Clothes... "who needs 'em!"

Seriously people, I have a bin full of "Amber's Work Clothes" in my attic that we have moved with us from Chicago to Downtown Grand Rapids to Alger Heights Grand Rapids that I haven't worn since we lived in Chicago! For years I've been saying things like, "I'll wear these someday when I do something fancy" or "This was expensive when I bought it... I should keep it." or "someday my kids might want to wear this to '90's' day at their school!"

Today was not that day. Today was "I'm pregnant and will never fit in any of these clothes again - and even if I get skinny again someday they won't be in style anyway" day. So just now, I put my hair in a ponytail, threw on my warmest sweatshirt and some gloves (since it's freezing cold in our attic) and began the clothing purging process.

I started with the "Amber's Work Clothes" bin, then moved on to 3 more "Amber's bla bla clothes" bins. After that I went through a couple of the "Ryan" bins... it was a beautiful thing. Check out my attic now!!

I have exactly 3 bins dedicated to my clothing. "Amber Summer," "Amber Winter" and "Pregnant Amber" Nice eh?!?

I now have 2 huge garbage bags full of clothes to give to Goodwill, 3 more huge bags of clothes to consign/give to friends and one bag full of clothes so bad they went straight into the trash. YAY!

On simplifying, de-cluttering and organizing my life

One of the goals I have for this year is to simplify, de-clutter and organize my house and life. Call it a case of the pregnancy nesties, but I have a frantic desire to take less "stuff" with us when we move in June.

So where to begin? By blogging about it of course! haha. I also browsed the "container store" website for awhile. So far I am really on my way to having a more organized life.

Any advice? What blogs have you read that have helped you simplify your life? Where should I start?

...ready set GO!

Christmas Pictures

A few more pics from the Beeson Family Christmas... starting with this picture of Aaron and Ginger.

Mom and Dad got the boys slingshots.

Dad made sweet growth charts for the grandbabies. I love that dad's stick figure people are drawn all over them. So special.

I got to spend a quick lunch with Sandy, my roommate from college and one of my all-time favorite people on the planet. We are going to have babies within 1 week of each other in May.

Celebrated my love Ryan's 30th birthday by shooting guns all morning.

Lydia's first birthday cake experience. She nailed it.

Christmas Dresses

There's nothing like a little girl in her fancy Christmas dress... so of course, we got out the little red rocking chair and dad tried to get a few pictures of Ruby and Lydia. I think a few of them turned out pretty good!

It's crazy to think that one year ago Lydia was born... she is a miracle and many times this Christmas as I watched her laugh, play and crawl around I was overwhelmed with thankfulness for her tiny life, and for my sister Angela who went through a frightening early delivery and emergency c-section which saved both of their lives. I never want to be ungrateful for the time I have with the ones I love.

Cousins in the Snow

Ruby and Lydia had a blast getting pulled around on this little sled. Dad grabbed his camera and got some fun shots.

I love that we had fun in the snow before it all melted! I also love that my parents live in the woods so we can have adventures like this with the kiddos.

Ryan's New Hospital

Yesterday afternoon Ryan took Christopher and I on a tour of the brand new Helen DeVos Children's Hospital (HDVCH) scheduled to open in a couple of weeks. It was absolutely incredible! So well thought out, so colorful, friendly, open and inviting... I love that Ryan works at such an amazing place!

Here's the view from the 11th floor.

This is part of the lobby on the first floor.

Made possible by donors like these...

This is an interactive touch-screen and play area in the main lobby on the first level, and check out that awesome tile mosaic!

Christmas Eve

Hitting the books

Ruby has been hitting the books lately. This morning I woke her up and instead of following me down the hall to the kitchen for breakfast, she grabbed her book, sat in the hall and started "reading" it out loud to herself.

Love her.

the verdict is in...

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER GIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRLLLLLLL!! My motherly instincts were completely wrong... haha.

So thankful that the baby I'm growing is a strong and healthy one. The Ultrasound Tech said she has long legs, which is wonderful for her considering the shorty genes I have passed on to her.

We are thrilled, Ryan loves that we're going to have another girl and I love that Ruby is going to have a little sister!

Thanks for your prayers! I would have been happy with either, but I am seriously looking forward to another little girl!

On finding out

A few moments after Ruby was born was the moment we discovered that she was a girl! It was incredible. In fact, we were so amazed that we had a baby that we totally forgot that we didn't know the sex! The doctor who delivered her asked Ryan, "What is it Dr. Cox?" and that's when Ryan announced, "Oh my gosh! It's a girl! A giiiirl!" It was an incredible moment.

All the beauty of that surprise does not change the fact that I want to find out
what we're having this time around - tomorrow is our 20-week ultrasound and I am so excited I can't sleep at night! Will it be another baby girl or will Ruby have a little brother this time? The anticipation is too much to handle!

Some of my friends have asked why we want to find out this time - and my answer is simple.

I think it will be fun... also, this pregnancy has given me a terrible need to prepare. I believe some people call this "nesting" which I can't do since we will be packing up and moving to Columbus a few short weeks after this baby is born.

Needless to say, it will help my sanity to get some things done before May 12th (or whenever this child decides to come into the world). If we are having a girl, then I can plan to wash all of Ruby's tiny baby clothes and pack them in boxes that will be loaded into drawers once we get there. If we're having a boy, then I can get all of Ruby's baby clothes into boxes that will be moved directly into storage when we move... then go on a hunt for some baby boy clothes for our little buddy!

You may think the tasks above don't seem like a big deal - but these are the things keeping me up at night.

Any guesses to what we're having? I should do a giveaway or drawing or something - but I have to wrap presents instead.

I'll put a post up tomorrow so you know what we're having too! Until then, I'll be counting down the minutes to my ultrasound appointment... only 28 hours to go...