Nesting in June

This month, we are in the process of both re-doing Baby I’s room and setting up the nursery for the new family member. I guess you could say I’m in full-fledged nesting mode, but I don’t think I can really attribute that to pregnancy, to be honest. Pregnancy just gives my ideas a deadline and an excuse to make things happen for real.

In June, I traveled about three hours to IKEA (or, Mecca) twice. Three hours both ways (and these were both day trips) is not the most pleasant thing when you’ve got to pee every hour, your hips hurt, and your feet swell, but these trips were super worth it.

It’s like a beacon on a hill.

I got some really practical (and practically-priced) things for both rooms. Here are some of my favorite picks:

1. LACK side tables in pink for Baby I’s room

2. HEKTAR floor lamp for a punchy statement in the nursery

3. This RASKOG cart will serve as the perfect diapering/odds and ends station in the nursery

4. I bought two of these trash baskets for Baby I’s room, and they’re perfect for holding her books!

I can’t wait to show you my purchases in action when I finally post Baby I’s room reveal (hopefully soon!) and the finished nursery (fingers crossed that gets done before baby comes).

And while I’m on the topic of buying things, I thought now might be a good time to share the things I’m buying/wanting for baby #2. When it comes to buying baby gear, I tend to sway more minimalist, but I definitely have a few things I’d really like to get that aren’t bare necessities. I also have a pretty tight budget to keep in mind. To help with Baby Gear Envy, I tend not to even look at the high-end items. With that in mind, here’s what I’m lusting after:

Bassinets aren’t necessary – I didn’t have one with Baby I – but they sure can make life easy. Now that we have the room for one, I’d really like to get one. This bassinet by Chicco is really cute, and reasonably priced.

An infant carrier is SO much easier at first than a convertible car seat. Graco seats are classic and one of the most affordable options out there.

If more than one person will be chauffeuring your wee one on the regular, definitely invest in another base for your infant carrier.

You’ll get differing opinions on whether bouncer seats or swings will keep baby happier. I got a bouncer seat for Baby I at first because they’re smaller and cheaper than swings. But – surprise! – Baby I didn’t like the bouncer. She adored a swing. This seat bounces AND swings, so I won’t have to gamble this time around.

Since Baby I is still little enough for a stroller, it’d be nice to have a double so I can take both kids out at once. This one allows for all different configurations, including letting your big kid ride standing up, and accepts the Graco infant carrier I like.

Really, of those things, I only need the car seat. Baby I had an infant carrier, but we traded it in at Babies R Us a couple of years ago in order to get a discount on her convertible seat she uses now. Other than the big gear, what I absolutely need to get ready for the new baby is pretty minimal – diapers, wipes and clothes will pretty much do it.

If you’ve had – or take care of – a baby, what gear could you never live without? What do you regret spending money on? And, most importantly, what are your thoughts on IKEA??

My First Experience with Blue Apron

I must be a real Millennial, because I am getting SO INTO subscription services. Dear readers, you are probably already familiar with my undying love for Stitchfix. I actually don’t even enjoy shopping in stores anymore (for clothes anyway) because getting clothes shipped to me that are already my style and size is so much more comfortable. Also, I like pretending I’m super rich and have a personal shopper/stylist who does this for me all the time.

Something that lots of my mom friends (okay, two of my mom friends and lots of mom bloggers whom I happen to read) have been doing for their sanity is having their groceries delivered. This is something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, because as a full-time working/grad school-attending mom, the whole meal planning, grocery store shopping routine monopolizes my time more than I’d like. Well, there aren’t a lot of good options for grocery delivery in my area, but during my search, I stumbled across services like Blue Apron over and over.

Pregnancy Reflections – First Trimester

Now that I’m over the halfway mark in my pregnancy and things are going a bit better than they were in the beginning, I thought it might be a good time to write a “wrap-up” of sorts about my early pregnancy experience this time around.

(Again, I feel the need to add the disclaimer that I promise pregnancy posts won’t totally take over my blog. Feel free to skip this post if it’s not your bag. I will be sure to mix up my post topics often!)

Book Review: Landline

Well, Dear Readers, I’m less than a week from beginning the summer semester, and I only read one book (I attempted another, but had to put it down. I hate doing that, but life’s too short for bad books, ya know?).

So anyway, I don’t want to give away too much about Landline, but basically, it’s about Georgie, who is married to Neal and has two kids, and is also a career woman with a best friend/co-worker who has high expectations for her professionally. Over one Christmas, Georgie gets a huge project dropped in her lap, and decides to stay in California while her family goes to the Midwest without her.

Stitchfix #5 and Maternity Style

Just after I found out Baby I will soon be Big Sister I, Stitchfix sent me a very well-timed email notification that they now carry maternity wear! My birthday was coming up, so I had no choice but to schedule a fix immediately.

