8 months old

Time for another "dump post" of random milestones in Nora's development. She is currently 8 months old and sometime between my last post (at 7 months old) and now, the following things have happened:

She crawls! This momentous event actually started shortly (as in just days) after my last post, and has evolved from a "stretch for an object until she eventually reaches it," to a belly wriggle, to a combination army crawl / regular crawl. (And it's still evolving every day.) But one thing's for sure...this girl is on the move! She definitely gets where she wants to go, and relatively quickly! Just today I had to make a quick dash to pick her up before she made it right up to the top of the basement staircase. Time to invest in a good baby gate (the one we have is terrible for everyday use) and make sure the house is up to par on baby-proofing. She definitely keeps me on my toes!

She can also push herself back up to a sitting position now, so really, other than pulling herself up to standing (which I'm sure will be part of my next post!), she moves every which way she pleases.

Nora has already voluntarily given up her pacifier, just about a month or so earlier than her brother did as a baby. Neither one of them was ever a big user of it anyway, except at nap and bedtime. Both of them just started to reject it when I would offer it, so I decided not to push it. If she doesn't need it, why force it on her? She is not, however, the rock star sleeper that her brother was (and still is). While she is sleeping through the night (and thank God for that!), she often ends up crying herself to sleep (if she doesn't fall asleep while nursing) rather than lying quietly and contentedly in her crib like her brother did. And if she does wake in the night (or at nap time), it can be tricky to get her back to sleep. There's this odd balance of waiting to see if her crying will subside on its own, versus going in there and sometimes picking her up, other times just stroking her back and soothing her, and other times nursing her, that I'm still trying to figure out. On the nights when she does wake (which I'd say is about 50% of the time), I just dread it because I have no idea what is going to work! It's really just trial and error, I'm afraid.

She's been babbling for quite some time now and I'm not sure when we first heard her say that same first word that Owen said, "dada," but it was a while back. Anyway, it seems like it was a long time before Owen assigned meaning to that term, but I'm fairly certain that Nora actually knows who Dada is now. She starts saying it whenever Ryan walks into the room and even when she hears the garage door open when he comes home at lunch time. So cute!

Another greeting she learned recently was the wave. I don't recall trying to teach her this, so she must have just picked it up on her own, but she'll give me this cute little wrist roll when she sees me from across the room and I just die. Love it!

Nora LOVES her big brother. LOVES him! (And he loves her, too!) I could never have imagined how much they would adore each other at this stage. Both of them simply light up with joy at the sight of one another. And, while there is the occasional incident when I need to intervene, they actually play together pretty well. The other day, I witnessed her tackle him (in a sweet way) and climb all over him. And to Owen's credit, he is super sweet and patient with her when she does that kind of thing. He totally tolerates her pulling his hair and seems to understand that she is doing it as an act of affection, not violence. I just melt whenever they put their little faces right up next to one another (they both initiate this!) as if they are trying to hug and kiss one another. Heart melting!!!

And while I'm at it, here are a couple things going on in Owen's life these days...

He seems to be doing well in preschool and his teacher appears to really enjoy him (which is fortunate!) He also started his very first gymnastics class today at the Y. It went ok — he has A LOT to learn, not the least of which is to pay attention to his teachers! — but I think it will be good for him. He tried peeing while standing for the first time today. (Sorry if that's TMI. This is my life, folks.) Although he led me to believe that this is the way he does it at school, so perhaps he learned that one (by watching the other boys?) on his own.

And something interesting I finally tried this week (I've been meaning to do it for some time) is to organize all his toys into a "toy rotation" plan, where I only leave out some of his toys to play with until he grows tired of those and then I pack those up and bring out some other ones. The idea is to 1.) contain the clutter, 2.) eliminate toy burn-out (getting tired of the same old toys), 3.) create a sense of fun and excitement when the old toys come back out (like getting new toys!), and 4.) create space and opportunity for him to fully enjoy the toys he already has. I used this link to help get me started, but then I kind of just winged it (is that the correct past tense of that phrase? Or is it, "wung it?" LOL!) to make it work for us. We'll see how it goes, but so far, I have to say that he does seem to be getting much better use out of the few toys I left out. And I do mean "few." I was a bit apprehensive at first because, despite what Ryan always says, he really doesn't have that many toys, so I was afraid that only having out a dozen or so playthings at a time would be boring for him. But we've gone downstairs (where I have officially moved all of his toys) every day since doing this and he has played with almost everything that's out — some of it stuff that he hasn't touched in months! It will probably also be a good way to weed out some of the things that he really never plays with (Goodwill, here we come). And other than a minor meltdown when he saw me packing the other 2/3 of his stuff away in Rubbermaid containers (I had planned to do this during naptime, but it wasn't long enough that particular day), he hasn't missed his other toys at all. He's not asked about a single thing that's packed away yet. It's only been about three days now, and I don't know yet how often I will switch things around, but I think we'll just play it by ear and see how he does with what he's got and go from there.

