Why moving (again) was worth it for us

When we moved to Pittsburgh last year, I had every intention of going back to work full time but as weeks turned into months and I spent my days soaking in the cutest boy on the planet we decided that in order for me to remain home, we needed to find a cheaper apartment.

We loved the location of our place, within walking distance to EVERYTHING and were sick with the thought of giving that up, but were willing to do so if it meant less financial stress each month. Somehow the stars aligned and a place opened up NEXT DOOR to our current building. The apartment was being fully renovated, new kitchen, stainless steel appliances, new carpet, new paint with a $300 per month savings. In addition we were getting a sun room which we turned into a playroom for Owen, a recessed deck (new grill!), and covered parking. Did I mention we were SAVING money and still walking to all of our favorite places? So we hired a few college students and schleped all of our belongings and our precious boy next door.

I hope one day to give you a full house tour, but I am excited to show you Owen's playroom. His bedroom is set up almost identical to how we had it in the old place (I honestly don't even think he noticed we moved) and his room will always be my favorite place. It smells like baby and makes me happy just to be there. But his playroom is a close second because I love to watch him explore and learn in his own space (that and I don't have to clean up the toys multiple times a day anymore, win-win)

The last year has been hard on us financially. Resident salary is less than what Jeremy was making as a teacher so we've had to be creative with our budget. I'm confident we'll continue to make it work and I've been looking for opportunities to bring in extra money while being with O full time. We're lucky to have wonderful family who have gifted us some very special things in the last year, including our Zoo membership and a membership to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum.

Read more about how we enjoy our life on one salary HERE on KVELLER. {Mayim Bailik posted my article with compliments on her Facebook page and I was so touched. Its also blowing up with Facebook "likes" and that made up for the snarky comment that one reader left. Such is life on the internet I guess...)

{Owen's Play Space}

This is the view looking into our family room, as you can see Owen's play area is just behind the couch.

My/our desk area shares the sunroom space. I love the window and the carpet I scored at Ikea for $20! Now I'm just looking for fun things to decorate the huge blank wall to the left of my desk, I'm thinking something like THIS inspired by YourWishcake

When I was little all of my play furniture - cradle, table, chairs - was handmade by my grandfather. Woodworking just isn't a skill we posses in this house so Owen's table and chair set is from grandpaIKEA. But I was inspired by THIS and I spiced it up a little.  We had plexiglass cut at Lowe's to put over the top of it (wipes easily!) and I'm really happy with how this little $20 table turned out.

I'll be on the lookout for a wooden play kitchen once Black Friday deals roll around and I've been scouring the internet for a boy babydoll and blue stroller because anytime we play with friends Owen finds a doll and stroller to push around. We've been really lucky in that 99% of these toys were either gifts or handed down from our neighbors. Hand-me-downs have been a god-send on our budget!

A certain little boy loves to spend time in this sunny room stacking cups, zooming cars and reading books. It absolutely melts my heart to watch him play in this colorful space made just for him.

Things I'm Loving Right Now

I've been struggling to fit blogging into my day, so I'm sorry the posts have been mostly pictures and updates and less insight on what I'm thinking. I've been using Kveller for my creative writing outlet but I'm hoping to provide more content here too. Now that Owen only takes one nap, I need to manage my time better (like forget the laundry I *think* about doing and just blog instead).

These are a few things that are making my life easier right now, I thought I'd share!

Burts Bees Tinted Lip Balm

I had a few coupons from Rite Aid for this and that's the only reason I was willing to try a $7 chap stick but I'm glad I did. I went with the Red Dahlia color and it's the perfect addition to any diaper bag, soft smooth chap stick with a nice pop of color. I think I've worn actual lipstick twice since Owen was born but this is like the best of both worlds - practical with a hint of glam. Its definitely worth the Mama splurge. Now if I could just stop obsessing about not putting it through the washer ;)

Boogie Wipes

I bought the original scent of these before and thought they were a waste of money. Saline wipes? Big deal. I also felt the smell was overwhelming and prefer Owen's milky, baby smell to the face wipes. I saw these on sale a month ago and thought they were unscented. A few weeks ago O got his first cold and he's had a runny nose ever since. Constant wiping with tissues makes his little nose red so I switched back to these and LOVE THEM. Even hard, crusted-on boogies come right off. While I still think I'd rather have the unscented version the sweet menthol smell is nice and doesn't linger like the original scent.

