First-Health Update- I am much much better than I have been, I am back to watching my kids 24/7 by myself, and amazingly do NOT vomit most days-with help from medicine, at this point in my past pregnancies I was still puking a once-three times a day- so this pregnancy that has started terrible is turning out quite well :-D I regularly have nausea, and will gag and occasionally vomit but really nothing compared to what Iv been through and how so many others with HG are going through. My 20 week ultrasound is this coming this weds:-) and we are so excited! and I also have a little bit of anxiety about it- so please pray for the baby and that everything looks great, this little one does not move nearly as much as my others and the movements are not as strong.
So I have been on a mission , I am finally well enough to start handling everything, meals,kids and cleaning,driving etc. I wanted a house overhaul, this may be somehow do to nesting as Im almost half way:-). I love to take advantage of this drive to have organization. I have been over the past few months, reading various blogs on being a minimalist and have decided- being a complete minimalist (the extreme of living without a couch etc) is not right for me at all-but living more productively, living with less, going against consumerism/materialism, and not needing the 3 pizza cutters I have somehow acquired - is indeed for me:-).
Since Iv been feeling better physically-I have been feeling more stressed mentally. Nothing has a place it feels like, no amount of cleaning is enough- most days I feel like I am moving all day and not getting anywhere(and yes part of that is because I have 2 very active boys who tend to walk around behind me dumping their toys or picking up things and dropping them right back down)but some of it is just too much STUFF and unorganized wash that really isnt helping me in anyway. For instance-the spice rack I have, it looks so nice(sorry to whoever bought it for me when I got married) but I realized, I only use a few spices and rarely make anything with the others-and both my boys as young toddlers have liked to come over to the side of the counter and grab at the spices, open them up and dump them on the floor- it is not blessing me anymore, so I am hoping to give it to someone whom it will bless- and will use it. I have some sets of things that go together, while it looks nice I may not use all the items, I have a set of about 15 or so saw knives but I never have that many people over and I certainly would not be serving steak if I was(too expensive,not that I wouldn't like to;-))
So I finally let go of these " unspoken rules" that my brain has-of sets and needing to stay together- I picked out items I never use(whether or not they belong to a set) and put them in a box to go to good will. I feel so much better:-). I am back to following my Fly lady plan(which I majorly altered since the last time I used it was when Isaac was still taking late afternoon naps which means he was 4-6months) and I am also going through this 7 day organizational program by Alejandra Costello (she seems a little OCD to me, but her tips and ideas and the basic core of this 7 day program is good). One of the biggest things I learned that is a huge problem, which although simple and I "knew it", it really registered with me when she said it a certain way. " Stop serving mail for dinner" meaning, if your not cooking/preparing food etc. with it, it does not belong in your kitchen. Everything needs a place(closet is the best place for keys and purse, not your counter), mail belongs on a desk/near a desk etc. So between the two systems things are looking SO much better- and it only took 2-3 days so far :-), ok and a LOT of my time when you have toddler interruptions-but well worth it.
The best part of my new schedule- all my work, ALL my housework is to be done before my kids are in bed- think of all the free time- and this includes naps(no house work during nap time) its all solely my time*squeals* (In order to accomplish this, I make my 3 yr old do ALOT more cleaning up of his own things-sometimes I forget I have been sick for a long time and He has grown up 4-5 more months in that time and is much more capable of doing things-and correctly-not perfect but thats ok). Also, although I spent a lot more time intentionally/actively cleaning,instead of just trying to keep up- I actually have taken my kids outside twice a day for 30 min at a time(before it was embarrassingly hardly ever), and spent more time intentionally with them instead of just "uh huh, uh huh, ok stop making messes, no i cant do that right now I have to clean this up"- I have specific times to do things with them in my schedule,you might think it sounds sad to "schedule" times with your kids to really teach and play with them,but it makes it more intentional and face to face time.
