Birds and Bees Baby Shower (not for me!)

You all know by now that I'm pregnant (or if you didn't, you do now), but you probably didn't know that Chiquitita, my neighbor is too!  In fact, she's due in 3 weeks!  I threw here a baby shower today and it was awesome (if I do say so myself-which I totally do).  Her last name is Byrd (I asked if I could put that online and she said sure), so I decided to go with the theme Birds and Bees.  Get it?  Byrd/Bird?  Yep, I'm clever like that.  These are the invited I made.  I used 2 different scrap book papers, a Martha Stewart 3D bee sticker and a clip art bird (I put a sticky foam under the bird to give it a 3D look too).

This is the food table.  I made tissue paper pom poms (OMG, so easy!  I can't believe I haven't done this before) and cute out some birds from the same scrap book paper I used for the invites.  Oh, BTW, the first tissue paper pom pom I made was a hot mess.  I folded the paper on the long side instead of the short side and it so did not work.  D'oh!
For food we had Bruschetta, pasta salad, fruit skewers, hot spinach artichoke dip, cookies, punch and cake.  The super awesome Hoosier Mom (who will one day update her blog!) made the cake.  There are close ups below.

Tissue paper pom poms (there are a million tutorials online, just put "tissue paper pom poms" in your search box and they'll pop up) and cut out birds.  Since I don't have a Silhouette (sadness), those birds were all cut out by hand.  I printed off a bird from MS Word, traced it onto the scrap book paper and cut them out.  I think the effect is cute.

Cutlery and napkin caddy.  I used some left over tissue paper to make the little flower on top. I also made a corsage for Chiquitita the same way.

Fruit Skewers!  Yummy!

The gift/favor table (before all the gifts arrived).  The favors were personalized candy bars and egg shaped candles.  BTW, James Bond made all the bird's nests for me.  He's my new crafting hero!

Look at this cake!!!  Is it not adorable????  AND it was delicious.  Hoosier Mom rocks!  We took some left over bee stickers and put them on wire to make it look like they were flying around the hive.

Me and Chiquitita.

Since I too am pregnant, I didn't want to do any physical shower games (and I'm not a fan of the games where you have to taste things-especially that dirty diaper/candy bar game), we did a simple game where the names of animals were listed and everyone had to write down what the baby is called.  This is harder than it sounds.  Do you know what a baby platypus is called?  A puggle!  Who knew?  Well, actually I did, but only because it was mentioned once on Phineas and Ferb.  The prize was the two potted plants on the gift table.  Things got really serious when they found out the plants were up for grabs.

We mostly sat around and chatted and ate (way too much).  It was loads of fun.  I hope you enjoyed your peek at the birds and bees baby shower!

Linking to:

Dear So and So: Eating cookies in the dark

Oh, Friday.  The day most of the world looks forward to with a passion.  If you're a SAHM though...eh.  It's just another day.  For those new followers (hi!!!!) who might not know. Kat over at 3 Bedroom Bungalow hosts an awesome blog party every Friday where you can write letters to anyone who has annoyed you this week.

Dear Girl Scouts,

$3.50 for a box of cookies?  Are you kidding?  Yes, your cookies are oh-so-delicious, but $3.50 a box????  Back when I sold them, they were $1.50 a box.  And don't think I haven't noticed that the cookies are smaller and the box holds less.  Oh, I'm on to you.  Charging more for less.  And you're only available once a year, making it almost impossible to pass you up.  PLUS, I'm pregnant.  You evil wenches know a pregnant lady can't pass up Thin Mints.  Evil.  You're evil.

Wiping the chocolate off my face,
MIHH


Dear Han Solo,

If you could lay off with the kidney kicking, I'd really appreciate it.  It hurts.

