So, I've been reading like mad lately. I've been burning through the Anne of Green Gable Series. I'm in love with it and have been since I was a girl. I wish that Joey had the attention span for reading it with me. :-( She kinda lost interest in the Little House Series once the story grew too old for her. Ahh well, How much should I really expect from a nearly 3 year old anyhow. We made it through 4 of them before she lost interest and that's quite a lot, and of course, I went on and finished reading the rest of them on my own just to satisfy my own need to finish things that I start. I am loving that I can get most public domain books for free on my Kindle! Almost all my books are books that I've been reading lately, I've gotten for free. There are so many wonderful books to chose from. And Danny's been making regular trips to the library with Joey and she's been loving having new stories in the house and she memorizes them so quickly. I'm really in awe of that little one.
I also think that I've narrowed down my specialty that I'm going to focus on for my Etsy.com page. I know I've been meaning to do it forever but I just haven't been able to figure out how to do it affordably. The cost per picture per month with all the inventory that I have was just too much to fathom when my profit margin was so low to begin with. But in my search for diaper bags with this pregnancy, I found that I could make a completely machine washable diaper bag that I would actually be proud to carry for 1/3 to 1/2 of what I could purchase one for. The only one that Danny and I could agree upon that I found available retail was $80 (yeah, totally out of the question). So, I made one out a some fabric that I'd been dying to use but hadn't found just the right thing for yet. It only cost me $20 for the materials and I can throw it in the washing machine AND the dryer. I have not found a diaper bag yet that boasts that and looks any kind of decent. So, now I think I've finally found my niche! Woo Hoo! Plus the cost difference between what I can make them for and what I can sell them for might actually mean that I can afford to market them properly. I am so excited to get cracking on them. I've got some fabric ideas working already and I do so love having ideas to mull over and perfect.
Now to just finish organizing the house so that my ideas can become reality. We really are close to being done. We've gotten our bedroom nearly in order and ready for the bassinet. We've gotten the girl's bedroom closet cleared out of most unnecessary stuff and we've been making regular trips to Savers to donate things that we'll not be keeping. We're down to just needing to go through books of ours and sorting toys (which has been started but seems to get undone every so often). I've even conceded to throwing away all my DVD cases. We'll be organizing them in binders and separating out the kids movies once we get some more binders.
We've gotten all or Joey's clothes in plastic drawers so that she can choose her own outfits in the mornings and she can get herself mostly dressed. She still needs a little monitoring to make sure that she doesn't just wear the same ballet tutu every day with last night's shirt and galoshes. But she's loving being able to do more on her own. And it's super helpful for laundry's sake because she can put her clothes away by herself too. I love that part. I just hand her a stack of shirts and tell her to put them in the appropriate drawer and they almost always wind up in the right place.
Well, I'm off to Michael's today for a new sketchbook. I am in such a need to one and here's hoping I find a coupon file folder that I can use as well. I need to be more organized but I'm getting better at the couponing. I was only able to save about $50 this past month with deals and coupons and card savings and all but that's $50 off an already minimized budget and I think I can do better next month. And the fact that I chose to make and reuse things that I can, saves me quite a bit to begin with and then on top of it I buy in bulk where I can. But I still think that I can do better.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Productive weekend
I must say being without advanced technology at home has been rather refreshing. We're getting so much done. We've gone through every box in the house. We've cleared out so much crap. We found lost loved items. We even found an old Raggedy Andy doll that used to belong to Danny's dad, that Joey has quickly fallen in love with and calls Andy Dandy.
I organized all of our old baby clothes from when Joey was a wee one. Now I just have to go through the new hand-me-downs that I've been too overwhelmed to get to yet. I'm super pumped. I found three nursing bras amongst all the baby clothes along with two pairs of maternity jeans and two pairs of maternity Capri's and one pair of maternity shorts and three of my favorite tops from the last go round. Oh man, what a score!! I was so stoked!! I think I actually squealed.
I got all of Joey's clothes organized in drawers at her height and she's very excited about being able to get herself dressed. She still needs a bit of help making sure shirts are on the right way front and that shoes are on the right feet but she's getting pretty good at it. Now if only I could get her to focus on learning what all the letters in the alphabet song look like. She seems totally content on just knowing the letters and never learning to recognize them. A little frustrating but we have time still.
