So over Memorial day I was just feeling so overwhelmed. I had a list as long as my arm (it felt like) of things we needed to buy for the 2nd baby. And so much to do!
I tried to go to garage sales on Saturday but because of the rain they were awful. The first one we went to had tons of baby boy clothes. They were priced at $1-$4 per item. I'm not kidding you. I was thinking in my head "Just because you overbought on your house doesn't mean I need to pay for it" Baby E owns at least one outfit that was for sale there. They had priced it at $4!!! oh my.
All of the other 6 or so sales on Craigslist and that we followed signs for were pretty much stuff sales. Stuff we didn't need. So I felt like I had failed. And was behind.
Anyway, After obsessing over the baby/kids section of Craigslist over the weekend, I was still feeling overwhelmed.
Memorial Day dawned and hubby jumped out of bed and said lets go to breakfast!
So we went and had omelets (protein!) and dropped off papers at the recycle bins and then headed over to Walmart to grab a few items. Only we were pulled into the baby area. Where we found Cribs and carseats. I had been pricing cribs all weekend on Amazon and walmart.com. I thought we would pay around $130 for a new crib and was leaning towards a used one. Well, our Walmart had a $99 crib! So we grabbed it and I said might as well grab a car seat also. The car seats were the same price as online $54. And not something I would be interested in buying used unless I knew the person well.
So now we have a crib and a carseat! Success!
Once we got home I was just checking the garage sale area of Craigslist again when I found a sale not far from us where they had many of the other items we needed and boy clothes!
So I jetted over there and was able to buy our exact same swing for $50 in great condition (I paid $90 on Amazon) and about 60 clothing items for around $28. Yes!! I got a few newborn items, but concentrated on 3-9 month items as well as some 12 and 18 month items for Baby E. I guess a lady who got there earlier snatched up all of the 2t items. Bummer. They were selling at .50 ea for most items.
Boy was that a great find!
Only now, I'm obsessing over getting the rooms organized.
To Do...
1. Organize wrapping paper so that it fits in a storage container of some sort under our bed. (currently taking up way to much room in a closet)
2. Organize all my crafting items in the exercise room closet. (Remove from baby room)
3. Clean and organize baby room.
4. Set up baby room
5. (in a few months) put toddler bed in girls room and start having baby E sleep there.
I'm also frantically trying to get crafty stuff done because once the twins are here there won't be much time for time consuming projects.
I think I'm just nesting like mad or something. Messes are making me crazy right now.
and still... Oh Wow... Twins.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Getting Organized
I've come to realize that having a 9 year old who is eager to earn money is a grand thing. Today after we had all had a Sunday afternoon nap, we finished sorting the videos. We got rid of about 1/3 of them (or more). Then hubby had a great idea to put them in a new closet. They had been residing in a bookshelf and in the closet in the babies room. But with the addition of a crib, that wouldn't work for much longer.
After that, I hired C and A to sort through and organize the outgrown (and growing into) baby clothes. This took them about 2 hours and only cost me $5. They pulled EVERYTHING (all the clothes) out of the babies room and then sorted them into piles by size. After about an hour of that, they boxed it all up and then put that away. Believe me, it was worth it. I was able to watch and guide and put my feet up.
Speaking of feet, they have started to swell. This is a bit unexpected because with baby E, they barely swelled at all. I guess I was active enough as well as exercising every day and must have been drinking enough water and keeping the salt intake down.
It worries me a bit because with C I had a lot of swelling and eventually was induced around 38/39 weeks due to high blood pressure. But I'm working on drinking enough water and will be watching the salt/processed food intake.
Anyway, seeing all of the clothes was a good thing that jogged my memory and has helped me focus on what we will need for the babies. We have a friend at hubbies work who is going to give us all of their clothes (their baby is their last and about 10 months old). hubby says that they should be in great condition. (crossing fingers that this goes through). the other offer we've had is from a lady in the ward who has 4 month old twin boys right now. But that would be a loan. I am not comfortable with loans because if I ruin an outfit i would feel awful. But either way we are covered.
I will need to buy extra Sunday clothing though. We have enough for 1 baby but not enough for 2. Alyson, can you keep an eye out at the DI for me? I would REALLY appreciate that. I still want to come down and shop!
I've been drooling over strollers lately. I saw a BOB stroller at the soccer game on Friday and wow was that thing great. Just a bit expensive. Its probably the most expensive of all of the double strollers. so that is just a pipe dream. however, I was informed they are made locally. So perhaps i'll bump into a screaming deal. That would be helpful for next soccer season. but I just can't justify something that expensive that won't be used every day.
