Finding my place as a "homemaker"

I almost hate to blog about this ~ like I'm going to jinx myself and everything is going to fall apart. :)

When we moved into our house in April, I swore to myself that I was going to keep on top of all the housekeeping stuff. I promptly made a list of "house chores" and how many times a week they needed to be done that I kept on my computer and would mark off as they got done though out the week.

I don't think I ever had a "success" week where I finished all the chores (at least not as many times as I thought was the ideal amount), so my list kind of started gathering dust. As did a lot of the furniture in the house. lol

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was telling me about this schedule she got from the Motivated Moms website. Basically its a schedule designed by some stay at home moms that break down household chores into "tasks" that are supposed to take 2-5 minutes to help moms from getting overwhelmed by the thought of keeping up with everything in their household. After looking over the schedule I realized that it didn't really apply that well to *my* life as there were things that were left off and things that I didn't care about so much, so I decided to drag out my old household chores list and try to set up a weekly schedule for myself with chores that needed to be completed each day. My goal was to just have 3 or 4 things to do each day. I'm only on day 2, but its working really, really well for me. One of my chores for each day is to make the beds ~ something really simple, but something that I had a hard time doing in the past. I've also made it a point to set my alarm and get up, showered/dressed, and check my e-mail before Alyssa wakes up (unfortunately Alyssa has been waking up early, too, so I haven't been totally successful with this one, but I have noticed that waking up to an alarm instead of a child is making me a lot more patient throughout the day). I'm absolutely loving that I'm able to stick to this schedule and get things done that I would normally say "I'll do that tomorrow, I'm going to just be lazy today" when I just had a list of things that needed to be done during the week. And I've found that its a lot easier for me to sit down and REALLY enjoy hanging out with Alyssa. Before I felt anxious and guilty for sitting down and watching Sesame Street with her or just sitting and watching her play with her dolls, but now that I have this structure to my day I know that I can get everything I need to get done done and still have time to enjoy my sweet girl.

I feel like after 2 1/2 years of being a stay at home mom/wife I'm *finally* getting the hang of this. Now let's toss a newborn into the mix and watch it fall all apart, right? :)

She's part monkey, you know

Someone made the comment to me this week that basically the only differences between having boys and girls is that boys make more of a mess when they pee and that boys are climbers. If this boy is going to climb more than his big sister, I am in sooooooo much trouble.

A couple weeks ago I went downstairs to find Alyssa had pushed a kitchen chair up to the counter, climbed on the counter, opened the pantry door, and pulled a box of raisins from the 2nd from the top shelf. She was proudly standing in the middle of the counter eating her raisins when I found her.

Last week I heard the sounds of a kitchen chair being pushed across the floor while I was upstairs, so I went down to investigate and found Alyssa sitting on the kitchen counter. (To her credit she was wiping down the counter with soap and water, so maybe I should have left her) I told her that she needed to be more sneaky about her climbing because I could hear her moving her chair. Later that day I found her up on the counter again and then only way I could figure out that she got up there was by pushing her high chair up to the back of the kitchen island, climbing up and over the elevated part of the kitchen counter, and then onto the regular counter.

Earlier this week I watched her push Lexi's tub of food to the front of the dryer and then use it to boost herself up onto the top of the dryer in the laundry room. Evidently the spray 'n wash made her do it.

Today I found her sitting IN Adam's sink in the bathroom. Brushing her teeth with his toothbrush (you don't mind sharing with her, right, hon?) just as happy as a clam. She has been climbing up onto the side of the tub and getting into things on his counter for several weeks now, but this is the first time she went all the way that I know of.

And boys are the climbers, huh?

PS I really don't leave her unsupervised *that* often. I swear I'm a good mommy!

Back in the saddle again!

