Closet Chaos

Sorry for the unannounced blog-cation last week! I lost total momentum and complete motivation and decided to just sit on the couch after work and at night! I did manage to read a book (which makes me feel somewhat accomplished), but I *think* maybe I'm starting to get my energy back. I was really thinking last week there was something wrong because I was just so tired!! But I was busy getting a cold and growing a human, so I guess that's my excuse.

The closets are done! We made the decision a few weeks ago to combine our closets. Pretty much the office is getting turned into a nursery, and the master only has 1 large closet. Fortunately, as we started moving everything we figured out just how much larger the master closet is. Things fit much easier than we ever would have imagined. This is our first time sharing closets in five year of being married. It'll be interesting how this works out!

Here was his old closet (in the now waiting to be turned into nursery room):
And here was my old closet. Looking closely there was alot of wasted space because it's amazing what we were able to fit in there:
Here was the progression of the move. Josh had to lift the shelf and add 2 small bars instead of 1 long one. 

Here he is doing something manly... hanging his tie rack maybe?

Here is the now shared closet:
I'm hoping to cover those cardboard boxes with burlap. We share the shelf about 50%, 50%. (well maybe more like 60%, 40%)

My shoes that used to have their nice little place now live under the bed (poking out a little). 

My flipflops slowly gathered themselves together in a laundry basket. Then they made their way to a cardboard box that I hope to someday cover with burlap.
This is a totally new concept to me- out of season clothes being stored. I grabbed all my summer clothes and put them into a large rubbermaid which will live in the attic until the spring. Since I had the whole closet before, I never had to switch out my clothes for the seasons. You win some you lose some.
Plus with the addition of maternity clothes from friends that I am forever grateful for, I feel like my closet is bursting at the seams. I will be thrilled when I have a million things to choose from on those frumpy 8 months pregnant days!

Weekly Update: 10/22-10/26

I feel like there's not much to report this week! I've felt a whole lotta lazy and bed time has come earlier and earlier this week!

Luke had a great week at school. I see him becoming such a little man. He is speaking 2-3 sentences at a time (which is amazing that last year this time I was worried because he wasn't saying 5 words). What an amazing year it has been to watch his language develop! He has started repeating/stuttering on certain words (never the same word), but I am pretty sure his language abilities and brain are just working so fast that his mouth is having a hard time catching up. Plus I am a super fast talker, so I need to chill out on that! I am for sure going to mention it to his pedi at the appointment in December if I'm still noticing it.

My house is a disaster, I haven't blogged at ALL this week... I am just so tired and am not motivated at.all. All I want to do it come home and sleep/rest.

I heard baby's heartbeat on the doppler again today. What a blessing that is (plus talk about a little reassurance!!!)! 11 weeks Monday! I can wait to cross that 12-13 week mark to officially be in the 2nd trimester! I'm not wishing all this away, but I would like to actually FEEL pregnant, not just bloated/fat.

I have set up a "subscribe by email" gadget (that's what blogger calls them) on the right hand side of the page at the very top. I found the tutorial here and FeedBurner made it really easy!! You will get an e-mail to "verify your email" and then once you click the link it should start sending emails whenever I post. *fingers crossed*

Hopefully I will whip this house in order this weekend- and be back to regular blogging next week... who knows. Of course with a cold/sinus junk happening I may sit around all weekend too. I'm just going with it. :)

Weekly Update: 10/15-10/21

Whew, what a week (and weekend it's been!)!!

We went to a conference in Marietta this weekend. It was really surreal to be in Marietta and stay in a hotel (with the rest of the team that went). It was such a fun time of learning and laughing and we really learned alot about the church and vision of the youth ministry.

My doppler arrived Thursday and I tore the package open to try to hear the heartbeat (no luck). I tried again Friday before we left for Marietta and Josh and I both heard the heartbeat at the exact same time but it only lasted about 2 seconds. Total bummer!

I decided to try again Sunday and after about ten minutes of searching I found it! The doppler picked up the sound, but not the bpm so I started the timer on my phone and timed it myself... 176 bpm! The heartbeat was alot higher than I expected (it was right below and to the right of my belly button). I thought at this point it was much lower. It is SUCH a relief just knowing that whenever I'm worried I can whip out the doppler and listen for myself! Plus I can really focus on questions and such at my doctor appointments instead of panicking myself about whether or not there's going to be a heartbeat! Also I can't believe how fast the heartbeat got! It was 125 at 7 weeks 3 days! In 3 weeks it sped up that fast! Just amazing!

Nausea has been staying away for the most part. I am SO thankful that I feel good more days than I feel bad. I am still sick about once a week which makes me nervous because I was like this with Luke... only sick once a week and around 13 weeks it picked up to 3-4 times a week. Really hoping that's not the case! I would LOVE to actually enjoy being pregnant this time.

