Today I had a rare mixture of energy and ambition, and these are the times I usually tackle projects. Today's project was the girls' toys. They both just had birthdays, and this weekend I realized that their toys no longer fit inside their designated containers (one large toy box in their bedroom plus one storage ottoman in the living room). (Not to mention Christmas is right around the corner and they'll probably get even more toys!) I decided that this was ridiculous, especially since they no longer played with most of those toys (yet still managed to make a huge mess with them every day).
Showing posts with label nesting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nesting. Show all posts
Nov 21, 2011
May 21, 2011
And we're still unpacking.
You don't realize how much stuff you have until you move. Once you sort out all the junk you've been holding on to from the stuff you actually need, then you have to find places to put it all - and (for the next month or so) our new home is without a utility room and master bathroom. I still don't have a place to put my mops and brooms.
But, all in all, our new house is coming together quite nicely. It's really starting to feel like a home. Someday soon, I want to be able to post a video tour, but there never seems to be a good time to do it. As I write this, Isabelle is sick with a little fever and is therefore an emotional basket-case, and Lacey is "crying it out" in my bedroom after several failed attempts to put my cranky baby down for a much-needed nap. So one day you will get the "grand tour," but not today.
But, all in all, our new house is coming together quite nicely. It's really starting to feel like a home. Someday soon, I want to be able to post a video tour, but there never seems to be a good time to do it. As I write this, Isabelle is sick with a little fever and is therefore an emotional basket-case, and Lacey is "crying it out" in my bedroom after several failed attempts to put my cranky baby down for a much-needed nap. So one day you will get the "grand tour," but not today.
May 9, 2011
Why I Haven't Updated Lately
We're moving. (That's a good reason, right?)
Blake and I have decided to move our little family to the teeny-tiny town of Baldwin, LA. We'll be a lot closer to Blake's job, and since we'll be able to rent out both sides of our duplex, it's a great financial move for us right now. We'll be renting a little house that Blake's grandfather grew up in - a few years ago, he bought the house and renovated the inside! And it's SO beautiful!
Right now, it's a 3 bedroom/1 bathroom with laminate wood floors, a dining room, and lots of windows! But we're also going to be fixing it up a lot in the next few months. We'll be adding a master bathroom, master closet, and a utility closet. Blake and his grandfather are going to be putting up a fence in the backyard, as well as a back patio and a small shed. And I have so many plans for how I want to make the outside cute - fresh coat of paint, shutters, a walkway, flower beds, etc. Blake's grandfather has a huge garden in the backyard, and Blake's thinking about setting up a chicken coop behind the garden! Look out, Baldwin.
While this move definitely puts us farther from Lafayette's shopping areas and most of our friends, we'll be right down the road from Blake's grandparents, as well as church!
We're both really excited about moving, and that's what we'll be doing this week - right now, I'm packing up boxes of those nonessential items you don't use every day but want to keep anyway (read: crap), and transporting them to Baldwin. Our Big Moving Day will probably be sometime this weekend, and I'll post pictures soon. That is, as soon as I catch my breath.
Blake and I have decided to move our little family to the teeny-tiny town of Baldwin, LA. We'll be a lot closer to Blake's job, and since we'll be able to rent out both sides of our duplex, it's a great financial move for us right now. We'll be renting a little house that Blake's grandfather grew up in - a few years ago, he bought the house and renovated the inside! And it's SO beautiful!
Right now, it's a 3 bedroom/1 bathroom with laminate wood floors, a dining room, and lots of windows! But we're also going to be fixing it up a lot in the next few months. We'll be adding a master bathroom, master closet, and a utility closet. Blake and his grandfather are going to be putting up a fence in the backyard, as well as a back patio and a small shed. And I have so many plans for how I want to make the outside cute - fresh coat of paint, shutters, a walkway, flower beds, etc. Blake's grandfather has a huge garden in the backyard, and Blake's thinking about setting up a chicken coop behind the garden! Look out, Baldwin.
While this move definitely puts us farther from Lafayette's shopping areas and most of our friends, we'll be right down the road from Blake's grandparents, as well as church!
We're both really excited about moving, and that's what we'll be doing this week - right now, I'm packing up boxes of those nonessential items you don't use every day but want to keep anyway (read: crap), and transporting them to Baldwin. Our Big Moving Day will probably be sometime this weekend, and I'll post pictures soon. That is, as soon as I catch my breath.
Nov 12, 2010
And the Ticking Time Bomb is...STILL Ticking
Well with my due date only days away, I can honestly say that I'm tired of being pregnant.
