TGIF!!

Well it's finally Friday and I'm excited. Not only is it a doctor day but this weekend is supposed to be in the 50s so I will actually be able to get out and do things! I realized on my way to work today that this is one of the last weekends that I'll have to myself. From here on out it will be all about Gabbie and the other children that we want to have. It's rather bittersweet. I know that The Man and I won't be able to just throw the dogs in a kennel and leave for a long weekend, not that we did that often aways, but still. It's know that life will never be where it is at this moment again and that's almost scary. If we want to go out we'll have to find a baby sitter and then we won't be able to stay out til all hours of the morning. If we need to run to Walmart real quick, it will involve taking an enormous amount of stuff with us. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready, we both are. It's just the finality of it all. When we found out I was pregnant it was just a future idea...nothing that influenced us immediately. Well now, here it is.

I'm very thankful that The Man and I went away for our anniversary. I don't think we realize now just how important that was. Like I said, it will never be just us again. Honestly, I wish we could do it again before she comes, but that's out of the question now. We have promised each other that at least once a year we will go away, by ourselves, without any children. We both have talked long and hard about this and we both agree that it isn't a question of want...it's a need. We both agreed that it doesn't have to be some extravagant vacation either...just a long weekend somewhere so we can focus on each other and not everything or everyone else. We also said that we would take a family vacation every year, which is something that neither of us did as children but wished we had.

I know I'm getting pretty deep for a Friday, but I guess these are things that I should be thinking about now...right?? I've been thinking this whole pregnancy about how much my life has changed...but it really hasn't. Yea I had to stop drinking beer and I gained a bunch of weight, but nothing really changed. Now that I'm a week and a half away from my due date, I feel like I'm about to base jump and I don't know if the parachute will open or not. I know I'll be a good mother, but it's maintaining the other things, like myself, in the process. I always told myself that I wouldn't let go of my personal goals and dreams when she came. I hope that I have the strength and patients to continue with them. I know that The Man would never let me do that, but I don't want my own identity to become that of my daughter. Does that make any sense?

In light of all this philosophical thinking, I made a decision yesterday to apply to graduate school for fall semester. I don't know if I'll get in, I like to hope so, and I don't know if I'll have the time or if we'll have the money, but its something that I need to do. I HAVE TO!!! I'm an eternal student, and being out of school the past couple years has truly been hard for me. Plus, I think I'd be keeping with my New Year's Resolution if I at least applied! Like I said, nothing may come of it, but at least I'm moving in the right direction, in my own direction.

Until next time...Ya'll be good!

New Year's Resolutions

I don't think I've ever stuck with a resolution...have you?? This year, because I know it's going to be CRAZY, I didn't limit myself to one specific thing, like lose weight. I simply told myself that I'm going to be the very best mother that I can. I figure that covers just about everything, right? For me it covers being healthy, being organized, saving money and getting out of debt, relaxing more, providing my family with food by cooking and gardening, and a bunch of other things that I haven't thought of yet.

So, I've got to start somewhere. Obviously, I can't start on the weight loss just yet although I do have a game plan for it. I figure I might as well start with getting organized. Now I'm a half organized person to begin with so I figure its not going to be a huge challenge for me. What I didn't realize is that not only am I going to have to keep my house and finances organized but I'm going to have to keep my time organized. This poses a problem, since I've never had to use my time management skills outside of work. While I have the ability, I don't know if I have stamina to use it ALL DAY LONG!!! We shall see....

So, I sat and contemplated which aspects of the house need to be organized the most and came up with a couple of things. First, the bills and mail....WOW. We always have stacks and stacks of envelopes laying around. I definitely need to come up with a system for this. Another aspect is meals. I cook just about every night but its sporadic and usually unplanned. So I figure it would behove me to start planning a weekly menu, especially since I'll be nursing Gabbie at the same time. This way I know exactly what to cook and everything is prepped and ready to go. It will also help financially because I'll have to plan shopping trips. Another thing is laundry. We usually get the laundry done when we're completely out of underwear but with a baby its going to double. I need to get a system going so that I'm doing a little at a time and I don't have to spend an entire Saturday getting it done. I also want to get in the habit of washing things like sheets, blankets, etc on a regular basis. While I wash our sheets often enough, its not one of those things that is routine for me.

