Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Penz Family!

5 Months

He is 5 months ALREADY! Crazy! It seems like alot of new things have been happening lately - in just the last week! He is officially on the move. He has been very wiggly and squirmy lately, but now he is on the move. Just the other night he started army crawling and can get whatever he wants now. Uh Oh!  Time to baby proof the house! Lately he has been scooting towards the presents under the tree and trying to open one. He did open one the other night all by himself. I feed him rice cereal for the first time a couple weeks ago and have tried a few times since, but he doesn't always love it.

He also slept in his own room a few nights ago. This was a big step for him, but an even bigger step for Mommy :) He is still waking up around 3 am and 6 am. I thought by putting him in his own room maybe I wouldn't have to wake up as many times, but this isn't the case. It is alot worse to have to walk across the hall to put his pacifier in his mouth or feed him than it was to roll over and attend to him when he was in the pack-and-play by my bed. I have been pretty tired the last few nights.

He is such a happy baby (except when tired and hungry). He thinks his doggie, Bella is hilarious and will shriek and giggle at her all the time.

He fits in a couple 0 - 3 month things, a few 6 - 9 month things, but is mostly in 3 - 6 months clothes. Although I hate having him grow up, it is so fun to see all the cool things he discovers and starts to do. He has such a personality and is starting to get so active.... I LOVE IT! :)

Last Black Friday

To my Sweet Brecken boy - One year ago from today we saw you for the very first time. Thanksgiving was exciting last year because we were so excited about the news of having you and knowing the next day that we would get to see you for the first time! Last Thanksgiving you were the size of a raspberry in my tummy and now you are such a big boy! Seeing you for the first time was so exciting! You were already the squirmy little boy you are today.  Your daddy and I were a little nervous because we were hoping you were ok in my tummy and you were. We saw you for the first time and got our first picture (first of MANY!) of you. You still had a tail in the picture and this was before we knew you were our sweet boy joy! So much has changed in the past year and we are incredibly blessed to have you Brecken!  

Love, Your Mommy

Giving Thanks!

I have alot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving: wonderful, helpful families on both sides, a loving Savior, being able to stay at home with Brecken, a part-time job I love, our home, our health and many more things than I count. This Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for my family.

 I am so blessed with such a sweet, wonderful husband that is a great provider, partner, and best friend.

I am so thankful for this adorable smile. It is an absolute joy being his mother. Although it can be hard at times, being a mom is the best job in the world. I am so thankful for an easy pregnancy, safe delivery and a happy, healthy baby boy. He is my little blessing and I am so thankful for him!

Happy Thanksgiving!

4 Months Old

I think I say this each month, but I can't believe that Brecken is 4 months old already! Time just flies! I also can't believe that it is Thanksgiving this week... and a few weeks later, Christmas!

This photo captures of the new thing he loves to do - play with his toes. He is starting to get very wiggly and more active. It is such a fun age as he is more interactive and loves to chat it up with us at times. I love his shreks and giggles and as much as I don't want him to grow up, I look forward to the new things he can do.

He just had his 4 month check up and shots. He is 14.5 pounds and 25.2 inches. He is growing up so fast! He can still wear some 0-3 month clothes, but a majority of his clothes are 3 -6 months.

He isn't always so cooperative... :)

Nursery Reveal

And now for the post you have been waiting for.... the nursery reveal.
Here are the links for other blog posts about Brecken's nursery in case you missed the post:
Before Pictures of the Nursery
Nursery Inspiration
Stripes and Crib
Crib Skirt
Chipboard Letters
Picture Frames
Book Slings
Custom Made Art
Gray Chair Makeover
Lanterns and Puffs
Lamp Makeover
Dresser Makeover

Enjoy the photos!

Brecken's Nursery: Chipboard Letters

The letters over Brecken's bed was the last project I had left and actually only got it done a few weeks ago. But I am very glad all the details in his nursery are done!

I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up the letters of his name in Chipboard letters. They were on a half off sale, so I got all the letters for $7. I painted all the letters with some leftover light gray paint from his room. I wanted to cover the letters with the same material as the pillow, crib skirt and book slings because I had some leftover. I put the letters upside down on the fabric and traced the letters onto the fabric. I then cut out the traced letter from the fabric.

I then used my favorite craft tool: Modge Podge, to attach the fabric to the chipboard letter. I not only glued the bottom of the fabric to the chipboard letter, but also gave a nice couple coats to the top as well. I let them dry between coats, but this ensured that the fabric was bonded to the letter and gave it a nice shiny look.