Don't get me wrong - pregnancy is amazing. It's nothing less than a miracle to take part in the creation of life in such an intimate way - growing a tiny baby inside your body, nourishing and protecting that precious little one until she's ready to be born! My favorite part is feeling those gentle baby kicks and hiccups reminding you that your sweet little someone is still there.
But pregnancy comes with its difficulties too. Hormonal mood swings, digestive issues, sleepless nights (exhaustion), constant backache, heartburn, and the new soreness in my ribs whenever I inhale are just a few of the emotional and physical difficulties I've been dealing with. And I'm so ready for it to be over.
Not to mention, I'm also VERY ready to meet my precious Lacey! I can't wait to hold her in my arms and kiss her little cheeks!
So I feel like a ticking time bomb...whenever I call someone, I can hear it in their voice that they're wondering if I'm in labor. "Sooo, how are you DOING? Anything going ON?" And my dear husband is constantly asking if I'm okay every time I get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. No Blake, no contractions, no mucus plug, I just had to pee (again).
NESTING UPDATE:
Don't get me wrong - pregnancy is amazing. It's nothing less than a miracle to take part in the creation of life in such an intimate way - growing a tiny baby inside your body, nourishing and protecting that precious little one until she's ready to be born! My favorite part is feeling those gentle baby kicks and hiccups reminding you that your sweet little someone is still there.
But pregnancy comes with its difficulties too. Hormonal mood swings, digestive issues, sleepless nights (exhaustion), constant backache, heartburn, and the new soreness in my ribs whenever I inhale are just a few of the emotional and physical difficulties I've been dealing with. And I'm so ready for it to be over.
Not to mention, I'm also VERY ready to meet my precious Lacey! I can't wait to hold her in my arms and kiss her little cheeks!
So I feel like a ticking time bomb...whenever I call someone, I can hear it in their voice that they're wondering if I'm in labor. "Sooo, how are you DOING? Anything going ON?" And my dear husband is constantly asking if I'm okay every time I get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. No Blake, no contractions, no mucus plug, I just had to pee (again).
NESTING UPDATE:
- My changing station is finally set up. Blake hung my shelves (the ones I painted myself), and I set up my diapers, wipes, medical and baby-grooming supplies, plus Lacey's clothes on my shelves so I have easy access to everything. Honestly it's working out so well I'm wondering why I didn't do this setup a year ago!
- I got the baby swing back from my friend Rhiannon. I had lent it to her when she adopted her baby girl Alana. The only thing I'm worried about is keeping Isabelle from getting to Lacey while she's in there. I'm trying to teach her not to touch the swing at all, but it's not working out too well. I guess I'm just going to have to be super careful and grow an extra pair of eyes in the back of my head.
- I'm borrowing a car seat from my friend Jamie until Blake and I order Isabelle's "big girl" convertible seat in a few weeks. Today I'm going to wash the cover and clean it off really good, and it should be ready to go!
- Mrs. Michelle helped me convert my playpen back into a co-sleeper. It's set up in my bedroom right now, and I can't help but look at it every time I'm in my room and wonder at the fact that soon my baby girl will be sleeping there.
I feel like my home is finally ready to welcome a new little one, and I'm so ready!
- At my last checkup (which was Monday), I was 1.5 cm dilated and about halfway effaced. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm close to going into labor, but it does mean that when I do go into labor, I have 8.5 cm to go (instead of 10)! YAY for progress!
- OH - I don't think I wrote about my last ultrasound! I had an ultrasound last Wednesday (my doctor wanted to see how big Lacey was), and everything looked great! They estimated that Lacey was 5-something lbs (Isabelle was only 6 lbs 1 oz) - he said that I just make tiny babies, which is fine by me!
- My doctor did guess that I would go into labor sometime this week, and since today's Friday, I'm due Monday, and the week's almost over, we'll have to see!
Nov 9, 2010
The "Great Inquisition" of 2010
This past weekend my lovely sister-in-law, Catherine, came to stay at out house while her parents were out of town. Sunday we decided to clean out the "office," or what eventually became affectionately known as our "junk room."
Seriously, it was just full of random crap. And since Catherine will probably come to stay at our house and help with Isabelle for a few days after Lacey's born, we wanted to put a twin mattress in there so she wouldn't have to sleep on our couch.
What started out as "Blake, can you move a few boxes into the attic?" turned into what I'm calling "The Great Inquisition of 2010." Blake, in fact, was not okay with moving all of our stuff to the attic, and insisted we go through all of it and throw away the junk we didn't need.
