Doing It All...A Mommy's Diary.

I need to post more

2009-03-12T09:18:00.002+01:00

Ok I havent had a baby this time. Ive been so sick since Brittany was born. I just cant seem to get well. When I left the hospital I left with a cold....no big deal. The cold went away and not even 2 days later I had a clogged milk duct. It went away after a few days then a week later I got Mastitis! Mastitis knocked me on my butt hard. I had a 103 fever for 4 days i could barely get up out of bed. I was sick. I finally get over having mastitis and 2 days later I get a UTI. Well me being me I didnt want to go to the doc so I drank lost of cranberry juice and water hoping it would flush itself out....I did this for 2 weeks until I started peeing blood. At that point i finally took myself to the doc. I had been on antibiotics for 4 days when I woke up to a fever of 103.4 chills coughing and i could barely get myself out of bed. Of course my hubby had to be deployed at the time so I somehow managed to get all 3 girls dressed and out of bed and down 3 flights of stairs to our car and to the ER. Oh and the older 2 girls were also sick and running fevers at this point. The couldnt figure oput what exactly was wrong with me so they did a chest x-ray and I had pneumonia!!!! That was 10 days ago. Im all better from the pneumonia now....BUT about 5 days ago I had pink eye and 2 days ago I found out I have a sinus infection!!! Its just one thing after another right now. I just cant seem to catch a break. Needless to say my house is a mess because I just havent had the energy to pick up after the girls. Im feeling a little better today for the 1st time in awhile so Im gonna put on my apron by momomadeit at etsy.com and im gonna clean clean clean. I also have some diapers in the laundry that needed to be folded and put away so im gonna do that today too.....Oh yes.....we are now a cloth diaper loving family =)

Finally...

2009-01-19T15:29:00.003+01:00

Its been awhile...I have a good excuse though, I sware i do! I had a baby!!! On January 13,2009 at 10:51am little Brittany Catharine finally made her way into this world. Here's the story...

On Monday January 12 I went for a doctor appointment. I had an appointment the previous Wednesday and the doctor then said to make an appointment for Monday. If I hadnt had her by Monday they would set up a time to induce me because I was over my due date. They didnt want me to reach 42 weeks because after that time the placenta starts to shut down and there is a chace the baby could die. So monday I went to the doctor still prego. He checked me and I was 4cm and 50% effaced. He told me to come in the next morning at 6 to be induced, but he also stripped my membranes to see if that would get something going on it own. Well I went home did some cleaning and went and got Emma from preschool came home and I had some bleeding and strong contractions but they were very far apart (about 20 min apart) so i didnt think much of it. We went about the day getting ready for the induction the next morning. We went to sleep around 11pm and I set my alarm for 5am so i could get up and get the girls things ready for the sitters and my stuff ready for the hospital. Well at 4am I woke up to very painful contractions that were about 4-5min apart. Since I had had contractions before I decided just to get in the bath and see if they would go away on their own.....they didnt....in fact they just got stronger and closer together....I was in labor! I was so excited because this was the 1st time I had gone into labor on my own. by 5am I was in a lot of pain and the contractions were baout 3min apart. I told Hubby to get up we needed to go....he was still pretty much asleep and told me there was no way I was in labor and i needed to wait until 6am to go to the hospital....I said fine and got the girls and all our stuff ready and at 6am we headed to the hospital....by this time I was in A LOT of pain. We walked into the ER and I asked them to wheel me up to labor and delivery because I couldnt walk that far. We finally got up and into a room and all hooked up to the monitors around 7am. sure enough I was in labor. I was having contractions in the 120s every 2-4 minutes. they checked me and I was 6cm and 100%. I continued to labor drug free for about an hour when they finally gave me something through my IV. It didnt really help with the pain just made me really loopy. they checked me again and I was 8cm.....another hour went by and they gave me an intrathecal which is like a one time shot in your spine thats supposed to kinda act like a short epidural....that didnt work at all....it didnt numb me anywhere. After they layed me back down my water broke...they decided to check me again I was 10cm and 100%.....I thought awesome I can start pushing nopw and get her out but no such luck. Brittany was still high. She was being held up by a 2nd small bag of water!!! I had 2 bags of water.....they decided not to break the water and just let me labor on my own to see if it would rupture.....an hour went by and nothing.....almost 2 hours later and laboring at 10cm and 100% my doc came in and decided to rupture the small bag. As soon as he did she dropped right down and it was time for me to push. I pushed 3 times and she was born at 10:51am on Tuesday January 13, 2009. She was a HUGE baby weighing 8lbs 10oz but what can you expect she was 10 days late.

babyshower

2008-12-10T04:46:00.004+01:00

Not mine....I did have one and it was wonderful. Yesterday however I attended a double baby shower for 2 friends of mine. Another friend of mine and I decided to go in together and make diapers cakes for both of them. Since my friend is a very busy lady with 3 kids of her own and a home daycare to run I told her buy the cake topper and other little things to go on the diaper....ill get the diapers and ribbon and what ever else is needed to make the cake and ill put both the cakes together. Keep in mind that neither one of us has ever made a diaper cake, but I thought it looked pretty simple and I could do it. Well after a couple hours of rolling diapers I finally finished both diaper cakes....one boy and one girl....and considering that italy doesnt have any craft stores that I can find and I had to work with what little I could find at the NEX....I think they came out awesome!

