Nursery Tour

Many of you know Harry's room used to be my craft room. Last summer I sold a bunch of my crafty stuff at my dad's garage sale to make room for le bebe. I got rid of a lot but couldn't part with everything, so Harry has to share his room with my stuff. To compensate I did redecorate the room with a more boyish theme; it had a very Parisian/shabby chic look before.

I know it's kind of crowded, but I think we made it work as best we could. You can see my craft table in the corner with my Cricut machine (I found the black one on clearance at Walmart after my Expression died on me in September) and other scrapbooking supplies. All my Cricut cartridges are on the shelves along with embossing tools and Harry's stuffed animals. The circles on the wall are embroidery hoops with fabrics in them. The project was really simple to make and cost less than $30 to cover the whole wall!

Here's our changing station. Every morning I open the blinds and Harry always smiles and coos as he looks outside while I change him. One thing I wasn't sure how much we'd actually use was the diaper stacker. But holy cow, I love that thing! It makes grabbing a diaper really easy and can hold over 100 diapers at a time.

I love how our crib can transform into a toddler bed and eventually be used as the headboard and footboard of a full sized bed. I had initially planned on using the bumpers that came with our crib set (the Mosaic Transport set from Kidsline), but we decided not to after they were banned in Chicago because they can increase the risk of SIDS. However, I plan on using them to cover up the top of the crib if Harry starts chewing on it (kind of like this).

We bought our nursery furniture online and I was really surprised at the size of the dresser. I had expected it to be a lot larger, but it works for now. The little table came with our glider and is meant to hold bottles and other feeding supplies. But since our rocker is next to my craft table I put a picture frame and little teddy bear on it.

Surprise, surprise, the closet used to be filled with craft stuff. Baby stuff has kind of taken over the space but I still keep a lot of my supplies in there as well.

Click to enlarge

Right before I was hospitalized in August Ant and I talked about painting the room. We even got paint samples and were about to ask our landlord when my blood pressure skyrocketed so we never ended up doing it. Oh well.

But there ya have it! I'm pretty pleased with how the nursery turned out considering I couldn't spend a whole lot of money on it and had to keep all my craft stuff in the room.

SAG Awards Fashion

I don't think I'd ever watched the SAG Awards before last night. It wasn't particularly exciting or anything, but some of the fashions are definitely worth talking about. Along with my best and worst dressed, I've added the coulda/woulda/shoulda category for looks I would have loved if one or two things were different.

Best

Stacy Keibler

 

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Who would have thunk a WWE wrestler would ever be on the arms of George Clooney? I love lace and thought this dress was absolute perfection on her. Normally boat necks look too wide on a person, but Stacy's curves balanced out the look perfectly.

Jessica Chastain

 

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She looked terrible at the Golden Globes and fortunately she stepped it up for the SAGs. I loved this blue on her and thought the dress was tailored perfectly.

Kelly Osbourne

 

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Considering Kelly hosts a show called Fashion Police, she really needed to look great last night (her Globes look was pretty bad). I loved everything about this dress; the cinching around the waist was so unique and the gathered fabric at the neck accented her face beautifully. I wouldn't be surprised if she is one of the best dressed nominee's on Fashion Police tomorrow!

Worst

Jenna Fischer

 

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As a fellow new mom, I can appreciate what Jenna was trying to do with this dress. But, unfortunately a dress that would make Helen Miren look ah-mazing doesn't have the same effect on someone 30 years younger. 

 Amber Riley

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Normally Amber knows how to dress for her body type. But this dress just added volume to all the wrong places. If someone was going to wear this hideous dress it should have been someone not-so-curvy. Adding insult to injury, her hair was weird and didn't go with the vintage-y vibe of the dress.

Ellie Kemper

 

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Gosh, The Office girls had it rough last night! Ellie's dress looked like a bad 1990s Speedo bathing suit. Dresses with no defined waistline are much more flattering on small chested women, which clearly Ellie is not.

Heather Morris

 

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The Glee girls had a rough time last night, too. I don't know even where to start with this, the whole thing was wrong. This is what I was talking about with the dress being too wide at the top, Heather's hips didn't balance it out well. And the added chiffon to the bottom of the dress made the whole outfit look really cheap. The shoes were cute, but didn't match the feel of the dress and were a bit dated. And that hair. THAT HAAAAAAIR!

