Are we ready for a baby?!

Some of my friends think I'm crazy to have a baby now but I really don't think so. I really truly believe that both me and Scottie are really ready. I've thought long and hard about money and all that good stuff and with all that considered I still think we are ready. Do we have a house no but not everyone lives in a house and they still have kids. We have room for a baby, a whole bedroom waiting just for a little baby to fill it up.

One of my best friends came over Saturday and made some points like "well you guys should have some time to yourselves", "take a vacation together just you guys", blah blah blah. I get her concerns but me and Scottie have been together for almost five years now. I know him like the back of my hand and he knows me inside and out. He knows me better than I know myself sometimes. I have an amazing family and I know I could trust many people with our baby for a weekend if we had to absolutely get away. But I also know us. Us as a couple. We don't "party", we are home bodies, we stay in, we love where we live so we try to get people to come to us.

Another major reason I'm choosing now is because I'm 25. I personally don't want to wait until I'm 30-35 to start having kids. If you've ever watched a child you've noticed they are full of energy and you need to be able to keep up with them. Now don't get me wrong some people it feels right for them to get their career going and then to start a family, but that's not me, that's not us. Also because I'm a nanny I am very fortunate that I will be able to take my child with me when I go to work so that will save us money with daycare. (Which is crazy expensive! If you put your child in an infant room you're spending at least $800 a month, most times more! Absolutely insane!) I just babysat for a couple who I love dearly this past weekend and they are in their late 30's and have two small boys. Mase is just about 2 and a half and Jax is almost 11 months old, they told me I was smart to have kids now because at the end of the night they are exhausted!

I'd like to think I'm very money savvy, if I can find a way to money I will do it. Which I will use to an advantage when we have kids. For example I've been doing a lot of research on cloth diapers and I am really very interested in them. Some people may think "Eww gross cloth diapers", but from all the research it seems like it may be a good choice and plus they come in all colors and patterns so they're super cute! More example of my super money saving skills:

                                  1.I've already gotten a changing table, which I found on the side of the road

                                      fixed it up and it's beautiful! So we got that for free! 

                                  2. We've re-purposed Scottie's dresser. Again FREE!

                                  3. Got an Eddie Bauer high chair off of CraigsList for fifty bucks! Yes $50!

                                       They go for at least $150 brand new!

Right now I'm on the hunt for a rocker/glider on Craigslist. I just can't see buying one brand new for $200 or $300. I just think that's crazy, especially when I can find them on Craigslist for as low as $40! So I'm looking for that and I'll probably re-upholster which ever one I find to make it super cute!

 

Some friends have given us gender neutral clothes which have already pretty much filled up the dresser (which includes bids, socks, shoes, mittens for when their little, and tons of white oneies to go underneath clothing!). We've also received a tub, a swing, and a bouncy seat. They figure they don't need it anymore and we will be starting soon for a baby so why not give it to us, which I don't mind one bit. Every thing's in great condition so it's a blessing and one less thing our families have to buy for us! And I know between the two of our families we will most likely get everything we need from our baby shower and probably more!

 

Not to mention I'm pretty sure I'm well equipped to take care of a child. I know everyone says it's different with your own which I get and I'm sure that will apply to us but I've been babysitting since I was 13, I'm a nanny now for 3 girls which when I started the youngest was 6 months old and I was the head infant teacher at a daycare for a year, and there babies come as young as 6 weeks old! So I've definitely changed my fair share of diapers, I've experienced the blows, the pee in face, the projectile vomiting, snot and much more! Scottie might need some training but I know he'll be just fine!

So to all you who think we can't do it or we aren't ready I say we are! We will still live comfortably and we will still enjoy our lives.

Must get ready!

Even though I hate that everyone has started to focus on Christmas I realized that maybe I should to. Maybe not completely focus but at least glance at it. I need to at least start deciding what I want to get people and maybe get some kind of budget in place. (Although I really hate that I even have to start thinking about it but the cold hard truth is I do!)

This year I've decided that I want to do a home-made Christmas. Like literally almost every gift except for money will be homemade (and a few other select things I have up my sleeve). Well at least that's what I'm aiming for. I one year spent over five hundred dollars on Christmas presents, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't dating Scottie then and only had one nephew at the time. Needless to say I was bill free and carefree. But this year it's a whole new ball game! I'm doing Christmas on a budget this year but it's still going to be fabulous. And I can say thank you to a lovely website called Pinterest (which I'm sure you read abut in my last entry!)

So just a warning to everyone that will be getting a gift from me this year it most likely will be homemade so beware! Just kidding because I know it will be fabulous. Not gonna lie I'm pretty good at crafting so get excited because it's going to be epic.

A little preview as to what some of my plans are:
I'm thinking hot coco mugs with some personalization, hair tye/hair clips/head bands holders for some special girls I know, maybe a fort, maybe a marshmallow shooter, definitely some belts and awesome ties for a stylish guy I know, many homemade ornaments with some special touches, some pretty signs, personalized bake ware, maybe some candles, maybe even a necklace or two and a lot more! I'm pretty excited! I'll be posting pictures (after Christmas of course!)

