Updates on Life and the Master Bedroom

Well, it's been a while.  Pregnancy makes it hard to find a lot of time to do extras... here are a few updates on what has been going on with me.  I've been feeling really good!  I'm at 24 weeks now and still haven't had a hint of morning sickness... except when I brush my teeth.... it turns into a gag fest every morning... but I usually don't throw up... too much info?  For someone who hates going to the doctor soooo bad, I think I'm doing pretty good.  Usually I'm the kind of person who doesn't go to the doctor until I feel like I could die, so 7 doctor visits in the last 5 months has been.... challenging.  I still have nerves every time I go, but I think it's getting better.  The last we went, I didn't even ramble!  Normally I ramble on and on about how I'm nervous to be there.  I was so proud of myself.  The only real thing that I'm dealing with from the pregnancy is fatigue.  I go to work all day and basically just want to pass out when I get home.  Here's my latest picture at 23 weeks.

As far as the house goes, we've been working on the outside a lot.  Our goal is to get the area directly in front of the house all level and have grass planted by the time the baby comes.  The baby's room has a first coat of paint on it (pictures to come later).  And I finished the master bedroom!  One of my goals before the baby comes!!  I can cross a whole 1 item off the list!  I still have to tackle the master bath, but for now I'm happy that the bedroom is finished.  When I last left off, the bedroom had been painted and I had hung my DIY starburst mirror over the bed.  Now, I put back the curtains and added accessories.

Sorry... crooked picture.

For the side tables, we NEVER used the too-small lamps we had before.  We're really just not read-in-bed kind of people.  So, I got creative and made a stick arrangement from our yard.

Still trying to decide what will go over the dresser.

My pregnancy pillow has made a home on the bed.

That's it!  Oh and by the way, we're having a girl!!  :)  I'll be back later this week with a nursery update.

-Brooke

How We Told the Family...

As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I started brainstorming and Googling creative ways to tell the family.  There were a ton of cute ideas out there, but I finally found the perfect one for my family. 

I told everybody that we wanted to take a family picture.  Nobody thought anything about it... I'm that kind of person who randomly insists on taking group family photos... but they're used to me.  So I set the camera to automatically take 10 pictures after the timer.  Right before the first photo took, I said, "Everybody say... Brooke's pregnant!"  Take a look at the pics below to see everybody's first impressions  :) 

Here are the pics with Chris' family.

I love how the kids are completely oblivious.

Then we told my brother's family and my grandma.

And... I saved the best for last.... my mom had the best reaction I could ever hope for.  By the end of these, we were all cracking up.

In the end, I'm so glad we told everybody in a creative way.  Now I can show my little Jelly Bean how excited everyone was to find out about him/ her.  :)

-Brooke

Pinterest Challenge! $8 Starburst Mirror!

So, two of my favorite bloggers came up with the idea of the Pinterest Challenge to get us to stop pinning things without doing them.  Click these links to see their projects- Bower Power & Young House Love. I've watched as they did this twice already and decided that was a band wagon I wanted to jump on.  With my bedroom makeover in full swing, I figured it was a good time to make something for the bedroom.

Here was my Pinterest inspiration...

 

http://theletteredcottage.net/diy-mirror/

 

http://isabellaandmaxrooms.blogspot.com/2010/08/sunburst-mirror-project.html

I put my own spin on it and found a way to make this baby for only 8 bucks!!  Not bad when you're on a baby-coming budget!

Supplies-

4 bundles of bamboo sticks (I found these at Dollar Tree!!)- $4 Total

1 round mirrors (Michael's)- $3

Round wooden plaque (WalMart)- $1

Glue sticks- already owned

Glue gun- already owned

Command Strips- already owned

Husband with a saw- already owned :)

Total- $8!!

Chris cut the bamboo sticks for me into various sizes between 15" and 18" long.

To lay the sticks out, I used masking tape to make sure I got the initial ones straight.

The rest was just filling in.

After I had the sticks in place, I glue them all with a hot glue gun.  Then I glued the wooden plaque to the back of the mirror to add extra support for the sticks to stay in place.

Yes... the only plaque I could find was actually oval, not circle.  But it was small enough that you couldn't see it from the other side.  It served it's purpose.

After it was all dry, I stuck of few Command Strips on the back of it and hung it over the bed.

My sticks were thicker than the ones in the inspiration so they are further apart.  And I know the sizes of the sticks are random, but I have to say... I love it.  I like the rugged natural look of it.  It's not perfect, but perfect is boring.  I consider my first Pinterest Challenge a success!

-Brooke