So since our last blog we have had a few changes; for one, we moved into our new place and we really love it! We live in a four-plex so it is a lot quieter and it really helps when you have a light-sleeper in the house. Also, this is a non-smoking four-plex so its really nice to be able to walk outside and not inhale the smoke (something I have been so worried about since Marley was born). TJ and I decided this would be a 'fresh start' and its been a really good beginning for our little family.
Since I am home all day and I have some spare time when Marley is napping I decided I really wanted to keep up on the housework and make the load not so crazy. I used to get so overwhelmed at our old place trying to balance being a mom and keeping the place clean and making meals--it really is tough work and hard to adjust too. When I lived in Rexburg we had "clean-checks" on Wednesdays and basically that was the day that the apartment got clean everywhere and our 'RA' would come and check off our duties and basically make sure it was clean and we weren't creating a place for pigs to live.
I wanted to have something like that mindset to have a 'cleaning day' but it is still too much to do in one day with an infant and it got really frustrating; so I looked up this chart for keeping the place clean and it is so amazing I love it. It has made my workload so light and I often feel so lazy because I used to be so behind and with this chart I use I am done pretty quickly. I guess I have just forgotten how to relax!
This is the chart if anybody is interested in making their workload easier. I really am glad I found it, but the best part is, it makes TJ so happy the place is always clean and I am not frustrated with how much I have to do. Hey, I guess the saying is true "If mamma's not happy, nobody's happy"
Normally I think it is weird to show pictures of our place because its just an apartment and our last one was...well...it was a ghetto old looking thing and it was an....interesting first place haha. But we were both so excited about this new place that we want to share it with others and not ashamed of where we live. We really enjoy it here. So here is a picture tour!
It is so nice and clean in here I had to take a picture. Our Bedroom finally looks and feels like an adult/parent bedroom!
This is an amazing canvas my mother-in-law made for us for our wedding. It is so beautiful (she does amazing work!)
This is part of Marley's room. Since we found out we were having a girl I wanted to get something that I could put her bows since I was going to get tons of them! I actually found something like this on Pinterest and decided to make it! Most of the bows on them I made as well! Go me!
She finally has a closet of her own to put her clothes and blankets in. (In our last place we basically put all this stuff anywhere it would fit and be out of the way. Its nice its all in one place now)
We haven't finished her room yet but its getting there. It gets really bright even with the blinds so I tried to make the room darker by putting the blanket up (since we are slacking on putting the drapes up) and all it does is make the room all pink. Its appropriate, I think ;)
Low and behold, we finally have a dishwasher (that isn't me!) AND our table fits in our kitchen now!
So before in our old place the washer and dryer consumed out kitchen, but they were on opposite sides of our kitchen so its nice they are hidden and together not taking up space in our kitchen!
So spacey in here its so nice!
A good wife hangs up her husbands sombrero for others to see (TJ was happy I put it up)
Our well-put-together wall. TJ says it describes our personalities (Love, Family, and Rock-n-Roll)
This wall is probably TJ's favorite wall. He worked so hard on trying to make it look good and cool!
So, our little Marley isn't so little anymore. She is now 2 1/2 months old and she is still our joy (I say that like she might not be someday? Haha that sounds terrible! We love her always)
Its crazy how much she has changed and grown in these past two months! (We are even getting less and less tired...Or getting used to the lack of sleep ;) )
But news on Marley: At her two month check up she weighed in at 13 lbs! I'm sure she has packed on a little more since then. She is a Carney and Carney's like to eat! She was in the 95 percentile in everything and above the charts for her age group in height so we are going to be battling a really tall girl! As far as what she likes and dislikes: She loves the outdoors. She can be crying and we cannot get her to calm down and the moment we open the front door she goes quiet. So either she is going to be an outdoor lover or she is just really shy ;) Oddly, she loves her diaper changed. She used to fuss and squirm but now she will smile and talk when we change her, its so cute! She loves water, so baths, showers of swimming, she is for it! The only thing we can manage to find she doesn't like are: When her headbands get in her eyes, being scared (doesn't every child?) and being burped. Its so funny she will push back and doesn't really like me burping her but she will tolerate it when dad does the job. She lets out long and loud burps its hard not to laugh at them (this is going to be bad when she is older and thinks its okay because we laugh). She used to not be such a fan on car rides (odd, right?) Well, we invested in a mirror for us to be able to look at her and check on her while we are on the road. Best.Investment.Ever. She is a girl and girls naturally like to look at themselves, right? She used to scream in the car even though she was fine, since we got this mirror she no longer cries but sits and looks at herself. Sometimes I will catch her smiling at herself and it is so darn cute!
She has been so smiley lately, it just melts my heart every time I catch her smiling. I work so hard everyday to get her to smile and when she does it is so amazing. My favorites have to be when I feed her and she stops and looks at me with her big blue eyes and long lashes and just sits and looks at me then cracks me a dimple smile. Talk about melting your heart. This is the best!
Oh and what an over-achiever she is! She has already started sitting up!
It's not the best but she is sitting up on her own.
Other achievements are she is grabbing things, such as my hair, fingers, shirts...did I mention my hair? She has started looking at her mobile toys and smiles at them (She hasn't reached out and tried to touch them yet--I think she is afraid because when I try to help her to show her she gives me this terrified look). She loves looking at pictures, I am sure she could look at them for hours if she didn't get distracted by other noises. Ummm, she drools...a lot. A lot as in, she can drench her shirt and my sleeve and my arm will be soaked. (We always joke about how we don't need to shower since Marley showers us with her drool) And she loves to smile and talk, she makes sure to speak up if the attention isn't on her...I wonder where she got that from? ;) (cough*cough* TJ cough*cough)
Well, that is basically what we have been up to that I can think of at the moment. Right now we are just waiting ever so patiently for her little cousin to make his arrival!
Oh, and does anybody know any good sprays to get baby stains out? The one I use now doesn't seem to get those baby poop stains out and I am afraid to even dress her and ruin her clothing. Sometimes I feel like when I know she is about to go I want to quickly take off her clothes so when the diaper explodes it doesn't get all over them. Any tips or advice on how to make them not stain would be much appreciated!
