The Longest Christmas Season.

Did you know that this year we have the most days possible between Thanksgiving and Christmas?

Which means that THIS YEAR we have the longest Christmas season possible.

I love lights and trees and wrapping presents and holiday playlists so this is SO LIT.

We bought Christmas trees the day after Thanksgiving. The ToddlerMonster was super excited. But she didn’t want a big tree. (Mama did though so obvs we have one.)

But she got her little tree too. HER CUTE FACE IS IRRESISTIBLE! Literally impossible to resist.

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The little tree is in her bedroom, waiting for ornaments. ($40 plus a $25 small stand.) I have a feeling we have started a new tradition.

Oh look, there’s that $9.99 robot pillow we bought at Ikea. Yet another offering to the Goddess of Tantrum-Free Shopping.

What else have I forgotten? Gas. For years and years, I filled the minivan once a month. I worked from home and I hate driving anywhere outside the beltway. But now, I fill the tank TWICE a month. I still don’t often leave the beltway but Babystar and I find ourselves on mini adventures every day. This started when she was about eighteen months old and noticed that we were walking to the same three playgrounds and one library. So a year ago. And a tank of gas is about $40. I’ll add $480 for the last year and $40 per month going forward unless something changes.

Oh, and diaper pail liners! We buy one pack of Harris Teeter brand thirteen-gallon trash bags every month and we only use them in the Ubbi diaper pail. We bought the diaper pail in February of 2016, twenty-one months ago. The bags are $6.47 per box. Um. Math. That’s $135.87 so far. And I’ll add the $6.47 going forward until we are done with diapers.

I wonder what else I have missed. There hasn’t been a change in the electric bill or anything like that. I used to work from home, so we had the air or heat on all the time anyway. Am I overlooking anything obvious?

Yes. The Target Baby Box. $7.42. They only offer the Baby Box once in awhile but I got one last month! We already love the honest face and body lotion — both of us. Babystar likes to lotion her hands and legs and put on chapstick just like mama. SO CUTE I COULD DIE. (You see why she gets her own Christmas tree just by asking nicely, right??)

target baby box fall 2017

And again with the food. Below is November’s list. I KNOW that this part is horribly boring but I’m really all about the accuracy here. Just skip reading this part. I don’t mind. I barely want to write it. All those bullet points and typing, ugh. Amirite?

  • Costco fruit bowl 9.99
  • waffles 2.50, 2.50
  • blueberries 6.99, 3.99
  • pirate’s booty 8.99
  • Costco hot dog 1.50
  • IKEA pizza 1.75
  • IKEA hot dog .75
  • IKEA water 1.00
  • Trader Joe’s strawberry bar 1.99, 1.99
  • Trader Joe’s fig bar 1.99
  • Trader Joe’s toaster strudels 2.69, 2.69
  • Mac and cheese 2.99, 2.99, 2.99, 2.99
  • cheese slices 4.99
  • pasta snakes (penne) 1.49
  • letter cookies 2.99
  • bananas 1.50
  • Honest juice boxes for popsicles 3.69, 3.69
  • frozen pizzas (don’t judge me!) 3.14 3.14, 2.15, 2.15, 2.15, 2.15 (hell of a sale!)
  • vanilla ice cream 4.49
  • McDonald’s Happy Meal 2.99, 2.99, 4.19 (they gave me the wrong one but I didn’t bother to complain), 2.99
  • Chick-fil-A kid’s meal with uncharge on my fries to share 3.49 + .20
  • Chick-fil-A kid’s meal 3.49 + .20
  • Chick-fil-A kid’s meal 3.49 + .20
  • Chick-fil-A kid’s meal 3.49 + .20
  • cantaloupe 3.99
  • grapes 4.24, 4.76
  • tots 3.49, 1.65
  • Panera kid’s meal 4.99
  • small box of cereal at 7-11 1.99 (ripoff)
  • Busboys and Poets kid’s pasta and juice plus tip 10.00
  • Harry’s fries plus tip $7
  • goldfish crackers 2.49, 1.79
  • animal crackers 1.49
  • Haagen Dazs sundae 5.68
  • turkey pepperoni 2.19, 2.19
  • strawberries 2.99
  • penguin crackers 1.49, 1.49, 1.49

We bought some other boring stuff in November.

  • diapers 23.49, 15.09
  • bubble bath 14.09
  • baby wipes 3.49, 2.99, 4.99, 2.99, 3.29
  • laundry detergent 8.46
  • storage unit 127.00

 

Hopefully you haven’t read all the way down here because WHO CARES about the cost of grapes in November although why are grapes always on sale in November? I never noticed until I started writing this shit down. It’s such a weird time for them to be in season. When is grape season? I need to go to bed.

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Horny Animals.

I have noticed a (maybe disturbing) trend in the nursery. Notice that I write that like I have nothing to do with it. Let’s back up a little.

I picked up an awesome new art print for Babystar’s nursery. Can you spot the difference? What do you think?

Before:

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After:

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It was only after coming home, taking out the old print, and hanging the new one, that I realized I have a clear affinity for horny animals. But first let’s take a minute to discuss the reason I wanted NEEDED to change out that old print. I liked the design. I loved the pop of color it brought to the wall above the changing table. However, I just couldn’t deal with the rounded corners of the printed area that did not reach to the ninety degree angles of the mat inside the frame. Seriously. This bothered me every time I looked at it. Which was several times a day, due to the location above the changing table. Also. Please remember that this is the same changing table that is missing a drawer pull. That is ten times as noticeable but bothers me far less than this art print corner issue.

