High Five for Friday - Travel Edition

So, I posted Blog goals, and then I disappear for 2 weeks.  Such is my life these days!

Today is FRIDAY, so you know what that means!  High Five for Friday link-up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk.

Since I missed out on the past few weeks, this is more of an update post, but here's my top 5!

Charlotte and I traveled to St. Joe, MO for a family reunion this past week.  Over 50 people gathered in the family home meant lots of kiddos for Charlotte to play with.  I don't think she's ever seen so many kids in her life!

Vacations are good for 2 things!  Pool time and Sleep!  Charlotte managed to accomplish both of these things.  She had so much fun the first night, she passed out in Grandma's arms.  She's usually a very light sleeper, but this night, I was able to pick her up, change her diaper, and lay her on the floor of my cousin's room without her waking up at all!  That's a sure sign of a good night!

Traveling to the Midwest meant that I got  to eat a delicacy that we don't have here in NoVa.  Pork Tenderloin!  I like mine with lots of mustard, and pickles on the side.  You don't see any pickles on my plate, because someone decided she LOVES pickles and ATE THEM ALL!

Here's my little "Hotstuff" in the airport on the way home.  Those of you who have known me since high school should get a kick out of her shirt...  to my new friends, maybe I'll share the inside joke with you all at some point.  (I take bribes)  She did fantastic on the plane, even with our hour delay in Kansas City.  The only problem arose when we decided take off would be a good time to have a major diaper blowout!  I can tell you we rushed to the bathroom as soon as that seat belt light was off.  Airplane bathrooms are not designed for toddler diaper changes...  that's all I will say about that!

So much traveling and exposure to new things included new germs.  Charlotte came down with a nasty cold and a fever of 102 the day after we got home.   I know how I feel when I have a bad cold, so I can only imagine how she feels!  The good thing about a sick baby, is lots of baby cuddles.  She's not usually a cuddler, so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.  Cross your fingers I don't get the crud too!

So, that's pretty much what's been happening these past few weeks.  I promise, I'm getting back to my blog goals, starting Monday!  I've got lots of posts lined up, so stick around.  I promise not to leave again soon!

Blogging Goals

To keep myself accountable, and to have an actual plan for this blog, I've decided to actually write down my goals for this blog!  I'm linking up with my new blog friend Cari @ The Skinny Olive for her blog goals link up!

So Universe, I'm putting it out there, I need you all to hold me accountable!

1. Blog consistently at least 3 times a week.  I am totally slacking on this one already!  I have lots of ideas, but just haven't put pen to paper (more like fingers to keyboard)yet.

2.  Be more active on the blogs that I actually read.  Hi, my name is Lacy and I'm a chronic lurker.  I have almost 200 blogs on my Google reader, and I hardly ever comment and show my appreciation to these incredible bloggers that have inspired me so much!

3. Gain followers (that are not related to me, or that I see in my daily life).  I'm pretty sure the only people that read my blog are my parents and maybe a random passer by!  I would like to think that people actually want to read what I'm writing, and will come back to read more!

4. Have sponsors.  Because I haven't set a set time limit for me to complete these goals, I don't want to put out a specific number of sponsors I would like to have.  At this point, I would do a happy little Irish jig for 1 sponsor!

5. Host a guest blogger here at Healthy Renovation, and vice versa!  I would love to be a guest blogger!  Any takers?

So there are five of my blogging goals.  Some are not measurable, so I plan on revisiting these goals in about a month, and make my goals a little more concrete and more measurable so I can actually be held accountable for my goals!

Are you a blogger that needs to set some goals for yourself?  Hop on over to Cari's Blog and link up your own blogs!

Not a blogger?  Let me know what kinds of goals you have set for yourself right now!

High Five for Friday!

So glad it's FRIDAY!  I'm linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk for "High Five for Friday".  Here are some of my faves from the past week!

1.) My new watch from Target!  I really trying to step up my game on the jewelry front.  I have tiny wrists, so I've never really liked wearing bracelets or watches, but they are all the rage these days, so I'm breaking out of my comfort zone and I've been really loving this watch!  I feel very grown up wearing it!

2.) July 4th was this week and we had a blast at the pool with Charlotte, Bubba and my Mother-in-Law.  This is the only good picture I could get of my little firecracker!