Grad School Semester #4 Recap

I am just nearly finished with my fourth semester in grad school! This semester was a little lighter on the school workload front, but much heavier personally, so I don’t have a near-perfect GPA anymore, but I’m still doing well, so I’m not upset.

I had a speech class, which wasn’t my favorite. The act of making speeches wasn’t all that bad, but the class was online, which makes it sound super convenient but it was NOT. I had to borrow my mom’s camera every time I needed to make a speech (thanks, mom!) and then upload it to the site, which was not the most sophisticated I’ve ever interacted with. On top of that, there was MUCH more busywork that I expected. There were two chapters of textbook material to read each week, and then a mandatory review module on the (clunky) site, a quiz, a discussion post…it was just a lot. I think, had I been a traditional undergraduate student, I wouldn’t have minded so much, but as an adult student, well…

But, I also had a practicum class. And that was a much different experience. I was placed in a high school media/English classroom for two hours, two times per week, and I mostly just observed. The school structure, administration, teacher and students were all amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. It’s funny, because when I think of my own days in high school, I mostly just cringe. I felt trapped and was just ready to move on. But returning nearly 10 years later…it just amazes me how much potential these almost-adults have, and how wide open the world is to them, and how much they have to look forward to (is that too corny?). I would love to have a role in guiding them someday. That’s the end game!

All in all, this was an okay semester, but I am super grateful to be almost done. Just a test for my speech class stands between me and an entire three weeks off before summer classes start! Time to start thinking about what I’d like to read/review for fun during that time. Any suggestions?

Psst: if you missed my last blog post – I don’t think the notification email went out to everyone – you might want to check it out. There is some pretty big Life News involved.

…And Then There Were Four.

Did you notice anything about the tops and dress in my last Stitchfix post? They all had something in common. They were loose around the middle.

Why would that be? I’ll give you a minute.

What Is Blog?

Oh, Dear Readers, I may as well have forgotten what a blog is, and how to write posts. It has been far too long. As has been my story the past few sparse posts, the past couple of months have been overwhelmingly busy. But never fear! I am bursting with things to post about and the end of my semester is near! For now, I am woefully behind on Stitchfix reveals!

Without further ado, here is Box #5!

Best Thing Thursday

Dear readers, we’ve almost made it through another week, so it’s time again for Best Thing Thursday!

This week, I began classes again. I’ve got a nice change of pace for my fourth semester of grad school; one online class and one practicum. Not that it’ll be easy, but sometimes a change is nice.

Since I’m back into hitting-the-books mode, I’ve been listening to a lot of instrumental rock music. I go through phases regarding the type of music I listen to, but right now, I’m definitely in an instrumental rock phase. If you’ve never tried it, you really should! Especially when you don’t want vocals to distract you from a task.

To get you started, here are a few of my favorites. Happy listening!

What was the best thing about your week? Listen to any good music lately?

Best Thing Thursday

It’s time for my second Best Thing Thursday post!

This week, my Best Thing was definitely Baby I’s third birthday. She had a lot of celebration, and it was so much fun.

Last Friday, we began her multi-day birthday celebrations at my in-laws’ house, where we had a small party for Baby I. She was absolutely showered with toys and clothes, so we’re still sort of going through all of those things and trying to organize everything (I don’t know about you, but I have a much harder time purging things and organizing in the winter than I do in the spring. Some of that stuff might just sit in my garage until March. No shame).

Then on Saturday, Baby I had her first real birthday party with three of her little friends. It was so much fun. I didn’t know what to expect with littles at a party, so I didn’t plan much and just let them kind of take the lead. That turned out to be the best plan, because Baby I was actually kind of cranky that day and so were some of the other kids. They definitely wouldn’t have been up to play any structured games or anything. Instead they all kind of picked at the snacks, played in the living room and in Baby I’s room, and of course ate cake. Us parents got to sort of chill out, too, since the kids were all entertaining each other. I was exhausted afterward, but very glad Baby I had such a fun celebration.

The cake. I am SO PROUD of the topper that I made.

The party set-up. Super impressive for dollar store fare.

Tuesday was Baby I’s actual birthday. A and I went into her room together to wake her up and made a big “you’re three!” to-do. She liked that 🙂 And then we had to get ready and take Baby I to her first day of preschool since the winter break. I took a half-day so I could pick her up after lunch and just hang out. It seemed like she had a fantastic day. My mom and dad came over later in the afternoon, and we all played, ate chili, and then topped off the night with cupcakes. Diet starts tomorrow.

Mostly, I’m just amazed at what a little person she’s become. It really does happen so fast. Well, maybe not in the moment, but it retrospect, it feels like I just gave birth to her. I’m glad I took lots of pictures of her as a tiny baby, because I just can just barely access those memories of what she was like. But at the same time, it feels like she’s just always been a part of our lives because we just love her so much, and we’ve really hit our stride as a family unit. I’m just so happy to be her mom.

What was the best thing about your week? Any tips for organizing/purging a bunch of stuff that’s just sort of hanging out in your garage?