Sink Reflections

Sink Reflections is an amazing book that I have just finished reading and it has completely changed my house-keeping life!

Let me start by saying self-helpish type books are not normally my thing, but my Mom 2 Mom group at church read it together because we were all constantly complaining about housework and dinner and why do we try and you get the point.  One of the moms in the group had read the book and implemented its strategies, but she recently became a homeowner and wanted to read through it again to get a fresh start in her new home.

I credit this book with my quick (at least I think it was pretty quick) adjustment to having an almost one-year-old, and then adding 4-month old to our household.  If I told you it was a book about how to organize and clean your house, I know most of you would be like "booooring" or "uh, my house is immaculate already".  Well I fell somewhere in the middle of this.  I am a pretty organized and clean person, but I can overwhelm myself with the task of trying to make my home look like Southern Living (although it is not and never will be).  One of the things I love about this book is that when it is my turn to host the family get-together or we want to have some friends over, I take a few minutes to tidy up and that is all!  So hang on tight because here comes the Cliff's Notes version of the book:

1. Start with baby steps, fling boogies, and a timer.  Start by decluttering parts of your home in baby steps.  In the book, the author, Marla a.k.a. The Fly Lady, recommends setting a timer for 15 minutes and only decluttering for that amount of time.  If you have more time, only work in 15 minute increments, taking breaks to do other stuff in between.  The idea is that you can stay focused for 15 minutes without being overwhelmed.  You can also declutter by doing a "fling boogie".  Sounds weird, but choose a number (like 25) and get rid of or "fling" that many things.  You can fling them in the trash or a bag to take to Goodwill.  I did this under my bathroom counter one day.  I was done in under 15 minutes, had a bag of trash, and a bag of stuff that was still good enough to donate.
2. After you have decluttered (or you feel like you are ready to handle more), she has you make a morning and bedtime routine.  You make a list of things to complete in the morning and things to complete before going to bed.  This has been awesome for me.  I never get to sleep in.  Babies do not sleep in.  They do not know that it is Saturday, traditionally a day that many sleep in.  I was always cranky about this.  Then I started a morning routine and now I do not go a day without doing it and I wake up eager to do it.  These are things like: wake up (I love marking that one off!), shower, get dressed to shoes, check email, empty the dishwasher, thaw meat for dinner, etc.    Because I stay home, my morning routine is pretty lengthy, but I also realize that it may take me until lunch time or after to get it all done because mommy duties come first!  Most of my mom friends who work outside of the home keep their morning routines very short and make their bedtime routines longer.  A bedtime routine that really helps me in the morning is choosing my clothes and laying out dishes for breakfast.  Then if Beck decides to wake up earlier than normal, I can quickly get his breakfast (and mine) on the table.  
3. The author splits the house into zones.  If you go to her website every week, she will tell you what to do each day in each of these zones.  The zone work never takes me more than 20 minutes and usually much less than that.  For instance, today I had to dust the dining area.  I was done in 5 minutes.  Zone work is stuff that you may only do once or twice a month and you are usually in one zone for a week.  
4. The author talks about a one-hour home blessing.  These are the chores that need to be done every week in your home.  She has her own list, but I changed it to work for me.  Mine include cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen and sweeping and mopping all the floors in our house (our house is a smidge over 1200 sq. feet, not a mansion, so no worries).  I decided that I did not want to spend an entire hour of one of my husband's days off to clean so I broke  my home blessing chores up and I do a little each day.  Monday, I clean the showers; Tuesday, the toilets; Wednesday, the kitchen and bathroom sinks and counters; Thursday, sweep and mop the bathroom and kitchen floors; and Friday, sweep and mop the rest of the house and vacuum the rugs.  

I know what you are thinking..."Girl, you clean ALL DAY LONG!!!"  Oh, but dear friends, I do not.  The first week was rough.  Lots of scrubbing and elbow grease, but now that I do things weekly and monthly on a schedule, I get things done so quickly and am able to carve out time for myself, Bible study, playdates, running errands, and lots and lots of playing.  My morning and bedtime routines, zone cleaning, and home blessing take a total of 1 hour tops spread all throughout the day.  I can clean both showers in 15 minutes tops because they get cleaned every week so I don't even break a sweat now!  

This system will totally work for ladies who work outside the home, and you can easily get kids and husbands on board.  One thing that the author encouraged was teaching your kids how to do these different tasks with you, but not working them until they do it perfectly.  Housework done imperfectly is still getting done.  I definitely gave Beck a baby wipe while he was in high chair and he began swiping away at it when he finished his lunch. 

If you are in a housework slump or you are looking for a new book read, you should definitely check out Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley.   

