Out Of The Closet

Since moving into our 1950's rental our biggest complaint has been closet space. There are plenty of closets but not where we need them the most. The Hubs and I were using the standard sized closet in the master plus another standard closet in the hallway and it still wasn't working out. We started having major laundry issues, the clothes got cleaned but weren't put away because there was no room.

The Hubs and I started thinking about one of the guest rooms right across the hallway from the master and decided that it was the perfect room for a proper master closet. We could afford to loose a room because it still left us with a guest room as well as the nursery. We went to Lowe's and grabbed about 16 feet worth of racks and ended up with this:

One Lucky Girl

So, remember how I was on the prowl for the perfect Mom bag? I didn't like any diaper bags I saw except for ones that went above my price range...curse my practicality! I was really trying to find a big purse that had good pockets and some pizzazz but wasn't having much success. Fast forward to this Saturday. One of my girlfriends has a friend that had a baby girl last February. (Did you follow that?!) She was going through her baby stuff to get rid of what wasn't sentimental and my friend suggested that I go check it out. So, we went and picked out a few outfits and other baby gear that we couldn't live without. All of the stuff was in perfect condition, much of it with the tags still on. Before leaving the woman asked if we wanted to check out the stuff in the basement...but it was mostly boy stuff. We figured, why not! She opened an armoire that she had the clothes in and I heard a choir of angels sing as I saw the Kate Spade diaper bag that I had been lusting over but couldn't get over the $300+ price tag. I mean, I'm not crazy...I know what kind of stuff is going to go down in that bag! She had forgotten about the bag, she bought it and never used it. She asked me if I was interested in it and I tried to wipe the cheesy grin off my face as I told her I was. $50 later and I am the proud owner of the mom bag of my dreams. Thanks to my girl Mare for the hook up!

A Bed For Baby

Well, we ordered the crib. I think that this purchase finalizes the nursery....except for curtains and any other random accessory I feel like I can't live without. What can I say? I love me some accessories!

Now to focus on all the rest- car seat, stroller, bottles, pacifiers, diapers...All the boring but necessary stuff. One thing is for sure- the girl has enough blankets to keep a small country warm!

Wasting Time

A.K.A. What I've been up to lately-

Jessica Simpson bag...a possibility.

 Shopping for the perfect "Mom Bag"...I refuse to carry a diaper bag unless I find one that is super fabulous.  So far no luck.

I didn't even make it a whole day in this get up.

 Complaining about maternity clothes.  Luckily I didn't invest in many pieces because I still hate them all.  I mean, is this a shirt or dress?!  Super UN-flattering.

Years and years of writing.

 Typing up my Nana's writings.  My Nana was an exceptional poet...we are lucky to have page after page of her original writings.  Ugly cry count: 1.  I consider this quite the accomplishment.  My Dad's family is compiling all of her writings into a book to be printed.

You don't know Mitt about Mitt...props to my bro for that slogan.  Can we please get that on a t-shirt?!

Attending political events.  Okay, so just one since the whole Bachman thing months ago...but I'm pretty sure I've met my lifetime quota.  That would be the hubs and myself in the bottom left hand corner. Don't be fooled into thinking that I stood the whole time.  At some point one of my nieces got tired and I volunteered to take her to sit down in the back.

One of the fabrics for Lo's room.  The series of fabrics that I chose is named "Roco Beat"...if you know my family you can appreciate the humor there.  If you're just blog stalking, sorry you won't get the joke!

Convincing myself that I need to be nesting.  I don't know when that whole phase is supposed to happen but I think I might have skipped over it.  I did finally settle on a group of fabrics for nursery decor and purchased them.  Mimi is already whipping up baby bedding as I type this.

Please don't sell out before I get my buns in gear... I can't just have a wood tone or white crib for my child's nursery.

Talking about ordering this sleek navy blue crib.  You would think that I would have learned my lesson after the gray crib of my dreams sold out forcing me to go back to the drawing board for the entire nursery scheme...but sadly, no!  Maybe I'll order it tomorrow...or the day after that, or the day after that.  

And lastly, compiling a list of more people than I would like to admit to for the baby shower.  I haven't done one since my wedding 8+ years ago and I don't care to do another one for a very long time.  You're always going to forget someone or offend someone...or how about the person that you DO invite that wonders why you did.  Too much pressure!  In all seriousness, I am looking forward to the baby extravaganza in a few weeks.

So to sum it up- baby, baby, baby, baby and BABY!  Oh heavens, I've turned into THAT person.

Jackpot

It only took 23 days but we finally started getting mail...hooray!

You've Got Mail

Or in our case, we don't have mail!  It has been almost 3 weeks and the good ole USPS still hasn't started forwarding our mail.  I submitted a change of address online, by phone and in person.  We even got this lovely little confirmation letter letting us know that we should expect mail in 7-10 days at our new address...but we haven't.  I spent a large amount of time on the phone and internet today trying to get krunk with USPS because I've played nice for 3 weeks now and guess what?!  The system that they use for complaints is currently down.  UGH!  Okay, I'm done ranting.

Making It Official

Well, this week has been about making the move official.  The Hubs started his new gig and our house is officially on the market.  It has been a crazy few weeks of moving, unpacking, celebrating holidays and loads and loads of paperwork.  I will be so glad when the house sells but in the meantime, we have been blessed with a wonderful listing agent and fabulous neighbors who continue to look after our home.  I got a call at close to 11:00 the other night from my neighbor asking if we were at our Horse Country home.  I told her that we weren't and she informed me that the lights were on in our house.  The listing agent must have accidentally left them on and my neighbor went over there at 11:00 and turned them off for us.  They really are good people.  Now, if our mail would just start coming to our new address we will be set! 

My Kind Of Resolution

A couple of years ago I read on a friends blog about a different type of new years resolution.  It was suggested that you pick a word for the year instead of other goals that typically just set you up for failure.  It's funny how the process of picking a word works, it seems like once you start trying to think up a word one will just stick out in your mind.  Then, as you meet trials and triumphs throughout the year you can see where the word of the year helped you or took on a new meaning.

I have been thinking about my word for 2012 on and off for the last few weeks and this one just stood out-

Grow.  I know there will be many opportunities for me to grow in the year 2012

and I am looking forward to it.

New Years Eve

We rang in the new year at Bab and Roc's house. We started the day out by making cake pops which Babs dubbed a success...I'm still a little skeptical about calling it a success.

Proud of her accomplishment, this was not her first time at the cake pop rodeo...I guess all other attempts prior to this one were major fails!

This picture below of the arrangement of cake balls illustrates why I don't think it can be called a success.  It was a group effort though- me, Hubs and Bab.

I lovingly referred to this as the NKOTB (New Kid On The Block) cake pop display because all of the pops kept touching, causing the candy coating to create "rat tails".

We enjoyed visiting with friends and family, watching guests play Just Dance 3 on the Wii, good food, lots of laughs and an amazing fireworks display by Roc.  Of course, like many holidays, I realized after we got home that we had no pictures of us at the celebration.  This is us, in our pajamas about to turn in for the night.  But at least I got our picture!  My Hubby sure is a good sport.  It should also be said that we were driving home when the clock struck midnight so we didn't get our New Years kiss in until about 12:04...safety first!

Me and my man.