Day in the Life--Fall 2012

I wanted to document a day in our life this fall...at least once, before baby #2 arrives and everything changes! This was Wednesday October 17th, and it was a busier day than usual! That said, we typically have really busy days at least once a week, so it's probably not that far off base. I loved Kristal's idea of documenting one busy day and one slower day, because the slower days are filled with stuff (like school time, painting our nails, and lots of reading books) that I don't want to forget either!

5:00am- I'm awake. Last time I remember seeing the clock was when I got up at 4am. Get up, go to the bathroom, and come to lay back down. Justin is now laying sideways across the bed, and after some effort, I get him to move back to his side. I can't fall asleep because I know Justin's alarm is going to go off soon.

5:40am (ish)- Justin's alarm goes off. As usual, he does not actually intend to get up at this time, and after several minutes, I finally get him to hit snooze.

5:55am (ish)- Justin's alarm goes off again. After several minutes, I finally get him to turn off his alarm. I try to get him to get out of bed, but he won't, and I'm starting to feel like I'm acting like a parent, so I give up and get up.

6:00am- I head to the living room, take some heartburn meds, and get started on homework from Bible Study. I'm so far behind!


6:15am- I hear Lizzy's door open, and she says, "It's okay for me to come out now!". I tell her yes, even though I'm not sure it's really a question, and she comes out and snuggles on the couch with me.

6:30am- Lizzy asks to watch Dora, so I turn it on for her and we snuggle ad watch. Justin calls out, "It's okay for you to make me a sandwich?!" from down the hallway, which makes me smile. I make him a PB&J.

6:45am- Justin is heading out the door, and pops his head back in to tell me that we left the dome light on in my car light night, but that he'll see if it starts or jumps it. Apparently, it starts! Whew.

7:00-7:45am- Make Lizzy breakfast, and then we dink around a little bit. I really should take a shower, but I'm too tired right now. I realize that I forgot to toss the laundry into the dryer before I went to bed last night, so Lizzy has no clean underwear, and I'll have to put her in a pull-up. Sigh. Go toss the load into the dryer for later today, and it is COLD out in the garage!

7:45am- Lizzy asks to watch Imagination Movers, and I let her so that I can get ready for Bible Study. I toss on some leggings, boots, and a blanket cardigan. Toss my hair up in a sock bun, add some pearls, and hope I look more Pinterest-chic than homeless-chic. Unfortunately, I think I'm skewing toward the latter, but I'm too tired and too cozy to change.

8:00-8:30am- I start getting Lizzy ready for the day. She freaks out that her white shirt "doesn't match" her brown polka-dot leggings. I try to explain that white matches with everything, but she's still not happy about it. She adds her pink cowgirl boots because apparently, they do match. I toss together some breakfast for me to take with and eat at Bible Study. I also remember to go warm up the car, which I consider a major win for the day.

8:45 am- We are actually in the car and on our way to Bible Study. Lizzy requests the same song over and over on the way there, and I oblige to hopefully avoid a toddler meltdown. Plus, she's awfully cute singing it! Baby #2 is active as can be in the car, and man...those kicks HURT! I really want to stop and get a latte, but convince myself not to because they'll have coffee and creamer at the church.

9am-11am- Bible Study. I felt uncomfortable the whole time--baby was in a weird position, and it hurt. Usually, I stay around and chat afterwards, but today I've got quite a bit to do, so I duck out quickly.

11:10am- We arrive at Wal-Mart to pick up some produce, and do a quick pit stop for Lizzy to use the bathroom. We get just outside the bathroom, when Lizzy says, "I have to go potty!". Back inside we go. It's cool. We'll spend 20 minutes in the Wal-Mart bathroom.

11:30am-12:00pm- Whew! In and out of Wal-Mart. On the way out, Lizzy sees a poster for Madagascar 3, and asks if we can get it. We swing by Redbox, and they've got it in stock, so we rent it. She's thrilled, and we talk about waiting until Justin gets home to watch it all together.

12:00pm- Back in the car, heading home. Lizzy says "Mom! Mom! Mom!" the whole way home, and when I ask her what she needs, she just giggles. The "Mom! Mom! Mom!" thing is a frequent occurrence right now, and it drives me nuts. If I ignore her, she cries and says, "Why won't you talk to me?!", but if I answer her, 90% of the time she has nothing to say...other than "Mom! Mom! Mom!" again two minutes later.

