productivity

This week, my first week as a stay-at-home-mom, has been one of the most productive weeks. of my life. Seriously, let's take a look:
(not listed in order of importance)

1 Obviously you in the blogging world have had some attention. Although most people would say that time on the computer is not always productive, I'm glad to be able to have some time (albeit a little too much time) to spend doing computer-y things I love: blogging, pinteresting, facebooking. You can't honestly be mad that I'm back. Or maybe you can.

2 I have gotten to cuddle, tickle, kiss, hug, kiss, smooch, poke, kiss, touch, SOAK IN my baby... in ways that I was never able to before. Before I returned to work she was still a little too young to really be playful and enjoy my presence, and once I was at work, I barely had time to get 2 words in with her. But now, oh now, I am overwhelmed at the possibilities of time we have together. I could just talk to her for eternity and be completely smitten. [However, I really do want her to keep her ability to play by herself on the floor, so I have to remember to put her down and leave her alone every once in a while.]

3 I have spent time with God. Honestly, this was lacking. a lot. I kept on making excuses about how busy I was with work and the demands of home. And probably a lot of it was true, because I was seriously busy, but no excuse is good enough. And I have loved being refreshed with time in prayer and time in the Bible this week. I can feel myself getting closer to the heart of God. I am so, very thankful for the opportunity to sit in silence (when Nora decides to nap) and meet God in my very home. It. feels. great.

4 I ran three days this week. Before this week, I had only ran once since Nora was born. Running wasn't easy this week, but it was really good. I was in so much pain for a lot of it [obviously my lungs didn't get the memo that they should be able to last more than half a mile] but afterward, when I took my cold shower and stretched out, I knew I was doing something awesome with my body. I am so excited to be able to get back into running. (And thankfully, Nora doesn't mind the jogging stroller... one day she even slept for half of the run.)

5 Remember those cloth diapers I started back in... July 2011? Yeah, it's almost July 2012. But guess what: yesterday I finally finished them. A set of 20 cloth diapers are done (praise the Lord) and ready to be washed today...and if they dry overnight, worn tomorrow. Our baby is going to be a convert!

6 There has been so much "housework" that I'm sure I was able to get to before when I was working, but I can actually feel like I have a handle on it now. I got ahead in bill paying, wrote a letter to my grandma (a little late on that one), crossed off many of the eventually-to-do list items (that had been piling up over the past month or so), and am going to get a new laundry/cleaning schedule started today that will have me doing little things everyday (rather than one Saturday a month I do absolutely every chore in the house and hate myself afterward for letting it get that bad.)

If you couldn't tell, I am overjoyed to be at home. Even if it was just for this one week, I would be thoroughly satisfied to enter back into the working world. But I have the blessing, as I wait for a teaching job to find me this fall, to stay where I am and live fully in this moment, in this house, with my beautiful daughter. And I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. (Although, wouldn't it be just grand if Mr. Allen could be home with us all day too? :])

the nursery reveal

Two months ago (wow, has it been that long) we moved into our new apartment, which we LOVE. Our old apartment was in a building with 5 other apartments and we liked it a lot, especially since it was our first home. But our new place is in a three-flat, which is the most common housing in Chicago. It's a 3-story house that (usually) features three apartment units, one on each floor. Our bulding is the exception. Our house in only 2 units -- we live on the first floor (completely above ground) and another family lives on the two above us.

That's another thing, we are so very blessed with housemates. We live under one of the pastors from our church and his family and they have become our family. They have us for dinner, we have them, we watch their kids (who happen to adore Shane and I, and we just might love the attention.) They seriously take care of us. But enough gushing about that. Last one, I promise: God has just majorly blessed us with them.

So one of the huge advantages to our new place was that there was room to set up a nursery. In our old apartment Nora had a dresser and crib in the corner of our room, which was fine since she still needed to sleep with us. But here, she has her own room (which she started sleeping in at 6 weeks) and we have our own room (thank you, Jesus!)

And here is the final reveal of her nursery. I was so eager and excited to set it up that it was the first thing I did as we moved everything into the apartment.

It was very DIY. Our original plan, back when we didn't know our baby's gender, we had made a little collage of things we liked and picked the colors gray and green. We said that if it was a girl there would be some pink accents and if it was a boy there would be blue. Well, let's just say once we knew she was a girl, the pink took over. Here's a look (at our PINK and gray and green nursery):

[crib: Target, book bin: leftover from my high school graduation open house where it was used to hold pops and ice, rug: Ikea - thanks to my mother-in-law for buying that, floating flower balls: via this tutorial - it worked perfectly and I love how they turned out. I originally planned another gray one, but loved the look of the two (and I ran out of energy. It was extremely time consuming.), storage bin: Target, lamp: Ikea - my mother-in-law's purchase again, blanket: handmade by my aunt - it is beautiful, right?!]

