I finally finished one of my September projects last night. My spare room is now clean and my non-maternity clothes are all stored in the closet. I still have a bag of clothes to take to Goodwill and a comforter to wash to put on the bed, but for the most part, this room is finished! It feels so good to walk in to a clean room! Here are a few after pictures. Click here to see the before pictures.
So, it has officially been a week since I went into "Panic mode"! I just thought I would post a little update on how things are going. I worked last week to get some things ready for our little girl's diaper bag for the hospital. I'm sure I am going overboard, but I like being prepared for anything. I have a couple burp cloths (I will be buying a pack of cloth diapers to add to these), some travel size bath products, a bottle, two pacifiers, and a travel pack of wipes ready to go. I am going to add some newborn diapers (thanks to a purchase from my Mom) and some simple onsies. I will also add a couple "going home outfit options" to the bag. I am still in search of her going home outfit, but hopefully I can find what I want after a trip to a larger town. I do have the blanket picked out (it is hanging in the closet) that I will use to wrap her up in when we bring her home as well. So, I do feel a little better about having a few things ready for her.
In other news, we are almost completely finished with the nursery! We got the paper lanterns hung over the crib and a couple frames on the wall. I bought the shelves this morning for the other wall, and will hopefully finish the letters for her name that will hang over the changing table in the next day or two. After that, we will just be waiting to fill it with all of her stuff (and her of course)! It feels good to know it is almost finished. I should also be finished organizing the spare bedroom this week. That project was necessary because we will have some people staying with us leading up to and after our little girl arrives! I'm sure I will start to panic again soon, but as of right now, I'm feeling a little better about how things are progressing!
I've been slowly realizing that this pregnancy is flying by!!! It really hit me in the last couple days when I started thinking that I have 10 weeks...10 WEEKS until my due date! That is a short amount of time (especially when I look at my to do list). So, I guess you could say that the nesting is beginning. I am starting to look around and see all the things that need to be organized, cleaned out, or thrown away before our little girl arrives. Not to mention, I have some lofty goals of making all my thank you cards and having a scrapbook up to date to show at my baby showers that start in three weeks!! Whew!! I guess I need to start breaking everything down into daily tasks to accomplish. My goal for this week is to get everything I need for the diaper bag for the hospital. I know this is a little ahead of time, but I need to feel "ready" to go. I will also be working on my list of things for my suitcase so I know what I need to purchase and what I need to start packing! Hopefully, I will blog about my progress, and be able to sit back and relax a few weeks before our baby arrives!
One down, several to go!!! I managed to organize under my kitchen sink last night. As you can see from the before picture, I had stuff thrown anywhere and everywhere. I had a couple plastic CD storage baskets that gave me the idea for storing some of the things under the sink, and I really liked how it turned out!
Making Some Progress
All Finished!!
Close Up of the Right Side.
I did manage to throw a lot of things out that were empty or I did not use any more (plus I found a stash of dish rags - I never seem to have enough of them). I also downsized my vase collection. I have 8 vases for sale on our local sales network in our town so I can hopefully get rid of them. I hate to just throw them away. If they do not sell, I'm going to take them to a florist to see if they want them for free!Last night I spent another 15 minutes in my spare bedroom. I managed to get two more storage containers stored in the closet (thanks to dear hubby again), which cleared off some of the bed. I also started working on getting the t-shirts back in the hanging organizers in the closet. All in all, it was a productive evening in the spare bedroom. I didn't take any pictures, but will try to take some of my progress tonight!
The Bed full of clothes.
Storage Containers that need to be put up.
The closet that has "exploded"!
Storage Containers made it to the top of the closet. (I did not lift them, my husband did it for me)
The Empty floor in front of the closet.
In an effort to try and save more money on food, I have been reading several blogs and articles recently. I am learning a lot of good tips, but one that I am really liking is freezer cooking. I watch many times and we dump leftovers out of the fridge because we are not very good at eating them. So, I’ve decided to try a new twist on cooking. When I make a dish that would normally give us a good amount of leftovers, I am going to split the dish in half and freeze part of it. I know this may not be a new concept to everyone, but I really like it. Sunday night we ate baked ziti. Normally, I would have made a 9 x 13 pan, but I split it between 2 8 x 8 pans. We had plenty to eat for dinner (and for me to bring for lunch 2 days) and I wrapped the aluminum pan up tightly and stuck it in our deep freezer. We were blessed to be given a large deep freezer, so I am excited to be utilizing it a little more. I should be able to freeze three meals this week from my menu plan, which will cut the next grocery bill dramatically! I also think this is a wonderful idea for me to use closer to December when our baby is due. I’m sure our church and family will provide some meals in the beginning, but that will end at some point, and it will be nice to have a fully stocked freezer to choose from! I found a wonderful article here at organizedhome.com that gives some great tips for once a month cooking. The once a month cooking is a future goal, but I believe I will start out small first so I do not get overwhelmed. There are also some places in larger cities that are actually set up for you to come in and create your own meals to freeze. I have some friends who have done this as a girls night, and I think it is a wonderful way to utilize your time! Not only do you get to spend some quality time with friends, but you are stocking your freezer with some wonderful meals! I am definitely going to try this one at some point. But, in the mean time, I will be feeding my freezer one meal at a time!