12:15pm- Home. Lunch. I eat while looking for articles for the Mom's Group newsletter that I have to send over to have printed for tomorrow.

12:50pm- Lizzy's done eating now, and comes over to talk to me. We talk for a little while, and then she asks if she can go read books in her room. I ask if she wants me to come with her, and she says she wants "quiet time by herself". I head back to help her turn on her music and such, and then head back to the living room to work on the newsletter some more.

1pm- Lizzy comes out of her room and says she's done with quiet time. I tell her that she needs to stay in her room for now. She throws a temper tantrum. Awesome.

1:45pm- We've been battling for the last 45 minutes about her staying in her bedroom. She'll come out, and I'll carry her back in kicking and screaming and yelling at me. I am quickly losing patience for this. I'm still trying to work on the newsletter, but it is really slow progress since I'm going in like 2 minute increments.

2:00pm- Newsletter is finally done and emailed off. Lizzy is still screaming and freaking out hysterically, so I call her into the living room for a talk about what's okay when we're angry and what's not. I ask her if she wants to do school time, and she says no. I tell Lizzy that it's time to lay down with me on the couch for a rest. She starts screaming and yelling again. I turn on the TV to the Property Brothers, and eventually she settles down, but in the mean time she reminds me of the main character from a book that we read a lot, The Pout-Pout Fish.

2:45pm- I look down, and Lizzy's asleep. Normally, I'd move her back to her room for the rest of her nap, but we don't have a ton of time before my photo shoot later, so I slide off the couch and leave her there.

3:00pm-3:30pm- I text back and forth with today's photo client--we're up to 15 people for her family shoot today! We decide that we actually need to do a session and a half, and make plans to meet a little earlier. I'm nervous--I don't do big groups that often and feel less confident about them than other types of sessions, especially now that I'm not moving as fast as I once was! Plus, since we're starting earlier, I'm bringing Lizzy for a few minutes until Justin gets off work. The client knew up front that I'd have to bring Lizzy if we booked today, and is a friend from Mom's Group who I'm sure will be fine with Lizzy no matter what, but I'm still nervous about how Lizzy will behave.

3:30pm-4:15pm- Tie up some loose ends...change into different clothes since Oregon weather is so finnicky in the fall, and now it's hot.

4:15pm- Lizzy's still asleep, and I need to leave. Crud. I try to move her into the car, but she wakes up when I'm buckling her in, and freaks out. I swing by a coffee stand to grab a chocolate milk for her to drink in the stroller while I'm shooting. I hate to reward behavior like this, but at this point, I'm totally in survival mode and will do whatever it takes to make it through the next bit of time until Justin gets off work!

4:30pm- We arrive, and I start shooting. Lizzy alternates between being great and being a pain in the butt. I'm starting to get a little stressed.

4:45pm- Justin was working down the street from where we're shooting, and swings by to pick up Lizzy. Normally, she'd be thrilled to ride in his work truck, but this time she's not. They head off, and I keep shooting.

6:15pm- Done! I head home. Justin's got tacos/burritos started for dinner--thank you babe!

6:30pm- We all sit down to eat. Lizzy's in a super lovey mood, and wants to hug my arm the whole time we're eating. Today's been busier than usual, and I feel like she hasn't gotten a lot of quality attention today and I feel bad. I ask her if she wants to do her letters after dinner, and she says, "No, I want to watch Move It Move It! (Madagascar)" I'm looking forward to us all having some quality time to snuggle and watch the movie together once we finish.

7:00pm- Justin and I are done eating, Lizzy's still going. Justin heads outside to replace a part in his truck, I clean up dinner and talk to Lizzy some more.

7:15 pm- My parents call and ask to talk to Lizzy. We sit on the couch and they talk for a little while--Lizzy LOVES talking on the phone!

7:30ish- They hang up, and I'm explaining to Lizzy that we need to get ready for bed quickly if we're going to watch the movie tonight. It's like this flips a mischievous switch in her, and she is dragging her feet more slowly than ever. I'm redirecting her literally every other minute. Out of nowhere, she hits the cat. Twice. I send her to her room for a timeout. She starts screaming at the top of her lungs and kicking her walls. I tell her that her two minute timeout will start when she's finished screaming. She spends about five minutes screaming, "YOU DON'T GIVE TIMEOUTS TO CHILDREN! NEVER! AGAIN! I AM THE PARENT! YOU LISTEN FIRST TIME I ASK!"

