Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr29

Transitions

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This is a going to be a weird week for me as I transition from employed to not employed, but still waiting on the baby to arrive. My (now former) coworker made the comment that for the first week or so it will feel like I’m on vacation. I may feel like that, but I can’t proceed like I’m on vacation. There are numerous things I want to get done over the course of the next two weeks. And then, if baby boy decides he doesn’t want to make his debut, then we’ll take a day or two off! So for now, we pray that he stays inside for another week and a half or two, and that I can be very diligent in my work!

Last weeks goals were all met, to which I have to thank my husband for all of his help, as well as my father-in-law for helping too. There are things I just can’t do right now (climbing in the attic, climbing on a ladder, etc). This weeks goals I should be able to do without having to ask for too much help.

Goals for 4/29 – 5/5

Household organization-

- Clean master bedroom

- Clean downstairs bathroom

- Clean off kitchen table

- Clean kitchen desk

- Spray off deck one more time to rid it of the yellow pollen chalkiness

- Overhaul sewing room

- Clean front windows & doors, and back door

- Put away all childrens books

- Organize/clean up a few things in the garage

Baby & Nursery-

- Pray every day that I don’t go into labor this week! 

- Order all remaining necessary items (like the car seat!)

- Sew nursing cover

- 38 week doctors visit and ultrasound

- Contact and confirm photographer

- Begin making curtains for nursery

- Relaxation & visualization, 3 days, 30 minutes (update: 1 day down)

Marriage-

- Read Bible together at least two nights this week

Reading-

- Finish reviewing Bradley book

Life in general-

- Up water goals by 1 and meet 5 days during the week (update: 1 day down)

- Write thank you notes for gifts received last week from my very kind coworkers

- Stock up on supplies

- Follow up on work life insurance policy

Apr24

This Week on Pinterest

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Here are a few cool finds from Pinterest this week…

Pretty cool- instead of having a maternity photo session, have an adoption photo session! Read this couple's story on their journey to adopting a child (or children) from the Congo!

 

Yes they are!

Cute summer outfit

This housewarming gift is a great idea for friends or new neighbors

My mouth waters every time I look at these

Apr22

The Ends are Upon Me

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This week is bittersweet on so many levels. For six and a half years I have worked for the same company. I’ve worked nights and days,worked  full time and part,  had battles and victories. I found my passion for organization and was able to weed out things I didn’t quite enjoy. I’ve made some friends along the way that are pretty special. During these years I met my husband, got married, and finally got pregnant. A lot of people say one day they’ll quit their job and do something else, something they would love more than what they currently do. And this week, its my turn! I leave a job and friends behind, but I get to be home every day with my child.

On Wednesday I will officially be considered full term. I honestly cannot believe that the end of pregnancy is officially upon me. Its so surreal. The pursuit of parenthood is finally reaching its desired destination. And all the glory must be given to the LORD! Years of battling infertilty and now we are finally going to be able to hold the titles of “Daddy” and “Mommy”! What a glorious day thats approaching!

But before our little guy decides to greet us, I’ve still got loads I hope to accomplish. While I feel like I’m carrying a bowling ball on top of my bladder and its starting to hurt a little more, I pray that the Lord will give me bursts of energy over the next few weeks to knock out everything I want to get finished. Having this stuff out of the way isn’t necessary, per se, but it will give me a sense of peace after the baby is born.

Goals for 4/22 – 28

Household organization-

- Clean off sewing table

- Hang shelf in garage

- Have flooring installed in attic!!!