boy cake

girl cake

both cakes together

1AM

2008-12-05T01:12:00.002+01:00

The title says it all....it's 1am and everyone is asleep. Everyone except for me. Im up cleaning, decorating, and organizing. I should be tired but Im just not. Emma's b-day party is saturday and I want to make sure the house looks perfect...or at least as perfect as it can look. Ive gotten a lot done in about 2 hours. I got the rest of the Christmas decor up and looking nice, I cleaned up the living room and dining room, I swept, I'm about to load the dish washer, and maybe fold some clothes.....I figure by then it will probably be around 2am and hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep. Lately I just havent been able to get comfertable enough to fall asleep and stay asleep for any amount of time. Hopefully staying up a little later tonight will help me sleep more than 2 hours. Well, now its time to bring some stuff out to the storage closet, then load the dishwasher, fold some clothes then off to bed.

Laundry room round-up!

2008-11-30T03:17:00.003+01:00

Well...I didnt make any major changes. There are acouple reasons for my lack of change making. 1. my laundry room was pretty clean and organized before I started the round-up. There were just a few problem areas that I needed to address

2. Im like a billion weeks pregnant now and have been having some issues with high BP so I have been told to take it easy.I've also started having contractions! It's exciting but little miss Brittany needs to stay in there at least 2 more weeks.

3. Hubby came home from his deployment to Spain. Ive been trying to keep the rest of the house clean now since he gotten home and it's hard work. Men are so messy. He really is like a big kid and definatly contributes to the messes the girls make on a daily basis.

Last but not least....

4. With the recent hollidays it just hasnt been a priority. Not to mention we've had like a ton of B-Day parties to go to recently and I had my baby shower. Life has just been chaotic to say the least.

ok...so i posted before pics a few post ago...but heres a little recap...

BEFORE:

It wasnt that bad to begin with....

AFTER:

I made a diaogram of the laundry sorter for my hubby....I also put what is considered darks light and whites. Its idiot proof. I also put a chart up of which hangers go to which kid. The new baby will have a differnt color hanger for each size of clothes....0-3months pink....3-6 months white....6-9 months blue and 9+ months green.....

I ended up moving one of the crates I had on the top shelf and making it my "soak" basket and made sure toput the oxy clean tup in there along with my iron.... I also moved the change bottle up to the top shelf....this way little hands cant get it anymore....and moved the hangers from the middle all the way to the left.

no big differnce over the washer.....I still would like to get some greenery to put in the middle on the top shelf and a small radio for the middle bottom shelf. I also want to try and figure out how to cover the crates to add some color and hide whats inside.

Well thats all....I wish I had more change, but sadly thats all ive been able to do in the past month.

Pine Sol

2008-11-09T12:00:00.002+01:00

OMG I love pine sol.....I remember when I was very young....about once a month my parents would clean house. I would wake up to all the windows being open and a nice breeze going through the house and the smell of pine sol....it always made our house smell SO clean....even if the reality was our house was a mess. Well today is my pine sol morning. I think its because im nesting bad right now, but I have wiped down almost everything in my house with pine sol this morning....the windows are open with a nice breeze and my house just seems clean right now....well almost clean anyway. I definatly love cleaning days. I know later today I will come home from being out and walk into my clean smelling out and it will just be so relaxing. Ok well time to get back to cleaning....I still need to do the laundry and clean the girls room and my room.

The Laundry Room!!

2008-11-05T12:42:00.004+01:00

Here is another Monthly Round-Up from the Organizing Junkie. Oh how I love these things....It gives me a little push in the right direction.....

This month we will tackle the Laundry room.....oooooo.....ahhhh......
Now my laundry room is pretty small so for the most part I try to keep it very clean and organized. It just makes things easier for me. Right now its kind of, um....dirty...bascially because I have a pile of clothes that needs to soak in some Oxy Clean for a day. That will be one thing I'm going to tackle. Where to put the Clothes that need to be soaked. I usually just put them on top of the dryer until I get a large enough pile to soak in the washer, but it looks really cluttered that way so im gonna need to figure out where to put these clothes.....ok time for before pics....

My tiny laundry room

the "soak" pile on top of the dryer which is next to the coin jar which is pretty much empty

All of our hangers.....if they arent in use the they are in the laundry room....i dont like empty hangers in the closet.....there are a ton of kids hangers right now because I just put all the summer clothes in storage...and I havent finished the new baby's closet

my 3 bin clothes sorter....a place for light darks and whites.....I LOVE this thing. No laundry room should be without one.

my milk crates that I grabed out of the trash....=) they hold extra guest towels, our beach towels, cleaning rags, and some laundry essentials.

laundry soap and the 3rd crate...

