I think I posted about this last week, but here’s the picture. Matt plopped Joanna down after her bath and went looking for PJs. When he got back, she was asleep! I think she wasn’t feeling quite herself that day. We ended up just putting a pair of panties and a big t-shirt on her then putting her in bed. She barely woke up.
Natalie found herself a pile of clean laundry to chill and watch TV on. Who needs furniture?!
This post is mostly about Matt’s birthday on Sunday, but on Saturday I got the chance to go to Christiana’s wedding shower. I drove up with my grandma, Aunt Gail, and Aunt Pat. We had lots of fun! Somehow, I managed to get the project of making a bow bouquet! I’d never made one before, but I can remember watching other people make them. I think I did okay. :)
Christiana, the bride to be!
On Sunday, the girls and I took Matt to lunch at a big ol’ Chinese buffet. I love this place because Natalie eats free and Joanna very cheaply.
Natalie ate another egg roll, among other things (including fruit – I promise!)
We did a pretty good job of waiting patiently as Matt ate his way through plates and plates of food. :) My man loves to eat!
Before we left the house, Joanna asked me, “Is this a restaurant with ice cream?”
I love these shots of Matt and the girls walking out to the car!
On our way home, we stopped at Mamma and Pop’s house, and they had gotten cake and ice cream for Matt’s birthday!
I was in a partial food coma partial really need a nap coma so I wasn’t much fun, but the girls had fun playing with their Mamma and Pop, and of course Joanna loved her cake and ice cream!
This is sort of random, but Natalie wandered into the kitchen and came back dragging…
We headed back home for some not so naps, then a quick dinner and bedtime!!
These pics are all from Saturday and Sunday and my work in the kitchen. Before we get to them, here’s what I tackled today! Although, I didn’t take any pictures. :) I filled FOUR file crates with books to get rid of. If you’ve met me, you know this is HUGE. I was attempting to be ruthless. :) Or at least thorough. I managed to clear the bottom two shelves off of the big bookcase in the living room. I’m hoping this means I will have to pick up fewer paperbacks around the house. One of Natalie’s favorite things is pulling the books off the shelves. It’s funny, Joanna messes with EVERYTHING, but she never messed with my books. I also cleared off (or mostly, at least – some junk needs to be moved around) two small bookcases in my bedroom. I’m going to move them over to my side of the room and make them my “dresser.” I’m tired of stacking my clothes on the floor. It’s not working for me. That will also clear off the other side of the room to possibly move my desk into there. Still thinking about that one. I recently moved my two bookcase/drawer thingies that used to reside in the dining room (but have really been all over) back into the living room on either side of the TV cabinet. It really fills the wall space better. They were pretty empty and sad looking, so I filled them up with books and some of the girls’ videos, and they feel so much better now. I like my bookcases full. It is my way. Okay, I happed to be sitting within eyeshot of all of this with my camera and cord so I figured since I could snap pics and upload them without moving, it was the least I could do. :)
I tried to crop out most of the rest of my clutter since I’m not done yet and my house is a serious (but work in progress!) pit.
Big bookcase in the living room, cleared of misc clutter including nail polish and all sorts of things that were put out of reach of tiny hands.
I may put some of the girls books or toys on the bottom shelves. We’ll see what I feel like! Maybe just spare pillows and blankets… who knows.
To the right of the TV. I moved some of our photo albums and scrapbooks back into the living room. Joanna LOVES looking at “baby Joanna” in books. I also pulled the girls’ videos out from inside the TV cabinet. They were a pain to get to, and this way Joanna can see what she’d like to watch.
I just love that there’s still some empty space! 
Also today I tackled the girls’ clothes. I’ve just been putting it off and it’s been getting bigger and scarier! For Joanna, I cleared out all of her 24mos and 2T stuff that was lurking in the drawers. I also put away really wintery 3T stuff. I organized all her clothes into two of the big dresser drawers, with undies and socks in one tiny one above.
For Natalie (I think the bigger project), I put away most of her 12 month clothes and the lingering 9 month stuff. I also went through all the socks (that have not gone anywhere since her birth!) and pulled out only the ones she could actually wear. The others I stuck in an empty drawer awaiting the gender discovery of #3. I also went through all the tights and tried to organize them by size. All of Natalie’s clothes went into the other two big drawers (and one tiny one for socks). Their stuff both fits in the one dresser – whoo hoo! I knew it would; it was just a matter of getting it done. This is one size that I can definitely tell the girls’ seasons are off. Joanna didn’t start wearing 18 month clothes until the fall, so there are NO SHORTS in this stuff! No shorts! There are 8,000 pair of pants though. And it’s really okay, because there are lots of dresses, a few rompers, and a couple of capri pants. In fact, I think a lot of the dresses were handed down to Joanna, but she missed the season for them. They’re practically new for Natalie!
Okay, finally to some of the work I did in the kitchen. I am far from finished, but making progress!
Pyrex/corningware/bakeware cabinet before:
Oye… the serving ware, catch-all cabinet before:
I managed to combine them to this!!
I got rid of a lot of things and moved some things around. Some of the jars went where they’re supposed to go – in a box to go back to my dad and Renee; the really big platter and one other large serving dish thingie are in limbo right now waiting on the new perfect home. The cabinet pictured above is empty right now except for that pitcher and juice glass set. It’s also in limbo. I think I know where it’s going, but other things have to move around first.