I think our main problem was that I'm a pack rat when it comes to memories, or more specifically, keepsakes that stir memories within me. And Blake doesn't understand that. He doesn't understand why I feel the need to keep certain old photos (like dance portraits), and I don't understand why he wouldn't want to keep these things. To me, they represent pieces of my life, and every once in a while, I like to go through those old boxes of my keepsakes and remember those times.
It was a long, difficult process, which after some disagreements, tears, and compromise, resulted in a clean, organized office. Which is funny because now that Blake has an office at his new job, this office will be more of a home office. AND we have room to fit the twin mattress! It's just going to be temporary until we can get an actual bed in there (which I would like to have for our occasional guests).
I'm so happy that room is cleared out and organized. It feels like we have a 3 bedroom house again, lol! And I feel like we're one step closer to getting our home ready to welcome a new little one in just a little while!
Seriously, it was just full of random crap. And since Catherine will probably come to stay at our house and help with Isabelle for a few days after Lacey's born, we wanted to put a twin mattress in there so she wouldn't have to sleep on our couch.
What started out as "Blake, can you move a few boxes into the attic?" turned into what I'm calling "The Great Inquisition of 2010." Blake, in fact, was not okay with moving all of our stuff to the attic, and insisted we go through all of it and throw away the junk we didn't need.
I think our main problem was that I'm a pack rat when it comes to memories, or more specifically, keepsakes that stir memories within me. And Blake doesn't understand that. He doesn't understand why I feel the need to keep certain old photos (like dance portraits), and I don't understand why he wouldn't want to keep these things. To me, they represent pieces of my life, and every once in a while, I like to go through those old boxes of my keepsakes and remember those times.
It was a long, difficult process, which after some disagreements, tears, and compromise, resulted in a clean, organized office. Which is funny because now that Blake has an office at his new job, this office will be more of a home office. AND we have room to fit the twin mattress! It's just going to be temporary until we can get an actual bed in there (which I would like to have for our occasional guests).
I'm so happy that room is cleared out and organized. It feels like we have a 3 bedroom house again, lol! And I feel like we're one step closer to getting our home ready to welcome a new little one in just a little while!
Oct 29, 2010
Crazy-Pregnant-Lady-Nesting Mode and some False Labor
So these past few days I've been majorly nesting. I don't have the energy all the time, but I do what I can with the energy I have. I've been cleaning the house and the van. Unfortunately I'm still waiting on someone to do certain manly things around the house, like put up the shelves in the nursery and at the changing station (which I am moving to the kitchen so that middle-of-the-night diaper changes don't wake Isabelle), and putting up the blinds.
But I've been cleaning and organizing like a crazy person. What's worse, Blake just informed me that in order to get the first-time-homebuyers tax credit we filed for, we'll have to live here for at least another two years! That's not a bad thing at all - I like our little duplex a lot - but this new information makes me want to nest. Seriously, I'm about to have a baby in a few weeks and I'm thinking about what color I want to paint the bathroom. Yes, I know I sound like a crazy pregnant lady.
While I am making progress on many areas of the house (like organizing the out-of-season clothing I had strewn all across Blake's office-turned-storage room), I still feel like there's so much to do before Lacey comes. We still have to buy a new car seat for Isabelle. We need to set up the changing station. We need to set up the co-sleeper, which is currently at Blake's mother's house so Isabelle can nap there. I need to wash and organize all the little newborn clothes. I need to start packing my labor bag, hospital bag, Lacey's hospital bag, and Isabelle's overnight bag for when she goes to her Mi-Mi's house. Blake, however, can pack his own bag - I've got enough to do.
Tonight, I started having contractions. I'm calling it false labor because they're very irregular, sometimes intense but not painful, and I'm not having any other signs of labor. But I think it was enough to make us all realize that as I'm full-term, I can go into labor anytime, and we need to be prepared. Blake has removed the box spring from my nest (something that's been bothering me for weeks), and he's promised to hang the blinds and the shelves tomorrow. The newborn baby clothes and blankets are in the dryer, and tomorrow I'm going to start packing what I can in my hospital bag.
For now, I'm going to take a warm bath and hopefully get some rest tonight. I promise to keep everyone updated when the time comes that I am in actual labor.
But I've been cleaning and organizing like a crazy person. What's worse, Blake just informed me that in order to get the first-time-homebuyers tax credit we filed for, we'll have to live here for at least another two years! That's not a bad thing at all - I like our little duplex a lot - but this new information makes me want to nest. Seriously, I'm about to have a baby in a few weeks and I'm thinking about what color I want to paint the bathroom. Yes, I know I sound like a crazy pregnant lady.