Canada Dry Diet Ginger Ale

I don't drink caffeine and haven't in over five years, I have a sensitivity to it so I just avoid it all together. It really isn't a big deal because I was never much of a coffee drinker but it does limit the variety of what I can drink, especially when we are out. I get so excited when a restaurant has caffeine-free diet options on their fountain (thank you chick-fil-a) but my staple is the one can of caffeine-free diet Dr. Pepper I have at home everyday. The rest of the time I drink water, and while its boring -- its the best way to stay hydrated and make milk. My friend Kelly turned me onto this when I visited her in Asheville and its a nice option to have in the house. I used to only drink ginger ale when I was sick but I've managed to get past that and kind of like that I now have a drink option in the house that Jeremy won't guzzle down before I can get to it. Because according to him, ginger ale is for when you are sick ;)

The perfect Toddler Towel

     Owen has outgrown all of his baby towels *sniff* and we found that if we put the hood on him right out of the bath there was hardly any towel left to bundle him up in. I bought this Aden + Anais set before Owen was born from a deal site where it was over 50% off and got rave reviews. I remember opening the package and thinking, "this thing is HUGE!" and I packed it away. I pulled it out a few weeks ago and it is the PERFECT towel for wrapping up a squeaky clean 14-month old. I love that it still has a hood (baby = hooded towel) but it envelopes him in fluffy softness all the way down to his baby toes. We can literally wrap him up in it like we used to do with his infant towels. Its quite pricey for a towel, so I'm cherishing the one I happened to have but if I ever find another one on sale I will be scooping it up. Note: The A&A washcloths are also huge, I used it as a burp cloth when O was a baby and still think its too big for bathtime. I guess you could just look at it as a free gift you get with the awesome towel ;)



Tell me, what are you loving right now?

He has me and I am free

Owen has like five little toys and an exersaucer. I've been beating myself up that we don't have the money to get him EVERYSINGLETOYINTHEWORLD. I worried (my crazy, irrational Mama worry) that he would be dumber, or slower or damaged because we can't afford a baby basketball game or a LIGHT-UP-SOUND-SHAPE-SORTER-EXTRORDINAIRE table. Like he isn't going know his shapes and colors because he doesn't have a toy to teach him. I got really upset about it with Jeremy one night after he told me he didn't think we needed toys to make O happy or smart. Jeremy feels so guilty that he's gone all the time and doesn't bring home much money as a resident. With me not working things are tight, but just before we went to bed he said to me, "Tam whatever you need to buy to make you feel okay about this, we'll buy for him. If you think he needs more for his development, we'll find a way to make it work"

and then it dawned on me. My husband was so right.

All Owen needs is me. My love and my attention. We are making sacrifices because I want to be home with him. Would I rather work and have extra money for toys? Hell no! The next day I grabbed his set of stacking cups and I put them in a big plastic bowl from the kitchen. I pile the cups in the bowl and Owen takes them out. He loves this game. Once the bowl is empty he puts it on his head or bites it. He laughs and waits for me to refill the bowl.

We have one ball. I roll it to him and try to get him to roll it back to me. As soon as I say the word "ball" he smiles and looks around for it. He knows we play ball together.

I really wanted THIS TOY for Owen. One of the kids at playgroup has one and Owen LOVES to play with the shaker and the bells. I just couldn't bring myself to pay $20 for it. A few weeks ago I was at a garage sale. There was a box of infant toys that said $0.25 each or 5 for $1.00. And there they were. I almost cried when I saw those two random toy pieces and I swiped them up like it was Black Friday and there was a line of googly-eyed women with fanny packs behind me just waiting at the chance to plow me over for the deal (there weren't of course, it was just me). I felt like I had won the lottery. The two pieces that Owen loves playing with THE MOST in absolutely perfect condition. I rushed home with my treasures and after dumping half a bottle of disinfectant on them (rinse and repeat) I presented them to a VERY pleased baby Owen. They snap together but most of the time he likes to shake them separately so that I can shake one and he can shake one while I sing, "Shake it like a Polaroid picture! Shake it! Shake it! -- Shake it! Shake it!"

So for $0.50 - I added it to our plastic bowl. The songs come free with being his Mama.

This isn't a post about our budget - its a post about me being stupid enough to spend a single minute dwelling on something that didn't matter. When the only thing that does matter, is us  - our hugs, our songs, me spending every waking minute talking to him. That is how he will learn, that is what makes him happiest, THAT is what's important -- that and whatever other things I can find in the kitchen ;)

Snow and Showers

So much has been going on all around me, I can barely keep up.

