Recent Cuteness…

I think that if I’m gonna get back into regular blogging, those who follow me will just have to resign themselves to seeing many, many pictures of my cute baby boy…that’s just how it is!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A long day of errands and refusing to nap makes for a tired boy about 5pm!!

A cute little cloth-diapered butt!!

Playing in the grass for the first time without a blanket…it felt weird to him!!

My little daredevil climbing the foam rocks at the indoor playground!!

Shopping can wear a boy out!!

Jumping in the front entryway…lots of fun!!

Mmmm…he loves sushi (avocado rolls)!!

Loving the nice weather for going to the park!! Swings are fun!!

My Daredevil Child!!

The kid has no fear…and he’s getting braver and braver!!

I'm weird...and I'm okay with that!!

So, some things that would make people think I'm weird just didn't happen. The homebirth was a no-go, co-sleeping didn't happen, nursing was a bust (though I think pumping for nine months was definitely pretty crazy), and I'm a bit embarrassed to say that Bug eats more Beechnut and Gerber than homemade in the baby food department.

I live in a normal home in a nice quiet subdivision of a small town in the DFW metroplex...essentially the burbs. We have two vehicles, one baby, and a stuck-up cat. Though the norm these days trends toward dual income families, I am a stay at home mom...but in our neighborhood that isn't too unusual. But that isn't what I'm talking about when I say weird!!

No, those things that set me apart are probably these:

*We aren't vaccinating. At least not most of the shots...but we will deal with any that we may decide to give him after he is at least two years old. The idea of pumping chemicals and diseases into a tiny body worries me. I'm not gonna get all crazy vigilante about it (everyone makes the decision they feel is right for their own children)...but the proof is in the pudding as to whether they are really all that needed or not. Firstly, the only one of all the siblings of both mine and Brack's who did not get any vaccinations is the healthiest one of the bunch. Second, how many rounds of sick do most babies go through the first year of their life these days? Bug's only ever been under the weather (besides diaper rash and teething) twice in his whole 9.5 months of life on this earth...that's closing in on a year of healthy!!

*Bug is going on the potty at least once a day. I am not necessarily following the whole Elimination Communication dealio, but I just put him on the potty whenever he wakes up and most of the time he goes!! He has gone in the potty consistently every morning for over a week now!! YAY!! No pressure, but he's getting used to the idea so that in the future potty training won't be such a scary thing.

*I homeschooled most of my school years and we plan on doing the same for Bug...or rather, I'm leaning ever more toward unschooling him...letting his interests guide his studies. Of course, this is a few years in the future.

*I love swing dancing and really want to have cool retro clothes for it and be able to go out dancing a couple times a month. Granted, this isn't so weird for some people who may be reading this...but I can guarantee you that there aren't too many people I know who like to get out and cut a rug Glen Miller style!!

*I really love renaissance faires. There is just something so cool about faires...at times I think I am part gypsy and the faire season gets me wishing I could move with the faire schedules to each new faire...maybe live in a vardo...I don't know!! But the garb, ah yes, the garb is such fun!! I have been to faire in the yuckiest heat and sometimes it is cooler temp-wise to go in mundanes (regular clothes for those who don't know the lingo)....but I do love me some absolutely gorgeous and fun garb. I am actually in the middle of making/prepping garb for a big faire this fall.

Now, to top it all off and make people think I'm even crazier...I am really starting to get into the whole steampunk thing. I've always liked the Victorian turn-of-the-century era...and here is a way to recreate it...only imagined as if steam were still king...a sort of alternate history so to speak. I find those who are into steampunk to be rather dapper dressers and exceedingly polite...because manners still count!! I think that that is what really makes me like the whole aesthetic, though the cool gears, buttons and styles are pretty appealing as well.

So there you have it...several reasons why someone might think I'm weird. One, two, or even all of the above may brand me as just a wee bit nuts...but you know what? I don't care. I actually like marching to the beat of my own drum, rather than being a cookie-cutter soccer mom, so to speak!!

Typical Saturday At Our House

Saturdays have always been our “lazy” day. Pre-baby and pre-house that meant sleeping in and having a nice brunch around 11-ish…then playing computer or xbox games, messing around online on Crossings, or reading. Once we started the house search we would spend most of Saturday afternoons driving around and looking at different neighborhoods and houses and going through model homes. Housework beyond dishes was put off and dealt with come Monday (which was pretty hard when I was working full-time and easier but not-so-fun when I was working part-time).

But then we moved into our house last February and welcomed our little guy into our lives last July…and weekends are just not the same. Typically the little guy wakes me up no later than 7:30am…but usually a good 45 minutes earlier than that!! Sometimes Brack gets to “sleep in” until 8am, but many times he wakes up when the little dude starts making noise.

Coffee is made and a bottle of milk is warmed immediately so EVERYONE can get a good start to the early morning!! Then I fix breakfast while Brack plays some xbox and Edmund plays on the floor with some toys and occasionally climbs on Brack, disrupting the game!! Here is a pic from several months ago on a different Saturday morning…but it’s still pretty typical (except Brack isn’t so fastidious about keeping the little man from seeing the screen these days)!!

Then we all sit down to eat. Usually by the time we eat and Edmund is ready to get down from his chair, he gets in a few minutes playing with Papa and then it’s time for his morning nap (sometime between 9:30-10:00am) Once the little guy is down, Brack plays on the xbox for a little while longer while I savor a second cup of coffee.