While I am making progress on many areas of the house (like organizing the out-of-season clothing I had strewn all across Blake's office-turned-storage room), I still feel like there's so much to do before Lacey comes. We still have to buy a new car seat for Isabelle. We need to set up the changing station. We need to set up the co-sleeper, which is currently at Blake's mother's house so Isabelle can nap there. I need to wash and organize all the little newborn clothes. I need to start packing my labor bag, hospital bag, Lacey's hospital bag, and Isabelle's overnight bag for when she goes to her Mi-Mi's house. Blake, however, can pack his own bag - I've got enough to do.
Tonight, I started having contractions. I'm calling it false labor because they're very irregular, sometimes intense but not painful, and I'm not having any other signs of labor. But I think it was enough to make us all realize that as I'm full-term, I can go into labor anytime, and we need to be prepared. Blake has removed the box spring from my nest (something that's been bothering me for weeks), and he's promised to hang the blinds and the shelves tomorrow. The newborn baby clothes and blankets are in the dryer, and tomorrow I'm going to start packing what I can in my hospital bag.
For now, I'm going to take a warm bath and hopefully get some rest tonight. I promise to keep everyone updated when the time comes that I am in actual labor.
Sep 13, 2010
God Must Read My Blog
It's funny how right after I write a big blog post venting about how difficult my life has been, I have a really good day.
Last night was rough. I was hurting, coughing, had a headache, and terrible heartburn. I didn't sleep well at all, and when the munchkin woke up at 7:30 in the morning, I thought it was going to be a rough day.
But it wasn't. I had decided not to push myself to do any housework so that I could rest and take care of Isabelle and myself. But for some reason, I had a good, steady supply of energy. So I took care of the baby and did a good deal of housework. Isabelle was so good today - she was playing by herself in her Jenny Jump while I was cleaning the kitchen, and fell asleep in it! It was SO cute. After I put her to bed, she took a good nap while I did more housework and got ready to go swimming. We got to Maw-Maw's late this afternoon and went swimming with Gregory and Ariel, later joined by Blake, Catherine, and Ethan. Maw-Maw had baked chicken with vegetables for dinner, and pie with ice cream for dessert! We had a great time!
Last night was rough. I was hurting, coughing, had a headache, and terrible heartburn. I didn't sleep well at all, and when the munchkin woke up at 7:30 in the morning, I thought it was going to be a rough day.
But it wasn't. I had decided not to push myself to do any housework so that I could rest and take care of Isabelle and myself. But for some reason, I had a good, steady supply of energy. So I took care of the baby and did a good deal of housework. Isabelle was so good today - she was playing by herself in her Jenny Jump while I was cleaning the kitchen, and fell asleep in it! It was SO cute. After I put her to bed, she took a good nap while I did more housework and got ready to go swimming. We got to Maw-Maw's late this afternoon and went swimming with Gregory and Ariel, later joined by Blake, Catherine, and Ethan. Maw-Maw had baked chicken with vegetables for dinner, and pie with ice cream for dessert! We had a great time!
Aug 13, 2010
"Project Nesting" is in Full Swing!
"Project Nesting" is in full swing today! Phase 1 is complete: I sold my yellow furniture (queen bed, vanity desk, night stand, and pink chair) for a grand total of $320! Someone contacted me after seeing my Craigslist.com ad, loved everything, and brought it home today for her 3-year-old daughter's "big girl" furniture!
Unfortunately, I have to hold on to that $320 for a little while, just in case it takes Blake a little longer to find a CBO job. But I've rearranged the furniture in the nursery - took the dresser out of the closet, and brought in the rocking chair! I absolutely LOVE having a room that's JUST a nursery! It kind of makes me want to keep it like that for a while!
Unfortunately, I have to hold on to that $320 for a little while, just in case it takes Blake a little longer to find a CBO job. But I've rearranged the furniture in the nursery - took the dresser out of the closet, and brought in the rocking chair! I absolutely LOVE having a room that's JUST a nursery! It kind of makes me want to keep it like that for a while!