I also have a small garbage can that is behind my laundry room door...but im pretty sure you all know what a garbage can looks like. I would like to decorate the laundry room a little since I spend a good amount of time in there, I would also like to organize that 3rd crate because it looks pretty messy. I need to figure out what to do with the coin jar and I need to find a place to hide the "soak" pile until im ready to actually soak it. I like the hangers where they are because they are easy to reach. I usually take the laundry straight from the dryer and put it on hangers then go hang it up in the right closet. I guess I just need it to look pretty now. Maybe I'll put a small CD player in there so I can listen to music while I fold/hang-up laundry. I dont know....it just needs something.....dont you agree? I see what changes I can make in a month and post some after pics when Im done......Wish me luck!

total mess

2008-11-02T20:06:00.002+01:00

My house is a MESS. My friends refuse to believe this, but its true. I have not cleaned my house in about a week.....except for taking out the trash and doing the dishes and laundry. Other then the necessary things, I haven't done anything. The glass on my coffee table is NASTY looking right now. It has finger prints and sticky stuff from where my oldest spilt some juice. There are toys EVERYWHERE and I still havent made my bed.....I stripped the bed and washed the sheets.....I just never put the new ones on. So Ive been sleeping on my comfertor and using a warm throw as a cover. Honestly though, Ive been VERY busy. By the time I actually get home at night all I want to do is go to sleep. Kind of like right now. It's almost 9pm and I am SO ready for bed.

I definatly have hit that point in my pregnancy where I'm just tired. I have managed to get a few things done. I organized the girls' puzzles finally. Each puzzle is numbered and all the pieces to that puzzle have the same number on them. Then they are put into a 2 gallon ziplock baggie. Then I wrote puzzle # whatever on the baggie. Each baggie with its own puzzle is then put into a little plastic tub which is labeled "PUZZLES" It didn't take long at all but it sure made me feel like I accomplished something.....anything.....this week. I started trying to figure out how to organize her barbies, barbie clothes, and accessories, but they are still kind of one big mess in a plastic tub. Oh well. I'll eventually figure out how to make them all nice and neat.

My husband will be home before I know it so I really need to get the house nice before he come home. Not that it's horriable, I mean I dont need to be on "Clean Sweep" or some show like that, but the house does need a good deep cleaning before the hubby comes home. Thats one of my worst fears. Having my husband come home to a dirty, unorganized, cluttered home. He's coming home to relax from work, not to worry about how the house looks. Well I'm about half dead tonight so its off to bed now. If anyone has any good idead on how to organize barbies and all the little stuff that comes with barbies PLEASE comment. I need all the help I can get right now.

Tired

2008-10-24T12:24:00.002+02:00

As hapy and proud I am of myself right now im also exausted! It's only 12:30pm and I'm ready to go back to bed, or at least ready to take a nap. Its been a very busy morning and I'm not done yet.

My girls usually wake up between 8am and 9am. Well this morning I had to be at an FRG meeting at 8am so I had to have all of us up and ready to walk out the door no later than 7:50. So, needless to say, I was up at 6am this morning. I put the last finishing touches on the Welcome Packet for the FRG, took a shower, got the girls up and dressed, and we were out the door.

The FRG meeting went pretty well. At least for me it did. Everyone was very impressed at what I had put together in less than a week. They actually said I was like super woman. Of course this made me feel awesome. I try to do everything and when I actually manage to do everything and do it right and people are happy that makes me feel awesome; like I really can do it all.

The FRG meeting ended around 9:45 then it was back home to change the girls' clothes, do their hair and head back to the hotel for Christmas pictures at 10:30. We got home at 9:55 I changed thee girls' clothes and then came the hard part, getting them to sit still so I could do their hair. I eventually got them ready and we rushed out the door at 10:20. We got to the hotel at 10:27 took pics and now we're back home.

I dont have anything offically planned for the rest of the day, but I need to clean up. The house isnt too bad, but I need to mop the floors and finish the laundry, clean the bathrooms. All that good stuff. I also need to label some stuff with my label maker. I was SO happy to finally get one and Ive been so busy that I haven't had the time to really use it. I'll probably clean up the girls' room and go label crazy.

SO HAPPY!!

2008-10-23T09:42:00.002+02:00

The title says it all....I'm SO HAPPY right now. Yesterday when I went to the NEX to get some stuff to make a sample Welcome Packet for our FRH (Family Readiness Group) I walked down the office supply isle and they had it....Dyno Label Marker!!!! I've been waiting for MONTHS for them to get this label maker in so I can get a little more organized. Ive only started using it this morning for a few things but so far I LOVE it. It was the best $18.99 I've ever spent.

So update on my sample Welcome Packet for the FRG, I'm almost done!!! I walked to bascially everywhere I could think of on base yesterday that someone might go and got any information I could get. Got everything home sorted through it. put the thing I thought were importnat in the packet and the other stuff got put in a file just in case. I took the sample packet over to the FRG Co-Leader and she said it was awesome. I'm really hoping that the commander, paid FRG person and the FRG leader think its good at the meeting Friday morning. There are still some things missing from the Welcome Packet that I think would be awesome to have in there, but honestly I dont think they will get in there before Friday morning. What Im going to have to do is write up a little sheet and list what is in the packet and what is not in the packet but what i think should be in the packet. I would really like to organize the packet with some dividers so when people get it thay know what is what and can easily turn to what they need, but the FRG doesnt have enough money to buy the things we would need to do that. Oh well, Maybe i'll do it anyway just to make it look really nice and impress everyone =)

Ok well it's time to clean up the house and play with my new toy! I'm so excited!!

