Oh so Organized?

Well. I'm organized for now. Ha. I took Claire to pick out bins this morning. She wanted to climb in them...

I needed some different sized toy bins for toy organization. I had gone almost a whole year or maybe a tad longer before I got 2 large clear rubbermaid bins for Claire's toys. I just keep the lids in the closet so they are like toy boxes.

But...all the little toys would fall to the bottom and get "lost"---and she would only play with the toys on top! So then about last year at this time I got about 5 small baskets for toys, but they are really too tiny.

So today I got some smallish to mid-sized bins to organize toys. So now there is a bin for her Barbies, a bin for baby-ish toys like teethers/rattles (got to keep this out for littler friends!), a bin for things with wheels (and here I thought she had a lot of girly stuff!), a bin for random little "crap" toys/figurines, etc, and finally, a bin for blocks. I put one of the big bins in the closet to rotate the bigger stuffed toys/dolls. Her wagon is actually empty instead of full of toys, so she can play in it, which she did tonight, which kept her nicely away from the toys I was trying to sort.

The upstairs always seems more organized for some reason. It's mostly just books and stuffed animals/dolls in her "playroom." Plus, I think we spend a lot more time downstairs.

Now...I wonder how long this will last....ha! Actually, I'm trying to get into an evening routine of picking up. She thinks it's still fun at this age. Of course she gets easily distracted, but I think it will be easier if she knows Barbie stuff goes in the Barbie bin, etc.

She is pretty good about keeping her toy food stuff by her toy kitchen and her books on her book shelves. She knows her shoes go by the back door and her pens/pencils/papers go in her little desk. Yeah...I found a little plastic desk at a yard sale when she was like 11 months old! They were nearing the end of their day, and basically gave me anything I touched for 20 bucks TOTAL!!! It's the same garage sale I got her bike seat at.

I saw the exact same desk at Big Lots around Christmas for $30 so I was excited that it's a "new" desk, that's still being sold. It even has a little drawer in it and shelves on the side. The top is angled with pockets and places to put stuff. I decided to just let her keep her "own" paper, pens, and pencils in it since she LOVES that stuff and wants to play with it everyday. And knock on wood, she has never drawn on a wall or anywhere she shouldn't...knock on wood that she won't do this tomorrow just because I said she hadn't yet. Way to screw myself! :)

I actually got her craft stuff organized too. I re-purposed a 6-drawered mid-sized caddy thing that I've had forever. So she has all her crafty fun stuff there, which I stashed in the cupboard under the microwave. I couldn't do messy crafts anywhere but at the kitchen table. She's still pretty messy with the paint/glue.

We've also started leaving the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs down because she doesn't play on the stairs or anything anymore. She would the first several times because of the whole novelty of the thing...but I'm still a little leery to leave the top one down. I know that most home accidents are on the stairs. Kids fall mostly from stairs, highchairs, and changing tables, right? Hmm...so maybe I should leave the bottom one up?

I have to keep the top gate up though because otherwise she would have no boundary and be free to roam the upstairs, and that's just too far away in this house!

So I'm feeling a little bit organized, but not nearly as much as I'd like to be. I feel like there is still a lot that I need to do soon AKA...before baby boo two arrives. I guess picking out a name would be another good thing to do...ack. We are so not going to decide on this until like, um, he's born! Yeah, it sometimes feels like when you start organizing, that you just realize how much more stuff there is to organize.

My Exciting Nesting!

It's Saturday night...actually technically Sunday morning...12:30...and I'm still up. I didn't watch the Colts game...nope...I folded 6 baskets of laundry and put them away. FUN! THEN...I scrubbed three bathrooms. I have to scrub the toilets after Claire's asleep, or she wants to get her little face in there and look really close. They she'll ask funny questions like, "Why you brushing the toilet? Why the toilet dirty? I brush it too???" In other SUPER exciting homemaker news, I have folded and put away all the Christmas towels and linens too...it's fun to decorate and enjoy the stuff up, but not so fun to put it all away!!! I also got all the de-thawed lights put away. Christmas is officially over in our house. :(

In other nesting news, I cleaned out all our medicine/toiletries areas of the house because...well...honestly it was something to do in order to not get around to folding 6 baskets of laundry, and I'd already played too much today...(Can one possibly play with ones kids too much?) Actually, I saw this blog post at Pretty Babies and decided to see what I had expired floating around.

I was doing pretty good in the kitchen cabinet where we keep a few things. I trashed some mouthwash and deodorant guests had left in the guest bathroom that had expired. I thought I was doing pretty good. I went through the shelf above the changing table area and trashed some nipple cream that expired last month...not too bad. But definitely wouldn't want to use that since it might be ingested. Through out some expired samples of butt cream...why do they give those things out?

SO this is the part of blogging that is fun to read about...at least for me. I've read about other people nesting and cleaning, and I think it's great. It's very inspiring to get my own butt in gear to do some cleaning!!!