7:45pm- I head back to her room to get her out of timeout and discover that she has TRASHED her room. Pillows and blankets off the bed, books thrown EVERYWHERE, clothes pulled out of her drawers. I have to remind myself to take very deep breaths. I ask what happened, and she says, "I was mad." I tell her that I'm sad she made that choice, and that I don't know if we'll have time to watch the movie tonight after she finishes cleaning up her room, and I leave the room to see how she does cleaning on her own for a few minutes.

8:00pm- I hear Lizzy happily reading books (not cleaning) in her room. Justin walks inside and tells me that in addition to the part he's fixing, there's also a problem with the radiator hose. Awesome.My dad texts me a photo of doughknots, one of my favorite splurge meals from my hometown. Now I'm craving doughknots--that's just not kind to do to a pregnant lady! I head back to supervise the cleaning effort.

8:18pm-8:55pm- Lizzy is still cleaning, Justin is still working. The movie is *so* not happening tonight. I'm trying to teach Lizzy natural consequences--that if she pulls off every book on her bookshelf, she'll have to put every book on her bookshelf back. But it's hard to follow through at times like this...because she is going SO SLOWLY, and I'm constantly having to redirect her. It would be so much easier and faster for me just to do it myself. Justin comes in about 8:30am, and we both have to continue to redirect every 5 seconds. Also? Holy Braxton-Hicks, batman!

9:00-9:20pm- We're just now leaving Lizzy's room after saying goodnight. I have grand dreams of Justin and I cuddling on the couch watching TV, but there apparently wasn't a new episode of Bones on Monday after all, and Justin is reading The Lightning Thief again, which pretty much means he's dead to the world. We are both total book nerds and have a hard time focusing on anything else when we're deep into a book we love. I feel like he and I were passing ships today, but some days are just like that. I jot down a few notes about today for this blog post.

9:20pm- I have a ton of photo editing to do, so I grab the laptop, lay down on the couch, and get to it.

9:30pm-10:15pm- Photos are uploaded to Lightroom, and I begin to cull them a bit. Justin heads to bed right as I find a cute candid moment that I love from the session. I give it a quick edit, and toss it up on Facebook as a sneak peek. Have I mentioned that I HATE Facebook for photos?! I can edit and size things exactly the same way every time, and sometimes they look great and sometimes they look crappy.  There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to things, and it drives me nuts. Anyone out there have any fail-safe magical photos on Facebook tricks? 

10:19pm- I'm so tired...time to hit the sack. I force down a half a glass of milk and hope that this heartburn subsides enough to let me sleep!

{for the record, I was up by midnight, then two, then three, then five--ahhhh, pregnancy}

The Home Organization Binder

I'm not a naturally organized person, and I REALLY hate spending money when it comes to organizing things. Organization doesn't come easy to me, and I'm definitely not an expert at it. That said, the Home Organization Binder that we made at Mom's Group a few weeks ago has been a big help to me, and so I wanted to talk about it here.

I'd seen similar binders all over Pinterest, but hadn't actually made one because (a) I hadn't seen one configured in a way that I thought I'd actually use, (b) I hate spending money on that sort of thing and (c) I don't have a lot of craft supplies, so it would probably end up being very expensive for me to buy scrapbook paper and all those other goodies necessary in order to create a binder that I wouldn't mind having just sit out on a day-to-day basis. That's the beauty of my Mom's Group--you pay annual "dues" and part of that dues money goes towards providing all the materials needed to do the craft of the day. It's awesome.

Anyway, we were instructed to decorate the outside of the binder however we wanted. Again, my goal was to have something that I wouldn't mind sitting out on the desk all the time. Then, on the inside, we were supposed to create divided sections based on something called a "brain dump" that they had done the previous session. I missed that one, but from what I gather, you basically take a blank piece of paper, give yourself an allotted amount of time, and then just write down everything on your mind until the time is up. The suggestion was that you then review your brain dump and see if there are any themes or categories that might help you decide what your divided sections should be. Here's what I ended up with:

1. Finances: Included in this section are two zippered pouches--one for receipts that need to be entered into our budget, and one for receipts from the month that already have been entered. We enter most of our financial info directly into an Excel spreadsheet, but I also printed out a copy of our monthly budget for easy access. It might also be a good place to keep track of due dates for various bills, interest rates for credit cards/student loans, and that sort of thing.