Sincerely,
MIHH (but you can call me Mommy)


Dear Lady driving the ridiculously large truck,

You will NOT fit into those tiny little parking space.  It is made for compact cars, which you are not.  There are larger spaces about 10 feet away, so stop trying to park in the compact spots.  BTW, I'd like the 8 minutes of my time you wasted (yes, I looked at the clock) while I couldn't back out of my own parking space because you were blocking the aisle trying (without success, I might add) to fit your big ass truck into a parking space made for a Mini Cooper.  After 8 minutes of pulling forward, backing up, pulling forward and backing up over and over, you had to move down to the larger spaces anyway.  Was it necessary to make everyone else wait because you can't do simple math?

Irritated,
MIHH


Dear Coco,

You're ridiculously cute, and we love you, but you CANNOT sit on my stomach.  Han Solo and I do NOT appreciate it.  I know you think you have to be as close to me as possible (what's with that,BTW?), but please, not the stomach.

Painfully,
MIHH



Dear electric wiring,

5 light bulbs blown in 2 days????  This is ridiculous.  I know you're old and faulty because our housing is ancient, but this is getting ridiculous.  I'm tired of buying light bulbs.  Not to mention cajoling James Bond into climbing the ladder to change said blown bulbs.  Ugh.  I'm really over this.

In the dark,
MIHH


Dear Army Housing,

You'll be getting a hefty bill from me for light bulbs.  We blow about 2-3 a month, so start padding your budget now.

Broke,
MIHH


Dear Oprah,

I'm not griping at you.  I actually want to thank you for your show highlighting military families and the struggles they face due to these 2 seemingly, never-ending wars.  You made me cry several times, but I think this was a really important show.  I wish everyone in America had seen it.

Weepily,
MIHH



Dear Readers,

Head on over to Kat's (hit the button at the top) to read more letters or write you own (you know you want to) and link up!

Smooches,
MIHH




 

Blizzard Bloghopping on a Thursday

Well, hello, and welcome to all the bloghoppers! For those of you who don't know, Ann Marie of  Household Diva 6 is a brilliant blogger who thought it would be nice for those of us uncool enough to go not going to Blissdom should have our own little meet and greet.  Isn't she darling?  Yes, yes she is.

Anyhoo, the bloghop is to introduce yourself to other bloggers and get to meet them in return.

So, let me introduce myself.  Hello, I'm known in blogland as Mom in High Heels (which can lead to some pervy people showing up on my blog-I can see what you're searching for!) and I'm a military spouse to James Bond.  We are currently living in Germany (for the 3rd time) and have been married for almost 16 years.  Good heavens that makes me feel old.  Though to tell the truth I was positively an infant when we married.  If I keep telling myself that I might begin to believe it.  I'm also a home schooling mom (you can find a link to the hs blog over there somewhere >>>>) to the super awesome Indy (age 8).  He loves all things history and plans to be an archaeologist/paleontologist/Egyptologist/Indiana Jones when he grows up.  Every day is an adventure with that boy.  He gives me loads of blog fodder and I thank him for it.  We are also expecting Han Solo to join our family in April, though if he's anything like Indy, he'll be along in March.  Han Solo was a BIG surprise, let me tell you.  Being pregnant was NOT in the plans.  Especially at thirty.....seven.  Ah well, just more fodder for the blog, I suppose.
I have a BFA in Theatre Design (cause that's dead useful) and English (almost as useful as the theatre portion of my degree).  I enjoy reading, traveling, decorating (though not so much cleaning), crafting, flea marketing, Edward Cullen and Johnny Depp (call me!) and of course beautiful heels.  Oh, sweet high heels.  How I love thee!  Yes, I'm sure you will eventually send me screaming to a chiropractor with knee, back and ankle pain, but I don't care.  I love you anyway because you make my legs look longer and thinner and isn't that what all women really want?  Yes, yes it is.
I started blogging back in 2008 (it seem sooo long ago!) and find it's often the best way to keep my sanity (I live with BOYS and they can be yucky-I need a girly outlet).  If you're new here, feel free to look in the archives.  I'm sure you'll find something to make you laugh (or shake your head at the insanity of it all).  If you're not new, thanks for coming back.  I {heart} you.  Leave me a comment and let me know you've been here.  I like comments and promise to reciprocate. 