Coulda/Woulda/Shoulda

Michelle Williams

 

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Loved the top of the dress, the lace under her one shouldered gown was such a lovey surprise. However, I really hated the hemline and matchy matchy shoes. Either knee length or full length would have worked, and I think a strappy gold shoe could have taken the look to a whole new level.

Lea Michele

 

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I'm normally not a fan of Lea's red carpet looks, but I really loved this dress, and her hair looked great as well. What bothered me about this look was the shoes. First of all, they were too big for her, and second, they needed to be strappy sandals, not pointy toe pumps. 

Kristen Wiig

 

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If your dress' collar is too high for a necklace, do not, I repeat, do not add a choker. Especially a choker that looks like a freaking chain link neck brace. What Kristen should have done was wear a pair of killer drop earrings and she would have looked stunning. Too bad.

Shailene Woodley

  

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It doesn't come across well in the picture, but the fabric of Shailene's dress was beautiful. I'm pretty sure it was an homage to Hawaii, where her movie, The Descendants, took place. I just wish the top would have been a little fancier. I thought braided fabric straps would have looked really pretty.

Kaley Cuoco

 

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Despite my near-universal hatred for strapless dresses, I really did like this one. The seafoam green color was gorgeous and the fabric in the skirt was so luxe looking. I also loved the braid in Kaley's hair, but thought it would have looked much prettier with the rest of her hair down in soft waves instead of pinned up.

Ee

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How Does This Happen?

Here is how I put Harry to bed every night.

And this is how I find him every morning.

Seriously, how does this kid do that? He's been doing it for a couple weeks now. But, as long as he continues to sleep for nearly nine hours straight, he can sleep any which way he likes!

Oh, and last night during Harry's bath he kept kicking around it the water. It was really cute and Ant and I got excited that Harry was learning how to play in the bath. Nope, not quite. He decided to use his bathtub as a diaper. That shit was epic (pun intended). Ewwwwww.

Don't Let Your Hubby Dress Your Baby

He will put your baby in a Halloween costume, in the middle of January.

And then he'll do this.

Ridiculous.

OUAC Clearance Sale
Today we went to Once Upon A Child to take advantage of their mega clearance sale. All their clearance stuff was $1 each! It was kind of picked over, but we managed to get 12 or 13 things for Harry.

Since the store is always crowded I decided to wear my Moby Wrap instead of bring him in the stroller. I've worn it a few times at home but never for very long. I think the Moby is hard to put on and I don't feel like Harry is very secure in it so I've been looking at other baby carriers. I would love an Ergo or Beco carrier, but the $100+ price tags aren't really in my budget. I was hoping to find one at OUAC today, but they only had Snugli and Infantino carriers. I hadn't heard of either, but I picked out a black Snugli for $25.

I think I'll like it, hopefully it will work for us.

And after looking at this picture I've come to the conclusion that I should cut a good four or five inches off my hair. It's looking a bit weighted down and stringy. I'm definitely due for a haircut, the last time I got one was back in October. Putting that on my to-do list for the week!

Mr. Smiles

At 11 weeks old, Harry has officially become Mr. Smiles! It truly is the most amazing feeling ever to know that I made something that smiles. Squeee!

Here are a couple more photos from last night.

I know I'm a bit biased, but I seriously could see Harry on a box of Huggies or in a Similac ad, he would make them millions! Watch out, Gerber Baby!

Here's his outfit of the day.

 

This was the very first outfit I picked out for him after we found out we were having a boy. Right after the ultrasound we stopped at Walmart and each picked an outfit for him. The pants and jacket are by Child of Mine (Carter's) and the onesie is by Faded Glory.

It was around 40 degrees today so we took Harry on another walk.

I gotta figure out how to take better outdoor pictures, but aren't his sunglasses funny? They're way too big for him though, so he won't be wearing them again for a while.

Tonight we're ordering Red Robin. I only stopped eating red meat less than two years ago, but I've never eaten meat from Red Robin! I always substitute my burger with a Boca patty, so good!

