Daily Ramblings - Where did the couch go?

I think my unborn child may have more clothes than I do.  Husband and I unwittingly fell into the perfect storm of hand-me-downs with this kid.  Our two nephews are also fall babies and, as they are quickly growing out of the clothing and other baby gear, there is a stream of stuff making it's way into our house.  After receiving two huge boxes of clothes yesterday, we now have enough clothing to cover him from approx 0-9 months.  I happily sat in front of the TV, watching Olympics highlights, and sorting by size until the entire couch had been overrun by tiny little outfits.  It's all so cute I can hardly bear it!  Meanwhile, a similar thing is going on with one of my closest girlfriends, also with two boys.  She's also been toting around a box of clothes for me for the last 3 weeks.  [Seriously, nobody buy this baby any more clothes!]  I don't even know the right way to thank my sister-in-law and my friend (and their respective husbands of course) for their generosity.  It's truly overwhelming, in a wonderful kind of way.

I'm a few days from being in my third trimester and I can't help but wonder where the hell the last 3 months went.  I've heard that the middle three months are the best.  I no longer have the nausea from the first trimester, and haven't fully developed the discomfort of the last. Jenny (the masseuse at my chiropractor's office) has been keeping an eye on my progress.  A couple of weeks ago, I told her that I was hoarding the massage sessions that my insurance will cover until I really needed her.  Back then, she looked at my ankles and said "it's ok, they're not too swollen yet."  This week, when I was there for my weekly pilates session, she took one look at my ankles and said "it's time".  I'll be seeing her on Saturday, cankles and all. 

Meanwhile, the feeling that time is running out is upon me.  There's still so much to do and organize, birth classes to be attended, books to be read, things to be made!  I remember months ago thinking how much time I have....and now realizing that the time is slipping away quickly.  He's strong enough now that his wiggles are evident from the outside of my belly and he seems to be enjoying his yoga first thing in the morning as I'm trying to ignore the alarm clock.  Soon enough, he won't just be the alien being that's taken over my belly, he'll be a real life little person.  It's weird.  People ask us if we're ready and, honestly, we have no idea if we ever will be.  Feeling somewhat unprepared and all, I couldn't be happier.

Daily Craft - 4 onesies in 4 minutes

A couple of years ago, I received some iron-on owl appliques in a swap.  Back then, before child was even considered, I thought they'd be super cute on onesies.  I even bought some onesies thinking I could make them for a baby shower gift or something...and then promptly forgot about it.  Fortunately, I found everything last weekend while organizing all my craft supplies, and it took me approximately one minute per onesie to make these.  I think the total cost is less than $5 too, which makes me want to find more cool iron-ons to make more with.

Gotta love the bright colors on Peanut's new playmat too - a super cute hand-me-down from our nephews.  I'm sure these are the first of many photos with that as a backdrop!   

 Meanwhile, my other accomplishment this week was happily donating over 10lbs of yarn to various knitters and crocheters who make things for charity.  It feels great to make the space, but also know that the yarn is going to worthy folk who will create wonderful things for those in need.  I'm definitely feeling like I'm nearing the end of my organization endeavors and quite proud of how much room I've created.  Based on the various hand-me-downs I've received in the last week alone, the need for storage capacity will be dire soon enough!

Daily Ramblings - Making space

For months now, I've been putting together a bag of clothing for donation.  It was hanging out in the hall closet and occasionally, I'll pull something that I haven't worn in a year or so out of my closet and throw it in there.  This weekend, I decided that it was time to get rid of this bag, and be a little more severe with purging my closet - resulting in 5 bags and a box filled with shirts, dresses, sweaters, shoes.... It definitely feels good to be rid of these things, and hopefully Goodwill will make good use of them.


How often do you purge your closet?  I suspect I should do it more often!  I don't tend to shop for clothing a lot, so now I have a nice gaping space where new clothes are supposed to go I guess. Perhaps this will encourage me to actually use some of the sewing patterns I've got stashed away.