RTT: Music, Australia, and Oprah

 

I posted a lot last week. I don't know what was up with that. But now I'm back for another fun edition of Random Thoughts Tuesdays.


*I love Bon Jovi. He shot me through the heart. Gave love a bad name. And helped me live on a prayer. I loved him back when he had big hair and wore horrible, skin tight, zebra print pants. I also think he's just an all around nice guy. He gives money to charities and takes an interest in people. That being said though, I think it's time for him sit back and rest on his laurels. I'm not a fan of the new music he's been putting out lately. I saw him in Australia on Oprah last week and think it's time for him to let it go. His voice is just not what it used to be. I'll always love him though. Dead or Alive.

*Speaking of Oprah and Australia, wow! What a great trip for her fans. I want to go to Australia and meet Hugh Jackman and sail with Russel Crowe. And I'd like Oprah to pay for it.

*You think Oprah would let me be her secret half sister?  I'd be the best half-sister she ever had. 

*You'd think with all the mentions I make of Oprah, she'd at least say hi.  I mean really.

*Do you remember like a decade ago when The Bachelor was an okay show to watch and not just full of plastic bimbos willing to whore themselves out for 15 minutes of fame? Yeah, me too. Anyway, Bachelor Bob was my favorite Bachelor. He was funny. In one episode he was talking about the band Journey. He made the statement anyone who says they don't Journey, is a damn liar. True that, Bachelor Bob, true that. Journey rules. I'll never stop believing!

*We were watching the Today Show on Friday (IIRC) and they had a violinist on there who played classics with a rock twist. He was awesome. Indy (who plays violin) came out to see and said, "Isn't that Beethoven?" James Bond and I were happily surprised. Is WAS Beethoven! Yay for having a good ear.

*Indy went to a Harry Potter birthday party this weekend. He had a great time. Afterward, we had the following conversation:
Indy: "Mom, why haven't you read me the Harry Potter books?"
Me: "Read them yourself."
Indy: "I'm 8. And dyslexic. You could help a kid out."
Me: "I think you can try the first one."
Indy: [Dramatic Sigh] "And I thought you loved me."

*I put my iPod on shuffle.  Here are the first 5 songs that came up:
-High On You-Survivor
-The Trolley Song-Judy Garland
-Ain't No Sunshine-Bill Withers
-Billie Jean-Michael Jackson
-Boombastic-Shaggy
What does that say about me?

*Indy:  Today on Dr. Phil, something emotional will happen.

*Weird things I've eaten this week: a whole red bell pepper.  Really, I just cored it and ate it whole.  James Bond thought I was nuts, but it was DE-licious.

*I can honestly say that I personally know all 167 of my Facebook friends. I don't friend people I've never met. It always makes me suspicious when someone has 800 friends. Nobody knows that many people. Except maybe Indy. Seriously, everyone seems to know my child. It's weird.

*Do you remember when companies used to have sweepstakes and prize give aways and you knew instantly if you won something or not? I miss that. Now you have to go to a website and register (thus getting ensuring that they will spam you forever) and enter a code to see if you've
won. That really annoys me.

*My signature is on the blink.  Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not.  Very annoying.

*I'm throwing a baby shower this weekend for Chiquitita and I've done....pretty much nothing.  My house is a disaster.  The favors aren't finished and I haven't started making the decor.  I should probably get on that, huh?

*They should check their spelling:

*And finally, because it makes me smile.  Who wouldn't love this sweet little face?

Happy Tuesday everyone.  Go check out all the other randoms.

Meta Monday: Indy's Room Take 2

Warning!  Photo heavy!
It's been AGES since I participated in a Metamorphosis Monday. AGES! Mostly because I had nothing morphed. Sad me. Today though, I have something to show you! Way back in March 2009, I showed you Indy's room as a Morph. 

