bonding

In this section, Rachel talks about how important it is just to have an everyday connection with your child.

Is your child particularly affectionate?
Do they enjoy talking out their thoughts?
What are they interested in which you can participate in or encourage them in?

I do feel that me and Brielle have an amazing connection. It’s just something about a mother and a daughter that is just unbreakable. I love the relationship I have with my mom, and through thick and thin, she has always been there for me. I only hope that Brielle and I can continue the closeness that we do have, and develop it into a lifelong friendship.

The answer to the first answer is yes. She is amazingly affectionate towards those that she loves. I love the way she loves me and our family. She also is crazy affectionate (kisses, hugs, holds hands) with her close friends that she calls her “best friend”.
The answer to the second is also a yes. She LOVES to talk, to anything and everything. All.Day.Long. I don’t think she is really “quiet” unless she is napping, or has her paci in her mouth randomly. I love finding out each and every day what she is thinking, learning, and how much her brain is expanding into forming memories, and making new ones.
The third answer is her toys, babies, and puzzles.. Brielle particularly loves to play “pretend” with her babies (feed them, change them, cuddle them), but she also loves to figure things out. She loves when Shane and I watch her do something “new” on her own, and lately that has been to figure out new pieces of the 63 piece puzzle that go together. Since she is an only child, spending one on one with either one of us, means SO much to her, and I have to remember to really make more of an effort to do that more often!

I love this 30 days connected series, and I can’t wait to do the last few sections!

This crafting project started out with a great garage sale deal $20 for a big dresser with a mirror! I knew right away, that it would be the perfect dresser (with a LOT of work) for Brielle’s new room!

I didn’t know how to get started, or what I was planning on doing with anything. I was looking at ALL of these painting projects on pinterest, and was easily getting WAY too overwhelmed with how much paint/materials/time it took to complete a project, the size of a dresser.

I never get “free time” away from Brielle, when I am at home, so I know I had to do something that could involve her, and was fairly easy!

For the supplies I used:

-Crimson Acrylic Chalk Paint

-Crimson Chalk Paint brush (pretty expensive! $10)

-Krylon Fusion black gloss spray paint

-Zebra colored fabric for the re-upholstering of the chair (1 yard was on sale at Walmart!)

First, I took everything apart! (Took the mirror off of the back, all of the pull out drawers out, took all of the hardware off).

Then decided to start on the dresser first, and paint everything (with the help of an eager toddler) that I could after I thoroughly cleaned it (it was an old dresser and very dirty). Next off, was the mirror. I painted the outside of the mirror, without having to take the glass off–SCORE).

The next morning after cleaning all of the drawers (when Brielle was distracted doing something inside), I spray-painted the drawers, and all the hardware. It was not as hard I thought, but it took a while to dry outside.

After everything was dry (so we thought!), we took the furniture to the new house, and I focused on reupholstering the chair (which was not fun!), and finished painting it, and I must say, the final product doesn’t look half bad!

For this project, I just used a screwdriver to unscrew the chair, and re-used the nails that were in the bottom of the chair already. Not hard, just time-consuming!

20151116_140838 — At the time, it was missing a hardware piece for the top right drawer, but it now has one! 🙂 Oh and gotta love the paint stain on the new carpet! (I will try REALLY hard today to get it out)

While it definitely is FAR from perfect, I must say with a couple of layers of chalk paint, it definitely made a TREMENDOUS difference in the look of this dresser, and I am so GLAD she now she has in her new room. And she will be able to show off to people how she painted it “with mommy”.

Tag: bonding

Everday Connection-section 8

Crafting time with Brielle~