Getting ready for baby QQ

Getting ready for baby QQ hasn't exactly been straightforward so far. Before I could justify doing anything fun (like shopping or sewing for her), I needed to try and make some room for her stuff in the kids' rooms. Luke has more space in his bedroom; the glider and changing station are still in there, and I was able to clear out half his closet. But he's too light of a sleeper to share a room with a baby. So her things will mostly be stored in there, but her crib will be in Madelyn's room.

Remember this from a couple of weeks ago? This is all of Luke's baby clothes and outgrown toddler clothes. I gave away 12 bags of it to different people, hauled some to DI and am saving some for a baby nephew (yet to be). All I have done this month is SORT. 

 

 Then I went through Luke and Madelyn's closets and cleared out all this stuff, and......

 Yes, it was horrifying.

I actually had a pic of Luke's room in the midst of sorting (but it disappeared from my phone), and even Luke, the Master of Chaos, came in and said, "What are you doing to my room?!?!"

 

 Then I cleaned out my junk drawers, which took an entire afternoon. There were so many multiples of everything (seriously, 6 scotch tapes, 6 scissors, 6 flashlights and all sorts of random crap) that you could barely close the drawers anymore. 

I guess I really didn't have to do that to get ready for QQ, but this is just the sort of thing that happens when a pregnant woman goes on a cleaning rampage.

While I was doing some of this, I happened to catch three or four episodes of a Canadian show called "Neat", where a professional organizer comes and helps people de-clutter. It was motivating!

 The past few days, I've been going through Madelyn's old baby clothes.

Sort, sort, sort, sort, sort, sort.

I needed to evaluate what I had (that was still usable after 9 years) and took careful notes of exactly what I'll need to go out and buy in what size/season for QQ's first year.

Actually, my friend Jenny has very nicely offered to give me a virtual baby shower soon! I wasn't expecting anyone to give me a shower since this is my 3rd, but it turns out that I do need a lot of stuff and I'm going to have a hard time affording it all myself (especially considering I need to replace my crib and get a new car seat/stroller combo). Oh and also Luke needs a big boy bed/mattress/bedding, a new dresser and various other storage items. Thank heavens we'll have a tax return this year.

 

He's loving the bins everywhere and I am sick to death of them. I just counted, and I have gone through 30 BINS of stuff this month. Oy.

 Look what I dug up! Madelyn's first swimsuit and sandals. They are absolutely miniscule.

Anyway, you know how I'd been hoping to have another girl for years? I'd been finding ultra cute baby girl stuff on clearance and putting it away in The Bin ever since Madelyn was a toddler. 

 "The Bin"

 I'm sure I told myself that I could use the outfits for gifts if my last kid was a boy, but I was going to be SERIOUSLY BUMMED if I didn't get to use them myself. Here's some of the treasures that were in there:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 *squuueeeeeeaaalllll*

I cannot handle the adorableness!!

 Oh, and then today I had to go through several baskets of diapering stuff and expired ointments/lotions, etc. Next time I go to see Mark at work I will have to raid his closet of free samples. (Do you have any idea how handy it is to have a husband in pediatrics??)

I am thoroughly exhausted but feeling better now that I've gotten rid of so much stuff and freed up room for the baby. Mark has been a good sport shuffling the bins to and from the storage unit and up and down the ladder to the attic. Hopefully we'll put away the rest of them tomorrow and I can focus on registering!

Nerdy DW tote bag for Jacey, and my undying love for Matt Smith

Jacey King (the girl whose farewell I went to today) is a Doctor Who fan, and I knew she needed a nerdy tote bag in her life. I'm not sure if this bag will be okay to use on her mission, but since it's not explicitly branded in any way, maybe it will be fine. If you haven't watched the show, the words don't mean much, but if you do, you automatically know that "Allons-y!" is a catchphrase of the 10th Doctor and "Geronimo!" is a catchphrase of the 11th.

 

 

 I've been super busy lately and didn't get around to making this till late last night. It's a little on the sloppy side but oh, well. Jaycee was thrilled and her friends were jealous, so that's all that matters.

 Speaking of the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith has left the show and regenerated a month ago ON CHRISTMAS. (Darn you, BBC!!). I cried, although it wasn't nearly as devastating as when David Tennant regenerated in his last episode. In fact, I still don't think I'm over that.

But Matt did what I (and several million other people) never thought he could do. He was able to take over the show from the most popular Doctor in history and be amazing and brilliant and I ended up loving him just as well as I did David.

Stephen Moffat, the show's writer, described Matt as, "lovely--he's a magnificent, brand new, hilarious, heartbreaking, heroic Doctor" and I think that sums him up perfectly.

 

 

 

 Amy and Rory 

 I wasn't a huge fan of his main companion Amy Pond (I thought "The Amy Pond Show" was pretty much what she turned it into) but I loved Rory, LOVED River Song and Clara.

 

River Song and the Doctor

  

 Clara and the Doctor

 

 

  

 (PS. That pirate would be Hugh Boneville, a.k.a. Lord Grantham from Downton Abbey)

Matt's on Broadway now doing American Psycho the musical (quite the departure) and I wish him all the best, even though I wish he'd stuck around DW for another year or two. He's largely responsible for the popularity the show has had in the United States and this new generation of fans. Thank you Matt!!! ♥♥♥

PS. I hit 1,000 followers for my I ♥♥ Doctor Who Pinterest board a couple of weeks ago. (It's up to 1,076 today.) YAY FOR FUN TIME WASTERS!!! It keeps me sane and brings me happiness, so there.

Jacey's farewell

Today was my best friend Jaki's stepdaughter Jacey's farewell. She is leaving on a mission this week to Pocatello, Idaho. (Exotic! All the way across our state line! Lol.) So we all went down to St. George for her church service and lunch. It was really nice and I always enjoy being around Jaki's family. I've known them since I was 10 years old.

 On our way home we took a little scenic drive on the Kolob Canyon loop. We have a national parks pass and don't use it often enough!

 It had been 60° in St. George, so Madelyn wasn't happy about the big drop in temperature up here. She'd been begging to get out of the car and stretch her legs but was almost crying after about one minute of being outside in the wind.

 We saw some wild turkeys on the way back down. I've seen them in Zion National Park before, but never up in our area.

Both kids fell asleep in the car--they almost always do after excursions to St. George. I love non-typical Sundays.