I would say that since we moved in to our condo just over a year ago, I have always felt like it was in a state of transition and organization.  We worked at going through boxes of things we knew we didn't necessarily want to keep, we kept trying to find just the right arrangment for the furniture we had and figure out where we could use a piece here or there, and we organized stuff to find storage space, sometimes where there was very little.  I continue to feel like it is still a work in progress and maybe I always will. 

But with Baby on the way, it seems the "transitional" state of our condo has been taken to the next level these days.  We recently bought a new mattress for ourselves.  After sleeping on my full size bed for over year, we upgraded to a queen and were able to put our new comforter and linens to use to go with the paint color Jack and Steve worked so diligently to put up in that room a while back.  With that new mattress, something had to be done with the old one, right?  Well, for the moment, it is standing up against the wall in our 2nd bedroom where it'll soon be taken to my parents' house for use in one of their spare bedrooms.  But in the meantime, that second bedroom looks like we haven't made any progress on it at all, when we really have!  It's a little discouraging to be quite honest, and I am glad that over the weekend we'll be able to make the switch.

I also just picked up our crib this week that needs to be assembled.  Since the mattress is in the bedroom, the box is currently just leaning up against the wall in our living room.  And just last night we visited with my brother, sister-in-law and their two kids, where we were gifted a whole bunch of gently used baby things free of charge.  (Thanks, Jim & Renee!)  Since I didn't want them to continue to have to store the stuff, we loaded up the things we thought we could use in my car to bring home.  And where are these items now, you might ask?  Most are in our dining/living room area.

Frankly, I think even Bentley is a little confused as to what is going on.  As we went to bed last night, instead of sleeping on his bed out in the living room, he started out laying in the second bedroom close to the door on the hard floor.

Despite being a bit overwhelmed by the current state of things, I am looking forward to this weekend when we'll be able to move some things around and get back to making our condo look like a home.

Speaking of painting....I was finally able to get to painting the second bathroom a couple weeks ago.  It wasn't so much that we didn't like the color, we just didn't like it in that room.  Mary helped me do the taping on a Friday night.  I spent most of the day the following Saturday and Sunday priming and painting, four coats in total.  Now we think we're done painting!

Up until last week, Mary and I had been sleeping on her six year old bed.  Don't get me wrong, it was comfortable enough, but it was only a full and we were ready for an upgrade!  We didn't go with a king because it would have been a pretty tight fit in our bedroom, and we still need space for things like dressers, nightstands, shoes and a baby (not in order of importance).  We ended up with a nice, middle-of-the-road Simmons queen.  Now, an extra three inches on each side may not sound like a lot, but it is just right for us.  It gives us a little more room, but doesn't make us feel like we're miles apart, either.

Phew, a major item on the list we can cross off (hopefully)!  Mary and I made our first baby furniture purchase (kind of) on Monday.  Why all the indefinites? 

Well, we were able to decide on a specific model of crib from Babies-R-Us.  They don't actually stock the crib, though, so we ordered it and it is supposed to be delivered within 7-14 business days.  We have also heard that cribs can sometimes get backordered and not show up until the last minute.  The crib we picked, however, is somewhat of a newer model, so hopefully it will come in as expected.

When it comes in, it will get delivered to the store.  At that point, we'll need to pick it up and make sure it didn't get damaged in transit.  If all goes well, we'll have the crib home and ready to assemble next month.  We just have to find a place for it...

I think I figured out a couple of the reasons I have been having a hard time keeping up with blogging.  For starters, many of the things we have been up to lately have included us taking some pictures.  Since it would be nice to share those at the same time as the blog itself, I put off writing the blog until the pictures are uploaded and ready to be included.  This, however, is a process Jack has walked me through at least twice and I continue to forget how to do it (something about saving them to our computer from the card in the camera, then opening them in Picassa to adjust the size of the image to a size I never remember, then from there, I don't remember the rest).  So in the meantime, I put off writing the blog and clearly that has made for a boring WindyCityMinsters site. 

The second reason is that I have been trying hard to catch-up/keep up with regular necessary things to not feel as ovewhelmed.  Even though we are getting close to our one year anniversary, I think we are still figuring out what works for us and our schedules sometimes.  I would love to get a bit more of a routine and although life throws all kinds of curve balls that I am OK with, for my sanity's sake, I have been focusing on our stuff much more than this blog has come to mind.

There is also a bit of news that I think everyone who reads this blog knows by now, but just in case you haven't heard yet, we are pregnant!  I am currently 19 weeks along, all of our appointments have been going just fine and I am feeling good these days.  But knowing that our lives are going to DRASTICALLY change soon, I think we have been trying to focus on us even more and what we both want to do and need to do before the baby arrives.  We've had some fun times with friends, have a couple trips planned that are coming up, and we are working to get some things in order in our condo to make it more like home and to make room for our new addition.

For starters, we are finally repainting our bedroom this weekend.  I am totally excited!  Well, that is if we can come to a final decision on the paint color.  We thought we had it all picked out, but after putting a bit on the wall as a test, we aren't quite sure anymore.  Since we have dedicated time this weekend to get it done, I know it'll all work out.  Jack has plans to take before and after pics, so those will get posted here too (someday).

Otherwise, the last month or so has been filled with a knife skills class that we took with our good friends Kristen and Jay, a July 3rd BBQ at my brother's house, a surprise 30th birthday party for our good friend, Kati, Jack taking a trip to LA for work, going to the movies just the two of us 2 weeks in a row for a mid-week "date night", a couple outings with my girlfriends, a BBQ at Kristen and Jay's, some shopping, Jack taking a 36-hour trip to Michigan for his friend, former roommate and fraternity brother, Joe's bachelor outing, vet appointments for Bentley, an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment for me, and a bunch of the usual making dinners and condo stuff.  I have loved focusing on us a little more this past month and am looking forward to the plans we have before the baby arrives.  Makes me a little nervous to know that our lives are going to change so drastically, but as Jack often reminds me, who is to say it isn't going to be better once the baby is here?!  So, in the meantime, we are living more in the moment, and getting more excited with each day.

Thanks for being patient in between blogs.  Have a great weekend!