Creating the Nursery Part 1

It has about three months since I did any blogging and that is mainly due to pure laziness. No way around it...this little boy in my belly is sucking out all my motivation. Or at least I blame him so I don't have to take responsibility.

Well, at this point I am six months and ready to create his nursery for him. It is probably the most exciting thing about this whole experience!!! (Yes, it is magical to create life but come on having the opportunity to make a new room...so fun!)

I am going with a yellow, gray, and white color scheme with accents of anything. The yellow was chosen because we already painted the room a very pale yellow. White is always fresh and classic and gray is pretty great too. So here is the first installment of baby boy's nursery creation.

My first step in the nursery was making the chevron wall. I love chevron!
I used a bright white to subtly contrast with the pale yellow and the stripes are slightly crooked and uneven.



I wanted to go for a whimsical and funky look rather then uniform. Painting was the logical first step because I am an extremely messy painter but the carpet was still present so I could go crazy.

We made this house our home about a year and a half ago. The master bedroom was remodeled and the flooring was done in about 80% of the house. The two extra bedrooms were left as storage/whatever rooms until now. The baby's room was the catch-all room, so I cleaned it out and we had wood floors put in. It looks so good!

At this point I have a desk that I need to sand, prime and paint; it will be the main dresser. I started the project but my sander broke so I am waiting for the new one to arrive. After the desk is put in, I will start hanging and organizing the ridiculousness that is the closet.

I have picked up a few little trinkets to hang in the room.

I found this at TJ Maxx for $20 and I love it. 

 A great friend of mine gave me all of these super cute accessories that I know will look adorable in his room.

 His GG (grandma) made him this quilt before he was even a growing babe. 

And last but not least...my babysteals.com find (SO STINKING CUTE).

15 Weeks and 2 Days

How far along? 15 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure...we'll see at the next appointment.

Maternity clothes? A little tiny belly that most people probably confuse for letting myself go, so still in the same clothes.

Stretch marks? Not yet, thank goodness.

Sleep: After week 13 I started sleeping much better and working out makes it a great nights sleep. Without the belly I'm still able to sleep on my stomach. 

Best moment this week: Feeling amazingly energetic and more like myself.

Movement: I should be able to feel the baby any day now.

Cravings: Mexican food

Gender: I will be finding out Oct. 6th at the baby shower.

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? Still in but other things on the body at starting to change and it is weird.

What I miss: Blue cheese dressing and hot dogs

What I am looking forward to: My baby shower and feeling the baby move

Weekly Wisdom: Reading the birth board is not exact good for a worrier like me. I just need to take it one day at a time and not stress.

Milestones: 2nd trimester is here and I'm feeling great. 

Summer Blues and Baby News

Summer vacation...the teacher's best perk! And mine is almost over. This summer has been the most lazy, unmotivating, unproductive summer of my life. I like to pride myself on getting oh so many things done during the summer, but that was not the case this summer. However, the one thing I did do this summer was start the processing of a baby in my uterus. 

What were some summer goals that didn't get accomplished:

Finish the baby quilts
Seam rip that unfinished project and finish it
Clean out my sewing room
Spend time with those friend I don't see often
Work out

What did I do this summer:

Took a nap everyday
Ate a lot of food
Spent a good amount of time with my niece and nephew
Watched many shows and movies

I was completely unaware of how pregnancy will crush your will to do anything but sit around, eat and sleep. Thankfully in the last week I have felt much more motivated to do more. 

I have been told I am extremely lucky during this first trimester. I have had no morning sickness, and the only thing different between now and before was my need for more sleep and more food. I do get slight bloated after I eat but I will take that compared to the alternative.

Now that I am at 12 weeks I think it is time to start blogging about this little Sandoval growing in my belly.


How far along? 12 weeks and 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: 1 pound gained

Maternity clothes? I am not showing at all so all my normal clothes fit just fine.

Stretch marks? Not yet and I have already started slathering lotion on everyday.

Sleep: Sleep at night is not my favorite. Between the hours of 9-12 I toss and turn and then start to settle down after that. This is fine during the summer but is really going to suck when work starts back up again.

Best moment this week: Yesterday we went to the 12 week appointment and heard the heartbeat for the first time.

Movement: Not that I can feel yet.

Cravings: Embarrassingly, I want Taco Bell. Chips and salsa, white nectarines, watermelon and grapes. Anti-cravings: guacamole and too much garlic in anything 

Gender: To early to tell

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? Still in

What I miss: Eating without getting bloated or gassy

What I am looking forward to: Having a pregnant belly.

Weekly Wisdom: I need to stop worrying about this pregnancy when my body isn't showing any signs of distress.

Milestones: 12 weeks is here and the possibility of losing this baby has greatly diminished 

Switch it, Change it, Rearrange it

Do you ever wish you just hadn't said something? You know, it comes out and instantly you know it is going to screw everything up.

Did we have to have THAT conversation at THAT time about THAT thing? The day is going very well and BAM! You said it, the thing that you can't take back and never really comes out how you meant it. Instantly everything is wrong and you know a huge talk is going to happen before it can be right again. How did that happen?

Really, everything was going so well. We were just enjoying each other, laughing, loving. But no...nothing can last like that. Then following the "messed everything up and really was irrelevant" conversation, you started thinking about all those things the conversation really represents and how irritating they are.

So where are you left? Laying on the ground venting to your blog while you stew over all those words that didn't even need to be spoken. And yes, they will be talked about, but its Friday afternoon and you are exhausted and all you wanted to do tonight was eat nachos and watch TV and go to bed.