His room went from this:

To this:

 It was a cute pirate themed room and he loved it.  For a while.  About a year later though, he told me he wanted something more grown up.  After I wept for about an hour over the thought of my sweet little boy growing up, I asked what he had in mind.  He said he needed something that said "ADVENTURE and EXPLORATION."  This is my son.  Indy had loads of stuff he'd collected from our various travels and I knew I could do something if I put my mind to it.  He wanted the walls painted a "desert brown" but I told him repainting was not an option.  He sighed heavily, and said he could "live with the blue" (he's very magnanimous that way).  I found a duvet cover and light fixture at IKEA (of course) that said action/adventure/desert and started pulling posters, post cards and other odds and ends and set to work.  It was actually not expensive at all considering we had most of it.  It was merely a matter of putting it together.  When I was (mostly) done, it looked like this:

After our big world cruise, he had collected even more stuff, so I had to add it to the wall.  This is what hangs on the wall by his bed today:

And he got a million more postcards.  He LOVES postcards and so do we because they are inexpensive and easy to pack.  After our cruise I had to add another row of twine to accommodate his expanding collection.  This is a great way to display photos or postcards for practically nothing.  I put nails in the wall (4 small nails per row, spaced evenly), tied some twine to them,  grabbed a bunch of mini clothes pins and started adding things.  It holds postcards, photos, entry tickets, drink coasters, and other bits and bobs.   He loves to lay in bed and look at it.  The compass above is a wall sticker I had made of  some clipart for about $10.  There is another (pictured above) on the entry wall that has N,S,E,W.

  I

I love the big map.  I got it from Allposters.com for about $15.  James Bond found the Phonetician wall hanging for FREE and we had the smaller maps from our trips to Paris (they are street maps).  The EXPLORE letters I printed off  in the "Indiana Jones" font (SF Fedora) and cut out of travel scrapbook paper.  Easy peasy.

The 3 posters on the right side closet door were actually advertisements left in our cabin on our cruise.  The back side advertises the Disney Vacation Club and most people threw them in the trash, but we thought they'd be perfect in a Indy's room, so we carefully packed them in the bottom of our suitcase to bring home.
FREE! 

What adventure/explorer room would be complete without a shelf full of antiquities and curiosities?  These are some of Indy's most treasured possessions.  The Mickey and Mini banks are almost antique.  I got them in Disney World when I was about 3 and for whatever reason kept them.  Indy adores them and they are filled with his favorite thing: money!

And of course we couldn't leave out the most important items for any Indiana Jones wanna be:

I don't have a photo of it (and it really needs vacuuming or I'd go take one now), but we found and awesome zebra print rug to put by his bed.  He says his room is "super cool" and spends a good part of every day having adventures.

I hope you enjoyed the meta and will hop over to Susan's to see all the other wonderful links.

Also linking to:

Nesting

One of the...let's call them oddities, of pregnancy is nesting.  It's a curious phase, that occurs a few months before giving birth in which the mother goes completely insane is driven to clean and organize things.  Anything.  Everything.  Apparently, I have hit the nesting phase.  With a vengeance.   Where the energy has come from, I don't know, but James Bond is scared.  Real scared.  Just the way I like him.  In the past week I've cleaned the pantry, the entry closet, the hall/linen/shove-everything-in-there closet, organized about 10 bags of stuff to go to the Reuse It center, cleaned *most* of Indy's room, swept and mopped the bathroom and kitchen, organized the school room drawers and shelves and rearranged some furniture.  It's like a compulsion.  Yesterday I went crazy over the laundry (I was freaking out because there was SO much), and James Bond volunteered to take care of it.  Our laundry room is 4 flights down (we have a shared laundry in the basement of our building) and it's hard for me to carry it up and down all those stairs.  He said there were 7 loads.  I think he mostly did it to get away from me and my frenzied cleaning.  Whatever.  He did it and that's awesome.  Of course it now has to be put away, but I'm working on that too.  Everything irritates me.  Plates in the sink (which normally I don't care about), wrappers not thrown in the garbage (I do care about that, but normally don't freak out over it), towels not *properly* hung up, jackets only halfheartedly on their hooks...oh the list goes on and on.   James Bond watches me like he's waiting for me to snap (which I secretly enjoy-because I'm evil).  Indy is pretty impervious to my mania though.  When I get a little too psychotic crazy, Indy will come give me a hug and ask me if I need to lie down and rest and if he can do anything for me.  Isn't he the clever one?  
I have to say that nesting does have its positives.  This stuff NEEDED to be done and goodness knows I won't have the energy AFTER Han Solo arrives.  I just hope I haven't driven James Bond and Indy off the deep end before all is said and done though.  I've got more to say, but while sitting here I spotted some dust bunnies that are just begging to be swept up. 