Some dishes to go away:
I took away the girls’ cabinet I let them play in as it always resulted in crap all over the floor for me to pick up, and I need the space. I’m trying to make everything in the kitchen flow better and make more sense. So I had Matt install more child-locks for me. Joanna really wanted to help.
Natalie, too. I took out the sharp things and watched them, but man they loved playing with Daddy’s tools!
My kitchen already feels better, and I haven’t even tackled the everyday stuff like dishes, the girls’ cups and bowls, silverware and knives, cooking utensils, etc. It’s going to be so nice once I’m done!!
I’m entering the busy part of my week, though, so I likely won’t get much done in the next few days. In fact, I’m trying to convince myself right now to get the girls’ lunches made for tomorrow and I can’t do it! Oh, well, rushed morning it is. :)
Got the lunches made. Blegh, but so glad it’s done! The sink is empty; the dishwasher is running. I’m going to bed!
Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.
How far along: 13 weeks
Pregnancy symptoms: nausea, tiredness, backpain (may or may not be preggo related), headaches
Sleep: been very good lately
Food Cravings: (this is just recently; they change) Dr. Pepper, rice, mozzarella sticks, chocolate
Measurement: ? inches
Movement: I don’t know… maybe
Labor signs: none
What I miss: not being nauseous
What I’m looking forward to: the end of the nausea and the beginning of more energy. I’m hoping it will be soon! My nausea is already much better than it was a few weeks ago, it’s just pretty much constantly there.
Milestone: I actually have felt pretty good, energy wise, the past few days. I was soooo sick last week, that I may just feel so much better in comparison. I’ll take it! I’ve been decluttering and organizing. It’s tiring, but it feels really good.
Thoughts from the Girls: Joanna really is very sure the baby is a brother. I think it’s cute.
Doctor’s visit: none
I have no energy these days, but I also find my self drowning a little in all the clutter around here. So I’ve decided to start getting some of it out! And not just to the garage, which is my inclination. Some of my goals with regards to decluttering:
Long Term:
-Clear out the garage so that I can park my car in there. Just my car is fine.
-Redo the laundry room/pantry to make it a “mud room.” The idea is our main entrance with be through the garage, through this dumping zone, and into the kitchen, which is always where I end up anyway.
-Find useable attic space for long-term storage: (some teaching stuff – much has to be culled, but some will be kept; Christmas decor)
-I’m considering possibly moving my office stuff (desk, bookcase) into the master bedroom. There’s space for it in there, and it would free up the play room for more play and also a space for a kiddo to nap/rest. Right now I can have a pack and play in there but not a loose kid… at least not a loose Joanna. The office stuff makes it not safe.
Short Term:
-Move the girls’ clothes into one dresser to prep for #3.
-Clean out the entry closet; put away winter accessories and make spring/summer stuff available. (Actually, long term I’d like to rip out the drywall and redo as it’s damaged from Ike, then install a closet organizing system)
-Master bedroom/bathroom. Uhhgggg… I just have so much stress that the door stays closed all the time. I don’t even like sleeping in there. And yet, it gets the least attention of all.
-Figure out some system for our shoes. I think the eventual “mudroom” will help with this, but I need an interim solution. We may just have too many shoes. (!!)
-Donate much to SOSS
-Sell what I can. Man, I wish our subdivision had an annual Garage sale.
-Start a toy loan program to get some toys out of my house!
So that brings me to my idea. The first place I started decluttering when I had some energy last night was the playroom. I started chucking stuff into the pack and play that I wanted OUT! Some of it is Happy Meal chachkies and the like which will be ditched or donated. But some of it are real, useable toys that either my girls just haven’t gotten into (trains, legos, etc.) or they’ve outgrown (push toy, exersaucer, etc.) So my thought is that I have a lot of mom friends with kids around my age that just may be in temporary need of the things I don’t. I would have this caveat: if it doesn’t come back to me in the condition I loaned it in… that’s OKAY! Do your best, but don’t stress about it! I’m not going to loan out our favorite, sentimental stuff. Just the stuff I thought my kids would like but didn’t or stuff they’re done liking for a while. It’s a way to put away toys without having to have a place to put them. :)
I’m not exactly starting tonight as I’m tired, and Matt and I are going to watch some TV on Hulu. But soon I will post some pics of things I’d like to loan out. Maybe I’ll have a separate blog with a link here? Then you can just leave a comment if you’d like to borrow it. First come, first served. To get you thinking: Among the things that are coming to mind that I have are: exersaucer, small wooden train set, big legos with table, Little People airplane, push car that converts to ride on car. And some other toys that I don’t know what they’re called exactly. :)
Anybody think this is a good idea? Or not? It’s just something I’d like to try! I know I come in need of some kid stuff every now and again, and I LOVE when I can borrow instead of buy. Or at least buy used instead of buy new.
Only about 50 bucks for the set at Pottery Barn Kids. (Yikes!) Anybody want to make me some?
Saw this picture – don’t the girls need these in their room? :)
The above pic is from Ohdeedoh here. I love the sweet pink and white nursery. It’s not totally my style, but there are elements I love!
Can you tell I’m preggers?
