Monday, May 27, 2013

Fun Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy but fun Memorial Day Weekend. It was packed with the perfect amount of friend time, productivity, and relaxation (okay, maybe not as much relaxation as I had hoped, but I feel less stressed since I was able to be productive!)

Friday night we went to O'Shaughnessy's to meet up with 2 of our old neighbors who are back in town. They moved to California last May and we miss them!!!  Our other neighbors were there too, so we had a good time hanging out and catching up.  Although, are bars always so LOUD?  I'm sure the noise is just amplified when you're not drinking :)
Marybell, Me, Catherine & Brad
Saturday morning I made Wake-up Casserole to last us through the whole weekend. We relaxed for a little bit and then our chair arrived for the nursery!!!  I've been on a search for the perfect glider/rocker/recliner for-ev-er and finally found it at Buy Buy Baby.  We ordered it back in April and could not be more pleased with it so far!  (Even though it's been like, 2 days).  We rearranged and set up the nursery how it will pretty much be when Baby B arrives.  We still need to move the rug over a little, put up a shelf by the changing table, and hang the prints on the wall behind the crib.  I washed a bunch of Baby B's clothes and reorganized his dresser contents.  Oh, I also made the boppy cover that you see in the picture below (the other weekend).  I messed it up a little - it's not as tight as I would like it to be, but it will work. It was a little tricky because I wanted to have the zipper along the seam and not on the top or bottom.  I mostly used this tutorial.  I also made homemade nursing pads the other weekend, but I'll spare you a pic of them ;)
Bailey tried to claim as much space as she could for herself.

Sunday our friends Anne and Brian (and little Ellie) drove down from Milwaukee for brunch and to hang out. Brian got a new job (congrats Brian!) so they will be moving to Boston in a few weeks.  We went to this local restaurant (The Alps) I've been wanting to try for a while and it was perfect! Considering our last few brunch experiences in Chicago, we were shocked to walk in and literally be seated right away!  The food was good and it was a nice atmosphere.   After brunch, we came back to the apartment to just relax and catch up for a bit.  Ellie had a blast running up and down our long hallway and "petting" Bailey and her tail.  Bailey wasn't too sure about all of the "pets," but she was good and put up with it (except when she was trying to run away from her).

Hugs from sweet Ellie
Sunday afternoon I spent cooking 3 Chicken Tortilla Casseroles and 2 Taco Soups in the kitchen. I have a plan to cook a bunch of freezer meals before the baby comes, but due to my feet KILLING me there is no way I can do a marathon cooking weekend/day like I used to.  So I decided I would split up the meals over the weekends and start this weekend.  I hope to make 2 different recipes per weekend (and double most of them) so we'll have a freezer full of favorites come July 16th (ish).
Yes I sat on the barstool while I layered the casseroles. Don't judge.
Monday was Tom's Birthday and he just wanted to have a relaxing, quiet day at home so that's what we did. It was perfect.  I love being able to just sit and relax and enjoy my coffee in the mornings. Although regarding the rest of the day, Tom did a better job relaxing than I did. I reorganized my closet and did a bunch of laundry.  I just feel like I can't relax if there are things that are bugging me that I want to get done.  I feel better because it was bugging me that things weren't organized, but I wish this weekend would last a little longer! I promise I'll relax a little more next weekend (I hope).

And finally, a bump pic.  This was taken last weekend after we went to a dinner at Tom's boss's house.  I look huge in this picture - it's definitely the dress.  I mean, don't get me wrong, as of last Friday, Baby B was measuring 5 pounds, 2 ounces, so he's definitely big, but this dress makes me look bigger than I think I actually am. On another note, 50 days left until Baby B's due date!!!!

Friday, May 17, 2013

DIY Changing Pad Cover and Matching Plushies!!!

I was able to finish my changing pad cover from last weekend. I love it!!!  Lovely pinterest gave me the idea to make a matching "stay busy toy" with the extra fabric that you cut out from the corners. I had enough fabric to make two toys! I decided to add little taggies, because, babies love taggies, and I stuffed them with fabric scraps I had been hanging onto for such an occasion (so completely machine washable! Which is a good thing since they are intended for use while changing diapers!) 

