Tackling the Closet

trust me, lots more room here!

Saturday night I was feeling inspired and productive by the upcoming new year and its goal. I decided it was time to tackle the closet and my clothes! Dun-dun-dunnnnn.

This time no holding back. Time to be realistic! I got rid of clothes that would never fit again, clothes that never looked good on me to begin with and clothes I just never wore. In the end, I ended up with 3 garbage bags stuffed as stuffed could be. Yeah, I kept some clothes that may or may not fit, some that does hold sentimental value and some that is just too fun to throw away. But the majority are my classics, clothes that lasted through the years, clothes that look good on me and clothes that'll hold me over till I get back into shape.

I also gave myself new rules to follow. Rules that I've been thinking about for years but never implemented. Now that I'm not pregnant anymore and working on getting into shape, there's no more excuses. My ultimate goal for these rules is to have a closet filled with good quality clothes, clothes that look good on me and give me confidence and clothes that all kind of go together for lots of mix and matching. I want a style, I want a look that really expresses who I am. Not the all over the place girl I've been.

Suzy's rules for clothes:

- Don't buy from stores you know that doesn't fit you properly or falls apart quickly. Places like Old Navy and Target. Time and time again I buy clothes from there, only for it to make me look dumpy. Not worth the lower prices.

- Don't buy from Good Will. While I may have found some awesome clothes at Good Will, a lot of stuff I do buy is on silly whims, thinking I can totally pull off. The last few times I bought pants there ended up looking just bleh on me.

- Don't buy clothes JUST because it's on sale.  So many times I bought things that were on sale that looked ok on me and in a color that I normally don't wear.

- Don't buy clothes in colors and patterns that you know don't look good. Lately I've been paying attention to what colors look best on me. Just because I'm a happy and bubbly person, pink is not my color. Pink is a nice accent on me. Neutral colors look best with pops of color. A grey shirt with a teal cardigan.

- Don't buy clothes in styles that aren't you. I love vintage, but I can't pull it off. I can't pull off the business casual cute or the flowy bohemian.

- Don't buy clothes that are not comfortable. That means too tight, weird cuts and fit.

- Don't buy shirts from events and concerts. Mens shirts rarely fit good! Save the cash, keep the memories.

I can't wait to see how all this hold up and how different my clothes and closet will be by the end of the next year.

Sam & Suzy This Week

I couldn't help it! hee hee

This week just flew by! It's actually nice having Christmas on a Wednesday, it helps break up the week.

Sam's been at Rob's parents for the week. It's so sweet to see them together. Sam does love his grandma and grandpa. ALWAYS smiles when grandpa walks by. Hopefully one day soon, Sam will get to spend more time with them. For now, this is great.


Sam:
Sam is beginning to be a bit clingingy and will cry if I leave the room. Secretly, I've been waiting for this moment...come on, it's sweet! He really does love me! Buuuut, at the same time, I do feel bad. I don't want him to cry. He doesn't cry when we leave in the morning, but if we come home and I say go to the restroom, he'll cry a little. He also likes sitting in my lap and doesn't want to be anywhere else sometimes. I think right now, a lot of it is him teething a bit and he's not feeling the greatest. He's like that as well when he's tired.

Suzy:
It's been a lovely week. With the excitement and joy of the holidays and the sunshine we've been getting, I've been feeling great. Working on Sam's cardboard house and the mat and pillow was a lot of fun. Reminds me that I truly enjoy making things. I also got to bake a pie! Apple pie with beer soaked apples.

AND!! I have gotten a lot of alone time this week with being sick one day and baking the pie another (2 hours to soak apples in beer!!). It's such a weird feeling and I get to the point where I start to get very lonely. But I got to watch a cheesy Christmas movie, catch up on Once Upon a Time, walk the dogs, and just sit. *dreamy sigh*

Sam's Cardboard House

For Christmas, Sam's FIRST, I really wanted to make him something. I love to make gifts. The thing is, I waited till last minute to do something for Sam. I looked through my books and everything either required time or to buy a lot of supplies. I then searched on Pinterest for DIY baby toys and I came across this cardboard house and I KNEW that's what I wanted to do! It'd be a fun little place just for Sam.

here's the house!

I knew my Honest diaper boxes would be great. Not only are they big, but they have a nice design on the outside and is teal on the inside. I got a roll of white duct tape to piece everything together and to contrast with the colors of the box. I modified the house a little because I needed to use two boxes instead of one. This house also folds up so we can put it away easily. Once put together, I put up a couple pictures of Sam and us and I put start stickers on the ceiling.

the interior and cloud pillow

I also made a little mat for the bottom. And I couldn't help but make a cloud pillow just like the one in the tutorial. I had left over fuzzy white fabric that was perfect for a cloud. If Sam really likes being in his house, I was thinking maybe putting up a curtain so he can have some privacy.

