A New Home Sweet Home

It's been a long, slow process, but I do believe I can finally say we are all MOVED IN!  Hallelujah, baby!

My latest craze is freezing food.  Trying to save time and money continues to be a top priority around here.  Besides, it makes me feel totally awesome!  So far, we've got corn on the cob, breakfast sandwiches, grapes, homemade baby food, bread, marinated chicken, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and -- next on my to-do-list -- twice baked potatoes!  Follow the links to a couple of the fabulous bloggers who inspired me.

About making homemade baby food (which, let's just say it, is just pureèd fruits and veggies):  in my experience, it is messy and time consuming.  But it does save money, especially if you can get produce on sale.  I love getting my fresh food from Aldi.  Kroger (King Soopers) has great variety and usually several organic options.  I have a friend who is using her own garden harvest to can her baby food.  Genius!  Again, time consuming.  Again, cheaper and healthier.  I'm not anti-store bought baby food, but the bulk of Sydney's meals are from my tiny kitchen, and it makes me a little proud of myself.

I've also recently been introduced to Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser.
People.
Go to the store, and get one.  It does take some elbow grease, but MAN does it pick up dirt!

Here is the finished product!  Special thanks to +Kaitlin Hillen for helping me complete my hair bow holder!

This snapshot is already a month old.  I can't keep up with this growing girl!  She's already got two teeth at almost eight months old.  

That's it for now... Thanks for following!

Liv ;)

Nursery for Number One and Related Thoughts

Now that my Sydney Gray is 3 months old, I finally feel like my nursery is finished! I filled one wall with canvas art (with some help from my girlfriend - Thanks Britt!), one with shelves my hubby put together, and - ta da! - my first shadowbox!

I'm not a pink hater... exactly... but I wanted something un-pink for my first girl. Enter Pinterest.

Something tres chic (chevron) but not overdone (yellow and gray) found me. Unfortunately, because of our ever-imminent relocating with the Army, I didn't feel like investing time and $$ in painting the walls. Regardless, I'm satisfied!

Oh, and elephants. Still looking for an elephant piggy bank. Err... elephant... bank. You know.

In retrospect:

• Splurge--- crib, mattress (Your baby will spend most of the first year here, so think quality.)
• Skimp--- decor (There are sooo many DIY helps out there for the creatively challenged [me!] so don't break the bank to fill space. It's more special when you put your personal touches on it anyways!)
• Save--- clothes (This borders on personal preference, but unless you know you are done having babies, it usually makes more sense to store the barely used clothes to pull out again.)
• Stock--- diapers, wipes (They go fast. Fast.)

There is a lot I have yet to learn, but it's a fun ride! :)

Thanks for reading!

Liv ;)