Hold On...Change is Comin'!

So, this is probably a surprise - geez, it's a surprise even to myself! :)  I've been itching to blog for weeks now, and after the longest period of time of feeling that I had absolutely NOTHING to say...  well, that's not the case anymore.  Lots of thoughts to share today, and some plans for the future!

First of all, our little family is about to change.  What used to be me, hubby, and our two fur babies is going to increase by one with a new addition in about 6 months!!  Yep, our first baby is on the way, due to arrive January 12th!  We are super excited, but obviously, super nervous, too.  Neither hubby or me have ever gone out of our way to interact with other people's babies, but I hear that when you have one that's your own, it's a totally different feeling.  And I tell ya, I've never read so much in my life!  All kinds of stuff about pregnancy and babies - holy cow, it's overwhelming.  From trying to figure out why a baby is crying to learning that babies should sleep with absolutely nothing in their crib so they don't choke...  Lord, help me please!

So, while we're understandably nervous, we have two great sets of grandparents sitting on "go" and ready to babysit at a moment's notice.  They have been full of great advice, and will be full of available time (all that we'll give them!) to give new daddy and me a rest when needed.

I've already decided on a couple of things that we'll be implementing once baby arrives.  The first is breastfeeding.  I'm still not totally on the up-and-up about supplementing from time to time with formula, but I'm reading as much about it as I can.  The second thing that I had decided on long ago is that we will be cloth diapering.  Research for this has been a little bit of a maze, but things are starting to make sense.  I haven't gone so far as to decide what we'll do as far as specific brands, but I imagine decisions on that will be made pretty soon.  I'm so thankful that there is a supplier for cloth diapers here in my area - I've already scoured every inch of her super helpful website!!

As if all that won't keep me busy enough, I've also been in the process of switching over my jewelry business from Etsy to my own stand-alone store.  I've wanted to do this for a long time as I feel like I've outgrown Etsy.  There are also some things happening there that I personally don't agree with, and I think it will be better in the long run to separate my store from their platform.  At this point, I'm allowing my Etsy listings to expire since I've already paid for them to appear there.  As they expire, I'll be moving them over to the new store.

I'm hoping to get back into reviewing a little bit, too.  Not too much, and probably not to the scale that I used to do, but I do miss it and the camaraderie that comes with it.  :)

So, busy doesn't even describe what's about to happen in our lives, but in this case, it's definitely a good thing.  I'll leave you today with a pic of our new baby love!

 

Where I've Been Lately...

You may have noticed that my posts have been rather...er...sporadic lately.  :o(  Several changes have happened in my life as of late, and I promise, I have missed chatting with all of you so much!!

So, here's the scoop...

You may remember that my job situation has been on a little bit of a roller coaster, all the way back to October of last year.  First a layoff, then a new job the next day, then the hours at the new job being reduced from full-time to part-time.  Needless to say, things suddenly became very tight in our household...not to mention the time had come yet again to search for another job.  (I'm convinced job searching is for the birds.)  :o)  But God has a plan, as always, and I found a wonderful job at a local dental office. The people are great, and it's great that it's only minutes from my house.  :o)

And guess what else has happened?  I've finally gotten off my bum, and put my jewelry online!  I've been procrastinating about this for MONTHS, but as soon as the job stuff started to get shaky, I knew there was no time like the present.  :o)  I'm slowly but surely learning different photo techniques, getting new inspiration for jewelry designs every single day, and I'm having more fun with it than I've had in a long time.  If you'd like to read about how it all got started, I'd love it if you'd join me over at my new blog--Belle on a Budget.  (Oh, and if you decide to follow me over there, you'll be my new best friend!)  In addition to the new blog, you can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and last but not least, at my Etsy Store.  (I'd love to see you at all of them, but even if you just visit one place, I'll be as happy as a tick on a coon dog's ear!)  One other tidbit...  I'm currently trying to reach 50 likes on my Facebook page, and once I do, there is going to be a giveaway...yay!  So be sure to share that big piece of news and tell your friends!

But in all this excitement, guess what's suffered lately?  Reading.  I've managed to read a total of TWO BOOKS since I started this new job exactly one month ago.  While at times I'm really bummed that I haven't been on top of it, at other times, it's been very nice to have a break.  And while I could say I'm hoping to pick things back up in this department soon, I've liked being able to read at a relaxed pace.  Unfortunately, this leaves me with very little blog about on a book blog because I'm also taking a break from interviews, giveaways, and the like...there's quite a lot of time that goes into those that I just don't have right now.  I'll still be popping by with reviews occasionally, and slowly but surely, honoring the commitments I've made for the books I've received.

So, it's a new journey here, and I can't wait to see where it takes me!