10.24.2014

Super Simple & Quick Drawer Organiziation

Back in the summer, I was really gung-ho about getting certain places in my home organized before The Bean (now LJ! haha) made her appearance on the scene. I was pretty successful, actually. I had a list on my phone called Things To Do Before Baby, and I completed every task except for two - I never did prepare any freezer meals as I intended (though that turned out okay, as it wasn't too hard at all for me to find time to cook, which is amazing considering I wasn't able to do that with C for a LONG time!), and I didn't get to make LJ a tutu dress or skirt. I have plans of making her a rainbow tutu to match the one I made for C on her 3rd birthday last year, and I thought it would be adorable to have their pictures taken in their matching tutus. But then I ran out of some of the colors of tulle that I used in C's dress, and I decided that a newborn in tulle is not the most practical idea ever, so I put it off. (I now have a new idea for LJ's 6 month photo shoot. The day I went into labor with her, I completed a gorgeous tutu dress for C that has a baby pink bodice and a tulle skirt of pink, mint, and white. I have enough materials to make one for LJ, too, but I want her to wear it when she's able to sit on her own. How precious will that be!) Considering how long my to-do list was, though, I think I did pretty well!

So, a while back I posted about how I redid the closet in the girls' room. I'm happy to say that its been about 4 months now and the closet is still very organized. It pretty much looks exactly like it did when I finished it in June, except now there are more baby clothes in there! And that annoying hanging organizer is still on the back of the door. Its very useful, but so annoying because you have to watch it when you shut the door. Maybe one day I'll do something to replace it...

Not long after the closet was done, I tackled the dresser in the room. I think I've actually "organized" this dresser before, but it didn't stick. See for yourself. Here's the top drawer:
Sigh. I can't even tell you how much random junk was in that drawer. It was a mess, and I had no idea exactly what was in there.

First, I took everything out (and threw away a bunch of mess), and decided what needed to be in there: C's underwear, tights, and socks. I also decided to put the newborn fitted diapers in there, since the diaper section of this dresser was overly full (that has since been organized as well, but its not much to look at, so no pics of it - its just nice that I finally know exactly where all my diapers are and can easily grab what I need quickly). I only had 12 newborn fitteds, and they fit perfectly in the drawer.

Anyway, once I knew what needed to be in the drawer, I played around with fitting it all in neatly.
Then, I cut up a cardboard box and made dividers so everything would stay in its designated place.
 Of course, after that, I had to make the cardboard pretty! So I covered it with some wrapping paper I had on hand.
So simple, but so efficient! Here's a shot of the drawer in the dresser:
Don't mind the random stuff on top; I found a new home for all that!

This drawer is still perfectly organized, I am happy to report. It has had a few changes, though. Mainly, LJ grew out of those fitteds, so now that space holds the diaper covers, wipes, and Best Bottom inserts.

It always amazes me how such a simple change can make such a huge impact!

Stay tuned for for home organizational updates I've completed lately, including the medicine cabinet! ( :

10.20.2014

I Have Been Blessed

I have seriously been blessed, ya'll! The past 10 weeks have absolutely FLOWN by! LJ's birth story is up on the blog (under the "Birth Stories" tab - you have to scroll down past C's story). Actually, its been up for quite a while now, but I haven't had a spare moment to write a regular post. Life, of course, is crazy. And beautiful. I wouldn't have it any other way! I've been blessed to be able to stay home with my girls so far; I quit my job! I'm not sure how long this will last, so I'm savoring it as much as I can. I can't say I savor EVERY moment, though. People who tell you to do that don't have a preschooler, haha. Every moment is not awesome, and I'm not gonna lie and say I enjoy every minute here. But just to be able to be here, to witness all the cute things my 3 (almost 4!) year old says and does all day long, to watch my not-so-newborn growing daily and taking in the world around here, its priceless.

It is currently 7:30am. I've been up since 6. This is my new routine, getting up before the sun, and I'm used to it now, but when I think about it, it still makes me laugh. I am NOT a morning person, and I do NOT get up before the sun! Yet here I am. LJ has for the past month been sleeping from 10pm-6am (I know, what a good baby!). So when she wakes up for her 6am feeding, I nurse her, lay her back down (where she'll sleep until 9-9:30), and then I get up and start my day. I've found that if I go ahead and get up, my whole day just feels better. Since she's sleeping so long, I'm having to pump as soon as I get up (ain't nobody got time for clogged ducts or mastitis!), so I do that while I'm eating breakfast and watching the sun come up over the trees. Then I do my daily devotional (I'm still working on The Excellent Wife Day by Day that I started well over a year ago...yeah), get ready for the day, and tackle a few chores around the house. Usually by the time C gets up I'm ready to go, though occasionally she surprises me and wakes up super early. Having an hour or so of "me" time is key, though. Key to my sanity, and key to having a productive day.

