A Super Homemade Christmas Gifting

What a wonderful Christmas we had. McNugget received more stuff than we can even imagine. And Santa was very good to us too. One of my favorite gifts was this homemade jewelry rack from my sister. From the crackle paint to the industrial mirror wire, I absolutely adore it. :) I haven't gotten a homemade gift since I can remember; it just makes the holidays so much more special.

Repurposing and Reorganizing The Food Closet

One of the first things I recognized when we moved in 5 years ago was the need for a new pantry storage system. The one we inherited was makeshift and didn't even go all the way across the pantry (it left about 1/2 a foot or more of space! The shelves were wobbly, and things would often fall through the slots (i.e. hot chocolate packets) . All of this made it very hard to see what we had (which made me buy more!)

But we didn't want to fork out the dough for a new shelving system. So we waited. And waited. And WAITED.

Then we redid our closets and had a VERY long shelf left over. I asked my husband to repurpose the shelf into 4 separate ones that could give us more space in the pantry, and he surprised me with this one day when I got home from work!

Hello organization! I still need some storage solution (carts or baskets or tubs) for the floor and the door which has our lunchboxes, soda and formula. But I can now see everything! All the canned items are together! All the breakfast items are together! All the pastas and rices are together! All the baking items - guess what? They're together!! And of course, it was another 100% free project that was saved from the landfill. Go Green!

THAT was a good present.

Happy 5 Months McNugget

Happy 5 months Wiglet!

This month you're really starting to experience the world around you. You have found your hands, which are always in your mouth; and during the last week you've begun to grab my fingers (and your grandmom's from the photo above) with your mouth.  You're even starting to begin to reach for things with your hands, though its not constant yet. You smile when we read to you, and we've gotten glimpses of you looking for us. You've really laughed at us for the first time, and actually lean into our kisses. You watch the dogs, and adore your best friend Trotter.


I'm enjoying showing you off to the family and friends - and Thanksgiving was wonderful. I'm so looking forward to our first Christmas as a family. Now that you're really interacting with us, family time has become more important than ever. I like to lay with you on your bedroom floor and help you play with your jungle gym, which is the second toy that you've become interested in (after the jumperoo - which we can't live without).

You're such an easy baby; always sleeping through the night and waking up happy. The only time you cry these days is if you're hungry or overly tired. With all your experiences and observations, you have started to fight going down for your naps - and your screams of protest are the loudest noises you've made to date. You're a fantastic eater, though you're only drinking your bottles still. We tried rice cereal for the first time this month and while you ate it, you weren't a big fan. Maybe next month.

I love you. Always.

Your Mama

I've Been Hanging Around - and Repurposing Things!

Wow, its been a while. My bad. In my defense, I've been busy doing projects and getting ready for the holidays- and I have been 'capturing' these moments - just not sitting down to post about them!

A few weeks ago, the hubby gave me a present: my very own tool set. I took this as a subtle hint that he was tired of me waiting for him to help me hang, hammer, and level things that need to be done. So I took that opportunity to cross off a few of my projects. The one I'm most proud of is hanging a headboard and bedside lamps. 

BEFORE

AFTER

We've been long admiring headboards in magazines, store windows and on TV shows (hello Parenthood!) But we couldn't settle, and didn't want to shell out for a headboard. So after our recent bathroom demo, I took the salvaged tall closet door and saved it for our headboard. I was originally thinking of recovering it (and still may one day), but am loving the reclaimed modern look of it- which goes with our floating night stands.


The door was actually two seperate cabinet doors stacked one on top of the other and held together by a thick scrap piece of wood. That unfortunately stuck out too much and interfered with hanging the door flat on the wall. So I took the hinges (that had once held the door on the cabinet) and used them to hold the two cabinet doors together! And who doesn't love a free (and green) headboard?

We also needed some better lighting and more space on those tiny (but space-saving) night stands. Things were just not fitting between the cell phone, alarm clock, baby monitor and books. We picked up these two inexpensive plug-ins from Ikea.

Both the headboard and lights required drilling, anchors, hammering, screws, tape measure and a level. But it was so worth it!

Really? You're that Distracted?

I know this post is several weeks overdue, but thought I'd share. I like to think I usually have 'it' together with this whole new role as a mom. I don't let my kid sit in diapers too long, we feed her on time, etc. But it is very possible to get distracted toating the little punchkin back and forth.

For example: several days after our halloween adventure pumpkin picking it went from being quite chilly to rather warm. And my car got warm. And it smelled. Like a diaper.

At first I thought - okay, just a lingering smell. But then I actually decided to find out why and looky what I found under the front passenger's seat. Yep. Here's hoping that that's the worst thing I find under my car seats forevermore.

Not My Stuff No More

With a whole new person and all her stuff to support and store, we're not waiting until the new year to clean out our closets. In the past month, we've gotten rid of 7 bags of clothes, 15+ pairs of shoes, 14 books and tons of miscellaneous items. Pluuus I've got a whole other shopping cart full of items to donate. Yikes - I keep a lot of crap.