Coolest antique photo editing site ever

I normally leave photo editing to the pros, but I found a site I had to share with you guys. HAD. TO. SHARE. It does the neatest antiquing of photos. I love the look of antique photos.  They're so much  more interesting than today's photos.  They feel like they have history and warmth and depth.  Well, this site will do it for you.  For FREES!!!!!   I loves me some frees!  It's a Japanese site called Bakumatsu Koshashin (at least I think that's what it's called-that's what it reads in my tab). If it comes up in Japanese, don't freak out! There's a button for English at the top right.  You basically load up any photo you want.  Take this for example.  This is Indy at the St. Antonin Baths in Tunisia on our cruise last May.  Cute photo, right?  Of course it is, it's of Indy! 

You  hit "generate" and in about a minute, voila!  Instant antique looking photo! 

Isn't that neat?  Didn't I tell you?  Indy says he looks just like Indiana Jones when he was a kid.  True story.  You can then right click and save it to your computer.  Here are a few more I did:

 Paris

 Pompeii

Rome

Really, is that not amazing?  I spent could spend hours putting photos in the generator.  I knew I had to pass this along to you guys.  Have fun and make some cool photos!

I'm linking this up to Amanda's party so even more people can do cool photos!

Are you a royal watcher???

Unless you live under a rock, with your eyes shut, your fingers in your ears and sing "la-la-la" all day, you know there's a royal wedding coming up. You might not know that there are actually 2. In addition to Prince William and Kate, the reigning monarch of Monaco, Prince Albert will be marrying this summer. The heir to the most popular throne and a reigning monarch getting married within a few months of each other? Oh, it's going to be a banner year for royal watchers!
Laura Ingalls Gunn over at Decor to Adore is hosting Royal Wedding Wednesdays where she explores all aspects of the upcoming royal wedding. It has quickly made Wed into one of my favorite days of the week. Yep, I'm a nerd. I loves me some royals. I remember getting up crazy early back in 1981 to watch Charles and Diana get married and thought it was the coolest thing ever. Of course it didn't turn out too well, but that day was amazing and something I will not forget. I'm super excited to get to watch William and Kate get married but I'm crazy happy that I'm in a much better timezone for said wedding (I'm an hour ahead of London, so no early morning for me). I'm also hoping that there will be slightly more coverage of Prince Albert's wedding once Wills and Kate (that's right, I call them that) have tied the knot. We went to Monaco (which they pronounce Mon-AH-co) this past year and it was stunningly beautiful. The royal palace was gorgeous and the views! Oh, the views! I could totally see myself living there. You know, if I was ridiculously wealthy.
If you're a royal watcher be sure to check out RWW and enjoy!

RTT: sicks, food, movies and other randoms

RTT again? Where did the week go? I can't believe it.