Got to visit with my family on Father's Day and it was a blast. Joey and my sister Maggie spent 3 straight hours playing with the hose, two buckets and two dish soap bottles. They only took one short break for brownies and that was it. They had such a blast and it was awesome fun to watch. I was really glad that I had that SPF 60 for her though. She is just so fair skinned and never seems to pick up any color. Not even a freckle.
I've got an ultrasound next week. It seems our little Norah has decided that she has to be different from her sister. She was breech at our last appointment (and in our last ultrasound) and the OBGYN wants to double check on her position as we get closer. Fun Stuff. At least we were already planning on a repeat c-section. So it doesn't change our plans much. It just really helps ease our minds more than anything that our sense that this was the path that we were supposed to take. And that those urgings that Danny and I felt from God way back at the beginning of this pregnancy were accurate. Yay God!
Oh well, I'm off. The hubs will be picking me up from work soon and off we'll go.
I organized all of our old baby clothes from when Joey was a wee one. Now I just have to go through the new hand-me-downs that I've been too overwhelmed to get to yet. I'm super pumped. I found three nursing bras amongst all the baby clothes along with two pairs of maternity jeans and two pairs of maternity Capri's and one pair of maternity shorts and three of my favorite tops from the last go round. Oh man, what a score!! I was so stoked!! I think I actually squealed.
I got all of Joey's clothes organized in drawers at her height and she's very excited about being able to get herself dressed. She still needs a bit of help making sure shirts are on the right way front and that shoes are on the right feet but she's getting pretty good at it. Now if only I could get her to focus on learning what all the letters in the alphabet song look like. She seems totally content on just knowing the letters and never learning to recognize them. A little frustrating but we have time still.
Got to visit with my family on Father's Day and it was a blast. Joey and my sister Maggie spent 3 straight hours playing with the hose, two buckets and two dish soap bottles. They only took one short break for brownies and that was it. They had such a blast and it was awesome fun to watch. I was really glad that I had that SPF 60 for her though. She is just so fair skinned and never seems to pick up any color. Not even a freckle.
I've got an ultrasound next week. It seems our little Norah has decided that she has to be different from her sister. She was breech at our last appointment (and in our last ultrasound) and the OBGYN wants to double check on her position as we get closer. Fun Stuff. At least we were already planning on a repeat c-section. So it doesn't change our plans much. It just really helps ease our minds more than anything that our sense that this was the path that we were supposed to take. And that those urgings that Danny and I felt from God way back at the beginning of this pregnancy were accurate. Yay God!
Oh well, I'm off. The hubs will be picking me up from work soon and off we'll go.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Internetless me
Hey Folks,
I know I've been a total blog-slacker lately. I'm sorry. We're without Internet for a bit. Our laptop died and we have no funds to fix it and then our desktop died. We were given a desktop to use in the mean time but since we've had our Internet/cable/phone shut off. And without a laptop to be able to go off and use in wi-fi hot spots we're a little cut off from all our far-off loved ones. We're having a bit of an issue with some of our income sources. Social Security withdrew Danny's SSI and we've trying to reconcile our electric bill since we were unable to get Energy Assistance over the winter. We're doing what we can and we've been extremely blessed to be surrounded by people who care enough to help us manage and squeak by but I think we'll be without Internet access for a while until we can get things more in order. It's just one more expense that we don't need now that Danny's not in school.
We're also trying to sell off all of the things that we'll be needing to get rid of in order to move to Colorado next year. I'll be taking photos of some of my handmade crafts and posting them to sell soon. I wish I could afford an etsy.com account but it's just too pricey for me at the moment. So, I'll probably be posting them on craigslist, google, and facebook. I know it'll be a harder sell but I gotta do what I gotta do.
We've been cleaning out closets and donating clothes and selling instruments and all we can think of to make space for another person in our little apartment. It finally seems like the mess is getting smaller. Cleaning out closets always seems to make things worse for a while before they start to get better but we're making headway slowly but surely.
