Before Pinterest...

Anyone else remember life before Pinterest? Bookmarking all those blog posts we wanted to come back to? Saving STACKS of magazines so we could come back to the articles later? Well I finally went through my many stacks of magazines and ripped out the articles I REALLY wanted to save and saved them in a binder. I wanted to share it in case any of you needed ideas for the same! Happy reading!

building habits

In no way, shape or form am I a "neat freak".  I have my little quirks about certain things, but my home is not super tidy or spit spot clean.  It kinda drives some of my family members crazy actually.  But it's not filthy and "hoarder-like" either.  Just, kind of, organized chaos. Yeah, that's it.

I am trying to form new, cleaner and tidier, home habits though, if for any other reason but to teach my daughter to be clean and tidy.  I have found that, while it is so nice and refreshing to have your ENTIRE house all of the sudden spit spot clean and all tidy, for ME, that is not maintainable.  So what I do, is focus on 1 or 2 areas that influence me the most (and that I influence the most) and focus for a week on keeping those areas clean, neat and tidy.  Then move on to 1 more area, and add a new area weekly until I have the house handled.

I started with my kitchen and the area across from my Master Closet. It's been 3 days and both are still clean and tidy!!  I am VERY happy!!!  PLUS the best part of the kitchen being clean and tidy is that I have been more inspired to try out new recipes and cook, AND my husband even tried out a recipe last night AND cleaned up his own mess!

What habit will you work on??

"mommy" organization

What is "organization", REALLY?  Is it possible to BE "organized" without it actually appearing that you ARE organized?  For instance, I have piles of clutter everywhere, HOWEVER I know where my stuff is!  Need the small camera?  It's under the duct tape on the kitchen hutch!  Need the A-Z binder tabs?  Under the Ross bag on the kitchen table.... But that doesn't count as being organized, right?  Oh well. ;)

Don't get me wrong, I TRY!  I really do!  I get a good system, then keep it up for a week, maybe two, then fall "off the wagon".  I told a friend once, "Under all my piles of junk, there is the skeleton of a great system!"

Well, I am taking this on again!  Some friends of mine SWEAR by FlyLady.net!  I gave Fly Lady a try once, and couldn't seem to get ALL of her stuff to work for me.  I DID find that a few things were quite helpful and doable.  Shine your sink every night and 15 minute sessions.  You can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes.  Set a timer.  If you have not heard of Fly Lady, or if you have and just have not tried her system, here is a link to her "Beginner BabySteps" page.  Give it a try! http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

I have also found it helpful to write out my daily (and weekly) plan. My favorite daily printable that I have found is the "Original Daily Docket" and can be found at this link:
http://simplemom.net/downloads/

These two links also have many useful printables as well, including ones for grocery shopping and babysitters.
http://professorpoppins.blogspot.com/2011/03/family-planner.html
http://www.designfinch.com/2011/07/31/sunday-planning/

Happy organizing!  I will GLADLY take any tips, tricks and hints you all have to offer!!  Just comment on this post!

Oh, and to verify what I said about the kitchen hutch.....

Up and at em!

You know those days that you know are gonna be difficult from the night before? Yeah, that's today! Last night my daughter was tired WAY earlier than her bedtime, but once in bed didn't want to sleep. Then I stayed up an hour past my bedtime. And this morning my little human alarm clock went off at 5:30! A half an hour earlier than normal! Yes, she is an early riser, 6am most days. I consider 6:20 "sleeping in"! 

So to make today "easier" I will do the following:

1. Be as PATIENT as POSSIBLE

2. Pick my battles

3. Make sure I get my quiet "mommy time" this morning during Penny's nap

4. Drink PLENTY of tea and probably a Lift Off too!

Do something SPECIAL today! Happy Friday!

Savor

Yesterday morning my mom called, and as we were wrapping up our conversation she said "Oh, I just have to tell you!  My heart just MELTED yesterday!  When I was holding Penny and she saw you come out with your shoes on and thought you were leaving, when she just lunged at you and grabbed onto you, it just melted my heart! I know sometimes it's hard for you that she always wants you, but as a mom, you WANT your kids to WANT you!"  That was SUCH a good reminder for me to savor every hug, kiss, cuddle and moment with my daughter.  Whether she just threw her milk cup on the floor for the tenth time, or gave me a big wet kiss for the tenth time. Savor.

I have learned not to make a big deal out of little things.  Let her be a kid.  And be there to help her along the way.

SAVOR your special moments today!

Mighty Mouse

This morning we ate our breakfast as normal, I drank my yummy Herbalife shake (Tagalong shake today, delicious!) and Penny drank her (1/2 serving) Herbalife shake and at cut up banana pieces.  After we ate, I was rinsing some dishes in the kitchen sink when I hear a chair moving.  I turned around to see my daughter pushing (with ALL her might) my dining chair from the table, into the kitchen....pause for a breath.... PUSH the chair some more.  She ended up pushing the chair a good 6 feet!  

All this to say, I am in TROUBLE!  She is a strong little child, but I should not be surprised, her daddy used to be a body builder! 

She is definitely keeping me on my toes making sure I feed her right! Now, our diets are not perfect by any means, but I do TRY to get plenty of balance!  She gets all the nutrition of an Herbalife shake for breakfast (1/2 serving), with a banana, nutrigrain bar, or something else.  I am lucky that she will eat pretty much anything I give her.  I realize that is not the way a lot of kids are, so yes, I count my blessings. :)  

We started giving her "solid" foods as early as 4 months old, and she started getting 1/4 servings of Herbalife shake at 4 1/2 months old.  The nutrition has helped her grow strong, and have a great immune system.  She has only been sick a couple times and she kicked it really quickly each time!  I like to think the powerful nutrition in Herbalife fills in the holes in the rest of our family diet.

Some of Penny's other favorite foods include:
bananas
strawberries
blueberries
triscuit crackers
toast
cooked, crumbled ground beef
dried cranberries
peas
cheese
yogurt

Give yourself a moment of relaxation today!

A River of Babbles

My daughter is a year old, well 13.5 months to be technical about it. :) i honestly have no idea what is "normal" for speech development at her age, but her pediatrician seemed happy with her all-around at her 1 year visit, so I guess she's doing fine! 

Penny knows several words by now, not necessarily to SAY them, but she understands the meanings. I so enjoy watching her develop this skill. Most of her communication is "point and grunt" (or scream), but she can sign "please", thanks to her Grandma and Tete (Auntie) for teaching her! Tete was one of her first 3 spoken words and it is what she calls her Auntie. 

She understands much more than she can speak though. Most helpfully she understands "come with mommy" and "no" or "that's not for Penny". And MOST of the time she obeys! (For now, right?)

The biggest things I have found helpful in teaching my daughter languages are:

1. Pronounce every word clearly, annunciate 

2. Keep it simple. When "reading" a book, point to things and say their names.

3. Repeat, repeat, and repeat again.

Believe something WONDERFUL will happen to you today!