One Spot Down, millions to go?

This morning I cleared my first clutter spot! (Imagine me doing a little happy-Rachel-dance at my computer.) The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, right? For now, I will just be showing pics of the individual spots. Sorry that I can't show you a wide angle, but like I said, my house needs a lot of improvement in the area of tidying up. Hopefully, as I make progress I can show some more wide angles shots. :)

I started with this little spot by the couch. It has been cluttered since last Christmas. I hid all of my Christmas stuff there so I didn't have to go back and forth from the guest bedroom to retrieve everything for wrapping/Christmas cards, etc. Then I never cleaned up...

But I did today! Here it is before.




On top of everything was this bag of bags. I received so many gift bags from when Melody was born they wouldn't fit into the drawer I usually keep extra gift bags in. I thought I might use them, so I saved. them. all.



So step #1. Separated bags into piles. Ones I like (to keep). Ones I don't (to give away). Ones not fit to be re-used (throw away). Is this sounding like a mini-episode of Clean Sweep yet?



Underneath all the bags in the big bag were other miscellaneous items. Namely craft supplies and Christmas supplies. Step 2. I made two piles and kept like items together.




Then I returned to my corner. Underneath the big bag o' bags, it still looked like this.


Interlude: Melody found the box of crayons in my crate of stuff-to-do-with-kiddos-I-babysit. Luckily, she didn't try to eat them or color anything. (I haven't actually exposed her to crayons officially yet.)




Back to clutter clearing. Step 3. I put all the Christmas items in an extra gift bag . This is the the pile of gift bags I am keeping. They definitely fit into my drawer of gift bags and tissue paper now. I put the bag o' Christmas items in the guest room closet where the rest of the Christmas paper lives.


Step # 4- Put things away. After throwing many items away (including all the colored Dora pictures from months ago that you can see behind the couch), here is the finished corner next to the couch.


One last before and after:



So there it is folks. One clutter spot down, who knows how many there are left to go? That little crate could probably be cleaned out, but I consider that it's own clutter spot. See you next week for another one!

The little one is needing my attention now, so Happy Tuesday!

Love, Rachel

My Current Project

I've asked before if you struggle with cleaning the way I do. Some people really have a tough time with this, others don't. I am a person who really struggles with daily maintenance around the house. Big spurts of energy are what I use to tackle the mess in my life, followed by long lulls of inactivity.

I often visit a website run by the "Fly Lady". Her advice to start changing your chaotic home is to begin with baby steps. Fly Lady recommends working on adding the same habit for 28 days. It only takes 21 days to establish a new habit, but for distracted people (like me) it takes 28. An example of small routines to begin with could be trying to do three things in the morning and three things in the evening. These are things you do every day to begin to keep up with the maintenance in your home. (And the chaos gradually lessens.)

Even this though, seems too much for me. In the morning, I am not awake. In the evening, I lack motivation to do work around the house when I have spent all day running after a 16 month old (and/or other children), trouble shooting fussiness issues (is Melody sleepy? hungry? is it reflux?) and trying to work in time for me to get a few things done for my business or errands run for the family.

So a week ago, I decided to tackle 4 things every day for 28 days. Instead of focusing on trying to do these things the same time every day, I am just trying to do them every day no matter when it is. (My mind rebels against the idea that I "have" to do something every day. I am a rebel at heart. Not proud of it, but in this case, I am trying to work with that part of myself so I don't wind up hating my efforts.)

Here are my four have-to-do-them-every-day tasks:
1. A load of laundry from start to finish. Wash, dry, fold, put away
2. Shower. You would be amazed how you have to remind yourself to do this when you are just by yourself at home with a baby... or pre-toddler :)
3. My choice of any chore around the house. This takes away the excuse that I don't feel like doing anything, since it means I can do any one thing that blesses my house. ANYTHING is progress at this point.
4. Prepare for tomorrow, tonight! This makes me look at my calendar ahead of time and get ready for my day, so hopefully I can be more on time to things and more prepared for life in general.

In addition to this, I am also challenging myself to de-clutter one spot (doesn't have to be big, just a cluttered spot) around my house each week. If you do the math, one spot a week = 52 clutter spots in a year. I wonder if I have 52 cluttered spots in my home? Or if at some point I will hit them all? Here on the blog, I am creating a page where you can follow my progress as I declutter my home. As I go along, I will be sure to add before and after pictures of the places I choose to declutter.

I will also share an update post about how I am doing forming the habit of doing laundry, showering, cleaning something and preparing for the next day the night before in a few days.

This weakness of mine (leaving things messy) is something I have disliked about myself for, well... forever. Do you have something that you are dissatisfied with yourself about? Something that is completely fixable with a little effort? Is it time for you to do something about it? Or are you happy with the status quo?

Love,
Rachel

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

How I want to feel today

Joyful.
Thankful.
Energetic.
Focused.
Productive.
Happy.
Loving.
Loved.
Settled.
Clear.
Smart.
Like Singing.
All. Day. Long.

Rough Days

We have all had days go wrong. Days where nothing seems to go as planned and you can't seem to get anything on your to do list finished. How many of us have had days in a row like this? Or weeks?

That's how I feel right now. That even though I have had weeks off from nanny-ing, I haven't been able to accomplish much at all. One thing after another seems to happen to throw off achieving a sense of "normal". Visits from grandparents and going to visit the other grandparents was fun, but traveling is always tiring. Melody discovered how to throw HUGE fits (I would almost call them temper tantrums.) Stay-cation with Daddy at home was awesome, but again- not the usual routine. Melody wound up sick with a cold/ear infection, then we discovered she was allergic to amoxycillin. Then we had 16 month check up and shots that made her feel bad. Add to that a UTI on my part, then add to that an allergy to sulpha drugs. That is our July.