We do need to buy a second bumbo, and I would like a new swing. Both can be purchased used though for not that much dough. The bumbo for around $15-20 and the swing for around $50 or so.
We also still have the crib debate.
I don't know if I will acquire much of this stuff though, until we have the baby room organized. That doesn't stop me from checking Craigslist though.
Another dilemma I'm having is not enough clothes for Baby E. He is sadly lacking a 12 or 18 month wardrobe. I've been hitting garage sales like crazy, but I've been finding everything but the sizes he needs.
Another option is the local MOM club. Thats Mothers of Multiples. I've looked into joining, but its around $30/year and the application asks questions I usually only answer at the pediatricians office. Why do they need to know if it was a c section or natural delivery? Why do they need to know if I bottle feed? Yeesh. But they do have a yearly garage sale with great deals. From families with multiples.
Still a lot to think about...
After that, I hired C and A to sort through and organize the outgrown (and growing into) baby clothes. This took them about 2 hours and only cost me $5. They pulled EVERYTHING (all the clothes) out of the babies room and then sorted them into piles by size. After about an hour of that, they boxed it all up and then put that away. Believe me, it was worth it. I was able to watch and guide and put my feet up.
Speaking of feet, they have started to swell. This is a bit unexpected because with baby E, they barely swelled at all. I guess I was active enough as well as exercising every day and must have been drinking enough water and keeping the salt intake down.
It worries me a bit because with C I had a lot of swelling and eventually was induced around 38/39 weeks due to high blood pressure. But I'm working on drinking enough water and will be watching the salt/processed food intake.
Anyway, seeing all of the clothes was a good thing that jogged my memory and has helped me focus on what we will need for the babies. We have a friend at hubbies work who is going to give us all of their clothes (their baby is their last and about 10 months old). hubby says that they should be in great condition. (crossing fingers that this goes through). the other offer we've had is from a lady in the ward who has 4 month old twin boys right now. But that would be a loan. I am not comfortable with loans because if I ruin an outfit i would feel awful. But either way we are covered.
I will need to buy extra Sunday clothing though. We have enough for 1 baby but not enough for 2. Alyson, can you keep an eye out at the DI for me? I would REALLY appreciate that. I still want to come down and shop!
I've been drooling over strollers lately. I saw a BOB stroller at the soccer game on Friday and wow was that thing great. Just a bit expensive. Its probably the most expensive of all of the double strollers. so that is just a pipe dream. however, I was informed they are made locally. So perhaps i'll bump into a screaming deal. That would be helpful for next soccer season. but I just can't justify something that expensive that won't be used every day.
We do need to buy a second bumbo, and I would like a new swing. Both can be purchased used though for not that much dough. The bumbo for around $15-20 and the swing for around $50 or so.
We also still have the crib debate.
I don't know if I will acquire much of this stuff though, until we have the baby room organized. That doesn't stop me from checking Craigslist though.
Another dilemma I'm having is not enough clothes for Baby E. He is sadly lacking a 12 or 18 month wardrobe. I've been hitting garage sales like crazy, but I've been finding everything but the sizes he needs.
Another option is the local MOM club. Thats Mothers of Multiples. I've looked into joining, but its around $30/year and the application asks questions I usually only answer at the pediatricians office. Why do they need to know if it was a c section or natural delivery? Why do they need to know if I bottle feed? Yeesh. But they do have a yearly garage sale with great deals. From families with multiples.
Still a lot to think about...
Monday, May 14, 2012
Initial reactions
My initial reaction to being told I was going to have twins (after the initial wonder and being stunned had worn off, although I'm still in that lovely river, denial) was to feel tired. Just TIRED. All of a sudden my pregnancy felt overwhelming and I felt ready to be done. Which isn't the best feeling when I've only just reached the halfway (for twins) point.
Today I got a second wind and made bread and also washed 2 batches of wool. So now I don't have any more wool to wash. That's one thing off of the list.
Now only about 175 more to go! Actually the list isn't that long, just feels long and a bit impossible. For instance, I MUST have the baby room organized. That means moving ALL of the craft stuff into the exercise room and organizing that closet so that everything fits and no need to be anywhere else. That way the baby room wouldn't get torn apart every time I couldn't find a particular color of yarn.
And when you think about the baby room, you have to decide about cribs. New or used? Or borrowed? And how about car seats. And swings. Again with the used or new on the swing. Hubby says they can share the swing. I say yeah right. And then, bouncy seats and bumbos. Ugh.
