Charlie Grace's Nursery

Well, I am almost 39 weeks pregnant with Charlie Grace and as of THIS MORNING, the nursery is COMPLETE!! Yaayy!! I am SO. IN. LOVE. with this room! I wish I were a better photographer so that I could capture the true sweetness, but I did my best!!

I started designing this room before Charlie was even officially Charlie. I mean, I named Charlie before I even met Brian. Having a little girl is basically what I'm built for. Glitter and bows and cutesy girlie lovely wonderfulness. 
Except she's my child. So there's a good chance she'll be sassy and smart-assy and insistent on doing her own thang. That's fine. As long as she'll wear bows while doing it. 

GUYS. What will I do if she won't wear BOWS? I swear I'll start over. 
So the goal for the nursery was something simple and bright and girlie but not traditional cheesy pink. This surprised me a bit because I always expected to have a pink nursery. To the untrained eye, it IS pink. But, be informed, people: the color is CORAL. ;)

Up until last weekend, this room was a dungeony mess. I documented some of the madness on my #TeacherMom blog. (Click here). However, Charlie Grace stayed put in her warm, cozy uterine home (thanks, guuurl) and Beckett shipped off to Grandma & Papaw's for the weekend, so Brian and I set to work. Saturday & Sunday, we completed the wallpaper and most of the floors. The wallpaper was a HOT MESS PROJECT. After the first strip (which we tore putting up and then realized we could still see the paint shining through and therefore needed to start over with primer), Brian tried to convince me SEVERAL TIMES that we COULD just return it and buy a gallon of paint for the fraction of the cost. I reminded him that if I am going to grow a human being for 9 months, the least he could do is spend an afternoon fighting wallpaper. He conceded. 
Also, look closely because THE PAINTED WALLS HAVE GLITTER!! Gaaahhh!!! They are SO. STINKIN. FUN!! Most of the pictures don't capture it very well, but this one shows it fairly well. :)

THEN! Magic happened. My baby brother (Devin) and his AWESOME wife (Katie) decided last minute that they would come to our rescue. AH-MAY-ZING. These two flew in on Monday afternoon, worked their HINEYS off, and flew out Tuesday early evening! In the short hours between, they completed MY ENTIRE TO DO LIST. Whaaaat?!?!? Ya'll I'm STILL IN AWE.  Here's the proof:

That, my friends, is Devin. LITERALLY snoring on the floor. This happened. But he didn't sleep the whole weekend.

Sadly, I didn't take a single picture of Katie ALL weekend. Worst sister of the year award, officially earned (me, not her). SHE is a rock star. I literally sat around most of the weekend, totally playing the pregnancy card, while they finished the baseboard, built & installed the shelves (which were a FEAT), painted the dresser & crib, hauled stuff up and down the stairs,  cleaned my van, hung curtains, and so. much. more. If it weren't for them (and Brian, of course), this room would NOT BE DONE.

And now for the details. :)

The chair I reupholstered myself! Yeah. That happened. And the crib was a hand-me-down from Brittany. Katie painted it with white chalk paint. I did the monogram pillow. And that sequin pillow? THRIFT STORE. Bam.

  The curtains I originally saw on Pinterest, and then hunted down on Etsy for A MILLION DOLLARS. So, I found the fabric online and it took about 5 seconds to sew the rod hole at the top. Done!

I love this pretty tieback & the flowy cuteness. :)

The closet was also Pinterest inspired. :) The shelf situation came from Nana & Papa and then my very talented brother assembled it. After he and Brian carried it up the stairs and maneuvered it into the room, we realized it wasn't the white color we wanted!!! {Thank you Allen + Roth for messing that up}. So my fabulous team proceeded to carry it BACK. DOWN the stairs and outside for a quick spray paint. Thanks, Katie! My sexy husband sprayed the poles Champagne to go with the room and cut them to size. I mostly watched as all of this transpired. We call those pregancy perks.

I love that these shelves are clean and pretty and not hidden behind closet doors. I think it makes the fairly small room look more open. I also love that there are shelves high enough that I feel safe having glass decor :) 

We also sprayed these baskets to match the room. :) Can you see the glittery wall back there?!?! EEEE!!! :)

We put so much time and thought into the detail of this room. I'm so glad it turned out just how I'd imagined. 

And now we wait! Hoping Charlie Grace makes her appearance into this world SOON, because I'm ready to snuggle a baby (and not be pregnant anymore).

The True Story of My Mommy Son Date Today

This week has been crazy busy. I've been working hard to keep up with my #TeacherMom blog and social media accounts, plus of course updating and adding to my store all in preparation for back to school. Brian has been out of town at a conference for his new business. So, Little Man has been pretty much on his own. He's good at that. He's an independent kiddo and mostly doesn't mind keeping himself entertained, but I wanted to try and be intentional about having some quality time together this morning so I had the brilliant idea of taking him on a date.

This was my Facebook post this afternoon.

Don't we look sweet & happy? Social media is really good at that. Here's what really happened:

Last night I was up until 3am because pregnancy insomnia + back to school. This makes about a week straight of crappy sleep. If one single person mentions to me that it's my body's way of preparing me for baby #2, I will not take responsibility for what happens next.

This morning, after zomby walking down the hall to Beckett's sweet morning songs and drudging back to my bed, we settled for a couple of episodes of Leap Frog before I convinced myself to get going. "Think Starbucks Thoughts..."

While I got ready, Doug lingered under my feet and Beckett opened every tube and container of lotion, toothpaste, body spray, mascara, etc. that he could find. I was exhausted before I even left my room. "Starbucks. Starbucks. Starbucks."

