Project: Starburst Mirrors

Two blog entries in one day..     Aren't you lucky ;)

Well I finally finished one of the projects off my to-do list for the past several months.

Before I forget, here is the link to the original project that inspired me: Starburst Mirror

Supplies Needed:

• Mirrors: I used 10 inch ones (bought at Jo-Ann near wedding decor, candle table centerpieces)
• Glue Gun
• Wooden Skewers (bought at Walmart for super cheap)
• Paint for coloring the sticks at the end (I used small bottles of acrylic paint but suggest spray painting them so that it goes MUCH faster)

Next Step:
I divided the back of each mirror into 8 pie pieces to help with spacing out where I glue the skewers. I also (if you look real close) made three circles by tracing three different sized Tupperware lids so that I knew which height to glue the skewers. The middle one extends to the middle of the mirror. Then go up a traced circle ring for each skewer that follows. Probably easier to understand by looking at the picture.

The Finshed Project: (Pre-Painting)

Last steps:
I painted by hand the sticks. I would highly suggest covering the mirror and spray painting the sticks however due to being pregnant I didn't think spray paint was a good thing to breathe in. Therefore, I spent the past two days painting these sticks. (Not my favorite)
I also attached a string to the back of the mirror so they could hang.

P.S. Do not drop a skewer off the counter onto your toe. It will bleed :( On the bright side, it gave me a chance to sport a cute Hello Kitty band-aid ;)

The Final Result!!

Pretty awesome for a cheap project, right? I could not be more proud of the project and can finally feel like the basement is done being decorated....

31 Weeks + Belly Bump Picture

Here is an update where I am at in my pregnancy...

At 31 Weeks, Mini Bee is still a Squash...

Baby Development:
He is definitely starting to feel a few pounds heavy. He likes to tip and put his bottom up against my belly button and it feels like so much pressure on top of my organs.

Dr Checkup Notes:

• I reassured her that my belly had for sure grown a lot since my last visit and that I probably wasn't measuring under still. Well I guess I was off because it still is measuring under but still no concern. 
• I also asked if we could be sure I am not delivering a 10+ lb baby and could we monitor that HAHA. She said he hasn't been measuring that big and with having part asian in the genes he should be smaller. That made me feel a little better. I have been hearing about so many people delivering giant babies and that terrifies me. 

 Cravings:

It seems somebody turned off the pineapple switch finally. In fact I have a hard time eating it at all. It tastes so tart.

The new cravings...

Too bad they didn't stay as healthy as they had been the whole pregnancy. It seems as though my brain is switching to craving junk food....

Mommy Symptoms:

• I have been experiencing some swelling in my legs, ankles and feet. 
• My feet, especially heels hurt when I stand for any amount of time it feels like...

Big Accomplishments of this past week:

My mom came up to help me finish up some last touches before baby comes. We designed and hung the nursery curtains, wrapped canvases for nursery art, and hauled out all the goodwill stuff I hadn't had the ambition to haul. Mitch and I also did my indoor maternity shoot.

What I am getting excited for:

We start our baby classes this next week. I am excited to learn together with Mitch what we need to know as we go on the final path of preparing for our little one. I am also excited to reveal the nursery and of course to meet our little guy!!

Now what you probably came to the blog post for....

Summer Vacation & 29 weeks baby bump shot.

Slow week on the blog. Honestly, my life has only been slow on the blog though. Because I finished the school year with my two classes of kids. I have officially prepared them for Kindergarten and passed them onto the next adventure of their young lives. That's what is so hard about being a teacher. You invest all this time and work into them hoping that they will keep advancing with each year, even amongst all these little quirks that took a whole year to figure out. If only I could pass that information onto their next teacher....

Now my mission for Summer vacation is to
1. Take it Easy
2. Organize the house
3. Do some projects
4. Prepare for baby :)

As promised (good thing I don't promise timelines) here is the baby bump picture for 29 weeks... Yes, its almost 2 weeks old already. Eek! Rest assured we took my next shot already today so that we don't slip that far behind again. We also did some studio maternity shots so those will be shared within the next few days or week depending on how busy Mitch is.