Anyway, really, I guess the baby room is a huge project and then it would be nice to have the rest of the house organized and spic and span for the onslaught that we will be expecting for a few years.
I would also like to get a significant amount of work done on my wool. right now I have about 5 1/2 sheep worth of wool that needs to be carded and dyed. I could live with getting it to that point. Then I would only occasionally pull out my spinning wheel when I wanted to get a craft fix. I'm just afraid that if I leave myself with to much work on that front to do it will never get done and my interest will get shoved in a closet in the exercise room for about 5 years.
Oh dear the things I need to get done.
Anyone feel like organizing a closet?
Today I got a second wind and made bread and also washed 2 batches of wool. So now I don't have any more wool to wash. That's one thing off of the list.
Now only about 175 more to go! Actually the list isn't that long, just feels long and a bit impossible. For instance, I MUST have the baby room organized. That means moving ALL of the craft stuff into the exercise room and organizing that closet so that everything fits and no need to be anywhere else. That way the baby room wouldn't get torn apart every time I couldn't find a particular color of yarn.
And when you think about the baby room, you have to decide about cribs. New or used? Or borrowed? And how about car seats. And swings. Again with the used or new on the swing. Hubby says they can share the swing. I say yeah right. And then, bouncy seats and bumbos. Ugh.
Anyway, really, I guess the baby room is a huge project and then it would be nice to have the rest of the house organized and spic and span for the onslaught that we will be expecting for a few years.
I would also like to get a significant amount of work done on my wool. right now I have about 5 1/2 sheep worth of wool that needs to be carded and dyed. I could live with getting it to that point. Then I would only occasionally pull out my spinning wheel when I wanted to get a craft fix. I'm just afraid that if I leave myself with to much work on that front to do it will never get done and my interest will get shoved in a closet in the exercise room for about 5 years.
Oh dear the things I need to get done.
Anyone feel like organizing a closet?
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Big things a coming
So we've had a fun week.
I was able to go in and help with A's class on Wednesday. That was a lot of fun because I had grown flowers for their moms and I was able to help the class plant the flowers in their custom painted flower pots (the kids had painted them the day before). It was a lot of fun!!!
Baby E is making some big developmental steps. He has become very vocal and I swear his imitations of what we say are getting so good! I swear he said Daddy the other day.
And the girls report that while he was playing with them in their bedroom, he stood up from the ground by himself. That was earlier this week.
Yesterday they reported that he stood up by himself and then took a few steps when C held out her arms to him. And A reported that he did it again this morning.
Its neat for them to have this experience with him, but I can't help but be a bit jealous that I'm not the one experiencing this with him. But its neat that they can.
Baby E is also cutting teeth like crazy. He cut 2 teeth earlier this week, and it looks like 2 more are cutting right now. What fun! The exciting part though, is that he will have a total of 6 teeth at the ripe old age of 13 months.
A is now riding a 2 wheeler. C has been riding one for a few months now. I think I posted about that already. They are both doing well in school. A has her AR plaque and C is trying to get hers before the school year ends soon. C loves to read, she just hasn't been reading books that have AR tests.
And we got 2 new cows at the auction yesterday. I think the whole experience was a bit traumatic for them however. They have been jumpy and VERY wary of people ever since.
This morning we found that 1 of them had escaped by pushing through a portion of the fence. After chasing him on foot through the next street over, pastures and backyards that aren't ours and through a fence or two, he is finally back in a different pasture with the other new cow and our other 2 cows (or so we thought. Cue forbidding music).
When we went to find the other cows, behind the buildings (we thought) we found that they had gone for a little vacation. Yep, they were gone.
We started calling around to the neighbors and found out from one that they had seen 2 cows matching that description about 3 hours previous to our call. That freaked us out (see $1200 going down the drain along with countless complaints of damage we have to pay for). So hubby went out to search and on the way picked up a couple of boys from our ward. I also called a home teacher who had just moved a few weeks ago who has a couple of boys who would probably be up for the fun of catching cows.
Anyway after a tense hour of searching in the wrong direction, we found them just down the road munching on a pasture that wasn't ours. Hubby is in the process of catching/corralling them now. I can only hope that everything goes well. I'm stuck at home waiting with the kids.I really need to go check on the other cows soon to make sure they don't bolt again. That guy was literally bolting through fences.