- Move boxes, lamps, bookshelf, etc from bonus room to attic

- Make a drop off at Goodwill

- Take  the newest round of cardboard to the recycling center

Baby & Nursery-

- Hang curtain rods

- Put away any items currently on floor and in rocking chair

- Try to figure out the breast pump before I actually have to use it

- Blow up birthing ball

- Begin packing hospital bag

- Relaxation and visualization exercises, 2 days for 25 minutes

- Make a few burp cloths

- Write out birth plans

Marriage-

- Read Bible together two nights during the week

Reading-

- Continue reading Bradley Method as a refresher

Life in General-

- “Celebrate” my “retirement” from my job

- Meet water goals 5 days during the week

- Write any pending thank you notes

- Fix my umbrella

- Enter outstanding Coke Reward points

Apr21

Squashing My Husbands Dreams…

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…or so he says

Throughout our house, we have seven full sized book cases currently being used and one getting ready to make its way to the attic. We also have smaller shelves scattered throughout the house. Each book case is packed to the maximum, and some even have stuff flowing off the top. We just have that many books, texts, magazines and dvds. I would venture to say about 85% are books and texts. Now that we have Kindles, we don’t often purchase hard copies…thankfully. But the problem has arisen where we have more books than space.

Our child already has a full library and hasn’t been born! And his books are piled deep and high on top of another book case because we have no where to store them right now. I have one case filled with cook books. Joe has one filled with medical texts. There are boxes stored in Joe’s parent’s attic filled with books. It. is. CRAZY.

So, the time has come where we have to do something. As soon as I’m done with work, I’ll be weeding through my cookbook collection and trying to pare it down and take some to the used book store or donate to the library.  Joe went through his medical texts and really made a lot of headway. He’s also getting rid of his collection of Car & Driver. He told me that I’m crushing his dreams of becoming a hoarder and now we’ll never make it on the show.

Awesome.

Here is a snippet of one case we have cleaned out… medical texts that will be making their way to the recycling center (because the information is likely not 100% current, its not worth the effort to try to sale them to a used bookstore or donate them). It is pretty sad to see thousands of dollars of texts being tossed

I couldn’t throw this one out without taking a picture. Joe’s favorite medical text of all times… HA HA!

Apr18

A Sneak Peek

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While the nursery is still in utter chaos, here is a sneak peek of what its going to be like. Mind you, we’ll still have stuff to purchase/hang once the little guy is here (and we’re 100% certain that his name is ____).

A zone of no hurries, and no worries! I found the sign at Home Goods and loved it right away because it reminded me of our honeymoon to St. Lucia. The staff at our resort always said “No Pressure, No Problem.”  So, while the two sayings are different, they’re very similar….at least to me!

At some point I’ll post a picture of my inspirational piece that I picked up in the Dominican Republic. We used it for the theme/color scheme of the room. However, we won’t be hanging it because 1)I think the amount of purple in it is just a little too girly and 2) Joe thinks it looks freaky!

Apr17

An Organized Closet

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Back in January or February I decided that one of my organization projects would be our linen closet. While it wasn’t horrid, it needed a little TLC and a little more of a “system” to it. After I embarked on the journey, I quickly realized that I wanted/needed some sort of storage baskets to house items. Using Pinterest, I came up with a few different ideas. The only problem was finding baskets that were 1) my “style”, 2) affordable, 3) easily attainable.

After a few weeks of searching, I finally found baskets I loved from The Container Store. I decided to run by after work one day to pick them up, but was quickly disheartened when I saw they were out of stock.  I came home and went to their website to purchase them there…again, out of stock. I decided to put the project on hold because I loved the baskets that much. But my hold went from two weeks back order to almost two months on back order.

I eventually went into the store to ask about the baskets and the cashier told me I could go ahead and order them, and as soon as they were available in the warehouse, they would ship my order to the store. So I did. And I also stalked the website (which is really accurate, by the way) to see when they’d be available in my local store. The day they became available, I went to the store to inquire about my order. It was there and ready for me to pick it up. They didn’t even have time to call me!

So my project was finally back under way! A few months later than planned, but I was finally able to get it done! I wish I had before pictures, but I don’t. Just imagine your average closet was stuff stacked, piled, and shoved in…with no organization to it whatsoever.

