Playing Catch-Up!

Last weekend the mister and I had a MAJOR clean out of our house.  We have been talking about doing this for a LONG time, and I was hoping we would have it done by the end of February.  The first time we really had a chance to really get it done was last weekend...yes, the last weekend of February!

We knew we wouldn't really get the job done right with Little Man around, so we took him to the in-laws on Thursday night.  He would stay there until we came for him on Saturday evening!  I was in agony knowing that I was leaving my baby for two whole nights, and I was going to be at home!  His crib would be empty.  It would have been somewhat easier if we were going away on a fun vacation, but it was so hard just being at home cleaning out!  I had to take some pictures of him before we left him, and the mister had to take pictures of me practically crying as we were pulling out of his parents' driveway!

(Btw, I had just worked out before these pictures were taken!)

When we did walk in our door, the mister said, "Hey! At least we can be really loud!" and he went directly to a really creaky spot in our floor and walked over it a few times.  I screamed really loud, and said, "I would rather him be here then to be able to scream!"

We got an early start to cleaning out on Friday morning.  We literally went room by room, and completely cleaned out every nook and cranny.  No drawer left unopened, no space left untouched.  We wanted everything out that didn't have a purpose!  It was a tedious process, but we finished the whole downstairs after working from 7 in the morning until 11 that night.  We did take a break for meals, and a quick walk for me, but other than that it was full on clean out mode!

The next day, we tackled our FROG (Finished Room Over Garage).  I posted about it here.  So that's the before picture, and I will post the after picture after our big yard sale on Saturday.  We were so happy to go through everything, including our attic space and declutter our lives!  I now have space to set up a nice "Mama's Messages" work area upstairs!  I am currently thinking about how I want to arrange everything.  I really want to paint the room now, but that's probably too much to ask!  

We are having a yard sale this Saturday, and I really hope me make some money to buy organizational items and some bins for my work space!  We are hoping to sell a TV, bed, loveseat, chair and half with ottoman, Elliptical, the mister's guitar, lots and lots of clothes, shoes, some jewelry, and more!

In the midst of cleaning, we did find lots of hand-me-down neighbor baby clothes that we had boxed away because they were too big at the time, and now Little Man a new wardrobe!!  Some of our neighbors gave us Polo shirts in practically every color, and another neighbor gave us this cute elephant sweater vest! Score!

(This pic was taken in our closet, so you can see some of the organization!  Looks much neater than it did before!)

We actually finished a little earlier than we thought on Saturday (about an hour), and we met my in-laws for dinner to pick up Little Man.  It was SO wonderful to see him!! I know he had a great time with his Papa and Bippie, but the next time we do that, it better be because we are having a romantic getaway!

Happy Thursday Y'all!

Cleaning up and cleaning out!

Last night I started my cleaning out process.  Awhile back I wrote about wanting to rid our house of all the things that are just sitting there!  I went through 4 of my bedroom drawers last night and got rid of over 50 clothing items...mainly t-shirts and workout gear.  (I kept 37 t-shirts by the way!)  Crazy!  But it feels good to start the process.  I actually wear t-shirts a lot! I wear them to work out in, to sleep in, and to lounge around the house...so I go through them pretty quick.  I only kept the ones I actually wear and 2 that I just couldn't throw out even though I don't wear them.  Many of the shirts had memories, but we are only in this world for a little while, and I don't need to linger over and clutter up my house over t-shirts with memories! 

Stuff I'm getting rid of:

T-shirt Drawer for Keeps:

(yes, this is how it always looks-thanks to my older sister for teaching me how to fold them!)

Today, my plan is to clean out my closet!  I am getting rid of stuff that I haven't worn in awhile and stuff that I know I won't wear again.  I will probably try to sell the nicer items on E-bay or maybe a blog sale, and the other items will go to Goodwill!  I am also going to try to clean out the drawers in the spare bedroom... I know I have at least two more drawers full of t-shirts in there, along with winter sweaters and most of the summer clothes I couldn't fit into last year because I was pregnant!

My other plans are to dust and vaccuum the whole house!

If I get all this done, it will be a miracle!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Thankful Thursday: Healthy Baby and Update on Cleaning!

Baby W had his 9 month check up yesterday... yes, two 1/2 weeks late!