3.) Jergens Natural Glow is my new best friend.  I usually stick to pants or even capris for the summer, but we've been having 100+ degree weather in NOVA these days, so I had to break out the few shorts I own, and my pasty white legs really needed some color.  If I tried to get this tan by the sun, I would look like a lobster, so instead I reached for the Jergens, and this stuff is amazing!  I find that the medium/tan stuff gives me a more natural tan than the light/medium stuff.

4.) I have been seeing tweets and random mentions of #SheReadsTruth lately, so I checked it out this week, and let me tell you, this is exactly what I have been looking for.  A daily devotional and lots of women studying God's Word and supporting each other over the Internet.  If you're in need of a good devotional or just want something different to add to your quiet time, you should really check #SheReadsTruth out!

5.) This is my view today from work...  right out my home office window.  Gotta love being able to work from home and seeing my little one almost every day is PRICELESS!

What are you thankful for this week, or favorite things from this past week?  I love reading what make people happy!  I find a lot of my new favorite things from other people!  Share with me below, or link up with Lauren on her site!

Happy Friday!

The Why

I like to shower at night for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, I am NOT a morning person.  Having a child has not changed that part of me in the least!  Secondly, I find showering in the evening helps me wind down from the day and it’s my own personal "me" time.  I enjoy a bath from time to time, but showering for me is where it’s at!

So, last night, in the shower, I was shaving my legs for the 3^rd time this week, and I thought to myself, Why?  I absolutely hate shaving my legs!  Whoever decided that women need to be hairless was a.) probably a man, and b.) no friend of mine!  Typically, I shave when I know I’m going to be wearing something that will show my legs the next day, and heaven help my poor husband during the winter, but this week, 3 TIMES! 

I thought to myself, why do I care if my legs are shaved, or if I put on make-up, or if I actually wear clothes that look good on me.  Charlotte certainly doesn’t care what I look like.  She cares about hugs and kisses, and what kind of trouble she can get into without Mommy noticing. Bubba certainly doesn’t care, he cares about having clean undershirts, and what’s for dinner (maybe hugs and kisses too)!  Friends – nope, hardly get to see them these days.  Co-Workers, nope, we’re all working from home a lot these days, so unless we have a video chat that day, no make-up and ponytail it is!  The outside world – who cares what Joe Schmo thinks about my outfit when I go to Wal-Mart (it’s not like I’m anything near “The People of Wal-Mart”)

So why am I making a big fuss about what I look like?  Is it vain or sinful to care about my physical appearance.  To me, no!  I am doing this to feel better about myself.  I have let myself go for the past few years, even before Charlotte.  I look at pictures from a few years ago (specifically winter of 2009) and I barely recognize myself.  I have lost (or moved) some of the weight from 2009, but in the process have gained nothing in return.  I read a lot of stories about women losing weight and regaining self-esteem or confidence, and I don’t feel like I have much of that any more.  I have never been a hugely outgoing person, and at times can be quite shy, but I also used to have thoughtful conversations, meaningful relationships, and loved being involved. 

Some of this “funk”, as I will now call it, has to do with where we are as a family, and some of it has to do with my attitude.  It’s tough to schedule time around a baby, opposing work schedules, and normal day to day living.  But is it Charlotte’s fault that I don’t go to church on Wednesday nights or Sunday mornings?  No, it’s mine.  Is it’s Real Housewives, Top Chef, and pretty much anything on Bravo’s fault that I don’t go to bed till 11 or 12 at night, YES… I mean, no it’s mine!  Is it Bubba’s fault that I don’t wake up and put make up on, and dress in something other than sweatpants? Nope, still mine.

So, that’s why!  I am doing this for me!  I need to take back possession of my life and make myself accountable for something, and maybe the rest of my life will follow suit.  

Identity Theft

I don't know about the other moms out there, but sometimes I feel like I have completely lost my identity.  Between all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, disney channel (ok, I've always loved the disney channel) and peek-a-boo, I rarely get a moment to myself.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my little girl, and I wouldn't change that part of my life for the world, but sometimes I would like to get back to the person I was pre-baby, maybe even pre-marriage!

Lately I've been contemplating what I really enjoy, outside of Charlotte, and I've realized that there is a lot that I like.  I've always been a make-up junkie, but working at home 4 days a week means I don't have to practice my awesome make-up skills, and Charlotte really doesn't care if I have eyeliner on or not.  In fact, I would suspect that she wouldn't recognize me with a full face of makeup on!  I've never been big on hair, I probably wear my hair "up" 360 days a year, but I let my natural hair color grow in while I was pregnant.  Who knew I had such DARK hair!

