"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self."

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

ehhh.

My old bones are a-creakin!
Today I decided to bite the bullet and attack the giant shrubs that were gradually taking over the front of our house. It was a beautiful day and I figured/hoped I could count on BabyCakes for a nice long nap, so I just went after them. This project has been hanging over my head for a WHILE. Every time I drove up to our house I felt like they were saying "Welcome home, oh mighty non-doer of things that need to be done! Per your request, we have continued to make your house look unkempt while you were away!" Part of the reason I had put it off so long was that because of the slope of our yard, some of the bushes were really tall and hard to trim/take-down-over-a-foot. That's just an excuse, though.
Anyway... I got started and almost immediately BigBoy's morning Star Wars playmate arrived home from an early dismissal day of school. YES. I had the front door open because the day was so nice (plus so I could hopefully hear BabyCakes if the baby monitor failed) and he just walked right on up to the the front porch calling for BigBoy. He was sooo helpful by just playing with him. He also helped me by taking the freshly trimmed branches to the curb for pick-up.
The whole thing took well over 2 hours. Ugh, I hate that it had gotten so bad but now it is better so I'm not going to beat myself up over it any more. There's still a lot to do this Spring but at least I got one thing checked off my to-do list. Next -- refinish teak table and chairs, stain porch floor and back deck with stairs, paint white exterior trim, spray-wash the house and driveway, take out the screens for washing, wash windows, replace mini-blinds with the white faux wood kind, and so on.

Ah home-ownership. It can be such a pain. At least I HAVE a home. A nice one, at that.
In a nice neighborhood around nice people.
In a nice town with nice schools.
In a nice state in a nice part of the absolute best country I could live in...
Bring on the "chores."

BabyCakes: Um, Mommy are you sure about this?










BabyCakes: Much better! Crazy Boy is gone!

Star Wars

BigBoy is SO into Star Wars right now. He loves it all -- the movies, the cartoon, the action figures, star ships, sheets (thanks Granny!), blanket, t-shirt, light sabers, and on and on and on...
The 8-yr old neighbor boy is over here as we speak playing Star Wars with him before he goes to school.
BigBoy made up a song about Star Wars. It's basically "Star Wars, Star Wars. Star Wars, Star Waaaars!" ( I never said it was good) :)
Oh and he is Darth Vader. Why not a good guy like Luke or Han or even Yoda? Nope, "I Darth Vader!"



Here he is with a clone?/storm trooper? mask we found at a yard sale last weekend.






By the way, the whole reason I'm posting about this is because yesterday when I got my camera out, he insisted on me taking these pictures. He would be very excited to show you his latest obsession so I'm doing that for him.
Have a good day and "may the force be with you." :)

Monday, March 29, 2010

Flylady

Since I don't really have much to blog about today, I thought I'd mention Flylady. It is a good resource for anyone who might find it difficult to stay on top of their household chores/responsibilities or really ever gets caught up in procrastination of any kind. The main emphasis behind the flylady system is the use of babysteps to accomplish any goal, big or little. I'm not a die-hard follower but re-familiarizing myself with some of her principles has helped me get back on the path I had wandered off a bit. I recommend the site not only to people who want to keep their households well-run, but also to anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by a project or feels generally stressed by life. A warning though, if you join the mailing list you WILL become inundated with several emails a day. (Does that last statement remind anyone else of the signs for water rides at opryland? oh how I miss that place...) You don't have to sign up for emails to gain knowledge, though.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Today was a really relaxing day. BabyCakes slept in after a 5 am feeding so BigBoy and I hit some yardsales. (yay!) He helped J out in the garage most of the afternoon while I played with BabyCakes and did a few things around the house. After a long nap, BabyCakes was playing in her play gym thing and I decided to put her on her belly for some tummy time. By the way, that phrase "tummy time" annoys me. They're laying on their stomach. Why does the event really need a name? I don't call it "ass time" when I sit on the couch. Anyway, she's pushing herself up high and looking around and the next thing you know she's rolling herself over. It was pretty cool for us all to be there just watching her do it for the first time. She got a round of applause and could have cared less. :) After I put her back on her belly she just looked at me like "Yeah. So I showed you I could do it but don't expect it to happen again for a while," and proceeded to suck on her hand. :) Here she is with the proud big brother--who's eating some cheese.



