When I finally got pregnant I was thrilled to pieces. I always thought that whenever we decided to start a family it would just happen whenever we wanted it to, like I saw happen time and time again to all of the friends in my life. However, it turned out that it wasn't a quick or easy process at all for Terry and I. Instead it was a process full of waiting, heartache and longing for the baby that we wanted so badly. So when that millionth pregnancy test finally showed up with that beloved second tiny faint little line on it, I couldn't believe it.
I was by myself when I found out. Expecting yet another false test, I casually took another one after work one day just to ease my curiosity. And when I watched in awe as that tiny line started to emerge, I literally screamed out loud "No way! No way!" and I ran downstairs desperately willing Terry to come home early from work. I've never been so thrilled in my life. All the waiting, all of the tears, all of the fears that had haunted me of never being able to carry my own child were washed away in one single moment. It was too overwhelming I could hardly stand it. I didn't know what to do with myself. What do you do when you find out the most amazing news in the entire world, but you can't obviously tell anyone until you tell your husband..and I knew I didn't want to tell him over the phone. I just had to wait. So I stumbled into the living room in a daze, not knowing what to do. I was not only in shock, but in a bit of denial that that little dollarstore stick (yes, those Dollarama pregnancy tests work!) could be correct. I think I sat on the couch and stared blankly at the television for a few minutes, but I mostly remember continually getting up over and over again to stare out our front window just begging that silver car to pull into our driveway. In reality, as I look back, I think that I only had to wait about 25 minutes before he actually walked in the door--but it felt like an eternity. I remember watching him walk up onto our porch, arms full of work stuff, not having any idea that in a split second his world was about to be changed as he turned that doorknob into our home. My heart was racing and I felt knots in my stomache as I tried to pretend like nothing was different as we locked eyes and he put down his bags. But he knew. He knew right away. I now wish that I had come up with some fun, interesting way to tell him my amazing news..but I guess what we had instead was a real, raw moment of true happiness and disbelief between a couple who was beginning to think that it just wouldn't happen. Oh, and then we ran to the nearest pharmacy and got a REAL (expensive) test, just to make sure!! Maybe next time (if we're lucky enough to get pregnant again) I'll be all sly and get out to the grocery store and buy a bun and put it in our oven for Terry to find or something. But for now, what we had that afternoon was just pure excitement and joy about our little wee one (to be).
I still don't think anything in life will top that moment of knowing that there was actually a little life growing inside of me. Then when we found out that we were going to be having a little baby girl I couldn't help but be even more excited about the reality of our future and thoughts of all of the fun and wonderful things that we had to look forward to with our little daughter. Also, I can't lie...I was pretty excited envisioning all of the pink girly things that come along with a new baby girl! So when we started to plan her nursery, I had a million ideas but just needed to put them all into place.
One of the things that I knew that we would need for the nursery was a little side table beside her rocking chair. It's amazing how many things you need within your reach when nursing a baby all day and all night long. A glass of water (for those intense moments of dehydration that nursing brings), a burp cloth, a mini light...just to name a few. So with that being said, I went on the hunt for a cute girly side table--but came up with absolutely nothing (well, there were some cute things out there, but they cost a fortune). So I decided if I wanted what I wanted, I'd have to make it myself. So that's exactly what I did. I went to several different thrift stores, with an 8 week old baby in tow, looking for a round side table (not willing to pay more than $20). And when I hit one thrift store I found exactly what I wanted--and it was the ugliest thing I had ever seen. It looked like it was from the 70's, it was wobbily, it was scratched, it was brown..I wish I had taken a pic of it at the time, but I got my hands on it too quickly with the paint that a before pic was nothing but an afterthought. Oh, and it was only $15..what a steal. So after buying the pink tulle and then using ribbon and paint that I already had at home this entire table cost me about $28--and it's so freakin' cute.
Anyways, here is how I did it:
1) Start by picking your paint colour and buy a good primer. I knew I wanted mine to be white since it matched the white crib, rocking chair and dresser in Mya's room (all of which I painted myself since they were hand-me- downs, minus the crib which was new). So I just used some of the left-over white trim paint that we had in our basement and some of the primer we had lying around as well.
2) Start painting with a paintbrush, then use a mini paint roller to smooth out all of the paint lines. You'll need to do about 3 coats total. You're probably technically supposed to do all sorts of fancy sanding and all...but honestly, I didn't have time for that and I didn't want the mess, so I just went for it (and it's been about a year since I made it since I actually made this table when Mya was only about 2 months old and it hasn't chipped or peeled or anything yet). But if you want to do it right, give it a good sand if it makes you feel better about it all.
3) Go to a fabric store and buy at least 8 yards of tulle (if your table is about the same size as this one). You`re better off having too much instead of too little, especially since this particular type of fabric is pretty cheap. And you can always make little tutu skirts with any left overs!
4) Measure from the top of your table to the floor and cut the tulle in strips (appprox a foot wide) to the appropriate height.
5) Get your glue gun out, flip your table over and start glueing the end of each strip underneight the top of the table.
6) Keep flipping the table over so you can see what it looks like upright, and fill in the gaps as you go with more tulle.
7) Use your glue gun to add little dots of glue along the edges of the table top and add your ribbon. Then tie a bow with a separate piece of ribbon and glue it onto the table as the finishing touch and voila, you`re done! So easy, so adorable and so cheap!!
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