Life Organization Week 3

Wow this week flew by.  It was a busy one as I spent three of the last 7 days out of town at a family members cabin.  It was a WONDERFUL time but I wasn't able to accomplish all that I had hoped for.  At least not the things on my list.  Spending time with family overrules all projects/tasks in my opinion.  Not only were we gone for a few days but I spent quite a bit of time packing and getting ready to go.

Home:  
Last Week:  Complete Photo Blocks-Nope, no progress
This Week:  Let's just shoot for painting the blocks :) Also, I printed off a bunch of pictures to put in frames and stuff around the house.  I would like to fill the frames, I don't think I will get them hung but just get the pictures in and ready to go.


Health/Wellness:
Last Week:  Drink More Water-I think I actually did pretty good with this one this past week.  I got my system down now :)
This Week:  I need to work on eating breakfast everyday. I need to take a few minutes in the morning and eat.

Finances:
Last Week:  Sort through papers that need to be filed.  I did do this.  I have them separated into their different categories like medical/utilities/car/mortgage/banking.  Now I just need to separate them into thier more specific files.
This Week:  I really need to re-evaluate our budget.  Things are still changing with us and I really haven't say down and looked at it since I came back to work part time.  So I am going to make this a two week goal.  I know I won't get it done completely this week but I would like to get a start at it.  Maybe my goal this week is to list out our fixed expenses.

Just For Me:  
Last Week:  Drink some wine a night or two.  Well I didn't drink wine but I did have some delicious Bud Light Lime over the weekend.  However, that wasn't the intent of the goal.  It was more for at home so I would just spend some time relaxing in the evenings after Elsie goes to bed.  So that didn't happen.
This Week:  I know I will be once again having some drinks over the weekend so this week I want to focus on crawling into bed around 10:00 pm.  I have been going to be later and later each night...last night it was after midnight and when Elsie gets up by 5:30 it just isn't enough sleep for me.

On the Move:
Last Week:  Do my yoga DVD.  Well I finally did it last night.
This Week:  Jog, even if it is just once I have to start somewhere.  Earlier this summer I started jogging.  I kept setting little goals each time I would go out.  Then we went to Idaho, then it got so hot and now it has been almost two months since the last time I went out.  This week I am starting over :)


Family: 
Last Week:  Complete first three months of Elsie's First Year Photo Book.  As I started to work on this I realized how disorganized my photos were and how they were just grouped based on import date and I found it next to impossible to find what I wanted so I spent A LOT of time organizing those files.  Now I just have to keep up with it when I import them.
This Week:  I would like to keep working on the photo book.  Maybe get months 4 and 5 done.

Random:  
Last Week:  I didn't set a goal since we were so busy.
This Week:  I would like to get our bedroom back to being "ours".  Really get it clean, take down Elsie's pack and play and move the bed back to where it was.  This I might need to recruit John to help.

Overall I think we had a pretty busy week last week.  We had a birthday party, went swimming, and was gone Friday morning until Sunday evening.  It also takes me a lot longer to pack with Elsie and making sure I have everything we need for her.  This next week will be just as busy but should slow down for a couple weeks after that.

Reaching Milestones

Well Elsie has reached a couple new milestones these past two weeks.

Army Crawling (6/14/12)
Here she is a week and a half ago army crawling. She has been doing this for quite some time now but finally got a video of it on here.  I believe this was on 7/14 (She just turned 7 Months)

Crawling (7/15/12)

No joke the next day she was crawling for real.  It is so cute!  Now when I leave the family room and go into the kitchen she follows me.  She is a speedy little bugger too :)  

Pulling Up (7/15/12)

Not only is she crawling but the same day she started pulling herself up.  At first, she just climbed up on me then she did the couch (we have a pretty low couch).  She is also doing it on her little sit and walk toy.  I feel like she is really starting to fly through these milestones.  Everyday is something new with her!

First Tooth (7/19/12)

If that wasn't a big enough week for her I found that she got her first tooth on that Thursday (7/19).  We were up in our bedroom and she was crawling around on the floor and she acted like she put something in her mouth so I quickly ran my finger through her mouth to make sure nothing was in there and that is when I found it!  Let me say I was shocked!!!  I had been anticipating a tooth since she was 3 months but tossed the idea aside when nothing ever came.  I knew it would come at some point and that her behavior would warn me that it was on its way but nope, nothing just the tooth.  I hope the rest of her teeth come in this easy.  

