Make Room for Baby

Tags

affordable baby storage, how much baby stuff do you really need, how to hide baby stuff, making room for baby stuff, organizing your baby stuff, practical baby storage, realistic baby storage

I like for things/stuff/shaz to have a designated spot. If the “stuff” can’t find an official, long term home than it doesn’t belong in my house! I have come to terms with the additional baby “stuff.” We probably have less than other people do and no, our child isn’t being deprived, we just don’t need every baby swing/seat option that is out there. I do better with less stuff and others do better with more stuff!

I made sure that we would have room to grow in anticipation of the  baby “stuff.” In addition to the spaces I already made, I have to do some spring cleaning. I plan on going through my hall closet because it has been a year since we moved in and it has gotten a tad cluttered for me and not only that but it’s disorganized! I went through clothing since I had to switch to the summer wardrobe already. For those of you who don’t know, Austin has two seasons, comfortable and ridiculous, super, uncomfortable hot.

I LOVE to purge. Cleaning and getting rid of things cleanses my soul. Here are some pictures of how I made room for baby Andy. I am going to have a hard time saving all the baby “stuff” for the next baby. I can’t get rid of it but once Andy isn’t in the gigantic baby swing, you betcha it will be taken apart faster than fast! I will say this- I LOVE the swing! As long as Andy has a full belly and clean diaper, it’s guaranteed he will take a snooze! In fact he is snoozing right now

Hiding a booster seat

Baby “stuff”

Many baskets for “stuff”

Ottoman/coffee table that has storage

Drawer space in tv console

Whole empty shelf that Lola uses at the moment

Andy’s current toy stash, out of the way from Lola

Spot for the carseat and putting on your shoes

All the toy storage in Andy’s room

Remind yourself what Andy’s room looks like- look here. There is also floor space to sprawl out on besides the rug. Kids need room to grow! Since we have two season, Andy will be able to spend about 2/3 to 3/4 of his playing time outside

4 Months!

Andrew is officially 4 months old TODAY!

Andy is modeling the bow tie he wore for his christening We took some other super cute photos and I think we have a baby model on our hands!

My attempt at collaging!

I am perfect

Baby photo contest?!

In came the cold front

A cold front came through today with some rain. The temperatures went from high 80′s to a nice cool 60′s. The weather reminded me of the part in Mary Poppins when Bert the chimney sweeper talks about the wind blowing from the east-

“Winds from the east… Mist comin’ in… Like somethin’ was brewin’, about to begin… Can’t put me finger on what lies in store… But I feel what’s to ‘appen, all ‘appened before…!”

Pretty sure the winds never blow from the east here…

When the weather is cool, I like to bake. Today was kitchen sink muffins. They aren’t really kitchen sink style since they had pecans and pepitas but so very delicious. I made my own baking mix (figured out how much baking soda and powder to put with the flour), left out the cinnamon (by accident which ended up being better) and used half granulated sugar and a little less than half brown sugar. SO GOOD.

oh so yummy

before

after

 

Baby Andy update! Andrew wore the most adorable bow-tie for his christening! 

And he is the cutest almost 4 month old around! 

 

 

 

Celebrate with Laura and me!

Happy Birthday Laura!

I am celebrating because I have packed away ALL my maternity wear except for one pair of capris and one pair of shorts! Wooohoooo!! Celebrate! I also squeezed into a pair of pre-pregger jeans and while I can zip them up, they are tight! Celebrate! I started packing for the big NJ trip which led me to putting away “winter” stuff and cleaning out the things I no longer wear. Celebrate!

I love purging especially things that give me guilt. I get sooo guilty when I make that pile of things I no longer wear. I have to say, living in Austin I have bought way less clothing items and I also don’t have the urge to own so many things. It helps that there are exactly two seasons- super hot and warm to lukewarm. I also realized I had an extensive winter wardrobe which never sees sunlight anymore. It is so easy to stock pile cute, cozy sweaters. It’s not so easy to get cute tank tops and shorts that expose more skin! I also have changed my mentality to buying the right stuff that fits me and not all this trendy stuff. My mother and I had a laugh about me having to get a maternal wardrobe, hahahaha. Let’s be honest people, these legs have never looked good in short shorts!

 

Hoppy Easter!

Andrew’s first Easter! I realized that I need to get my act together with Easter traditions. Luckily, my parents brought Andy his first Easter basket filled with Polish Easter goodies You have to have chocolate and of course the sugar lambs. The basket came all the way from Brooklyn. We were able to get the basket blessed because  of the Austin Polish Society. Besides Polish cultural events, they hosts Polish mass once a month at UT’s Catholic Center. They also had Święconka this Saturday. It was very exciting to find this in Austin, Texas because this is only something done by Polish Catholics. Święconka is the blessing of Easter baskets which not only include chocolates but eggs, bread, and kielbasa. You use the food items in white borscht soup. White borscht is made from sauerkraut juice and not beet. Sounds odd but you grow to love it. Next year I need to make borscht and dye some eggs. I’ll gradually get to full on Easter mode so by the time the kid(s) is five we’ll be celebrating right.