Moving to Claire's bathroom, I just trashed some rubbing alcohol that expired June 2009, so that stuff must be good about 2 years because it was for her belly button...I was still doing pretty good! THEN...I moved to the master bath and found LOTS to trash...LOTS AND LOTS! There were a lot of contact solutions, mostly various samples from cough, ahem, Josh. Trashed lots of decongestant and cold remedies stuff, another bottle of rubbing alcohol...most of it expired within the past 2 years. I was actually surprised that I found as much as I did since I am really anal about watching food dates. I figured I wouldn't find anything before 2005 since that is when we moved here. Some people might think it's fine to use that stuff that expired because it's just less potent, but um...that's nasty and disgusting in my opinion because if it EXPIRED 2 years ago or whatever...WHEN WAS IT MADE? And this stuff is going on OR in your body like food...it's absorbed! Also trashed some nasty orange toothpaste that expired. I didn't know toothpaste had a date on it! Oh, and trashed one tube of teething gel...I think that's about it...except for the winner...a bottle of medicated powder that expired...ready...MARCH 2003!!!!!!! YIKES!

That means we moved it AT LEAST twice while expired. HA! So then later I thought I should check my purse and trashed some hand sanitizer that expired June 2007 and some ibuprofen the same. YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a good way to child-proof too since we don't have locks on the cupboards. We just put safety knobs on the bathroom doors, and hopefully it will be a long time before Claire masters those!!! So she's never in the bathrooms alone.

Well, that's it! Hope all the rest of you had fun watching the Colts game. I've tried to get into it, but usually find myself picking up a book or magazine if I sit with Josh to watch it.

PS...we did Moon Sand again today. THAT STUFF IS FUN! :)

Plesantly surprised!

Well...I am amazed at how much I can get done! Especially now that Claire can somewhat help....of course, sometimes her helping slows me down, but sometimes she really surprises me. I've been having her set the table for me. I give her the plates and she knows where to put them. She can get the silverware out herself!

Last night Josh put on some Christmas music and we decorated the tree. Claire actually did a really good job hanging up the ornaments! So now the whole house is completely decorated. I am compensating for last year since I did nothing to decorate. Ha. And I have no idea what next year holds.

I got through all my boxes today ... there are about 12 boxes of baby girl clothes sizes newborn through small 2T sizes. Claire is wearing 3T already!!! And I managed to find 2 entire boxes of neutral stuff in reds, greens, yellows, and whites. I have a few "questionable" items I'll have to ask some people about if they think they are neutral. But I still have enough! I am actually pleasantly surprised! And here I thought I had nothing. But see, I started going through the bigger sizes, which are definitely more girly! I have a lot of small newborn-9 months stuff that is particularly white, yellow, and green. I even have a surprising amount of some blue stuff, but I had forgotten about it since I never put Claire in that stuff usually more than once!!!

I swear I have enough girl clothes for clothing triplets though size 18 month at least. Ha! So I got the boxes labeled and stacked nicely, but what a freaking PAIN IN THE BUTT! I put the shoes and coats in storage with the stuff now as well as matching blankets, since there were like 4 that matched outfits. Seriously...how do people organize their stuff between kids. I actually have several neutral baby blankets, too, so that rocks! And of course all the big stuff like the stroller, highchair, crib set, etc...I got neutral in case we had a boy in the future or the ultrasound was wrong with Claire. Ha! Good planning on my part.

There were a few outfits that I found frustrating...they were too boyish to put Claire in, but they are definitely too girly for a boy. This would be like a solid blue onesie with a little tiny pink flower in the middle. That might work under overalls or something, but really...there were several things like that which were not neutral, but too boyish, but still girly...does that even make any sense??? LOL! We are set with little socks too...lots of white and yellow ones of those!

So now...sometimes I want 4 kids...sometimes I think...2 will be plenty. But we'll take it one at a time and go from there.

Tomorrow we will be starting cooking and getting ready for my parents and brother Rich coming here for Saturday Thanksgiving. I plan on trying to have Claire set the big table and help me dump lots of stuff together. She enjoys doing that!

I got all my boxes put away today and the upstairs vacuumed. Now if I could just get a vacuum that was lighter so Claire could have fun pushing it around for me...

Anyone have any great storage tips on how to do the clothes for kids? I tried to fold matching outfits/socks together, as well as group the sizes together. I'm afraid some of the sizes are a little mixes up, but not horrible.

And how do you store shoes/coats once they get past a certain size. I'm thinking they are too big to mix with the clothes now. And Halloween costumes? What do you do with those? Keep them separate or put in with the right size clothes?

And the stains? WTH! I put away everything clean, and now several items have spit up stains that have crept out. And whoever said bf babies don't stain was full of it! And if that's the case, I'd hate to see formula spit-up stains. I'm wondering if these stains will come out with washing or not?

And if Claire is missing any toys in the next few days, it's totally because she tossed one in one of the boxes when I wasn't looking...

Wish me luck cooking tomorrow.

