Big boy shoes

This weekend, we took H for his first real pair of shoes.  Up until now he’s worn soft soled baby shoes.  But with all the time he’s spending on his feet (indoors and out!) these days, he was ready for the real deal.  We went to the shoe store, got him measured, and forked over an obscene amount of money for such a tiny pair of shoes.

We’ve had a few really warm days in the past month or so, and I noticed his little toes getting pretty toasty in his socks and soft shoes, so we opted for sandals.  They’ll be perfect to protect his feet while playing outside this summer.  And they are so darn cute.

Of course the day after we purchased them it was nowhere near sandal weather (Ah, spring in New England!), but they work with socks too (they truly are like little sneakers with ventilation holes in them), so he wore them anyway.

Here he is testing them out with Mama at the park:

Greetings

If you know me, you know I love a bargain. And I love to share a bargain. I don’t know about y’all, but this holiday season (every holiday season really!) Cand I are on a budget. The holiday shopping spreadsheet has been started and the tabulated shopping is underway. One expense I often forget to allocate is our holiday cards. That’s why I was thrilled to see (and am thrilled to share!) the holiday card blogger promotion that Shutterfly.com is hosting. If you’re a blogger, click HERE to find out how to get 50 free cards of your own!

I love getting cute photo cards of adorable kids during the holiday season. We have received many great cards from friends and family in years past that they created with Shutterfly, and this year, as we approach our first holiday season with a little one of our own, I am so excited to create a cute photo card of our own!

Now comes the hard part – choosing! Here are some of my favorite styles from Shutterfly’s holiday collection…

I love the kicky design of these:

 

And the simplicity of this one:

And then there are Shutterfly’s new “story” cards, which I am kind of in love with as an alternative to the often too-long and too-braggy “holiday letter.”  How adorable are these?:

Decisions, decisions…

I can’t wait to place an order and send out our first holiday cards as a family of three!

Enjoying it

In spite of all the gripes outlined in my last post (what a downer!), I’ve been trying my best to stick to my 2010 sorta-resolution and remember to “enjoy it.”  Yes, there is stress a-plenty, and C is working lots of crazy hours, but the fact that wonderful things are happening in our life remains.

Last Saturday we carved out some time for ourselves to smell the roses.  We had our home inspection in the morning, and left the rest of the day open to spend as we wished.  The inspection went very well, and it was fun to get to spend two hours in the house and really look closely at everything.  From the inspection, we went to Target to pick up some essentials and build our baby registry.  While there, we did a little shopping for The Baby.  We of course have the The Baby Box with some odds and ends for our boy, but with the end of the second trimester approaching, it’s no longer too early to buy him the things he’s going to need.  There happened to be a bunch of adorable clothes on clearance, so we walked away with quite the haul.  Here’s some of the cuteness:

It may seem silly, but it felt like a milestone.  We went shopping for clothes for our son.  For the first time.  The Baby Box is now getting pretty full, and soon The Baby will not only have some things in a box, but a room of his own, and a dresser filled with his clothes.

We closed out our day with a dinner date in the city, at one of our favorite restaurants, something we haven’t had time to do in a while.  We had delicious food, I drank two mocktails, and I ate like a pregnant woman (a three-course meal seems like just enough!).  We took our time and enjoyed each other’s company, knowing that our days of three-course dinner dates in the city are numbered!  It was a really wonderful day.

So while I may feel like we are speeding through the air at a frantic pace lately - I am determined not to forget to take in the view.

House buying, hormones, and big bellies – oh my!

I have a few things going on.  I feel a bit like I’ve been catapulted and am now speeding through the air like a big pregnant rocket, with no landing in sight.

Home-buying is proving to be a full-time job.  I try to tell myself that we are probably in the worst of it now, and in a matter of what?  A couple of weeks?  Things will calm down considerably, and then we’ll be able to just focus on preparing to move.  But it’s hard to listen to myself when I say this, because there are deadlines to be met, reams of paperwork, and surprises at every turn thanks in part to the negligence of other people.  I won’t go into the details because you don’t want to hear them anymore than I want to re-hash them.  Suffice it to say – things are a bit nutty.

And I’m hormonal.

Ah, yes.  Pregnancy hormones.  The other day, C called to say she’d be working late.  I hung up the phone, promptly stubbed my toe, and burst into tears.  Not being able to find something to wear to work seems probable cause for throwing myself dramatically back into bed and pouting for the day (I haven’t given in to this urge – but it’s tempting!).  The hormones seem to make every feeling feel bigger and badder.