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Yes, I know that my brain is weird. My kids are so lucky.

So ok, my attention to (insignificant) detail is a bit over the top. And now I have to worry about my new obsession with horny animals. Err, I mean, animals with horns. Just look at this pretty new print that I picked up at a local craft fair for only $10.60. (I thought I saved a business card from the booth but now I’m not sure. The card is from Block Party Press but when I google them, I only find an etsy shop selling jewelry. It’s pretty jewelry, though. And the print was marked down, so maybe they changed direction. Anyway. It’s super cute. Look.)

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This brings the total to three horny animals. Two unicorns and a narwhal. The room isn’t even that big. (And you know I want that new stuffed unicorn head from Target’s new Pillowfort Collection but I fear we are already at Maximum Horn Capacity.)

Too much?

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CRIBS: Crib Edition.

Oh, the weather outside is frightful. Winter Storm Jonas is keeping us all locked inside. It is getting a bit boring but the house is about as tidy as it gets. Well, except for the snow shovel and wet boots in a pile downstairs, but I’m not going to take a picture of that.

Instead I’ll photograph the nursery! Wanna see? How about I show you mine and then you show me yours? I always wonder where does everyone PUT everything. There is just SO MUCH stuff that appears with babies.

Babystar’s nursery used to be my home office, back when I had a job that did not involve diapers and I often worked from home. The room is quite small but the baby is also quite small so it works out quite nicely.

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She has two mobiles because she has two older cousins. She likes them both. (Both mobiles and both cousins.) One is wind-up and one is battery operated. (The mobiles; not the cousins.) Guess which one mama likes best?

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The curtain is the same one that hung in the office window. That lovely vintage La-Z-Boy rocker recliner has lived in the basement bedroom for a while, purchased years ago from Craigslist. The side table, rug and pillow also came from other rooms in the house. The dresser/changing table was a gift from the grandparents. We love it, but it is missing a knob. I have the knob; I just have not fixed it. The metal bit that holds the screw fell out of the wooden bit a couple of months ago. I have other things to do. I will get to it. Or perhaps once Babystar is old enough, SHE can do it.

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That Ikea trash can also came from another room. It is starting to be a problem though, because of the real-food poop smell. (I am soliciting suggestions. Help. What do you use for diaper trash in the nursery? Like for dirty wipes and stuff? No, I have not made reusable wipes yet. And now I am scared.) The wooden flower picture was made by my dad when I was younger, and hung in my bedroom for years. The Jenny Lewis poster was given to me by my BFF years ago and has hung in the office. (She met Jenny Lewis while hanging backstage at a show at Cat’s Cradle and they did whiskey shots together. My darling BFF got Jenny to sign this poster to me. I was invited that night too, but I had to work. I should have called in sick.)

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I removed the door from the closet in the corner long ago. That used to be my craft closet. Now I have no craft closet but I also have no time for crafts. So it works out. I keep most ‘stuff’ in that closet and her dresser. It is only kind of organized. I find it impossible to be completely organized with all of Babystar’s things. Some of her stuff is too big for her; some is too small. It seems to cycle frequently, so I’m just rolling with it.

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Top shelf is vintage toys that she is not ready for. Her older cousins love the castle, though. Oh, but she does play with the Ikea stacky thing up there. The next shelf has books and toys that were gifts or that belonged to me or her dad as a child, some other random gifts that are not all all safe for baby, and some too big diapers left behind by my sister last year that I will use eventually. Then we have a large, waist-high shelf full of things I use frequently. Receiving blankets, regular blankets, cloth diaper overflow, wet bags, extra wipes, wash cloths, and the baby monitor.

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Below that is another large shelf containing crib sheets, changing table sheets, bath towels, and a basket of gifted shoes that will fit someday. Tucked behind this row is a pile of clothes that she ‘should fit soon’ (others are boxed in the basement) and a couple of baby carriers (currently the Moby and K’tan are back there). Then on the floor is a storage ottoman full of hand me down baby toys that I rotate and the large diaper bag. I usually use a backpack in lieu of a diaper bag so it only comes out for big stroller trips.

And while I am at it — what’s in the dresser?

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The bottom drawer holds coats, shoes that sort of fit, hats, socks, and one-piece pajamas (though pajamas is such a loose term since she wears these around the clock). I have two cloth bins in there as impromptu dividers. One was purchased from Ikea years ago and used in my own underwear drawer and one came with some toys last summer.

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The middle drawer is separated by pants, long sleeves, and short sleeves. These dividers came from the Container Store and I forgot to add them to the tally! $15.99 for two. I’ll add it today.

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The top left drawer holds her cloth diapers. The top right drawer holds wipes, diaper creams, thermometer, coconut oil, baby powder, and Vitamin D drops. And probably a few other random things. I have two small square drawer dividers from that same Ikea set that I used in my own dresser.

There. Now please show me yours. Where do you put everything? How do you make it safe for baby? I have no idea what I will do once she’s really mobile.

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