having a girl. The switch flipped or something, and the bond came on super strong, at least for me. I think seeing her move around in there with little arms and little legs and being able to call her a she or her made everything real. Shortly after that, I felt her for the first time. It was weird because I felt her on the outside... not a little flutter, but a holy crap what is that bulge I feel pressing into my thigh kind of thing. Apparently she wasn't super thrilled with my bent over blow drying technique. (Hey, a girls got to get a little volume! Geez!) I ran to try to let Steve feel this super weird bulge in my belly, but my marathon from the bathroom to the bed jostled her right back it to squishy can't tell what is what land. I have felt a couple of 'was that a baby or was that my stomach' kind of movements down there, but I think I have too much padding to tell what is going on for sure!

After finding out Baby G was a little girl, I got super stressed. I had the cutest space themed nursery planned for Baby G when I was sure it was a boy. I had absolutely nothing in mind for a little girl. Eventually I kept coming back to animals and decided to go with that for her upstairs nursery which is like 5 states away from our bedroom, not to mention me and stairs don't mix. So, in the end, this little princess gets two nurseries. The only thing I know for sure about the downstairs nursery is that all of the furniture is coming from Ikea, beyond that I have changed my mind a hundred times.

So after our 20 week check-up week before last, everything looks good. We have bought all the major items for the downstairs nursery from Ikea (assembly is another story!) We have the dresser, changing pad and rug for upstairs and were super lucky to get a crib as a gift from my mom and stepdad which is on its way. Up next on the agenda is paint, and I have some big ideas on that I can wait to share!

xoxo,
Brooke

Take 6 at Blogging, or is it 7.....

I have wanted to start a blog so many times, and I have a few times with little success. Mostly because I forgot to post or got too busy to post or lack of follow through. But as I sit here 21 weeks pregnant, I am thinking I want to try again! (for two reasons). 1. I have the memory of a gold fish, and I really want to remember this super special time. And 2, I really enjoy blogging and have the occasional clever idea that I want to share with my friends/family. So I think now is the perfect time to give it a go.

Coming up with a name is always challenging, but I think Messy but Charming just about sums up my life! I never imagined when I was back in school that this would be my life at 26, but perhaps my generation in general has pretty grandiose ideas about how our lives will turn out. I have a degree in design, but work full time as the office manager at my husbands dental practice. It has truly been and labor of love and test of patience, stamina, and fortitude all at once. Most days though, I can say I love my job! Other times, I would like to hide in my office and would really, really like it if my husband wasn't my boss! In a lot of ways it has brought us closer together as a couple. Its nice that we get to make our own rules about how things should be done, something I am particularly passionate about after having some bad experiences with the Dentist as a child.

The major problem with focusing on insurance claims, treatment plans, and numbers all day is that my little creative mind likes to wander. I am always thinking of ideas but have very little outlet for my creativity. I really hope to work on fostering that a bit more in my daily life. I also suck at housework. I mean really just can't get a handle on it. Stains vs. Me = stains winning every time. Definitely going to work on my domestic capabilities as well.

Mostly I am sure, come August, this blog will be shameless bragging and promotion of my daughter. Its weird to say that. Daughter. I think it shows how much our lives are going to change. I am sure it will be a struggle at first, but I am so so  ready to be a parent! I can hardly contain my excitement  when I think of her nursery and all her little clothes. Steve says he isn't going to be one of those Dads that is wrapped around her little finger, but let me just tell you, in the 10+ years we have been together, I have never once had name brand furniture delivered to my door. Yet in her sweet little room stands a beautifully modern white dresser and adorable pink rug from West Elm. No heavy lifting, no assembly! This little peach is going to be so spoiled!

It is so exciting to be starting this new chapter in our lives, and if the present is any indication, it is likely to be Messy but Charming!

xoxo,
Brooke