Luke took his first field trip to Jaemore Farm on Monday of this past week. He LOVED it. His class went last year, but being barely 18 months old, we decided to opt out. The whole thing just made me nervous. This year though was the perfect timing! Josh went with him and I think he loved it more than Luke. His comment after the whole day? "I could never be a stay at home dad... I would spoil that boy waaaaay too much!" Also he got to "go home" early with dad and they had a daddy/son date to chick-fil-a. So sweet! They tie-dyed shirts so all the kids were matching. Here are a few pictures:




We sold our elliptical this past week too! Wahoo for an extra $300!! I really loved that thing but rarely used it, and since Josh is into insanity now, it really wasn't necessary. It was more of a hassle to store and with the office overhaul, it really doesn't have a place anymore.

That was our week! I feel like these weeks are flying! Anyone else having a hard time believing that we have 4 weeks until Thanksgiving?? (Hello 1 week off!!).

Office Overhaul

You are about to see a place in my home where I don't let just anyone see. Typically (a few months ago) this room was in pristine condition. I had my sewing area set up, Josh had his desk set up to pay bills/budget, and there was an elliptical set up in there to exercise. It really was the perfect set-up.

Since this is our "spare" room, it is where guests stay. We usually pull an air mattress out of the closet and set it up in the middle of the room, until one day when the air mattress broke (something to do with the valve) and we realized we didn't like that old thing to begin with. It was big, and such a pain (and loud as CRAP to inflate).

So we researched futons. (BTW- have you ever noticed that people use the term 'research' very loosely? Do they REALLY research? Or do they just go to google and read the first 3 hits?) I'll be honest. I didn't RESEARCH. I went to Target.com and found the best reviews for the cheapest futon we could find. :) 5% off plus free shipping yes please. I won't be sleeping on it, and the people who will will only be doing so for a very short time period.
We choose black (although I'm not seeing it there anymore). We contemplated the blue- but I am SO glad we went with black....

BECAUSE 2 days after it arrived on our doorstep, I got a positive pregnancy test. Wowzas- change of plans.

So the office went from the "office/exercise/sewing/spare room" to possible future nursery?? That happened fast!

We know at least to begin with we want the 2 kiddos separated. We are really big about building good sleep habits and although I believe it can be done with them in the same room, I'm just not willing to fight it. So whether it's a boy or girl the spare room will become a nursery.

Which means the computer/desk/bill paying area will need to go somewhere else. Here is what the room currently looks like. And NO I didn't do any clean up prior. After pictures are so much sweeter when the before pictures are disastrous.



Some things we are planning... a boy nursery is going to be vintage airplanes theme. I'll probably keep the same crib bedding from Luke because I love it that much. Girl= pink/gray calm.

We just installed a new ceiling fan after going without a light for a month. It is beautiful!

The futon will stay regardless. The two kiddos will bunk together when we have guests. I think Luke will get a kick out of that. (see it underneath the pile of clothes?)
FOSHO new curtains/rods. Ugh I hate these. LOATHE theme as a matter of fact. But they work for now. I don't even like the color green. And those rods? Arrowheads anyone? Both came with the house. I've lived with them for 4.5 years. I think I've done my time.
The closet. This has caused the greatest source of stress for us. Josh is OCD (well CDO- OCD in alphabetical order). There is only one closet in the master bedroom. We have decided to SHARE. gasp. I have no idea HOW this will actually work, but we have 8 months to figure it out! Fortunately the master closet is the largest clothes closet in the house. And I don't rotate my clothes for the seasons. So ALL the time ALL my clothes are in there. I will start clearing out my summer clothes for winter, and vise versa. I will vow to keep my stuff picked up and he will vow to not get frustrated with the hangers not being 2 fingers apart.
The two obvious questions are where is the computer going to go, and where is the sewing stuff going to go? I can answer the computer question. The sewing stuff? I have no idea.

We are going to set up an "office" in the dining room. My vision is to get a desk/hutch that will keep everything we need. There are plenty of houses with desks in the kitchen so as long as it stays nice, I don't see a problem with it! Here are some ideas I've pinned. They are what I see for the space (and we will probably go with white).

The desk will need to house our computer (which fortunately is an all in one meaning there is no tower), the printer, the small shredder we have, and possibly my Silhouette. Also it will need a built in file cabinet.

We have already taken this for a "test" run to see how we like it in the dining room. Here is the set up:
Obviously if we go through with this the collage will have to come down. But I'm ok with that! It'll be a process, but it will be totally worth it. Also if we decide this doesn't work we have a plan B in mind. I just am hoping this goes through because I'm not sold on plan B.

