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Thursday, May 31, 2007

Summer Cleaning Schedule

Just in case you're interested....

Things I make sure gets done before anything....

( ) Make beds/straighten rooms (usually spend about 5 mins in BRs after making beds to straighten)

( ) Clean off dining room table (this can become a problem area FAST)

( ) Wash dishes (even if it's just a few, dirty dishes = roaches in our home, ick)

( ) Sweep LR, DR, and KTCH (every other day)

( ) Empty/take out trash (every other day)

***Things that get done while kids are napping***

Monday:
( ) Wash clothes (just work on this throughout the day)
( ) Clean out frig (this consists of throwing out leftoevers)
( ) Mop (LR/DR--every other Monday)
( ) spend 15 minutes outside (yard work, flowers, etc)

Tuesday:
( ) Dust furniture
( ) Iron (iron all of our work/church clothes, usually takes a little over an hour, but I listen to the radio or talk on the phone, and it keeps me from having to rush to do it before church, etc)
( ) Wash sheets/Rugs (every other Tuesday)
( ) 15 minutes in guestroom, decluttering/cleaning OR in Living room with some spring cleaning(I alternate every other Tues with GR and LR)

Wednesday:
( ) Sweep off porch/sidewalk
( ) Clean the bathroom (not deep cleaning, just the sink, tub, and modey w/a lil baking soda water--every other Wednesday)
( ) Alternate every other week 15 minutes of spring cleaning/decluttering with Guest BTHroom and Dining room/Bthroom

Thursday:
( ) Wash clothes
( ) Clean off glass surfaces (use vinegar/water mixture--every other Thursday)
( ) Alternate every other week 15 mintues of spring cleaning/decluttering with laundry room and Kitchen

Friday:
( ) Sweep bedrooms, hall
( ) catch up on any chores incompleted
( ) Alternate every other week 15 minutes of spring cleaning/decluttering with Office and Bedrooms

Saturday:
( ) clean out van
( ) vacuum out van (every other Saturday) Right now, I'm really lazy and am just running it through the car wash every 3 or so weeks.

Sunday: (don't even do my daily chores, unless I make dinner)
( ) pay/do/organize bills
( ) clean out purse/diaper bag

Sounds like a lot, but this is the second summer of this schedule and it works for me! I try to do my daily chores while the children are awake, but the others I leave to their napping, so I do have time to play with them. I do sneak in the once-a-week doze myself, but that's why I have a catch up day. I always have to catch up on Friday and Saturday! Don't stress about it, though!
Also, I don't pick up after my kids all day. After I straighten, I don't worry about any mess that's made. They can pick up after themselves at night before they go to bed. No worries, man!

32 week update

I really can't believe that I'm 8 mos pregnant now! I can't believe it, but when I look down at my protruding abdomen, I can absolutely believe it. I don't feel like I'm overly huge, but right on target (hopefully). I always forget to ask my stats at the dr. office and no one obliges, but I'm going to make an effort to ask what I'm measuring. Just interesting to see if I'm on track or not. If this baby is another 10 lber (Emory) then I have a lot of growing to do. I don't wish it to be so!

I'm doing a lot of cleaning and organizing so one could say I'm nesting a bit. I need to be, though. I've yet to bring out the baby things and will probably wait until 35 weeks pregnant or so. I need to wash the carseat cover and wash a few baby items (either unisex or of both genders). I will need to wash the bassinet covers, of course take all the junk out of it first. Would love to get me a new pack n play and not fool with the bassinet this time, but I don't need too much stuff.

My face is a little thicker but I haven't done the almighty nose spread or anything. Thank God. I haven't had a lot of swelling in my hands and feet, either. They just hurt from the added weight and being on them all day long.

I don't feel like the baby has turned or anything. I can't go by low or high because every one of my babies have been carried low. I guess because I'm long waisted.

Sleep is still good, but turning over in bed is an absolute pain, literally. I have to talk myself into my body moving and turning. Yikes.

I'd say I've gained 20 lbs or a little over so far. May ask dr. about that next time, also.

Still want a HB, but just leaving it up to the Lord. If I have to go to the hospital, I want to wait until I'm very much in labor, stay as little as I can, coming home the next day. We'll see.

I don't know if I've mentioned Erin and her success in pottytraining. We are doing great! She still needs a pull-up at night, because she is never dry in the mornings. I think she has a very small bladder. I'm not afraid to go out in public without a PUll up anymore. I think she will be fully trained when this baby is born.

We are still unsure about names for this baby. I think it's a girl so I'm desperate. My sister mentioned not going with an E name since we plan to have more children. Then I can start a new letter. Problem is, I haven't another name that I like and would be desperate to come up with something here at the last minute. yeesh it's hard to name a child.

That's all for today. Need to go iron, catch up on weekly chores, and fight off this napping feeling. Why should I? I'm 8 mos pregnant! :) I wouldn't if I hadn't got about 9 hrs of sleep last night! :)
Gonna post my cleaning schedule for you just in case it might help?

If you read my blog, leave me a comment so I'll know someone is out there! :)

Monday, May 28, 2007

no excuse to not blog...