That's it for now. Still haven't looked into the maxed out photo storage issue yet, so I'm sorry to report there will be no photos again this time (which is really too bad because I've got some good ones!) One of these days maybe I'll figure it out.

Pantry Purge

Maybe it's because the craziness of the holidays is officially winding down, but I have been in the mood to organize lately. And as my mother would advise, I decided to take advantage of that positive energy and just jump right in. There are several closet spaces in my house that need a good makeover. (You may recall this previous burst of organizing energy applied to my master bedroom closet last spring.) But this morning, I decided that the one closet that seemed to need a facelift the most was my often-used (think, daily) kitchen pantry.

In addition, I've also been in the mood to chat here on the good ol' blog (as you've probably noticed), so I decided to document my little project here for you. To be fair, you should stop reading now if you do not care in the least about the contents of my kitchen pantry and other various cabinets. I'm warning you...it's not exactly riveting content you're about to read.

Ok, you've been warned. Moving on...

I took lots of pictures because I love a good before and after comparison. Here was my kitchen pantry when I woke up this morning.

I have always longed for a home with a kitchen pantry. I've lived in lots of homes and this is the first one that actually had one. It was one of the things I was super excited about when we bought this house. But as you can see, I have not been using it to it's fullest potential.

It's a pretty great space — plenty large and far enough away from the rest of the kitchen cabinets, but still right in the heart of the kitchen space. But I do have one complaint about this particular pantry. Well, two actually. The biggest is that there is no light in this closet. ALL of the closets in this house came equipped with an overhead light managed by a nearby light switch. ALL.OF.THEM. Except this one. And I guess the hallway linen closet, too, which is another major disaster area in need of organization, but I'll get to that another day. Seriously, though, of all the closets in the house (bedroom closets, front coat closet, laundry room closet), why would the builder skimp out on a light in the two closets that house the most small and hard-to-find items?

My other complaint is that there isn't a power outlet inside. I would love to hang my wall-mounted hand-held vacuum in this closet (since most of the messes I use it to clean up are in the kitchen), but it really needs to be plugged into a power source so that it stays charged and, unfortunately, that just isn't an option in the pantry. So it lives in my laundry room instead (yet another space that could use a good once over).

But I digress...

Anyway, I'll skip right to the "after" photo and then give you a few details on how it all went down.

Here's a fun side-by-side comparison.

Oooh...it just makes me giddy looking at this space now! I do love me an organized closet. (Truly I do, I even wrote about it in my bio.)

A couple of things worth mentioning...

I had a lot of smallish packets that always seemed to get lost on the wire shelves, so I collected them all and stuffed them into this basket (which oddly, was already in the pantry on one of the top shelves not being used for anything at all).

I think it looks nice and cheery when I open the doors. And it can quickly be moved so I can access the items on the shelf behind it.

These two shelves house all of my foodstuffs. I would love to attach labels to the front of the shelves that show how things are divided up so when I come home with groceries I know right where to put everything. I'm thinking of making some small labels — "baking goods," "canned goods," "coffee/tea," etc. — and attaching them to the wire shelves with zip ties or something, but we'll see how ambitious I remain...

I also have a kind of a crazy amount of what I'm calling "baking and cake decorating materials" — things like cookie cutters, sprinkles (LOTS and LOTS of sprinkles!), food coloring, muffin wrappers, etc. I used to have them in a smaller (shoebox size) bin, but they were exploding out of that so I put them into a similar, but larger container.

This will make it much easier to access this stuff when needed.

Then there is this poorly misused cabinet above our microwave that just housed a mish-mash of paper plates and other disposable party supplies (plus one rarely-used tea pot). As a rule, we do not generally use paper plates in our household, even for things like sandwiches or pizza, but it's always good to have them on hand for parties and other times when it's just not practical to wash a bunch of dishes.

I actually had items like this stashed in a number of places (three, to be exact) and never knew what I had on hand. So I took a cute basket that was also already in the pantry (not being used for anything purposeful) and organized all my paper goods in it.

