Getting Ready for Baby: The House, Part 2

So, in a previous post, I told you that we're looking for the best housing options for us once the baby comes. Our conclusion?

We're better off financially staying in our one-bedroom apartment with no laundry hookups. How so? Here's how I came to that conclusion:

My main concern is getting the laundry done around here, with cloth diapers and all. Apartments with the same square footage as my apartment and washer/dryer hookups start at about $75 more than what we're currently paying. Then you factor in the cost of renting a washer/dryer, since we can't afford to buy one now: about $25 a month. Without even factoring in the extra cost of hot water, that's at least $100 extra a month.

The laundry facilities where I live right now are about fifty feet away from my doorstep, and everything is ground level, so it's pretty convenient. It costs $2.50 to wash and dry a load, but we usually bring the wet laundry in the apartment and dry it on a rack. Yay for savings! I figure that we do a maximum of 10 loads a month for Adam's and my stuff. If I wash diapers every other day, and allot 5 more extra loads for baby clothes, we have 30 loads total per month.

30 x $2.50 = $75

And that's if we pay to dry all the clothes, too! So we will be saving if we stay.


So that's the laundry. Then there are also other factors:

~The pet deposit. That's about $300 down the drain if we move to a new place!

~Proximity to school. Our apartment complex is the closest you can live to Adam's school. He usually bikes there. Yay for low mileage!

~A fantastic floor plan. There is no other way I'd even consider staying in a 700-foot apartment with any other floor plan. As I've said before, this one is laid out so that all the rooms are spacious.

~The cost of moving. Getting a truck, driving back and forth between living spots, hooking up the electric... it adds up, and we'd much rather put that money towards moving out of OKLAHOMA!


I just found out yesterday that two adults + one baby are allowed to live in a one-bedroom! Hoorah! So now that we've made our decision, I guess it's time to declutter and really get the house ready for Baby!

Works for Me Wednesday: Simplify Those Lunches!

This is geared more towards the working folk, but I’m sure it could apply to those who are also working very hard at home. :-)

One of the problems I encounter with lunch at work is not only shopping for food to bring for lunch, but also preparing and bringing something every. single. day. After doing that a few times, fast food starts looking mighty good!

So what I do is buy something in bulk that I can put together in the office break room. Lately, I’ve been having my own salad bar for lunch: a big bag of salad, cottage cheese, bacon bits, baby corn—you name it. It usually lasts me through an entire week, I don’t have to get up extra early to fix lunch, and I save a ton of money that would otherwise go to a fancy salad bar! Plus, after the salad is gone, I still have a whole bunch of toppings that only require another bag of salad in order to feed me for another week!

Next week, I plan on having Baked Potato Week. Simplifying work lunches Works for Me!



Looking for the GIVEAWAY? Click here to enter!



This WFMW post is part of the carnival graciously hosted by We Are THAT Family.

Apron Show and Tell

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win this lovely apron! Entries close on 05/02!

Today was a day off from work, so I took the opportunity to finish the apron. It turned out so cute! So I thought I would take some pictures to show it off. My husband, who has lots of experience with showing and selling things on Ebay, took one look at what I was doing and said, "No way, Jose!" So he took charge of the photography and took some great photos!

(You can click here to see the whole picture. This layout does something funny to large pictures)

Somehow, Adam managed to find the most wrinkled sheet in the house to use for a backdrop. Please just ignore it.

Here are some pictures of the pleats and the red detail stitching.

This is the third time I've used this pattern, albeit with some tweaking. It is truly a pleasure to make!

The Big 100 and a GIVEAWAY! {CLOSED}

Important things come in one hundreds.

One hundred pennies make a dollar.

One hundred years make a century.

One hundred centigrams make a gram, if you're into the metric thing. By the way, it's a good idea to know your metric system before taking a honeymoon in Canada, because otherwise, you will order way too much special Canadian tea and will still be drinking it two years later. This is the voice of experience, y'all.

Well, it only took a year and a half and tons of tooth-pulling, but I have finally hit an important milestone:

ONE HUNDRED POSTS make my blog!

That is really exciting to me! For one thing, it is proof that I have had one hundred coherent thoughts. This will be so very useful the next time Adam catches me doing something completely chicken-brained, like setting the house on fire. Not like that has ever happened here or anything, mind you.

So, in commemoration of having a very grown-up blog, I am doing a very grown-up blog thing: hosting my very first giveaway!

Remember that super-cute apron I made several months ago? One lucky winner is going to receive this hand-made apron with a delicious cherry-pattern fabric, in this pattern:

Special thanks to my husband for lending his sweet photography skillz!

Let me tell you, one look at that cherry fabric and the chocolate-brown trim to go with it, and you will be craving a sundae!

(As soon as I finish the apron [which will be within a few days], I will put up a picture of the finished prize.)

So, how can you win this great excuse to bake cookies?