The poor little thing still has a watery eye from her cold but this is very much a shot of the "real" BabyCakes.




Lately at bedtime BigBoy has been borrowing BabyCakes glow worm-like seahorse to "read" by in bed. I'll sneak in to check on him at night and he'll be surrounded by a dozen books. For those of you who know how much he resisted being read to for so long, and his current struggles with speech, you will understand how happy this makes me. Of course some nights (like last night) there will also be jedi action figures, legos, and a lightsaber in bed with him, too. :) Hey, he's going to bed nicely and staying in bed all night. Again, if you know our history with him (door-knob covers, screaming and crying endlessly...ughhhh) you will understand just how much I appreciate a pleasant bed time experience. He's so sweet, They both are. :)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Impromptu Photo Shoot




Today while BigBoy was at preschool I started looking through BabyCakes' clothes to decide what she should wear for Easter. I've always LOVED this lavender bubble dress/outfit (what do you call it?) so I really wanted to see if it would work for Baby this summer. Obviously, I got some cuuu-UUTE pictures of her in it. After those pictures went well I saw the adorable purple gingham dress with Easter baskets on the smocking around the neck. I got cocky and decided to dress her up AGAIN... not a smart move when I should have known she was hungry. As you can see, she wasn't quite ready for her close-up this time. Buttoning those tiny little buttons on the back of the dress was a bit of a pain so I got cocky AGAIN and decided to feed her in her dress. Stupid! She ended up barfing what looked like formula mixed with the remainder of her congestion (yes, I know that is nasty-sounding but at least it wasn't all over YOU!) all over her Easter dress and her mother. After that she seemed to feel a lot better. I changed her into a 9 month (yes, she is only 3 months old) summer outfit for her nap and couldn't help taking just one more pass at the photos. I put the headband bow on her and, well, I don't think it's really her. I'm so glad she looks happiest in the outfit her mother likes the best. Hopefully that's a good sign for the future. :)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Same old, same old


Today was a pretty normal day for us. This morning we had "summer camp" registration at BigBoy's preschool. I say "summer camp" because it's really just preschool that is every morning for two weeks instead of twice a week. After that we went to the grocery store and then splurged on McDonald's for lunch. We came home, BabyCakes napped, we got some things done and played a little, etc... same old, same old.

"Same old, same old." That's what I kept repeating to myself when I was thinking about a post for today. I even told my friend Rachel that I couldn't think of anything to write about and she said "well I'm sure you'll come up with something." I don't think my life is boring but I don't want to take it for granted, either. I know that one day the things that seem normal or even annoying at times will suddenly be precious in my memories. Brushing BigBoy's teeth for him with his light-flashing, glittery-yellow toothbrush won't seem like a chore -- just a time when he was so small he couldn't do it himself. Maybe when I remember that I will also remember his shark pajamas (that he has on tonight) and that when he first got them he insisted on being called Shark Boy and Shark Boy only.
Having a hard time getting BabyCake's diaper to fit right because her thigh rolls are so deliciously plump... getting out the door 3 minutes later than "necessary" because BigBoy HAD to put on his socks and shoes all by himself... such seemingly minute details will become the mental souvenirs of a blessed life.
I don't know why I am being so sentimental. Maybe I just feel undeservingly lucky. Maybe this is just what "happily content" feels like.
Whatever the reason, I am enjoying it and will continue to strive ( I say "strive" because goodness knows I'm not always) to be positive about life and appreciate what I have when I have it.

Proverbs 19:8 says, "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers."
I may not understand the reasons for my blessings but at least I know Who has blessed me -- and there's nothing "same old, same old" about Him.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Yuck.

BabyCakes was/is napping so I thought I'd be semi-productive and cook some bacon to use for omelets and soup this week. I gave Jacob a couple--okay four-- cookies and some milk and taught him how to dunk them for the first time. Of course he loved it. After some of the bacon was done he wanted a piece so I gave him some. Before I could say a word he had dunked his bacon into his milk and stuck it in his mouth. Yuuummm, right? Nothing like cool milk mixed with pork fat. This combo's the next chocolate & peanut butter.

Blech. Kids are gross.