Weight: 21 pounds, 6 ounces

Height: 29 1/4 inches long

He is in the 50-75th percentile for weight and height.

Head:  19 inches around!!

His head is in the 98th percentile.  Yes, I'm just going to go ahead and say that my big-headed baby will be very smart...right?  :)

One of my concerns at the appointment was this rash Baby W always seems to have around his mouth.  I know it's from drooling, and I try to keep him wiped off, but the rash won't go away.  The pediatrician suggested Aquaphor...any other suggestions?

I am so thankful to have a happy, healthy baby!

At the mall trying to keep out of this heat!

Driving the car

He has started doing some new things lately:

• He loves to clap!  He started doing this in the church nursery last week.
• He has started waving at people and cars going by.  He waves with a close-handed fist.
• I put him laying down in his crib a couple of days ago, and a few minutes later heard the mobile music.  I went in to find him standing on the side of the crib with two of the animals pulled off of the mobile!

• He has also begun standing up in the pack-n-play (which is a little bit tougher!)
• He is trying to pull up on everything, yet still not crawling!
• He babbles dadada, bababa, and we've heard a few wawawa's.  He used to say mamama, but haven't heard it in awhile :(
• He still will go to almost anyone he sees, and he likes to stare really close to your face. If you talk to him, he might grab your lips!
• He has been eating carrots lately, and we are moving on to squash today.
• He has been sleeping great, but may have a few night terrors occasionally.  He normally falls asleep around 7 or 7:30 and sleeps until 5:30 or 6:30 for a bottle.  He then goes back to sleep until 8 or 8:30.
• He loves to growl at people (especially my side of the family) and still squeals a lot as well.

On another note, I have actually enjoyed cleaning over the past few days!  When I get to a room and get it done, it feels great.  I just need to get to a quicker pace and doing it on a more regular basis.  My husband's parents, sister-in-law, her husband, and their 7 month old son are coming to stay with us tomorrow night for a barbecue cook-off that my husband's dad is entering.  He won first place last year in the Hash competition (if you don't know what hash is, I will inform you in another post!)  We are hoping for another trophy this year!   Needless to say, I want the house to be extremely clean for them, so I will be cleaning more today!  My husband's glad I'm finally learning how to be a housewife! :)

Happy Thursday!

fitness friday: cleaning

Now that I am a stay-at-home mama, I have lots to learn.  I have to admit that growing up, I never learned how to cook or clean.  I did have to make up my bed and keep my room clean, but we had a cleaning service for all of the "real" cleaning.  We also had a lady that would come over and do the laundry and iron our clothes.  My mom did do all of the cooking, but it was just the basic stuff, so I left the house knowing how to make tacos from a kit and Kraft mac and cheese.  I am embarrassed writing all of this down (and when my Mama reads it she is probably not going to be too happy with me--I love you Mama!!)

How do I use these?!

Well, the man I married is an absolute clean freak.  He likes for things to be spotless all of the time (even with an 8 1/2 month old son).  We first lived in an apartment together in Dallas, TX right after we got married.  It was easy to keep clean and I could vacuum and all that good stuff.  When we moved to SC and bought our first home, we were both working, and I convinced him that we needed to allow a cleaning lady to come every once in awhile because we were both so busy.  That happened occasionally, but normally my husband ended up cleaning whenever he thought the house needed it.  (He honestly thinks it needs a deep clean when the house looks spotless to me!)

Sorry hubby!

Well, this week is my first week as a housewife.  So I have a lot to learn.  We spent today (his day off) cleaning the house together.  I dusted, vacuumed, mopped, and cleaned a bathroom. When I finished, I told my husband that I was going to blog about it because it was something I had never really done before (especially cleaning a toilet!)  I felt proud at the end of the day because I had gotten a work out-especially with the mopping--and the house did look a lot better. 

 7 months pregnant here...and that poster describes me perfectly :)

That's how I'm tying cleaning in to my fitness friday.  But I have also gone to the gym at 6:00 every morning this week and taken a step class, and interval class, and a cardio fusion class!  I go work out and get ready for the day before husband and Baby W are even up :)  

I'll get there one day!

I'm now ready for all of the "wow, you have never cleaned before!" comments.  I will brace myself.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

My "old" motto