Last Thursday, we put our house on the market, all of my husband's efforts to clean and remodel our home turned out beautifully. We're living in a home that looks more like a crate and barrel show room than an actual house. We don't know where any of our stuff is packed/hidden - but we're managing.

Friday, we had our 35 week appointment and we were still holding steady, much to Dr. K's surprise. I gained another 2 lbs so I'm up a total of 21 pounds from my pre pregnancy weight. His head is down, and was further down than last week - so he's getting ready. I'm 50% effaced and my cervix is closed.

Saturday, our childbirth class was canceled due to snow, but we did have our first house showing. Me and kitty waited in the car while Jeremy ran errands and strangers lurked around in our home.

Sunday, my mom hosted a wonderful baby shower at our house. I was actually quite overwhelmed as I haven't talked to more than two people at a time in over eight weeks now. It was so nice to see so many of my friends and co workers. We received lots of gear for our little cub and were so happy and thankful at the end of the day.

Monday, we had two more house showings, a second look for the Saturday person and an older couple. Jeremy, mom and I ventured out in the car with the cat. We ate dinner at BW3's and it was SO NICE to eat hot food SITTING UP at an actual restaurant (while our cat froze into a kitty popsicle in the car).

Yesterday, we received an offer on the house from the Saturday guy. The offer was lower than we wanted and asked that we be out by March 26th. With a closed cervix and a due date of March 11th - I'm not going to risk being homeless with a newborn OR a possible nervous breakdown just to unload this house on the first schmuck to walk through it. Let's hope more offers come in.

At 33.5 weeks, we packed me up in the car to drive across town and have our wedding photographer (and friend) Sandra Reed do a maternity session with us. We had talked about doing this long before I went on bed rest. She herself was on bed rest with her last child and knows how hard it is. She and her husband Shad found a studio without stairs, and accommodated me with a couch to lay on in between shots. I've posted some of our sneak peeks and it brings tears to my eyes to have such beautiful images of us awaiting our little one.

We've been snowed in for two days. It's still snowing. The good news is, those little neighbor kids shoveled our driveway and sidewalk again yesterday for a ridiculously low price. We're not going to challenge the going rate for child labor around here...just question their entrepreneurial futures :)

Tomorrow, I will be 36 weeks pregnant. Jeremy promises to take a picture of my belly very soon (it's getting BIG!) Our childbirth class is rescheduled for Saturday. My husband and I have a romantic Valentine's Day planned at a fondue restaurant and I might just take advantage of my laxed bed rest privileges to venture out for a massage! I'll continue with modified bed rest and stay on my meds until 37 weeks, hoping to buy ourselves a little more time since Jeremy's rotation is being so inflexible with him.

All the while, we'll continue to show our house, wash tiny clothes and get even closer to a full term baby.

Now THAT'S and update.

"I don't catch on fire when I sleep, so why would he?"

Apparently, a certain member of our household (ahem, his name starts with J) thinks that Dreft(R) Laundry Detergent is a marketing ploy aimed at tricking impressionable parents into purchasing an overpriced laundry product by tapping in to one's intrinsic desire to be a good caregiver. Thus, forcing parents to unknowingly buy into a monopoly that has been perpetuated by fear (and apparently pediatricians) for over 75 years.

This conversation was similar to the one we had over the plastic bathtub (NO! You can't just wash a slippery, floppy newborn in the kitchen sink!) and one I can't even wrap my brain around enough to post related to bottle sterilization. They all center around the fact that it is hard for me to present my husband with any kind of literature or scientific proof to support parenting methodologies passed down from generations. So, according to him, I either read too many crazy-coo-coo-pants mommy blogs, I watch too much TV or I am really good at making stuff up. And YES, okay, I do have a slightly off base notion that if I wash my hands and brush my teeth with scalding hot water they will get cleaner than if I simply used tepid H2O - AND I have eleven bottles of shampoo crowding our shower ledge so my hair doesn't become accustomed to any one formulary rendering itself dull and lifeless... BUT I swear on hot dogs these child rearing ideas aren't just a crazy ploy to convince my husband to adopt some warped sanitation regimen for the sake of our unborn son.

Which brings me back to the detergent...

Me: We're going to need to buy that Dreft stuff so we can start washing the baby's clothes and have them ready.

Jeremy: That stuff is a total rip off.

Me: I know, but you have to wash your baby's clothes with it.

Jeremy: WHY?

Me: I don't know, to avoid chemicals or skin rashes or something...

