Life lately

You may have noticed that I've been in a bit of a blogging rut lately. I just can't seem to find the inspiration or motivation to churn out regular posts. I've found that when I focus on posting regularly, my other responsibilities tend to get put on the back burner, which then leads to me getting stressed out because my house is a mess, the laundry is piling up, and Max and Victor are feeling ignored. I'm hopeful that in the future, I can find a good balance between blogging and my wife and mommy duties--perhaps a 3-day/week blogging schedule. I know it's all only going to get more difficult with two babes in the house, so between now and baby girl's arrival, I'll work on getting my groove back. I love sharing with you all here, so I'll try to get a good schedule in place.

Since it's been a couple of weeks since my last post, I thought I'd fill you in on the random stuff that's been going on at Casa Little Blue Sailboat...

• The 30 inches of snow we got a couple of weeks ago has melted. Well, most of it. Some parking lots are still half usable because sections of them are piled high with snow. It snowed again on Tuesday, but that's melted too. And now it's frickin' freezing and windy. I am perfectly fine with staying inside on days like this, comfy in my sweatpants.
• I deep-cleaned the kitchen on Tuesday, and I've been very good at keeping it clean over the past couple days. It's amazing how nice/clutter-free the busiest room in the house can look when I put things away right when I'm finished with them instead of leaving the peanut butter jar on the counter all week. Ha!
• Max has made sure I've gotten my exercise lately at naptime and bedtime by not going right to sleep, often requiring me to run upstairs to resettle him. If he's not unzipping his PJs and loosening his diaper, he's throwing his Curious George doll out of bed and shouting "Uh-oh uh-oh uh-oh!  Gore! [that's "George" in Max-speak]" until I return him to the crib. On Tuesday, he fought his nap for an hour and a half (!) by singing and jabbering to himself, finally falling asleep at 3 PM. Yesterday, he was asleep less than 5 minutes after I left his room and slept for 3 hours. Today, it took him about 30 minutes to zonk out. And last night, I finally got smart and put a onesie under his footie PJs so I didn't have to zip him back up a million times in fear that he'd pee out of his diaper. This kid keeps me on my toes! 

  

  Naptime today, snuggling George

• My sister came to visit the last weekend in January. In addition to helping wrangle Max at Ikea one day while we shopped for this dresser (the best dresser for babies/kids, in my opinion. It's our second one), she helped me get all of Max's outgrown clothes organized in bins, and we sorted out any clothes that baby sister can wear (like plain white or gray onesies, jeans, socks, etc.). 

  

  Here we are amongst the madness of Max's old clothes.

• We've been making big strides in getting Max's big-boy room ready (I'll post a tour once it's all finished). We're planning to move him in there at the end of the month to give him some time to get acclimated to his new surroundings/bed before his sister makes her debut. I'm both nervous and excited about the big switch; nervous because I'm sure we'll have a handful of long nights as he gets used to sleeping in a full-size bed and having the freedom to get out of bed on his own. Excited because once Max is moved out of the "perpetual baby room," I get to go crazy decorating the room for baby girl! I've already purchased a lamp similar to this and these curtains for her room. On the hunt for a colorful rug and some wall decor. I might also get ahead of the game and make some DIY crib rail covers to match her room, as well.
• I took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill to donate. It felt good to get rid of things that are no longer useful to our family but could very well be useful to someone else.
• I've been eating a lot of Hershey's Kisses...because they're here and they're delicious. And baby girl seems to enjoy them...lots of kicks and wiggles about 30 minutes after indulging.
• Max got his first hair cut last week. He was always looking so disheveled and unkempt; it was time for a trim. But darn it, my baby's gone! Despite practicing "cutting" his stuffed animals' hair the day of the big snip and talking about how they weren't sad, they were HAPPY!, Max still didn't find the experience fun, especially when the gal was trimming around his ears. Overall, though, he did great and he looks so handsome (and grown-up) now! 
  
• I'm looking for cute Valentine's crafts to do with Max in the next couple of days. This one and this one look like winners to me. Simple is best for my little dude.
• I dropped Max off at the in-laws' house last Thursday to run a bunch of errands solo (errands that require browsing with Max in tow have proven to be quite difficult lately. He has zero patience for meandering through Target...or anywhere), and Victor and I got to have a nice little lunch date just the two of us. We went to &pizza, which is basically pizza ordered and prepared Chipotle-style (but without the food poisoning, ha!). I highly recommend this place if you have one near you! Delicious, fresh ingredients, a variety of sauces, and unique beverage choices (the ginger berry lemonade--OMG!). 
  
  
  

  

  Pictured is the mango passion fruit soda. It was good, but seriously, the ginger berry lemonade...life changing.

• I ordered a new play room toy organizer and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner. We had another one in there that just wasn't fitting the bill, but this one is amazing. Plenty of space for all kinds of toys and books. 

  

  My love for this thing is a little ridiculous.

• Max has been having lots of jam sessions with his kiddo instruments lately, and the other night, Victor got his guitar out to jam with him. Max got really sad when his toy electric guitar didn't sound like Daddy's, so he got to strum some tunes on the big one. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this photo. Seriously, this kid's going to be musical. He's a natural. 
  
• I attempted to make these Inside-out S'more Brownies for the Super Bowl party we went to last weekend. They were only okay. I found another s'more brownie recipe in my Family Circle magazine that looks like it'll turn out better. If it's good, I'll share.

That's about it! My mom is coming to visit this weekend; she gets in late tonight. Looking forward to spending time with "Gaga" (as Max calls her now) this weekend before she heads to sunny Arizona for spring training! So sad we can't go this year! I guess we'll just have to reminisce about last year's trip.

Have a lovely weekend and an even lovelier LOVE day on Sunday!