In order to clean Katelyn's room...

In order to clean Katelyn's room, I must put away her laundry.

In order to put away her laundry, I must give her toys to play with.

Now have a messier room than when I started...clearly I am doing this wrong.

$8 Dress

I have gotten more mileage out of this $8 Target dress than any dress in my closet. It even received a compliment at the deli counter today!

Sorry for the crappy photo...apparently the new phone
can take great pictures it just can't upload them.

Katelyn's First Plane Trip

We took Katelyn on her first plane trip in March (can you tell I am behind in blogging??).  She did an amazing job.  I was very nervous about how she would do on the plane.  I didn't want to be that mom with the kid who wouldn't shut up.  It was also our first trip back to DC since we moved.  I can't believe it has been almost 2 years!

I had been planning the trip for weeks.  I made an Excel spreadsheet with schedules and packing lists.  I wanted to be prepared, but I didn't want to haul our kitchen sink along.  Here are the big items that we brought...

- checked suitcase
- backpack for a diaper bag/carry-on
- new carrier (the Ergo Sport if you're wondering)
- garment bag with our dress clothes
- my purse

So no stroller, no car seat (rented one from Hertz), and no crib (borrowed a pack and play).

Friday morning came, and I got up at 4:30am.  I was so happy that I had slept well (or as well as one can sleep waking up every 2-4 hours to feed K).  Many times before trips, I don't sleep because I worry about forgetting to pack something.  Even when I don't have a trip coming up, I have stress dreams about going somewhere and not being packed.  (Insert foreshadowing music here.)  Al and I got everything ready, the car was packed up, I had coffee brewing, and K even woke up right as I walked up the steps to get her (I dressed her in her travel clothes the night before in hopes that she would fall back asleep in the car...it worked).  I had wanted to leave the house by 6:00am.  When we drove down our street, the clock said 5:56am...the travel angels were singing.

We arrived in Milwaukee with plenty of time to stop at Dunkin' Donuts.  We got a great parking spot in the cheap parking lot, and the shuttle arrived immediately.  There was no line at the ticketing counter.  Everything was perfect...or so we thought.

After we checked our bag and started to walk away from the counter, Al said, "Oh no!  We forgot our garment bag."  I had packed the garment bag with our dress clothes (for the wedding we were going to) and placed the bag in the front closet so nothing would wrinkle.  Why I didn't pack it in the car, I'll never know.  It would cost over $200 to replace the clothes.  The wonderful Air Tran representative changed our flight to the afternoon at no cost, and we drove back to Madison.  Katelyn was excellent for the additional 3 hours in the car.  Al and I kept apologizing to each other for forgetting the bag.

Once back at the airport (no more cheap parking available...had to upgrade to $10/day parking...ugh), we caught our flight, and K did very well.  She nursed on the way up and fell asleep.  They don't let you keep babies in carriers for take off and landing, but once in the air, she was hooked in and asleep.  I was even able to read a book!  Here are some pictures of Katelyn and Daddy having fun on the plane...

The return flight she fussed for about 10 minutes on the landing because she was asleep and they made me take her out of her carrier.  All of the people around us were asking, "why in the world would they make you do that??"  At least the people around us were understanding.

Our trip to DC was a lot of fun, but it was too short.  Here are pictures I snapped on our way to the airport. (I made Al drive around so I could at least see the cherry blossoms for a second.)

Arlington Cemetery how it looks in the movies.

....and here is reality.

K and I fly again next Friday...by OURSELVES.  Al is already in DC for work, and we are going to visit him.  Hopefully the flights go as smoothly as last time, and I don't forget anything major.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

As an early birthday present, my parents bought me the BOB Revolution!!  (That's a jogging stroller for those not obsessed with stroller makes and models.)  But it's not any jogging stroller, it is an amazing jogging stroller.

In looking for baby gear my motto was, "unless a safety issue, find it used and cheap".  So the car seats and crib were bought new, and most of the other gear was bought used (thank you Craigslist!).  We got a $10 stroller at a garage sale until we could get a jogging stroller.

At first it looked like there were a few reasonably priced jogging strollers on the market, but after reading the reviews, I found that they didn't work well for running (wheels would fall off...uh, no).  Eventually, I determined that my "cheapest" option was the BOB Revolution.  It can be both a jogger or a regular stroller because the wheel can be fixed or rotate.  It also held up well over time (mostly made of metal, not plastic) and it held its value (ones on Craigslist went for $250 in 24 hours...tried so hard to get one used, but I never emailed fast enough).

Although Amazon has the BOB cheaper than REI, I am an REI member and they have a 20% off coupon for all members (you can sign up now to receive the coupon...$20 for a lifetime membership and 10% back annually on all non-sale purchases).  Also it is much easier to return it to our local store rather than Amazon if something were to go wrong.

K and I went on our first run yesterday.  We ran 3.5 miles, and she didn't make a peep the whole time.  She really loves the outdoors.

"Hey Milk Truck...stop taking pictures, and let's go!"

 Thanks again Mom and Dad!

One of the things you give up when you have a baby...

There are a lot of things that you know you will give up when you have a baby: sleep, going out, sleep, seeing the latest movies, sleep, getting together with friends with a moment's notice...did I mention sleep?  Anyway besides the usual things, there are some things that hit you like a wall.  "Well if I'd only known..." you tell yourself.  I had one of these moments the other day. 

I was driving home my old route from work because Al had picked Katelyn up from daycare.  Usually I pick her up.  There was a very large "going out of business sale" sign at one of my favorite stores.  It sold very cute purses and jewelry.  I had missed the sale and closing...ugh!

Katelyn, you owe Mommy a clearance purse and necklace.  Love, Mom.

Rockin' the Clearance Rack

Last winter I found these great Jessica Simpson shoes on clearance at DSW for $17.  My feet soon became too chubby to wear them, but I knew (hoped) that I would be able to wear them soon.

 

 

While day after Thanksgiving shopping, I found the skirt for $10 at Kohl's.  I paired both with a blouse from Ann Taylor LOFT and a cardigan from New York and Company...

Finally Finished the Nursery!!!

We had several set backs while getting Katelyn's nursery ready.  The main one was that while refinishing the dresser, we had problems with the polyurethane and ended up having to strip the entire dresser to start all over again.  I was hoping to have the nursery finished by K's 16th birthday...so really, I'm ahead of schedule.

Here is the closest thing I have to a "before" photo.  This is after I had painted the ceiling, but hadn't painted the walls yet.  The table with all of the painting supplies is the bottom portion of the dresser before it was refinished...twice.  Also, a bonus picture of a pregnant me in painting gear.

Here are the "after" photos...

The twice refinished dresser.

Oh, are you taking pictures??

The branch is a stencil done in the beige from the other walls.  The letters are wood letters from Michael's Craft Store spray painted light pink.  The mobile I got from a garage sale for $5...woot woot!

Al found this rocking chair in 2004 on the curb next to the trash in Washington, DC.  He rescued it and spent countless hours stripping (not the fun kind), sanding, staining, and applying a hand rubbed poly.

Thanks for visiting my room!