I bit the bullet and forced myself to do some scrapbooking this weekend. As far as I can remember the last time I actually did any was at least September and I was feeling soooooooooo far behind on Alyssa's 2nd year book. Throughout the weekend I got 6 pages done, which I was pretty proud of. I think I'm going to set a goal of getting 6 pages done per month; kind of a belated New Years resolution. It was soooooo nice to sit down and let my creativity flow. I feel more like myself now and I *think* I only have about 10 pages left to be caught up with Alyssa's 2nd year, which totally feels like something I can catch up on. Ask me again in 3 months when I've got 2 kids to scrap for, I may feel differently, but for right now I'm in a good place. :) I'm too lazy to take/post pictures of my layouts from last weekend right now, but trust me, they turned out pretty freakin' cute!

Blue Monday

I heard on the radio today that today is officially "Blue Monday". I guess its somewhat of a holiday, started in England, where people are the most likely to be down because of unpaid Christmas bills, failed New Years resolutions, and that its usually really crummy weather wise. (on the radio it was summed up that people realize that they are fat, broke, and cold. lol) It is really crummy out here, but the silver lining on my day is that I paid $1.92 for gas. How can anyone be sad with deals like that?!?

Our future Nitany Lion

Since my alma mater is going down the crapper and probably won't be open when Alyssa is ready to go to college, we've decided to start pushing Adam's alma mater on her at an early age. She's already proudly dressing the part (and its hard to be proud when wearing a stocking hat with the big fuzzy ball on top!).

Alyssa-ism update

Now along with "Yeah Mommy!" for positive responses, I hear "no way!" for her negative ones. And she says it in a completely repulsed way.

Me: "Alyssa, do you want some milk?"
Alyssa "No way!!!!!!!!!!!!" *sounds like I just asked her if she wanted to eat raw liver*

So far, it kind of amusing. By tomorrow afternoon I predict that I will be beating my head against the wall. Stay tuned . . .

She loves her trashcan ~ yeah, yeah, yeah!

And so it begins . . .

a couple weeks ago we moved the changing table/dresser from Alyssa's room into the nursery when we bought her a new armoire. Since I do all the upstairs diaper changes in there, I moved the trash can in there, too. Today I let her pick out a new trash can for her room at Target, let her carry it upstairs, told her she could decide where she wanted to put it . . . it was all about the big girl. She walked around her room with it surveying the placement possibilites, then headed into the nursery where she put the new trashcan down next to the changing table and carried the old one into her room. *sigh* It wouldn't be so bad if the new one had a lid to keep diapers contained from certain animals.

What are we getting ourselves in to?!

Alyssa-ism for the day

I don't know why I find this so amusing, but today every time Alyssa has said yes or no its immediately followed by "Mommy". So all day I've been hearing "Yeah, Mommy" when she wants to do something. It cracks me up!

I'm a bad aunt

My youngest niece called me yesterday to announce that it is once again Girl Scout cookie season and she wanted to know what/if I wanted to order. I put her off saying that I would call her today and let her know what we wanted after I talked to Adam.

I'm a bad aunt because I don't want to order from her
1) I'm not in the mood for girl scout cookies this year (I know, I know, someone get me to a doctor)
2) I get them about 6 months after everyone else because my sister has to get around to mailing them from Colorado. She won't mail them, btw, she'll wait until they come back here this summer, and hopefully remember to bring them with. And by that time the lovely cigarette smoke smell that stinks up everything they touch because my sister and brother-in-law are such chain smokers will have soaked well into my box(es) of cookies.
3) I'm constantly supporting her fundraisers because I feel obligated to buy CRAP and I know that my sister will probably never do that for my kids.

On the upside, ordering them through her living in Colorado cookies are 50 cents cheaper per box. That's like buying 7 boxes and getting the 8th box free!!!! (If I had enough extra money laying around to buy 8 boxes of cookies).

