Q & A

How did I deal with post-partum hair loss and what products do I use?
Oh, the dreaded post-partum hair loss.  So unfortunate!  My hair was super thick during pregnancy, which I loved because I normally have fine hair, but I noticed it started falling out in huge gobs around 3 months after I had Xavier.  My body was finally getting back to normal and then, hello 20,000 strands of my hair clogging the shower drain and hanging on the shower wall in all sorts of fun shapes and patterns.  I had gobs of it falling out every time I washed my hair.  It also fell out onto my shirts all day long.  My trash can at work was full of hair.  It shed like this for about 2 months or so.  I tried to brush my hair at night, which helped not make so much fall out in the morning.  But, really the only way to fight it is to help it come out, by brushing hard once a day and comb it several times a day.

As far as hair products, my hair type is normal with all-over-color treatments to cover the gray.  I really like Pantene shampoo and conditioner.  It smells good and leaves my hair shiny without weighing it down.  I've been using it for years, but lately have been trying out some different brands.  I recently tried Herbal Essences (love the smell!), Aveda (loved the smell but didn't seem to clean as well), Garnier Fructis, and am now using this Joico shampoo and conditioner for color treated hair.  I think I found a new favorite!  It smells fruity, lathers well, and leaves my hair feeling very clean and shiny.  But, I'm finding the stuff from the salon works just as well as drug store brands and I always have to do color touch ups once a month to cover the gray no matter what products I use!

I have naturally curly hair, which is great for styling.  I just throw in some mousse or styling cream, scrunch it, and go.  Right now I'm using this Aveda styling lotion mixed in with my Herbal Essences mousse.  A little of the styling lotion goes a long way so I dilute with the mousse by mixing them together in my hand before applying to damp hair.  I rarely blow dry it and I think that's why it always looks so healthy.  When I occasionally go out, if I'm feeling motivated to do something different, I will dry my hair and straighten it or put loose curls in it with my flat iron.

What do my husband and I do for a living & what do we do for fun?
I work for the State as an IT Auditor.  My clients are all the State agencies.  We audit their IT shops and help them with control weaknesses so they don't get hacked.  The State agencies have a ton of secure data and if there ever was a leak, there would be big problems!  I help ensure those leaks don't happen.  My husband works for the Federal Government as a Social Security claims rep.  He is an attorney, as well, which comes in handy when legal issues arise.  We are both very lucky in our careers because we only work 40 hour weeks, giving us plenty of time to hang out with baby X.

For fun, we like to catch up on new shows (pre-recorded on the DVR!).  Shows we are watching right now are Mad Men, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (the drama is hilarious), Modern Family, and House of Cards.  We also like to go out for brunch on the weekends.  There is a local tea house that we absolutely love and some other restaurants downtown that have wonderful brunch menus.  See my brunch from last weekend - lavender infused blueberry pancakes.  So wonderful!

 

We also like to attend wine tasting events and recently did a wine club wine tasting in our home.

What's my style?

My style is comfortable!  I live in my Victoria Secret yoga pants (that come in a long 36" inseam) on the weekends.  GAP used to sell some wonderful maternity yoga pants (that came in a long 36" inseam), but I can no longer find them.  However, these are similar.  I prefer GAP leggings over any other brand because they are the absolute softest ever, but they don't always have them in the long length.  I also really like Target's long and lean tanks, their boyfriend tee, and maxi dresses.  I am also digging their maternity baseball shirts and wish I discovered them while I was pregnant.  So cute!

How did I decide to go back to work full-time after having a baby?
Deciding whether to work full-time, part-time or not at all after having Xavier was a big decision.  I thought about quitting my job.  I did the SAHM routine my entire maternity leave, but it was not my thing.  I didn't like being home all day, by myself, searching for meet-up groups to join to keep me entertained.  I hated feeding/washing bottles all day.  And, I started resenting the fact that Steve "got to get away" for the whole day and was so refreshed when he got home.
Working part-time wasn't really an option because they don't much of a daycare discount for part-time kids.  It's almost the same price as a full-time kid.  So I decided to keep my job and research the crap out of day cares.  We found an awesome one right down the street and the girls are wonderful!  They are upbeat, energetic, and do lots of fun activities with Xavier.  I am getting to the point where I feel bad keeping him at home on my days off because he's missing out on time with his friends.  And, I miss him sooo much near the end of the day that I should have gotten a speeding ticket by now on my way to the day care to pick him up.  I never would have felt like I was missing him if I was around him all the time.  So, I believe I made the right choice!