In doing so, I took a quick inventory of our plastic silverware and it made me wonder if everyone else ends up with a disproportionate number of plastic knives as compared to forks and spoons. Seriously, I never need to buy another plastic knife...EVER!

Here are the bottom two shelves that include both of these bins and other miscellaneous, though commonly used appliances and other items.

I also moved our "inside" recycling container (we transfer it to a larger bin in the garage when this one gets too full and on garbage pick-up day) from the kitchen lazy suzan to this adorable basket on the floor of the pantry. (It's woven out of rolled up pieces of recycled plastic. I got it at Michael's a while back.) And I organized the mess of paper bags that used to clutter the closet floor into the faboo Thirty-One bag I got from my SIL for Christmas. (P.S. I anticipate using this bag for other things, but it should be pretty simple to just take the paper bags out and temporarily dump them on the floor whenever that happens.)

I decided to stock the above-microwave cabinet with my various supply of oils and vinegars. I think those things should be OK over a heat source??? I also stashed our pitiful supply of liquor — two bottles of whiskey that Ryan got for Christmas — up there.

There are also two triangular shaped cabinets in the kitchen island that I could never figure out what to do with. As of this morning, one housed the blender (which isn't used often enough to justify taking up precious counter space) and the other had my old coffee maker (which I only use when company comes over since I use my single-serve Tassimo on a daily basis.) Both of those items got moved to the top shelf in the pantry and instead, I decided to put a previously removed shelf back in one of those cabinets and relocated all my cookbooks into it.

The cookbooks used to live in the cabinet above our "deskette" area, but now that it's practically empty, I can use this space for some of the junk that's collecting in and around my "home office," which is just a small desk with my computer and printer. I'll have to tackle that one another day.

Here's a couple more views of the completed pantry.

So glad that I finally got around to hanging this decorative hook (that I probably bought four years ago!) for my aprons. The space next to it is reserved for a plastic grocery bag stasher that I've got lying around somewhere, but couldn't put my hands on today.

There were just a few items that came out of the pantry that I wasn't sure what to do with. I ended up dividing them among some other cabinets for now, but I thought this was a pretty manageable number of items resulting from the major mess of stuff I started out with.

I am lucky enough to have the "problem" of having a few spaces that I just don't know what to do with. I will never complain about having too much storage space. Never. That is another thing I love about this house...an abundance of storage. But this above-the-fridge cabinet is a big question mark for me. Just not sure what to do with it...

And I am going on record to say that I am not a fan of lazy suzan cabinets. Again, I'm not really sure what to put in here, so it sits relatively empty for the time being.

So that's a lot of words and pictures about how I spent my day reorganizing my kitchen pantry (and other cabinets). If you're still reading...you might want to think about finding something better to do with your time. Kidding! Thanks...I appreciate your interest in my mundane existence!

For the love of binder

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to the Simple Mom 5-week Project Simplify challenge, feeling proud at the time to have purged and reorganized my master closet (the first week's "hot spot"). I also mentioned in that post that the second hot spot was paper clutter, which I didn't have time to tackle then, but hoped to get back to eventually. Well, last week, I kinda, sorta did! I finally got so fed up with the massive amount of papers and other junk all around me that I mustered up the energy to deal with it.

Here are those "before" pics again:

My computer desk – a.k.a., bill-paying, blog-posting, 

mail-reading, facebook-stalking, idea-generating hub.

The counter space that we refer to as our "deskette" (for lack

of a better term.) Seriously, though, what is a better term for

this little mail-collecting, tool-storing, cord-wrangling,

general junk center?

And now, the "after" shots:

"Ahhhhhh" (I feel like I hear a choir of angels singing in

harmony!)

And the "deskette." Yes, there is still a pile of

mail and random cords (all Ryan's), but I did

as much as I could with my own stuff. Getting 

him on board with this whole organization 

frenzy can be hit or miss.

These photos were taken five days ago, and I'm proud to report that both of these areas still look pretty much the same. True, that means that Ryan still hasn't addressed his small (although growing) stack of junk, but it also means that something I did is actually working!

And I am going to give the credit for that to my pal Mary Sievers who gave me the idea for a "Home Management Binder" (which I think she got here from those organizing gurus over at Simple Mom). It is so genius! Honestly, I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Just a regular 3-ring binder filled with tabbed folders – here it is so far, though it is a work in progress, bound to evolve over time.