Herbs

Ever since I can remember I have wanted an herb garden. A little corner where I could pick fresh herbs to add to my cooking.

Thankfully, I got that opportunity when husby and I purchased our house. I diligently started collecting different herbs and planting them. Of course, some died fairly quickly only to be replaced in an effort to succeed where I had failed and not let husby see that I was spending more money on plants.

My first major failure was cilantro; it was dead within 1 week of planting.

My first major success was basil. It was awesomely big and tasted amazing! But then winter came and wiped it away.

Both mint and thyme decided to do a delayed reaction to my gardening after showing great signs of life then bam! death.

The parsley was hit and miss and with the onset of winter wasn't looking good, but we are seeing definite improvement.

Rosemary has been my stablest herb and finally showing signs of rapid growth.

At the moment I am the proud grower of some spectacular thyme, oregano, rosemary, chives, sage, cilantro, and basil.

What I find so fabulous about the herbs is the flowers they are producing. I never knew herbs flowered and as spring turns into summer I am amazed at their simplistic beauty.

Sage: small purple blooms, light green leaves, great smell

Chives: purple pompom-looking flowers, just cut and add to baked potatoes

 Parsely: tiny yellow flowers at the top of very tall stalk

Cilantro: small white flowers

Basil: small white followers, leaves loved by snails :(

Thyme: cutest tiny purple flowers

Rosemary: small purplish-blue flowers, trailing plant

I have all my herbs in pots sitting on the south side of my house. I water them about four times a week and use no pesticides. I fertilize about once every three months. I have found rosemary to be the hardiest. Most of my herbs I have planted together in large pots. Thyme and oregano (my most successful) are planted in an old metal hose organizer. 

Pinspirations!

Art has always been something I have been interested in, but afraid to try. Pinterest has been a huge motivator to start creating. Since I had a bit of time recently with spring break and a huge amount of empty wall space, I decided it was time to make some art.

My first Pinspiration:

What I did with it: The pinspiration was a little springy and I wanted to create something that could last through each season. 

 My finished product:

 My next Pinspiration:

What I did with it:

I chose California and Thailand because those are the two places I have lived. Husby suggested the inversion of the colors, which I think looks really cool!

My finished product:

 Slowly, but surely I am filling up all the empty walls in my house!

Headboard fun!!

We finally did it! We, as in husby and I, completed our headboard.

A cushioned fabric-covered headboard has always been a dream of mine and since discovering Restoration Hardware, I have wanted it covered in natural linen.


Since moving in we have changed or eliminated the need for four doors in our house. I found several tutorials on the interweb describing how to create a headboard out of old hollow core doors. Every time I found a new tutorial I told husby about them. I think he finally got the hint, because last weekend he said "it was time to create the headboard."

We took the measurements of the doors and the bed.

Thankfully, we didn't have to cut anything.

After cleaning the doors, we (and I say this lightly since I was just mostly taking pictures and talking) husby used drywall corner pieces to attach the doors together.

We used a method of hanging that I saw on HGTV one Saturday morning. You miter cut two pieces of wood. One you screw one to the headboard and one to the wall. When hanging the headboard you just slide the wood railing of the headboard onto the railing on the wall and it locks in.

I was then sent to Joann's to procure all of the necessary materials: egg crate foam (2 king size), muslin (to cover the foam), and natural linen (the final covering).

I returned home and husby cut the egg crate foam down to fit the doors and used a spray adhesive to stick it on the door. We used to two layers of the egg crate foam because we wanted it to be extra thick!

After the foam was adhered to the doors. We used muslin as the first layer of fabric covering. Muslin is great because it comes in extra wide so I didn't have to sew any pieces together.

Following the muslin, we stapled the natural linen as the final layer. I cut six pieces of the natural linen and then pieced them together, creating a six-boxed look as the final product. When stapling the muslin and natural linen on the doors we made sure the pull it tight so it created a rounded edge.

Now all I need is to make some new pillows and get my quilt back from the quilter and my bed will look complete!

April...

April has been quite a month. First of all, where did it all go? I mean didn't 2012 just start? It has flown by so fast I didn't even realize it has been a long time since I have blogged. So what is up with life for April?

First of all, we are planning a housewarming party and I am so excited about it. The house has been improved upon so much and husby is very motivated, because of the looming party. I cannot wait; I get to do all those little fun things that make a party so awesome to throw. I have gotten so many ideas off of pinterest:

I found the cutest pots at TJ Maxx. Mine are a little more rustic with earth tone colors. 

I am going to modify this idea by only using one bail per seat and lining them up at the edges of my quilts so the hay bails will be the seat backs for someone sitting on the ground, or they can be sat on.

I am going to fill mine with Cesar salad and pasta salad. 

Among the cute pinterest ideas we have also made many other improvements. The closet is now finished. Yes, my 100 square foot closet is ready for use and is amazing. Thank goodness husby chose to make it so big. 

The fence has been installed along the street-side of the property. The property is not yet secure but it is getting there and we don't have to see the street anymore. 

The guest bathroom has been given a facelift. The holes in the wall from the horrible towel rack have been patched. The towel rack was added to the swap meet pile and the walls have been painted a fantastic pastel jade. I even hung art! 

Another great thing April brought was spring break. I was able to create some art, make a few new pillows, hang out with my favorite little ones Moo and D-niz, weed whip the entire property, finish painting my dresser and spend some quality time with husby. 

Last but not least, April has brought with it the possibility of adding a little one to the family. I can finally start planning for a baby!