Babyproofing and Dogs

Kind of an odd title considering my baby is about to be a toddler, but . . . I don't want to think about that just now! Until recently, rather than babyproofing my entire house (or even my entire living room), we just "pinned" Ella in our living room area by arranging couches and putting up a gate. It was the safe (read easy) way to babyproof the area where she was playing. Then it became not so easy . . . when she learned how to move my blockades. At first she wasn't obsessed with moving the barriers, but then it became a game. She knew how to escape, and as soon as I put her down she'd make a run (crawl) for it.

Now, we've removed the blockades, and I'm letting her roam a bit more freely. This is actually less stressful than constantly moving her back inside the blockades, and putting the blockades back up. However, I still need to completely babyproof the area (something I really needed to do a long time ago). I've put plug covers on all the outlets, and I've removed dangerous items out of the area where I'm letting her crawl. We have an open floor plan, and part of the open space includes the kitchen. I'm not planning on locking her out of all the cabinets and drawers, but there are definitely some I want to keep her out of.  I'm having difficulty finding  drawer and cabinet locks to use, mostly because I'm being really picky. Our cabinets are new, and I really don't want to drill into them. It is hard to find cabinet locks that you don't screw into the cabinets. I found these, but they are very expensive compared to the ones that you drill into cabinets. Do you have any suggestions for other cabinet locks?

I know these photos have nothing to do with babyproofing, but Ella has been SO cute with our dogs lately. She's really been having fun interacting with them, and she is learning to be gentle enough that they are starting to enjoy her too (at least I think so anyway).

Frustrated

Days like today make me realize the purpose behind this blog in the first place. Tonight we had a Christmas party at our home. I LOVE entertaining and having everyone over, but honestly sometimes (ok, most times), I just don't start preparing for everything early enough.

I've been slowly going through my living room/kitchen area throughout the week, trying to organize, clean out, and babyproof all at the same time (I've been wanting to do this regardless of having the party or not). I've been very happy with the progress I've made, but it has just taken me a lot longer than I thought it would. I was only halfway through the living room/kitchen area by this morning. There was no way I would actually be able to organize/clean out/babyproof the remaining half of the area the way I wanted before the party tonight. So, instead, as usual, things were cleaned and put away, but not the way I really wanted it done. As the day progressed, I became more and more frustrated with myself. Frustrated that I am not a very good housekeeper, and that my house was in such bad shape to begin with. Frustrated that I wasn't able to get the rest of my "project" done the way I wanted to get it done. Frustrated at how stressed I became about the whole situation.

Thankfully, I have a great husband who helped out today. I still didn't everything done the way I wanted it done, but the house looked pretty good, and the party turned out great. I had a wonderful time with my friends tonight! I really am blessed!