Cocktail Attire for the Holidays
17 hours ago
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
B and I had a great weekend with Mom and Ralph. We ended up getting the dining room painted, unloaded and put together all the furniture they had been storing for us, hung a bunch of artwork, had a great trip to Costco (!!!!), sat around by the fire with the dogs on Friday night, enjoyed a wonderful dinner in downtown GR on Sat night, and took a wonderful winter walk through the woods with the dogs on Sat morning. All in all it was a very productive and enjoyable weekend. My mom has arthritis in her wrists, so she cannot paint; therefore she spent most of Saturday organizing closets and drawers in rooms we hadn't gotten to yet. Sometimes things just need a mom's touch, you know?
I plan on taking a bunch of pictures this week to show you what we have accomplished so far. I know I'm being a slacker lately on the blog; I just don't have time at work or at home to settle in front of the computer much. Doesn't my new job understand that working 5 9 or 10 hour days is killing my blogging life??
One huge accomplishment this weekend is that Blair and I created a spreadsheet with a baby list and a house list of tasks that need to be done. All have due dates on them so that we can structure our plans accordingly and cross off the tasks once accomplished. I'm thrilled to have a visual reminder of what we need to do vs what is already done. I put the most mundane and tiny tasks on there because even though they are small, they still take up time, and I want us to feel that we are accomplishing things regularly. One of our tasks this week is to get to Babies R Us and register. I've started with a few things online, but we really just need to get this OUT OF THE WAY!! I've also done a registry at Buy Buy Baby (mostly out east, but they have a lot of great products, slightly higher end then BRU, and they accept the Bed Bath and Beyond 20% coupons!!). For any of you new moms out there, I would love, love, love to know what your favorite baby items are (bottles, passys, toys, swaddlers, bathtub, etc, etc) so that I can look them up! I have found Baby Bargains to be an extremely helpful book in this regard as well.
I have not caught up on my reader in days, so I hope that you all are well and had great weekends!! I'll try to catch up some today and leave you all some love :) Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Bottles- most people I know, including myself, use the Born Free bottles. They are BPA free and supposedly help reduce gas. I am nursing and he easily goes back and forth between me and the bottles without any confusion. Pacifiers - My baby doesn't really like pacifiers, but the Nuk and Born Free pacifiers have a different shape, which is more like that of a finger (flat on one side and rounded on the other). All the others seem pretty uniform. Swaddle - I could never master the swaddling, so I used the cheaters which are basically a sack that you velcro close around the arms. I find that these get more snug that using a blanket. We have the 4 moms bathtub and love it. It has a built in thermometer which has an alarm that goes off if you are outside the "safety zone". Not really necessary, but makes me feel better. Theo is now 3 months and LOVES his Sophie chew toy. He also hugs and chews on his Bla Bla dolls all the time. And a BIG splurge which I think is totally worth it is the Bloom High chair. It is VERY expensive, but it allows you to set the baby in it from day one. He sits in there while i am cooking dinner, while we eat or just hanging out. Its a great looking chair and also holds up to 80 lbs!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great Michigan weekend to me :o) I can't wait to have a new house to decorate. I so enjoy putting rooms together. We went on a couple of night hikes near Kalamazoo over the weekend while visiting my Dad & family, too. Snowy walks in the woods are one of the best things about Michigan winters :o)
ReplyDeleteI have no baby advice, but I'm so happy to hear that the house is coming together and that you're getting everything organized!
ReplyDeleteBaby registries are a HUGE mystery to me...I just don't understand how to figure out what's right, and what you need. Thankfully I don't need to figure it out for awhile! :) Cannot wait to see house photos - I bet it's coming along great!
ReplyDeleteI am onto Baby #2 (due any day now) and dabble in baby organizing on the side. Some of my favorite things have been Gerber thermal blankets (BRU sells them). They are inexpensive and very simple in look but they work great to swaddle a newborn. I also LOVE Kissy Kissy clothes. They are super soft and have very sweet prints, a little on the expensive side but loved them for my daughter and now have stocked up for our little boy. Another fav among my Mom friends and I is the Breastfriend Nursing pillow vs the Boppy pillow. I don't know if you are planning on nursing but the Breastfriend is more comfortable and holds the baby in place better. Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteI just found you through Nautical Kate (I am an LA blogger friend who is actually moving to Chicago in a little over a week)!
ReplyDeleteI don't have children so I can't really suggest anything. I do love love love these. Have given them as gifts a few times.
http://www.adenandanais.com/
Born Free Bottles (register for 8-10 bottles, so you don't have to wash them all day long), a dishwasher rack for bottle parts, mam pacis, lots of burp rags, hooded towels, washcloths, toys that can be easily handwashed or put in the washing machine (we got a lot that are cloth and need to be spot cleaned - a total pain), board books & soft books, swaddle me wraps (they velcro) in cotton in all the sizes, a white noise machine (or baby ipod), the little lamb swing (total lifesaver), a car seat that goes to 30 lbs (graco or chicco) paired with a snap and ride ( a breeze when they are babies), we love our baby jogger stroller which can convert to a travel system (on sale here: http://www.albeebaby.com/baby-jogger-city-elite-single-stroller-in-black-black.html ), sophie the giraffe, baby tylenol, mustela (their baby kit comes with everything you need and awesome nail clippers), the gripe water starter kit (comes with a great noise suctioner), angel dear lovies, extra crib sheets and changing pad covers, a baby born, a petunia pickle bottom baby bag, lots of onesies (you can pair them with baby legs when they're little), eating supplies (for when the baby gets bigger), a mirror toy, and a monitor (you don't need a video one, they can make you obsessive).
ReplyDeleteWhew, hope that helps!
Hey! I will be a lone dissenter and tell you that we use the cheapo Gerber diapers that are like $3 for 3 bottles or something like that. They are BPA free and the babes have done just fine with them. Other invaluable stuff for us: Kiddopotomus swaddles, bouncy seat for early on, boppy pillows (for nursing and so much more), something that makes white noise in the nursery (CD of ocean sounds, fan or anythign like that), and we are OBSESSED with our Ergo carriers. I also concur with the ladies above who mentioned the angel dear lovies, Sophie the giraffe (E & L both love her) and will add an exersaucer (they used it pretty young - as soon as they got bored on the floor) and TONS of bibs and burp cloths (just cheapo cloth diapers), but we have spitters. Have fun!!
ReplyDelete