Keeping Toys under Control

Claire is just over 2 and has more toys than most small countries. I'm not even joking. I don't even know where they all came from. They seemingly breed and reproduce in droves overnight. LOL. So to keep things fresh and fun, I rotate the toys. My mom suggested this idea to me. I should've shared this tip sooner because it's a great one. I just pulled out a box right before I sat down here that has been in the closet for months. I forgot that it had toys in it. I thought it was clothes. So now Claire is pulling out each toy, bringing it over to me, and saying, "Mommy, This my toy?" I say YES! Then she gets all excited, jumps up and down and says THANK YOU! Haha. Little does she know that these were things from a mere six months ago that she'd forgotten about. So here are some other things I've started doing...I put away seasonal books and toys like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, etc...away when I put the decorations. Besides, it's kind of funny to read about Easter in the middle of October. I also put away about a box of books at a time...otherwise they all just end up all over the floor. Then we have 2 giant rubbermaid bins that I use as toy boxes. I usually keep one in the closet at a time, trying to keep a good mix of toys out. We have about 15 nice wooden puzzles, all different, but a few similar, so I put away one of the similar ones at a time, otherwise it makes it hard when it's time to pick up and she gets the pieces confused between the puzzles. I got MOST of them at a resale store or garage sales and the rest were gifts. :) Also, some toys are particularly more messy than others because they came with lots of small pieces vs. something like a doll that is just 1 piece. But guess what? I just looked over at Claire, laughing hysterically, and she is sitting in the box with the flaps shut. So my advice? Sell all the toys and let them play with boxes. Seriously! She doesn't want to play with toys...she wants the real purse Holly gave her along with the chapstick she jacked off the counter because her arms have an abnormally long range for her age. But other than that...I am not super anal (believe it or not) about keeping things picked up...seriously...it's pointless...10 minutes of Claire playing, it looks like nothing was picked up at all anyways, so I don't even bother to pick up toys on a daily basis. Horrible, I know. :) I pick up SOMETIMES for company and then at least once a week weather it needs it or not. This gives me a chance to sort of sort things out and throw away any random things that we have collected...it's amazing the amount of stickers a small child attracts. I also keep trashing all the craft projects we bring home from the library. She can play with them until they are destroyed, then after she goes to sleep...trash time! Maybe I do pick up a little more often than that...you just can't tell! But shh...don't tell...I never make beds, because again, that's a waste of time, too. :) Unless company is coming that we might give a tour of the house to...I don't make the beds, but even then...I've stopped caring. It's enough to try to stay on top of the laundry and dishes and still have time to play with Claire and read to her. Any tips? Please leave them for me!

Community Garage Sale

Well, as I mentioned yesterday, I am continuing to get ready for the Community Garage Sale coming up. Well, it's our "own" garage sale but there will be a bunch around our whole neighborhood Friday and Saturday. I am just going to set up for Saturday. So in preparation for that, today I cleaned out the garage. FUN. NOT. We have NEVER cleaned out the garage. I think I have swept it maybe once/year. But that's it...and not very well. So it was a challenge. Claire helped me take everything out of the garage into the yard. Then I took a broom and swept cobwebs off of the walls and ceilings and overhead door. I can't believe how much has accumulated in just over 4 years. Since we build our house new, it was clean when we moved in and all of the dirt is "ours" so to speak. Well, Claire helped by trying to "sweep" and drag heavy objects across the yard like a snow shovel that was way to big for her. She was pushing it around going "HEAVY! HEAVY!" She also got to play on her cars and slide in the front yard while I was working, and she loves being outside! Then I got out the hose and sprayed down all the chairs and grime covered stuff. We have an attachment that is really awesome so it did a great job. THEN...the fun part...I swept out the garage since all the winter gravely stuff was in there...then I sprayed the garage out. I stuck Claire in her high chair to eat some lunch while she watched me. She kept yelling, "Mommy WASH! Mommy WASH!" She is getting quite vocal. Ahh....so now everything was clean...except for me...and Claire. I let her down and of course she wanted to play in the puddles. So I took a shower with her in the Solar Veil sling, which is great because it leaves both my hands free for my hair and washing her! And then I nursed her to sleep for a long late nap! She slept great of course having run around outside so much! Well then we were off to our Church for evening VBS this week. Oops. It started YESTERDAY. I didn't know. I felt sort of silly, but at least I'll know for next year that it starts on Sunday! Last night I didn't even do anything important! Well, I did get the entire front hall closet cleaned out and organized in preparation for the sale, as well as our spare room and it's closet. OH MY GOSH! I swear stuff reproduces when you put it in a dark box and shut the door. SO now my downstairs is done...I even went through all my kitchen drawers, etc...eek...now I have to tackle the upstairs. I hope to make a bit of money but maybe I shouldn't buy stuff in the first place. I don't really consider myself a big shopper though. I honestly look at some stuff and can't remember where it came from! Lol! Anyway...I need to go to bed...