Zoo



Whoa, will you look at that chub?! We went to the zoo on Sunday for a while. We have yearly passes and for $50 a family (I think) we've gotten our money's worth a few times over.



It's about an hour and 15 minute drive but it is all 4-lane highway and for most of it you see countryside and lakes. There's not too much stop-and-go.
The experience is always relaxing to us because since we have passes we don't push ourselves to do the whole zoo. We just do what we want until we're ready to go.
(Our passes also get us into the state aquariums for free, and we've done that 3 times in the last year.)
I love it when BigBoy gets really excited about animals and I hope his sister enjoys it as much as the rest of us do.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

These last few days BabyCakes has been hit hard by a cold. Well, either that or bad allergies. The pollen seems to be upon us in biblical proportions. Actually, the annual yellow coating our region gets has not yet occurred. I always like to describe it as if someone is banging giant chalkboard erasers up in the sky. When the time comes, you can literally run your finger across the hood of your car and your finger will be yellow with pollen. Blech!

Anyway, poor baby sounds like a pug with all her snorting and she's even eating less. Who knew it was possible?! :) No, I shouldn't pick on her. I feel sorry for her. Her left eye has been watery with discharge like eye boogers all the time. She's such a trooper, though. I'll be practically sticking my finger in her eye, trying to get all the gunk out, and she will just smile at me. No crying, just happy to have the attention. Of course she takes great offense to suctioning her nose, though, but what baby doesn't?

It's times like these that I am especially grateful for the healthy children I have. If I cry over making her bleed because I accidentally cut her during a manicure, I can't imagine how hard it would be to see my baby undergo surgery. My children are so extremely healthy and I know that is no small blessing. I know there are lots of mothers who would love for their worst problems with a child to be a few days of "bad" behavior.
Revelation 7:12 says "Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever."
Thank you, God, for blessing me with so many things, not the least of which a healthy family.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Bar Refurb




As I said earlier in the week, I worked on a project with my neighbor. That project was constructing the insert for this bar that J's grandfather built. J's grandfather Happy was a larger-than-life kind of man and very special to him. This bar had seen better days by the time it came to live with us, and after LOTS of oil and elbow grease I still felt it wasn't reflecting the special person who built it. (You can click on the picture to see up-close how scratched it had become.) We decided to paint it white. After 2 coats of primer and 2-6 coats of white paint (depending on the area) we were pleased with how it came out. We had some extra beadboard the previous owner of our home had left behind so we cut pieces to fit the recessed door panels. Then we replaced the old black and wood hardware/knobs with new silver pieces. One day I want to distress it a little but that will require a coat of poly on top and I'm not ready for the fumes in the house OR for this 5,000-pound beast to be moved into the garage again. (Actually, I think J would say to skip it if it came to that. He already put a LOT more man-hours into this project than I convinced him it would take.) So we got it finished and moved into the house but after I put my crystal pieces in it still felt like something was missing. I knew I wanted color or something in the back but I was NOT getting out the paintbrush again. Finally I decided to use fabric as a backing. I (with much help from my neighbor Stacy!) took some heavy cardboard from a box we had kept and cut a piece to fit as in insert in the back. Stacy had some leftover thin batting that we applied to it with spray adhesive. Then we just attached the fabric with tacks so that the fabric will be easily removable in the future if/when I want to change things up. The batting will remain in place and the fabric will come right off. All in all I am very happy with the results. Hopefully Happy would be happy with the results. :)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

It's hard work being a baby

BabyCakes kicked and batted at the toys in her play gym/dome/mat/thing--whatever-- for so long that she just wore herself out and fell asleep. She and BigBoy are in the living right now having some quiet time. Miss Stacy, our neighbor, came over to help me with a project and BigBoy played with his toys and her iphone for most of the morning. I'll post the before and after pictures of my project when I get it finished later this week.
Ok, I'm beat. I'm going to go try to do my best BabyCakes impression...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Return of the Migroan, er Migraine

They're bAAAaaaack! Yep, this morning's unholy marriage of seasonal allergies and pressure changes produced that bastard of a child known as Migraine. Because of the wonderful effects of pregnancy, I had grown all too comfortable without Migraine's mind-numbing cranial pulsations, her light sensitivity, her neck stiffness, and last but not least her "pea soup scene in The Exorcist" impression. BigBoy playing with blocks sounded more like a performance by Stomp.