Jul 17, 2010
Side Note about my Blog/Nursery Design
I really like this design, and I think I'm going to use it as inspiration for my nursery. I love the greens and browns mixed with the whites and greys. The Graco Lauren crib I ordered is espresso, I have a changing table I plan to spray-paint white (and I can put those canvas baskets on the shelves - green, brown, or both), I'm re-painting the dresser (haven't decided what color yet), and I'm looking into buying a white wooden daybed (with a trundle so the girls can pull it out to sleep on when they're little). The butterflies also gave me an idea for a wall mural or these wall decals - or maybe I can just cut out some designs in plywood and paint them dark brown to save a little $ - just some ideas bouncing around in my head.
But before I can do any of that, I really need to sell the antique-style yellow furniture I had as a little girl. I like it, but it's not really the direction I want to go in for decorating the girls' room. I put it up on Craig's List last night, and I have a few people interested - but no one's called me back yet.
But before I can do any of that, I really need to sell the antique-style yellow furniture I had as a little girl. I like it, but it's not really the direction I want to go in for decorating the girls' room. I put it up on Craig's List last night, and I have a few people interested - but no one's called me back yet.
May 4, 2010
I have an AMAZINGLY Wonderful Family!
It's tempting to just skip over all of the bad days in this blog and just write about the fun, upbeat stuff. But that would not be an accurate portrayal of my life. Sometimes I just lose it. I think everybody does.
So my weekend got off to a bad start. Saturday I was letting a bunch of little things bother me more than they should. So what was bothering me so much? I wrote about us "re-organizing" in a previous post, and in our efforts to remove the clutter from Blake's office and his truck, we let all of that clutter build up in other parts of the house (namely, the living room, kitchen, and dining area). And when I have such a huge task of cleaning ahead of me, and I don't know where to start, I get overwhelmed and prefer to ignore the problem. I know that's not a good thing to do, and that's something I'm going to have to work on. Isabelle was also very fussy that day, and while I LOVE being a mother, sometimes you just want to pull your hair out. The weather had been bad for a several days, and I tend to get moody without sunshine. It was also very windy, and the wind was blowing against the side of our house ALL day and it was LOUD. (This was clue #1 that my breastfeeding/pregnancy hormones were messing with me as well: I was seriously pissed off at the wind.) And everything just seemed to be much worse because while I was wallowing, hubby was having a great time playing golf. So my poor Blake came home to a hysterical, depressed wife. Blake gave me all of the comfort I needed, then watched the baby and kept her happy while I made desserts for Ariel's bridal shower.
So my weekend got off to a bad start. Saturday I was letting a bunch of little things bother me more than they should. So what was bothering me so much? I wrote about us "re-organizing" in a previous post, and in our efforts to remove the clutter from Blake's office and his truck, we let all of that clutter build up in other parts of the house (namely, the living room, kitchen, and dining area). And when I have such a huge task of cleaning ahead of me, and I don't know where to start, I get overwhelmed and prefer to ignore the problem. I know that's not a good thing to do, and that's something I'm going to have to work on. Isabelle was also very fussy that day, and while I LOVE being a mother, sometimes you just want to pull your hair out. The weather had been bad for a several days, and I tend to get moody without sunshine. It was also very windy, and the wind was blowing against the side of our house ALL day and it was LOUD. (This was clue #1 that my breastfeeding/pregnancy hormones were messing with me as well: I was seriously pissed off at the wind.) And everything just seemed to be much worse because while I was wallowing, hubby was having a great time playing golf. So my poor Blake came home to a hysterical, depressed wife. Blake gave me all of the comfort I needed, then watched the baby and kept her happy while I made desserts for Ariel's bridal shower.
Apr 30, 2010
"Spring" Cleaning in the Steiner Household
So as I've been exhausted all day while nursing and caring for a 6 month old AND growing baby #2, the house has been in pretty bad shape. My husband has been wonderfully patient with me, not complaining as long as I do his laundry, fix his meals, and keep the kitchen reasonably clean.
Over the past year and a half, we've accumulated a lot of clutter. We didn't realize how much CRAP we had until Blake cleaned out his truck and his office (which we had been using as a storage room/pantry). It's made us realize that we have to do something. I mean, we have a good-sized 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, and we're only able to use part of it because it's filled with junk we don't even use! And, yes, I plead guilty for contributing to the problem because whenever my parents get rid of their crap, I take it into our house. *sigh.*
Over the past year and a half, we've accumulated a lot of clutter. We didn't realize how much CRAP we had until Blake cleaned out his truck and his office (which we had been using as a storage room/pantry). It's made us realize that we have to do something. I mean, we have a good-sized 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house, and we're only able to use part of it because it's filled with junk we don't even use! And, yes, I plead guilty for contributing to the problem because whenever my parents get rid of their crap, I take it into our house. *sigh.*
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