Dh has a new laptop which can be both a blessing and a curse. I love being able to keep contact with the outside world, but on the negative side, I miss reading at night and I can't sleep well after being on the internet late. My mind just goes ninety miles per hour and I resort to counting sheep, saying a mantra, or repeating a Bible verse. But, the next night, I'm back online. I'm intrigued with unassisted childbirth (UC) and I have been eating up all the information I can night after night. If my husband would consent, I would never go back to the doctor or hospital. A good site with some nice blogs is www.christianuc.com/unassisted-pregnancy/journals. I wish I could convince him that our bodies are made to birth babies. It is a natural process. It is a joke all of the procedures we have to go through (routine or otherwise) just to have a baby. I think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, what an awesome birth she must have had. She had no bright lights, doctors sticking their hands up the ying-yang, nurses pressing on the uterus to expel her placenta, etc. Just the quiet lowing of the donkey, the smell of hay, and the chirping of crickets. She was at peace with the nature of her body to deliver the Son of God. I feel so strongly about having a UC, but I understand my Dh's concern for my well being. I try to get him to read things on the internet, but he thinks I'm crazy. *wink* I know I will be obedient to him, albeit disappointed if I don't get the birth I crave.

I am currently 31+ weeks with this surprise. I really feel like it's another girl. I don't know why. I just see Emory as being the only son in our family. We have a boy named chosen, but I don't see us using it. We haven't a girl name chosen and I'm not at peace with a name. I want this girl to have Rebekah in her name somewhere. I would love to just name her that, but I want to have an "E" name to keep the balance. I have been thinking about Ella, Elaina, or Eden, but am not crazy about any of those. Names aside, I have an active one. Seems to have slowed down in the past couple of days, but she's still in there, no doubt. I don't feel like I'm getting any bigger which is a relief. I think I've gained about 20 pounds so far, but I'm not trying to figure it out to a 't'. Not much swelling with this gal, which is also good. My feet hurt, but I stay busy on my feet most of the day.

Speaking of staying busy, I have settled into a cleaning routine that I hope to keep up this summer. I've managed to keep the house orderly and the clothes washed. That is the biggie. Laundry. I finally broke down and made my own laundry soap and I promise, I could eat that stuff. I have a thing for soap. I wonder what you call people with a soap fetish? I remember sitting in the bathtub as a child sniffing the Safeguard bar of soap (what we always used). My laundry recipe uses pure Ivory soap and I could just eat that stuff. I mean, everytime I grate a bar to go in my concoction, I'm in heaven. Anyway, my recipe is: 3.5 cups of Borax, 2.5 cups of grated pure soap (Ivory or Dr. Bronners, etc), and I added a cup of Baking Soda. Put in a container and shake really good. Add 1/2 cup to a load. Cheap. Fun. and Yummy. Back to the cleaning, I have been trying to slowly work on getting our back part of the house liveable. We don't 'live' in that part, per se, so it is easy to let that part go. I'm trying to work on it for a few minutes a day. Cooking has not been a part of my routine lately. I'm so bummed out about not cooking. I think it's a pregnancy thing. I always feel full and don't want to cook if I'm not hungry. Also, I have desires for certain foods and it's not what I have in my cupboards. I guess I feel like my family feels the same way as I. I appreciate their patience. Dh is wonderful about being understanding. I love my breakfast foods and am always happy to whip up a batch of pancakes. There's another fetish. LOL We probably have pancakes every other day. Fresh with maple syrup!

My best friend who has been going through an awfully rough ordeal lately, is getting to bring her girl twin baby home from the hospital tomorrow, Lord willing. She and her brother have been in there since late March. God has been so good to those babies and is continuing to be so. I'm so proud of the strong mommy my friend is. I'm so excited about the baby getting to come home. I feel like the other baby will probably come home about the time my baby is born. He still has a couple of more surgeries to undergo.

This blog is so long, but I have so much on my mind. It's nice to have school out for a change. I love my job and it is not a drudgery, but I feel like I'm fulfilling God's plan being at home with my babies. It's a busy job where you don't even look at the time, but it's rewarding. Erin is pretty much potty-trained, with a couple of whoopsies every few days. She doesn't even have on a diaper tonight, so she may want to night-train soon as well. Fine by me. She hates putting on a pull-up. She is such a big girl and I am absolutely floored at her vocabulary and ability to conversate. Even though she is mine, I have never seen a child her age (26 mos) with a conversational ability like she has. Her new thing is she has to 'make sugars' for everybody. I'll say, 'Give me some sugars, Erin' and she will say '___________' ate it all up. I'll have to make you some more." So, she proceeds to make sugars by sticking her finger in her mouth and rubbing it on her lips. Sooo cute. Tonight she told her daddy that mama had got all of her hugs and she had to make some more. She started rubbing her shoulders, making more hugs. Oh my, is she cute! Emory is getting so tanned by going swimming everyday. He is a good boy and minds really well. He still complains a lot, but I think we'll have that beat by the time summer is over. Working on Erin's whining too, this summer.

Well, enough is enough. God is blessing Dh's job and helping us financially. We are slowly getting out of debt and praise be to God. Looks like I might be a SAHM within a year, Lord willing. God is good. Never doubt it.