Here are 5 things on my mind today!
1. As I mentioned before, Phil and I are starting to look for our next home as our current home is pretty small and not ideal for our growing family. We have looked at 3 houses so far and it's been pretty obvious that all 3 are not the right fit for us for a variety of reasons from layout to size of bedrooms/misleading information about how many bedrooms there are to really old windows or a really old boiler. I'm hoping that when we see the right house we will just know. I know it's going to take time and patience. Luckily, Phil is the best person to house shop with because he sees things for what they are and isn't swayed by a fancy kitchen, for instance. It's obviously not the best time of year to shop for a home as the market is very quiet. If we can't find something we can close on and move into by January then we will stop looking until after the baby comes. And that's the scenario we are assuming will happen. If that is the case, we won't have a true nursery in our home as it's a waste of time and money to decorate a room when we know we will be moving. So if we stay in our current house, we will have a make-shift guest room/nursery. It's not ideal but the kid will never know they didn't have a dedicated nursery and we don't want to give up our guest room since my parents and most of my siblings do not live locally and we are hoping to have visitors. Plus, I am assuming the baby will be in our room with us for at least the first 2-3 months so that's another reason I don't feel bad about not having a dedicated nursery for the baby.
2. After not showing at all, I am finally starting to look pregnant! It's pretty subtle and you can only tell if I wear a fitted shirt, but it's kind of nice to look pregnant as it makes it feel a bit more real, especially for Phil. I thought my normal work clothes were fitting fine. But then the items I ordered from Gap last week arrived yesterday and I tried on the pair of maternity pants I ordered. I was like - 'ohhhhh'. I hadn't realized that my normal work pants were actually kind of uncomfortable as they cut right across where my belly is starting to grow. I had only ordered one pair of maternity pants as I wanted to see how they fit. But last night I ordered 4 more pair (there was still a sale at Gap!). Last week, I also bought some dresses from Pink Blush during a 25% off sale. It'll be nice to have some new maternity clothes on hand as my bump is only going to continue to grow and grow!
3. I roasted a chicken this week which makes me feel like Ina Garten (I use her recipe)! Roasting a chicken used to intimidate me, but now that I realize how easy it is, I'll even do it on a week night (I usually stick to quick/easy meals on week nights). The chicken came from my meat share so it's locally raised and organic. It was delicious!! Although now that I look at the photos, I'm realizing that I cooked it upside down! But oh well - it was still great!
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| Our delicious roasted chicken! Our house smelled amazing. It was surrounded by veggies that cooked in the juices of the chicken, but I forgot to take a photo before I took the veggies out! |
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| Roasted, delicious vegetables! The purple vegetables are also potatoes (I love buying multi-colored potatoes). |
4. My calendar is continuing to fill up faster than I should let it. I am the only person that can affect change in my schedule so I am trying to come up with ways to not over-schedule and over-commit. Why is this so hard? For October, I am going to try to have a strict rule of not accepting more than 2 social commitments during the work week. Otherwise I just get overtired and feel like I am stretched too thin. We'll see how successful I am at this...
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| This is a blurry photo, so it's hard to read. But you get a sense for how full my month of September has been. October NEEDS to be different! |
5. Speaking of a busy schedule, this weekend is a pretty busy one for us! Tonight we staying in (halleluiah - I need a quiet night!). Tomorrow afternoon I have a friend's son's birthday party to attend and then I'll go from that to another friend's party (one of the best men from our wedding) which includes dinner at a Mexican restaurant (ole!). On Sunday I'm bringing a meal to a friend who had twins in June and I want to also bring her some zucchini bread as I have a huge zucchini in my fridge that I need to use up. And then I'll be video chatting with Amber in the late afternoon. Luckily I don't have plans for Saturday or Sunday morning... although we are due for a team-clean of our house so one of those mornings will be spent cleaning.
What's on your mind today?
I'm so glad you were able to get such good deals on the maternity clothes! That's fantastic! I've heard that it's really uncomfortable for clothes to cut across the belly. I know what you mean about the personal calendar! September was insane and it snuck up on me that it became so scheduled! October is going to be another busy month! The roast chicken and vegetables look awesome!!! Speaking of bread, in general, we have bananas that are past the point where I will eat them and banana bread is Michael's favorite so I guess I should step it up and actually make him some banana bread. I saw your recipe with the chocolate chips and that looked so good! Here's to a night in and a fun weekend!
ReplyDeleteYay for finally showing!!! So exciting.