So pretty! A beautiful sight for an organizing 

nerd like me.

My tabs currently include:

• Today's Stuff – Stuff that needs to be addressed today, like bills that need to be paid, doctor appointment reminder cards, etc. Ideally, this folder should be emptied and re-filled each day. So far, that hasn't happened, but it does help give top billing to the most pressing things I need to do each day.
• This Week's Recipes – I've been trying to plan out all of our meals for the week on Sunday night (or sometimes Monday morning) since I do my major grocery shopping after story time at the library every Monday. Keeping all of the recipes for the week in this folder (in the order I intend to make them) makes them easily accessible.
• Owen Craft Ideas – Stuff I run across that I would like to try to work on with Owen...eventually. Currently, it includes 3 sheets of alphabet stickers that I'm not entirely sure yet what to do with, but I've got a few unsolidified ideas knocking around upstairs.
• Other Craft Ideas – This one sits empty for now, but a good one to have on hand, I thought.
• Coupons – I am not a coupon-clipper. I tried it for a time and, for me, it just wasn't worth the effort. I found myself spending altogether too much time at the grocery store trying to find the right item to match the right coupon. Instead, I just try to shop what's on sale. But this folder holds coupons like 20% off at Bed Bath & Beyond that come in the mail (a hot commodity around here!), my VS free panty mailer (who can't use a new, FREE! pair of underwear?), and lots of other random coupons – like a Buy 1 Get 1 Free sundae at Culvers...um, yes please!
• Home Deco Ideas – Stuff that inspires me when it comes to decorating or fixing up the house. I've got a few paint color swatches in here and a fun frame that was advertised in the latest BB&B flyer that I can't wait to get my hands on.
• HSA Receipts – A place to store all our medical receipts so that we can get reimbursed for them at the end of the year.
• To Be Filed – Pretty self-explanatory. Since our file cabinet, which usually resides in the basement that is currently under construction, is presently unavailable, I am just storing these up for when I can get back at it.

In the back of the binder, I have just started collecting random lists (I'm a grade-A list maker!) and other items that I want to keep handy, but just don't want lying around anymore – like an ongoing list of songs to download on iTunes, iron-on transfer paper (don't ask), and quotes and scripture verses that inspire me.

On the front of the binder (currently taped to the outside cover because I don't own a 3-hole punch...yet!), is a sweet little thing called a "Daily Docket." Again, found here over at Simple Mom, I make an attempt to fill this out each day, just to help me get a handle on what I need/hope to accomplish each day. It's so easy to waste precious naptime by surfing around on facebook or other blogs and then end up feeling completely unaccomplished at the end of the day. I've found that this little gem helps me stay focused, as I am a sucker for being able to check items off a list. It includes sections titled, "What's for dinner?," "Today's To-Do List," "Schedule and/or Appointments," and "Notes."

"Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?"

- Stevie Wonder

A great way to start the day.

So now that you think I'm a complete nerd for typing up an entire post devoted to my love of binder, I am off to bed. I've got a full day of tasks to complete tomorrow!

Project: Simplfy - Weeks 1 and 2

One of the blogs I follow, Simple Mom, is doing something called Project: Simplify, and encouraging their readers to "roll up their sleeves and clear the clutter" from five different "hot spots" in your home. Each hot spot is announced every Monday (over the course of five weeks) and you are encouraged to declutter, clean, and organize that area (and blog about it) by that Friday. The project started two weeks ago and – unfortunately, I only really found out about it last Friday (the day you were supposed to be done with the first hot spot), but I love this idea (and a good challenge), so I'm trying to participate, although not necessarily in the same time frame. Eh, better to declutter in my own time, than not to declutter at all. (I think that was Shakespeare, right?)

The first hot spot (announced last week) was your wardrobe and closet. (See link for more details on how Simple Mom suggests tackling this.) I was excited to take on this project because I had just been thinking about what I would wear that very night (we were going out to dinner with a group of friends from church and I wanted to look casual, but cute), and was feeling like I had "nothing to wear." Plus I've been frustrated with my master closet situation for a while. I felt bad because Ryan really didn't have near the space that I allowed for myself and I knew there were lots of things I could probably get rid of. Also, as the winter season is almost over now, I knew for a fact that there were lots of items hanging in my closet that did not get worn once all winter, so they really ought to go.

Simple Mom encourages you to take lots of before and after pictures and document your thoughts throughout the process, so here goes:

Master Closet – Before

It's hard to tell from the picture, but our master closet is sort-of L-shaped, and you're not seeing the corner or other small ("L") side here (where Ryan's stuff was).

