It's . . . Clean

Thank you to my mother-in-law! She came and helped me get on top of my house again. That meant hours of laundry, numerous trips to the garbage, and enough vacuuming to seriously flatten some carpet.

Now it's up to me to keep it that way.

So, a few things that we came up with to help.

1) The bins with diapers are in the hall closet. Franklin can't pull them out if he can't see them!

2) The laundry is under control and I'm back to doing a load or so a day.

3) I made a list for Stefan and I with "Things to do before bed"
     - Dishes (unloaded if they're clean. Sink empty)
     - Floor picked up (toys up and laundry picked up)
     - Dryer empty (folded and put away)
     - Pick up trash (brief sweep of the room to throw away unnecessary crap)
     - Kitchen clean (wiped down and leftovers away)

4) We need to buy a little handheld vac thingy for small messes. Part of the reason things got let go was due to having to lug out the big vacuum each time.

5) We've started doing disposable plates more often. No, not good for the environment or anything...but it's good for my sanity.


So, my biggest piece of advice? Enlist some help and get on top of things! Get your family involved!

Family update

The results of the ultrasound confirm that we're having another boy! We were kind of hoping for a girl, but girls are really are in my husband's family and it IS up to his chromosome! We have NO names picked out and we're still discussing the circumcision issue.

Anyway...

Update on Franklin: We're working on potty training. Right now we're hitting 50/50 catch/miss. I figure that for a 16 month old that's pretty awesome. It's funny because when you do early potty training (or EC) and have a miss most people react with, "Well, that's because it's too early! S/He can't understand!" However, when you start at 2 or 3 and have a miss the common reaction is, "Oh, that's potty training for you!" In my opinion, there is no difference. My son realizes when he has to use the potty most of the time. Sometimes he realizes too late and we're too far away from the potty. However, we are able to make it to the potty for 95% of his poops and for more pees each time. He's started standing in front of the potty to pee in it...which is fine by me. As long as it makes it into the potty I don't care!!!

He's also started putting the towels up! Well, grabbing a folded towel and walking to the bathroom and letting someone lift him up and help him put it away.

So, chores Franklin does with help:
- Towels away
- Unload bottom rack of dishwasher
- Pick up dropped things...like food or toys


Those are the family updates. Stefan's hours are getting better. There's not much to update on him or me at the moment...he's still Air Force and I'm still pregnant!

Are My Standards Really THAT High?

This is not what I strive for...honest.

I've been told recently, by family and friends...in a variety of terms, that I need to lower my standards. My house can't be THAT bad. I have a child to take care of and I'm pregnant. A few dishes is no big deal. Laundry can wait to get folded. I need to put my feet up and paint my toenails. I need new expectations. I need to stop stressing over the "little things." Hopefully, some of you that have said these things (or even thought them) are reading this post. 

There's also the other side of the coin. I put up a "To Do" list on Facebook and, on a really really good day, knock some of it out...and I inspire people. Can I just tell you how much of an inspiration I'm NOT? We all have good days, but mine are very few and far between as of late. 

So, I decided to take a few photos of what my house looks like on a typical day. I hate doing this. However, maybe, just maybe, it will help everyone see things through MY eyes. 

*Deep Breath*

This is one view of my kitchen.  Yes, I wake up each and every morning to a sink with dishes and crap all over the counters. 

The cutting board is filthy. That pan? It still has soy paste residue in it from dinner TWO nights ago. The smell, however, is sickening to me so I have avoided touching it.

Another view of the sink. (Ignore the brown package. That's thawing for later)

Why not just clean up before bed? Well, after running around after a toddler all day, spending time in the kitchen during the day making breakfast and lunch, and then spending MORE time making dinner the last thing I feel like doing is spending even more time in the kitchen in the evening. Stefan gets home after his 11 hour day (I hate you, Flight Chief) and he doesn't want to do anything either. *Rolls Eyes* we make quite the pair.

The kitchen is one of THOSE places for me, too. I'm picky about kitchens and bathrooms. If I clean nothing else in a house it's those places. A bad kitchen or bathroom will cause me to turn down an apartment. So, when my kitchen looks like this (or worse) I will actually avoid entering it because my anxiety gets going. I've been known to sit on the floor of a kitchen and cry because the mess was overwhelming.  

