20/101 -- Paint 3rd Bedroom

We have been talking about moving my step daughter from her current room to our current playroom. The room is a bit bigger and has a private bathroom attached. There is a 6 year age difference between her and my daughter and we know that in years to come that Chloe will want her privacy. Some things will be changing around here in a few months and it was a good time to move. We asked her if she wanted the "big" room and she did. Little did she know that the room would be transformed without her knowing it for one of her big Christmas presents. She had no idea when she would be moving rooms and hadn't asked about it since we casually asked her if she would be interested in moving.

The week before Christmas she went back to her mother's house and I went to work. I only had 4 days to get the project done with everything else we had to do for the holidays, so it was tough. Throw in a toddler who didn't want to nap (my only free time other than at night) and the fact I'm 6 months pregnant, and it was not so easy. First I did the ceiling. As mentioned in my master bedroom post below, our builders painted both the walls and ceilings beige. After the ceiling dried, I taped it off and started on the walls. Her favorite color is aqua and I found the perfect shade to match brand new bedding I got on Black Friday. I would link what I got her but it is no longer available. The deal was amazing!

I also tackled the adjoining bathroom and finished everything before Christmas. And yes, I did it ALL by myself. The husband? Too busy with work. This was all my doing and yes, I am proud of it. :)

The best part was surprising Chloe. This kid is not excited about anything. No excitement over anything. Not about Santa, not about Christmas morning, not about birthdays, nada. We went on a short trip out of town to see the husband's family for Christmas. We left town Thursday, picked up Chloe on the way, and stayed until mid-day Christmas and drove home. We told her she could "open" one present that night and we would do our family Christmas in the morning since we got home late. We told her to go upstairs and close her eyes and wait. We guided her to the door of the room where I hung a big red bow. She opened the door and holy smokes...

The reaction we got was amazing. She screamed, jumped up and down and totally freaked out she was so excited. This marks the first excited gift reaction out of this kid EVER. It made my day. It was worth the backbreaking work and long exhausting hours at night finishing it for her so it was just perfect for her Christmas. The fact she loves it? The best feeling ever.

(Oh and next morning on Christmas? Back to her non-reaction self---even with a new motorized pink Razor scooter sitting under the tree from Santa.)

To top it off, when her mom picked her up on Friday she asked Chloe if she had a nice Christmas. What did she say? "GUESS what I got??? A NEW ROOM!!!!!!" Bliss. :)

New room, new paint, new bedding.