Mandatory entry: Answer me this: what sort of home-sewn items (besides aprons, of course) do you think make great gifts? Leave a comment!


Additional entries: (please leave a separate comment each time you do one of these)
1. Follow this here growed-up blog! If you're already a follower, leave me a comment, telling me so.
2. Write about this giveaway on your blog.
3. Mention this giveaway (with the URL) in a facebook status.
4. Tell me what your favorite cookie is to bake.
5. Tell me if you have ever set your house on fire. But only if it's true. And for goodness' sake, don't set your house on fire just so you can have this apron.

Entries will close on Tuesday, 05/02, at 6 PM CST.

Thanks for celebrating with me!

Earth Day Question: Am I a Hippie?

Happy Earth Day! Today is the day to celebrate all things crunchy and environmentally friendly! Being raised in the stereotypical "Those-radical-leftists-are-hyping-up-the-environment-of-course-there's-no-problem" house (we all know one), I've never celebrated Earth Day. Even after realizing that, yes, there are negative things happening to the environment that we need to reverse, I still don't celebrate Earth Day, because I see the environmental trend as very... trendy.

So, I do my small, quiet things to be a little better to Mother Earth without all the hoopla. Some of these things make my husband exclaim, "You're a hippie!"Read my list of preferred activities and see what you think:

1. I use GladRags products as opposed to disposable female products. I once wrote a post about this here.

2. I make my own household cleaning products, face wash, and shampoo.

3. When I have the time and the means, I like to make my own prepared food from scratch: yogurt, bread, breakfast cookies, etc.

4. When shopping, I purposely seek products that are not packaged in plastic.

5. During said shopping trips, I will bring reusable bags if I remember to bring them (so, pretty much never. But at least, when I get to the checkout counter, I promise to remember next time. That counts for something, right?).

6. I recycle old newspaper by using them instead of paper towels when cleaning windows. It leaves a lint-free, streak-free finish every time!

7. And last, but not least, I own a pair of Birkenstocks.


So does this make me a hippie? I doubt it, since I also make fun of Fern Gulley. That pretty much negates any hippie points.

I'm trying to decide on one thing to add this year to increase my eco-friendliness, so I'm looking for ideas! What do you do to help the environment?

Kids Say the Darndest Things (a Little Too Loudly)

I heard the funniest conversation snippet yesterday at Panera between a little girl around four years old and her mother:

GIRL: When I grow up, can I use bad words?

MOM: (sputtering) Use bad words???

GIRL: Yeah! LIKE YOU AND DADDY!

UBP: Spreadin' the Linky Love!

This was my first year of successfully participating in 5 Minutes for Mom's Ultimate Blog Party. By "successfully participate," I mean, I finally got my rear in gear about two days before the darn thing ended and put a UBP post (here it is). Special thanks to all of you who stopped by and joined in the party fun!

For those of you who didn't, and are wondering what on earth I'm talking about, here's a brief explanation: 5M4M put up a McLinky. Thousands of bloggers wrote a little post about themselves and put it on said McLinky, and spent the week jumping around on other people's blogs. There were giveaways, and for some reason, no one has contacted me yet, telling me that I won something fantastic. An oversight, I'm sure. ;-)

Anyways, I did my share of blog-hopping, and I found some really neat blogs that I think you should know about! Here they are!

~Busy Mommy Media. I have only scratched the surface of this massive blog, which covers almost every mothering topic available. From recipes to green living tips to beauty product reviews, this has it all. I dare you to not be sucked in!

~Once a Month Mom. I have always been interested in trying Once-A-Month cooking, but have always been too chicken to try. Once a Month Mom does such a great job explaining how it's done and doing all the hard work like planning the menu and composing the grocery list, that I may actually summon the courage to try OAMC soon.

~Silver Spoon, Paper Plates. Okay, I didn't actually discover her on UBP. I found out about her blog a while ago because she happens to be my cousin. But she did participate in UBP, so technically, I could have found her there. Just sayin'. Rachel is currently expecting her first baby in August, so her blog is all about pregnancy, parenting-related topics, and finding the CUTEST baby stuff on Etsy. She's a great writer and you should check out her blog, and I'm not just saying that because she's my cousin. :-D

~Spotted Smiles. Brandy is a soon-to-be mom of two who writes about her incredibly cute two-year-old, crafting, cooking, and other domestic endeavors. One topic of hers that I just love is the chronicle of Brandy and her husband's attempt to have a date night every. single. week this year. How cool is that?

~Simply Staci. This is the blog of a gal living in the South who writes about friends, family, cooking, and life as a teacher, among other things. She recently attempted Once-A-Month Cooking (see above), which is thoroughly impressive! And after reading this, I am trying very hard to refrain from making my next birthday party Sesame-Street-themed. That wouldn't be too weird for a 24-year-old, would it? Okay, yes it would. This is why I need kids.

So yes, I would consider this to be a very successful UBP year, if only because I discovered these bloggy gems! Happy net surfing!