Second Tooth (7/28/12)

Elsie got her second tooth in over this past weekend.  I went to show my mom her first tooth and what do you know, another tooth had popped through.  

A Day in the Life of Us. . .Take Two

So our daily routine has changed since the last time I posted which Elsie was just 3 months old!  Crazy. . .  So this is what our life is like now. . .

Days I Work:
The alarm goes off by 6am.  John gets up and starts showering and getting ready, I pump for 15 minutes while eating breakfast.  Sometime between 6:15 and 6: 45 Elsie wakes up.  During that time I am getting ready.  If she wakes up before I finish I will give her a bottle (6-8 oz), change her and get her dressed for the day.  Most of the time, John has left already so I am on my own.  If I still need to finish getting ready Elsie now plays on the floor of our bedroom since the bed is no longer an option.  Also I am getting ready in our bedroom since our upstairs bathroom is out of commission since it is being remodeled.  Then we head downstairs where I pack my lunch and get everything ready to leave.  It is a good day if we are out the door by 7:30.

I drop her off at daycare and I head to work.  I no longer pump during the day since I am down to two times a day.  Then I pick her up by 4:30.  We typically will just come home and depending on what we have planned for the rest of the night I will feed her supper right away if we are going somewhere or will play until about 5:00-5:15 and then feed her supper. We play some more and then around 6:30 we start her bedtime routine. It includes going up to her room, changing her into her pajamas, reading, singing and praying.  Then I give her her last bottle of the day and lay her down around 7:00.  If it is bath night we will do it before heading up to her bedroom.  She has been getting her baths in the kitchen sink since our bathtub is not in working order yet.

After she goes to bed we fix/eat supper and then we split up the D's:  Diapers and Dishes.  One of us will take care of spraying out the dirty diapers from the day and one of us will wash the bottles and pump parts and put away dinner dishes.  Normally the diaper person gets done first and then helps the dish person :).  AFter that I might try and tidy up the house, vacuum, laundry, they typical house chores. My goal is by 9:00 be doing something I want to be doing such as working on the blog, uploading pictures, reading, watching a recorded episode of Big Brother or the Bachelor Pad or the Twins.  We normally have the game on throughout the evening though.   I pump one more time before bed and then it all starts again the next day.

Days I Stay Home: 
These days it is a little harder to have a set routine but they days are looking more and more similar. John gets up and leaves early before 7:00.  I will typically get Elsie, feed her a bottle, pump, and then we fall back to sleep for another hour cuddled up on my bed.  Then we get up around 8:00 and between 8-9:00 I will give her breakfast, normally rice cereal and fruit.  I used to do it after her morning nap but am now doing it before.  We will play a little and then I shower while she is in her excersaucer outside the bathroom door.  We will then get ready for her morning nap with reading some more stories, another bottle and some quiet rocking time.  She sleeps anywhere from 45 minutes to and 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Then she gets up and we have been trying to get over to the library for baby storytime around 11:00 on Wed.  Around 12: 30 we start her afternoon nap routine which includes a bottle, books, and songs.  She is typically down and asleep by 1:00.  I really try for an hour nap at least.  Some days it is 2 hours and other days not so much.  When she does wake up we typically run any errands we have to.  Our evening routine is the exact same as days I work.

Life Organization Week 2

Home: 
Last Week:  Well I didn't get this project finished.  I did get my photos ordered though so I guess I can't officially be finished until those arrive :)
This Week:  Finish the art block project.  I just need to find the time to paint them.  The rest should go pretty quick.


Health/Wellness:
Last Week:  Well I ddin't drink as much water as I should be but I did drink  more than normal.
This Week:  I am going to continue to focus on my water consumption again...Some days I do great, other I don't drink hardly any at all.  This needs to be consistent.


Finances:
Last Week: I got everything all printed off so this was completed!
This Week:  Now to sort through all my papers that need to be filed.


Just For Me:
Last Week:  Well I updated my list and I requested Catching Fire from the local library. No only did I request it but I finished it. To see my book list click on the link above.  I am currently reading Wild (Thanks Randi for the recommendation) and Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child, and MockingJay.  I normally don't read two books at once but I had to head right into MockingJay after finishing Catching Fire.
This Week:   Enjoy a glass of wine or two 


On the Move: 
Last Week:  I did not get my yoga DVD done.
This Week:  I gotta get doing Yoga so I am going to say the same goal as last week.  Do the DVD at least one time.


Family:  
Last Week:  I got Elsie's 7-Month photos taken and up on the blog
This Week:   A long time ago I started a photo book for Elsie.  I did one for her newborn/first month but I want to do one for her every year.  So my goal is to get done the first 3 months.