But then came the Drugs.

Ah yes Drugs. I've met Migraines who could not be defeated with my over-the-counter artillary and I was forced to call in the infantry--I mean infirmary-- but today Migraine surrendered to Drugs in only a few short hours.

I got lucky today. Next time I will be ready for her with my arsenal of excedrin at the first sign of advancement.
At least now I know she is out there just waiting for the right conditions to attack... and knowing is half the battle.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Ah, a new day/week...




After a nice, relaxing weekend I am sooo ready for this week of Spring weather. We're meeting up with BigBoy's friend from school at the park this afternoon when it is supposed to be in the 60's (!) and it can't get here soon enough. Unfortunately it looks like both the kids have colds but they're taking it in stride. Here are some pics from this morning, just goofing around. This is what BigBoy and BabyCakes do when I tell them NOT to smile. :) It always gets a big response. Ok, back to the laundry. The dryer just said "ERRR, I'm done!" in the obnoxious way only it can. My love-hate relationship with my washer/dryer is still better than a rock and a scrub board, though.

Friday, March 12, 2010

It's finally Friday! What I didn't write about earlier in the week was the fact that J has been out of town for work. He got home yesterday afternoon and with his arrival came a nice big exhale from me. I'm sure some of my frustration with BigBoy came from the fact that I was always home alone dealing with it. I have a renewed appreciation for military families after this short period of separation. I don't think I took J for granted before but now I'm definitely extra grateful for his active participation in the parenting that goes on around here.

All in all I'm ready for the weekend and then a new week. Let me tell you about a nice little move I did when we were leaving the park the other day. I was loading BabyCakes into the car and was sandwiched in tight between our vehicle and a giant SUV right next to us. As I was leaning in the car I noticed that my underthings could use a rear-end alignment. The door was wide open, protecting me from the view of the public, and the giant SUV was right next to me so I quickly took care of the problem. Just as I shut the door and turned to go to BigBoy's side to buckle him in, I see a MAN sitting in the front seat of the SUV that I THOUGHT was shielding my oh-so-classy digging site.

Yep. And there was NO WAY he didn't catch my whole act. As I said, we were sandwiched in there tight.

Anyway, Im so glad it's Friday!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

On a lighter note


For halloween, I say we color in a heavy beard and put her in a Duke hat. Oh and remove the headband. :) She'll be J's mini-me.
One last post on BigBoy and then I will move on. I don't want to give the impression that he is a generally bad-behaving little boy. The majority of the time he is a polite, respectful, well-behaved child. It's just that sometimes he hits these long stretches where any little thing becomes huge. Whining and crying to watch cartoons for 20 minutes straight even after being told no and eventually put in time-out? Check. Begging for a toy car for the entire time you're at a store? Check. It's this sort of thing. He's not throwing or hitting things. Not really talking back or doing things deliberately against my wishes. He just will. not. back. down. Somedays one battle just rolls into the next. Anyway, I just felt out of respect to him I should clarify.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010


I think I know why BigBoy's behavior has upset me so much recently. He's always been a child of extremes so I shouldn't be so surprised at this downturn in behavior. I think what I am upset about most is how I am handling the situation. I try to handle it "correctly" and with patience, but then I get pushed too far end up resorting to yelling at him and have even caught myself calling him a "brat" and a "bad boy." That's just humiliating him. I remember feeling so hurt whenever I was called a brat so I hate to think I am doing this to my sensitive child. What started as his bad behavior ends with him sobbing because his mommy has hurt him. I don't want that. At all. I don't want him to think back about his childhood and remember me as a bully. I need to really truly strive to always show him the respect that I expect from him. Yes, it is infuriating at times to deal with how he is acting but I want him to always feel loved. I don't want him to think that my love is ever hanging in the balance. HE'S 3. I'm not. I can control my words and actions a lot better than he can. I'm not saying bad behavior from him should be excused. I just want to know how to get through to him without so many negative emotions flying around.
Seeing this in print is going to help me see it as a real goal and issue. I'm not embarrassed to write about it because I would rather acknowledge it is something I am struggling with and really work on it than continue down a path that is just going to hurt my relationship with my children. As I said, I'm not 3, and I owe it to my children to do what I need to do to be a better mother. By not doing so I am just playing the victim. My life is what I make of it, not what "happens to me."