Menu Plan Monday!!!

2008-10-20T07:57:00.003+02:00

Ah, yes. It's that time of the week again. Another week has gone by and it's monday now...time to lan my menu for the week. Honestly it was semi planned last week because I go grochery shopping every 15 days (when hubby gets paid). So i always have a general idea of what im going to be making the 1st-15th and the 15th-30th(31st) of every month. Its just on Mondays I plan it all out so I can just look at my little calander and take out what I need. It makes life so much more simple. Ok enough rambeling, on with MPM!

MONDAY: Meatloaf, Lima Beans, Mashed Potatoes

TUESDAY: Left over Meatloaf, Carrots, Cornbread, Stovetop

WEDNESDAY: Kabobs and Brown Rice (looking foward to hump day!!)

THURSDAY: StoveTop Chicken

FRIDAY: Leftovers

SATURDAY: Spaghetti with butter and garlic (we dont do tomato sauce)

SUNDAY: Chicken Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

Still eating lots of left overs since hubby is gone until Mid/End of November....no big deal. It saves us some money on our grochery bill. =) Can you believe I only spent $100.17 on grocheries for 15 days?!?!?! Thats not just dinner...thats breakfast lunch snacks and dinner...and no coupons! I suck at using coupons....but I'm good at finding deals and only buying what I need. This mornings breakfast is Waffles with strawberries and whippedcream.....omg so good!! I think I might make some more and freeze them for an easy breakfast later this week. Its a nice change from ceral and milk or eggs biscuit and fruit salad.

What fules me?

2008-10-14T08:32:00.002+02:00

I was watching some early morning TV today and they were talking about jealousy. So I started to think what really fules me to get and stay organized. If you ask my girl friend she would say that I OCD and need to be on meds to control my "need to have everything organized" ways. I don't think that is the case. Of course it might be, but I dont think Im that bad. I think that there are a few differnt reason why I am becoming SO organized, and im actually staying organized.

First I'm pregnant....I'm nesting. Of course Ive been nesting since the first day I found out I was pregnant, but I did this with my other pregnancies also. It's like as soon as I find out I'm expecting I know that I'm going to have to become more organized. Adding another child to a family is a very chaotic time. The more organized you are during this time the smoother things will run and the easier the transition will be.

Second, I grew up in a family where my parents and most of my extended family were and still are pack rats. We always had stuff everywhere!! I would have to move piles of clothes, dirty and clean, off the sofa just to sit down. I would have to move stacks of bills and junk mail off the desk in order to use the computer. There was always a full stack of dirty dishes in the sink and never clean dishes in the cabinets. My parents collected antiques furniture and art. If there was a space somewhere to put something they would make sure something was there. It drove me crazy. Since I've become an adult with a family and home of my own, I promised myself that I would never allow myslef to become dirty or cluttered. I dont want my children to be embarassed to invite their friends over one day.

Third, and I just realized this today, I am SO jealous of people whos homes are perfect. You all know who I'm talking about. People whos homes look like this....

I dream of the day where my house will not only be completely organized but also beautifully decorated. Maybe when we move back to the states. The kids will be a little older, hubby will have a better paying job, and we'll be able to decorate any way we want to again. Right now we are so limited due to the fact that we are not allowed to paint. Hubby and I are about to say "screw it" and paint away. So we'll have to pay about $800 to have the place repainted by a pro before we leave.....it might be worth it to have our house feel like home for the next 4 years.
Right now between the white walls, white tile floors, white cabinets, toys and dirt that the kids bring in, this house feels so gross and messy. I think it make me even more jealous of thoes perfect homes. It makes me want to organize and reorganize until everything is perfect.

I think the last reason why I have become so organized is that it is just easier. I can find things when I need them, I know when I have an appointment or playdate, and Im not rebuying things I already have but that I cant find. Ah yes, live running smoothly. It also saves money. for instance, when I go grochery shopping I have a list of things I know I need for the next 2 weeks. I make a menu plan for 2 weeks, then I go and look at what I already have and then write down the things I will need. On average I spend about $120 every 15 days on grocheries for a family of 4 (including diapers and wipes). The most I have spent is about $180 and thats only because I also bought laundry soap, dish soap, toliet paper, paper towels, shampoo, and some cleaning products. I usually only do this about once every 4-6 months.

Being organized just saves you time energy and money. It makes your house look nice, makes things easier to find, and gives you time to relax. Honestly why wouldnt anyone want to be clean and organized? I just dont know.

Menu Plan Monday

2008-10-05T10:37:00.002+02:00

My 2nd MPM. How wonderful! Well I did go to the grochery store so the fridge is completely stocked now and I have a lot to work with. So whats on the menu for this week?....