Streamlining

So as we have been adjusting to life as a family of four, God has been impressing on me ways to make my life easier.  One way is in our meals.  I am a meal-planner for sure.  I used to spend about an hour every two weeks looking for recipes that were yummy and different.  I just don't have the time or brain power to do it anymore.  Also, Beck pretty much eats what we eat now so it's important that I make stuff he can eat.  We basically eat the same meals every week with a few that we change out.  Here are the "staple" meals that we eat every week:

1: Steak & baked potato
2: Baked chicken & baked sweet potato
3: Frozen pizza night
*On these nights we rotate eating broccoli, asparagus, green beans, or peas.

We always go out to eat one night and we usually pick up something for lunch or dinner on Sunday. We eat whatever we can find in the house for the other meal on Sunday.

We rotate out the following meals:
-breakfast (or brenner, which is breakfast for dinner)
-baked tacos
-tilapia
-chicken nuggets
-some kind of "fancy" sandwich (like grilled turkey, apple, and cheese or tuna melts)

For the nights we eat something like frozen pizza, Beck gets dibs on leftovers from one of the other nights.  I also usually bake an extra sweet potato for him to have on other nights.

So all that being said, here is our menu for next week:
Sunday-chicken nuggets and mac & cheese (pick up lunch)
Monday-baked chicken and sweet potatoes
Tuesday-frozen pizza
Wednesday-Jeff pick up something on his way back from a meeting
Thursday-steak and baked potatoes
Friday-tuna melts
Saturday-long awaited DATE NIGHT!!

His favorite spaces

These are a few of his favorite things.

Dark Days and Bright Moments

Last week was rough.  Very little sleep, which for me is the reason everything else seems to fall apart.  Lots of tears, which also comes with very little sleep.  One early morning last week, while crying my eyes out, I cried out to God.  Not in my head, but with my mouth (with LP joining me in the background).  It went something like this:

"This is hard!  Where are you??  I need help.  I need sleep and You know I do!  Please give me some rest.  I need supernatural sleep...like 3 hours  that feels like 8 hours.  That would be perfect.  I know what you are thinking, God...'Well, dear Sarah Ellen, you asked for more children so I gave you more.'  Yes You did.  I have everything I've ever wanted and I am at one of the lowest points I have been in a while.  So now what??"   And then there was lots more sobbing and coughing and baby rocking.  There was also some husband-fussing, some more crying, some over-eating, some going-out-in-public-looking-like-poop, some more "where are you God?"  

Finally the weekend came.  And I rested.  Beck's tooth popped out (did I mention he was up at random times during the day and night too??).  I only had to get up once a night with LP instead of twice because Jeff was there to get up the other time.  And God said, "why don't you pick up that study of Philippians you were doing and abandoned?"  So I did.  I picked up in Philippians 2 and I have read and studied it every day for about 4 days.  Here are some highlights for me:

-"Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."-v.4

The SEAV (Sarah Ellen Application Version): "Take care of your kids and your husband and I will take care of you...including your intense need for sleep."

-"He (Jesus) humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross."-v. 8

SEAV: "Jesus died for you so you would not have to spend eternity in hell, the hell that you deserve.  You can handle a few sleepless nights."

-"Do everything without grumbling or complaining." -v.15

SEAV: "Do everything without grumbling or complaining...because I have now given you two children for whom you did not have to gain weight or get stretch marks to have in your family."

Let's just say it has been a very humbling study for me thus far.  

And God has taken care of me.  He has shown me how to simplify and streamline my life.  He has shown me what is truly worth my time and what is not.  He has shown me how to stay on top of housework, healthy eating, some fun, and a little bit of exercise, all without losing my mind.  He even got me in the bed last night before 10!  

I am hoping that, with God leading the way, we will have only Bright Days. 

      

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

Couldn't resist the post title...I watched the Lionel Richie special on t.v. last night.

Let's cut to the chase...the reason I have been a slack blogger is we are officially foster parents!  It's wonderful, but it is time consuming and no offense, but if I have any extra time, I want to sleep!  Another reason I haven't been blogging is because I cannot write about this sweet and wonderful person who is currently living with us and it feels weird to blog about my "family" and not include lp (short for "little person," the code name for our foster child).  By the way friends, if you know anything about lp, please don't comment about any specifics on here please.

Here are some things we have done and things I have learned since the last time I blogged...

-Beck loves his daddy and because of this, he will go to any random man who reaches out to him.  Freaks me out a little bit that this kid has limited stranger danger, but thankfully he can't walk....yet.

-Two kids is so much harder than one.  I totally get it.

-I always wondered why my friends with kids wouldn't just get a babysitter and come hang out with me.  I totally get it.

-I suck when it comes to grace and mercy for others, yet I thank God for His multiple times a day.

-When both kids are asleep, my tush is sitting still somewhere, and sometimes I am asleep too.  There could be a tornado of laundry flying around my head and an entire meal of crumbs on the floor.  It can wait because this Mama needs rest if she is going to make through to bedtime.