I'm planning on making Joey some summer dresses since she's been really into pretty dresses lately and I've been a slacker on making them for her. I really want to make her a nice pretty dress for her birthday in August. She seems really excited about that idea. I also have decided that I need another cute summer maternity/post baby dress and I haven't been able to find anything not super low cut. I also think I need a cute pair of maternity shorts and I just don't like the ones in the store, nor can we afford to go buying clothes willy-nilly. I also want to make Joey some pillows for under her bed. I think I've mentioned that her new bed is a low loft bed so she has a little play area all her own underneath. So, those are my projects for a while. I don't know how to get everything done but I shall try. I plan of breaking out the sewing machine again as soon as we get some of our donation bags out of the house.
I'll post pictures once everything is in progress and out of chaos. Right now our apartment is in a total state of chaos until we can get more cleared out. I just have to keep reminding myself that progress is being made and that it can only get better from here.
But that's our life for a while. Not much else going on. Danny's been hunting for jobs something fierce and I'm really proud of him. He's also on a mission to lose 45lbs before Norah is born and he's already lost 30lbs. Yay DANNY!! It's really been helpful for me too since it keeps me on track as far as my weight gain too. It may make life a little more crazy to have to be planning meals and making sure that we're portioning food out when we buy it so that we're only making what we should be eating in a sitting at a time. But it's super helpful that it's a team effort. I'm so proud of him. He's really trying so hard to do so many things and I know it's not easy for him but he keeps on going. And he keeps on sacrificing for his family and I'm really excited for things to come. Well, that's all for me for now.
I know I've been a total blog-slacker lately. I'm sorry. We're without Internet for a bit. Our laptop died and we have no funds to fix it and then our desktop died. We were given a desktop to use in the mean time but since we've had our Internet/cable/phone shut off. And without a laptop to be able to go off and use in wi-fi hot spots we're a little cut off from all our far-off loved ones. We're having a bit of an issue with some of our income sources. Social Security withdrew Danny's SSI and we've trying to reconcile our electric bill since we were unable to get Energy Assistance over the winter. We're doing what we can and we've been extremely blessed to be surrounded by people who care enough to help us manage and squeak by but I think we'll be without Internet access for a while until we can get things more in order. It's just one more expense that we don't need now that Danny's not in school.
We're also trying to sell off all of the things that we'll be needing to get rid of in order to move to Colorado next year. I'll be taking photos of some of my handmade crafts and posting them to sell soon. I wish I could afford an etsy.com account but it's just too pricey for me at the moment. So, I'll probably be posting them on craigslist, google, and facebook. I know it'll be a harder sell but I gotta do what I gotta do.
We've been cleaning out closets and donating clothes and selling instruments and all we can think of to make space for another person in our little apartment. It finally seems like the mess is getting smaller. Cleaning out closets always seems to make things worse for a while before they start to get better but we're making headway slowly but surely.
I'm planning on making Joey some summer dresses since she's been really into pretty dresses lately and I've been a slacker on making them for her. I really want to make her a nice pretty dress for her birthday in August. She seems really excited about that idea. I also have decided that I need another cute summer maternity/post baby dress and I haven't been able to find anything not super low cut. I also think I need a cute pair of maternity shorts and I just don't like the ones in the store, nor can we afford to go buying clothes willy-nilly. I also want to make Joey some pillows for under her bed. I think I've mentioned that her new bed is a low loft bed so she has a little play area all her own underneath. So, those are my projects for a while. I don't know how to get everything done but I shall try. I plan of breaking out the sewing machine again as soon as we get some of our donation bags out of the house.
I'll post pictures once everything is in progress and out of chaos. Right now our apartment is in a total state of chaos until we can get more cleared out. I just have to keep reminding myself that progress is being made and that it can only get better from here.
But that's our life for a while. Not much else going on. Danny's been hunting for jobs something fierce and I'm really proud of him. He's also on a mission to lose 45lbs before Norah is born and he's already lost 30lbs. Yay DANNY!! It's really been helpful for me too since it keeps me on track as far as my weight gain too. It may make life a little more crazy to have to be planning meals and making sure that we're portioning food out when we buy it so that we're only making what we should be eating in a sitting at a time. But it's super helpful that it's a team effort. I'm so proud of him. He's really trying so hard to do so many things and I know it's not easy for him but he keeps on going. And he keeps on sacrificing for his family and I'm really excited for things to come. Well, that's all for me for now.
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