The One with I'm Alive

So this was going to be my first post in a month, but there's going to be two published posts today because my Mommy brain never told my fingers to press publish on Liam's 8 month update post.  So you get two for the price of one today.  You are one lucky reader!

We are all alive over here in Rhode Island.

Despite the runny noses (Hubs, Nana, and Liam) and the icepick migraines (yours truly) and the snow and freezing temps (the whole damn country!) and the teacher evaluation binder (thank you genius politicians), we are managing...

And that would be as far as I got with this post on Friday before one thing or another pulled my attention away.

So here I sit on Sunday night, watching a Sex and the City marathon in our bedroom because Hubs is watching that football game I don't care about in the living room, finally able to finish the post I started more than 48 hours ago.

The post was basically just to say that we are alive and (mostly) well.  Liam is rocking it out with the crawling and I'll post a lot more about him later this week when I do his 9 month post.  I need to get on the babyproofing ASAP as he is moving around like crazy.

 We have graduated to the baby tub in the big tub.  Mommy's back feels awesome about this.

  Someone thoroughly enjoyed his first taste of macaroni.

School continues to suck the life out of me, although I am desperately trying to remember that it is just a job and that I need to leave some of the nonsense of it in the four walls of the school building instead of bringing it home with me.

My latest stress revolves around childcare for the fall.  My mom agreed to watch Liam for the first year, but she is physically unable to do more than that as Liam becomes more mobile.  Every time I start to search for daycares in the area, I get a pit in my stomach.  I cannot even begin to imagine leaving him with someone else.  And then I stop searching.  But it has to be a legitimate priority for February vacation since I'm sure there are waiting lists for the places I'll be looking at.

I am mildy obsessed with the new nautical line that Old Navy is carrying.  I went in there last week to return something and came home with a bag full of stuff (and most of it was for me and not L, which is unheard of lately!).  The new Paddington line at babyGap is also to die for and I definitely ordered a few things for L the other day (with coupons and rewards...why yes I am justifying spending the money to myself).

Alright, I'm off to finish up a few things to start the week.  Heard we are supposed to get another storm mid-week around here.  Really hoping there isn't another snow day.  I'm going to be in school until July.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

The One with the Showers

Hubs, the little man, and I are so incredibly blessed.  We were lucky enough to be given two showers - one by the amazing people I work with and another by our families.  They happened to fall right near each other (the work one was a surprise) and it was baby gear overload in this house when we brought everything home.

We got a lot of the "big" items off our registries and there wasn't too much we still needed to go get.  My mom purchased our stroller and infant car seat back in February and we have been working on getting Max used to having baby things around the house since then.  I took a lot of advice from friends and family and tried to put a lot of different things on the registries for people to choose from.  I plan to do a review post or two once the little guy arrives on some of the things I chose and what I think about them.  Some of the things that we got included: Ubbi diaper pail, 4Moms Mamaroo bouncer, Motorola video monitor, Britax B-Ready stroller and infant car seat, Boppy pillow, Aden and Anais swaddle blankets, and Medela Pump in Style Advanced breast pump, just to name a few.  One of my co-workers got us a whale bathtub filled with such amazing bath products, toys, and supplies...looking forward to the little man's first bath at home!

Here are some pictures from my work shower...

One of my amazing co-workers made this awesome cake and cupcakes.

The generosity was overwhelming!

I didn't even know where to begin.

My mom made the trip up from CT for the shower and Hubs surprised me by showing up too.

My family shower was the following Saturday and was also so much fun.  One of my aunts generously volunteered to host everyone at her house.  We got a ton of stuff for our guy and it was so nice to celebrate with everyone.

 

These were popcorn favors with white chocolate and M&Ms mixed in.  So delicious!

My wonderful cousin did the centerpieces with beautiful bright yellow tulips and blueberries in the vases.

Such good food!

The presents were set up downstairs so everyone moved down there after we ate.

My grandfather was in the Navy and found these bibs for the little man.

LOTS of clothes came home with us that day!

This was a pretty cool present called The Red Plate.  It's a tradition you start in your family where someone gets to eat off the red plate when they have a special accomplishment or event.  You keep track of the event and date in a journal.  Looking forward to starting this.

I don't eat cake, but apparently this one was quite delicious.

Our living room after everything was unpacked from the car...and several things had already been put away at this point!