Since I'm a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) now, I'm trying hard to prove every day that its beneficial to my family. I, of course, know without a doubt that it is, but men need more tangible proof of things, you know. I'm no longer bringing in money, so I have to make sure he sees the worth in other ways. For the past 2 weeks I have been on a major organizing spree around here, which I intend to blog about. Its been almost a year since I intentionally meal-planned, but starting today I'm getting back into that. I'm doing what I can to save us as much money as possible while I'm not working. I think being more organized in general will help tremendously - if you're organized, you  know where everything is and you won't be spending money on stuff you already have but didn't realize cause it was lost.

I recently organized our 2 freezers in the house (one of a huge stand-up freezer and then we have the tiny one on top of the fridge). I'm so proud of the big freezer! I also took inventory of everything in there and in the pantry. What I learned is we have WAY too much food in this house. Food that we'll never eat before it expires. Food that was purchased with a specific recipe in mind, and then was forgotten about. So I told DH we're (mainly HE) not allowed to purchase any more food items (except things we go through regularly like bread) until I cook through everything we already have. So for now, I'll be planning our meals based on what we have "in stock." Once we've made it through all that, I'll be meal planning based on grocery store sales, and will only purchase what we need. Hopefully, it'll make our freezers and pantry much easier to navigate. And of course it'll save us money. Currently, if you want a can of green beans from the pantry, you have to move about 20 other cans first. Ain't nobody got time for that! I spend more time looking for ingredients that I know we have on hand than I do cooking! That's ridiculous.

Okay, this wasn't intended to be a post about food. That's coming. ( : This is just a general, life-updating type post.

Today, I will start a true preschool regimen with C. I'm so excited! I think it was last year that I bought a preschool book on clearance from Target, and since then we've done a few pages here and there, but nothing scheduled. I took my maternity leave from my job 2 weeks early (I officially quit a few weeks after LJ was born), and I had one full week with C before I went into labor. During that week, we made some real progress. She started writing letters and was learning to write her name. Of course, after LJ was born that all stopped. I think I figured out how to fit LJ into our lives pretty quickly, but its taken me until now to really get everything back into a groove. The other day, I worked up a schedule for me to loosely follow every day. I'm including time for preschool. A friend told me about a website (www.abcjesuslovesme.com), and after looking around on it, I knew that was the curriculum I wanted to follow. Its free, and with it children learn regular preschool stuff PLUS Bible stories. I love that! I can't wait to get started with C later today.

I think being more intentional is my new goal in life. Making sure to get up early, getting things done around the house, making time to do my devotional every morning, making sure to do a devotional with C every day, scheduling time for preschool, scheduling time for our daily walks, etc. (We started 2 weeks ago going on a daily walk, me and the girls, and I absolutely love it. We only walk a mile, but the road that we walk on has a few decent hills, and when you're pushing 50+ pounds in a stroller, a mile is strenuous!) Every day I have a goal in mind, and most days I'm able to accomplish that goal. I've also learned to cut myself some slack, though. If I don't get everything on my list accomplished that day, its okay. Everything will still be here tomorrow.

Having 2 daughters has for sure taught me so much. I feel like superwoman most of the time, since I've learned to do things I never thought I'd be able to do. DH is only here a few hours in the evenings (he leaves for work pretty early, and the girls are still asleep), so I do pretty much everything on my own. When C was born, it took me a really long time to figure out how to be a mom AND a wife and everything else. But this time around, I've taken on my new role (mom to a newborn in additional to a mom to a preschooler) much easier. With C, I pretty much didn't get off the couch until I went back to work, and it was almost a year before I figured out how to cook supper and stay on top of cleaning the house with her around. She was a very different baby than LJ, I'll admit, but I have learned to do things quicker this time. At the same time, though, being a mother of two has really humbled me. There is SO much I have yet to learn, and so many areas that I could improve upon. That's a post for another day, though.

All this to say that I'm back, and hopefully I'll be back to blogging somewhat regularly. I really enjoy going back and reading my old posts, so I'd like to keep it up. So here's to fitting more writing into my crazy, beautiful life! ( :