MONDAY: BBQ Chicken, Corn, and Mashed Potatoes

TUESDAY: Chicken Fried Rice

WEDNESDAY: Shish Kabobs and leftover fried rice

THURSDAY: Spaghetti with butter and garlic (we dont do sauce)

FRIDAY: Ham Steak, StoveTop Stuffing, and Carrots

SATURDAY: Chicken Enchiladas

SUNDAY: Leftovers

Its still just me and the girls so Im sure we'll be having left overfors for lunch and maybe even breakfast. =)

My Family

2008-10-02T09:40:00.004+02:00

I thought I would take a moment out of my organizing rampage to post a little about myself and my family. Of course I have a little profile that gives a small description of my life, but what can I say, I want to show off my kiddos and hubby =)

I think the first thing that comes out of everyone's mouth when they first meet myself and my family is "You're so young!" Yes, it's true, I am young. I just turned 23 at the end of August. My husband is also young. He will be turning 24 at the beginning of December. We began our adult lives at a very young age and we wouldnt have it any other way. I think we are the happiest we have ever been.

David....Husband, Father, and Soldier

David and I met in February 2003. At the time we were both high school seniors but we attended differnt schools. A co-worked of mine at the time introduced us and it was love at first sight. A month after we met David finally got up the nerve to ask me out on our first date, Putt-Putt golf. I'll never forget that night for as long as I live. We had our 1st kiss that night and I remember feeling something different than I had ever felt with anyone else. It was magical. From that day on we were always together. On August 27th, 2003 David left for Basic Trainning for the US Army and I left for college. The 3 months we spent away from eachother made us realize just how much we ment to one another and we decided to get married. On February 13,2004 we said "I do" at a local court house in Augusta GA. I was 18 at the time and he was 19. Two months later we found out that we were expecting our first child. We also found out that in June David would be deploying to Korea for a year.

Emma Catharine....The 1st born

Emma was born on November 30,2004. After being pregnant for 41 weeks I was ready for her to finally come out, but she was stubborn and I ended up being induced. After 12 hours of labor and a forcept delivery because she was stuck on my hip bones, she finally made her arrival into this world. Emmas is strong willed, stubborn, hard headed, but VERY loving and caring. Shes laid back but at the same time shes into EVERYTHING. She has always had a very distinct personality and can sometimes drive me crazy, but I wouldnt change one thing about her. She will always be my baby even though shes mommy's "big girl" now.

Lindsey Catharine....Our 2nd

Lindsey was concieved the night David got home from a 4 month deployment to the Dominican Republic. My pregnancy with her was the most uneventful easy wonderful pregnancy I think I could have had. It was wonderful. However, 20 weeks into the pregnancy, David ended up being deployed to Kuwait for 15 months. Lindsey didnt want to come out either. At 39 weeks after being 5cm diolated for a month and with David home for his 2 weeks of R&R my doctor finally induced me. My labor started at 10:30 on March 6, 2007 and at 1:14pm after 2 hours and 45 minutes of labor and 3 pushes Lindsey was born. From day one Lindsey has been a very clingy child. She always wants to be held and cuddled. She wants to know and learn about things but is to shy and afraid to go off on her own. Since David was in Kuwait from the time she was 2 weeks until she was 11 months old she is definatly a mommys girl. If I leave her side the world might as well crumble. She loves everyone, even if shes too shy to show it. Her and Emma are like night and day. It should be interesting to see how they are when they get older.

Baby Girl #3....

Since this little one isnt here yet I dont know what to really say about her. My current due date is January 3rd. Since we are on no time restrictions because David isnt going to be deployed at that time, I am hoping to go into labor without being induced. I also hope to have a natural birth. Since my last labor was less than 3 hours I think I can do it. I'm extreemly excited and am actually looking forward to labor this time around. Since we are living in Italy right now she will actually be a dual citizen of the US and Italy. How cool is that? I also think she is going to be a soccer star. She has been kicking and rolling a making sure that I know shes in there since I was 14 weeks pregnant. Im currently 27 weeks prego. Only 13 more weeks left. Hopefully we'll have a name picked out by the time she gets here.

Well thats my family that I am so proud of. They are my world.

Maybe tomorrow

2008-10-01T10:33:00.005+02:00

So far this week I havent gotten much done. Thats not to say I didnt want to do stuff and make my house all nice and pretty, but life just hasnt let it happen. Sunday my youngest was sick and vomiting all day, Monday was full of different appointments to the doctor and WIC and immunizations. By the time we got home it was time to eat dinner and go to sleep. Well I guess my youngest finally learned how to share because Tuesday morning and most of the day I was throwing up....it was HORRIABLE! This morning I woke up feeling fine and i thought we were all done being sick...I thought it had skipped my oldest DD, but I was wrong. About an hour after she woke up this morning she started throwing up. So most of the stuff on my To Do List has been put off for another day. Thank God I'm a stay at home mom and have the ability to put all the things I need to do off for another day.

I have however managed to take pics of the girls closet after using the milk crates I found in the trash, and I took before shots of my hubby office that I was planning on organizing today. I still might go out and get the things I need for the office real fast, but I definatly wont be grochery shopping like I wanted to do. Oh well such is life. We can get grocheries tomorrow.

So here are the girls closet after using the milk crates, and reorganizing a few thing.

Oh and we FINALLY got their wall sticker in and up =)

Im not finished yet...I want to get some colorful shelves probably from Ikea or Leroy Merlin and hang them on the wall where their TV is and then string up some clothes line and hang some colorful artwork with clothes pin. Hopefully it will look as good as it does in my head.