And speaking of finding something to wear, I am rapidly outgrowing phase one of my maternity wardrobe.  Luckily, my collection of maternity dresses is still in the game, but my old jeans are done for, and the shirts that seemed big at the beginning are now getting to be too short to cover my growing belly.  And bras? Don’t get me started on bras.  I will not buy more bras because I know my boobs are just going to get bigger (closer to my due date I’ll get some nursing bras), and I already bought some in a cup size larger earlier in the pregnancy, so I’m trying to make do with what I have, adding extenders to give myself more room to breathe.  The extenders are a fairly decent solution, as they keep me from being in actual pain, but I am never fully comfortable.

Jeans are another problem.  I was wearing low-rise, under the belly maternity jeans until recently, but now they just plain don’t fit.  So I figured it was time to switch to the more old school, big stretchy belly-panel jeans.  I tried some on at a maternity store, thought they seemed great, and bought three pairs.  It turns out, they are not great.  Not great at all.  The panel isn’t snug enough to keep them up, so they are constantly sliding down! And I mean constantly.  To make matters more interesting, the stretchy panel on two of the three pairs is light tan (the other is navy), so if the pants slide enough (and they do!) that the panel peeks out from under my shirt, it looks like I am flashing some belly skin…not exactly the look I’m going for at work!  I don’t want to be the pregnant flasher.

So my boobs are always uncomfortable, my pants are always falling, and my shirts are riding up.  I spend all day futzing and twitching and fixing and it is exhausting.  And now The Baby is getting big enough that he is sometimes poking and prodding me in very uncomfortable ways, which means that at moments of the perfect storm, I am uncomfortable everywhere.  And of course the hormones are a-ragin’, making all of this discomfort so much more pleasant to deal with!

I think the most frustrating part of it is feeling like Debbie Downer.  I really do love being pregnant.  I love feeling our little boy kick and dance and karate chop and whatever the hell else he is doing in there (he is really active!).  I love knowing that I am taking care of him and nourishing him so he can grow and thrive.  So my clothes being super uncomfortable and aggravating makes me bummed out about being uncomfortable and aggravated when I’d rather be just enjoying my pregnancy, you know?  I’m pregnant!  That is amazing and wonderful and exciting!  I don’t want to be thinking about my pants this much!!

I just reread that last paragraph… It’s official: I am a crazy, hormonal pregnant lady.  Hear me roar.

View from the Second Trimester

In two days, I will be 16 weeks along.  Four months.  And I am finally (hold on – let me cross my fingers and knock on every piece of wood I can reach…) starting to feel better!

Remember that time, about seven weeks ago that I seemed to be feeling better?  Yes, I vaguely remember it too.  It was a fleeting moment, and it turned out to be a cruel, cruel tease.  I was not to be let off the hook quite so easily, and continued to be plagued by nausea and intense food aversions on a daily basis.  Now, a few weeks into the second trimester, things seem to finally be calming down a bit (wait – let me knock on wood a few more times…), which is a very welcome relief.  I am of course now experiencing new and exciting symptoms like the need to move from sitting or laying down to standing at the pace of a 90-year-old woman to prevent dizziness and queasiness, and daily indigestion and heartburn (thank goodness for Tums!).

But it’s not all discomfort and burping (though there is plenty of burping!), I have also been treated to the first fluttery feelings of movement from our real live baby inside of me, and I am now sporting a pretty obvious and, ifI dosaysomyself, adorable baby bump.  Plus, we are within mere weeks of getting our chance to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl at an ultrasound next month, which The Accountant and I are very excited about.

Along with the second trimester and said baby bump, has come the need for a whole new wardrobe!  And on that topic, I ask…what in the hell did women do before Old Navy Maternity???  I’ve found the maternity stores to be pretty disappointing in selection, and often over priced.  But Old Navy?  Well, aside from inconvenience that you have to order online (a couple of the stores around here have a maternity “department”…I use quotes because it is less a department than one lonely rack near the baby section),  I couldn’t ask for more.  Basic, comfy pieces.  Decent fit.  Great price.  Regular promotions that allow me to get even further markdowns.  Um, yes.  Thank you, Old Navy.

Here’s what my wardrobe is looking like these days:

click to enlarge

Every piece is from Old Navy, and not one item cost more than about $25 (I believe the most expensive item was a dress for $26.50).  Some of them were amazing bargains - like the purple dress, which I found on the rack at a local store  on clearance for only $6.47.  I have three pairs of the jeans (one of which I only paid $10 for by combining sales), and I use the leggings as tights with the dresses (warmer and more comfortable than tights), paired with mid-calf boots.  Basically, I am a walking billboard for Old Navy’s maternity line.

