Denver Trip

Now that I've recovered somewhat from our road trip I figured I would do a quick post about our last minute mini vacay as a family.  I've been feeling the "itch" to just get away from ABQ for a while now.  When Billy came to me saying he didn't have school on Monday (President's Day) and it was his 4 day weekend, he wanted to get out of town for a bit, I was 100% ready to go.  Luckily, where we live, it doesn't take a full days drive to cross over the state border (unlike Texas).  Denver was our first choice.  Plus we would be able to see some friends we hadn't seen in quite some time.  I wasn't remotely worried about traveling with a baby, as long as I was prepared.  Sophie did amazingly on the trip.  Slept, "talked", and only fussed when she was hungry or needed a new diaper.

We had a later start then I wanted but it was hard to wake up on my first alarm.  We finally hit the road around 9am, Sunday, and arrived at our first hotel a little after 5pm in Denver.  I say our first since we were too scared to stay finding out how bad they enforce their pit bull ban.  In hindsight, I do remember hearing about their atrocious ban on a very family friendly dog, but it just never occurred to me while planning for the trip.  The front desk was nice enough to let us transfer our stay north of the city.  It actually turned out to be a better fit since it had plenty of space for her to roam and use for her business.

Now that we are all situated in our room we just relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Monday:  Even though we had a late start, I don't think Billy and I got as much rest as we liked.  I think we both woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  Or maybe it was me lol.  After some grub and finally a cup of coffee I think we were ready to conquer the day.  We wanted to go up Mount Evans, but then I read some more about the trip and found out it's only open during the summer time.  Plan B was to go to the aquarium.  It turned out to be a great outing even though it was pretty packed thanks to a holiday.  I think Sophia enjoyed looking at all the pretty fishes.  I know Billy enjoyed showing them to her :)

After the aquarium it was nap time for ALL.  After a long nap for Sophia and a short one for me, we decided to check out downtown Denver.  It is such a pretty city, at least the parts we went to.  We wanted to go somewhere for shopping.  Even though the only shopping we did was at Ross (looking for gloves yet they were sold out; we did score some sunglasses) and Walgreen's, we really enjoyed strolling through the 16th St. Mall.  I loved how the lights were all lit up, the wide sidewalks, and the overall atmosphere.  We will definitely have to go back when it's warmer and enjoy some of the local restaurants.  As we were walking, Billy found out that some of his high school/ Lubbock friends were meeting just a few blocks down.  We spent a couple hours catching up, meeting each other (for me at least), and showing off our delightful lil girl.  She did really well considering it was way past her bed time.   We said our goodbyes and finally made it to our hotel around 10:30.

Tuesday:  We made plans to meet up in Fort Collins to meet up with our old San Diego roomies.  We met them for lunch and they got to meet Sophia for the first time.  I can't wait for them to have their own lil one, when the time comes :)  Cat showed us around, CSU campus, the town, and Horse Tooth Reservoir.  We then relaxed at their apartment before heading back to the Denver area to meet up with another friend.  It was nice to just relax and catch up with Cat.

We met up with Jeff, a high school friend of Billy's.  He was kind enough to take us out to his favorite taco shop.  Really good baja style tacos that Billy and I have been missing since moving to NM.  We then hung out at his place, played a little Mario Kart, and watched his dog and Sadie just have a ball.  I was thankful Sadie and Marty got along perfectly since I knew she was getting all her energy out before the long drive back home.

Excited for the trip!

looking toward Santa Fe

passing by AF Academy in Colorado Springs

enjoying some playtime in bed

cold but ready to see some fish

Love this one :)

so cute :)

Cat and I, Horse Tooth Reservoir 

Billy and I

Sadie enjoyed some outdoor time

We finally hit the road back to ABQ around 9:30 that night.  Since Billy usually stays up all night the night before he works, we figured we would drive then.  I had a hard time catching some z's, especially when we were driving through some snow after we reach Raton.  We were fortunate that not that many cars were driving at that time (around 2am).  We made it to our house around 5:30am, Wednesday, and we were in our comfy beds by 6.  It was a lazy, pj day for Sophie and I and I actually napped when she napped.