2. Prayer: I mentioned the Inspired to Action website a few days ago, which includes some great e-books that include monthly calendars for praying for your kids and spouse. I have them printed out and in sheet protectors in this section. I also added lined notebook paper so that when I hear about prayer requests, I can jot them down and (hopefully) actually follow through later.

3. To Do Today: Exactly as it sounds. It's a section of lined paper. I fold each piece of paper vertically, and write two days worth of to-do's on each side. Another great option is the Weekly Overview (again from Inspired to Action) which allows space to write your Bible Study plans, a menu, and a to-do list.

4. To Do Later: This section is also filled with lined paper and is for things that I want to remember, but don't necessarily need to do that day. I also have a few sheet protectors for fliers/brochures, and my brain dump is also here. I really liked the brain dump and I think I may do it more often.

5. Meal Plan: My plan was to print our my meal plan and keep it here, along with a master list of the recipes that I can cook. That said, I'm finding that I actually end up looking on the computer (I keep the meal plan in a Word document and also look on Pinterest a lot) than in the binder, so this category may turn into something else.

6. Toddler Activities: Awhile back, when I was venting about the parenting/cleaning balance, Emily commented that she tries to do three activities with Thomas each day. I really liked that idea, and have implemented it a lot with Lizzy with my own little spin. I keep a list of activities to do with Lizzy in this section. This isn't anything fancy...typically I just take toys that we already have, and couple them with developmental stuff. So, one activity might be to play with Legos with Lizzy, with me focusing on counting as we're playing (or colors). It isn't anything structured--just while we're playing, I make an effort to count the Legos as we stack. Sometimes, the activities are just going to the library or to the park...but the key for me is that it helps me to be more present and to really feel like I have some freedom to clean, or read, or whatever doing the day because I know Lizzy is getting some quality time. And as a bonus, it helps me remember to rotate in books and toys that we haven't read or used in awhile. This would also be a good section to keep lists of free things to do in your area, printouts from places like www.icanteachmychild.com and more.

7. Notes/Other Info: Since the binder typically sits next to the computer, I like to just have lined paper where I can scratch notes as necessary. Justin's been working on an inventory of our DVD collection, so that may eventually go here, as may schedules for baseball/softball, etc.

8. Emergency Info: This will probably just be a place to store phone numbers of our doctors, Justin's work, our insurance agent, etc. Phone numbers that I may need quickly, but probably don't know by heart or necessarily want/need in my phone 24/7.

Other ideas for divider sections that I've seen are things like cleaning, take-out menus, sports schedules, etc. The bottom line is to do what works for you...do the brain dump, identify what is stressing you out, and do what you can to make yourself a bit more organized in those areas. I know, it sounds so simple, right? Well, it's not that simple, and you won't do it perfectly (I don't anyway), but doing something is better than doing nothing I figure!

I know this post is getting long, but I also have to mention that our mail is stored elsewhere (in the living room post, I showed you the inside of the flowered box--it's in there). We have sections in that box for incoming bills, things to be filed, cards/notes, etc. But, all of those categories would probably also work in a Home Binder if you think that would work best for you--I just already had a system going for that and figured there's no sense in messing with what's already working.


Also, does it drive anyone else crazy that when you put things in sheet protectors, you can no longer see the divider tabs?! No? Just me? Okay then....  :)

Do You Know Your Colors?

Click Here to take the FM 100 Hue Test to see how well your eyes perceive color. The lower your score, the better you did.

I thought this was really interesting! My score was 7. How did you do?

Shortest Weekend Ever.

Seriously. This weekend flashed by, and had a whole bunch crammed into it! It went something like this:

Friday
-I made banana bread for the first time
-Justin finally rolled in at about 11:30pm. We stayed up at talked for maybe 30 minutes and then crashed.

