Staying Organized--Double Duty

Sorry I didn't continue on with my little "mini-series;" we've had some pretty awesome things going on around here that kept me from getting back to my computer. But here we go.

Double Duty: Make sure everything you buy or get can pull it's weight; everything should do more than the one thing it was specifically bought for!

I have so many cases of this around our house, it's crazy! The fact of the matter is, if you only ever use something for it's intended purpose, you will never really get your money's worth out of it. Especially "baby-things."

The "baby market" isn't stupid. They know that unless they are selling diapers, wipes, or formula/food; a majority of their consumers are first time parents--or those BUYING for first time parents. And first time parents honestly believe their baby needs every little thing! I'll be honest: I wasn't immune to it. But I quickly (and luckily before Emma got here) learned I needed to make my things work FOR ME instead of me working for my things.

Changing Tables: Now I will say this was something I was ADAMANTLY against from the beginning. I truly never understood why someone would buy a piece of FURNITURE they can't use after the baby is out of diapers. Furniture isn't cheap! So right away I knew we would be using the top of our baby's dresser as the "official" baby changing station. I got a fairly inexpensive changing pad and a cute cover which works amazing. I had some leftover shelving liner (the mesh-like stuff you put on the shelves so things stick), so I put it under the changing pad and it never moves. Emma is getting to the wiggling-fight-mommy-and-the-diaper stage, and still the changing pad stays put!

Another reason we decided to forgo the additional piece of furniture? Space. The fact of the matter is, there is only so much space in any given room. And when you have a crib, a dresser, a bookshelf, a rocking chair (a personal must), the diaper genie, and a few other things-well space becomes prime and I didn't see the need to take up space with a changing table.

On the flip side? I have a friend who bought a changing table for her first daughter. She used it for daughters 1, 2, & 3. But after daughter 3 was about a year old (still in diapers), she decided to use it as a bookshelf for her girls. She was lucky hers was able to be converted, and so she ultimately made it pull double duty. I just didn't see too many out there now that would look like a bookshelf and not like a changing table with books on it.

Wall Art: Now this might seem silly. I get that. BUT. You really need to make sure the things you are putting on the wall can pull double duty too! My personal cases?

1. We painted a tree (a gorgeous, realistic but still artsy tree) on a wall in Emma's room. Well, in one corner. How can I make this pull double duty? Here's how. See, right now the theme for her room is "Oh the Places You'll Go." Dr. Seuss did a lot with trees. When she's maybe a year old, I can start hanging pictures from the "branches" of her throughout the year. Pictures we can interchange as she gets older. Later, if she decides she wants a princess-themed room or something along those lines, we can easily make the tree into a magical, fairy inspired tree or something. So, instead of using a Seussical tree with the orange and pink and yellow leaves, her tree is more natural looking so we can convert it later.
2. Pictures. I have two types of pictures hanging in Emma's room. Both are over her dresser. The first type is a set of 4 brightly colored frames with Dr. Seuss book cover prints in them. These pictures and frames were a deliberate decision--as was their placement. I knew as Emma got older, it would be harder to keep her attention while I changed her diaper or outfit. So I put bright, colorful pictures where she would see them. And it works. Whenever she starts to get uber-wiggly, I just go "Ohhh" and look at the one by her and point. She stops what she's doing to look too.  The other type is a collage picture frame. I knew I would want to have up-to-date pictures of Emma up in her room all the time so I went to my favorite store and chose one which would allow me to take up some wall space, but also allow me to mix up the images when I wanted to. Before she was born I had our maternity pics in there. Then her 1 week pics. Then her 3 month pics. Next up is her 9 month pictures in April. So this picture frame collage is already pulling its weight!
3. Curtains. These may not seem like "wall art," but I think they should be. As I mentioned earlier, Emma's room is inspired by Dr. Seuss. You would think I would go and buy the curtains and valances to match. Which--yeah, okay, I did (the valances, I mean). But I also went back to my favorite store and bought shear white tiered curtains. When I hung them up I realized I didn't need or want the ones that "matched." Now we can easily use these super girly curtains to go with any theme in the future! 

 

 Toys: Kids toys can be so expensive. So unless the toy can pull "double duty," don't get it. For me, there's two ways they can do that.

1. There's the obvious way: Toys that convert. Those "sit to stand" toys--they go from being toys that lay flat on the floor when the baby is just learning to sit to becoming walking aids--are great for this. You definitely get your money's worth from them. We also have the play mat which came with "links." Since Emma doesn't use the play mat as much anymore, I took the links and attached them to her other toys. Because, let's face it, the jumperoos only come with maybe 3-4 links and that's no where near enough! Or I attach them to her high chair to give her something to play with that she can't (easily) drop on the floor.
2. Toys that add to the decor. Sometimes it's nice to have a toy that also enhances the look of the room. I alluded to this earlier in my post about diapers. Emma received a stuffed dog at one of her baby showers which was signed by those who attended. I keep it on the dresser in front of the tub of diapers and what not. This keeps everyone from having to stare at those diapers, keeping the look of the room. This dog also gives me something to keep Emma occupied when the pictures on the wall don't cut it.

Clothes: I won't delve too much into this again, but I will say you need to make sure your baby's clothes can pull their weight. Spend the money on the nicer clothes. Emma's grandmothers have bought her some "name brand" clothes...and they hold up a lot better than the inexpensive items. Be sure to find ways to transition clothes from season to season.