Overall, it was a great trip and much needed.  Billy mentioned that the next 4 day weekend he gets we will make another trip somewhere and I'm totally game for it :)

A New Year & a Way Over Due Update

So, it's been quite a while since I've posted a new blog.  It's been in the back of my mind to write something but I just get so overwhelmed by what to say since a lot of things have happened, especially in regards to Sophie.  The other night I just came up with the idea of doing more of picture blogs that describe certain milestones and things that are going on.  I can do this real quick with my phone.

With this post I'll post pictures (I'll try to keep the number low :)) from the past few months.  Enjoy :)

Hey! I'm 3 months old today :)

Lil Miss. Tigger.  Thanks to her Aunt Nana for sending it :)

Election Day 

First cereal

First time seeing Mimi

First tooth!! 

love!

play date

First time eating in the high chair

She's excited for her first plane ride!

Before seeing Santa 

While in line to see Santa 

lunch with Papa

last day with Aunt Nana

leaving Austin

How we spent our New Years Eve 

Someone is excited for the Niners going to the Super Bowl :)

My lil Niner fan.  Last time she'll be able to wear MY old jumpsuit :(

I hope everyone has had a great New Year so far!!

Talk to yall soon :)

Quick update

We have finally moved into our house!! We still have a few things at the rental house but all the major furniture and necessities (except everyday silverware lol). Hopefully this week the hubby and I will have everything unpacked, dusted, and place things in their new home. That means the 20 Day Challenge I was doing at the beginning of the month is on hold until I get things squared away at the new house.

Something to look forward to will be posts of our new house and more posts of the cleaning and organizing challenge.

I hope you have a wonderful week :)

Ally

20 Days to a Clean and Organized Home: Days 2 & 3

I've been able to keep up with the challenge so far, but not so much when it comes to blogging my progress. That's mainly due to the fact that the hubby and I had a pretty productive week so far.  After I get done with checklist for the day, we've been prepping for the new house.

Day 2:  Kat's day 2 was attacking the master bedroom.  Seeing the cleaning list she wanted us to do, I decided to do day 3 which was laundry.  A lot faster to accomplish since I knew we would be running a lot of errands later in the afternoon.  I mainly just wiped down the washer and dryer, swept, and cleaned out the cabinets.  I packed 2 boxes full of linens.  I have a hamper in between the washer and dryer that I need to go through and sort what is trash and donation or even keep.

I promised I would share my routine for doing laundry.  This is the first time using it.  In the past, I just did ALL the laundry in one-two days.  Now that I have a baby that was almost impossible.  I would always end up with a load in the dryer or the washer for several days since I would forget something was in there.  So, Kat mentioned her schedule and to me it seemed really doable and a lot easier to keep up with.  

Mondays-Colors

Tuesdays-Bed sheets

Wednesdays- Baby's clothes

Thursday-Kitchen Linens and Misc.

Friday-Bath Towels

Saturday-Whites & Darks

Day 3:  This was technically Laundry room but I had switched days.  I was able to do the master room.  The cleaning entailed dusting, vacuuming, making the bed and decluttering.  Quick and painless task.  I also added the task for both my husband and I to go through our closet and see what we can donate.  I of course had the bigger pile of clothes to donate.  I just see that as an opportunity to fill up the closet with new clothes :)

Here's a quick look at my progress:

Day 2 To-Do List

wiped down and swept

All that's left after packing

My box pile

Day 3 To-Do List

Lots of clothes to donate

Clean bed after putting the clothes in trash bags

Another pile to sort and donate

Clean corner.  Now I just need to somehow get the hubby to put up his shoes...

7 bags going to Goodwill :)

I'll publish another post tonight on todays, Day 4, task.  Stay tuned!

I'd love to hear feedback on how you keep up with your laundry.  Do you have a routine or some storage system that you love??  Please comment, I'd love to hear what you have to say :)

20 Days to a Clean and Organized Home: Day 1

It was probably a little over a week that I came upon a pinon Pinterest about a Cleaning and Organizing Challenge.  I’m always on the hunt for a better way oftaking care of the house and keeping me on track, so I naturally clicked on thepin and went to the website/blog.  It waslove at first sight, well not to that extreme but I was sure impressed with Kat’smotivation and direction.  I found hersubscription link and signed up.  Duringthe whole challenge I will get email notifications each day pertaining to whatthat day’s task is. 