Jeremy: We already use fragrance-free, dye-free detergent.

Me: It doesn't say for babies though. And we can't use fabric softener or dryer sheets, so the Dreft stuff makes the baby clothes soft and smell fresh without added chemicals or residue.

Jeremy: WHY can't we use dryer sheets??

Me: Because it messes up the flame resistance on the baby clothes.

Jeremy: Baby clothes are FLAME RESISTANT?

Me: Yes.

Jeremy: Because apparently babies spontaneously COMBUST?

Me: Well, mostly just the sleep clothes...

Jeremy: Oh, right, because babies only burst into flames AT NIGHT?!?

Me: I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY BABIES CATCH ON FIRE, BUT THEY DO!!!!

As you can see I had a hard time selling him on this concept (mostly because I'VE NEVER OWNED A REAL LIFE BABY BEFORE!) Luckily, after researching cheaper alternatives (on crazy-coo-coo-pants mommy blogs, shhh) lots of people recommended Charlie's Soap. Mostly the crunchy, granola, environmentally conscience mammas who wash their cloth diapers in it and liken other cleaning products to toxic waste dumps. Fortunately for me, it was an economical option so I played into his miserly, Ashkenazi genotype and convinced him to go with that (the free shipping was a real clincher!) And OH FOR THE LOVE, I found a quasi-scientific graph to back me up!
[Test Consumer Product Safety Commission's Test 16 /Title: Flammability of Children's Polyester Sleepwear/Procedure: Test fabrics (manufactured already resistant to fire) submitted by Carter Manufacturing © were washed with various detergents, dried and exposed to open flame for 50 cycles. Results were measured by char length at each cycle. Results: Charlie's Soap continued to improve the flame retardant properties after each washing to the point where the fabric would not catch fire at all. No other detergent tested improved the flame retardant properties of children's sleepwear at all.]

The bottle arrived in the mail last week, and after I finally convinced my mom that it's safe for baby clothes (Dreft groupie!) I'm praying to the laundry gods that it actually produces clean, soft clothing.

And that's what I get for marrying an only child whose I.Q lies at the far end of a bell shaped curve.

Dear unborn son,

Good luck convincing your Daddy that all sixteen year olds need their own car.

The End.

Sneak peak nursery ideas!!

We're not setting up a nursery for the little one because we're moving soon after he's born. Putting together a nursery is such a huge part of the nesting process, so I'm sad that I'm not venturing into a freshly painted room to sit in a rocker, fold baby clothes and dream about smelling his baby hair and snuggling him in my arms. But I'm okay with waiting, I knew this was how our timeline would work out and I am actually even more excited to find out where we match because then we can find a place with a perfect room for him.

I wanted a gender neutral nursery. Why not reuse crib bedding with subsequent children? I didn't want anything overly "theme-y" with dominant colors such as pink or blue. I'm looking for a mix of things to make it feel calm, lived in and special.

I chose this bedding before we found out we were having a boy. It's called "Circles" from the Dwell Studio line sold at Target. Unfortunately, it was discontinued by the time I was far along enough to start buying things, so I was forced to bid on it on Ebay. Thankfully, I scored a brand new set!


I slept in a Jennie Lind crib as a baby, and at first I wanted my children to do the same. After doing some looking around I was more drawn to sleek, modern designs and found this reasonably priced crib at Walmart (Baby Mod Park Lane). It's small, gets great reviews and I think it meets our needs perfectly.

I was swooning over this ABC Love print the second I saw it on a design website. I was fortunate enough to score the orginal print on Etsy and now we're on a hunt for the perfect frame.


This is another print I custom ordered from Etsy. I matched the blue to the bedding and I think its masculine, yet charming. I was really happy with how it turned out.


For lighting, I was SO THRILLED when one of my questions was featured on the OHDEEOH nursery design site. I had heard that touch lamps are great in a nursery because you can use the dim setting without waking the baby but I had a hard time finding one. Other bloggers directed me to these brushed nickel lamps from Bed Bath & Beyond. They were only $20 and we put them in our bedroom and loved them so much that we bought an extra set for the nursery.

Ever since I found out I was pregnant I've been drawn to to owls. When I was in Mexico I bought a beautiful handmade pewter owl. I am going to hang it on the wall. I'm also drawn to alphabet cards displayed on the wall for baby to see. I especially like these animal print cards from eeBoo.