 That is a FULL SIZED Pack-N-Play full of clean laundry. This is what happens when the laundry "can wait" or whatever. My husband hates to fold laundry to the point that he won't do it. I can't fold during the day because my son wrecks folded piles. The only time I have to fold laundry is late at night...and after a long day who wants to do more chores, really?

Normally, I'd fold some laundry and put it on the dining table...the same table you see above. The stuff on the floor? Probably 80% dirty laundry that has yet to find its way to the laundry room.

More open space with random crap on the floor. If I could show you the state of the carpet I totally would. However, in order to vacuum there needs to be room to do so...and obviously that's not possible.

My entryway. Yeah, so even coming home is a disaster area.

An overall shot of the whole sha-bang. Diapers, laundry, toys, chairs, etc...

This is the entrance to the bedroom on a mild day. Sometimes there's several days worth of clothing on the floor. I recently picked up the rest of the room so it's not as bad as it was. (Think: Living room in the bedroom)

The Master Bathroom. Towels, clothes, baby toys...this is on a good day.

The first person to say, "A place for everything and everything in its place" will get a virtual smack in the face. We don't have that kind of storage. Yes, we have draws and cabinets...however, they're all at child level and he's in the "pull everything on the floor" stage of his development. "Well, just babyproof" right? Yeah, we have 3 drawers that will not work with drawer catches and cabinet catches are expensive. Roughly $15 for 2 locks (because we can't install them so they have to be the strong sticky kind) We would be locking at least 8 cabinets/drawers. That's $120 on cabinet/drawer locks and 1 very unhappy baby. He likes to climb in and sit with me while I cook sometimes. It's like a little chair for him. He's also putting items in and out of different drawers which, apparently, is a great way to learn spatial reasoning. (What size items fit best in which drawer kind of thing)

I don't strive for Show Home status. I used to, and then he got mobile. Right now, I'll take livable...and this isn't it.

Something to write home about.

Today was a VERY productive day. Yesterday wasn't half bad, either. My big deal with cleaning today is we (still) have ANTS and they're supposed to come spray. My biggest fear is that they'll walk in and say something snarky like, "You have ants because you're a slob" or something like that. We really are clean people. Yes, there are crumbs on the floor on occasion, but not for long. The problem is that there is an ant village (nest?) right under our building. So, they come in through every available crack. I've been able to hold them off for the most part, but I can only do so much without resorting to really nasty chemicals or cement or something. (Trust me, I've considered the cement) How can I be sure they live under my feet? Other than the constant infestation I've seen them moving the nursery (a line of ants carrying larvae) after a big rain...to a hole on the side of my building. Yeah...

So, yesterday I tackled storage. I've been wanting to do that as I can never find anything when I go out there. What used to be 6 bins is now 4 bins. We threw away several paper bags worth of trash and have a large black trash bag to donate. I find myself wondering: Why did we keep all that junk? It's been moved at least 3 times. Whatever, new leaf!

Today I (Well, WE):

- Bleached all the sinks

- Bleached the Guest tub (the bottom was really gross)

- Cleaned both toilets

- Cleaned the Master Bedroom

- Gathered all the laundry (and there was plenty)

- Ran a load of diapers (complete with a strip)

- Took out the trash

- Light grocery shopping to get through until Wed.

- Did a couple of scrapbook pages

- Cleaned Frankie's highchair

- Did 1 load of laundry (it still needs to hit the dryer)

- Cleaned the kitchen (including the floors)


What's left? Of course there are things left to do!

- LAUNDRY (fold and put away...this includes diapers)

- Clean the entryway

- Figure out what I'm going to put in these two empty bins.


We're going out of town Thursday morning so I wanted to get everything done NOW. I know we won't feel like doing anything after a 4 hour drive on Sunday to come home.

I have to brag on my son

That's him helping me clean up his blocks.

My son is almost 15mo. He has such a great natural helpfulness about him. This is all him, too! Like, I nurture it and whatnot but I don't force him to help.