I convinced Beckett that he doesn't, in fact, need that entire brand new pack of bobby pins and we headed down the hall to his room and picked out his outfit. Oh my cuteness.

Except for the part where my kid hates clothes. Have you noticed that he's ALWAYS PANT-LESS? That's not just because we don't have any. It's because unless I bribe him with "we're going to school" or "we're going to see Eli," NO DICE. He also doesn't always want to wear a diaper, so... that fight happened too. All in all, it only took about 20 minutes, one very long tantrum, a couple swift ninja kicks to Charlie Grace, and one good swat across his hiney to get this cute situation on the toddler. And then shoes (that fit just a few weeks ago) wouldn't go on his feet. Gah!

Next it was time to take the dogs outside. By this point it's after 9:30 and they still haven't been out. In an attempt to expedite our morning, I hand Beckett a granola bar before we head out. Doesn't he look like we're  having a peaceful & relaxing morning?

As soon as the front door opens, I start MELTING. Guys. It's FOUR.THOUSAND.DEGREES outside. That's a legitimate estimate, I guarantee you. During this time, the kid makes several attempts to escape into the neighborhood and our dogs forget how to pee. They have no concept of "IT'S FLIPPING HOT. PEE NOW OR DON'T PEE."

By the time we get inside, I'm drenched with sweat and Beckett has melted chocolate all of her his hands, tie, and white shirt. Lovely. 

I'm not sure if the dogs ever peed.

Twenty minutes later I've cleaned chocolate off Beckett (twice), packed our bag, and loaded us into the van. As soon as we're in, Beckett (per his usual) starts parroting "Elma? Elma? Elma?"

"No buddy, we only watch Elmo when we're in the car for a veeerry long time. We'll be there soon."

"Elma? Elma? Elma? Elma? Elma? Elma? Elma?" Gah. "Think Starbucks Thoughts"

Seven thousand "Elma's?" later, we arrive at Starbucks. The parking lot is packed and we have to park in the far corners of the universe. I'm pretty sure the temp went up a billion degrees (remember I'm incredibly large right now) and my dear sweet toddler refuses to hold my hand in the parking lot, requiring that I pick him up and lug all 35 pounds of him to the doors. More sweat. By the time I walk into Starbucks, my shirt is falling down, my face has LITERAL drops of sweat running down my cheeks and my kid is all, "this is fun!" 

It's SO. HOT so I opt for my usual: no water chai, extra hot please. And a water on the rocks for the kid. I'm full of great ideas this morning. 

The place is 100% packed (don't people WORK?!) so I sit in the one lowly chair for .6 seconds and head back out. The upside to this experience so far: lots of comment on how cute my kid is. 

 

We get to the end of the sidewalk, ready to embark on our trek back to the far corner of the universe, and Beckett remembers how much fun it is to run through a parking lot. "Don't worry about that GINORMOUS SUV headed our way, Mom." Groan. After failing to convince him that he needs to hold my hand, I attempt to drag him, one handed (the other one desperately trying not to drop my precious extra hot chai) away from the middle of the parking lot. 

"No thanks, Mom. I think I'll SIT. RIGHT HERE. IN THE PARKING LOT. SUV WAITING." You've got to be kidding me. Luckily for me, the mom in the SUV was super encouraging. She rolled down her window to let me know she had two of her own personalities sitting directly behind her. She, however, was not dumb enough to let them out of their restraints. As she headed for the drive through, I took notes. 

We made it to the van alive. I think my clothes were drenched through and my makeup was gone, but we're still alive so WHATEVER.

Except Beckett is not interested in his car seat. Cue tantrum. And do all toddlers know this "stiff as a board" game? WHY DO THEY DO THAT?! We go full on WWE in the back of the van and I lose. HOW IS HE SO SQUIRMY?

"You wanna watch Elmo?" There. That worked. #RockstarParenting

We pull into the parking lot and whatdya know: Brittany is on her way out. "YOU MEAN I COULD HAVE BRIBED THIS KID WITH ELI?!" Comical. We say our hellos and head into the library.  

This is the most relaxing part of my entire journey. The walk into the library. I've got my coffee and the kid knows where he's going. We arrive in the children's section and I find my favorite comfy couch chair and Beckett immediately heads to his favorite table. 

And then the other mommy happens. She's all cutied up with her haaaair and her faaace and everything that comes out of her mouth sounds like a bird. "Oooh, Ella... you wanna look at that book? Ooooh.. Ella, you wanna sit on that block? Ooooh Ella, you wanna play with a puppet?" 

YOU MEAN WE'RE SUPPOSED TO ENTERTAIN THEM HERE TOO? Sorry, kid. Momma's recuperating.

So we chilled there for a while. Read a couple books, made a new friend, enjoyed the sitting and the air conditioning and the quiet. 

Then it was time to go. Or so I thought. Enter toddler marathon.

Now I want you to just visualize a 470 pound, 83 weeks pregnant woman, chasing this toddler through a quiet library. Pitifully attempting to coax him out without disturbing the peace. We were the center of attention. It may have been because he's so stinkin' cute, but it was much more likely that the ENTIRE LIBRARY was entertained by the waddling mom desperately trying to chase this beast.

Eventually we come to a reasonable compromise: I'll carry you if you promise to kick and scream the entire trek out of the library. Deal? Deal. 

By the time we make it to the van, I'm having contractions. I'm so glad we did this.

Don't worry though. We made it home. And now he's sleeping peacefully in his bed. I've had my second and third cups of coffee and writing this has been therapeutic. :) So! Time to get back to work. T minus 2 hours until the circus is back in full swing.