Don't you just love the diaper cake I am holding? My mom made it with some of the fabric scraps we used on the crib fabric. 

Speaking of baby showers.... We have our last one tomorrow night! 

After that we should be close to being ready for mini bee :) It's getting so close and exciting! 

Week Accomplishments.

We have had some big developments :)

• Some of the art for baby's room has been finished. Hope to finish most of it this weekend which means pictures can be taken and shown off soon.
• I got my new hello kitty phone case for my iphone. Its spectacular and could not represent me anymore. Let's just say... zebra stripes, hello kitty, and sparkles :) I LOVE IT!

• I think we have Mini Bee's first picture outfit and coming home outfits purchased!

• Belly Shots for week 29 have been taken. Now they just have to be put into the picture page format to be shared. :) 
• Mini Bee has been making tremendous growth this week it feels like. My belly has actually been aching a little on top of my belly where the new growth is taking place inside. PLUS, I have been feeling actual body parts inside of my tummy pushing. Absolutely a crazy feeling. I told Mitch to feel how its hard in certain places which is where baby is. Then we pushed on it and we got a reaction. So amazing and it is making him seem more and more real!

However with feeling the baby parts and trying to identify what is pushing I now feel like I am playing this preschool game....

You are given the card to show you an idea of a shape and then you blindly feel around in the bag until you find something that resembles/feels like that shape.

Good thing I love games :)

Baby Book.

Tonight I started the intimidating mission of filling in Mini Bee's baby book. Although I am usually told that I have very nice handwriting, I still get intimidated to write nice in a book that my child will keep forever.

Here is a picture of the baby book that we bought to fill out:

So perfect, right?

Filling out the information together is a good chance to talk about when we first found out all the way up to the upcoming arrival. By filling out the book, it made me so excited to see all this special information in one place. 

While I was filling out the baby book, Mitch worked on his special nursery project. He made the hungry caterpillar out of paint chips. It isn't quite finished yet so we will take pictures when it is all done. The art in the nursery is pretty much all we have left for getting the nursery finished. Once the art is up, pictures will be taken :)

29 Weeks.

Simply crazy to be writing that I am officially 7 months already!! Time is flying and my Summer vacation is only just about to begin!

Mini Bee today is 29 weeks, which means he is a.... Squash!

Check out those stats! No wonder why i am having to go to the bathroom constantly! Having 2.5 lbs to 3.8 lbs on top of your bladder will do that to you! Plus, already 15-16 inches long! Incredible! I am just amazed at how fast he is growing at this point.

Baby Development: Baby's energy is surging with the fat deposits settling under his skin. (Yes it is! ) He also is still settling into his sleep and wake cycles. Not sure about this one unless he kicks/punches in his sleep cycles. Maybe a sleep walker ;) ?? All five senses are fully functional now and his brain and nervous systems are going through major developments these weeks.

Mommy Symptoms: Suddenly starting to feel cramped in my tummy. Room is becoming limited and bending over is more difficult by the day. Otherwise feeling tired after a day of school or a lot of walking from shopping. Started my allergy meds back up because they became unbearable and doctor suggested I treat them to take care of myself.

Food Cravings?:
 Pineapple still has been up at the top. Remember that picture post of how many pineapples were on my kitchen cupboard waiting to be consumed. Well I did it... Get ready. I ate 6 pineapples in one week!! Sure my taste buds were shot and my lips were sore but thats it! My belly was perfectly content to eat all that yummy fruit. Blue powerade still with the occasional ice water. I feel the need to drink lots of liquids! (That of course not helping the having to pee all the time)

This week's purchases:
We have had two showers now so we are trying not to buy too much ourselves. We have received lots of wonderful gifts from family and friends.Thank you!
No wait. I lied--kind of. This purchase is indirectly for the baby. Mitch bought the new white iphone as a birthday present with birthday money so I got to have his pretty much new black iphone. I will be able to take high quality photos of our baby and find a source of entertainment between times. Happy Birthday to me and him! I absolutely love it!   