*Indy spent the night with his BFF, G-Money (son of Hoosier Mom and JAG) on Saturday. He was so excited. When we went to pick him up on Sunday, he was playing Wii and doing fine. We went to the commissary (military grocery store) and on the way he said his tummy hurt and he needed to use the bathroom. He went (and was in there so long we got worried) and said he felt better. James Bond said he destroyed the bathroom.  Ooops.  We paid for our groceries and went home. In the car he said "I feel nauseous." I turned around to ask if he was okay and...blah, he was vomiting. In my precious Ulrika! Holy cow. James Bond grabbed a bag from the back floorboard and told him to throw up in that and boy did he. I'm not one of those moms who handles vomit well and being pregnant on top of it was awful. It was all I could do to keep the contents of my own stomach down. We got him home and cleaned up (James Bond cleaned out Ulrika for me, bless his heart) and he laid on the bed in the school room and watched Shrek. He said he felt better and an hour later asked for food. Chicken soup it was. He ate, felt okay and wanted more food. I told him he'd had enough and we sent him to bed early. He fell asleep almost instantly (apparently they stayed up quite late at the sleep over and he was tired) and all was well. Or so I thought. Around 9pm, I heard him calling me and went to his room to find that he had vomited the afore mentioned soup all over his bed. Oh, good golly, the smell! I ran out of the room screaming for James Bond. He cleaned the bed and took all the bedding down to the laundry while I cleaned Indy up once again. For a kid who has thrown up maybe 8 times in his entire life, twice in the space of a few hours was a big deal. Oh, the horror. He's spent the entire day Monday on the sofa drinking juice and water and eating only from the BRAT diet (Banana, Rice, Applesauce, Toast) and managed to keep it all down. He's feeling better today. Thank goodness James Bond was here because I don't know what I would have done without him. I PRAY Han Solo is not a vomiter. Ick.

*Whew, if you read all that, thanks.  I'm very wordy today. Must be the fever.

*Oh, that's right, guess who's sick now?  Yep, me.  AND James Bond.  Of course all you women out there know that no woman, not even a pregnant woman, could possibly ever be as sick as a man.  He's obviously FAR worse than I am. 


*James Bond and I saw True Grit and it was awesome.  We weren't fans of the ending, because we felt it was too abrupt (damn you Coen brothers!), but man it was a good movie! I can't believe it didn't get any nominations for the Golden Globes.

*Last night, I was dreaming about...something.  I don't really know what, but all of a sudden Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) from True Grit was standing there with a lantern staring at me.  He said "You're sick.  You've got what the boy has.  You need to wake up. [pause, pause]  Did you hear me?  You're sick.  Wake up now."  My eyes flew open, I did a combat roll off the bed and ran to the bathroom where I really was sick.  Isn't that crazy?

*Yesterday Coco ate a lego, the top to a water bottle, a pack of Lifesavers and half a banana peel . OMG.  It's a wonder she doesn't have some sort of food poisoning.  Or at least a really upset stomach.

*I cleaned out the refrigerator and was so grossed out. Some of the stuff in there I didn't even recognize as food.

*I no longer have pregnancy cravings, but I do eat weird stuff. This week: half a can of apple pie filling (it just sounded good), 3 tomatoes and 2 kiwi (for dinner),and hummus (with a spoon, NOT pita chips).

*One of my BFF's from high school (I posted about her wedding in 2008) just had her first child on Jan 15th.   She had a little boy who was born ON his due date!  What are the odds?  I'm over the moon happy for her and her awesome hubby.  They're going to be great parents.  Welcome to the world little man!

*Phineas and Ferb rock my world.  It is so funny.  If you don't watch it, you're missing out.

*I was supposed to do my 1 hour glucose test this morning, but since we're all sick, I  rescheduled.   I'm not looking forward to the test, though Chicquitita (who is 9 weeks further along than I am) said the stuff the Germans use doesn't taste bad.  That nasty orange goo the Americans give you to drink is disgusting.  I generally have low blood sugar anyway and came through with flying colors with Indy, so I'm not that concerned.

*I must see The King's Speech.  I find George VI fascinating in his own right (talk about stepping into a role he was not prepared for and doing a "jolly fine" job at it) and I adore Colin Firth.  I wonder how QEII feels about the movie?

