Dear Makers of Jeans

Dear Makers of Jeans,

Just because I have big hips does not mean I have a big waist and thighs. Just because my backside is small does not mean that I want it to look like I have a flat back side. It doesn't make sense that my jeans give me muffin top but I still have to pull them up. Although I am in my 20's I don't want my butt to hang out the back of low rise jeans. Even though I am a mom, I don't want to wear mom jeans. Please make a pair of jeans that fits a normal person.

Thank you.

Organizational Fail

So, this week my plan was to reorganize the kids drawers. Right now, the dresser/changer holds all of C's clothes and there is a dresser in the closet that holds K's clothes as well as a bunch that are hung up. I wanted to go through and pack up all of the clothes that they had outgrown and make more space in the dresser/changer.

Once I packed up all the old clothes I was hoping to have some extra space to pull some of K's clothes into the dresser/changer so they are at hand when I'm changing her instead of across the room.

Well, this week was not the week to get this done. K spiked a 103 fever on Sunday through Monday night and the week went downhill from there. So, the new plan is to get this project done next week and if I can get some vacuuming done before Sunday I'll be a happy person. Wish me luck!

The Two Scariest Words Ever... Potty Training

Eeek! C is now 2 and getting bigger by the day. Changing his diaper has become an exercise in torture with the kicking and screaming. One of my non-resolutions for this year is to have him potty trained. I wanted to start right after Christmas but, I'm procrastinating because although I hate changing his diapers, I'm afraid of all the work were going to have to do as a family to get this done.

A lot of my friends are about to jump on the potty training band wagon as well. So, we've all been researching and reading and updating our facebook pages with where we are in the process. And everyone has a different approach. With all of the information out there I've heard about "Oh Crap Potty Training" more than once. Jaime, the author, tells it like it is with a sense of humor which I really like because for those of you who know me outside of bloggyland, I'm pretty straight and to the point. So, I'm pretty interested in this e-book.

Shannon over at Milk & Cuddles has been using it and considers it 1 of her 4 tools for "Potty Training Success" and she's doing a giveaway right now for one lucky reader to win this book and a 1-hour consultation with Jaime! This is an awesome prize for all us scaredy cat potty training mommas. So hop on over and enter to win!

Just Had to Share

Something I've been waiting for for the last two years finally happened today. When I walked in the door C called me "Mama." I almost cried.

Many of you know that C was born 10.5 weeks early and spent several weeks in the hospital before he could come home. We were told that he could experience developmental delays and we were thrilled when he caught up to his peers more quickly than anticipated. But, there was one area that we have had major delays and that's speech.

At 1 year C didn't have any words. He was "talking" like crazy but, in his own language. I wasn't really worried about it knowing that eventually he would catch up. At 18 months he had maybe 5 words, neither of them were "Mama" or "Dada." It was starting to get a little bit frustrating. At his 18 month developmental appointment we learned his speech skills were categorized at around 12 months. Our doctors had us get his hearing tested and we started working with Early Childhood Intervention.

All this time we kept hearing people say he'd have a breakthrough and that their children just started talking one day, or he'd talk when he was ready. I'd been pretty patient with not hearing "Mama" from my child but, deep down that's what I really wanted.

C turned 2 last month and still wasn't using more than 5-10 words but, over the last two weeks he has started saying more and more things. I almost fell out of my chair when he said "please" for more milk. And today was the best day ever for me as a mom when I walked in the door and he looked at me and said "Mama." I almost hugged him to death!

I know we still have more progress to make but, I'm just so excited about this accomplishment I can go back to being patient again.

Make Your Own Baby Wipes

When someone first mentioned this to me I thought "that's crazy! what can work like store bought baby wipes??" But, with going down to one income for C's first two years and Baby K coming along and having to go back to work we needed to save some money. So, one day I was out of wipes and I thought, "okay I'll give this a try and maybe I'll save some money. How hard could it be?"

Actually, not hard at all, and it does save you money. I've been doing this for almost a year now and I thought I would share it with you.

There are a ton of "recipes" for home made baby wipes around the internet but, this is the one I use that works for me.

1 jumbo roll Bounty paper towels (these are really thick and won't disintegrate)

1 1/2 cups hot water (if you use a regular size roll of paper towels you'll need less water)

1 Tbs baby wash (I have used Johnson & Johnson and also generic Target brand baby sensitive)

1 Tbs baby oil (whichever you prefer)

You will also need a container to keep them in. I use an old ice cream tub that has a handle on it.

Ingredients

1. Cut your paper towel roll in half and remove cardboard cylinder. You can save one half for your next batch.

2. Heat your water in the microwave for 2 minutes. Place your halved paper towels cut side down in your container.

3. Add baby wash and baby oil to water and stir gently to not create bubbles.

4. Pour mixture over paper towel roll. Put lid on container and flip upside down for 5 minutes to let mixture get all the way through.

5. Use wipes!

Easy! This usually lasts me a week or so depending on how messy the kids' diapers are, if you only have one child in diapers it would probably lasts 2-3 weeks. And you still have the other paper towel half for the next batch. This is also a great idea for babies with skin allergies because you can use whichever baby wash and oils your baby is able to tolerate. And if you're really creative you can decorate the container and give these as a shower gift with the recipe attached.

