"Look and see, for everyone is coming home!" Isaiah 60:4

Friday, April 27, 2012

Where've I been this past week!

Sorry for being MIA ya'll.

Life happens, and it did for us this week.

Last Saturday we made a trip to Manhattan to take the kids to the University's Open House. We love to go back and don't get many chances, so Open House has become a bit of a tradition for us. I know I promised a post on our day and I haven't forgotten!

Sunday we were so tired from the day before. Duncan had been going through a growth spurt so his schedule had been a little off all day Saturday. I wanted to give him time to get back on track, so I didn't want to rush him through the morning and start the day stressed out. We only made it to 11 am service and called it a day until EU that evening.

Monday....oh Monday...We got to preschool alright but then I realized we had Duncan's 2 month appointment that afternoon. All went well until he got his vaccinations. 5 total, 4 shots. He hollered (of course) but was able to calm down with nursing and we made it home. He was home for 1.5 hours, happy and content until he fell asleep for naptime. He woke up 2-3 hours later screaming in pain. It was the scariest reaction to vaccinations that any of my kids have had. I could barely get him to calm down with nursing and decided the best thing I could do was just hold him and let him do whatever he wanted. Nursing, sleeping, soothing, etc. Any time I moved he would start screaming in pain. He finally fell asleep for the night around 10 pm and then woke again around 1 am as my normal happy, smiley boy. Thank God!

Needless to say, Monday night was a bit rocky, and Tuesday was a blur. I let Duncan be in charge and followed his schedule. There was no more screaming in pain, praise the Lord! He was running the show all day long and I willingly let him. I just wanted him to lead the way and let me know what he needed. Needless to say I didn't get much done on the list either of those days.

Wednesday was a day I'd like a "REDO" button for. Most everything went well, but I started feeling the pull to get things done. Duncan had different plans. He decided to be back on his "growth spurt" schedule and wanted to nurse every 2 hours. On.the.dot. It was quite exhausting, so whenever I had a moment's rest...I did. I really didn't get much of anything done except a few container plantings done. Those poor plants almost died. :( And I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted.

Today was good, more was accomplished, but most of the time I was feeling pretty drained. Not fun...for me or the kids. D-man decided today was the perfect day to not sleep for longer than 30 minutes for any of his naps. And again he demanded to be fed every 2 hours. So tired....

Tomorrow I'll persevere...I hope. Isabel's P/T conference is tomorrow, so there's no school. Hopefully that will give me time to get a few things done in the morning. Yikes...12:30 am already... better be getting to bed. Night ya'll.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Stay Tuned!

I haven't fallen off the band wagon or forgotten my assignments! Things have been crazy busy around here and I haven't had a good chance to blog about it. I'm considering today my Monday, as yesterday was a very hard day for Duncan. More about that later! Off to tackle the to-do list while I have a few minutes!

Friday, April 20, 2012

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 2, Attempt 2, Part 3

HAHA! I've finally completed this assignment! Today went very well and was a lot easier than the past few. My mom was here for the morning to take Isa to preschool which freed me up to tackle the day a lot earlier than I usually get to it. Here's the results:

Day 2 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}
So I didn't do this first thing in the morning, but I did get into some "real" clothes before we went out for dinner tonight. Does that count?? (Please say yes!)
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
I did do this but forgot to get a picture of it. It's basically the past day's picture only without the *Sort papers* task. 
::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
The morning routine was done by about 11:30 or so! I felt like I was on a roll!
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the countertops, and, if you have time, wipe down the countertops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.
This was already done a couple days ago. I've been maintaining it pretty well, but may need to take a few extra minutes on it tomorrow. 
::Clean out your refrigerator. There’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.
Here we go! All I accomplished yesterday was throwing out the bad food and paring down what we did have left. Today I was able to get the rest of the fridge cleaned!

 First, the shelves took a bath in the kid's bathtub. Funny story: Shawn sees the shelves upstairs, comes down and asks me about it, stating the bathtub looks like it has "exploded!" I guess you had to be there...anywho..

  While those were soaking, I wiped down the inside of the fridge with soapy water. I replaced everything. Next was the door.



I took off all the shelves and washed them. 



While they were drying I wiped down the door with soapy water, dried it and replaced everything.

YAY!! Everything is clean and I don't have to worry about science experiments escaping in the middle of the night! HUZZAH!

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.
Here's my 7 items for today. 


We'll be going out of town for a bit tomorrow to visit my brother in Manhattan, so I'm planning on doing a post about our fun trip! Can't wait!