Oh, and we went to the doctor on Thursday to find out the sex of the baby. It was all fun and exciting until the ultrasound tech started asking questions like "Now you've already had an ultrasound right?" and "Now WHEN was that ultrasound", and then the best statement of all "Well it looks like you will be having twins".
Yep Twins. Twin Boys to be precise. And we thought that chasing steer was crazy.
I was able to go in and help with A's class on Wednesday. That was a lot of fun because I had grown flowers for their moms and I was able to help the class plant the flowers in their custom painted flower pots (the kids had painted them the day before). It was a lot of fun!!!
Baby E is making some big developmental steps. He has become very vocal and I swear his imitations of what we say are getting so good! I swear he said Daddy the other day.
And the girls report that while he was playing with them in their bedroom, he stood up from the ground by himself. That was earlier this week.
Yesterday they reported that he stood up by himself and then took a few steps when C held out her arms to him. And A reported that he did it again this morning.
Its neat for them to have this experience with him, but I can't help but be a bit jealous that I'm not the one experiencing this with him. But its neat that they can.
Baby E is also cutting teeth like crazy. He cut 2 teeth earlier this week, and it looks like 2 more are cutting right now. What fun! The exciting part though, is that he will have a total of 6 teeth at the ripe old age of 13 months.
A is now riding a 2 wheeler. C has been riding one for a few months now. I think I posted about that already. They are both doing well in school. A has her AR plaque and C is trying to get hers before the school year ends soon. C loves to read, she just hasn't been reading books that have AR tests.
And we got 2 new cows at the auction yesterday. I think the whole experience was a bit traumatic for them however. They have been jumpy and VERY wary of people ever since.
This morning we found that 1 of them had escaped by pushing through a portion of the fence. After chasing him on foot through the next street over, pastures and backyards that aren't ours and through a fence or two, he is finally back in a different pasture with the other new cow and our other 2 cows (or so we thought. Cue forbidding music).
When we went to find the other cows, behind the buildings (we thought) we found that they had gone for a little vacation. Yep, they were gone.
We started calling around to the neighbors and found out from one that they had seen 2 cows matching that description about 3 hours previous to our call. That freaked us out (see $1200 going down the drain along with countless complaints of damage we have to pay for). So hubby went out to search and on the way picked up a couple of boys from our ward. I also called a home teacher who had just moved a few weeks ago who has a couple of boys who would probably be up for the fun of catching cows.
Anyway after a tense hour of searching in the wrong direction, we found them just down the road munching on a pasture that wasn't ours. Hubby is in the process of catching/corralling them now. I can only hope that everything goes well. I'm stuck at home waiting with the kids.I really need to go check on the other cows soon to make sure they don't bolt again. That guy was literally bolting through fences.
Oh, and we went to the doctor on Thursday to find out the sex of the baby. It was all fun and exciting until the ultrasound tech started asking questions like "Now you've already had an ultrasound right?" and "Now WHEN was that ultrasound", and then the best statement of all "Well it looks like you will be having twins".
Yep Twins. Twin Boys to be precise. And we thought that chasing steer was crazy.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Newish news
So I just realized I have news I haven't put on here. Although, if I know you in real life, you already know this.
We are expecting again. YAY. Didn't expect it to happen so quickly. But this one is in a rush I guess.
We find out if its a girl or a boy next Thursday, in 1 week. The whole family is thrilled.
So besides all of that, my lates dilemma is to plant or not to plant?
I have some zinnia's I grew that I want to put around the trees down our lane. They are about 8 or so inches tall. They are strong and I think they could stand up to the sprinklers. But I keep hesitating on if I should plant them yet.
I just about planted them yesterday but then decided not to. Hubby tells me that its supposed to get down to freezing (or nearly) in a few days, and its rather chilly today. But these plants have spent daytime outside and we've been accidentally leaving the greenhouse door open at night.
I don't know. I just hope I don't accidentally kill them.
We are expecting again. YAY. Didn't expect it to happen so quickly. But this one is in a rush I guess.
We find out if its a girl or a boy next Thursday, in 1 week. The whole family is thrilled.
So besides all of that, my lates dilemma is to plant or not to plant?
I have some zinnia's I grew that I want to put around the trees down our lane. They are about 8 or so inches tall. They are strong and I think they could stand up to the sprinklers. But I keep hesitating on if I should plant them yet.
I just about planted them yesterday but then decided not to. Hubby tells me that its supposed to get down to freezing (or nearly) in a few days, and its rather chilly today. But these plants have spent daytime outside and we've been accidentally leaving the greenhouse door open at night.
I don't know. I just hope I don't accidentally kill them.
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