Reading was such a HUGE part of my childhood and I cannot wait to make a special nook in our nursery to share my favorite stories with our little cub. Once we find out where we're living I might have my dad try to make a library reading display similar to this one.



This is by no means a completed project, or even a started project, but I feel like these ideas will come together to make a treasured space that our little boy will grow to enjoy.

Scrub a dub dub, there's no room for that tub

My husband and I have an aversion to plastic baby items, particularly LARGE PLASTIC BABY ITEMS. Once people indulge in their own fecundity, they seem to go crazy buying large, brightly colored plastic thingamajigs for their new 8 lb family member: gyms, bouncers, play kitchens, play houses, toys, plastic bins for toys - the list is endless. And while I'm sure we'll succumb to a few of these items after the birth of our son, for now - we just don't have the room for it. With our living situation totally up in the air, we're trying a minimalistic approach. As of right now, the sleeping arrangements for our bundle of screaming joy are an open drawer or a kitty bed. Just kidding. Kind of. But we're being cautious about what we purchase before our move.

One of the things that Jeremy is adamantly opposed to is a baby bath. A big plastic baby bath - plastic bath toys, plastic bath toy CONTAINERS or any other type of cumbersome plastic item seen by society as necessary when attempting to cleanse your child. Which lead to this conversation:

Jeremy: We're NOT getting one of those big plastic baby tubs.

Me: Okay, but how are we going to wash the baby?

Jeremy: In the sink. I'm pretty sure you can just put the baby in the sink.

Me: I think those bath tubs go in the sink.

Jeremy: What's wrong with just the sink?

Me: I think babies are slippery and floppy at first... and you can't get the belly button wet and stuff. I think.

Jeremy: Well then, we'll wait to wash him until he's not floppy!

So since washing slippery newborns is not in our current skill set, I've tried to research ways that I can clean my child while not offending my husband with plastic washing items.

And after many sleepless nights and dreams of a booger-crusted, dirty poo baby, I came across several raving mommy reviews for the Puj Tub.


Check out how this ROCK STAR mom in the video washes her newborn in the Puj Tub ONE HANDED!



Only downfall, $99.99 - but **for a limited time** they are available for $39.99. I haven't bought too many things for baby, but I used my shopping finger to acquire this easy-to-store, environmentally friendly baby bath.

And I did it for the sanitation of my unborn son with the added bonus of not aggravating my husband's psychological allergy to all things plastic.

There is a tube in the baby aisle labeled "butt paste" and something tells me it's not for teeth

Do you remember in My Big Fat Greek Wedding (tangent: that movie was the first unofficial date hubs and I ever went on 11/22/2002 – wow times flies!) when the Dad carries around a bottle of Windex claiming that it fixes all aliments imaginable? Scrapes, cuts, severed limbs? Windex. Stain remover? Windex. Prepubescent acne breakouts? Windex. I think you get the point.

ANYWHO, I know I’m not Greek, but I AM getting rounder and love kalamata olives so I thought I’d share with you my own personal Windex.

AQUAPHOR.

I swear on hot dogs I would marry this odorless gel if I could. I used it LONG before I was pregnant. My husband laughs at me (because making fun of one another is actually essential to a healthy marriage) because no matter what ails us; I always suggest putting Aquaphor on it! He tries to doctor me up all the time - I have suggestions too, you know?

Dry skin ANYWHERE, cuticles, cuts, scrapes, foot calluses, burns, blisters, dry lips, cat paws, pickle jars. You name it – I PUT AQUAPHOR THERE. It’s great as a lip gloss over some classy red lipstick or under your nose after hours of blowing and wiping. It’s soothing, gentle and lasts forever!

Which is why I CANNOT WAIT to slather it on my beautiful baby. Oh the plethora of new uses! Cracked nipples? Yes. Diaper rash? Yes. Under eye wrinkles? YES!

I was tickled silly today when I found out it comes in a baby travel size.


Purse? YES. Diaper bag? YES. The only thing I can foresee it not being good for is spinning around in the dryer after you’ve left this new pint-sized treasure in your pocket.

Some people dream that their cuddly little chunk face is plastered all over the Gerber baby food jars. No way, not me. I’m going to convince the makers of Aquaphor to market their amazing product with my adorable baby’s (hypothetical) big squishy cheeks

...slathered in Aquaphor.

I'm 23 weeks pregnant today! My belly hasn't changed much despite the massive amount of cupcake consumption. No one has given me wisdom this week and I'm NOT looking forward to putting together a registry. So far I have one item on it... can you guess what it is? (see current blog post)