I used mainly this tutorial for the cover, which, btw, was waaaay easier than making the stuffed taggie toys! I used this as a guide for the giraffe, this for a pattern, and I drew my own pattern for the elephant (that's why one of his legs is fatter than the other leg. grrrrr)!  I also messed up on one of the elephant's "spout" ribbons. It was such a tricky area to sew and I only caught part of the ribbon in the machine. I had the idea to try to topstitch it on, but didn't think it would work so I didn't bother to use matching thread (now I wish I would have).  Oh well, they are solely to entertain Baby B while we try to master changing cloth diapers, so I think they will suffice :)







Sunday, May 12, 2013

Ahhhhhmazing baby finds

Okay, so I promised myself I wouldn't turn every single blog post into a baby related post, but this was just too great not to post about! 

I had big sewing plans this weekend. I did, in fact, make a crib skirt and start a changing pad cover (and washed fabric for a boppy cover). Pics to come when projects are completed/rooms are put together.

So I didn't get to all of my sewing because a friend from work randomly saw a flyer for a "Children's Garage Sale" at a church down the street.  We decided we would go check it out, there were some random things we each have been searching for.  We waited in a little line, paid $1 to get in, and then spent almost 2 hours walking around the school gymnasium getting some amazing deals!!! 

After our shopping spree we grabbed some lunch at D'Agostino's, home of delicious pizza, by the way.  I spent the rest of the afternoon vigorously disinfecting, cleaning, and washing all of my finds, but it was so worth it!!!  Okay, onto the goods!!
They had sooo much stuff!!! I can't wait to go back next year!
We had to sit down on the floor and go through our bags to figure out what we wanted and didn't want

And on the way out they had several tables full of free stuffed animals. I grabbed a few for B. Here she is with her new guinea pig
The grand haul.  $42 well spent!
My splurge: A $15 bjorn!!
This is quite possibly the greatest toy ever. We have 2 at work and the babies LOVE them!! They are constantly in use, and Leap Frog doesn't make them anymore.  I've been stalking ebay for an affordable one...but you can't beat $1!!!!

2 more baby approved favorite work toys
Bailey was being SO WEIRD when I was washing and cleaning everything.  Even with her new toy, I think she knew something was up.  She was all mopey and then went and balled up under the table. I hope she's not weird like this when the baby comes.


A "Dude" Diaper bag!!!  For $2!!!!!! How "Tom" is this bag?!
There were a few items of clothing I got that were new with tags. This was too cute to pass up!
I sure hope this sale is annual, because I can't wait to go back next year!!! They had a lot of stuff for older kids too, but I didn't even look through it because I figured I should just get stuff that I need for the next year.  Although I did get quite a few books. You can't have too many books :)

Friday, May 10, 2013

Currently

Oops, somehow it's been over a year since I did one of my "Currently" blog posts. I enjoy doing these, I guess I've been a little distracted!

Excited about Having this baby!!!
Worried about Labor/Post partum
Reading Baby/Pregnancy books
Creating Sewing projects on pinterest
Loving Being pregnant, feeling kicks and hiccups
Hating My 2 long days at work
Wondering What Baby B will look like. Also what his name will be
Craving Ice cream.  Oh Lord. I'm afraid to get weighed at my appointment today!
Hoping Baby B doesn't come early or late
Watching on TV Lately? Hockey playoffs (It's the one time of the year I let Tom dominate the tv ;)  Also watching Mad Men, Parks, HIMYM, and Frasier reruns
Listening to Norah Jones Pandora Station, Mumford & Sons Pandora Station
Cooking Yikes, not much of anything!  Random crockpot meals, trying to eat things in our freezer to make room for freezer prep meals for baby
Looking forward to Sewing some fun projects this weekend
Thankful for a healthy pregnancy and this sweet baby boy

Wednesday, May 08, 2013