Xavier's buddies at day care.

I work a 40 hr week job, never work overtime, and have a flexible schedule as far as missing time one day and making it up the next.  I found a great meet-up group that consists mostly of other working moms in my area.  We hang out quite a bit and I've met some wonderful people!  If there wasn't this meet-up in my area, I would have started one for working moms.  We have play dates on the weekends and it's nice to bond with other moms who have similar things in common as me.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease... Die!

When we were visiting family over the Easter weekend, Xavier got a really bad diaper rash.  He also was nursing some red bumps on his chin that we thought were due to how much drool he's been producing lately.  The chin bumps and diaper rash got worse over the weekend and we assumed Xavier picked up an allergy to my dad's dog.  He was a major fuss-face on Sunday, so we got him some baby Zyrtec and it put him to sleep for a few hours.  He was fussy all day, which isn't like him.

On Monday morning, I went to drop him at daycare and after seeing his chin bumps, they asked me to get him seen by a doctor.  They said it looked like HFMD and they didn't want it to spread at the center.  HFMD mostly affects kids until they are 5 years old.  It's kind of like the new chicken pox.  Since there is a vaccine for chicken pox, the new thing kids get now is HFMD.  It's highly contagious because kids have it up to 6 days before they show symptoms (usually in the form of blisters) of having it.  This period is known as the incubation period.  So they are drooling on toys and playing with other kids, not knowing they are contagious.  Some kids get a fever during incubation, Xavier never had one.  Adults are usually immune to it because they've likely built antibodies to it from other illnesses.

Sure enough, that's exactly what it was.  The doctor also said he had an ear infection in both ears and an allergic reaction to something on his stomach. What a trooper my little guy is!  Other than being more fussy than usual on Sunday, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary!  Since he had tons of ulcers in his mouth, daycare wouldn't let him come back for 3 whole days.  

His diaper rash got even worse on Monday and it had turned from red bumps to big red blisters all over the diaper area, front and back, and it spread to the tops of his thighs.  These blisters were huge, gross, and looked painful.  He seemed to never be in pain from them, but every time I changed his diaper, I felt nauseous, because it seemed so awful for him to have that on his little body.  The red bumps spread to cover the tops of his hands and both legs, from thigh to foot.  The bumps were raised so when I touched his legs I could feel them.  Ugh, so awful for me to go through.  Probably not so bad for him.  He ate okay and I did give him Ibuprofen, which seemed to put him in a better mood.  We spent most of Monday snuggling on the couch, watching Baby Einstein videos.

We heard that diaper cream works for helping the blisters heal faster.  So Monday night, we slathered his diaper area in Desitin Maximum Strength (highest zinc oxide content we could find) and by Tuesday morning his blisters were gone.  It was amazing.  He still had some on his thighs, but not nearly as bad as before.

By Wednesday, he was back to his old self, happy, playful, smiling.  I, on the other hand, got sick on Wednesday and had to call off the rest of the week due to a sinus infection.

Oh, and he decided to pick up crawling while being home sick.

Time to lock down everything in the house! :D

Easter 2014

Xavier's first Easter was a huge success!  We had an Easter brunch complete with Xavier snacking on some Easter-themed pancake cut-outs.

We had a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hung,

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's on Easter Eve and helped Xavier hunt eggs.

We planted magic jelly beans (Xavier is skeptical of the magic, you gotta believe!)

and watched them grow into lollipops overnight.

We went to church Sunday morning, but Xavier got too fussy and we had to bail.  We did manage to get a nice Easterly family photo!  Xavier just woke up from his nap, but he's still super cute!
 

The Easter Bunny pretty much spoiled Xavier (and Mama - see below) with goodies.

Do I care that Xavier is only 8 months old and won't remember any of this?  No.  We went all out.

What's For Dinner?

Meal planning has become close to nonexistent lately.  Steve used to work loooonnnng hours and after I picked Xavier up from daycare, he needed my attention and care until he went bed.  By the time I put him down, I was raging in hunger and usually just grabbed some ice cream or a bowl of cereal.  So we rarely made dinner on weeknights.  For a while, we made a bunch of casseroles on the weekends to get us through the week.  We also tried a personal chef service which helped a TON.  But, now that Steve just scored a more family-friendly job (way to go, Honey!) he can now go back to cooking dinners for us.  Cooking is something he really enjoys, so we are both excited.  We still try to put together dishes that are quick to make and easy on the budget.  Here's a list of a typical week of dinners for us that work well for our busy, fast-paced routine.