Sam loves the photos

I'm really happy how it turned out! It was a fun project. It's hard to tell if Sam is into it since he's still overwhelmed with Christmas and he's just a bit young. I like to give him his morning bottle in the house.

chillin'

Sam's First Christmas

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

Our's was just wonderful! Seriously, it couldn't have been a more perfect first Christmas with Sam.

On Christmas morning we all went downstairs and showed Sam his cardboard house that I had made (I will have a separate post coming up about it, cuz I think it's just swell!). I think he likes it. He enjoyed seeing the photos in there and the stars on the ceiling. I gave him his bottle in it, which he liked looking at the ceiling while drinking. We then gave him his other presents, a xylophone, a wooden helicopter and a couple books. You could tell he was a bit overwhelmed. "Look at this! Now look at this! Ooh! Look!" And then a wonderful thing happened, Sam took an extra long nap and I got to sit and drink my coffee (good stuff too from Rob) as slow and relaxing as I wanted to. For a while, I just sat there in silence, look off into nothing.

We spent the rest of the day with Rob's parents and brother. It was nice and relaxing. Sam enjoyed the toys he got from them. Rob and Sam also got to start the tradition of getting a Hess Gas Station toy truck for Christmas. This something Rob, his brothers and his dad have been doing since they were kids themselves. Very sweet! I got to talk to my family, who all sounded happy (despite colds and flus going around). I even got to video chat with my sister, thank goodness for iPhone right? It makes being so far away a bit easier for me.


Sam had an awesome day. It was everything I had hoped it would be!

Hanging out in his cardboard house

Opening presents at home

Tools!

Rob and Sam with their first Hess truck.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday filled with good food, yummy treats and much love.

Our Weekend

Sam really hit some milestones this weekends!

On Saturday, I was putting him down for a nap and he was being all chatting and awake and then he does it...he grabs the rail and starts pulling up! He gets on his knees and I'm just laughing and starting at him. I take a few steps back to see what he'll do and sure enough, he's standing! I call Rob over and we're both just laughing. Then Rob quickly proceeded to lower the mattress to the bottom level because his brother had broken his leg as a baby trying to climb out of the crib. (let's hope Sam takes after me or Rob and not his uncles, hee hee)

In the afternoon, we went and visited Santa! It was so sweet, I almost started crying. Sam was a little shocked, didn't know what to think of this big furry guy and the person with the big camera.

For dinner we always have Sam sit in the highchair with us. I'll give him little bits of food of it's something we've had before and he usually just pushes it around. He knows its food because if it's on his finger, he'll open his month. That night I gave him some broccoli and carrots and he tried grabbing it and put some in his mouth. Poor little guy kept missing, but he knew what to do! We tried it again on Sunday and he got a few pieces in, which caused everyone to yell out and scare Sam, hee hee.

Oh and then on Saturday (again, big day) I was putting a tape roll on his head and he knew if he turned his head, it'd fall off. I'd then put it on my head and let it fall. We kept doing it back and forth and he thought it was funny! I even put it on the cat and the dogs. It's so cool to see him realize thing like that. That he knows if he moves his head, something will happen. He tried doing it with his hat too the next morning which got me cracking up.

It's just so amazing to see all this happen in such a small span of time.

Sam & Suzy This Week

sam wearing a sweater rob's grandma made for when rob was a baby

Sam:
Sam moved into the Infant II class at daycare! I'm actually very excited for him. He gets to be with some of his older buddies that moved there a while back and he has a few of his other classmates that moved with him. He has a new room to explore, which has tunnels, little hills and other fun stuff.

His teachers say he's really enjoying it. I think a major reason for that is that it's a much calmer environment. The babies there are older and don't required so much one on one attention. Ya can't blame the little ones, it's what they do. But Sam and his classmates are now learning to be more independent and have fun exploring the world. They do a lot more activities like songs and books and working on skills like pushing a toy truck.

I'm curious to see how fast he develops now that most of his classmates either just started walking or are for reals crawling. Seriously, I predict this boy is going to walk at 10 months!

Suzy:
I will be positive in my little section here even though it's been a stressful week and I've been on the negative side lately.
Good things:
- I pulled out some old pants and while I can't really zip and button them up, throw on a belt and I can wear them. Yay for more stuff that fits.

- Me and the dogs took a much needed walk and the sun was shining. I think we all had a huge smile.

- I started doing my back/core exercises again. Thankfully with all the baby picking up, my back has been doing great!

- Starting reading the Golden Compass again for like the 4th time. It's interesting to read a book that I read over 15 years ago and notice and look at it in a different way with grown up eyes.

- I've been putting coconut oil in my coffee and I love it. It all started when I read about butter coffee and I saw that people put coconut oil as well in their coffee.

- I've been a good girl around the holiday treats! Usually just sticking to 1-2 cookies a day. It's going to be extra hard next week, but I know I can still be good!