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 2, Attempt 2, Part 2

Yesterday went well for the most part. I was able to start the first steps to cleaning out the fridge, so I'm pretty happy about that. Here's the results of the day.

Day 2 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}
Once again, this didn't happen. I'm still working through a bunch of laundry as I can through the day!
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
 This got done, but was more or less exactly like yesterday. Here's the pic 


::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
I got through the morning routine by about 1:30 or so and then tackled the *Sort Papers* task. I wanted to make sure if there were any important papers from the table I cleaned, they were handled quickly. After that I went on to the *Clean Fridge* task.
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the countertops, and, if you have time, wipe down the countertops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.
This was already done from the night before, so with a little upkeep throughout the day, I didn't have to do this task over again.
::Clean out your refrigerator. There’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.
Here's the run down of the first part of this task.

First, I had to make sure this little guy was happy. Check!

 Next, I took everything out and got rid of any leftovers that hadn't been made within the last couple days. I did find a few science experiments growing, but nothing too scary.


This is the worst part of the fridge. Not too bad!


Here's the fridge empty! No major sticky spots in sight!


The shelves were done not too long ago, but they will be done again this time. I just didn't get them emptied and sorted through yet.

 That's as far as I got. No wiping down of anything, but at least I know there are no more gross things hiding in the back. Duncan decided he was done being in his bouncy.



::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

Nights are starting to get difficult for some reason. Duncan has decided all he wants to do from about dinner time until 11pm or so is fuss and feed. I can't figure out why he's so irritable. I'm really praying this is not the first signs of colic. Hopefully this is just a phase he's going through. I hope it eases up soon. I'll be cleaning the fridge tomorrow, sanitizing and what not. 

Thursday, April 19, 2012

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Day 2, Attempt 2, Part 1

This day did not start out how I was hoping :( While on the way to drop Isabel off at preschool, our car started making a very odd sound. The engine would rev up and then drop down to it's regular RPM's. It did this continuously all the way to preschool, and since we're supposed to go out of town this weekend, I thought it best to take it in to the shop. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything wrong with it, which I guess is better than finding something wrong. Well, that took me all morning to do, but we got home and I started tackling my list for the day. Here's the results of Day 2, Attempt 2

Day 2 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.
This is getting difficult for me for some reason. I'm hoping to change my wardrobe out this weekend. Hopefully I'll get to that after we get back home from our trip. It's just a daytrip so we will be back the same day. I'm tired of looking at winter/maternity clothes and am ready to have my spring/NON-maternity clothes back in the closet!
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
My morning routine was complete by 1:30.  Not as good as yesterday, but considering how our morning started, I'm not complaining!
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the countertops, and, if you have time, wipe down the countertops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.
First, I tackled the coffee table and got the last few things off.


It felt so great to be able to cross that off the list!


Next was the kitchen cleanup. Here's the before pictures:



Blech. I can't believe I'm showing you these! After pictures, PLEASE!




That last picture turned into this:

YAY!!!!  I'm glad I got at least part of the assignment done!
::Clean out your refrigerator. There’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.
I've decided I'm not going to be too legalistic about things, and try to stick spot on to the schedule. If I don't get to something one day, there's always tomorrow. As is such with this assignment. I'll be finishing up the clean out the fridge part tomorrow (April 19th.) I plan to just keep plugging away at these things and not get too caught up in what day they get done. How are things going at your house? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Assignment 2 Results

This blog is all about keepin' it real...and that means all the ups and downs of life. Yesterday was only a minor success, so since that's all I have to report, here are the details.

Day 2 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

To be truthfully honest, I didn't get out of my pajamas yesterday. Usually this means I won't have motivation to do anything else other than lying around the house (relativity speaking, of course) and taking things slow. However, that wasn't the case today. Even though I didn't get what I was assigned accomplished, believe me, with a nursing baby and 2 other rugrats, I had a very productive day.
::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.
I did complete this task! 


::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
I did get through my morning routine at a much earlier time than 6 pm. I think I was done with it by 12:30 or so! Huzzah! At this point I tackled the *Clean off the coffee table* assignment, and got most of it done. Unfortunately, there it stopped. This is pretty good for me though, considering I'm nursing Duncan every 2-3 hours and each feeding takes anywhere from 45-60 minutes, not counting all the other baby care throughout the day. On top of that, I was keeping up with multiple loads of laundry (and it was a diaper day!), not to mention meal prep and clean up! This is why I don't feel too bad about not tackling the other jobs of the day
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the countertops, and, if you have time, wipe down the countertops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.
::Clean out your refrigerator. There’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.