I then had a piece of thick foam board that I cut a large rectangle out that I could use as the background for the letters. I covered the foam in leftover gray fabric from the chair. I glued all the fabric down except for the corners. I then used strong glue to bond the letters to the fabric covered board. With the corners of the board that I left uncovered, I nailed the board to the wall. Then I tucked the leftover fabric to cover the corners between the wall and board so you could not tell where I nailed it in. It looks nice but I have no idea how I will get that board down! :)

Brecken's Nursery: Frame Makeover

There was a large wall in Brecken's Room that needed some kind of wall hanging. I already had my two painted canvases so I needed something that was a bit different. I went to Goodwill and bought some old & (ugly! Do you seen the one with the dolls in it?) frames. I then bought white, golden yellow, blue and dark gray spray paint to makeover the frames.

They turned out pretty awesome. I then put a variety of photos and mementos in the frames. Two of the frames feature a picture of Todd and I as babies with our parents. We then have a picture of us with Brecken in another.

 

 Another frame has the lyrics of "Jesus Loves Me"

One particular frame was pretty big and had a sturdy piece of cardboard as part of its backing. I decided I wanted to use this as a chalkboard. I had some leftover chalkboard paint so I painted the piece of cardboard with it. It turned out pretty cool.

 Other frames have Brecken's footprints from the hospital, his ultrasound photo, a mirror, a piece of artwork a friend made, a photo of our dog Bella, and a newborn photo of Brecken.

One of the frames I bought did not have a back on it. I picked up a chipboard letter "P" and a pack of buttons.

 

I covered the letter in white tissue paper and glued the yellow, dark gray, and light gray buttons on it with a hot glue gun. I tied on a piece of white ribbon to the letter. I put two nails in the wall for the hollow frame to sit on and then tied the ribbon to these nails to give the letter the illusion of floating.

Brecken's Nursery: Custom Made Art

When it came to the artwork, I knew what I wanted but I knew I wouldn't be able to find what I had in mind. I love making my own art - it is cheap and (most of the time) fun. I used canvases I had around the house, cut out printed letters, paint and alot of Modge Podge.

I absolutely love this piece of art and it turned out exactly what I was thinking. I love this little song and the lyrics are perfect for nursery decor. The colors of the nursery are in the song: sunshine yellow and grey. So perfect! I know it probably wasn't the proper paint to paint on a canvas, but I used leftover paint from the stripes to paint the dark gray so that all the colors matched.

I got the inspiration for this print from a piece of artwork I saw at Target. I loved the print because an alphabet print is the perfect nursery decor but it also sneaks the words "I love you" in perfectly. The Target print was cute but was not the right colors for his nursery. Obviously I couldn't have unmatching colors in the nursery! :)

Brecken's Nursery: Book Slings

I had an empty wall in Brecken's Room and I was thinking about doing a bookcase there, but realized with it being a small room, I didn't want it to seem cluttered and too full. I had seen this idea for book slings on a blog at this link. If you go to that link, you will find the full tutorial to make these book slings. They are fairly easy to make and look really cool! I used extra yellow chevron fabric that I used for the crib skirt and a pillow to make these. They really add alot to this small wall and can store Brecken's favorite books. It is alot less cumbersome than a large bookshelf.

Brecken's Nursery: Chair Makeover

I picked up the hideous brown chair at Goodwill for $15. It is pretty comfy, just pretty ugly.

 I went to the fabric store and picked up about seven yards of fabric to recover the chair and fashion a slipcover of sorts. I bought the gray fabric on an awesome sale and paid about $30 for all seven yards. So that makes what I spent on the chair a whopping $45. Don't ask me how I fashioned this "slipcover" - I did not use a sewing machine - I used a mix of cutting, stuffing in cracks, fabric glue and pins. It wasn't the most conventional way to slipcover a chair but it works! You may have seen the chair before on the blog. It is the perfect place to take Brecken's monthly photos.

Brecken's Nursery: Lanterns & Puffs

When I was looking for nursery inspiration photos for the baby, even before I knew we were having a boy, I fell in love with pictures of hanging works of art consisting of lanterns and "puffs" as I call the tissue paper balls. Whether it was a boy or girl, I was bound to have one of these works of arts. Once I found out it was a boy, I started to plan the yellow and gray nursery and this was one key element I was going to have. 

 

 I had two unused white lanterns in my house that I had in college and I ordered a pack of tealish blue Martha Stewart lanterns off of Amazon to help tie in some different textures into the mobile. I then made yellow and blue puffs from tissue paper. I attached clear fishing line to all the puffs and lanterns so I could hang them.

I also made a dot garland from gray paper. I used a circle punch to make the dots then used my sewing machine to tie them together.

I had a board laying around my house so I drilled holes into the board. Then I strung the fishing line through the holes to hang the puffs and lanterns, using a strong tape to attach them to the top of the board. I then drilled the board of puffs and lanterns to ceiling. I later used a staple gun to reinforce the fishing line to the board.