- The top shelf houses a sleeping bag, pillows (more will be returned there, post pregnancy), our travel cooler for our car (an unexpected, yet very useful wedding gift we received), and a queen duvet cover that has been shrunk to the size of a towel

-The second shelf keeps our blankets and quilts

-The third and fourth shelfs are home to these baskets… which contain sheets organized by size, hand towels and wash cloths, extra curtains, kitchen/dining linens, etc.

-The floor is MUCH more organized now than it was before, and these wheeled baskets are the reason why. One basket is home to our TP (which, when you buy in bulk, can easily get out of control!). The other basket contains our beach towels, travel towels, and a bag with all of my cleaning rags.  Extra boxes of tissues fit right in between! (Note: I also purchased another one of these baskets to corral our paper products for our pantry. Its working out beautifully!)

I also loved the idea of using the doors for added storage, an idea I found on Pinterest. I purchased a towel bar on the clearance rack at Lowes and had my father-in-law trim the bar down to the size I needed. The bar now keeps our table runners nice and straight so I don’t have to iron them again when I want to use them.

While the linen closet project was on hold, I decided that the laundry room needed a little TLC too. The main reason behind this was because with a little baby on the way, we didn’t want any chemicals stored near the floor. Once again, to The Container Store I went. I love when they have sales, because I can stock up on things much cheaper!  Again, no before picture, but here is the result of my efforts:

Everything now has a home and everything is in its home! Sure I could have done it without the bins, but it feels so much more organized now than it did! I’m also able to really keep an account of how much of a product I have. I was buying Febreeze Air Effects like you wouldn’t believe (thanks to sales + coupons). I don’t use THAT much, so I need to stop buying it, even when I get it so cheap. Now if I don’t have the room, it doesn’t get purchased!

Apr15

The Final Four

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I’m not talking about college basketball here, I’m referring to the fact that we’re down to the final four (and a half) weeks left until our due date! Which roughly translates to “oh my goodness, where has time gone, I have so much left I want to get done, but not nearly enough time nor energy.”

One thing I won’t miss too much is the twice daily finger pricking, blood sucking tests for my glucose. I’m happy to report that my gestational diabetes has been strictly controlled through diet alone. No meds needed! I do miss milk…and cereal for breakfast…and fruit. I’m looking forward to eating less eggs, and not having to cook breakfast every day.

This past week was a little rough. I got a bit accomplished, including things I hadn’t planned on, such as cleaning out from under the kitchen sink and reorganizing that space. Sadly though, I never made it to the gym to work out. At the end of the week before, I started coming down with a head/respiratory funk that has stuck with me since. I am tired of it for sure! And then there was the issue with one of the informational displays in my car deciding it didn’t want to work anymore. Lucky me, this hasn’t been documented happening on any other Prius in the country.

This week is back to first shift work. The two days I have off, really aren’t going to be time “off” considering the amount of stuff I’ve got on my calender. Joe has FINALLY been approved for Xolair, after years of denials from insurance. He has his first shot at approximately the same exact time I have my 36 week check-up. Thankfully they’re across the street from each other so we can ride together (hello $4/gallon gas).

Goals for 4/15-4/21

Household-

-Clean master bathroom

-Dust baseboards and ceiling/corners throughout the house

-Clean all ceiling fans

-Try to make a little headway in cleaning out the sewing room, which has become the “throw everything that doesn’t have a home into it” room.

-Touch up paint throughout the house

Baby/Nursery-

-Search for birth announcements  Search turned up thousands of options. I was really hoping to use the same (local) company that we used for our wedding stationery, but they’re pricier than other companies. I suppose we’ll decide when the time arrives

-Hang sign

-Continue search for clothes hamper Found one! On the clearance rack at that!!!

Marriage-

-Read Bible together 2 nights during the week

Reading-

-Begin reviewing Bradley book

Preparing for natural childbirth/health/general well-being-

-Try to make it to the gym at least once, obviously this is schedule and health dependent.