My sewing machine will probably be stored in a closet and since I need the computer to do applique/embroidery I will do that on the dining room table. I tried it out last night and it wasn't bad at all!
That pretty much covers everything (except for the safe in the office). We haven't figured that out yet either.

I do know that the second baby requires waaaaay less "stuff" and buying things. We'll use the same crib, keep the futon in there, get a dresser (possibly from IKEA) that will double as a changing table. We'll paint the closet (it's blue while the rest of the room is tan) and swap out the curtains. Eventually I'll look at an Expedit to store toys and if this ends up being a boy I can see them sharing a room down the road. (which means one room will probably turn into a toy room). Also I mentioned earlier that we had an elliptical. Well we sold it earlier this week!! Wahoo!

Sorry for a LOT of words and not much progress, but I LOVE getting my ideas in one place. Thanks for letting me over-share!!

baby.steps

I like little changes. Subtle changes that make a BIG difference. Cheap? check.

I.heart.throwpillows. There is something about how easy they are to swap out, and how quickly they brighten a room.

Insert my boring brown couch.
We did have throw pillows at one point. But in my opinion they competed with the curtains (both were satiny), and they just didn't stay clean. It was such a pain to have to wash them, and let them sit in the sun monthly. And I could only do it on Saturdays. And I had to pray for a non-rainy Saturday.
So the pillows migrated to Josh's new office.
They will be better loved in his office and there is less of a chance of toddler hands getting all over them.

When we went to IKEA a few months ago I bought fabric for Josh's chairs/table. Are we having flashbacks to this post yet?
I loved this chair fabric. And at $4.99 a yard, I couldn't resist getting enough to cover his chairs AND make us throw pillows! So I snagged 2 yards. BTW IKEA fabric is INCREDIBLE. (sorry for lots of capitals!)

When I had a few hours to devote to sewing I whipped up some covers for pillow forms I had sitting around. Josh's step-mom passed them on to me. They are comfy, squishy, and feathery. Much more welcoming than our stiff plaid pillows.
And there is nothing my pregnant body loves more than to plop down on the couch with the laptop or a good book!

I also had some gray chevron fabric laying around. I found it in the remnant bin at Hobby Lobby for something like $2. It was 7/8 of a yard if I remember correctly. So I whipped up a cover for the long pillow. I made a removable Christmas cover for it last year. Hard to believe that pillow has come from purple Cinderella to this! (check out that post if you are scratching your heads!)
In case your thinking "I thought she changed out the pillows because of dirty toddler hands, but she choose white fabric? What the heck is she thinking?" All the new pillows have been given a coating of Scotch Guard. As soon as I steam clean the new rug, it'll get a coat too! Love that stuff. Liquid just rolls off.

Another coincidence? Look what I came across in BHG last month (I'm usually 1-2 months behind in reading my magazines).
The article talks about how easily throw pillows can brighten a space. This is quoted from the "throw pillow" bubble on that page- "We have our eyes on so-hot-right-now shagreen patterns printed on linen in fashion forward colors. Pillows starting at $90." Uh say what?? I would NEVER spend $90 on a throw pillow. But I can admire pretty things and figure out how to make my own for much less thanks.very.much. Like free pillow forms, plus $4.99 for the # fabric and $2 for the chevron. $7 for a couch makeover? Yes please!

And here is more to look at!

In the spirit of keeping things real- although I now believe my couches are bea-utiful, look no farther than a foot and you'll find some glorious dust bunnies.
Baby steps. Maybe one day I'll have my life completely in order (sarcasm dripping from my mouth).

Weekly Update: 10/8-10/12

I can almost say that week 8 is gone- now onto week 9!
Here's my *at this point* monthly photo! I will get to weeks once I start actually showing and not just showing my bloat. I'm really not much bigger than normal. I always had a little pooch after Luke.

I decided to take the pictures in the same place as last time. The wall has gained more pictures since then, but is a really easy place to remember to actually take them!
same place but 40 weeks 3 days pregnant with Luke!
In baby related news, I am contemplating getting a doppler so I can listen to baby's heart beat at home. We borrowed one from a friend last time around and enjoyed it- alot! I am finding that I am really going to miss it this time, so I am in the market! (especially since I am getting to the point of being able to hear it at home- probably somewhere around 11 weeks). I'm still undecided but I think it will ease some of my anxiety!

