pieces of my brain

Here's some randomness I need to get out of my head....some boring ramblings but I figured I better post something on this thing.

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Soooooo um yeah. I have like ten awesome (haha) blog posts half written. Anyone else like that? I really need to finish some of them.

I'm excited about a series on bfing I'll be blogging about. I think it will break down into maybe five separate posts.

I know. I know. That's a lot. But after nursing two babies and having dramatically different experiences- there is a lot to share! And I have a few preg friends who have asked which is why I wanted to do the posts. Plus I'm also a working momma so there is a lot about pumping at work that I've learned. There is SO MUCH that I wish I knew before my first nursing experience and if I can help someone else be more prepared than I definitely want to!

I'm wordy- obviously. And I know people don't have an hour to just sit and read a blog post (because even with my lack of comments- people do read this. promise. Er at least I think- anyone?). So I'm trying to figure out how to break down the bfing posts so it's not so long and yet keep the "meat" of the post intact. Or "milk" if you will. Ha. Haha.

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You mothers about to have two kids? Things are so different with the second one. You will love them a ton- but they will never get the life that your first had when they were an only child.

For instance. Reading before bedtime. I always used to read to Nathan before bed- sometimes even after he fell asleep on me.

Luke? I've read to him three times. EVER! And he's going on one! And one of those times included last night.

With Nathan we had this whole bedtime routine (bath, book, song, prayer, bed) With Luke? Bath, nurse, bed. I walk in his room, lay him in the crib and walk out. That's it. That's all I have time for in the chaos of preparing for the next day and getting food and bottles ready for daycare.

And usually one of the reasons I never read to him is because I'm usually like "oh no- it's 9:00- you need to be in bed!!!" and off to bed he goes while I feel bad that my baby isn't getting more sleep.

But last night I did sit and read to him. And it was one of the sweetest moments I've shared with him. He giggled. He looked at every page of that book and giggled. The sweetest sleepy giggle I have ever heard. It brought tears to my eyes and I told myself I HAVE to read to him more.

Plus I've heard stuff like that is good for their brains or something.

;)

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There are days I enjoy doing cloth diapering and days I sometimes wish we weren't. But for the most part I enjoy it and love all the money we are saving. Plus I had no idea that there are so many chemicals in disposable diapers. But then again there are chemicals in everything these days!

I thank my friend Amy for talking me into cloth diapering. And she did have to talk me into it because at first it wasn't even something I would consider- but now I'm glad we chose to. And if God chooses to bless us with another child someday they'll have free diapering too!

This all leads to a very important package that was delivered in the mail the other day.

A diaper sprayer.

"What the what?" you say?

It's basically like the sprayer you have attached to your kitchen sink. Except this is attached to the back of your toilet and clean water can be sprayed out.

It's for "cleaning off" the cloth diapers before you throw them in the container to later be washed. I don't know how I survived 10 months of cloth diapering without this thing. I kept holding out because they are expensive but now that I have one it was definitely worth it.

And an added bonus is the sprayer reaches the shower. So the day Marcus hooked it up I also cleaned my shower which took half the time with the sprayer's help. I think that was the first time I enjoyed cleaning the shower.

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Speaking of cleaning. I'm attempting a new cleaning method. A way of keeping track of what needs cleaned when- especially the things that need to be done once a month or every few months. It's a system of notecards and dividers. My goal is to spread out the chores in a way that nothing gets too terribly behind (it's been 3 yrs since I've cleaned the curtains in the kitchen- 3 years! I fear what I will find when I take them down!) Also- things are easier to clean the more you do it.

So far- so good. Although I'm known for getting super excited about organizing something or a new system to implement and sometimes they don't stick. So we'll see!

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Speaking of super excited. The other night I sat down to watch tv and pair all of the unpaired socks for every member in this family. I seriously was so excited. Not kidding. I ended up with maybe 30 pairs of socks for everyone and a bag of about 15 socks that never ever get paired but yet I can't bring myself to get rid of them because what if...?

How weird does this make me? A lot?

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For 3 years we have lived in our house. I think I'm slowly getting the anterior the way I want it. There are still things like light fixtures that I would like to trade out. And a new couch since our dog's claws have destroyed some of the sewed in cushions leaving me to have a blanket constantly on one side of the couch. But for the most part I hope I've made it quite homey.

But the outside of the house? We have a long way to go.

As of right now there is no landscaping. We ripped up the horrible landscaping that came with the house and killed the weeds that had over taken it. However my cousin is helping us with it and he has been understandably busy so for months we've had what I like to call a "dead rustic" theme in the front yard.

In the back yard we have an itty bitty concrete patio that we never use and have never got patio furniture for it. But the other night I took the dog out and thought how nice it would feel to sit out there in the cooler evening.

The next day at Meijer I saw a cute little patio table for $25! It's 40inches across with a steal frame and tempered glass. Marcus agreed it was a good deal so the following day we went back and got it. We didn't get chairs yet because we're looking for a good deal but I can't wait to set up a little sitting area and use our outdoor space more. Hopefully in a year or so we can get a fence so I don't have to worry about the boys running too far off or into the ditch at the back of our property.

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I hope everyone has a great fourth of July. Please be safe if you choose to do personal fireworks if you are not in an area banned from it. We lost our house to a fire when I was a little girl and I don't wish it on anyone. My heart goes out to those affected in Colorado. God is bigger than any force of nature but I know at the time losing all you own can be so devastating that it's hard to see past it. So please be safe and either choose not to do fireworks or go see them somewhere publicly where they have firemen present.

Happy 4th!