And here is my new project.....Hubby's office.....prepare yourself, it's scary. This project was inspired by Organizing Junkie's Monthly Organizing Round-Up. Again you should definatly check out her site at http://orgjunkie.com/

BEFORE

and the closet

Now can someone PLEASE explain to me how my dear sweet husband thinks that he is more organized than I am. This is the ONLY room that he has to keep clean because it is his office after all and he just hasnt been able to do it. I however manage to keep a whole house clean and organized, but he thinks he's more organized. Makes total sense. I can't wait to get working on his office. I have some GREAT ideas, well i think i do anyway =) Did I mention that Im going to redo our file system too? I figure if hubby doesnt like something then he can change it when he gets home sometime in November.

UPDATE

Im done!! I finished organizing hubbys office today =) Ok it took like 4 hours or so but I did it. Well to the best I could anyway. The NEX is out of hanging file folders at the moment so I either need to wait for the NEX to get them in or order them on-line. I'll probably just wait. I also need to find something with little compartments for all the differnt screws and nails hubby has. Right now they are kinda just thrown in a plastic shoe box which kinda irks me but its better than having them out all over the desk. Ok so here are the after pics =)

AFTER

and the closet

Not exactly perfect, but its a HUGE improvement. I realized about an hour into sorting computer cables that I had NO idea what anything in his office was....thats probably the reason I never touched it before this point. Well I did the best I could and hubby can take it from where I left off. I would also like to add some old pin-up girl posters. This is Hubbys office but I still have to look at it when I walk by and the white walls are killing me.....I think it needs an area rug too. Any suggestions anyone has would be greatly appreciated =)

Menu Plan Monday!!

2008-09-29T12:21:00.003+02:00

WOO HOO! My 1st Menu Plan Monday....Im so excited!!! I love reading the blog "I'm and Organized Junkie" and she does MPM every Monday. Since hubby doesn't get paid until Wednesday and we dont have a ton of food right now because we haven't been shopping for a month, the first couple of days are gonna look pretty bad =/ But after Wednesday we'll have some food in the house and I'll be able to cook again =) These are also just dinners for me and the 2 girls (3 years old and 18 months) since hubby is deployed right now.

So here we go....

Monday: Ham Steak, Lima Beans, Stovetop Stuffing, and Cornbread Muffins

Tuesday:Baked Chicken with Herbs, Cooked baby Carrots, and Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday: Shepard's Pie

Thursday: Left Overs

Friday: Chicken Enchiladas and Mexican Rice

Saturday: Stovetop One-Dish Chicken Bake

Sunday: Left Overs

We eat lots of left overs when the hubby is gone. I hate wasting anything....especially food. If you want to check out what other people are planning head on over to http://orgjunkie.com/ and check it out!!

Slackin Sunday

2008-09-28T13:10:00.003+02:00

Ah yes, Sunday is finally here! I dont really get any days off being a stay at home mom, but I do less than normal on Sundays. For the most part I just play with the girls, maybe do the dishes and a load of laundry and make the beds. Yes, Sundays are my lazy days. It also helps with the hubby being gone right now. I dont have to help him get ready for work tomorrow. I dont have to have his ACU (Army combat uniform) nice for work on Monday. I dont have to make sure his PT's are clean and put away. He's totally responsible for himself at the moment.....so nice.

I do have to admit that my day didnt start off relaxing. At 6am my youngest daughter woke me up screaming because she had vomited all over herself and her bed. She continued vomiting over the floors, blankets, bowls, and towels until about 8am. It was not a fun morning. Right after 8am she stopped throwing up finally, ate some Cherios, played like she normally would, and then went down for a nap around 11am. She been asleep since then and it's 1:20pm now. My oldest (who's only 3) and I have been coloring and playing barbies and watching movies since 11am.

Even with the little sick one and all the fun i had playing Barbies, I did manage to FINALLY organize the coat closet. It's something I've been wanting to do since we first moved into the apartment and we were using it to hold the girls toys. Well the toys were cleared out when our stuff finally arried from the states and then it was filled with coats, shoes, boxes and the girls "outdoor toys". There was no real order to anything, it was just in there. Well today we have order and organization....I'm so happy!

Ok so this is before

Could be worse but it could be SO much better.....

AFTER!

Hopefully my wonderful husband will help me keep it looking this nice once he gets home. I rearranged the coats and hoodies, I got rid of most of the big electronic boxes and the ones I didnt get rid of went nicely in the matching boxes. One box holds the electronics and the other holds "outdoor toys". I have also put my diaper bag and backpack on the top shelf so it is out of reach for the girl but I can still easily grab it as I walk ou the door. My shoes that I wear most often go on the top shelf while hubby's shoes go on the bottom. I love organizing things!!

busy busy busy

2008-09-24T08:49:00.004+02:00

Ive been BUSY!! Between my two girls and my wonderful husband leaving for a mission in Spain, Ive been kind if running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Finally though i have some time to sit down and relax. Actually I havent been relaxing ive been organizing and reorganizing.