ReplyDeleteYour weekend sounds perfect ! And a nice mix of relaxing and fun.
Your chicken looks divine. I miss roasting chickens and reallly cooking - but our apartment was furnished/stocked by a college-aged boy so it just hasn't been up to par for me to really do a lot of cooking! But - it served our needs!
What's on my mind - it's the last day I have to sign into this damn computer and talk to people who don't want to talk to me 😂Nagging them about their noncompliance to their healthcare plan. And also all the goodbyes I'm in a series of. I feel like my life is kind of a constant "cycle of goodbyes" especially in 2017!!
I had a few too many commitments this past week and this weekend so I wound up opting out of 2 of them at the last minute. I should feel bad but I don't. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do!
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed the RA flares are non-existent and keep to a minimum the rest of your pregnancy.
I have NEVER roasted a chicken! I should learn how/do it. My mom did it often and they smelled so good :)
Reid was in our room for 6 months because we were building our new house and ibdidnt want him to share a room and risk waking up 1 of the other 2. It worked just fine and plastic storage drawers was a great temporary dresser until we moved. You'll like having baby in your room for a bit with getting up so frequently. Hope you are feeling better. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteHouse shopping can be a very deceptive process. People buy what they can see, and you don't notice things like "there are no phone jacks or cable tv jacks in the wall". I bought my house before I realized there wasn't a master bathroom. You don't notice things that you don't see. As long as you have your criteria of must-have's, then you know what to look for.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Phil is a champ. Satisfying a house shopping pregnant wife is no small feat; I've been in the same situation. Love and blessings to you both, I hope it works out soon!
I've only roasted a chicken once or maybe twice but it's such a delicious meal to have on hand and makes the best leftovers, I'll have to add that to the rotation sometime soon!
ReplyDeleteI hope you are able to keep to your rule of only scheduling two week night commitments per week in October so it can be a quieter month for you! Looking forward to our video chat this weekend!!
Don’t feel bad about not having a nursery set up. We didn’t do one for Gabe until Amelia moved into her big girl room. And I still haven’t decorated his! One day. House hunting can be tiring, but exciting once you find the one! Hope you have a great weekend :)
ReplyDeleteI have something on each weekend from now through october. And i'm glad! But so far its just one thing which is preferred. I agree 2 things during the work week night is enough, and sometimes thats too much! What I remind myself, is that if I need to cancel because I'm overwhelmed, my true friends will understand.
ReplyDeleteSounds like good plans and a good week! I'm glad you are showing.
ReplyDeleteKevin and Molly took a room and made it a nursery/multi by having the walls a neutral color and then bright, younger colors and kid things for the crib fabric, pictures on the walls, that sort of thing. I don't know if it's still there but they had a small sofa bed there as well, so it could convert if needed. Not having it obviously baby (the walls are a pale gray so the accessories are bright) it will hold value for resale. Worth considering if you don't find your house. Best not to rush it just to do it - you are smart there.
Good luck with the house hunting; I know that can be tough.
ReplyDeleteThat chicken looks perfect :-) People often don't realize how easy it is to roast a chicken or a turkey, but it really couldn't be simpler. Heck, there are even turkeys that cook from frozen, haha! I try to explain this to my friends who are very, very intimated by cooking poultry in general. The veggies cooked in the chicken juices look, and sound yummmmmmy!
Your schedule is definitely busy. I hope October is slower for you.
I think it makes perfect sense as to why you won't have a dedicated nursery for the baby! And I think we can get all too caught up in making these "perfect" nurseries nowadays - I don't even remember if my mom decorated a nursery for me and I still love her! ;)
ReplyDeleteI definitely hope you can find a way to slow down your schedule. Two commitments a week sounds like a good solution. That's the most I will allow myself - anything more and I start feeling grumpy about not having enough me-time. Haha.
And you can also roast a chicken in your instant pot - I did it once and it turned out wonderful! I think you brown it first on saute setting, and set it on the rack, but I am sure you can find the recipe on Pinterest.
ReplyDeleteGood luck on finding your dream home! There is so much to look for, especially in older homes as the wiring was very minimal in those days unless it has been brought up to code. And closets were non-existent or very small! I think people used wardrobes a lot in those days. But looking can be fun, so enjoy the hunt!
I think it makes sense that you're not investing in the perfect nursery unless you move into your dream home before the baby arrives. I would be practical like this for sure, too. Fingers crossed that you find a house that you love soon though.
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