And now the really mean reason that I don't want to buy from her; she can't pronounce "cookies" correctly. She calls them "tookies". Which is cute when you're 3, but just annoying when you're 11. Now this isn't entirely her fault. Her teachers have been telling my sister that she should be in speech therapy of some sort since she was in first grade, but my sister refuses to believe that she needs any help. The situation is sad, really, but for some reason hearing "Aunt Tristi, its tookie time!" come across the phone line just annoyed the heck out of me yesterday.

I'm a horrible person.

Its COLD dammit!

I really shouldn't complain considering that I haven't had to leave the house today and Adam has a 10 minute walk from his car to his office building, but damn, its cold out. I feel like I need to bundle up in a coat, hat, gloves, and scarf just to let the dogs out to pee. Not that I go out with them, just opening the door for the 15 seconds that it takes them to walk in/out chills me to the bone.

Mommy's Day Out

My parents came today to hang out with Alyssa while I got to play "hooky" from the SAHM gig. I took Joey to the groomer (Adam had been complaining about how she needed a haircut for a good month now and last night Alyssa was chasing her around with a pair of scissors and trying to trim her butt hair, so I guess it was time. lol), hit BabiesRUs for some nursery stuff for Bun, hit Lowe's for paint for the nursery, and then picked up Arby's for lunch (on my parents).

Had lunch with my parents and Alyssa, put Alyssa down for a nap, and then headed out to cash in my gift certificate for an hour massage that Adam got me for Christmas. Heavenly! Although I would have been *almost* just as happy to just lay alone in a darkened room with soft music playing for an hour with no interruptions. They have a special pregnancy bed with a hole cut out for your stomach (and ones for your boobs, too) so that you can lay flat on your stomach comfortably . . . that was the awesome-est . . . I miss being able to lay on my stomach! I was very amused by how nervous I made my massage therapist; she seemed convinced that I was going to go into labor right there on the table.

On the way home I stopped by Starbucks to try out the BIO-aclaimed Cinnamon Dolce Latte (yummmm, btw) and then picked up a very fluffy, good smelling, and very spiffy looking Joey. I think I needed a day to myself more than I realized. I feel like I'm ready to be a good mommy (and a good wife) again; I think I've been slacking lately.

Oy! My head hurts!

Coming in close to my hate for insurance agents/companies are investement companies. Not so much the "new" guys that I'm trying to give my business to, but the "old" guys that I'm trying to get my money from. Pregnancy hormones + no knowledge/understanding of investing/retirement accounts + jerky brokers = Christi wants to cry. I feel so stupid this morning.

Angie ~ this is why I can't IM you anymore . . .

Alyssa does things like painting her toenails with colored "lip shine" when left unsupervised for too long! :)

Pretty impressive for a 2 year old, though, if you ask you. She's so gifted.

Last one (I think/hope)

Guess where Alyssa slept last night! And for a bonus point, guess who didn't sleep much last night worrying about her. :)

Things were a little rocky at first ~ she went down fine, but about 10 minutes later I turned to Adam and sang, "do you hear what I hear?" ~ what I heard was a little "tap, tap, tap KNOCK, KNOCK" from Alyssa's bedroom door (for some reason the door has started sticking the past few weeks, so she can't get it open; solves that "should we put a gate on her door or not" question). I went in and she cried when I tried to put her back down, so I told her I would lay down with her for a few minutes. She broke my heart when she wrapped her arms as tight as she could around my neck and pulled me to *her* chest. She wouldn't actually let me hold her; she just wanted to hold onto me. No drama when I left (thankfully), she just watched me go and I blew her kisses. She did wake up once, but as soon as I helped her find 3 of the 7 or so binkies that she went to bed with, she flopped right back down and let me tuck her back in. Actually an improvement over the crib, because normally she would make me pick her up and rock for anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes when she wakes up during the middle of the night.

I'm so proud of my little peanut ~ let's just hope last night wasn't a total fluke.