The week prior to the start of the challenge, Kat had us(the followers) do some prep work before nose diving into this commitment.  Now I have a binder that I had lying aroundthat has the cover sheet, dividers for Tasks, Checklists, Routines, etc.  She provided all the free printables for thechallenge as well as some advice and tips in preparing for the next 20days.  She also encouraged us to start aroutine if we didn’t already.  I have aroutine but it’s mainly for the baby when it comes to her feeding, playtime,and sleeping.  Luckily, I’m not workingat the moment so I don’t have to be up early to start my day.  Knowing that one can’t always stay onschedule with a 2 month old I’m just going to see how this routine fits withour daily lives. 

My Morning routine:

·        9AM:  Wakeup and feed the baby

·        9:30: Baby’s morning nap or playtime/ I shower

·        9:45: Make bed

·        10:00: Breakfast and coffee

·        10:30: Put away dishes and load the dishwasher

·        10:45: Wipe counter tops and dining table

·        10:55: Start a load of laundry ** Kat suggests that we start a laundryschedule.  I’ll mention mine on Day 2**

·        11:00: Hair & Makeup

·        11:45: Tidy up vanity area

·        12PM: Feed the baby

·        12:15: Activity/Tummy time and my lunch time

·        12:30: Check the To-Do list and start chores

Evening routine:

·        6PM:  Feedthe baby

·        6:15: Activity/Tummy time and I start a load of laundry (if needed)

·        6:30: Fold any clothes

·        7:00: Start making dinner

·        7:30:  Dinnertime (at the table instead of in front of the TV)

·        8:00:  Oneperson washes dishes, the other bathes the baby, and whoever is done firstwalks the dog

·        8:15: Load up the dishwasher

·        8:30: Wipe counter tops and dining table

·        8:45: Sweep kitchen and dining area

·        9:00: Feed the baby and relax

·        9:15: Baby’s bedtime

·        11:00: dream feed and pump

I printed out the routine printables, placed them in sheetcovers and use magnets to hang them on the fridge.  I then placed some Velcro 3M tape on the backof a dry erase marker and stuck it next to the routines.  Sometimes I have scheduled meet ups with some of my mommy friends so my morning (usually) routine will have to adjust in those situations. 

For day 1, Kat wanted us to attack the central hub for most homes:  the KITCHEN.  For me, I always try and keep the kitchen astidy as possible since it tends to be the drop off zone for so many things,things that really shouldn’t be there.  Ialso like to have a bare minimum on the countertops.  I like the look of spacious countertops.  For this days task I wasn’t so worried about it.  I organized under the sink by using the pink emesis basins you get from the hospital.  I grabbed a few after I had the baby thinking I would use them for something.  I finally attacked the big pile of mail that tends to collect on the counter.  I jotted down on a shopping list that I need to get a paper filer that goes on desks. This will help my husband and I know exactly where to drop off any mail if we don’t have time to look at it then. I also need to get some drawer organizers for all the baby bottles.  Right now we just don’t have a spare drawer to place them.   I plan to at the new house.  I also penned down that I need a bottle dry rack. After I completed all of the tasks at hand I had a clean and clutter free (to my standards) kitchen. Looking back, it didn’t take me that long so I was happy with that.  I probably spent 2 hours in the kitchen plusmore when it came to the extra to-dos on my list. 

My list

What I plan on getting for the new house

no more crumbs..for now :)

I hate a dirty sink

More organized

Tidy enough for me right now.  I plan on it being better at the new house.

Before I close on this post, I should mention that Kat isfrom Australia which means I get a little head start on the next day’stask.  When I get that email notificationabout the next day I just print it out and plan out what I’m supposed to do thefollowing day.  This helps me plan andget an idea of what’s to come.

I hope after reading this, you will follow my progress andmaybe join in on the challenge.  I know most of you don’t like cleaning and organizing but it’s just something that hasto be done.  I find it therapeutic to clean and organize (once I find my groove). I believe this challenge will help me and a lot of you if you put all your effort into it.  I’d love to hearsome tips and or comments on how you stay organized and keep your kitchen all sparklyand shiny J