I recently found some AWESOME things to help me get my house better organized and decorated =) The first thing I found was a 7 drawer dresser! It's not really my style...its kinda that shabby chic look, but thats not a problem. Im planning on sanding it down and then paining dark brown and black then taking steel wool to it and doing a faux finish type thing. I also need to get some new knobs and handels. It works in my head. Whether or not it will work in real life.....thats a differnt story. Either way I couldnt pass up the price...FREE! Actually someone threw it away in the garbage across from my home so I grabbed it! Can you believe that someone would actually throw this away?!?!

So far it doesnt hold much. A small basket on top for key's, cell phone's, and loose change. A fake flower that needed a home, and in the middle top drawer is my reminders book and take-a-long folders for everyone. I need a picture or something up there too.

Since I brought it up I should probably explain my reminders book and the take-a-long folders. The other day I had an appointment and I needed some papaer work filled out. Well I had put the paperwork in my husbands office. That was probably my 1st mistake right there. I went in to get all of the paper work that I needed to have filled out and it was gone. I tore the office apart looking for it, but at least I gave up. I ended up having to go to the WIC office and get more of the same paper work to have filled out. UGH! I hate when that happens!

The solution....take-a-long folders for each member of the house. Now that paper work that I needed for that day is in the folders waiting for our appointment on Monday. Bascially this is my plan, if i know I'm going to need certain papers for an appointment or something special that could be lost, it will go in the folder until the day I need it. Ok what if I forget about the folder.....thats where the reminders book comes in. The reminders book has all my appointments written down and what I need to bring to the appointment. I check it every night before I go to bed (in case I need to set my alarm) and I make sure everything is set out on the dresser realy for me to just grab it and go the next day. So far its working GREAT. Im sure over time my system will become more complex and I'll add a weekly goal notebook and some other life/time organizing stuff to that top drawer, but for now im happy that I know where my paper work is.

My other wonderful finds, which I actually need to wait and try to find more of, plastic milk crates and nice wooden produce crates. The wooden produce crates are on top of my kitchen cabinets at the moment looking all nice and decrative. I have one so far that I cant use yet. I need to wait for the hubby to get home and cut it to fit under this big pipe thing thats up there. I also have one of top of my fridge. Its holding all the ceral oxes we have right now. i had all the ceral in the pantry but honestly, they were taking up too much space and with my big prego belly its getting too hard to bend down to get them out. I think I might put our extra bottle of apple juice up there too.

The plastic milk crates (all of which were in the garbage behind the commisary here on base) are in the girls' closet organizing their toys justa little better, and in my laundry room. I need to keep checking back to see if I can find more of the plastic crates. I need one for under my kitchen sink, I need another more for the laundry room(I have 2 in there now), and I need 1-2 for the coat closet. My husband store some little boxes and things for his electronics at the top of the coat closet. It doesnt look bad now but I think by putting them all nicely in a crate would make it look that much nicer. Also you can just get the crate down find what you need and then easily put it back. Right now you grab one box and they all fall down on you and then you have to put them all back.....its annoying. So yes, I have become a dumpster diver, and I LOVE it. Plato once said "Necessity is the mother of all invention."

I want it!

2008-09-13T22:32:00.003+02:00

Ok so my dear husband got paid today. (YAY!) Honestly, who doesnt like pay day? On top of this pay, we are renting out the house we own in GA and the rent check finally went into our account (double YAY!) Needless to say we actually had some money today. Not that it will last too long after bills, gas, and grocheries. Oh well.

Anyway, payday always makes me want to go shopping. So this morning I went to the NEX with my 2 girlfriends and we hit the Christmas in September sale they were having. I ended up getting some LeapPad books for my oldest ($2 each) some TJ Beary Tales books ($2 each) some Barbies ($2 each) and some other stuff. I ended up spending $35 on toys and a diet soda. Not too bad. Then we decided to go outside to where they were having their sidewalk sale. There were racks and racks of clothes. Being that Im 24 weeks pregnant now and I got a big 'ol belly, not much was going to really fit....well not right now anyway. I did end up getting 3 shirts for myself though. One is maternity and the other 2 are just regular, but somehow manage to fit me now. I also got my hubby a bunch of shirts. As my husband is starting to get older (we're both only 23 right now) he's starting to want to look more like a dad and a professional and less like a kid. So I picked him up some nice polo style shirts for $2-$3 each. All in all I spent $40 on the clothes. I ended up bringing home 6 bags full of stuff and only ended up spending $75. Not too bad.

Recently I have been window shopping on the internet. I've been finding a TON of stuff that I want. One thing that I have fallen in love with is aprons! I'm such a June Cleaver wannabe! My favorites by far are on Etsy and organize.com. Oh, if I only had the extra cash (and if I wasnt such a tightwad).

momomadeit from Etsy is selling some AWESOME aprons that I just LOVE! Currently this is my favorite out of all of them. They are actually very reasonable running about $30, but right now with the new baby coming we need to save all the money we can. I think next pay check I'll treat myself and get one of these great aprons. Hopefully she'll ship to an FPO box. Oh the Joys of living in Italy. But seriously, how cute is this apron?!?!

Organize.com also has some stylish aprons I love, and they have matching gloves you can buy! I love organize.com. Its like heaven on-line for me. The aprons are again very reasonable running around $23. The gloves are a little pricy for me at close to $16 (not including shipping) but I think it would be worth the investment. Sure I could go to the NEX and pick up a pair of yellow rubber gloved for probably $2-$3 but they are so ugly. The least I can do is look semi-fashionable while I'm scrubbing dishes.