One day (hopefully soon) when I am not paying medical bills;-). I will buy myself some fancy organizational products that will keep things looking more organized but for now, a combination of putting things back and getting rid of what I do not use will suffice.
Flylady- Routines and Emails that tell you what to do each day
Alejandra Costello- Free 7 day course on organization basics(the root problems)
So I have been on a mission , I am finally well enough to start handling everything, meals,kids and cleaning,driving etc. I wanted a house overhaul, this may be somehow do to nesting as Im almost half way:-). I love to take advantage of this drive to have organization. I have been over the past few months, reading various blogs on being a minimalist and have decided- being a complete minimalist (the extreme of living without a couch etc) is not right for me at all-but living more productively, living with less, going against consumerism/materialism, and not needing the 3 pizza cutters I have somehow acquired - is indeed for me:-).
 |
| Although its not a great looking drawer(we rent), my junk drawer was packed to where I could not shut it, i dumped everything in a box and the items i used I put back, I will eventually throw out everything I don't use/need in a month(doesn't make it back in the drawer) |
Since Iv been feeling better physically-I have been feeling more stressed mentally. Nothing has a place it feels like, no amount of cleaning is enough- most days I feel like I am moving all day and not getting anywhere(and yes part of that is because I have 2 very active boys who tend to walk around behind me dumping their toys or picking up things and dropping them right back down)but some of it is just too much STUFF and unorganized wash that really isnt helping me in anyway. For instance-the spice rack I have, it looks so nice(sorry to whoever bought it for me when I got married) but I realized, I only use a few spices and rarely make anything with the others-and both my boys as young toddlers have liked to come over to the side of the counter and grab at the spices, open them up and dump them on the floor- it is not blessing me anymore, so I am hoping to give it to someone whom it will bless- and will use it. I have some sets of things that go together, while it looks nice I may not use all the items, I have a set of about 15 or so saw knives but I never have that many people over and I certainly would not be serving steak if I was(too expensive,not that I wouldn't like to;-))
So I finally let go of these " unspoken rules" that my brain has-of sets and needing to stay together- I picked out items I never use(whether or not they belong to a set) and put them in a box to go to good will. I feel so much better:-). I am back to following my Fly lady plan(which I majorly altered since the last time I used it was when Isaac was still taking late afternoon naps which means he was 4-6months) and I am also going through this 7 day organizational program by Alejandra Costello (she seems a little OCD to me, but her tips and ideas and the basic core of this 7 day program is good). One of the biggest things I learned that is a huge problem, which although simple and I "knew it", it really registered with me when she said it a certain way. " Stop serving mail for dinner" meaning, if your not cooking/preparing food etc. with it, it does not belong in your kitchen. Everything needs a place(closet is the best place for keys and purse, not your counter), mail belongs on a desk/near a desk etc. So between the two systems things are looking SO much better- and it only took 2-3 days so far :-), ok and a LOT of my time when you have toddler interruptions-but well worth it.The best part of my new schedule- all my work, ALL my housework is to be done before my kids are in bed- think of all the free time- and this includes naps(no house work during nap time) its all solely my time*squeals* (In order to accomplish this, I make my 3 yr old do ALOT more cleaning up of his own things-sometimes I forget I have been sick for a long time and He has grown up 4-5 more months in that time and is much more capable of doing things-and correctly-not perfect but thats ok). Also, although I spent a lot more time intentionally/actively cleaning,instead of just trying to keep up- I actually have taken my kids outside twice a day for 30 min at a time(before it was embarrassingly hardly ever), and spent more time intentionally with them instead of just "uh huh, uh huh, ok stop making messes, no i cant do that right now I have to clean this up"- I have specific times to do things with them in my schedule,you might think it sounds sad to "schedule" times with your kids to really teach and play with them,but it makes it more intentional and face to face time.
Flylady- Routines and Emails that tell you what to do each day
Alejandra Costello- Free 7 day course on organization basics(the root problems)