Such amazing experiences and we know how lucky we are to have such wonderful people in our lives.  Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us!

As I write this, just about everything has been put away, although something tells me more things will appear and I'll need to find a home for them.  

Hope everyone is having a good week!

The One with the Shopping

Shopping for baby things has always been a small obsession of mine.  When a friend has a baby shower or gives birth, I can spend hours in the store looking for the right item to purchase.  Hubs knows better than to come with me when I am baby shopping because it ends up being a long day where he whines.  

I love the little outfits and toys and books and gadgets.  

I knew we were in trouble the minute I found out I was pregnant.  It didn't take long for me to go out and buy the Worth the Wait bib when I got our positive beta.  The shopping hasn't stopped much since then.

But I admit it's taken on a whole new level since our gender reveal.

I went out almost every day during Christmas break and bought lots of clothes on sale for next year.  As I justified it to myself (and Hubs), why would I spend $25 on a Christmas outfit when it is on sale now for $6.40?  It seems pretty logical to me.  So, I have just been getting six and nine month clothes and this little guy will fit in them at some point (especially considering he'll be in "holiday" gear for the entire month leading up to the holiday!).

Hubs response: "Why the hell are you going to dress my son up like a candy cane?!"

From Old Navy

We have also gotten some adorable stuff from family and friends.  My mother-in-law and sister-in-law went out the night after our reveal party to get little boy outfits for the little man as Christmas presents.  My aunt bought both a girl outfit and a boy outfit and once we revealed what we were having to the rest of my family, she gave us the cutest Polo onesie.

Complete with the world's tiniest Polo horse.

From Macy's

I absolutely couldn't resist this one from Old Navy.  I LOVE Elf and I can't wait to put the little guy in this.

From Old Navy

It's an addiction and I should probably see someone about it.  But I will keep doing it because it makes me happy.

I'm pretty sure I would buy this for me if it came in my size.

From Baby Gap

The best part is that I really have not paid full price for anything I've bought.  Everything has been on sale as the spring and summer stuff is being put out.  I shop this way for myself and it saves so much money.

Up until today, I was only buying clothes.  Then I saw these...

 From Baby Gap

From Old Navy

Yes, they are ridiculous and you over there saying they are impractical (yes Mom, I'm talking to you!), I don't care.  They are stinkin adorable and my son needs them!

Another closet shot.  And this doesn't include all the stuff that didn't come on hangers.

My baby will be nothing short of fashionably fabulous.

The One with Some Catch-Up

What up blogging world?

Sorry I've been MIA for a while.  That whole going back to school nonsense has really gotten in the way of my blogging life.  And pretty much any other kind of life I may have had during the summer.

Quick run-down of life lately:

• I am pretty happy with my class this year.  They are a good group and we haven't had any major issues yet.  Couple of chatterboxes, but I usually whip them into shape quickly!  Thankfully very different from how my year started last September.

• Saw these Candy Corn White Chocolate M&Ms when I was at Target last week and I immediately picked them up.  I don't know how to describe the taste...it's not really candy corn like, but they are pretty fab.

Oh em gee!  Festive and delish!

• I need to seal our granite countertops this weekend.  It's such a project and I dread doing it every year, but they desperately need to be done.

• As previously mentioned, I won't be talking about the results of all of our tests quite yet.  I'm just not ready to go there.  Thanks for being patient with me.

• I put together this made up creation for lunch today.  It's a pizza I made using the Philly cooking creme (I adore this stuff).  I found a new pesto one at the store last week and mixed that in with the chicken.  Then I spread ranch dressing on the pizza shell, put the pesto chicken on top and slathered it with cheese.  It was super yummy and lacking in all nutritional value.

• I really need to go shopping for school clothes soon.  I need new shirts desperately and I am bored with my entire wardrobe.  Both Hubs and my wallet are going to strongly disagree with this idea.

• We spent over an hour at Golfers' Warehouse today looking at putters.  And by we, I mean Hubs played with golf clubs for an eternity and I stood around watching.  I may deserve a present for my patience.  I may discuss that with him later today.  Perhaps this is where I will throw in the idea of the aforementioned wardrobe overhaul.

I am going to force myself to go and vacuum now.  I'm pretty sure I could create another Max with all of the fur that is flying around the house.  Speaking of the Wigglebutt, here's a picture from this week...

I just want to smush his face!

Off for a date with Dyson!