Random:  
Last Week:  Well this project definitely took most of my time this past week.  I spent four hours on it on Sunday night and that was only some of the work I did.  I am excited about it but can't show it yet on here.  Maybe in a week or so.
This Week:  I think I have a lot of my plate right now with the goals and to do listed already so I am just going to focus on those this week.


Overall this has kept me focused on things I want to do and I think the first week went well.  It is interesting because yesterday I visited one the blogs I read "Peaceful Mom" and she posted yesterday something very similar to what I am doing ha.  Well I got 4 out of 7 done and most of the bigger, more time consuming ones.   Onto a new week!

Elsie Marie - 7 Months

Well I know this is coming a bit late (She turned 7 months on July 14th) but we have had a busy couple of weeks!  Most of this text was written on or before the 14th, let me tell you things have changed already in just the past week!  I can't wait to share with you on that later.  Here is the official 7 Month post :)

This month flew by!  I seriously feel like I was just posting about 6 Months.  It has been a busy non-routine month for us.  With the trip to Idaho, a weekend visit to MN, and the Fourth of July in the mix I feel like the month has been a bit chaotic-but positive chaotic of that is possible.

So I don't have an official weight or the scale anymore but we did have her in to the Dr. last week (more on that later) and she was 16 lbs 8 oz.  In three weeks time she seriously gained over a pound-let's just say it is vacation weight ;).  No seriously though I feel like this is the fastest she put weight on.  I am guessing the transition to solids has something to do with it.  I think she just wears 6-9 months clothes now.  I think there are some 6M carters clothes she can fit in but not much anymore.  One of the things she outgrew that I wasn't expecting was her white sunhat.  I brought it with for her 6M pictures and it hardly fit on her head...let me take that back, I tried to put it on, she screamed and I couldn't figure out why.  After pictures I found out it is because it was so tight and didn't fit.  Poor girl.

I am not sure what is so exciting but she spent a lot of time looking up :)

So she has been on a whole month of solids now in addition to her bottles.  We are still trying to get into a good eating routine and get it figured out to get all this food in during the day.  I have to be careful when to feed her the solids so that she will still drink her milk and get enough of that in since that is still where she gets most of her nutrients from.  As of now she is eating brown rice cereal, sweet potatoes, apples (which she doesn't like), peas, carrots, pears, and bananas.  It seems like it is taking forever with the whole feed 4 times before trying something new rule.  I also didn't want to try anything new while on vacation.  She eats really well and I think she really loves the rice cereal.  She just devours that.  I am not yet sure but we are wondering if she had a bit of a reaction to the jarred bananas.  2 of the 3 times I fed it to her she got a little puffy by her eyes.  We haven't given her anymore for a couple of weeks but tomorrow we are going to try one more time with fresh bananas to just make sure.  So far we have just been doing jarred baby food.  I try to buy Earth's Best brand when I can.  I am hoping this next month I will find the time to make our own baby food since she is/will be eating more of a variety of food.  Up next to try though is Avocado.  As  for breastmilk/formula she is drinking anywhere between 20-28 oz a day.  Some days it is a struggle to get her drink that much, other days she just downs it.  I guess she knows what she wants right?  I am still pumping which means I made it a whole month past my goal!  Two weeks ago I started going down to three times a day.  So it is about 12-15 oz a day.  More on the 12 end of it.  So still about 50:50 ratioI will be surprised if I am still at it for Elsie's 8 Month post but we shall see.

For sleep, Elsie has been all over the place.  Some nights we lay her down around 7:30 and we don't hear from her again until 6:00 the next morning.  Other nights she is up quite a few times.  Maybe 2-3 times.  We have more good nights than bad and of course I make excuses for her during her bad nights. I would say in a weeks times it is 5 good nights and two bad. We have let her cry for about 5 minutes and when we do that we have a really hard time calming her down. I do think that the worst nights are nights after she doesn't drink milk well during the day.  When she wakes up and starts crying we find her up on all fours.  I am not sure why she is like that.  Silly girl.  She is still in our room.  I keep making excuses as to why I don't want to have her in her own room yet but I know I like to be close to her, to listen for her breathing, and to be right there if she wakes looking for her pacifier.  Soon, Soon.  We still bring her into bed some mornings around 5:00 am, especially if it has been a rough night.  Naps are a whole other thing.  We are still not in a good nap routine.  Which I know some babies don't nap for two hours at a time but maybe an hour would be good for her :). Some days she will sleep a lot and some days she hardly naps at all besides a small catnap here and there.   We will continue to work on this and I am sure soon it will just click right?  