Matching Apron and gloves....that is heaven to me. I personally like a differnt pair of gloves they have at organize.com but sadly the apron that matches them leaves something to be desired. That's my personal opinion though. Mabe its the fact that I like the gloves in green and they dont have the apron to match. Oh well, red would be my next choice.

Oh if I only had a million dollars all the organizing and decorating I would do.

Moving

2008-08-25T17:56:00.007+02:00

I love moving. I guess thats a good thing since my husband is US Active Army and we usually move about every four years. We well have moved yet again. I think this is the biggest move I have ever and will ever make. On June 9th 2009 my husband, my pregnant self, and our two young daughters got on a plane and moved from Augusta, GA to Naples, Italy. What an adventure and chance of a life time. For the next 4 years we will be living in Italy.

Now all moves have their own amount of stress that comes with them. This move however was extreemly stressful. At least I thought it was. Maybe it was the fact that we were moving to another country where we didnt speak the language and we didnt know where anything was. Maybe it was the fact that I knew we were going to have to wait close to 2 months for our household goods to arrive. Maybe it was just the thought of flying 10+ hours with a 3 year old and a 15 month old, or it could have been the constant morning sickness I had. No matter what it was, I was stressed.

Now that we are finally here in Naples, in our apartment (on-base housing), and we have all of our belongings life is starting to calm down. Well, at least until baby girl #3 arrives at the begining of January. I figure since baby #3 is less than 19 weeks away, now is crunch time for me to get this house organized.

So far I have the girls room pretty organized. I still need a few more plastic shoes boxes for the closets and I need a label maker so I can of course label what goes in thoes shoes box. Since we dont have a Walmart here in Italy I have to wait until the NEX (Navy Exchange) gets thoes items in again. Or I could go out on the economy and pay double what I would pay here on base....since I'm kind of "cheap" I think I'll just be patient and wait.

Ok back to my girls room...and Pictures!! I love pictures. You can have someone describe in great detail what something looks like, but until you see a picture you will truly never know exactly how it looks.

This is my middle daughters closet. Shes currently 18 months so I try the best i can to keeps the really messy toys or toys with small party on the top shelf. I dont want PlayDoh everywhere and I definatly dont want her chocking on one of those little LiteBright lights that my 3 year old loves so much. The canvas box on the shel under her clothes holds all her PJ's, socks, and pants. I originally wanted to hang up all her pants too but the child has too many clothes and they just wont fit. So I compermised and into the box they went. The next 3 shelves are toys. See why I need thoes plastic shoes boxes and labels?? Granted it could be MUCH worse than what it is right now, but it could be SO much better to. I will be checking the NEX everyday until they get in thoes shoe boxes and label maker. If all else fails I will give in and either order tham on-line or shop on the economy.

Ok on to my oldest daughters closet. Shes 3 years old and is actually pretty good about putting away her toys most of the time. At the top of her closet is about a billion stuffed animals. I still need to go through the stuffed animals and get rid of a lot of them. They just take up WAY too much space and she rarely plays with them. Its time to find them a nice spot at the local thrift store. Then of course are her clothes and a canvas box just like in the other closet. This box bascially hold the same stuff...PJ's, panties, and pants. Then we have all her dress-up clothes hanging up nicely where she can easily get to them. The 3 blue canvas baskets on the bottom shelf hold more dress-up stuff. One of the baskets is for purses, another for shoes, and the last for everything else dress-up.

This is what their room looks like as of right now. It's not quiet done. I have some wall stickers that I ordered from today http://www.wallcandyarts.com/ . I also want to get a cool looking hanging light or even a cool floor lamp, probably from Ikea, to add more color to the room. Since we live in base housing there is a strict No Painting policy. I personally think not being able to paint really stinks. In our house in GA we pained and it looked GREAT. I guess there are thoes people that would pick some, well, odd colors, and the military is trying to prevent this. Totally understandable, but for people like me who just want to add a little color to their child's room and are willing to paint it back or have it pained back white, I believe we should be able to do this. Oh well, I dont make the rules I just follow them.

These are the wall stickers I ordered today. I think once all is said and done it will be AWESOME, and very kid friendly. Like one of my friends said, "What kid wouldn't like sleeping in candy land every night?"

I guess the main reason I "needed" to get the stickers was because of the wall across from the window. Can you say BORING! I can not stress enough how much I HATE white walls. They just feel so steril and unwelcoming to me. Especially in a childs room, where colors and shapes help them learn and grow daily, white walls are drab.

Hopefully by the next time I blog I'll have the new baby's room finally decorated and organized. If you think the girls' room is organized just wait. The baby's room is extra organized. Bascially so daddy can find stuff easily. This will be the room that I go label crazy in. Dont ya just love when prego's are nesting. I think once the baby's room is finally done I'll tackle the master bedroom, then the kitchen, and finally the living room. I dont dare touch my husbands office even though I really want to. I just close the door and tell myself "thats his space". Maybe one day I'll finally get sick of it and just take over making it all nice and pretty like the rest of the house.