[balls: 2 - 12" Chinese lanterns (which I found green ones on clearance at a party store for $3 [pack of 3] and made them work just fine.), fabric: Joann Fabric, string: fishing wire that came with the lanterns]

[moving counter-clockwise... dresser: found (see original condition below) in an alley next to our old apartment - we removed the handles and painted it our gray color but it was scratched up in the move and I haven't touched it up yet, changing pad/cover: BabiesRUS, bunting: ribbon and paper bears - story to follow, humidifier: BabiesRUs, "n" frame: handmade gift from my friend Liz, curtain: our old shower curtain from Target]

And for the wall opposite of the dresser:

[shelving unit: found in alley next to our old apartment - we originally used it in our pantry and then I discovered that the storage bins fit perfectly inside]

And the artwork hanging on the wall was a piece done by my best friend, Danielle. I had sent her a picture from this nursery as inspiration. Here's a close-up.

Nora's initials are "carved" into the tree. I can see this painting being an inspiration for her "big girl" room too, since the colors are so feminine, yet universal for many themes.

And there it is. I am still completely thrilled by it and love that Nora has a special place to call her own. The bear bunting is a crafted-gift from one of my baby showers. Each bear has a verse on it and on the back the guests of the shower (close family and friends) each wrote a prayer for Nora based on the scriptural truth found on the front. It is such a sweet addition to the room. I started reading the verses and prayers to Nora yesterday and already have cried a few times. What a blessing it is.

linking up with:

home

I'm home for Christmas. And, to quote God (you know this will be a good one), "It is good!"

We have more family to see, more hours to drive back and forth to get all the celebrations in within these 4 days, but we are where we need to be.

My heart is still. The bills and debt and unfilled-out, tearing-me-down-slowly paperwork are all back in Chicago. They can't haunt me or frighten me here. They have no power to steal my joy here. I will deal with them again when we return (way too soon), but as for now, my heart is still.

-------------------

Already, if I wasn't before, I am feeling the holiday spirit. Our cute, little apartment screamed "Christmas is coming" (in a non-tacky completely-tacky(?) way all December long. Our advent calendar was literally a daily surprise and kept us satisfied with a little pre-holiday treat each day to whet our appetite. Not that we needed it; the mound of presents under our tree was giving us enough Christmas spirit alone. We couldn't even wait 7 whole days to open our presents, we just tore into them last week. (And, boy, did Mr. Allen win best-Christmas-gifts-giving-ever this year... Or was it most-gifts-ever? You know both would get me going. And 17 presents later, well, if he didn't have my heart before...) :]

Our plans this weekend:
- 3 present-opening celebrations
- 1 family bowling extravaganza (seriously, extravaganza: snacks, costumes, prizes)
- 1 celebrate-the-bride-to-be-dress-pick-up-appointment with the best friend
- 3 readings of THE Christmas story (at least)
- 1 Christmas day church service
- 1 movie at the theater (or 2 if the first one is depressing, because it's Christmas, and we just can't have depressing movies ending our day)
- 2 pizza dinners (can't go wrong here)
- a WHOLE lot of cuddling, laughing, sharing, living, eating, being with the ones I love

Yes, I'm HOME for Christmas.

And there's no where else I'd rather be.

thankfulness.

I am all about giving November its full right to holiday spirit. I have been extremely guilty in the past of jumping from Halloween to November 1 means countdown to Christmas. This year, I've vowed to fully enjoy November, especially Thanksgiving. (You're so welcome, Jenna.)

My endless hours on pinterest has led me to some excellent finds. (Remember those raspberry cakes? You know you want those next time you visit! ... and I might want them next time you visit.) Well, I found this little guy and instantly fell in love.

A thankfulness tree; here's my version of it:

Each day of November, I write something on one of the tags that I am truly thankful for. You can find out what I've been writing if you follow me on facebook; I update my status with my thankfulness tag each day. I love this piece in my dining room. Since we moved into our apartment and got our beautiful table (June/July,) I've been wanting a centerpiece, and now I've finally got one... at least for this month.

If you're looking for a more kid-friendly version of a thankfulness tree for your family or classroom, check out my sister's tree that my niece and nephew will be doing throughout November.

If you want to put together your own thankfulness tree like mine (and the one I borrowed from cloned,) here's the simple steps:

Step 1: Gather branches. (Not so easy to do in Chicago; I must say!)

Step 2: Wash out a mason jar/food jar to be your vase. (I had to empty my husband's favorite pasta sauce because it was the only jar in the fridge close to being gone. Shh - don't tell.)

Step 3: Make your tags. (I used recycled cardboard, some paints, and my scissors to make shapes. The original tree tags were made using scrapbook paper and a dye cutter. I'm not that fancy.)

Step 4: Assemble. (Add a bow or other detail to personalize yours. Again, I'm not fancy enough or an experienced enough crafter to have ribbon lying around.)