She discovered her sticker on her shirt and couldn't leave it alone.  She ended up chewing on it.  Yuk!

Elsie is developing more likes and dislikes everyday.  She LOVES her little orange and green monkey thing that came with her infant tub.  I am not sure what about it is so interesting to her.  She loves being outside.  Earlier this week we were just sitting outside the two of us and she kept looking up into the sky and getting excited.  There were birds flying around up above and I can bet that is what was so entertaining.  She loves her V-tech hide and seek bunny that she got for Christmas but that I just brought out for her.  She loves her jumper and she loves her daddy.  We are still in the phase where she gets upset if I leave the room for a minute but I think she is getting better at entertaining herself now.  She is getting so close to crawling up on all fours full time but she is mostly scooting around and army crawling.  She crawl a few steps, stop, and then drop down to an army crawl.  She is definitely moving though! Oh and she also loves climbing up onto the laundry basket, looking at what is inside it and then pulling each and everything out of it! 


This month has been a big month for our little Elsie Monster.  She has been all the way to Idaho and back, celebrated some birthdays, went golfing for the first time, went to her first storytime at the local library, and had another new friend born into this world-Finley Carlson!  We have also been to the local pool and the pool and Grandma and Grandpa Fenstra's and she loves it!!  

                      

After she sucked on her sticker I had to take it off so I threw on another shirt and took some more pictures. She loves being outside!  

Our little naturalist in the making! 

Testing out the PFD

This spring I bought Elsie an infant life jacket (PFD) to wear when we go out on boats this summer.  One of the things the recommend is to try them out in a controlled body of water like a pool before taking them out on a lake.  Well I forgot to bring it with us last time we went up to MN so I had to find a pool to use here which was no problem since JoLene (who watches Elsie while I go to work) has a pool.  Well we tried it out this afternoon and it definitely does the job.  It keeps her floating face up the entire time.  She did so good in the water and I think she really likes it (even after JoLene dunked her under water, with my permission of course) :) It was fun to watch her in the water.  

Life Organization

I don't know about you but it always seems like I am trying to set goals in my head and am thinking of things I want to change or do to make my life a little bit more organized.  I set goals or make to-dos but then I don't follow through,  or don't write them down.  Or I see an idea on Pinterest, Facebook, for another blog that interests me or gets me thinking but then those ideas just pile up in my mind and I forget about them.  So I decided to try to get those thoughts into some sort of system.  I am going to set a few categories of areas I want to work on and then each week set one goal/task that I want to accomplish in that area.  If I can focus on those things than maybe everything won't get lost in my mind :) So this will be the first week.  Maybe I will try to make this a Tuesday thing who knows.  This will be a work in progress I am sure

Home: This will focus on projects or tasks I want to get done around the house.
I am working on a project I found on Pinterest for a wall in our dining room.  I am hoping to get this done very soon. You can see my inspiration here:  Photo Art Blocks.  Of course we are in the middle of a bathroom remodel but that is too big of a project to put here.

Health/Wellness: 
Drink More Water!!! Seriously I am not sure why this is so difficult for me.  I do good some days and other days not so much.  For the next 7 days I am going to focus on my water consumption.

Finances: 
I really need to take some time and set up a new budget and re-evaluate our expenses but with the other projects going on I am not sure I have the time to devote to this this week so my goal will be to go through all my cancelled checks from our bank and print off ones that we will need for tax purposes in the fall and gather all information from our medical bills (with Elsie's delivery and John's appendix surgery we have more than normal).


Just For Me:  This is funny because really, aren't all of these for me?
Create a to-read list.  I have not updated my list of books I want to read in so long.  And then request at least two books from the library.


On the Move:  This area will focus on exercise. I bought a new Yoga DVD.  I haven't done yoga since before I got pregnant with Elsie. My goal in the next week is to do this video just once.

Family:  This area can be about either John or Elsie or anyone in our families- I am sure these will mostly be Elsie related though :)
I need to get Elsie's 7 Month pics taken.  Maybe tomorrow-I think it won't be quite so sunny.

Random:  This area can be anything I want to get done.
This week I need to get done a special project that I am working on.  I can't post it here but I can't wait to get it done...it is a gift for someone :)  I will post more about it when it is all finished.  This will take up most of my time this week.


Well wish me luck!!!