My thoughts as I purged ALL THIS STUFF:

Yes, that's carpet in my master bathroom.
We hate it and intend to change it
one day. For now, please forgive.

• I got rid of almost all of the button-up shirts I owned because I've come to the realization that, with a few exceptions, they are just not my style. They usually don't fit quite right, and I need to stop hoping that they will.
• I don't know why I feel the need to maintain certain key items in my wardrobe, like a plain white button-up blouse, for example. It's as if I feel like every wardrobe should have one, in the event you need it one day, but I never wear it! Gone.
• It was fun to rediscover items that I haven't worn in a while, that do still work. It was almost like getting a couple of "new" items that I'd actually had all along.
• If I couldn't justify wearing the item (or outfit) that night (as I mentioned, we were going out), I will probably never want to wear it. It's outta here.
• If I have to do a little dance to get it on, it doesn't fit. Get rid of it.
• Sentimentality is not a legitimate reason to hold onto an item of clothing. I was surprised by how many things I was keeping because they were what I wore in my engagement photos, or to my bachelorette party, etc. (Lots of these items were linked to around the time I got married, actually, which was five years ago! Time to go!) There is one exception to that rule. The blouse I was wearing the night Ryan and I met (it was white with black stripes and ruffled sleeves – sounds kinda ugly, but was really cute, actually) stays. It does not take up space in my closet, however, but lives in the back of a dresser drawer, where I refuse to part with it. It just makes me happy and I can't part with it.
• Although I got rid of at least four pairs of jeans (maybe more – I forgot to count), I decided to keep one pair of older ones to wear when painting or doing other potentially clothes-ruining projects. But just one!
• I spent nine years of my life in the corporate world and had built up a fairly substantial work wardrobe in that time. I've gotten rid of quite a bit of it since becoming a SAHM almost two years ago, but I was still hanging onto several pieces that I thought I might still wear someday. During this process, however, I figured that by the time I go back to work (God-willing), all that stuff will be outdated anyway, and I should be able to justify getting new stuff at that time. I kept a handful of items that I might wear for other formal occasions, but only a few.

The "work" pants that I got rid of.
I think there are  14 pair here!

The work pants that I kept. Seven.

Unused hangers after the purge.

Sweaters and jeans used to take up three
of these shelves. I got it down to one
and a half!

I even got Ryan to go through some of his things and get rid of a handful of items. Motivated by the offer to share more space for his stuff, we completely reorganized how we managed this closet. Instead of me getting the top AND bottom of the "prime real estate" (the space when you first walk in the closet) and him being stuck back in the "L" in the back corner, we now divide it top/bottom. I get the top (this was my idea, after all!) and he gets the bottom.

We also divided our shoes up in a more logical manner. We actually have two closets, the walk-in in our master bathroom and a standard size one in the bedroom. Previously, I had shoes in both and his, again, were shoved back in the corner. Now, all his shoes are in the other smaller closet (sorry no photos of that one – we didn't do a whole lot in there except for the shoe thing) and all of mine are in the walk-in.

We also bought and installed a new light fixture. The previous one (again, sorry for no photo – hindsight is 20/20) was really dim and nothing special. This new one has four adjustable 50-watt halogen bulbs along a track and is AWESOME! I feel like a hot-shot celebrity with a spotlight shining down on me and my (sadly, less than Hollywood-worthy) wardrobe every time I walk in. Smile.

So, here are the "after" photos. Maybe not so impressive from the pictures, but it sure does feel nice to have things better organized and well-lit. And the giant box that's headed to Goodwill makes me feel great, too!

Main area - me on top, Ryan on bottom

L-corner - me on top, empty hangers and
my shoes on bottom. (Ryan doesn't have
enough stuff to fill it all up anyway.)

Project: Simplify - Week 2, which started this past Monday, featured the next hot spot – paper clutter. Due today, let's just say, this one didn't happen. I have intentions of still trying to work on it – it's something that needs to be done anyway. But it obviously didn't happen in time, so you'll have to stay tuned for more on this one.

I did take some "before" pictures, though.

Computer desk clutter. Eek!

Kitchen counter clutter. Aack!

One (of several) random drawers with an out-of-control
magazine/catalog/book collection. Oy vey!

See, I told you it needs to be done! Looking forward to finding out what next week's hot spot is and sharing more de-cluttering revelations with you.