But then the day really begins. There is usually some house project to work on, if not several. I try to get a couple loads of laundry done and keep up with the dishes as well so that Monday catch-up won’t drive me insane. Meal plans for the next week must be made up and grocery lists and coupons got together. Clothes for Sunday must be picked out and readied. If we are really on the ball, we usually can sit back and relax (besides dealing with dinner) right about the time the little guy goes down for his afternoon nap around 2:30-3:00pm. If I am lucky I can even get a nap in while he naps to make up for not getting to sleep in!! Once the baby boy is up from his afternoon nap we have fun playing with him, going for a walk, running errands, or just relaxing. Then of course once he is down for the night we can sit back on the couch and watch a movie or something. Saturdays may be busier now, but they are just as enjoyable.

One thing I have enjoyed doing on Saturdays ever since getting married is fixing our brunch. Of course, these days our brunch is a bit earlier than it used to be…typically between 9:00-9:30am!! A favorite new recipe is a clone of Panera’s Spinach-Artichoke Souffle (which isn’t a souffle at all)!! Oh, but it IS good!!

I found the recipe online here but have tweaked it a bit. I use green bell pepper instead of red…as it’s a bit cheaper and I usually have green on hand. I use 4 tablespoons half and half instead of 2 tablespoons each of milk and heavy cream since we always have half and half on hand. I substitute mozzarella for monterey jack as I usually have mozzarella on hand after our Friday night pizza. I also substitute a blend of parmesan, asiago, fontina, and romano cheeses in the places the recipe calls for parmesan and asiago. I also don’t divide the dough up into four, only into two and I cook the “souffles” in my Corningware 16oz round dishes. The last thing I do differently is buttering the dishes with a stick of butter instead of melting it first. Even with all the changes, they still taste like the ones at Panera.

One thing that makes getting the meal ready easier is having some of the components prepped ahead of time. I actually premeasured into small rubbermaid containers the frozen spinach, chopped canned artichoke hearts, onion, and bell pepper that the recipe calls for so that I only have to do that once to have enough for 4-5 times.

So here are a couple pictures of our yummy brunch…

In the interest of full-disclosure, the prepped breakfast table actually looks more like this!! :-P

Of course, I can’t post an entry without at least one picture of my cute little guy!! Here he is chilling out in the hammock that his Papa hung on the patio this morning. Don’t worry, I was RIGHT beside him!!

Quick Fixes

So I’m still gonna post about my master closet project, but it’s taking a while and it’s easy to get discouraged when things aren’t progressing as fast as I’d like them to. I need to realize that with a little one in the house I can’t be as gung-ho on projects as I was before if I don’t wanna live around the project mess for a while!! So I get involved in little side projects just to feel a sense of progress and accomplishment!! Here are a few recent ones…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About a week ago I knew my mom-in-law was coming for a visit, so the days of using the guest bedroom as a laundry repository and folding location would need to come to an end!! :-D I dealt with all the laundry and put away the few bigger baby toys that had wandered in there, but I hated that the closet was a big mess. I knew the underlying layer was organized, but it just looked very cluttered. So one afternoon as Bug played underfoot and then later napped, I tackled both the closet and the under-bed situation. Though I still need to get some of the things in the containers dealt with, I think it looks rather neat and tidy…what do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another project was the pantry. It was rather sad and neglected and really needed a cleaning and organizing as well. After throwing away a couple of sad shriveled potatoes I found hiding in a corner and giving away some older canned stuff I knew we’d never eat (why did I buy it?)…I got it all spiffy and organized and it is ready to restock with good deals!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today I did a couple quick projects. The first was pulling out our heavy coats from our hall closet, leaving only our lighter jackets and freeing up space for visitors to hang their jackets. I decided I didn’t want that closet to be such a catch-all place, so I need to find new spots for the ironing board, the TV trays, and the vacuum cleaner and deal with the other random items in there. It is cleared out now though and at the moment the only things in there are five hanging jackets and some of Bug’s bigger toys. It makes me smile cause I love uncluttered spots!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next, I was tired of waiting to implement an idea I had for our entertainment center. We had switched it out a couple months back from a closed unit to a shelved unit that fit more snuggly up to the wall. (Excuse the absolute disaster that is the open shelving unit—we had JUST switched it out and all the junk was just transferred over…ugh!).

I was tired of seeing cords hanging all over the back of it though and wanted to remedy the situation. A couple weeks ago I snagged the little fabric and cardboard cubes I had been using in my closet and was using them to contain things in a few of the cubicles, but I really wanted to deal with those unsightly cords.

So I grabbed a big serrated edge knife and started hacking away!!

I used my hacked cube to fit the electrical stuff in…as well as all cords, headsets, remotes, and controllers. The other cube on the top row of cubicles has my cookbooks in it (very handy, since I usually take a naptime to spread them all out on the carpet and plan upcoming meals). Since the one cube is not going anywhere because of the cords, and the other one is WAY too heavy for Bug to pull out, it really works out well.

One of the other cubicles on the top row then has the XBox360 and the controller charger, and the other has a nice basket of books for Bug and a cute teddy bear.

The bottom row is split evenly between my stuff and Bug’s stuff. His little toys all fit into one cube and his ball pit balls fit into the other.

I took the other two cubicles and neatly organized my binders, storybooks to be read to baby boy, coupon box, recipe box, and two boxes with DH’s Xbox games into them. I think the overall effect looks quite nice. What do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So there ya go…that’s how I occupy my little snippets of time lately, when the big projects get to be too much but I am still motivated to use the time while baby boy naps to good use!!

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!!

Picture Post

Not a lot to say...but just had to share the cuteness!!