-Meet water goals 5 days during the week

-Breathing, relaxation, and visualization techniques – 2 days, 30 minutes each

Life in general-

- Write 8 thank you cards for gifts

- Return baby clothes, and order different one

- Blog “after” pictures of our linen closet

- Enter Coke rewards points

Apr11

Interesting article, but thats not all

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I’ve seen a link to this article on Facebook today from about a dozen different moms. Even though my child is still in my body, I can completely relate to what the author is writing about. And Crystal, over at Money Saving Mom, wrote an article not that long ago on something similar (now I can’t find it!). Even though I agree with the article, that’s not the end of the story. And I don’t think the situation applies to just the moms of the world!

Less than a month ago I found myself questioning why I read certain blogs and websites and why I was friends with certain people on Facebook. There are people who, while they are just sharing their lives with the world, really bring my self-confidence down! Some of these people I know personally, and some I’ll never encounter in real life. I came to the point of realization that in order to be happy about myself and where I’m at in life, I had to stop reading their websites/blogs and/or had to block their feed from my Facebook page.

Sure these people may blog about the greatness of their lives…or the one or two aspects they want others to know. They may not tell me/us that their marriage is struggling, their child is out of control, they’re in debt up to their eyeballs, they don’t have a lick of creativity, or are completely unhappy in areas of their non-blogging niche. They may hide the dirt while they take post-worthy pictures that they’ll then Photoshop, all for the sake of visual loveliness on their site. 

I want to be content exactly where the Lord has me. And I have to realize that…

-I will NEVER be a size two, and heck, probably will never be less than a size 8 (which is what I was at my smallest). I love food and food loves to stay on my hips, gut, thighs and butt.

And I need to be ok with that! The Lord loves me regardless of my body shape and size.

- I will never own a wardrobe worthy of a fashion show. While I like cute clothes, it is highly unlikely that I’m going to utilize my family budget to be able to wear them on a daily basis.

-Nor will my hair and makeup look like that of a runway model. I want to look good for my husband, I don’t want to look like a rat lives in my hair, and I want to make sure my skin isn’t the last priority in life. It’s not that I don’t care, because I do. I just don’t make the effort to look like I just stepped out of a magazine shoot.

-I will never have a perfectly decorated house. I love Pottery Barn to the end of the earth and back, but my house will never be featured on the pages of its catalogue.

-My house will contain clutter at any given point in time. Martha Stewart I am not. Heloise, I am not either. If you think I have it all together, I invite you to drop by unannounced. There are currently piles of “stuff” on my kitchen island and table, on my couch, in my bedroom, in my bonus room and about everywhere else in between. The nursery looks like a bomb exploded in there too!

-My lawn will never win the green thumb award for our neighborhood…if we had one. Joe is highly allergic to all things outdoors. I used to love the smell of fresh-cut grass…and now I can’t stop sneezing, coughing, or drying my watery eyes. We’re fortunate enough to be able to afford to have someone cut our grass & trim the hedges for us (or else we’d die trying to do it ourselves). However, I’m not going to break the bank to make sure my lawn could win an award.

And guess what, I am 100% ok with that!

-My blog may never reach world-wide popularity. To which I say, excellent! Less stress, fewer people to criticize the fact that I’m currently not willing to shell out big bucks to have someone create a custom design because I’m too computer clueless to design my own.

-My photo taking skills are on the level of a preschooler. We’ll just leave it at that.

-We can’t take off any time we want to travel the world. I can’t begin to tell you how many people I’ve seen/read about doing this lately. We’ve not had a vacation since last August/September, and will not have another one until that time this year. Granted, it’s because we’re saving up the time for our little guy, but still!