Bed, bed, bed . . .

that's all my mind can seem to focus on the past few days. And no, its not a sign of me being absolutely exhausted and wanting to sleep all the time, although that could be a factor in it. I am so obsessed with this whole transitioning Alyssa thing. I want to talk about it constantly with anything/anyone who will listen and/or sit still. I'm probably driving Adam and my parents nuts with it. I don't like not knowing how its going to turn out, how long its going to take her to adjust, etc. Part of me enjoys the challenge ~ it gives me "purpose" in my life, but a bigger part of me just wants to get through this quickly and smoothly, especially considering that sleeping well has NOT always been Alyssa's forte, thus I've become completely anal retentive about doing anything and everything to keep her the good sleeper that she finally became after 12+ VERY long and sleepless months.

Never before

have I wished that I was taller. Shorter, yes, but never taller. Now I wish I was at least 6 ft tall. I swear this child I am growing inside of me has GOT to be at least 2 feet long by now. Its like he has absolutely no room to stretch out (either that or he's a space hog like someone other man in my life *cough* Adam *cough* ). I constantly feel like I need to stand up and bend slightly backwards just to stretch out my midsection enough to give him enough room. This wouldn't happen if I was 6 ft tall. ;)

And let the craziness commence!

Less than 50 days until d-day and we're starting to actually do some "baby stuff" around the house. Yesterday we exchanged Alyssa's twin sized sheets that we bought her for Christmas for a set of full sized sheets and a comforter. Originally we were planning on buying her a twin matress, but once I started pricing them, I decided that I should just suck it up and let her have the full sized matress that we currently have in the guest room/nursery since that was just going to end up in the basement anyway. Its a little overwhelming and makes me kind of sad to think about my baby girl sleeping in a big full sized bed all by herself, but I'm sure she'll think she's the coolest thing since sliced bread. Today we bought an armoire from Target for Alyssa's room (seems like an awful lot of this "baby prep" means buying Alyssa new stuff ~ lol), which Adam is currently attempting to put together in our room while Alyssa naps. I'm getting ready to "de-book" the mega-huge bookshelf that will move from the guest room/library/nursery into the office. We also stopped and picked up paint samples for the nursery today. While out and about today we also did a Target baby registry (we did a Babies R Us one a couple months ago), so I think we're getting fairly well organized and prepared. If all goes as planned we may set up the big girl bed in Alyssa's room and give it a shot tonight. She's absolutely in love with her new comforter, so I'm kind of excited to see what she thinks about having her own "real" bed in room. And scared. :) Hopefully by the end of next weekend I'll have some final project pictures to show!

A telemarketing call like no other . . .

I've heard my share of bizarre telemarketing calls after being in the "consulting" business for 2 years for various companies, but the call that I got at home yesterday may have taken the cake.
It was from one of those companies asking for money for veterans or police officers or fire fighters; the ones that I hate to say no to (and often have a hard time saying no to) because they have really great programs that work with kids, animals, and military people (all causes close to my heart). I went into my general "I'm sorry we can't donate, we just bought a new house, we have a new baby on the way, but maybe next time" response and I have to say that I was kind of rude about it because the guy kept trying to interrupt me. When he finally realized that I wasn't going to give any money he started chatting it up with me about the baby on the way asking if it was our first child, if we knew the sex, if we had a name picked out, etc. I told him we didn't have a name set in stone and jokingly asked if he had any suggestions. He was happy to inform me that he thought that we should name Bun in honor of a great man . . . Steve Irwin. True, Steve Irwin was a great person, but the thought of telling my child "yes, you were named after the crocodile hunter at the suggestion of a telemarketer" totally cracks me up. The guy spent a good 5 minutes trying to sell me on Steve Irwin; he was persistant with that part of his call!

On a similar note the teenage girls that work at the closest TCBY think that we should name the baby Jackson. I guess its true that everyone really does have an opinion.

And for the record we have not settled on a name yet, but it probably won't be Steve Irwin. Or Van. I named Alyssa's fish Van so that name would be out of running, maybe I should buy another one and name it Steve Irwin just to cover my bases.