The last two days I thought, "This week we will get to relax. The last week of July at least can be more normal." Well... not quite. Because of all the "disruptions" in our normal life, Melody has gotten away with everything from not napping, to napping twice in one day, to having Mommy rock her to sleep. Then yesterday and today she has only had 45 minute naps (not nearly long enough for mommy!) and today she boycotted falling asleep in the first place. Crying for 45 minutes before she decided to sleep. Then of course, the lack of napping leads to lots of crankiness and fit throwing.

Here is where I fall short. When Melody goes nuts, I tend to go nuts with her. When she cries to get her way, I want to cry too. I think I take the ups and downs as a mother a little personally, feeling responsible when she does well and when she does something like throw herself on the ground screaming and pounding the floor with her fists because I took a toy away from her.

So I am taking a moment to take a deep breath right now. Melody is happily playing behind me. She found a napkin and is proceeding to scrub the floor, a box, anything around her actually. (I am sort of inspired by how much joy she seems to find in 'cleaning'- haha!) Our day is not ruined from a rough early afternoon and there is strength and peace available to me if I will reach out for it.

What do you do to take control of your emotions on a crazy day?

Lord, help me have the maturity to move on from the rough few days we have had and embrace a new start. "The old has gone, the new has come. " Lord, renew me. Make my spirit strong and help me have a sense of humor when things get a little crazy. I receive your grace in my own shortcomings. Thank you for never leaving me, even when I want to pull my hair out.

Personal Triumph!

This morning before I got in the shower, I decided to step on a scale. Besides not eating sugary treats, I haven't done much else to be trying to lose weight, but I also hadn't weighed myself in awhile. I actually thought I might be gaining a little back after losing so much before. (Remember when I lost 9 lbs here?) Imagine my surprise when I stepped on the scale and saw that I am only 4lbs away from my pre-pregnancy weight! That means I have lost 12 lbs since cutting out sugary treats. Oh sugar, how I DO NOT miss you! :)

I know Melody is 16 months now and I am still working on losing this weight, but the exciting thing is that I know I can do it. I know that I can lose 4 lbs. 4 lbs is nothing! I can walk once a week and lose 4 lbs! I'm just going to repeat it over and over to myself now in desbelief- only 4 lbs left! only 4lbs left!

Big smiles from me today:-D
Love,
Rachel

Putting our Heads Together

I don't know if you have noticed, but I have been adding more blogs to "my favorite blogs" list on the side bar. This week I have been reading a lot over on Chronicles of a Babywise Mom where she hosted a "Reader Blog Day". Basically, this means that readers got to post their own blogs and do a little self promotion!

I found a couple of new blogs this way, from moms who are much more organized than I am. For awhile now when I have been reading blogs, I often walk (click?) away feeling a little bit like I am not talented. All of these things people do (like YHL and Katie Bower) is awesome, but I am just not as handy. Then as I stumbled across a new-to-me organizing blog, I started to realize how thankful I am that there are people out there in the world using their strengths to help others- particularly the likes of me- so I can learn new things and be a better wife/mom to my family.

I am so thankful that Valerie Plowman is out there helping me focus on raising my daughter in a God-honoring way and that Katie Bower is out there keeping it real, reminding me to stop pretending everything is okay all the time and just be myself. I am also thankful for Mom Life Today and Moms of Faith who help me focus on Christ in the middle of my days.

What an awesome realization to see that each person with their own expertise, when offered to others freely, makes us all stronger and better at what we do! I am reminded to take the time to see the uniqueness in others so that when we come together we are truly completing the body of Christ, working as a family to fulfill God's purposes in our lives.

Loving sharing with you,
Rachel

The Sneaky Chef

If you have talked to me for very long about Melody, you may have heard me mention that my sweet little girl does not like fruit. I don't think I have ever seen a child turn up her nose at bananas the way she does! She loves vegetables (especially if they are in some kind of soup or sauce) but the texture of fruit makes her spit it out every time. Up till now I have been feeding her jars of baby food to make sure she gets some apples, bananas and berries in her (they are so good for you!), but recently she has been a little finicky about whether she will eat baby food. I feel like the clock is starting to tick on how much longer she will eat food that I have to spoon feed to her, so I have to figure out how to get this baby to eat some fruit!

One of my favorite books that my friend Suzie used to cook recipes from is "the Sneaky Chef". I don't have the book, but the whole concept is that you hide good-for-you-foods into the foods your child likes to eat. Here is where I had a proud moment of creativity yesterday. Melody LOVES cheese. Like she would eat nothing but cheese all day long. So I decided to cut up part of an apple into little minced pieces and put it in a grilled cheese sandwich- it worked! Meldoy finally got some apple into her that wasn't pureed! (I tried a bite of the sandwich and you couldn't taste the apple at all). I have to say I was proud of myself and started thinking about how I could add fruits into other foods (banana pankcakes anyone?). Any (easy) suggestions? :)

So who's dying to see more pics of Melody? :) Here are some of our summer highlights.


playing in the sprinklers with daddy

playing with spices in the cabinet








at the doctor's office for our first ear infection :(


















My favorite summer outfit on Melody so far!


Celebrating Daddy's 28th Birthday at Chipotle!



What have you been doing this summer? How do you put good- for- you- foods into your baby's diet? Does your child get ear infections?

Miss you all!

Love, Rachel