Reality

I didn't write a post yesterday. That's because I was too frustrated with BigBoy to do it with perspective. We had some vintage BigBoy periods of crying, whining, begging, and screaming. I love my child dearly but WOW. He was relentless. The only reason I'm writing this now is because I don't want to present our life to be perfect. In comparison with the true struggles of people in the world, this was nothing. I have to remind myself of that. You know what though? It sure feels like something when you're in the middle of it. Today has been no exception. Is it too early for chocolate cake?

Monday, March 8, 2010


It was gorgeous here today and after a morning skirmish, BigBoy and I resolved to start the day over and take a beautiful drive over to Biz's house. Of course all was good until it was time to leave, then the I-don't-wanna-go's made their debut. Why is it that children this age seem to always send you back and forth between thinking "what a precious angel..." as you stroke their hair and kiss them goodnight with their teddy, and "Thank the Lord he's finally in bed!"? (Sorry -- I never can remember where punctuation is supposed to go in these cases.)

After lunch we did some foam sword-fighting and worked puzzles before an impromptu trip to a thrift store ministry in the afternoon. BigBoy brought me two race cars and a book I KNOW he loves and said he didn't want them anymore. This was a shock of course. I asked him why and he kept saying "other boys and girls, other boys and girls." (He has a speech delay that can make our communication difficult at times.) After confirming he wanted to give them to "other boys and girls" I asked him why and he said "they not have toys." We've made a couple recent trips to a new thift store ministry and the way I explained it was by telling him that it was a place where people could bring things so kids who didn't have lots of toys and clothes could get more.
I didn't want him to feel like he HAD to give anything away but he convinced me he wanted to take the items he'd gathered. I felt this deserved a trip to the thrift store, fully prepared for him to possibly change his mind or not understand he wouldn't have them anymore. When we got there, however, he very proudly handed his things to the lady at the register and said, "You have more toys!" She thanked him and he promptly reached for my hand again and turned for the door. For the first time there he had no interest in looking at the toys that were for sale. I guess that was because he did what he came to do and was ready to leave. And we did just that.

Just when I think he can't exasperate me any more my sweet child goes and does something like this.

I've spent a lot of time over the last 3 years thinking about how little I thought I had in common with my son (aside from his disinterest in sleeping), but today was a quiet reminder from God that maybe a little bit of mama is rubbing off.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Today has been a pretty normal day. Around noon, though, I decided at the last minute that I was going to get a haircut. My normal place is 30 minutes away because I haven't found a new one I like, so that was out of the question. It had been 6 MONTHS since I had a haircut and my hair was long, heavy, frizzy, and well generally unattractive in my opinion. So I packed up the kids and went to Cost Cutters. Yep, that's right, Cost Cutters. I guess I had always thought those places were for kids and men because I never considered it for myself. It turns out that they are owned by the same company as the Regis salon I usually go to. Anyway, it was quick and easy. Only one other person was in there and they left soon so we had the place to ourselves. BigBoy behaved very well and BabyCakes sat nicely in her car seat. When she got a little fussy I just rocked her seat with my foot and she was pacified. In and out in 20 minutes for under 20 bucks including shampoo. (not including the generous tip I gave b/c I was so pleased... I think there is haircut karma...) Then I took my frizzy self to Target for some things we HAD to buy today. Naturally curly hair plus a stylist combing your hair to cut it does not result in a cute look, by the way. The old me would have rushed home but I'm a mother now and how my hair looks doesn't come close to being the priority.

For the weekend I will leave you with these words a friend emailed me today:
Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.
And my own piece of advice is that if you are ever in a moment that you just can't think of what you need, just pray for peace. Simple as that. You don't have to even think about it. Just ask God for peace in your heart. One kid is throwing a fit because they don't want to go home and the other is crying because that's what babies do, then you drop your keys and step on and break the new pair of sunglasses you JUST BOUGHT LAST WEEKEND? Instead of slamming the door and driving home distracted, try saying "Lord, just give me peace. That's all I'm askin" outloud. He already knows how you feel and what you're going through, so you might as well ask him for his help getting through it. I say do it outloud because it really does help. We already keep too many thoughts and prayers in. You can whisper it if you want. Saying them outload gives them more importance in a way. It creates more of a memory and instead of uttering a cuss word you might find yourself uttering a prayer for peace the next time something starts your blood boiling or your mind racing.

