Today!

This morning when we woke up, I discovered that Sarah had peed through her diaper and all her bedding was soaked in urine. There's nothing to jump start laundry like a bedding incident! I got up and put her bedding in the laundry right away because if I waited, either she wouldn't have any sheets to sleep on tonight, or she'd be sleeping on pee soaked bedding. Neither of those seemed acceptable scenarios to me, so into the washing machine it went! That led me to sort the laundry I've been putting off all week and get it started, too. We are going to Pueblo for the weekend tomorrow since Tyler has Friday off, and I do NOT want to leave my house a filthy pig mess so I can come home to a filthy pig mess! We also need clean clothes if we want to be able to pack tomorrow before Tyler comes home. So today is my no excuses/anti-procrastination day! This house is getting clean if I have to pass out 20 times to do it! All our beds are made and I did my FULL swish and swipe this morning instead of just wiping down the counter. I have load number 3 in the washer and I microwaved my sponge in preparation for the dish washing marathon awaiting me in the kitchen. This house will be clean 15 minutes at a time! Wish me luck!

Still trying...

I've really been struggling with getting my house cleaned up. I was sick the day after we got back. Sarah and I both just kinda laid around, so nothing got done. Then I was having major dizzy spells and had to keep sitting down, so day 2 of nothing much getting done. I do a little something every day, but I'm so far behind that by the end of the day anything I managed to get done is undone! I have a dish marathon waiting for me in the kitchen, a major toy removal and vacuuming marathon in the living room, piles of trash to take out, and my bathroom needs a major overhaul. I must say, my bathroom counters are cleared off and wiped down. And we made Sarah's bed and my bed this morning. That's about all I can say for my accomplishments. The bigger I get, the more exhausted I get and it is getting increasingly difficult to do anything with the energy of even 2 weeks ago. Just wish me luck. I'll keep on keepin' on. Send your prayers my way. I only have 2 months before baby comes and the whole reason I started this was to have my house in order before that occurs. I'm going to go get dressed to my shoes right now and see if that helps.

I'm baaaaaack

Today is my first full day back from sisters weekend. We got home around 2:30 yesterday afternoon, unpacked the car, sat down for a few minutes, then left to get my ultrasound around 3:20pm. Everything looks good. The baby is actually a little small! Not an amount to worry about, but definitely not oversized! We got a few 3D images, too. Beautiful little girl! Makes me anxious to meet her. AND my blood test came back normal. NO GESTATIONAL DIABETES!!! Yay! We didn't get back from Sterling til almost 8pm so I hurried got Sarah ready for bed. We were reading stories in Tyler and I's bed when Sarah started coughing. She coughed so hard she threw up her dinner all over in our bed. I quickly stripped the sheets and got new ones, but by the time I got Sarah to sleep it was 9:30pm. Too late for me to stay awake considering the busy day we had! I fell asleep. That means this morning I woke up to all our bags still on the living room floor, a pile of puke sheets at the bottom of the stairs, and dried puke in the bathtub. And I had to go grocery shopping first thing. I'm back from shopping and feeling a little overwhelmed. I need to set my timer and jump back in. My goal is to NOT let my little vacation derail my routines. Wish me luck!

Sisters Weekend

We're getting ready to leave for sisters weekend in about 3 hours. Yay! I have to say, being organized makes taking a trip a lot easier! Tyler and I cleaned our cars out yesterday in preparation to switch. Mine actually didn't really need all that much cleaning. I've been trying to bring all our stuff in every time we get out of the car. In the past, we would have put it off til this morning and had to go down in the dark and cold and try to figure out what we needed and what needs to be taken out. I have Sarah's and Coy's car seats sitting by the front door. I have a list of things not to forget. All my laundry was done and I was showered last night before I went to bed. I have a few dishes in the sink and my living room and kitchen need a quick clean, but other than that I'm leaving Tyler with a clean house. I'm hoping this will mean I get to come home to a clean house! We'll see. I wrote down Heather's flight information on a note card last night and put a roll of quarters in my purse for paying my parking at the airport. We started packing yesterday, so today we just had to put in our clothes from last night's laundry and the stuff we had to use last night. I'm sitting here with almost nothing to do! I'm used to traveling with my family. Everything is put off til last minute and we are ALWAYS late starting. What a difference being organized makes in the stress level of traveling! I hope you guys all have a great weekend! I'll be back Tuesday!

More Benefits!

Yesterday I made dinner for my family. This is nothing new. I make dinner almost every night. BUT last night, I made beans in my Crock Pot, Mexican rice AND corn bread. I usually just make the main course and barely get that done in time! I don't dread cooking anymore, because I know the dishes will get done that night and not sit and multiply for 2 weeks until I have an all day dish washing ahead of me. This means my family will have better rounded meals and I'll be able to make vegetables on the side. Who would think that keeping my house clean would have an effect on our food? This morning Sarah wanted macaroni and cheese for breakfast. It's a strange request, but I gladly complied! Sarah is NOT a breakfast person. If I can get her to eat anything before 11 I'm totally excited. Because all my dishes were done from last night, I didn't say no. I knew things would get cleaned up as soon as we were finished so one extra pot in a day wouldn't hurt anything! Which makes me think I could eat hot cereal for breakfast every morning! That's healthier than Marshmallow Mateys! Keeping my house clean is just branching into so many areas of my life. I continue to be amazed and excited!

Holding Steady

Things kind of fell apart on Sunday. We had a rough night and Sarah cried almost the entire 45 minutes of the drive home. I was exhausted and grouchy and took a nap on the couch. I didn't wash the dinner dishes, shine my sink, OR pick up the living room before bed, but I got up and got dressed to my shoes, made my bed and put away my clean dishes this morning. Then I did a 5 minute rescue in the living room, which is really all it took! I am gearing up to do the dishes right after I post this. One of the best things I've noticed about this: Tyler and Sarah have started picking up after themselves and pitching in more. Tyler made the bed on Saturday, as he was the last one up. Sarah's toy room hasn't been torn up. She's getting out one thing at a time. Tyler will actually wash dishes if there are just a few in the sink! I guess everyone else likes having a clean house, too! I bought some microfiber cloths to put in my bathroom for my daily swish and swipe. I hang it on the towel rack and anytime I wash my hands in the bathroom I dry the counter and look for any spots to clean off the mirror. As a result, my bathroom counters are always cleared off. I put my dryer, flat iron and brushes away as soon as I'm done, because who hides a candle under a bushel? Sarah is starting to understand these changes are due to Flylady. We listen to her on BlogTalk radio and when Sarah asks me why I'm doing something that's part of my routines, I tell her that Flylady tells me to do it so we can keep our house clean. Developing routines for my cleaning is helping me develop routines for prayer and scripture study, and, like Anbo, I'm growing more and more thankful for Heavenly Father's help in overcoming my myriad weaknesses! He really does help us and let's us know just where to start when the list seems so overwhelming! I can't say it enough: FLYLADY.NET! I recommend it to anyone who wonders where all their time goes and yet nothing ever gets done! It has been life changing. It helps me live gospel principles better and I feel so much better about myself.