Food: Again, not an obvious one. But you will find or have already found, that feeding a baby can be kind of a struggle. And time consuming. I never thought about it before Emma, but it takes a long time to feed a baby solids or mushy food, especially when you compare it to giving them a bottle! So here are a few tips I have about food and feeding time.

Containers. We have containers of all sizes. They all have lids. Very Important! Then you can use them for travel OR at home. I also kept a few of the formula containers to use for traveling. I even kept one to store some of her bagged baby food.  The bags tend to get lost in the cabinet, so this really helps me know right where to go to get them.

I'll go more into food in another post, too. About when I started prepping

Gender Roles

Okay, a lot of you may think this is a bit premature being as Emma is only 6 months. But I saw something recently that made me question things I had always held as "silly" or simply part of an old wive's tale.

I always believed that kids aren't born with "boy" tendencies or "girl" tendencies. I never thought that because I had a daughter I would assume Barbie dolls over GI Joes. I never thought that by having an Emma instead of an Eli that she would automatically choose pinks and daisies over blues and sail boats.

And I'm not saying that she DOES choose those things...yet. But there have been times where I realize that maybe I was wrong. Maybe there is a basis for the general assumptions placed on girls and boys.

You see, Emma is already showing SOME preferences. Some very girly preferences. Prime example: she loves the Disney show "Sophia the First." Every time it comes on she stops to watch it. She will sit through the whole thing. But if "Jake & the Neverland Pirates" comes on...eh she's over it. She'll throw a mini fit until we get her.

That's not to say she likes all the "girly" shows. She only barely tolerates "Doc McStuffins" and that's supposed to be an empowering show for girls.

I know. I know. Emma's only 6 months old. She has a lot of time to figure out what she likes and what she doesn't. I sincerely try to expose her to toys and shows that aren't simply for girls. If she ends up liking all the girly things--the dress ups and pink and **shudder** glitter--than I will let her and help her.

Of course, if she ends up liking things that are considered more "boyish," than that's fine by me too! haha

Christmas 2013

Family Photo from Christmas morning

 To put it simply: Christmas was an undeniable success!! I still can't believe how much love we got to be apart of. We got to open presents with my mom, stepdad, and youngest sister on the 23rd. Emma got some really cute outfits. She also got some toys that (we hope) will help her learn to crawl. 

On Christmas Eve, we packed in as much fun and family time as possible. 

 Daddy had to work first thing in the morning, but we got to open our family presents after that and before we left for the day. I must say: I loved everything I got! It means so much more when you can tell that the person really took the time to think about what you would like. I had mentioned a few times that I really wanted to see the movie Divergent (coming out next year some time) and that it was based on this book, series. He got me the case with all 3 hardbacks!! Plus he handpicked some cute shirts and things I would never get myself or think I'd look good in. Turns out, he knows me better than I know myself because I LOVED the clothes! I think my guy liked his things too. Especially the traffic coffee mug Emma got him; it has pictures of him with Emma from every month since she was born, plus a few of his favorites. Emma got a cute outfit and her Tinkerbell ornament. I know I mentioned in the previous post that we didn't get her an ornament, but I guess I didn't consider this as part of the "tradition" mainly because we didn't get to put it on the tree this year.

Then we went to his dad's side for Christmas. We ate and chatted and just hung out for a lot of the day. Because Emma usually goes to sleep around 7:30/8, we couldn't stay as late as we normally would have (we had to get to the Christmas with his mom's side still). We opened presents and Emma got so many fun toys! Then we made sure everyone there that wanted a pic with her got one. A little different than last year when I made sure to take pics of each family "group." This year it was Emma with each group.

Then we made our way to my guy's mom's-side for Christmas with them. We managed to get all of Emma's gifts opened before it got too-too late. We couldn't stay for very long though. Since Daddy was up at 6:30am for work, he was exhausted. Add in the fact Emma had been up since then too, without too long of a nap, and you have a very cranky couple of people if you keep them up too long. haha Seriously though, we got so many great things for all of us. I got a new set of pots & pans (much needed!!) and a griddle (which we were able to use the very next morning!) plus a set of jammies (also used the next morning! haha). Daddy got some fun things. But, once again, the winner of the night was definitely Emma. She got some truly incredible toys. Things she can easily use now and things she will be able to grow into using.




 We woke up Christmas morning and opened all of Emma's gifts from Santa. Cool thing? He even made a stop at my Grammy's house to pick up her gifts for Emma to open on Christmas morning and he stopped at one of Emma's great-Aunt's house to pick up her gift for Emma; and brought those with him! :) Emma got a lot of books, some Disney movies (including the Cinderella one she had picked out and we told Santa she wanted!), plus some fun music/light toys to play with. They were smaller so we can bring them with us anywhere. Then we had breakfast with some family members.

 After that, we headed to my guy's mom's house and spent a good part of the day there playing with Emma's grandparents, cousins, and aunts. She even had a few gifts to open there that she loved playing with.

So here they are: pics of all of EMMA'S gifts from Christmas. I wasn't kidding when I said she made out like a bandit!! Hahah It took me two whole days to take everything out of their boxes, assemble them, and put them away. :) When you look at these pics, remember: THESE ARE JUST EMMA'S GIFTS! Ho Boy! So much love.