*Oh, BTW, last RTT, I mentioned that we had Despicable Me ready to watch and some said it was enjoyable.  You were right!  It was good.  Yesterday, as part of Indy's sick day, we watched Megamind again and that is a funny, funny movie.  If you haven't seen it, I give it 2 thumbs up.

*So, two nights ago I dreamed about Johnny Depp.  Given our history together (more here) you might not think this anything noteworthy, but he is suspiciously absent from my dreams.  Poor sad me.  Anyhoo, the other night I actually dreamed of him!  Did I dream we were on a tropical island somewhere (not that I'm a beach gal, but if that's where Johnny wants to take me, who am I to complain?)?  Were we drinking wine in a secluded cafe in Paris?  Were we on board a private yacht staring into each others eyes passionately?  No, no we were not.  I was helping him look for his lost dog.  In a muddy field.  Where I had to take off my heels in exchange for Wellies.  Oh, yes, that was a sexy dream.  Of course I didn't get to finish said dream, thanks to my own dogs who woke me up, but if I had, I'm sure I would have found his dog, and he would have declared his undying love for me and THEN we would have been off to a tropical island/cafe/yacht.  Sigh.  I love you Johnny!  Call me.

*And, in case you didn't know:

Mini-Pantry Makeover

Pantry. Ugh. What an unpleasant word. Just thinking about the word brings up images of food piled high and plastic bags haphazardly thrown behind a door to hide them. At least that's what my pantry usually looks like. There's a movement going on in blogland to reorganize and since I'm apparently in my nesting phase, I decided to join in. Traci, over at Beneath My Heart is hosting an organization party thing every Monday in Jan, and today she discussed pantry organization. Interestingly, I happened to have that on my to do list today (handy how that worked out, isn't it?), so I thought I'd show you some before and afters. 
Traci will be hosting a link up party on Friday and I'll link to that, but since I've had precious little to blog about lately (that doesn't involve contractions of babies), I thought I'd go ahead and post this today.
Now, before we look at the photos, I should mention that we don't have a pretty pantry (we live in military housing, so having a pantry at all is a serious luxury) and I can't paint it and I don't have a Silhouette machine (yet) to make pretty tags or labels.  Also, last night, for whatever reason, James Bond decided to go through the top shelf of the pantry and make it neat (maybe he's nesting too?) and I didn't get a before photo.  Believe me, it was a hot mess and about 10 times worse than the before photo I took today.  It was embarrassingly bad and I probably wouldn't have wanted to show you what it looked like anyway.  This before photo makes me cringe as it is.  Ack!

 I spent about an hour going through stuff (and throwing much of it out), and putting it in containers and here it is now:

Isn't that better? I feel weird showing the foods and drinks we have with you guys.  Though I have to say, it's not that bad.  We have to buy our water so that's why there are so many water bottles.  The bottles have to go back to the store for a deposit refund, so it's easier to corral them in the white container.  We could get water delivered and have a big cooler, but I don't like the way it tastes.   The water that is delivered is filtered and I prefer spring.  When just about the only thing you drink is water, you get picky about it and learn the difference in tastes.  I have to say though, it is a pain lugging all those bottles up 3 flights of stairs. 
Oh, and in the first photo, you might notice that we have several large cans of  baked beans.  We are not baked beans junkies.  James Bond had to make some for a a company dinner a while back (I made them better by adding onions, garlic, maple syrup and other stuff) and for whatever reason felt the need to buy like 8 cans.  Do you know how much is in one can?  Good golly.  Also, you might notice that we have a lot of nuts.  Nuts are my current pregnancy drug of choice.  I eat a handful several times throughout the day and Han Solo is happy as a clam.  He gets very active after I eat nuts.  
OMG, why am I talking about food?   It makes me hungry.  I just ate some Greek yogurt (so good!) with granola and blueberries though, so maybe I should wait a while. 
I'm rambling.  Good heavens.  I'll shut up now.  I hope you enjoyed my little mini makeover.