Master Closet-Shoe Edition

I know I posted a couple years ago about getting the master closet in shape…but time passes, moves are made, maternity clothes are bought, used, and packed away…and the time comes once again for a major closet overhaul!! I spend a bit of time and effort on my closets, so this will be a multi-post dealio.

I don’t have any before pics to show you…but believe me…you would NOT want to see just how disorganized this self-proclaimed neat freak let her closet get!! Suffice to say, there were clothes jumbled together and piled on almost every surface (floor included, but no top shelves since I am somewhat height-challenged)!! It was pretty scary, I can assure you!!

First thing I tackled was the shoes…I might not have a lot, but I definitely needed to deal with them. I first replaced a few pairs that were in sad shape or no longer fit right. The casual shoes were Payless BOGO 1/2 off. Yeah, I get some of my shoes at Payless, but that way I can afford to replace them more often, and I usually get tired of some styles a lot sooner than others. The athletic shoes, on the other hand, were NOT cheap…but my dear husband wanted me to have good shoes for workouts and such. (New shoes on the left in pics, old ones they are replacing on the right).

I then packed away a few pairs I hardly ever wear, but still wanted to hang on to for certain occasions (like slouchy boots for renfaire, my old Docs for trips to the farm, a fave pair of flips I can’t part with yet, and a pair of heels that only go with one outfit). I then got rid of six pair of assorted footwear…

This left me with space to get all my current shoes organized onto just one shelving unit…YAY!! I moved the unit to a corner, cause I actually like to have some empty space in my closets…and there ya go!!

I moved DH’s shoe shelf into another little nook I freed up of excess stuff. I didn’t try to convince him to part with shoes (even though some I can’t even recall ever seeing him wear) since they all fit onto his shelves in any case…even a spot left open for his work boots!!

Next closet post will be on accessories…how in the WORLD did I manage to corral all the purses, belts, ties, and ballcaps?

Hurray for Cheap Diapers!!

So a couple weeks ago Target had a gift card deal going on where if you bought three packages of certain diapers at $8.99 a pack, you got a $5 Target gift card. You could use both manufacturers coupons and Target coupons to make the deal even sweeter. I had some of both, so I got three packs of diapers and my money out of pocket for all three was less than $13!! SWEET!!

Now I’ve got a super sweet deal for YOU!! Sign up for a new account at Diapers.com and fill your cart with at least $49 worth of stuff. Don’t think that just because you don’t use disposable diapers that you can’t benefit from this deal because they also have cloth diapers, clothes, toys, potty chairs, slings and baby carriers, you name it!! Even if you don’t have little ones of your own if you have any family or friends with babies you can benefit from this as well…think baby shower gifts!! Why $49 worth of stuff in your cart, you ask? Well, if your order is just over $49 you will receive free shipping!!

Next step is when you check out, make sure you put SIMPLICITY in the referral code box. That will take $10 off your order…if you have at least $49 worth of stuff in your cart.

THEN…print and complete this rebate form. If you want a free subscription to Parenting Early Years Magazine, that’s all you have to do…BUT if you want to have an even sweeter deal on what you bought, you can get $14.97 cash back. All you have to do is print out and fill out the form, then attach proof of payment from your order and send it in.

I ordered two packages of Huggies Overnites diapers, two Halo sleepsacks in a bigger size since Bug is growing so much, and a Baby Bjorn Little Potty. My original total was $49.91, the referral code I used brought it down to $39.91, and once I get my rebate I will have spent only $24.94 out of pocket for all of that!! YAY!!

Now, don't think after signing up and getting this sweet deal that the good deals are over. I was poking around on the site and discovered that they actually take manufacturers coupons!! Yep, you heard that right!! Send them your paper coupons in the mail and within a couple weeks you will see those savings available in your account, giving you savings off your next order...and EVERY time your order is over $49, you get free shipping!! Awesome, no?

Long Time, No Blog!!

So, it has been a VERY long time since my last entry!! Much has happened since then..the biggest thing of course being the birth of our son!! Believe it or not, he will be seven months old tomorrow!! He is a real joy to have, smiling and giggling a lot at our silliness, army crawling across the floor, fascinated with the cat, teething and trying out solids.

His birth was not without challenges. A planned homebirth, we ended up transporting to the hospital because of high blood pressure…but the birth itself went great and our little Bug is perfect in every way. Three days after we got home from the hospital I ended up back in the hospital from an eclamptic seizure. With all of that I ended up being unable to nurse him, so I’ve been pumping and bottlefeeding him ever since.

Needless to say, with all of that…I was doing good for a while just keeping the house neat, clothes and dishes washed, and Bug cared for. I didn’t tackle any big organizing projects (just little bits of things here and there), didn’t do much in the way of decorating either, and only rarely got out and snagged good deals on groceries and such.

But now I’m back!! I might not be a prolific poster since I now have a little munchkin to keep out of mischief…but I look forward to getting back in the groove of showing off all my little projects and shopping steals!! All while typing one-handed!! :-P Oh yeah, and check out the new way to post comments...cool, no?

Snow and our Munchkin!!

So I sort of made a resolution to blog more this year, but somehow still haven’t up to this point!! I do post occasionally about different milestones of Edmund’s on his Facebook page or on mine and I have been pretty good about keeping plenty of recent pictures posted on Facebook. But not everyone is on Facebook and blog posts just seem a little bit more personal in that I’m not limited to just a few sentences…so here I am, trying to get back into blogging once more!!

Edmund will be seven months old on Sunday. Crazy how time flies by and babies grow so quickly!! He is now trying to crawl (he’s got the army crawl down pretty well) and is teething (though no sign of any teeth yet)!! He is such a good, sweet baby and we love him to bits!!

We just had a record snowfall for the Metroplex. I think as of last night they were saying it was 11.2 inches of snow…and it was still snowing at that point!! I was just saying the other day that I prefer snow in the winter to just cold grey yuck, so I love the snow….but then again, I’m not out driving in it!!

I thought I’d just post a few pictures of how pretty the neighborhood looks with all the snow and then give ya’ll a peek at what Edmund and Ami thought of all the snow!! :-)

Our house with lots of snow (and this is after things started getting mushy and melty already)!!

Our neighbors houses…

The view from our backyard across the pond…

Ami is not too sure about the snowman staring into our house…she figures she needs to stand guard in case it tries anything!!

Edmund loved his little snowbaby…he wanted to help me build it!!

Snowballs are pretty cool too!!