Examples: I taught him to help unload the dishwasher. He was always so interested in what I was doing and would grab flatware so I started saying, "Thank you, Franklin!" and reaching for it when he did. Now he will pick up one (or two) pieces of silverware (sharps removed, obviously) and hand them to me while I put them away. He recently started wanting to help with plates and whatnot as well (basically anything on the bottom shelf) He loves doing it so much that he will open the dishwasher repeatedly if there are dishes inside until you come help him.

I was putting away towels the other day and he walked in, saw what I was doing, and started picking them up to hand to me. This was totally new.

Just now DH was moving furniture back into place (we cleaned the carpet today) and DS came up and started to "help" push a larger piece. He had a huge grin on his face the whole time and just looked so proud of himself.

He also loves to share food. Like, if he's eating and notices that you don't have any (like if he's having a snack or starting dinner a bit early) he'll hold out a bite for you to have.


It's adorable. I hope this keeps up (or gets better!) for when the next little one gets here!

I just had to brag

And The Winner Is...

ME!

That's right. I won the chili cook-off. My chili may now be referred to as "Award Winning."

The recipe is so simple:

1lb of ground beef
1 onion finely chopped (I almost pureed mine in the food processor)
1 can of Rotel tomatoes (tomatoes with chilis)
1 can of chili beans (or Ranch Style Beans)
1 can of tomato paste
Spices: Chili Powder, garlic powder, pepper (cayenne and black), salt, onion powder to taste.

Cook the meat and onion until cooked through. Add everything else. Simmer for several hours (I use my crock pot) If you need more liquid use a chicken or beef stock. You can also cook it the night before, refrigerate overnight (it helps everything fuse together) and then heat over low for dinner the next day.

Yep, simple and a winner!

Hello? Testing...one...two...three

I know I've been a bit absent. Again, I'm going to blame stress and pregnancy. Ugh, so much!

I've been trying to start cleaning up the house again. Some days we (me and Franklin) have good days and I can get quite a bit done. Some days it's like the world is upside down. I get tired and nauseated and Franklin seems to live to get into stuff he shouldn't.

In other news: I'm doing a chili cookoff at Stefan's squadron. It's really low key but kind of exciting. We went to Whole Foods so I could get premium ingredients! I'll let you know how it goes.

We're definitely having a homebirth! I have a midwife and everything. It's a little weird to do "doctor's visits" in your home.

I'm also doing a cooking challenge for July that I'll post about later!

Don't Give Up On Me.

I hired my midwife so you'll get regular baby updates soon!

I'm planning a big JULY Meal Challenge. Be ready for that!

If I weren't nauseated all.the.time. I'd definitely be posting more. We ate out a lot the end of last month just because I felt so exhausted all the time.

So yeah, don't give up on me!

How To: Break Some Rules?

I came across this on FoxNews. It's a brief article on How To Conceal and Office Romance.

Is this innocent advice? I mean, the article itself states that "...sometimes emotions — and hormones — get the best of you" and "While an office romance is a very common occurrence and not quite as taboo as it once was..."  


But aren't most office romances, I don't know, against the rules? The first sentence even says it: While most people don’t find a problem with letting their co-workers know about the love blossoming between the cubicle walls, the fine print of many company contracts says a little something about office romances. Usually, this fine print is a warning of some kind, so it’s often a good idea to conceal your passionate office romp.

 Is it weird that I'm a bit bothered by this?

19th Meal MAYhem

We're back!

Tonight's dinner is one I got from the label of the Tomato Sauce Can! It's called Lasagna Sausage Rolls. (Sorry in advance for poor photo quality...I'm using my cell phone)

You need:
- Italian sausage (sweet or spicy is your choice)
- Lasagna noodles
- Either 2 cans of tomato sauce OR one tomato sauce and one can of tomatoes
- Italian seasoning of some kind...I used oregano
- Cheese if you want

Cook the noodles to package directions.

Cook the sausage. Now, you can slice them in half and cook them like that or cook them whole...just make sure you have a noodle for each piece of sausage.

After draining the noodles and pulling the cooked sausage out (and draining the pan) let everything cool enough to handle.

Now, wrap a noodle around each link and place it back in the pan.

Cover it with your tomato products.

Heat everything through and serve!

And if you're serving a 13 month old make sure you have a rag handy!