While I may never have any of those things, I do have SO much! I serve a Lord that loves me and forgives me for all of my short-comings. I have a husband whom I adore, and I think he’s pretty fond of me too! We have been blessed so abundantly, after struggling with years of infertility, to be expecting our little boy in the next 5 or so weeks. I have a home that is comfortable. So comfortable you can come in, kick your shoes off (if your feet don’t smell), and curl up on our couch to read a book or watch a movie. I have an incredible family who is very supportive of Joe and I, and they already spoil our little boy rotten! I have friends that I can call upon most any time of the day…friends that will go for walks with me or meet me at Chick-fil-a for a caffeine free diet Coke and a wonderful chat. We have financial stability, which is not what more than half the population can say right now. We have a great church and church family, where the Word of the Lord is taught by men who want nothing more than to share the Love of Christ with everyone they encounter. And my list can go on and on and on…

So that, my friends, is why I’ve had to quit visiting websites of friends and strangers, why I no longer subject myself to the torture I was creating for myself because I didn’t feel I measured up to the standards around me.

Apr7

Time Keeps Ticking, Ticking Away

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I’m sorry I’ve not been able to post a lot lately. Between getting my house in order, preparing for a baby, lack of sleep, and the relentless assault on my allergies, its all I can do to hang on during these last few weeks! Believe me, I wouldn’t trade this season for the world, but trust me…its C.R.A.Z.Y. up in here!

I have one rule regarding gifts I’ve been given. I can’t put it away or use it until the thank you card has been written for it. Thankfully my kitchen has gone from gift bag central, to having only a handful of bags remaining. We feel incredibly blessed by people’s generosity and the showers of love our little boy has been given. This week though, everything must be caught up! I’m working some evenings this week, so hopefully I’ll have extra day time to get things done!

Goals for 4/8 – 4/14

Household-

-Clean of kitchen table (yes…again!)

-File all papers on desk

-Finish cleaning living room

-Finish cleaning bonus room

-Pack away all things that need to be stored in the attic

-Put away all winter coats

Baby/Nursery-

-Hang Sun/Moon over doors (changed mind, not hanging this in the nursery afterall)

-Hang curtain rods – (this is going to have to wait another week, since I don’t have a car and I need to take the curtain rod to be cut in half)

-Search for decor, hamper, and basket/container for bathroom supplies

-Clean up nursery from latest explosion of baby stuff!

Marriage-

-Read the Bible together at least one night during the week

Reading-

-Read the nursing book!!!!

Preparing for birth/Health/General well being-

-Finish packing labor bag (decided to wait on hospital/overnight bag, until closer to time. I still need some of the stuff!)

-Up water goals by 1 and complete all five days during the week

-Workout twice

-Relaxation/Visualization/Breathing- 2 days, 25 minutes

Life in general-

-Finish writing the dozen or so thank you notes for gifts received to date

-Reduce remainder of magazine “to be read” stack by half (Total: 11 down… so many because I discovered another stack. *sigh*)

-Mail gift for friend’s baby shower

Apr4

My Heart Breaks

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I’ve posted prayer requests on behalf of my friend, Mandy, lately. Today especially, I beg you to lift her and her husband Rob up in prayer. Today is they day they bury their little girl Abigail. Their little girl whose life here on earth was far too short. At barely a week old, she went to her heavenly home to spend eternity there.

While Mandy and Rob grieve the loss of their daughter, they also grieve the loss of their son. What I’ve not shared with a lot of people is the fact that Abigail was a twin. Her brother passed away in the womb, about halfway through pregnancy.

I may have never met Mandy in real life, only through an infertility ministry, but her life has impacted me and my heart. No mother should ever have to bury their little baby, let alone lose two precious children in a short amount of time. My heart is so very heavy for them today.

I beg you to pray for this family. After ten years of struggling with infertility, they were finally blessed with pregnancy…with twins. This evening they will return home with empty arms and empty hearts, yet to a home that is fully prepared to welcome a little baby girl into it.

The heartache they feel is something I cannot comprehend. The pain they are suffering through is something I cannot explain. I’ve not been there. I know the pain of losing someone you love dearly, but I can’t imagine the complete emptiness of losing your babies. They are empty and numb. They are angry. They feel the Lord is so far away.

Only time and the Lord can heal their broken hearts, but our prayers for them can go a long way. Please join with me, and with the many people around the world, lifting up this family in prayer today and over the next few weeks as they grieve the loss of their children.