a dresser for the nursery.

behold, our new nursery dresser!

i'm not much of a diy blogger.  i use this blog as a journal and as a way to keep family informed.  so every once and awhile when i do actually complete a project, and feel the need to document it, this seems to be the perfect place.  i don't take a bunch of step-by-step photos, because there are plenty of tutorials out there already on refinishing furniture {i followed a couple myself to refinish this dresser}.  i just want to have a place where i can say look, i did that.  because really, it feels pretty good to finish a project like this and to be proud of what you created.  i mean honestly, we needed more space for the girls clothes because one tiny changing table dresser wasn't going to fit the clothes for both girls, {hazel's were crammed in there as it was} but john and i didn't want to spend a fortune on a nice dresser that would last a long time, nor did we want to spend a little money on something i wasn't going to love.  so, with john's support, i selected a $30 dresser on craigslist to go scope out.  it was honestly, a mess.  but it had potential.  after a lot of work, i am in love with what we ended up with!  

Hazel, learning the letters of her name slowly but surely. from Paige Brunt on Vimeo.

some thoughts on 24.

these past few days have been fantastic.  my in-laws have been in town, which is a dream come true.  leslie helps keep me motivated to get ready for the baby, which i really need, {because before she flew in i didn't even have any newborn diapers.  which is just... embarrassing.} and hazel absolutely adores them.  it's just so fun having them here.  i'm glad that i have a reassurance that they will fly in again in march :)  newborns typically motivate people to come visit you for some reason ;)

also, it was my birthday a couple days ago{my 24th, if you're curious}, and all i could think about the whole day was how grateful i am to be a mother... that out of all the gifts john has given me, hazel has been the absolute best.  she is so fun, and engaging, and sweet.  i have thought a lot about newborn hazel as we've pulled out her little clothes... and i just can't wait to be a mother to another little girl.  i'm sure she will be different than hazel, and that's also an exciting thought.  because another sweet spirit is getting ready to come down and join our family very soon.

this one's for the man i married.

dear mr. brunt:

thanks for being an amazing man.  i mean it.
thanks for putting up with my silly whims and meltdowns and food demands and for loving me anyway.
thanks for suggesting we eat ice cream every night, because you know i love it.
of all the people i know, you are my favorite.
and our B is a very close second.

thanks for her too, now that i think about it.
i love you more and more each day.

love,
your wife

also, you are smokin' hot.

a letter to baby #2:

dear baby girl,

just a few short weeks until you will join our family.  i feel bad, because you haven't gotten the same number of silly pregnancy letters or bump pics as your older sister.  you're kind of getting my parenting sloppy-seconds if you will, but hazel was the guinea pig, so it all evens out kind of, doesn't it?

we are stressing about what to name you.  with hazel, we had a pretty good idea of what we wanted her name to be.  but with you, we are really unsure.  i'm hoping that i will see your cute face and know what your name should be.  right now, i spend late nights frantically searching the internet for names i love.  hopefully, something will stick soon!

you've mostly made me crave cafe rio, double-doubles, cookies and cream ice cream, dirty diet coke, and neopolitan pizza.  my hips and thighs have got plenty of meat on them thanks to those cravings you are sending my way!  womb service is in full swing these days, and your daddy happily obliges.  our food budget is through the roof this month, but what baby wants, baby gets!

despite the lack of bump pics, letters in the womb, and late-night cravings, we dearly love you already, and can't wait for you to get here.  {but really i can wait... you stay in there until you're completely ready, okay?}

a 32-week baby bump!

oh look, a 32-week baby bump!

don't be fooled, hazel is excited to be brushing her teeth, not about getting a baby sister in a couple months. ;) i've been reading our "i'm a big sister" book to her, and doing all the prep-work i can, but how do you prepare an almost 2-year old for the impending arrival of a sibling?  i know she will be okay, and that these girls are going to be best friends.  i just wish it didn't have to be such a shock to her little system.  praying she loves (or at least ignores) her little sister quickly.  

things have been pretty quiet over here lately.  i feel like all i do is clean clean clean these days.  we bought a new dresser off craigslist for the girls' room, so i've been working on refinishing that.  i also bought some fabric to make curtains for their room, but will probably wait to have the dresser in working order before i start in on the curtains.  it's only took me four months to get things hung up in hazel's room, and several more to almost have it "finished", but our homes never really feel finished anyway, do they?

lately it's struck me how super close i am to having a newborn in my arms.  now i know that these next few weeks will probably drraaaag on, but still.  the end approacheth!

nesting.

i've been feeling really great lately.  yes, i am still pregnant, and yes, being pregnant isn't one bit glamorous at all.  but i know that i am in the best part of it, and may not be for much longer.  so, put a diet coke in me and watch me work, because i have been cleaning and nesting like nobody's business over here.

when you're nesting, you notice every little bit of cleaning that needs to get done, even if most other humans can't see it.  today, i wiped down all of our kitchen cabinets, sanitized every surface in the house, and dusted... everywhere.  i also cleaned the bathrooms, which i do often anyway.  but there are nooks and crannies that i never knew existed until now, and they must all be immaculate.

i am acutely aware that i am crazy.  nevertheless, i will probably clean like this every single day until i am too large to stand up.  ;)

things 22-month-old hazel loves:

- hats- wearing them, trying them on, putting them on others

- watching frozen. we are especially in love with "do you want to build a snowman"...

- animals

- chocolate and fishy crackers

- singing nursery rhymes- she knows the actions too!

- magnets

- reading books- especially "where the wild things are", "star wars colors", and "brown bear brown bear"

- going to bed (she always dives for her crib. for this, i am very grateful)

- jumping. basically on everything 

- chapstick. usually putting it on her lips, sometimes straight up licking it 

- acting out moments from frozen while we have the movie on, or acting out scenes from a book that we are reading.  {for reals! she is my daughter after all.}

see other posts about hazel's previous loves here and here