My Bare-Minimum Company Cleanup

Tonight is the final dress rehearsal for the last opera of the season. Phew! My feelings about the opera for the past couple weeks? Picture the stereotypical teenager screaming, "You're ruining my life!" Yeah, I'm just a little ready for it to be done. :-P

My younger sister, who just recently moved to a city a few hours away, is coming down tonight to see the show! Since last night was my first free night since Friday, I had to do a little housework. Luckily, my sister already knows that I'm a slob, so no need to pull out all the stops there! But even so, there are a few things I ALWAYS do before ANY company darkens my door:

1. Vacuum the floor. At least SOME large surface of the house will be clean!

2. Clean the bathroom. For me, the biggest yuck factor when visiting a house is the state of the bathroom. So, at my house, I always sweep the floor, wipe down the sinks, and clean the mirrors. I get the toilet, too, if I have time.

3. Get rid of any visible trash. Clutter can be excused if it's actually real stuff. But that Taco Bell wrapper? Not so much. Not that, um, I'm actually using a real-life example from my house or anything.

When I'm in a hurry, I actually try to restrain myself from doing too much to the kitchen. Although that is the one room in the house that I MUST have clean on a day-to-day basis, guests aren't going to come over to hang out in the kitchen. So I just turn off the lights in the kitchen and pretend like I always fumble around in the dark when I make tea.

What is on your Bare-Minimum Company list?

Where's My Piece of Cake?

I like a good party.

And let me tell you, things are looking festive over at 5 Minutes for Mom! So I decided to get my groove on, grab a party hat, and join in the fun! Welcome to my blog!

So, a little about myself. I am a recent college graduate who is trying to help my husband follow suit. Any semester now! I am five months pregnant with our first baby, and am thrilled beyond words to be starting a family.

Here we are last year at Six Flags. I love my husband tons and tons!

I am a musician by trade. I trained for most of my life to be a violinist, but an unfortunate wrist injury in college caused me to pursue voice for the past few years. Nowadays, I sing with the city Opera chorus and work a day job. Eventually, I'd like to turn my focus more towards orchestral work and resume playing with the local Symphony, and teach private lessons, as well.

This blog mostly centers around my earnest and sometimes amusing attempts to get my domicile under control. I am particularly interested in being frugal, environmentally kind, and crafty (as in, make a huge mess of the house do crafts).

Here are a few of my favorite posts:

The Church of Google

Fun Things to Do in Oklahoma City

Cat Attack!

It's ALIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!

And any one of my Works for Me Wednesday posts.

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Now, what would a party be without party favors? Let me tell you which ones I'd love to win!

1. USC61- A Sleepy Wrap baby carrier

2.USC58- Golden Canyon Heritage Candle

3. USC33- $50 gift card to Lindt Chocolate

4. USC22- Cushie Pushie breast support pillow for nursing moms

5. US57- beginner yoga kit

6. US7- Tupperware Prize Pack

7. US9- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

8. US49- $25 Starbucks gift card

9. US18- Goody Basket for Mom

10. US68- Scentsy Warmer with 3 scents

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Thank you for stopping by and joining in the fun! Now, to go find that piece of cake...

Getting Ready for Baby: The House, Pt. 1

Even back when Baby D was a twinkle in its father's eye, preparing for Baby D's arrival has largely been juggling logistics and making choices: how do the costs of midwives vs. doctors stack up? Do we want to start our family in Tulsa? Can we afford a baby? (the answer was NO, but that didn't stop us :-P).

The logistics that I am working on right now involve our housing situation for at least the first year of Baby's life.

Right now, we live in a one-bedroom 705-square-foot apartment. That may seem small, but the floor plan is arranged just in such a way that makes all the rooms huge. Of all the 700-square-foot apartments we looked at before getting married, none were arranged so spaciously. And the kitchen! I have to brag on my kitchen just a little bit here, because it has soooo many cupboards and so much counter space! I'm in love with my kitchen.

As great as the apartment is, though, it does have its downsides. The bedroom is more of an Everything Room, because all the craft supplies, school books and supplies, and everything else that is not Living Room/Kitchen-worthy has to live in the bedroom. The cat litter box is in the bathroom, because there is no other workable place to put it. Adam's mountain bike takes up a generous chunk of the living room space (I'm still trying not to be bitter about that :-P). And, last but definitely not least, we don't have laundry hookups in the apartment, which means that we spend $2.50 to wash and dry a single load at the apartment laundry facilities.

Since DH and I do not want to stay in the Midwest any longer than we absolutely have to, here are our housing options, once Baby comes:


*Stay in our current apartment

*Move into a bigger apartment or house with two bedrooms

*Move into a bigger apartment or house with washer/dryer hookups


I mention the washer/dryer hookups because I'm planning on going the cloth diaper route. Washing all that would be burdensome and expensive-- or would it? Read all about my logistics juggling next time!