Have a great weekend...

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Today while BigBoy was at preschool, BabyCakes and I went to a coffee house and met up with some ladies from our neighborhood. A nice mom from BigBoy's class invited us and I ended up meeting some funny, interesting moms/neighbors that I didn't even know I had. I know this is a blessed life I lead-- to be able to enjoy my children's innocent years from a front-row seat and do things like drink coffee (actually cider in my case :) ) with other blessed women. Every day as a stay-at-home mom of a 3-year-old and a baby is not butterfly kisses and an organized closet, but when you consider what the bulk of the world struggles with it's pretty damn close. I know that one day (soon) the biggest problems in my children's lives won't be able to be solved with a long, hard hug or a 97-cent matchbox car. They won't beg me to "sing just one more song, Mommy" before bed. They won't gurgle a happy, spit-bubbly coo at me just because I talk to them or kiss on their double chin. That's why I need to go now. My boy is asking (ok whining) for me to read The Cat in the Hat to him one. more. time. Today I'm not even going to skip using the funny voices.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Aren't naked babies cute?






Remember that post about my content baby? Well she was none too pleased today. We had a few spit-up incidents involving clothes, hair, furniture, and if that wasn't enough I thought it would be fun to stumble into it barefoot. She would drink her milk like she was starved to death and then pull off screaming, eventually spitting up (not a lot, just at surprising times). After her afternoon nap she seemed back to normal. Who knows?
I took some pictures of all her naked goodness after her shower this evening. Enjoy. :)

Linen Closet Redo


Whew! That took longer than I thought! The whole project took about an hour and 45 minutes. Luckily BabyCakes has slept the whole time and BigBoy fell asleep in his couch cushion/bedsheet tent. :)
I've found that for me to be able to reorganize a space and then be able to keep it that way, I have to have a plan. For example, when I cleaned out my bedroom closet the only things I really knew I wanted was my clothes at a lower level and not to feel closed-in and guilty every time I went in there. I'm not a very spacial person so in order to re-do a space I have to remove all the contents and start from scratch. That's what I did with the linen closet. I took everything out and sorted it. Next I knew that I really wanted a laundry basket in the closet for the kids' dirty clothes. I don't keep them in their bedrooms because I like to be able to sort laundry before they wake up sometimes. There is no room in their bathroom for a basket so I always ended up using the top of the dryer -- valuable space in a tiny-hall-laundry-closet type place. It's not really a ROOM. I realized I could easily fold up the bottom shelf and fit a basket, but then I thought it would be nice to get the vacuum out of my pretty bedroom closet so I lifted up another shelf. I held the shelves up using a couple of zip ties I borrowed from the hubs. Bread-bag ties would work too, though. I gained enough space for this by removing some extra-large comforters and putting them in garbage bags, making them ready for under-house storage. (J has a pretty nice set-up going on down there with lots of rubbermaid containers we caught being cleared out at 3 bucks a pop. We have toy bins, Christmas bins, keepsake bins, etc.) Some things in the closet were unused household items like curtains or lamps that no longer had a home so they are going in a bin for storage. I'm a big believer in using your best space for the things you really use. If a lamp has no place in your house any longer but you don't want to part with it, why have it staring you in the face every time you open the closet to get a towel? Extra laundry detergent, paper towels, etc., were moved to the garage where I have a shelf for extra dry goods.
Now I have guest pillows, quilt and sheets available but not 3 extra giant comforters. My crib sheets are in a basket instead of a pile constantly falling over. Everyday towels, kid towels, and guest towels are the most accessible, as well as hand towels in my camera box I cut down. BigBoys sheets and blanket are in the top of his dresser. Extra sheet sets for our bed and the air mattress are gathered as sets and folded in to one of the pillowcases. A plastic drawer holds old towels for spills or car-washing and also spare light bulbs. My supply of spare toiletries was whittled down to only things I really wanted. Spare toothpaste, etc., was packaged up for the local crisis ministry. Why do we need 5 spare toothpastes anyway? By the time I need another tube I'll have found it free again. I feel strongly about not holding on to things that don't mean something to me if they can do someone else some good today. So here it is, my linen closet organized with room to grow. What do you think?