Sunday - Usually Sundays are grocery shopping days for us and we'll throw something in the crock-pot so we'll have some leftovers to get us through a couple lunches for the upcoming week.  Some crock-pot favorites are spaghetti (gotta use the angel hair pasta noodles) and homemade meatballs, chopped up chicken breasts and egg noodles, or pulled pork seasoned with liquid smoke.  These dishes are quick to prep and usually result in lots of leftovers.

Monday - There is a recipe I found on Pinterest where you layer chicken breasts or tenders, a can of green beans, and some cut up new potatoes in a 9x11 pan, add some butter and Italian seasoning, and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or so.  It is amazing, cost-friendly, and quick to prep!  We mix up the veggie and potatoes we use to keep it interesting.

Tuesday - Taco Tuesday!  If we still have left over meat from Sunday's crock-pot meal, we'll use it for our tacos.  Otherwise, we'll make a fresh batch.  We use pulled pork, turkey meat, or chicken.  Never made them with fried fish fillets, but they're next on the list!

Wednesday - Usually by Wednesday, I'm tired of eating at home and we'll grab some kind of take out and bring it home, whether it be City BBQ, Bob Evans, or Wendy's drive-thru, anything but home cooking!  But, if it's blizzardly cold or gross hot, we'll stay in and have some type of pasta dish or egg salad sandwiches.

Thursday - Grill night.  We fire up the grill and make smoked pork chops, turkey burgers, hot dogs, etc.  We'll cut up some squash and zucchini to put in a foil pack and grill that on low heat.  Add some baked beans and watermelon and summer is complete!

Friday - It's no dinner Friday!  We come home, put on our jammies and make breakfast for dinner!  Sometimes we make an egg, cheese, and sausage casserole or we'll make pancakes in the cast iron skillet.  Hoping we keep this a tradition and Xavier looks forward to these nights as he begins to understand how fun it is to switch up dinner with breakfast foods!

Saturday - Saturday night we usually go out to eat.  And we are talking the early shift, like around 4:30 or 5:00.  If we go any later, Xavier turns into a major fuss-face.  Kid-friendly restaurant favorites are Chick-fil-A, Bob Evans, El Vaquero, and O'Charley's.

Just a quick note on other meals.  Breakfast during the week is usually just cereal for me, coffee for Steve.  On weekends, we will cook something real or go out for brunch.  Lunches during the week usually consist of dinner leftovers, a lunch-meat sandwich or peanut butter & jelly sandwich, baked chips (baked cheetos taste just like the real deal!), Greek yogurt, fruit and some type of sweet, chocolately snack.  Jell-O pudding cups are a great go-to and so are pretzel rods dipped in Nutella.

And I can't sign off without a picture of Your's Truly!

He's messy, but with a smile like that, I'd kiss him anyway!

Daily Routine: 7-8 Months

Daily Routine:  Xavier experienced some sleep regression in the weeks leading up to his 8 month birthday.  It was so hard on me!  It's like he forgot how to sleep through the night.  We read it's common for babies who reach this age to go through sleep regression because their sleeping patterns start to change.  

We noticed Xavier went down from 3 naps a day to 2 naps a day (again, we didn't push any type of schedule on him and just went with the flow).  It made him more tired at bedtime and even more difficult to get him to calm down enough to take his bottle and fall asleep easily.  He'd cry constantly around bedtime, sometimes for up to an hour, and the only way to calm him down was to hold him and sleep with him.  We still keep Xavier on the 7PM to 7AM sleep schedule with a morning nap around 10 and an afternoon nap around 2.  These naps are short, just a half hour to 45 minutes each.  He would wake up all night long, crying, and we just let him cry it out.  He never cried for more than 15 min. at a time in the middle of the night, but we were always getting woken up.  After 2 or 3 weeks of doing this, we were exhausted.  