And wah-lah, you have yourself a beautiful piece for your home to remind you and your family to give thanks each day, not just on Thanksgiving! Let me know if you decide to make a thankfulness tree (any design) or you have another tradition for thanksgiving all month long.

with goodness. (I wish I could add thankfulness to the Fruits of the Spirit.)

PS - These just came out of the over for dinner. YES! :] (Another pinterest inspiration...)

linking up with these parties...

clean up on aisle allen.

Last week our computer was "in the shop" for a few days and it was mid-term week for Mr. Allen. It was not a good week for me to steal the computer and throw in an update. That being said, blog post ideas have been brewing in my head this whole time I've taken off. (It's been 2 weeks. Have you noticed? I'm so sorry!) This post will be a catch-all or a clean-up on what's been happening since then. And, hopefully, with the computer back in the game and better than ever, I'll be able to get a few more posts in without the long pause in between.

Is it okay if I show off for a little while again? Me following all these crafty/sewing blogs has got me hyper-inspired to live on the crafty side of life. Here's a few of my latest projects:

This little monster is our front entrance door. I saw the same door while spending hour upon hour on Pinterest, made by this blogger. What are the odds that, not only would I absolutely love this little guy's design, but have a green door perfect for his face to hang upon? Last night I painted some recycled cardboard and created Frankenstein to haunt charm our neighbors throughout October.

Project #2: I think I've mentioned before (if I'm not crazy) that I'm sewing Cubbie's cloth diapers. Well, two of them are almost done. I'm going to show them to you as if they were done. So get ready to "oooh" and "aaah"over these adorable little poop and pee holders.

These are just two of the designs... there are many to come. I will post some more just to show you how cute they will be. I tried to get gender-friendly designs, but let's be honest - if Cubbie is a Mr., he will still be wearing that one with the pink, but it will be under his onesie and you will only know if you change his diaper. And if, while changing his diaper, the fact that he is wearing a diaper with pink on it is your biggest issue, be thankful.

And now, folks, comes the moment you've all been waiting for. Last week one of my facebook statuses mentioned that a stranger had noticed my baby belly. I was ecstatic. Then I wore the same pants for the next 3 days and I got nothing. So the bump, although it sure did exist, was, well, tiny. Shane and I could tell, and that special librarian, but the rest of the world didn't notice.

Then on Sunday, I wore a skirt that hid everything from anyone (not on purpose.) I had a friend tell me, who I hadn't seen in about a month and a half, that she was shocked at how little I was for almost 4 months. And here I was thinking that I was getting big. Well, Sunday afternoon I took off that skirt and switched to pants and WHAM - there's that baby belly.

Here it is today. 17 1/2 weeks. Cubbie sure is growing. Thebump.com tells me that baby is the size of an onion this week, 5.1 inches long and weighs just less than 6 ounces. What a shrimpy. But what a blessing.

We are so eager to meet our little Cubbie, and we still have so long to wait. In 4 weeks we will get to find out the gender, and then we'll be selecting names. I'm not sure how soon we will share the names, but just knowing more about our baby will be wonderful!

Hopefully this week I'll be able to get at least one more post in. Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave feedback in the comments or on facebook, I love to know who is reading and what they are thinking!

with patience.


linking up with...

here's to home.

A weekend back in Battle Creek, oh how I've waited for you. Since I've become a Mrs., we've spent probably a total of 5 hours in Battle Creek visiting with my parents. And that was over two separate occasions. And lately, I've needed to be back. I don't want to call Battle Creek "home" because it is no longer that. Mr. Allen and I have made a home here for ourselves, for our family. ...of three. ;) But I have missed being in a familiar land with familiar faces and love galore.

So here's to spending time in a place I love, the only homeland I've ever really known. I grew up in that house for 20 years, and every time I walk in the door, it feels sweeter than ever.

The plans for the weekend: (well, my from my plan book that is)
- Enjoy some delicious Sir Pizza, a recipe that no other chain can duplicate... which is really a shame since we live 3 hours away now.
- Spend time with my mom, who even though I had a date with last week, I can never get enough of.
- Spend time with my parents over playing cards, eating food (and too much ice cream probably), college football (yes, I did just put that on the "to-do" list), and good conversation.
- Time in the yard playing campus golf, maybe throwing a softball, kicking a soccer ball, walking through my aunt's garden, just enjoying the country side that I miss so dearly in this big city.
- Seeing family and friends that it's been too long since I've seen (yes, 3 months is definitely too long.)
- Sleeping in and maybe waking up to the dog barking. It's weird that I've missed that noise I used to dread, but now days that means I've let myself sleep at least until the sun comes up, maybe later. And that, my friends, is a good thing for this overly tired babybody.

This 3 hour drive will fly as I think about how wonderful this weekend will be.
Dad, Mom - can't wait to be home.

with joy.