-Beck loves lp.  In fact, his first word is the name we call lp around the house.

-Beck had his first haircut.  It was traumatic for me, but he couldn't have had a better time.  Give him a dum-dum and he is good.

-I have had to unsubscribe to some folk's status updates on facebook.  I love keeping up with my friends who live far away or that I went to high school with, but I don't like the drama.  Thankfully, I can choose to remove it.

-I really miss my mom friends who live really far away.   I miss them alot.

-I really love my husband and there is nothing like seeing him in the role of daddy.

I promise to do better, but there may not be as many pictures because I don't have time to sit here and wait for them to upload.

BWE-9 months

• You are crawling!  A lot!  All over the place!  It has been fabulous for you, Daddy, and Mommy.  You are so much happier and you can get where you want to go, like under the table, to the front door, and wherever Mommy and Daddy are.  Right now, we are loving it mostly because you are much less fussy.  Here's to no more getting stuck on your tummy in the middle of the floor and flailing your arms and legs!  

• You have four teeth now: 2 on top and 2 on the bottom.  You are enjoying lots of solid food these days, like green beans, rice, broccoli, bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, Cheerios, pears, and carrots.  You even had some nibbles from Mommy's waffle fries at Chick-fil-A yesterday.  Maybe this is normal, but you would rather have real people food or really smooth baby food, but don't even think about giving you that textured baby food.  You become very tight-lipped when that stuff comes toward you on a spoon.

•  You don't really care for any kid shows unless you are really sleepy (because that is the only time you are still) with one exception: the Fresh Beat Band.  Thank you Burleys for introducing us to this show!  We downloaded 2 episodes on Itunes and for 20 minutes two times a day, you are totally still and will not take your eyes off the laptop screen.  I usually let you watch right after or before a meal.  I leave you with your finger foods and I can get some dishes washed, clothes folded, and sometimes I just sit down and watch with you.  You really love the songs and sometimes you will just look up at me and grin from ear to ear.  You also swing your head back and forth, wave one arm over your head, and clap.  
• 

We are loving this phase of you.  You are so expressive with your face and we are really seeing your personality come out.  You can play with us or by yourself for extended periods of time, and you enjoying playing with the simplest items.  When I fold clothes on the floor, you love to help me take everything out of the basket and then you play with the hangers.  You also love boxes and Kleenex.  If I really need to make a phone call, I hand you a paper napkin and you go to town shredding it.  You give Mommy and Daddy hugs, kisses, and pats on the back.  I know when you are tired because you will crawl right over to me, reach up to be held, and you will lay your head down on my shoulder.

We love you more every day and as always, our greatest desire is to teach you about Jesus and for the Holy Spirit to work in your heart so that one day you will make the decision to become a child of God.

Our life...in bullets

I saw that someone else did a list of what's going and I thought, well I should do that too!

Here goes:

• Beck is crawling!  It happened overnight...literally.  He has been on the verge for a long time.  I have a friend who is a physical therapist.  She worked with him in the nursery last Wednesday and told me what to do and Saturday night, he crawled.  I am so excited because it has made him so much happier during the day.  He's not moving fast, but he can get where he wants to get and that's all that matters.  
• I rearranged the den to give Beck more room and I'm loving the arrangement.  Everything has a place and it's not in the middle of where we need to walk.  We have an open floor plan and we bought sectional to help separate some spaces.  Well I swung that sucker around and now we are back top openness.  Beck doesn't freak out when I go to the kitchen because he can see me and I can get so much more done!
• We are still working to get our licensing completed for DSS.  We had a class last Saturday (all.day.long) and we have another one this Saturday (all.day.long).  Thankfully, last Saturday we ended the day with a family dinner at Gigi's house (Jeff's mom) and this Saturday we have a family dinner at Mimi and Poppie's house (my parents).  
• Speaking of DSS/fostering stuff, we are now the proud owners of 2 cribs.  Infertile Myrtle me has 2 cribs!!!  Who would have thunk it! 
• We have been celebrating birthdays like crazy.  Shout-outs to Carrie (AC), Alex, Emily, Jason and Camryn.  We love you ladies and gent!
• And finally, Beck is also doing the following things: clapping and swinging his head back and forth (think Stevie Wonder) to music; sometimes he will even throw his hand in the ay-er (and wave it from here to thay-er); he will hold his bottle until he gets sleepy and then he needs to play with his hair; he has FOUR teeth-two on top and two on the bottom. I am thoroughly enjoying this age.  He plays so well with or without me, but my favorite thing is still when he first wakes up in the morning and I get him out of his crib.  He still lays his sweet little head full of curls up on my shoulder and squeezes the backs of my arms.