One night, we got up and fed Xavier a bottle around 11PM.  He inhaled it.  It hit us that he might be so distracted by the other kids at daycare that he won't eat because he wants to play.  But when he gets home, he's too tired/sleepy to catch up on his bottles.  So he falls asleep hungry.  After we incorporated these midnight feedings, he seemed to sleep well the rest of the night.  So that's what we do!  We learn something new about him all the time.  

We aren't supposed to be getting him up to feed him in the middle of the night, per our pediatrician's recommendation, but it's what works best for all of us to get a good night's rest.  I'm sure after we master this, something else will cause him to change his sleeping habits, like teething or another cold.  It's a running target!  Every month his sleep schedule seems to change and we run as fast as we can to keep up.  Ah, but we wouldn't change it for the world!

Some things I noticed these couple of months:
--Trying my hardest not to compare my kid to other babies who are the same age.  It's really hard when you go to daycare every day and see that younger baby doing more than your older, bigger baby, but every baby develops differently.  There are some things Xavier seems to be ahead of the game on and vice versa.  Even the milestones your doctor gives need to be taken with a grain of salt.  I've learned to just go with the flow and if he's "behind" in something per where society thinks he should be, I just have to think that I'm glad he's staying little just a short while longer.  Once they pass these milestones, there's no going back!  It's exciting when the babies hit the milestones, but there's plenty of time for it to happen.  I barely remember when Xavier used to nap on me.  He doesn't do that anymore and it gives me a major sad face!
--I've never eaten out so much in my life!  I know every restaurant in my area who delivers.  The phone numbers are all programmed in my phone and all the menus are in our kitchen drawer.  I'd love to be able to eat meals we cook at home, but when it comes between choosing to play with Xavier or grocery shop and cook, I pick the baby!
--I have to laugh at myself for not caring about getting back in shape to my pre-baby weight.  My weight and physical fitness were such a huuuuge part of my life before I got pregnant.  I still have about 15 pounds to go, still wear some of my super comfy maternity clothes, and am totally okay with it :)

See all Daily Routines here.

5 Things For Spring

We are getting in the Easter holiday spirit here and are having a blast watching Xavier become more mobile than ever.  He is rolling over to objects that we think are out of reach for him, he scoots, and he is saying "dadadada....." all day long.  Here are some spring things for your week.

1.  Spring Consignment Sales - Last weekend, I got together with some of my mom friends for a birthday outing and we made a stop at a consignment sale.  There are so many of these sales going on right now for spring, it's ridiculous.  Check in your area for one or check around a big city that's near you.  I found tons of summer clothing pieces for Xavier (most of which were $1-$2 a piece), including my absolute new favorite clothing item, a romper.  I'm sure as it gets even warmer, I will just skip the clothes all together and let him run wild in his diaper!

2.  Ceramic Egg Crates - I use these egg crates from anthropologie to serve fruit or candy in around Easter.

3.  Ice Cream Floats - A fun treat to enjoy on the back porch, while listening to tunes, is one of my favorites, root-beer floats.  Perfect way to unwind at the end of the day.

4.  Hunter Rain Boots - I finally got a pair of these rain boots this weekend!  I am very excited to walk to my building in torrential downpours and show up to the office in DRY pants.

5.  Fresh Flowers - Grab some fresh flowers and place them throughout your house.  They are sure to brighten any room.  Flowers look their best and are cheaper this time of year, so I grabbed some tulips to decorate the table for Easter.  Break up a bouquet and place a few pieces in several different vases.

Hope you have a great week!

Eight Month Favorites

Age: 8 months

Nicknames:  Xavier-face, Little Buddy, Sir, Little Man, Muppet, X, Little Precious, Sweet Love, Sock Monkey, Fuss Budget, His Lordship

Favorite Foods: Sweet potatoes, apples, pears, macaroni & cheese (takes after his mama!), fruit and oatmeal, squash, and blueberries

Gross Foods: Green beans (his face scrunches up and he involuntarily shakes on the first bite- haha, funny to watch), peas

Mom's Proudest Moment:  There are so many "oops's" I can't keep track.  Mostly they involve me thinking "Oh he'll be fine, he can't move that far" then I come back finding him laying on top of my computer with the computer cord in his mouth, laughing (this really did happen).
Dad's Proudest Moment:  A few months ago, Steve's orthodontist mailed us a copy of his bill.  I was holding Xavier while opening it and he grabbed it out of my hand and munched on it for 10 minutes.  It was torn to shreds, bite marks and holes all over, making it illegible to read.  When Steve got home, he took a picture of the bill so he could show the office ladies "the baby ate my bill."  Well, last week, we had a stack of papers on the table and Xavier lunged in to grab a piece and quickly put it in his mouth.  Annnndddd, guess what he grabbed?!  Another orthodontist bill!  Oh my gosh, this kid :)

Favorite Things:

Melissa and Doug Geometric Stacker - Xavier likes the bright colors and he's getting pretty good at taking the wooden pieces off the posts.  This toy keeps him entertained for a half hour sometimes.