Oh, and I lost three pounds on Weight Watchers this week :)

Dorm Livin'

Welcome to another Flashback Friday! After going through all my photos for my 27 Years post and last week's Flashback Friday, I have came across tons of pictures I can't wait to share.

This week we're revisiting 2003-2005 when I lived in Pillsbury and Roblee Halls at Stephens College. Not that I've seen a whole bunch of dorm rooms, but I've never seen bigger dorm rooms than the ones at Stephens College, and I didn't ever have a roommate, either! Here's my freshman year dorm.

My senior year of high school I did an overnight tour of Stephens and got to spend the night in the dorms. After seeing how huge the corner rooms in Pillsbury Hall were, I requested one when it was time for me to fill out my housing application. I ended up rearranging and putting my two (!) desks where the bed is in this picture. To further brag, I also had a bathroom all to myself!

My sophomore year I moved to Roblee and was an RA, so I automatically got my own room with another private bathroom.

A few things to point out: yes, those are George W. Bush campaign posters, which I kept up all year long to block people from seeing in my room (my room was right above the entrance). And no, I didn't really like the movie Gigli. In fact, I've never seen it, I just wanted to be ironic (gag). Oh, and as a 19 year old RA I was such a good influence on my residents with my little collection of alcohol bottles.

Lots of fun memories in those rooms! My junior year I was the RD of a different dorm and had a little apartment in the dorm, but I don't have any pictures of it. My senior year I moved off campus in to a cute townhouse but I don't have pictures of that either.

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Baby's First Polo

Harry was definitely smiling at me this morning! He did it four or five times, and I managed to catch one in a picture.

Squeeee! I don't know why his skin is so red in this picture, but you guys get the idea.

Outfit of the Day
It's the return of Harry's outfit of the day! This morning H-man spit up all over his outfit while I was changing him, something he actually hadn't done in quite a while. Here's his fresh new outfit.

OMG I can't get over how adorable this is! I'm pretty sure I bought the polo onesie at JC Pennys and I know the cardigan is Circo from Target. Not sure about the brown pants, he's sleeping in his Boppy right now and I don't want to wake him up.

Caught It!

I was finally able to catch Harry smiling on camera yesterday, at exactly 11 weeks old.

I've caught a few smile-like looks from him, but I'm pretty sure that is a genuine smile on his face! Over the past few weeks Harry has grown to love his activity mat, he smiles and coos every time I put him on it.

I'm still not sure if he's smiled at someone yet. He gave me a decent grin this afternoon, which was awesome of course, but it hasn't happened since (despite my incessant smiling towards him). Since speaking with our pediatrician yesterday I'm not concerned that he isn't smiling much yet, but I am getting impatient! His smile is just melt-your-heart adorable I want to see it all the time!

My 27 Years

Today is my 27th birthday. It's crazy because I remember getting my drivers license like it was yesterday, not 11 years ago!

It took me all night, but I managed to round up a picture from every year. Obviously this is a very picture heavy post, but I hope you enjoy! I had a lot of fun putting them together.

 I was 5 or 6 months old

 In Egypt, obviously

 I think this was right outside our apartment in Saudi Arabia

  Wrapped up like a little present

 After a trip to a fancy salon where I got the "Shirley Temple"

 First day of kindergarten

 Ballet dance recital

 I know, I know, I look like a boy

My 8th birthday

 My first perm

 My brother and I with our dog, Sheikh

 My 6th grade picture

 In the Hollywood Hills, notice the Giga Pet on my belt loop

That sweater was from Express, loved it!

My freshman year picture

 My brother and I on vacation in Missouri

 Sweet 16 party

 Could my friend Tracy and I have found dorkier sailors to take a picture with?

Towards the end of senior year, taken with my first digital camera

 The day I got my tongue pierced

 My sorority's formal recruitment

 I gave a reading for the class of 1956 during Reunion Weekend

 Rockin' the poof, 2007's hairstyle of the year

 Blondie!

  At the Taste of Chicago

 With my Pearly Pie

34 weeks pregnant

Coming full circle with my own baby!

 

Whew, that's a lot of pictures! Sorry I had to do the "picture of a picture" thing, but doing that is way faster than scanning them all.