::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.

I am going to attempt this day again and change my schedule around a little bit in order to (hopefully!) accomplish at least one of the assigned tasks on the list. We'll see how this goes the second time around!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home: Assignment 1 Results

So I made it through this day finally! Here's my results from Assignment 1 of the challenge.

Day 1 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

I had already gotten dressed by the time I read this as Monday-Wednesday-Friday are busy mornings trying to get out the door for preschool! I didn't get a picture of my outfit, but I'll try to tomorrow!

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and make a list of 5-10 goals for this week.
Here's my weekly goals for this week!

 
::Complete your morning routine {if you don’t have a morning routine, take some time to create one today! Read my How to Develop a Routine That Works–And Stick With It series for step-by-step help.}
In all honesty, I didn't complete my MORNING routine until after 6 pm this evening. My morning routine consists of everything on this list written in blue including Dishes/Laundry. If I can get at least a load of laundry and dishes done, it keeps our house running much more smoothly. At least we'll always have clean clothes and dishes to use. In my favor, I had been trying to keep up with the laundry lately, but could never get it folded and put away in the same day. So I took all the laundry that needed folded and tackled as much as I could before something else called my attention away. I think the laundry itself took about 3-4 different sessions to fold. There were TONS of clothes!

 
::Set the timer for 15 minutes and quickly pick up the main living areas of your home.
Here's a couple of  before pictures of the living room :




And here's a couple of the living room after I picked up:




Not a major difference with the clutter and what not on the table, but I was able to vacuum, so at least I know the floor is somewhat clean!
::Clean out your purse and/or diaper bag.
Not much to do here since I had cleaned it out a couple weeks ago, just some small pieces of trash to throw out!



::Find 7 items to get rid of today. Throw them out, stick them in a donate or garage sale box, give them to a friend who can use them, or list them on Craigslist or eBay.
 Here's what I'm getting rid of:


I didn't get through as much of my daily list as I'd like to, but baby steps in the right direction is still making progress! I'm hoping this gets easier as the days go on!

Monday, April 16, 2012

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home Challenge

So after our sweet baby boy joined our family, all I've been wanting to do lately is be with him and  cuddle him all day long!

Big Sister and Brother agree!

This means I've (GLADLY!) taken time away from my housekeeping to do so! But I've been thinking it's time to get this house back into shape and do a little spring cleaning. All the clutter is starting to get to me and I don't need to be stressed out when I have these 3 little sweet kiddos to enjoy!

So I was delighted to see one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal Paine at Money Saving Mom, was going to be doing a spring cleaning series, 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home! She started at the beginning of the month, so I'm a couple weeks late getting started, but I figure better late than never! So over the next 4 weeks I'll be following along with the challenge, and hopefully blogging about my results. I'm so ready to have a house that feels calm and clean again! I'd love to have you join me so feel free to follow along! I'll update tomorrow evening on how things went with my first day!

Friday, April 13, 2012

A New Chapter

It's been almost 2 months now, and we're finally getting into a groove with our newest little one!
Duncan Jeremiah was born Feb. 22, was 7 lbs. 9.9 oz and was 19 inches long. He is such a sweet little boy and we are having such a good time getting to know him and watching his personality unfold.

Here's a few highlights of the day!

My "before" shot

Dyl headed to the OR

On the operating table...

A new family member!

sweet baby boy

All clean after first bath

Cocooned mama

Proud daddy!

Isa's first glimpse of her new brother!

Isa and Grandma

Feeling much better, but still a bit dazed


Shawn woke up in time to play Angry Birds...

and then was game for meeting Duncan

Aunt Yvonne came by to meet her newest nephew!
Here's the back story of me cocooned in blankets. My anesthesiologist had given me a bit too strong a dose of whatever drug he used so I asked for a dose of Benedryl which combats some of the side effects of the epidural. I forgot to tell him that I am fairly extremely sensitive to Benedryl, so I feel like I've been run over by a semi. Compound the strong epidural and Benedryl sensitivity with a large blood loss and my blood pressure dropped for a while. The nurses couldn't get it back up for a while so I was given a shot of adrenaline. I felt like a ton of bricks hit me! I was sleepy and freezing and couldn't really comprehend much at the time. I do have a few memories, but most of those first few hours after surgery are very vague. Even with that hiccup, the day went very well and I am so glad he is here, safe and sound.

He's now almost 2 months old and we thank God every day for this little one and are just enjoying spending time with him.  Praise the Lord for this blessing from above!