Baby Girl: An Update

Baby girl (still un-named) has really been kicking things up lately.  Sometimes I think she is trying to escape through my stomach.  Her favorite pastime seems to be dancing up under my right ribcage which makes for lots of fun for me (note the sarcasm).  At night my stomach is going all over the place.  I've been having Braxton Hicks for weeks now but my doctor tells me all is normal and as of Wednesday's appointment there is nothing to report.

Otherwise this pregnancy seems to be moving right along!  We can't believe that in a little over a 4 weeks she will be here!  I'm beginning to feel majorly unprepared.  But ready at the same time if that makes sense.

Hudson's Nightstand

We have been hard at work (sporadically anyway) on Hudson's big boy room and it's finally almost finished.  One of the big projects that I decided to tackle was the nightstand.  We found this cheepy from Ikea for a mere $30.  You can't beat that (believe me.... I tried).  

In my very extensive nightly home-blog searching I've been inspired by Miss Mustard Seed to make my first attempt in refinishing a piece of furniture.  I especially loved her Union Jack dresser but it didn't really fit the look I was going for.

I went with something a little smaller and not as complicated for my first time out.

I started by painting our cheep Ikea purchase Sherwin Williams Daisy yellow (two coats plus a primer).

Next I rubbed on a coat of Minwax dark finishing paste.  I wiped it off right away.  It left enough behind to make the brush strokes stand out and darken the paint a little.

 After the wax dried, I did a little distressing.  I lightly sanded the whole thing and really gave the edges a good scrubbing.  Then I did another coat of the dark wax so it could set in the edges where I had just sanded (which didn't work as well as I would have liked).

Then painted the numbers on.  Instead of going out and buying a stencil (which I'm sure would have been easier), I just made my own in Microsoft Word.  I just traced the numbers that I printed out and painted them on.

Once they were dry I lightly sanded over them to make them look worn. Then I did a final coat of clear wax to seal the numbers on.

The final touch was the new knobs which I got for half off at Hobby Lobby.

I was pretty nervous about how it would turn out but I'm actually pretty pleased with it!

 Not to shabby for a little $30 Ikea purchase.  Stay tuned for more room pictures.

Pergola

The handyman strikes again!  Our patio gets major sun in the afternoon and evening.  It's almost unbearable to sit out there, especially in 90+ degree weather.

We decided to build a pergola to add a little shade.  Casey decided that he could tackle this himself.  I was a little doubtful but of course he came through.  He started it on Saturday and now it's basically finished!

Beautiful!  Just imagine lots of ivy. 

30

Last Sunday I hit my scary age:  the big 3-0.  I always dreaded turning 30 but it just kinda went by... no big deal.  I survived.

The awesome sign that my sisters made for me as part of my party decor.

I thought that Casey didn't have anything planned so I went out to one of my favorite restaurants Friday night. 

But Casey surprised me with a party the next night.  This whole time he went on like he didn't have anything planned and I gave him such a hard time about it (hello guilt).  We headed "out to dinner" and stopped by my parent's house to drop Hud off to stay there while we were out (or so I thought) and was greeted with family, friends, and BBQ (really the thing a pregnant lady loves the most).  Casey asked me what I was thinking when we walked in and I told him I literally don't think a thought was in my head.  I was so surprised.  I'm probably the worst person to surprise because I don't think I gave any kind of reaction but I was just in total shock.

On my actual birthday we did church, my gift (a brand new camera) and dinner at my parents.

Summer Reading

Wednesday I took Hudson to get signed up for the public library's summer reading program.  He picked out books that he wanted to check out and put them in his little bag.  He requested books about tractors.  Such a boy.

IPhone quality with a moving boy = blurry picture

He love love loves to read.  A couple of days ago we sat and read almost all of the books we checked out for him.  At this rate we will hit his goal of 75 books in no time.