Slept through the whole thing!

Blessing of Andy’s Easter Basket

Just yapping about The Good Wife again

I have blogged about this before but the music on The Good Wife is so good.

This song starts out strange but once it breaks into the softer music this is the part that this weeks episode opens and closes to.

“The second half of the year, for us, is be careful what you wish for because you’re not going to like it,” co-creator/executive producer Robert King told reporters during a conference call Monday afternoon.  (said earlier in March and I found it here)

I don’t have much time these days to watch anything. I was finally able to catch up on The Good Wife and it never fails me. I hope it returns for a fifth season.

It was a good, productive day. I made lemon bars. I like fresh, real lemon in dessert, who knew?

SO GOOD. Life is GOOD.

Blame it on the coconut rice

First I would like to say Happy Birthday to D! It is not official till all forms of contact are complete- snail mail- check, phone call- check, text- check, FB post-check and last blog shout out- check!

For a few weeks I have been wanting to cook Asian meals but I am torn since the best diet is the Mediterranean diet. Once the Asian food kick has gone through my system, I will work on cooking more Mediterranean. My Rachel Ray magazine has a bunch of Asian recipes. It was meant to be!

Austin has been having some amazing weather. Every evening we take a stroll with Andy and Lola. Thank you Monica, Ola, Dorothy, and Ciocia for our stroller! Our thing is to get a can of Coke from the Minimax (as seen on tv’s Friday Night Lights) and keep walking. The weather has been so great that I have a farmer’s tan.

FYI- watch Friday Night Lights- CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS, CAN’T LOSE

The last two days we have been walking to the Korean bakery. We have been experimenting with the desserts which means George picks something out and we find out if it is any good. The bakery is in a little Korean town aka strip mall. Tonight, I picked up the ingredients for the green chicken curry that will be tomorrow’s dinner from the Korean grocery store. I am very excited about this meal!

I figured out where this obsession for Asian cooking comes from. I made coconut rice about two weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about it.

Some eat to live, I live to eat.

Slime. It’s what’s for dinner.

Tags

heb lactose free milk, tofu stir fry

I just drank 16 ounces of water so that I could have a “reward” drink. No, there are no typos in that sentence you just read. I have stopped buying delicious white grape juice even though I drank it watered down. My reward drink is mixing up a ice tea/lemonade which is probably an oxymoron since the powder mix has other bad stuff for me.

besides cutting back on calories, yes, I am still hitting the gym- no pain, no gain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew McConaughey’s wife, Camila Alves, was on The View today. She had a baby two months ago and looks perfectly fine but she claims her “pants are stretchy.” She said she found some sort of chocolate dessert thing with only 3 grams of sugar and no dairy. Mrs. McConaughey said it is hard to lose weight eating dairy. UGH. More annoying celebrity news is that Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t let her children eat carbs, allegedly.

Love this milk that the supermarket has here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight’s dinner is tofu stir-fry, YUCK. I don’t know why I am trying to make this when I don’t like tofu’s texture. I am not a fan of the sliminess and that lack of crunch. It might be a little tastier if I have to go to the trouble of making it- you know how food tastes a bit better when you make it yourself from scratch. It is worth a try to see if this can be a possible meat less meal idea but still YUCK.

gross, I hope medium hard was ok?! Who knows these things??

I have to smoosh the water out?!

Texas tofu only, obvi

 

hole no more!

Update to my infamous maternity capris pants- the ones with the hole in the derriere (Laura- that means butt in French)

1. George knew/saw the hole but failed to mention it to me!!! BUT (hahaha) he claims to have only noticed post gym workout…..

2. The pants are in the garbage due to popular demand that I throw them out.

 

March back to the gym month

Tags

first time back at the gym after having baby, getting rid of the baby weight, losing the baby weight, march back to the gym month, post partum return to the gym

UGH. I told myself I would go back to the gym after 6 weeks and then I told myself March, you’ll go back in March. Now it is March. I went. I actually went to the gym on Saturday and Sunday. My goal is 3-4 times a week. At the gym I am all about FAT BURN. BURN, BABY BURN.

I realized today that the pants I wore to the gym both days have a hole in the butt, yes the butt, and yes, I knew about this hole already. I did get a replacement pair but I kept the old pair to have around the house. These are maternity exercise capris and yes, I still wear my comfy maternity pants and maternity jeans. I am reaching the point where I can’t wear them anymore because they are just too big but I am holding on strong. I am glad that I only realized the hole at home and not right before I went to the gym because I would have turned around and gone home and never looked back.

I didn’t even put the pants in the garbage but the hamper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to exercise to get rid of the 20-25 baby pounds and because George makes these:

Maybe I am partially to blame