Disclaimer: I know I went on a rant about how everyone focuses way to much on Christmas and I hate it, I really do. But honestly everyone should start thinking about Christmas gifts now because waiting to the last minute for shopping is just silly, especially if you're going for a homemade Christmas this year! So while I still hate the early commercials (so far I've only seen a Target Christmas commercial) and how the Christmas displays in stores are already set up I really need to at least start thinking of gifts and a budget.

In other news to get back to today and enjoying this lovely autumn season. We finally carved some pumpkins! Whoo hoo! My sister, her husband, her two beautiful children along with my mom and dad, Scottie's brother Jeff, his lovely girlfriend Autumn and her son Teegan we carved pumpkins! I went with simple this year. My pumpkin was an owl which I love and it didn't take me two hours to do which I love even more! My dad had such a huge pumpkin he put two designs on his, Adora just wanted a pink pumpkin so she stuck with some paint. Kody got an awesome spider and my brother-in-law did a scare crow (which I have yet to see, because he couldn't finish it due to a cranky little princess).

Pictures (I don't have Kody's because the picture I took was with my sister's camera so yeah):

My dad's amazing pumpkin!

Adora's pretty pink pumpkin with some glitter of course!

And my cute little owl. Love!

 

Happy Halloween everyone! It's coming up quick! Hope you have all your costumes together and your bags ready to get all that candy. I am so excited to be giving out candy this year at our own house! So very excited! I've decided that I'm going to be the "Aunt Lou" of our generation. When I was little we would do our trick or treating and half way through we would go to my Aunt Lou's house. She always had hot coco ready and caramel apples (myfavorite)! So this year I plan on having skeleton cupcakes ready, extra candy for our extra special visitors and of course some spooky drinks ready to replenish them to go and get even more candy!

Ohhh pinterest.....

Seriously pinterest is the devil! Well not really but it is so addicting. I swear by the time we have a kid and actually decorate the nursery the walls will be covered. They have so many ideas on there, and not just for babies. They have meal ideas, budget ideas, organization ideas, hair ideas, fashion ideas, pretty much the ideas are endless. The whole basis of pinterest is you can be looking on the web find something you love and "pin" it. There are so many things I want to do.

Like:

Canvas prints for babies room

Shadow box from hospital

Felt ball rug!

 

More canvas

Book slings

Tree shelves

 

More art work!

 

Family birthday signs

Christmas ornaments

Adorable

 

 

And I've already done some stuff, like:

 

Making this adorable craft cabinet. Saved space in our home & we got the cabinet for free from my Aunt Beth! Used this picture as a guide for mine!

Making your own quoted canvas. This will also help with the baby art I want to make!

 

 

And I've gotten some cool ideas for the girls that I nanny like:

 

Finger paints!

Puffy paint!

Galaxy play dough!

Painting with no mess!

 

 

We've also experiment with baking soda and vinegar, made egg shell pictures and they're favorite GAK! So fun! The best thing about pinterest is that you can click on the picture and for the most part it will take you right to the web site! Sometimes though the website isn't there anymore or it will take you to some ad but that's rare! So if you ever come to my house and see this fab decorating idea or craft or whatever the secrets out, I most likely got it from pinterest!





Baking makes me a happy lady

Can I just say I absolutely love to bake! Love it. It's so relaxing for me and I love to see people's faces after they see my cakes or cupcakes. The girls I nanny for love to help me bake to so we make lots of cookies, usually chocolate chip. Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie!?

For cakes and cupcakes I usually just do a standard box mix which is the easiest if you're in a time crunch and they always turn out good. I just made a gluten free cake the other day- super easy thanks to the great mixes they have at Hannaford! They even had gluten free frosting- SCORE! I've also made a vegan cheesecake. I think that was the most challenging recipe I've ever done, but I wanted my sister to enjoy dessert on Thanksgiving so I did it for her! It was tough, especially to find a substitute for eggs. You have to be careful because it's not just a normal cake, it's a cheesecake so you want the texture to be smooth and creamy.

I think my favorite part about making cakes and cupcakes is the decorating. It usually takes me awhile but it's so worth it. I could probably honestly decorate for hours just because get so in the zone, I get into a rhythm. I love it!

Here's some pictures of some of the stuff I have made. I usually get my ideas from the Internet. I can see a picture and re-create it on my cake. Cupcake designs I get from this amazing book that makes decorating super easy! It's called "Hello Cupcake"! It's full of tips and tell you what to use. Love it, and my sister just got me their new one for my bridal shower! Haven't used it much yet but I will!

This was for Thanksgiving/Jeff's birthday last year! Love these ones!

This was for my cousin Heather's 21st! Drunken Barbie! Love!

This was for my momma's birthday this year. So fun!

Baby cupcakes for a baby shower!

Made these little monsters to sell at Scottie's shows! Made like $50!

Birthday cake for girls at work!

These are probably one of the easiest cupcakes I've ever made. These were for Addie's birthday!

For cousin Flories birthday! Flowers & cake all in one! :)

 

These were for Scottie's birthday!