Then there's my house...  it's been over run with toys, and ordinary objects used as toys.  I love reading blogs about home design and HGTV is in the top 10 of my favorite channels.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to get back to me!  I want to explore all the things that I once loved, and even introduce these things to Charlotte.  Don't worry, no make-up for her until she's at least 3!  I want this blog to be an expression of me, of who I want to be. So I hope you will join me on this journey!  Join me in the smiles and tears (does clothes shopping make anyone else cry), success and failure, and just good plain girly fun!

First step...  back to blonde-ish!

Baby's Drawers

Dont worry, this isn't another post about cloth diapers!

I don't know about the other parents out there, but Charlotte has an abundance of clothes.  Thanks to some friends and a very loving cousin, Charlotte has received hand-me-down clothes to last her a lifetime!

The problem we have is how to organize all her clothes.  I came across this picture on Pinterest:

Source: chasingcheerios.blogspot.com via Lacy on Pinterest

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The original post came from this blog: http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/2011/06/organization.html.

I figured I would give it a try.  Of course I had my helper on hand!

She loves the Camera!

But I think she would rather eat it than pose!

Here are the results: 

  

While it is nice to see all her clothes easily, the one problem that we have run into is putting the clothes away.  Originally, I took out all the clothes and put them away at one time.  Now, when I'm putting away our weekly daily load of laundry, I have to shove and shift the clothes to get them to go in correctly.  Overall, I think this will work better when there are less clothes and larger items.  I think it will work especially well once Charlotte is able to pull out the clothes herself.  This way she'll be able to see everything and pick out what she wants to wear all by herself.  We're a few years away from that though!

Now, if only I can keep her from growing so fast... that way she will get a chance to wear all of these cute clothes!

How do you all organize your kids clothes?  Any tips on organizing different sizes at the same time...  Charlotte is currently in between 6-9 months, so I have to look at the tag everytime.

Gone are the Days of Rubber Pants!

So, remember when I mentioned the store in town that was “crunchy”? Well, color me green! Charlotte can now be seen sporting some eco-friendly cloth diapers! Well, sometimes… it depends on who changed her diaper last. I am still trying to convert Bubba on the benefits on the cloth diapers, but I think all he sees is that he can’t just throw the poop in the trash can. Now, he has YET to change a poopy cloth diaper, but the time will come my friend, and let’s just hope I have my video camera on hand when it does!

My mom initially bought us the pre-folds with covers for my baby shower. These were what she used on me, and let’s be honest, they are the most cost-friendly of the cloth diaper choices. Charlotte wore them a few times, but the fit just never seemed to be right, and they were always leaking. More than likely this was an operator issue more than an issue with the actual diapers, but we quickly gave up on using the prefolds and covers, plus Bubba HATED using them. To be fair, Bubba has a lot to live up to, after all, my dad was the cloth diaper champ! Ok, 2nd place, but 1st place in my eyes!

Isn't he handsome!  Even with the 'stash!

Fast forward to our little trip into town for the class at the crunchy store. I saw a sign for a GREAT sale on the bumGenius diapers. In all my research that I did regarding cloth diapers, these diapers had the best reviews. I had 1 at home, and when I did use it, I liked it, but with only 1 to use, it really was a waste, because of all the special washing needs, etc. So, after some number crunching and discussion with Bubba we decided that we would bite the bullet and try these out. I had to promise that I would wash and stuff them, (I’m thinking I can renegotiate that term at a later time) and he promised he would use them rather than the disposable stash we have on hand. So far, I’ve held up my end of the bargain, Bubba, not as much… we’re down to our last of the disposables. I am going to try and not buy any more disposables (unless there’s a great sale), so he will HAVE to use them.

There are a few kinks we still need to work out. Like the poopy diapers… and swishing in the toilet? We’ve got a make-shift diaper pail made out of a laundry basket and a big trash bag!

Look ma! No water!

and not nearly enough diapers

Doing laundry every night kinda sucks!

I know what will be on our Christmas list this year!

Diaper Sprayer

Wetbag

Aren't these adorable?  I'll take 2 please!

What about you?  Have you tried cloth diapers?  What is on your wishlist for baby stuff this Christmas?