Early Years Roll n Ball Swirl Ball Ramp - I help him roll the balls down the ramp.  He watches them go all the way down.  The balls have shakers in them so when he's tired of watching them roll, he shakes the balls.  He's even started putting the balls back on the ramp!

Leap Frog Learn and Groove Activity Table - The legs come off so babies who aren't yet crawling or climbing can enjoy everything on the table too.  Keeps him entertained for a long time.

Baby Ganics Foamin' Fun Bath Soap - Now that Xavier is loving bath time, I had to go on the hunt for a good foaming bath soap.  This one is the winner!  The way it squirts from the bottle makes it extra foamy and Xavier is mesmorized by all the bubbles.  Plus, bath time is way more fun with a foamin' Santa beard.

Sippy Cup - We tried sippy cups this month and these seem to work best for training.  And so far, no leaks.  The first few time we used sippys, we put half his bottle in it, fed him the first half from the bottle, and the last half from the sippy.  We also like these Avent sippys because the cup is spill-proof and the parts fit on standard Avent bottles.  He seems to like his new cups!  

Boon Bath Toys - Xavier loves to chew on these bath toys.  We stick them on the side of the tub and like watching him pull them off.  It makes bath time even more fun!
Gerber Food Pouches - These are good for when you're on the go during "solid foods feeding time."  Saves you from lugging around an extra bowl(s) and you can reseal them and save for later if your baby doesn't eat the whole thing in one sitting.  I've also heard you can buy spoons that screw right on to the pouch.
Gerber Fruit Puffs - Once your baby starts to use his pinchers (first finger and thumb) to pick up objects, you are clear to start solid foods.  We started Xavier on these Puffs a little early; he was still doing the whole hand grab thing.  It's scary the first time you use these.  But, put one in your mouth and watch how quickly it dissolves!  I broke a puff into 4 or 5 pieces the first few times.  They are easy for him to grab because they stick to his fingers better than Cheerios, and get him used to feeding himself.  Let your babies practice with Puffs at least once a day and they will use their pinchers in no time!
Silicone Baby Bib - When you start solid foods, you must buy a silicone bib with pockets, unless you're okay with picking up 100 Puffs at each sitting.  These bibs wash in the sink very easily and are sturdy.

Not Pictured:  Disposable restaurant table toppers are an absolute must when you take your babies out with you to eat!  A great way to keep your babies entertained at restaurants is to give them Plum's Little Yums when they are teething.  They are little biscuits the kiddos hold on to and they come in different flavors.  Be prepared, these things leave a sticky mess on the hands/face, but given they keep babies entertained for at least 15 minutes, I'll take the mess!  You could try Baby Mum Mums, too.  I hear they are less sticky.

Favorite Activities: Finger painting, jumping in the jumper, smiling at himself in the mirror, going to new places (took him to the grocery store for the first time and he couldn't take his eyes off all the colors), and flying in the air over Dad's head

Signature Moves: Bubble swatting, picking out the pink ball and proudly holding it up when the blue or green balls are right beside it, getting very excited but holding it in until it builds up and bursts out of him vigorously resulting in extremely loud squawks and squeals, sleeping through the first half of music class and then when it's time to cool down he wakes up and is full of energy meaning he wants to laugh and make noise when everyone else is quiet.

See all Monthly Favorites posts here.

Xavier's 6 Month Photo Shoot

Our 6 month family photos came back and they are too cute not to share.  Our photographer was wonderful and captured some really cute faces and smiles.  Check out some of my favorites from our session!

Playing Outside

What a gorgeous day we had today!  It felt like 70 degrees outside!  I took off work a little early so Xavier and I could enjoy the warm weather.  Bubbles, tunes on Pandora, stroller rides, and a mini-photo sesh were on our afternoon agenda.

Xavier likes to swat and yell at the bubbles when they land in front of him.