Saturday
-Woke up late, let J sleep in even later while I watched some HGTV since my allergies were bothering me. Fell asleep on the couch.
-Finally woke up for real, headed to my parent's house.
-Ate some pizza from the place that I've been craving non-stop since getting pregnant.
-Bought 3 maternity dresses, a skirt, a pair of capris, and a shirt from my sister's consignment store for a total of $6. I love the family discount.
-Said goodbye to my brother who is now en route to Japan to play football.
-Swam in the salt-water pool...skin now feels nice and soft.
-Left to watch a late Harry Potter movie. I fell asleep despite the stupid kids behind us that kept talking on their phones the whole movie, no matter how many times I asked them to knock it off and be quiet.

Sunday
-Woke up late, skipped church.
-Had my first panic attack when plans changed and I realized that we'd be out at the concert arena place ALL DAY with nothing in the house to eat, nor anything that I could quickly grab from the store. Get freaked about how much planning it takes to do anything when you're pregnant (Is there a bathroom? Am I going to have to sit out in the hundred degree weather for the next 6 hours? Is there anywhere inside with AC that I can go? When will we be able to eat?)
-Headed out to the amphitheater, where we sat outside in the hot hot heat for like 6 hours. Still, once it finally cooled down, it was a great venue.
-Got home about 9:30, where I watched the last half hour of the Next Food Network Star, and fell asleep on Justin.

Monday
-Woke up feeling like I have a hangover, not thrilled about heading to work OR the grocery shopping I need to do today.
-Is definitely thrilled about it being payday.
-10 days until vacation weeks! I'm taking the 31st off for Karla's wedding, and we'll be camping until the night of the 2nd. Then I work Monday, Tuesday, and part of Wednesday, and then I'm OFF until the 11th of August! Woo!

House To-Do's

I have a LONG list of things that I'd like to do in our house. I feel like it never ends! I thought I'd compile a list of things that I'd still like to do, in order to keep track of them!

For J to do:
-Weed N Feed the front yard, then begin edging
-Install transition strips for new flooring (no, this still hasn't happened)
-Re-install trim around baseboards and doors
-Raise up back yard, install sprinkler system, and then lay seed.
-Bring in rail road ties for above ground garden beds.
-Spray for spiders and stupid earwigs!

Other projects:
-Paint the cabinets white. After that, re-evaluate whether or not I still hate the countertops.
-If I can live with the countertops, install a tile backsplash
-Consider repainting dining room
-Finally make my DIY headboard!
-I would REALLY like to repaint the kitchen table and chairs as well, but that may be a bit ambitious. I'd probably have to get them dipped to strip off the current stain and seal.
-Turn our two spare bedrooms into actual usable, functional spaces...not just storage!

The only problem? Pretty much no expendable income to work with! We'll have to see how I do with a budget the size of a pushpin!

Confession Time

I do not have ANY clean dishes. We've even used all the giraffe plates. I *might* still have the "You Are Special" plate stashed away somewhere, and if I do, then we'll really be out of luck after tonight.

We've hardly been home this week at all, and when we are, I've been sleeping. I am beyond exhausted lately. Normally, I'd ask for extra help from Justin, but the unlucky guy has poison oak all over his hands and arms, and the thought of him putting away clean dishes just grosses me out.

Seriously, I need an extra day in the week!

Things.

I was really grumpy last night for no particular reason. I just was. I was fluctuating between being ticked off at the world to being an emotional mess. Justin was too nice about it--he just laughed, asked how he could help, and joked that he wondered if I was pregnant because the emotional stuff isn't typical for me. At that moment though, I kinda wanted to punch him in the face. How has he not learned that you don't "jokingly" insinuate that a girl is pregnant? Particularly if she's your wife, and PARTICULARLY if you know she's not.

I didn't take a shower this morning. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I took a shower yesterday morning either. That's pretty gross, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it considering the fact that I'm only working 9am-noon today, and then I'm just gonna work out (maybe) and come home and clean. And finally get my plants into actual pots.

Here's my overly ambitious list of what I need/want to accomplish around the house this afternoon:

-Sweep the living room and clean the floor
-Vacuum the living room rug
-Sweep and mop the kitchen floor
-Deep clean the hall bathroom
-Vacuum the master bedroom
-Deep clean the master bath
-Dishes, clean counters
-Laundry
-Get all the veggies planted in their own containers
-Spray the rest of the lawn with roundup

J should be off work around 3pm today, so he doesn't know it yet, but he gets to help too!