Kody requested this one to have with his class in the family room!

A giant cupcake for my mom's birthday!

Duck cupcakes!

Beach theme!

Cupcakes for Mother's Day because my mom is the Queen Bee at our house!

 

This is my latest one. The gluten free cake I just made. Love!

Holidays

I don't know, maybe it's just me but seriously Christmas stuff is out already?! I mean come on it's not even Halloween yet! I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart starting putting their Christmas stuff out October 1st. This really bothers me, I think it's so annoying and quite frankly it's just rude to the other holidays. (Not to sound like a five year old or anything but seriously!) It's like when you're putting on a show for your parents and your little sister comes in, pushes you out the way and starts doing some really cool dance routine or something.

Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE Christmas. I thrive on buying gifts for people, and love to watch them open them. Love watching their faces knowing that I picked out a pretty sweet gift. But I also enjoy both Halloween and Thanksgiving. I mean hello what's not to love? On Halloween you get to dress up as anything you want and no one will think you're a weirdo, plus you get to eat candy, lots of candy! Then there's Thanksgiving and what's not to love about that?! You get to eat all the food you want and it's usually family favorites- it's just a wonderful day.

It just irkes me that stores focus so much on Christmas. The message of Christmas isn't even supposed to be about the materials things for goodness sake. People need to open their eyes just a little but more and stop and enjoy TODAY. Not think about two months from now, who knows you might not even be here. So let's enjoy today shall we?! Let's enjoy the chill in the air, the wind through our hair, and the leaves changing color. Let's enjoy all the Halloween decorations, all the pretty pumpkins and the pretty fall mums. Let's just enjoy right now, and think about Christmas oh I don't know maybe December 1st?!

Here's some inspiration to think FALL and not CHRISTMAS! :)

Gigi enjoying the fall weather!

Who can think of fall without thinking of juping in a big pile of leaves! So fun!

My momma's fall decorations on the front porch. So cute! I absolutely adore the pumpkin flower pot! I wanted to get mums for our porch too but I don't think they'd gel well with our Halloween things we've got going! :)

 

Speaking of Halloween, here's some of our decorations!

 

Our countdown to Halloween, obviously this was taken a couple of days ago seeing as Halloween is now pretty much right around the corner!

Our book shelf. Love! Found the boo sign and big glitter spiders at Marshalls, they had quite a selection!

Gotta have some owls! These were only 4 bucks (again from Marshalls!) And I found the coolest bottles, one is "Zombie Juice" and the other is "Spider's Kiss". The candles are from Barne's & Noble. Love!

 

Preview of my nephew's costume. This year he decided to be a Teenag Mutant Nijna Turtle! Awesome!

And my beautiful neice who wanted to be Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty. So pretty!

 

 

So there you go poeple. Think fall! Think leaves! Think pumpkins! Think Halloween! Think spooky! Think fun! And have fun! 

 

 

 

I figured I shouldn't be gone too long.

Haven't posted in awhile. These past two weekends have been crazy busy. Both Saturdays we had two weddings to attend and both were beautiful and tons of fun!

Madison's wedding. He looked so handsome & Dalisa looked stunning. They just look so in love and that makes me happy. 10.6.2012

 

A bunch of us with the beautiful bride who I love dearly. She looked so happy and that made me happy. It was a great night full of laughs and lots of dancing! And Scottie even had someone to talk to which means I didn't have to leave early! Whoo hoo! 10.13.2012

 

Maple Leaf crew. Even though I don't work there anymore I still snuck in the picture because I absolutely adore these people!

Cousin Heather! (Yes we know beauty runs in the family! Haha)

Me and my hot date. The hubs. Love him to the moon and back.

 

Side note: Like an idiot I said I would babysit before Denise's wedding. I said yes because 1- I miss the boys like crazy and don't get to see them nearly enough and 2- because I didn't realize how far away the wedding actually was. My bad. I had a freak out moment because Scottie told me he wore his vans instead of his "fancy shoes". Which I shouldn't have had, he still looked fine and I don't think anyone realized they were sneakers and not "fancy shoes". That's one thing I'm really trying to work on. I need to relax plain and simple, I need to go with the flow and not be so OCD. I'm trying- really I am. :)

 

Here's some cute pictures of the boys I babysat for Saturday before the wedding. (Which again do not do! everyone needs time to get ready!)

 

This is Jackson. I love him to pieces & I miss him so much! I was the head infant teacher in his room at Maple Leaf. So any chance I get to see him I'll talk it! Even if my hair is extra crunchy because of so much hair spray!

This is Mason, Jackson's big brother. I love him just as much! He's so funny and so adorable!

Jackson's getting so big. He crawls now and pulls himself up on everything.

 

Then this past Sunday we had Violet's first birthday party which we were honored to attend! She's so stinking cute!

Seriously too cute!

 

This weekend I'm looking forward to moving slow. We're getting ou pumpkins and craving them hopefully Friday night! Super pumped for that! And then we're going to be a whole bunch of nothing, well at least I don't think there's anything on the calendar! Until next time folks!