Aww, a new favorite accessory.  I think he just asked me if he could wear them every day :)
Bunny Ears - Target Dollar Spot

 

We had fun in the sun today, listening to Rihanna, NSync and Drake.  I am starting to enjoy our time together more and more, especially now that he's getting older and interacts more with me.  He's still not talking (in a language I can understand), but he smiles and laughs constantly!

Check out my brand new chalkboard!  Looking forward to writing some fun holiday sayings and decorating it with festive garland.

Can't wait to spend more time outside playing with my little man.  Up next, sidewalk chalk and finger paint.  Maybe it's Dad's turn to take little buddy out to play :D

Our Weekend in Pictures/Video

Ah, it finally stopped raining, just in time for the weekend.  We did so much this weekend I'm looking forward to starting the workweek to get a break.  But I enjoyed getting to spend tons of time with our little family.

On Saturday, we had a mama and babies play date at a play cafe.  Play cafes have tons of toys we don't have at home and it's stimulating for Xavier to be around other kids.  He quickly made a couple friends on the play mats, including two little girls that were about Xavier's age.  It was so cute to watch how much Xavier enjoys playing with other kids!  He didn't need me around at all, so it gave me some time to bond with the other moms who were there.

I made a trip to Target to grab some goodies to put in a surprise Easter basket for a special friend :)

I don't know if we are slap happy from the lack of sleep we've gotten this week due to Xavier's cold or if we've completely given up on trying to be normal parents, but we came up with a creative idea for Saturday night's dinner...

After we put Xavier to bed, we topped off Saturday evening with strawberry smoothies (in our new mason jars!) and watched Modern Family reruns.

Sunday morning, we met some friends for brunch and I thoroughly enjoyed my Mimosa.

 The weather cooperated with us to take Xavier to a local park and let him ride the swings for the first time.  He was all smiles and I loved watching the wind blow through his little baby hair!

After that, we took Xavier to the music classes we just enrolled him in.

Then, some of the other moms and I got together after class for dinner at North Star cafe.  My burrito was AMAZING.

We had an action packed, fun-filled weekend, filled with laughs, new experiences, and tons of diaper changes!  Easter is just a couple weeks away (eeeee, I'm so excited!) and I'm really looking forward to all the fun things we have planned to remember Xavier's first!

Spring (Cleaning) In My Step

Cleaning your house while having young children is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing, someone once said, I think.

I actually am looking forward to spring cleaning this year.  We moved in to our house 2 years ago and were excited to paint, decorate and make it our own.  When I got pregnant all the house projects were put on hold.  But now that baby is a little older and more independent, I'm ready to tackle some projects and organize around the house!

 Cleaning with a kid is an absolute joke.  It's a never ending process and must be done all day long.  So,  instead I'm focusing on organizing the clutter.  Here is a list of my spring cleaning/clutter organizing favorites!

Mason Jars - I am replacing all our kitchen glassware with these quilted mason jars (12 oz. size) for drinking, and these larger mason jars (quart size) for smoothies/milkshakes.  I'm very excited to pick out fun straws and sip my fruit smoothies on our newly made-over back porch!  I also use mason jars for flowers, cotton balls, Q-tips... you get the point!

Mrs. Meyers lavender cleaning spray - Love the scent of this spray and the fact that it's kid-friendly.

Chalkboard toy basket - I'm a wicker basket hoarder.  These baskets are large enough to hold lots of kids toys in a more stylish way.  Plus, it's fun to add fun sayings on the chalkboard.  I will be buying more!

Container Store canvas bins - We have several of these in Xavier's room as a catch all storage spot.  Perfect for tossing his toys in.
Heritage Hill Glass Jars with Lids - You can put literally ANYTHING in these.  LOVE!

B&BW Wallflowers - My favorite scent is this orange ginger.  The scent serves as an energy boost, which I desperately need when I get off work.  Plus, I am loving these new covers!

Container Store Lucite makeup organizer - Ever find your vanity messily covered in nail polish, makeup, lotions, etc?  These organizers give the illusion of cleanliness.  The clear color makes it match any room.
Plastic bins - Those precious hand/foot print crafts day care sends home with Xavier are the most adorable ever!  I need somewhere to store them when I take down from the fridge.  These bins are perfect, although since I save everything Xavier makes, I'll be needing more of these in the near future.