Month four: new belly, new clothes, new love of Tums.

Project: Second Bedroom Redux – Results!

Ta da!

 

Problem 1: Depressing wall color – solved!  Due to my sub-par digital camera and the unfortunate lack of natural light on a cloudy Boston afternoon, the wall color proved  very difficult to photograph.  The color we chose is a light, bright green - Celery Sprig by Behr:

 

Problem 2: Less than thrilling Ikea curtain panels – solved!  This is really more like what I originally had in mind for this room.  The panels we had were just too chopped up.  I love the soft, clean feel of this curtain wall:

Problem 3: The positioning of the bed – solved!  The bed is now against the wall opposite the windows, with room to get in and out on either side, so no one has to crawl to get into bed.  Lesson learned: when you put a queen size bed in a roughly 11′x11′ room, don’t try to hide it – embrace it.

This area needs some finishing touches:

The wall looks very yellow above, though the bedding color is accurate – go figure.  I am currently at a loss on throw pillow colors…waiting for inspiration.

Here’s the view from the bed in its new spot:

I’ll be covering the open back of the bookshelf (same one we had – just laid on its side!) with some cute fabric, so you won’t be able to see through it (example of a similar idea here).

Bookshelf detail:

 

Problem 4: Giant-ass desk – solved! As you may recall, our old desk was a table top and legs from Ikea’s Vika line. For $20, I was able to get the same table top in a smaller size. We stashed the old, big top in the basement of our apartment house in case we ever find use for it again. The smaller desk provided more flexibility for the floor plan, making the new furniture arrangement possible!

Thus concludes my Second Bedroom Birthday Makeover project!  I will of course delight you with photos of the finishing details as they come together.

I’m overall really pleased with the final effect for the amount of effort and money C and I put into this project.  We spent less than $200 (and our incredible landlord actually reimbursed us for paint), and I feel like we have a whole new room.

Decorating on a Dime I Don’t Have

Wouldn’t this:

 

Look lovely on either side of my bed?

Excuse the poor photo quality

I thought so.

 

Think I can find $200 in loose change between the couch cushions?

Newport

So I mentioned that C and I went to Newport for the holiday weekend.

While there, we saw this:

And I bought this:

Wallet – trés cute!

Oh, and also this:

The best fudge money can buy

It was so good.  All of it.

Project: Back Porch – Update

Sorry to leave you hanging on the back porch project!  We hit a road block, then had some bad weather, and the porch kind of fell out of mind.  But we have made progress, which I am pleased to share:

Note the layer of what appears to be dust on the bistro set table – that is pollen, and it is the reason for my regular sneezing fits and bouts of lightheadedness.  Thanks, spring!

Anyway…  The rugs are in place (a second one starts at the end of the one shown, to cover the remainder of the porch), and we finally tried out our paper lanterns over the weekend.

For the lanterns, I just strung up some jute from preexisting hooks (sometimes renting comes with freebies!), which we’ll leave up all the time.  The lanterns are on little plastic hooks, so are collapsed and stowed away in the back hall when not in use.  We actually do have a bright, overhead electric light out there, but the lanterns are much more fun, don’t you think?  Plus, I think the dimmer light will attract less bugs.

Now, about that road block…  The shade I picked out from the Home Depot website apparantly does not exist on this planet.  You cannot order it from the website, and in store…  Well, we went to our local store (which, according to the website, had the shade we wanted in stock) every Saturday for three or four weeks, being told “Come back next week” each time, and every time it wasn’t there.  We were finally told by a surly high school student, who clearly cared that we’d been back three or four times about as much as I would care about a monster truck rally being in town, that they don’t carry the shade at all, and basically won’t ever have it.  After all that, I’m feeling pretty burnt out on the shade.  We’ll find something, I’m sure, it was just very annoying.

So what do you think of the rug and lanterns?  Not bad, huh?

And now for something completely frivolous

I bought sandals yesterday:

They’re very cute on, don’t pinch my feet, and don’t look too gladiator-y, like say…these:

Seriously, people… Is this supposed to be a joke?

After a certificate I had for $10 off, they were $40, which I feel is a respectable amount for a good pair of sandals, don’t you? Not a bargain, but not unreasonable.

Now of course, today, the day after I purchased these cute sandals, it is expected to reach a high of  a balmy 56 degrees here in downtown Boston, while earlier this week, before I had said sandals, it was 90.  You’d think that having lived in New England for nearly my entire life, I would learn.  But no, I do not.