Nap Time Scramble



Mission: Clean out and reorganize the linen closet/ catch-all during BabyCake's nap -- an unknown time frame.
If I don't do this project soon I'm going to find fraggles living in there.

As you can see, there used to be some function and organization to this closet but that was before Christmas and BabyCakes. Now most of the time when things get put away they are done one-handed and therefore get shoved wherever there is room. I also have an overflowing basket of toiletries that I've gotten for free or almost free and I need to see what all is there. Ok, enough typing. Must get to work while I can. I can hear the clock ticking already! Check back for the after pic! Oh, and of course BigBoy had to get in on the camera action.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Whine, whine, go away

Does anyone have a remedy for a bad case of the whines? Other symptoms include: repetitiveness, selective memory, and delayed response. Big Boy's prognosis is not good if no treatment is found. ;)

I'm ready for my close-up


When I see this picture I see it as Baby Cake's spoof on a model pose. If you could see her pillsbury-esque thighs you would know why she's sticking her tongue out. She's full-figured (like her mama) and proud of it!
The picture quality on this is awful because I had my camera on the wrong setting but I still love how she looks in it.
My wonderful friend and neighbor watched her this morning while I was at a doctor's appointment and Big Boy was at preschool. She said she played, ate, pooped, and slept. I'm so lucky to have such an easily contented baby. See--it's nice to be fat and happy! :)

Monday, March 1, 2010

One closet down, 5 to go!





I worked like a mad woman on this closet this morning. Luckily Baby Cakes obliged me with some generous naps and Big Boy was thrilled to find some yard sale toys/books I had hidden away in the closet for his birthday. Luckily they kept him pretty entertained for most of the morning during my project.
I ended up completely removing the lower shelf from the back wall of the closet. I moved J's clothes to the high shelf because he's a tad taller than I am. Now I have my clothes at a much more accessible height and my drawers are nice and organized, with room to grow. I think my favorite part about the closet is not only that it feels spacious when I am in there, but that it is all truly organized. The basket on the upper right hand shelf has medicines, finger nail polish remover, basically just the things that need to be out of reach of curious fingers. The filing cabinet is under the laundry basket which can easily be moved for filing (even if this is only done about 4 times a year!). The big mirror goes over a chest of drawers that is currently being used as a changing table in our room so it will get moved out in a few months. I still got all my Monday laundry done, too. No one is out of their pajama's and it is after 3 o'clock but I still count this as a productive day. Just think about how often you open your closet and can't find what you want and it just generally annoys you. Now I feel even more motivated to move on to the rest of house.
Oh, I almost forgot! I spent $0.00 to make my closet feel 100% better. I didn't go buy a new closet system or pretty containers. I just cleared it all out and started from scratch.

Monday, Monday


da daaa, daa dada...
This is Big Boy working puzzles in his puzzle book while I take a crack at blogging. He wanted me to take his picture when he saw me pull out my camera. Baby Cakes is napping after a MIRACLE night of sleep I hesitate to even mention for fear of jinxing myself. For the second night in a row, at 10 weeks old (I think?), she slept 10 hours straight! In her crib... on her back... without crying. I know I know -- I am very lucky! Big Boy certainly did not do this until some time between 18-24 months. If I hadn't lost so much sleep back then maybe I would have a better recollection. I'm enjoying my little Olympic sleeper, though.

Springing into Action



Lately all I can think about is Spring. Spring weather, Spring cleaning, Spring Clothes -- I'm sure most of us are tired of this long, cold Winter. So I've decided to go ahead and bring the season of renewal to the inside of my house even if the outside is still partially frozen. My first project will be reorganizing my closet. I know a lot of people would be amazed to see EMPTY space in it but I am consumed with cutting clutter and excess. I have random stuff crammed on the shelf under my clothes, plastic drawers filled with everything from sweaters to Christmas bows, and a cedar chest that unfortunately has to live here due to lack of space but cannot be accessed easily. Some things (like the hub's books) are going to have to stay arranged how he likes, but I can work with that. I can't reach that top shelf anyway. :)
Here are the Before pictures... I'll post the After ones later this week. Hopefully I can help inspire you to purge, reorganize, and appreciate your space more.