This week's reactions to my belly in my preschool room:
My classroom is very baby obsessed now. They all play babies, write up doctor charts for my "doctor visits" with them, also find a baby in the kitchen and wrap it up because it is my baby. p.s. Not the brown baby, the one with the white skin. This fact was determined several months ago when a child asked if my baby would have brown skin like him. Its very interesting what is discussed through my belly growth. Everyday I am also reassured that my belly is getting bigger because my baby is growing. Also, my meals are a time of discussion as to how my baby eats, if he is eating my food, whether or not he is sleeping.... You get the theme. Babies are the hot topic of the rest of the school year I am guessing....

Here is something to be sure to bring sweet dreams to me tonight....

OBSESSED??? One might say so.

I say... Yeah so :)

Lucky Me.

I need to get to bed since I am about to start another week of school. (Only two more left though--Woo hoo) I realized it has been awhile since I blogged and need to draw attention to two very special people to me, especially in regard to today.

First up:
My husband! Happy Birthday to him. He is 29 years old today and we have been together 12 of those years. I have enjoyed every single one of them and look forward to this upcoming year we have together!

Next up:
My mom!! Happy Mother's Day to her. She has always been there for me and supported everything I have done. Looking back to how many of my activities and sports she sat through--definitely a trooper. Plus, look at my nursery alone and you will see how awesome she is :)

Love you both!!

Bet you are thinking that I am pretty lucky! Yep, you are right ;)

Baby Shower (1).

I have no idea how this week has gotten past me but the fact that Easter weekend was a long time ago makes this post more urgent.

My wonderful sister, sister-in-law and mother put together lots of work and effort to throw me a very special baby shower.

The shower consisted of my relatives and close family friends. Not only was I "showered" with lots of amazing gifts but it was also a good chance to see lots of cousins I haven't had a chance to see.

Here is the brunch menu served:
(Eggbake, fruit, and muffins)

First on the game agenda was to have all the guests decorate onesies with any design or quote they could come up with and I chose my favorite from all of the designs.
Here is a sample: (including my favorite choice--the middle shirt, I am sure to hold true)

Then we played a game where I was blindfolded and had to feel all the different baby supplies and guess what they were. I was awesome at this game by the way ;)

Last up, we played what might have been my favorite game. There was 20 qualities listed and I had to choose whose quality I want Mini Bee to have. (Ex: Eyes: Mine or Mitch's?) I then compared my answers with everybody else's. It was interesting to see which qualities people thought were more desirable in Mitch and I.
 
Another awesome piece to the shower....
A diaper cake my mom made for me :)

At the shower I received lots of thoughtful/useful/cute gifts. This little mini bee is sure spoiled and lucky. I think he feels pretty loved.

Here is his closet after the first shower...

How awesome, right? Mitch and I (and of course Mini Bee too) feel very fortunate to have so many people celebrating with us in the upcoming arrival of our little guy.
Thank You!! :)

28 Weeks.

Another week down. One more closer to the arrival of Mini Bee. I feel as though the weeks are whizzing by!

Today I am 28 weeks! Mini Bee is only an eggplant for one more week and then we move onto our next fruit. This week holds some of the same development but i have noticed that mini bee seems to be very active this past week. This week I also have had strong cravings for a few items lately.... I tend to pick a few things and obsess over them for a few weeks.

Here are the current cravings...

 Mostly the blue kind, with the occasional red powerade.

 OJ and cut up Pineapple...

 My edible backsplash...

Oranges although this one is slowly dying out. OJ is kicking in more. Maybe I am just getting lazy cutting and peeling the oranges. OJ is more convenient? :)

I feel like I could eat these foods all day long! So crazy since I never was crazy about these before. I liked them but did not go overboard.

With all these fruit cravings, I already put in a request with Mitch. I would like an edible arrangement rather than flowers for the baby delivery ;)

YUM!