This week Luke had great reports from school, but he has had an annoying dry cough every.night.all.night. It is so frustrating because he is perfectly fine during the day! Yesterday afternoon I got in his room and deep cleaned, vacuumed, changed his sheets/blankets, dusted (even the ceiling fan), and raised the head of his bed with some books. He didn't cough nearly as much last night, but still some! It is so frustrating knowing he's NOT sick, so I feel weird about giving him medicine. Also since he shows no symptoms during the day it doesn't sound like allergies?? I guess we'll try allegra tonight and maybe zyrtec the next and see what helps. Benadryl did nothing. 

We only had a 3 day week at school and it always seems like shorter weeks are THE WORST! I have just been so stressed with getting papers graded, clearing off my desk, getting centers/units together that I have NO time to think!

We refinanced our house on Tuesday. What a relief and such a great feeling to have that accomplished! The $$ we are saving is unreal and our house payment decreased by $200 a month. Of course we will probably still pay close to the same amount just to pay it down faster and to pay as little interest as possible. This is Josh looking over the 145 page document!
Thursday we went to the middle school football game. Of course I saw tons of kids that I've taught from years gone by. I can't even believe that my first year's class are now freshman in highschool!!!
Something Luke has been doing recently is setting up his toys so they "watch" him sleep. Tonight it was his trains. It's these little things that I don't want to forget!
In his bath he always fills up his cup with water, turns and gives it to me, and says that he made me a cupcake! This picture is filled with so many amazing things- him pouring the water, his perfect hair, and those amazing ears!
and another just for fun!

Phew- I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with a whole lotta nothing!

Scavenger Hunt

A few weekends ago Josh totally blew me away! We had not been away for any extended period of time since Luke was born almost 3 years ago! 

We had returned from Destin earlier that week. And we got back the day before I had to be back at work for pre-planning. I spent the next 3 days at pre-planning and that Friday when I went home for lunch I had a huge surprise waiting for me. One of the youth from Liberty was at our house and handed me an envelope. The envelope had a message with instructions about what to do. 

The first clue was an e-mail with a voice recorded message. Josh sounded SO serious on this message! It was hilarious. He told me to pack my bags and go to the place that offers "comfort and relief". It took me about 20 minutes to pack my bags and make sure I had everything. As I was packing I realized that Luke was actually home and Sarah was babysitting him (and would be babysitting him the whole time we were gone). Here's the car all packed:
I figured out that the place that offers comfort and relief was the Chiropractor. I headed there to get my next clue. The whole time I was on this scavenger hunt all I could think of was "I hope my principal knows that I'm going to be late coming back to school." (little did I know he had arranged this with my principal a month earlier and emailed him the night before verifying everything!). When I showed up at the Chiropractor I had another envelope waiting for me along with a gift certificate for a massage and a gift certificate to the Java Station. 
I can't remember exactly what the clue said to do but it basically told me to go to the Java Station and get lunch and a drink. 
**Funny story. While I was at each place Josh tried to get a picture of me going to or from. He was parked behind the Java Station with his camera and a police officer drove up and asked him what he was doing. Really?? I was so shocked that the police would be that perceptive to notice that, and it is hilarious that he was just trying to surprise his wife. Try explaining that to an officer.
After ordering lunch/drink I got another clue which told me to meet at Ebenezer. 
Once he got me to EBC he took a picture as I drove up. Clearly I was mortified ;)
He handed me directions and we were on our way! We ended up at a mountain resort in the mountains near Dahlonega. 
It was cute and really quaint. I never thought I'd enjoy being in a cabin as much as I did! 
Of course it helped that the cabin had a hot tub. inside. That was nice! It was such a great way to unwind after my first official week back at school. And it was such a fun adventure getting there!
We explored the gift shop and found out you could rent movies and games. We ended up renting monopoly and played until late into the night. It was just so fun to do what we wanted to do!
After we got all the pieces set up we realized that there were no dice. Yep- there's an app for that- except it took FOREVER to download since we were on the edge ;)
We played some rummy while we waited for the app to download. 
All in all it was a great time spent together! I thought this picture was hilarious. Josh's truck didn't exactly "fit" into the parking space. hehe.
The next morning we checked out and headed out to do some exploring. Right around the corner was Amicalola Falls. 
The views were absolutely breathtaking...

We decided to take the stairs down a trail to get a better view... except I wasn't exactly wearing proper footwear. (remember I packed in a hustle and we didn't know we were going here!)
oops. 
Those stairs were a killer. It was the mother of all stairs. 
It was intimidating to look up and see these... knowing what was ahead.
After we died survived the ascent up the stairs we headed to the visitor center where this plaque was. I thought it was cool that it was the starting point of the AT.
Of course no trip is complete without shopping, so we stopped into the Pottery Barn outlet in Dawsonville to do some perusing! It was so much fun to not be on anyone's schedule but ours! Thanks to Sarah and my mom for keeping little man!