There are a couple issues with my resolution. First, I'm going to try and implement it while on maternity leave. Key word there is TRY. I'm not going to push myself and have a ton of unattainable dreams, but I figure that while the rest of my life is being re-vamped I might as well add one more thing to the pile. Secondly, for the majority of the things I want to change and organize, I have no clue how to. I know there is a system out there that will work for us, it's just finding it. So all you mom's out there....HELP!!!! The third, final, and hardest issue is getting The Man to agree with the system and stick with it. Its pointless for me to come up with a system to organize the mail if he doesn't agree to use it too. If it sounds like I'm speaking from experience...I am.

There are several other aspects of my resolution but I'm only going to tackle the organization first. Once that is done and is working, I will move onto the next facet. I'm trying not to have unrealistic goals so I'm going to take it one day at a time. Wish me luck! I will let you know how it goes.

Until next time...

Quick Check In

I'm alive, I promise! And no, Gabbie isn't here yet. The past couple of weeks have been BUSY!!! We are trying to get everything that needs to be done before Gabbie gets here. Needless to say there hasn't been a minute that I'm not going. On top of that I'm exhausted so its been a ride to say the least.

I was in a small car accident this past Tuesday. I slid of the road while on my way to work. Talk about scared!!!! I knew I was ok, but I wasn't sure Gabbie was. We were in the hospital for several hours before the doctor felt comfortable letting me leave. I was having a contraction about once an hour and the doc didn't like that. I explained to him that I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for several months now and one an hour wasn't abnormal. He wanted to keep me over night but I luckily didn't have to. As for the car...well I'm hoping it can be fixed. We are going to take it to a good family friend and see if the steering column can be re-aligned. If so then it can be saved!! With a little bit of patients, a new door and headlight, she'll be on the road again. So say a prayer that the steering isn't royally messed up.

I've gotten the nursery just about finished. I will post pictures this week!! Its not exactly where I want it but it will be completely functional as soon as she gets here. Honestly there's not much more to do...just a couple small sewing projects that, at the moment, are HUGE projects!! Hopefully I'll work on it while I'm on maternity leave.

Well its way past my bed time so I'm going to go. I will be back this week for a full run down. Until then....

A Side Note

On a side note... Happy New Year. I realized that I hadn't even addressed the fact that it's 2011 and that I've been blogging for a year now. WOW doesn't time fly?! I'm sure that 2011 will prove to be an interesting year, probably the most interesting of my life, and I'll be trying my best to post more often, since I'll have more to share. I have a feeling more people will be reading my blog just to find out how the little one is doing. I'm sure I'll have alot of family members checking it out.

My wish for 2011...to be the best mother that I can be, in every aspect. The Man and I have our individual goals but for me I just want to be better all around. I hope that 2011 proves a great year for everyone.

Wishing for Spring

Well it's about 20 degrees outside and the only thing I can think of lately, besides the baby, is getting the garden going and canning. Crazy, I know. I blame it on the fact that I was in my first trimester while the garden was in full bloom and wasn't able to really rid myself of the canning bug I get every year. So here I am, several months away from planting, going through catalogs and websites seeing what we can plant and I can put up. It's a good distraction from the up coming events that are sure to turn my life upside down. The Man and I are wanting to plant nothing but things that I can can or freeze and we also want to plant early and late so that we get as much yield as possible. After a couple of years we've got it narrowed down to what works and what doesn't; what we eat and what we don't. This year should prove productive and I'll be giving Miss Gabbie her first lessons in canning.

Speaking of Gabbie, the family is on red alert. Only 4 more weeks til my due date but the reality is she could come at any time. Everyone is making plans and getting things together for the big day. Mabel has a bag packed so she can leave as soon as she gets the call. Mother has the list of people she needs to contact as soon as The Man and I call her. Its like a secret opt mission. I'm getting my bag together this weekend along with some things that the baby needs and the car seat. Its so weird, so surreal. After thinking, "Oh we've got 9 months", we don't have any time left.

