Anti-Shower Doors

Home improvements have been taking place since the day we moved in.  Usually, they are little things like hanging a shelf or putting a piece of furniture together.  With me taking care of Alessia and Kevin at work 9-10 hours a day (or on the road), our home is no where near where I wish it was though. 

I've been trying to do little things around the house when she naps, but sometimes she wakes up and interrupts what I am doing.  So, I have a little helper...or distraction.

This past weekend, Kevin was in Minneapolis and I decided that I wanted to take the shower doors off and put up a curtain.  I had planned on doing it when my mom was here in a week, but I couldn't take it anymore.  I despise shower doors.  They are a breeding ground for mold, mildew, and all kinds of yucky stuff.  And honestly, no matter what I do, I cannot keep them clean.

I started the project while Alessia was asleep, but didn't get far before I heard her high-pitched chatter coming from the other room.  The remainder of the job was completed with her help.  A few hours later and with only one trip to Lowe's, we had a curtain up.

Before

A huge improvement already.

My helper was as grossed out as I was by what was hiding under the doors.

Alessia did not want to give up the shower curtain.

After

Our project isn't entirely complete because we still need to scrape off some glue that was left on the shower walls and we need to fill the holes where the screws were.  But I am so much happier with the curtain and I vow to never put shower doors up.

Luckily, this weekend Kevin is around and I have a serious list of things I want to get done.  I'll be sure to take more pictures of our projects and hopefully some of you can come see them in person soon. 

Walking Until Winter

I love our neighborhood.  It is quiet, yet full of kids.  Our neighbor to the left, to the right, and across the street all have children.  And their neighbors have kids and their neighbors have kids...and so on and so on.  Right now, with Alessia being so young, she obviously doesn't go out and play with them, but I look forward to them "hanging out" in the years to come.

For now, my favorite thing about our neighborhood is the amazing walking/biking trails.  It goes through and around the neighborhood.  It takes you to the playground and pool and around the ponds. Both Alessia and I look forward to our daily walk...sometimes walks.  The weather lately has been gorgeous so I've been taking full advantage of it.  We've been walking 45 minutes to an hour everyday.  It's a win-win situation.  Alessia gets some fresh air, we both get out of the house, and I burn some calories (I say that as I'm downing a Coke).

We love to feed the ducks and geese!

She's gone from hating the stroller to loving it.

All bundled up for a chilly walk.

Sometimes our walk puts Alessia to sleep.

I'm starting to get nervous though.  The weather isn't going to stay gorgeous for long and I obviously can't take her out once winter gets here.  What are we going to do?  I got the idea of swim lessons.  Maybe go once or twice a week.  Perfect...right?  Wrong!  Swim lessons are almost $80 a month.  That's C-R-A-Z-Y!  She's 7 months old.  All we're going to do is float around in the pool while she pees in it.

I'm not trying to be cheap, but doesn't that seem unreasonable?  I thought maybe $50, at the most.  So, for now, we will walk until winter.  Don't worry...I'll bundle her up.

It's Been a Little While

The other night as I was laying in bed, I remembered I had a blog and it occurred to me that maybe I should use some of my free time the time when Alessia is asleep and Kevin is gone to start writing again.  Considering I pretty much spend every waking moment with a 7 month old, it would be nice to "talk" to an audience that actually comprehends what I am saying.

Basically, the last month has been C-R-A-Z-Y!  We packed and moved...again.  But hopefully we are here for awhile.  We've unpacked...almost.  The totes in the garage don't count since they technically are not in the house.  We need about a thousand things, but hopefully we'll get those purchased in the next year or two.  I've learned to manage without a colander and a can opener for now.

Alessia has her own room, which makes both of us happy.  I really do think she likes it since she loves to play with her toys in there.  However, since moving she hasn't started sleeping any better.  It varies day to day.  Before we moved, I was doing so well with the sleep training, but somehow we got away from it.  I no longer nurse her to sleep, but instead we picked up a new habit of patting her bottom and back whenever she wouldn't fall asleep or if she woke up in the middle of the night.  I don't know why it started, who started it, or how it started, but now she wants it.  And I want it to stop because now she can't put herself back to sleep when she wakes up.

So, we started the sleep training again yesterday and it is miserable listening to her cry.  I check on her and try to reassure her that I'm still here, but I feel like the worst person in the world.  I just can't keep getting up two, three times a night.  And sometimes staying up for two to three hours at a time. 

Luckily for us, our horrible sleeper is a great eater.  She LOVES food.  Everything is puréed for now, except for her bananas.  I've tried to give her some chunky stuff, but that really gets her gag reflex going.  The only thing she isn't a fan of is apples, which I thought most babies loved. 

Unfortunately, we haven't really had a chance to venture out and explore our new surroundings.  Since hockey season is in full swing, Kevin is beyond busy.  An adventure for us is hitting up Kroger with a 7 month old or trying to find a stud in the wall to hang a shelf (which we are horrible at).  We are planning a trip to the pumpkin patch soon so I'm super excited for that.