Kid's Room Clean Up

I was so excited about getting organized I hopped right in with something I've been wanting to do for a while. I forgot to take a before picture so, just pretend that the huge brown bookcase is next to the dresser/changer combo you see in picture 3.

Over the summer my brother-in-law moved in with us to help take care of the kids so that I could work part-time. In order to do this we had to put both kids in one room. It's been driving me crazy to have all the clutter and stuff in that room! The big brown bookcase was full of stuff...

Ugh!

I originally thought the brown bookcase would be great because we use cloth diapers for our daughter and we needed a place to put them along with the disposables we're still using for C. But, it's just so massive it made the room feel smaller and blocked the window. Also, C really likes to rock in the rocking chair that is a family heirloom and he knocks it into the bookcase constantly damaging both.

Once I moved the monster bookcase out of the room, I brought in a shelf unit that we've been dragging around since college. It's sturdy and can take a beating.

I brought in a basket we were using for C's books in the living room cabinet to put all of the cloth diaper stuff in to keep it organized. I also put a lamp on top for our night time book reading. Then I put all of C's books on the shelf below that.

The last thing I did and the only thing I actually bought was to put some baskets on the bottom two shelves to hold toys and small board books.

I love it! It really opens up the room and I can see the window when I walk into the room(the window is to the right of the rocking chair). I love that C no longer climbs on the rocking chair to reach his books too.

Next week's project... figuring out what to do with the monster bookcase.

Organization is My New Middle Name

Browsing through blogs today I came across I'm an Organizing Junkie's 52 week organization challenge. I thought to myself, "this is awesome!"

When I got my part-time job in October it was at The Container Store, the guru of organization. I love The Container Store, I've shopped there since college. Unfortunately, I am not a guru of organization. I'm more of an organized mess. I feel like a hypocrite some days working there helping people organize their lives when I can't even organize my own. I will say though, that I have started to organize more of my stuff and look for more creative ways to do so since I started there. There are just so many cool ways to store and organize your things.

I've been trying to figure out how to organize myself and my family better. My husband is constantly trying to get me to put my things away and they just pile up on my dresser. I would love to buy a ton of elfa products from The Container Store but, until I've saved enough for that I'll be content to reorganize(or organize for the first time) what I have. This is where Org Junkie's 52 week challenge comes in. Each week you do something little so you don't feel overwhelmed by it all. I love that!

This is the first week and the topic is "Where will you start?" Each week Laura will post a few questions about the week's projects on Friday for everyone to discuss. I'm just so excited about it!! I found out about this at the end of the week but, I already have tons of ideas brewing. So, this week's questions are...

1. Do you have your list written? (if you missed it, you can find the pdf here)

I'm still working on my list but, among the things on it are...February do the kids closet, March the kitchen, April master bedroom closet, May master bathroom, I need to work on each individual week.

2. What is the first thing on it that you hope to accomplish this week?

I actually had a goal before I saw this challenge to clean out my glass and tupperware cabinet and I did it on Tuesday. I was so excited!

3. How are you going to make it happen?

I love to cross things off of a list that's a huge motivation but, I'm also counting on my husband and readers to hold me accountable.

This should be fun. I'll take pictures of each project I'm tackling and do a post each Friday. Are you in??

A New Year a Non Resolution

I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions along with the rest of the world for the past week. Every year I try to think of a creative resolution, like in 2006 I resolved to do something different that I hadn't done before. That year I raised $2300 and walked 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3Day. I think that was about the coolest resolution I've had and actually followed through on.
Last year my resolution was to be a good mom. It's not a creative or unique resolution, it's not even measurable. But, I think I achieved it. I've been away from the blog a while, pretty much since baby K was born in July. During that time I was fulfilling my resolution to be a good mom, not that I wasn't before then, I just had a little more time! In June and July I spent several weeks on bed rest before baby K was born and in October I went back to work for the first time in two years so I could help pay for baby K and C. Kiddos are expensive! Those are just two big things in between the loving my new baby girl and her big brother, changing diapers, midnight feedings, working, changing diapers, 3am feedings, playing, and did I mention changing diapers?
So, this year I had a hard time thinking of a resolution. Of course I still want to be a good mom but, I wanted a new resolution. And no using the "I want to lose weight or diet and exercise." That's a cop out resolution. Every one wants to lose weight! So, I decided this year no resolutions for me just a list of things I would like to do this year. Here are my non resolutions for 2011...

1. Potty train C...eek!
2. Write on this blog twice a week and actually keep it up the whole year.
3. Read blogs again, I really miss all my blog peeps.
4. Stop getting caught up in what I don't have and enjoy what I do have.
5. Go on a date with my husband
6. Go on a date with my husband and not regret leaving the kids at home.
7. Take the kids to the zoo.
8. Keep up with the house cleaning...ugh

Here we go 2011. Happy New Year to all!

Please Excuse the Mess

Since it's been 5 months since my last post some things will be changing around here. Please excuse the roughness while I change some things around.

Happy New Year!