I'm still working on the nursery, its not going as planned. Honestly, I think there is too much furniture in there..but I don't know what to get rid of. The crib turned out to be twice the size I anticipated, which put a dent in the whole thing. Then we got Gabbie's toy chest, which has to be in there. So I'm at a stand still with that. Hopefully I'll get in there today and move things around a bit.

On a happier note, her quilt is moving right along. I've finished appliqueing on the Dresden plates and decided to hand quilt it, at least a bit. Since its not a block quilt it would be difficult to quilt without just free motioning it. I don't think free motion would give the look that I want so I decided to take some advice from Anna Maria Horner and hand quilt it in chunky stitches. I'm using different colors of cotton so it will add more than texture. I just started on it last night, once there are more stitches for you to see I'll post a pic. Here is one of the Dresden plates...my very first. It turned out pretty darn good!!




I think I'll stop rambling now. I'm going to have another cup of coffee and try to get something done today. Hope ya'll have a good up coming week!!

SCORE!

Yesterday, on my lunch break, I headed over to our local Goodwill and scored big time for the nursery. When I started this game I told myself that I didn't want to spend more than $200 for everything including the furniture. As of today it looks like I'll come in way under budget. Go me!

I can't tell you what I got yesterday until its all put together and pretty. Then I'll go through piece by piece and let you know just how little I spent.

I'm so very proud if myself. Money is super tight right now. Honestly we don't have enough to cover my maternity leave, but I still wanted to have a nice space once Gabbie gets here. I'm so glad I have the thrifty gene and I'm so very thankful for all those wonderful hand me downs. If it weren't for all our friends and family, we wouldn't have been able to make it.

So, The Man comes home tomorrow and we are working on the nursery all day Saturday. I'm hoping the majority of it will be done by the end of the weekend. I will let you know.

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Let the Nursery Preparation Commense

Now that Christmas is over, I can finally focus all my attension on the nursery and let me tell you, I'm EXCITED!!! I've been planning and collection stuff for months and now I get to put it all together. I hope it all turns out great in the end. There are several little projects that I'm working on. A baby quilt is first on the list. I have everything I need for it, just putting it together is the time consuming part. Next is the cutest stuffed hen from Anna Maria Horner's book Handmade Beginnings. It is the cutest thing. Then I've got a diaper stacker to make. I simply can't find one that I like and I sure don't want to spend a small fortune!!

Speaking of a fortune, why is it that all baby stuff is SO EXPENSIVE?? I just don't understand this!! I found a red gingham crib set on walmart.com for $54. It was only 3 pieces; a quilt, a fitted sheet, and the bumpers!! For over 50 bucks!!! I just don't understand. So, I've been to my ole' stand by, Goodwill, and I've found the majority of the things that I need for the nursery. And as soon as I get it somewhat put together, I will take some pictures and show you how inexpensive this nursery has been. Its gonna be so cute!! I'm so proud of myself for staying with a small budget!

As you can probably tell, I'm really excited about putting it all together. I hope that it looks as good in real life as it does in my head. I still have a couple more things to collect, but all in all everything in basically done. Just need a couple coats of paint and it will be done.

The Man is having a time fishing. Its so cold down there that they had to purchase space heaters to keep warm. Apparently the hotel doesn't have a great heating system. They aren't catching much fish either. I just hope he still has a good time. I'm starting to miss him; luckily he'll be home in Friday. I think I can hold out a couple more days. I have plenty to keep me busy.

I got two major things checked off my "Baby List" this week; pre-register at the hospital and find a pedatrician. Both were pretty easy, I have to say, and I shouldn't have procrastinated so long. But I'm glad its done, now I don't have to worry about anything, well at least the major things. There's not much more on the "Baby List", time has really flown by. I forgot to tell you about Gabbie's amazing Christmas present from my Grandfather. I knew he would be making her a toy chest but I didn't think it would be so soon. He completely surprised me Chrsitmas Day with this.



Needless to say I cried hysterically!!! I can't wait to get it in the nursery and filled. I just hope that it fits! Its a bit bigger than I thought it would be. Either way, I will make room!!

Well, I think I'll stop here. I'll be back soon to show you the progress on the nursery. Until then, Ya'll make it a good one!