Weekend in Minnesota

Last weekend we traveled up to Minnesota to visit family and to celebrate our niece Allie's 4th Birthday.  It was a wonderful weekend! We got to see both of my Grandmas and also got to see my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Stub-family who live in Florida but come up to MN for the summer.  It was nice to chat with them and catch up a little bit.  We also made a couple of stops at the outlet mall.  I found some really good deals at the Children's Place outlet.  I hardly ever go there but I had a 20% coupon and found some long sleeve t-shirts there priced at $.99!!  What a steal!


 Allie's Birthday
Our niece Allie turned four years old and we celebrated at my sister's house.  It was quite the party with at least 40 people in attendance.  Allie chose "Tangled" for the theme this year.  She loves her Disney Characters.  I believe last year was Tinker Bell.  We had delicious food, yummy cake, and Allie got quite the number of birthday presents.

Opening her many presents surrounded by her friends.

Elsie checking out all the present Allie received.  

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

This is what we got Allie-a ErgoBaby Doll Carrier.  Now her and I can match

when I carry Elsie.  I guess it was a hit as one of the other moms asked where I got it.  

Her daughter's birthday was coming up and she really wanted one.  

Playing in the backyard after the party.

Elsie hanging out on the blanket...it is hard to keep her on it these days.  

 Swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's Pool
My parents have this wonderful pool that as a child spent many summer days in.  We would throw golf balls in, they would sink and we would dive in and see how many we could get at one time.  We would jump off the diving board, float on inflatable whales and alligators and lounge on the side of the pool soaking up the sun.  I can not wait for my children to be able to have some of these memories too so I was really excited to have an afternoon of relaxation at my parents house.  While Elsie took her afternoon napped I floated on the water reading some magazines and then when Elsie woke up we got her in the water for the first time. We played in the kiddie pool in our backyard but Elsie had not been in a big pool or lake yet and we were very excited to see how she responded.  Well she loved it!!!  She didn't get into the splashing much until the end but I think she really enjoyed being in the water.  I really wanted to dunk her under the water but John and my parents wouldn't let me.  They didn't want me to traumatize her :).  Which I had asked the pediatrician at our last visit and he said that she could go under water.  

 Getting ready to go in...gotta wear the suncreen

Getting used to the water...the water temp was almost 90 degrees so there 

really wasn't much getting used to.  

We had a little floating thing she could sit in and really seemed to

enjoy it.  I loved that there was a shade canopy on it.  

Playing games with Grandpa

Having fun splashing around!

Whoa!  

We had such a wonderful, relaxing weekend!!!  I loved weekends like that spent with family and friends.  

Fourth of July 2012

We had a wonderful Fourth of July this year.  It was a little warm but it was still a nice day.  In the morning we did a little shopping for our bathroom remodel and then took it easy until we went over to Dale and Bev's for an evening BBQ.  Most of John's extended family was there including his Grandma who came from NW Iowa and his cousin Jenny and her family from Ohio.  

Elsie got this cute little dress from Grandma Bev.  This past weekend I had it in my hands at Kohl but put it back knowing that I had a dress I picked up at a garage sale for the holiday.  I was really proud of myself for putting it back even though I REALLY liked it.  Well a couple days later Bev went shopping and came back with this dress.  She had no idea how much I wanted it either.  

Elsie just loved playing with the little flag. 

  

And of course she wanted to put it in her mouth like everything else. 

I, of course had to buy a little diaper for the day so I bought this fitted diaper from Orange Diaper Company.  I love the red and white stripes and the snaps on it (which you can't really see) are blue stars.  And oh my goodness the materials were sooooo soft.  The inner is organic bamboo velour!

All of the kiddos!  

Back Row:  Olivia, Katelyn, Emma-All 5 years old

Front Row:  Elsie-6 Months, Tommy-Just turned one year, Danny-7 Months

Cousins

Elsie with Grandma Ev

So I am not a huge fireworks person.  I don't really care if I see them or not.  Well every year our town has them (I have never gone to watch them).  This year was no different.  We came home, transferred Elsie to her bed, and then John took off with Cinder to drive around because the fireworks really scare Cinder and instead of giving her a sedative, we just remove her from the situation.  The fireworks are shot off two blocks from our backyard so they are really close.  When I heard them start I decided to outside in our backyard and see how well we could see them.  We have a couple of trees in our backyard which I though would obstruct them but I was wrong.  So I grabbed my camera and played around with shutter speed.  I have so much to learn about taking good photos haha but this is what I got.  I think we have a pretty good view from our back steps.