Weaning is in our future

When I found out I was pregnant with McCoy, I never really gave it much thought about breastfeeding.  I didn't really think about pumping or formula mixing or anything like that.  I think maybe I was too consumed in how my body was changing and getting ready for the baby to arrive.  In looking back now, I probably had more fun getting his room all ready and buying clothes and stuff than I was actually thinking about parenting, nursing, and other important life decisions.  Then when we went to the hospital and McCoy was born, I didn't even know how to breastfeed-- although it came VERY natural to me.  I was lucky in that way.  It wasn't hard for me at all. After about a month or so, pumping also became pretty easy for me.  But I never thought about the length of time I would be spending breastfeeding.  After about six months, I decided that I was going to nurse for at least a year.  I wanted to get to 18 months if possible.

Well, here it is.  In two short weeks, McCoy will be 18 months.  Can you believe the time went by so fast?  There are some days where I just sit and look at him and think, "Oh my gosh, he is such a big boy!"  And other days, I'm begging for him to be a teenager (or at least 8) so he will SLEEP IN on the weekends!!!  (Of course, those latter feelings are very few and between).  :)

Just as unplanned as I was about breastfeeding, I am the same about weaning.  Personally, I cannot do it any longer.  I will probably end up nursing him until he is 18 months (hopefully before-- I am ready!).  I know, you are probably thinking I'm such a cruel parent for wanting to wean my son without him being ready.  Well, you know what?  I think this will be the best for both of us.  And here is why:

Our nightly routine consists of McCoy wanting to nurse in my bed until he falls asleep.  I usually have no problem with this.  In fact, the last few weeks, we've both been falling asleep.  I love co-sleeping.  When Whit is gone.  I hate co-sleeping when Whit is there.  Now, my growing boy has much longer, and stronger legs, not to mention his razor-like toenails that like to dig into my belly fat.  Yes, it is a very uncomfortable situation... for me, at least. Between 1:45-3:00 in the morning, McCoy will wake up with blood-curling screams and demand (yes, DEMAND) that he come back into bed with us.  And then he latches on and stays there for about an hour and half... again with the legs and the toenails...  And then I end up not getting any sleep.  Then in the morning, I'm tired, irritated and frustrated (especially if Whit is there, because he still gets to sleep peacefully).  

I've made up my mind.  I've done some research.  I'm going to give it a whirl.  My guess is that it will take at least a week or maybe two before I get him completely weaned.  I'm going to try a few tricks that I read about (but I refuse to put lemon juice or vinegar on my nipples!!  That's just mean!)

I loved breastfeeding McCoy.  And as you can tell, he loves it too!  I love the bond that we've created and our relationship is better because of it.  Even though I work all day and usually have activities at night, I know that we've still created time together because I nursed him.  But the time has come to an end and I truly believe that McCoy will be better off as well.

I'll report back when, and only when my baby McCoy (age 18 months) is completely weaned.

6 Bags In...

Okay, update on my 40 bags in 40 days.  I'm not stopping long enough to post pictures, but I am stopping long enough to eat lunch.  So, while I eat (and right at this moment, it's incredibly hot!), I will update.

I kind of hate the system I've done so far.  I've been like a room whore.  I'm jumping from room to room.  It's not neccessarily a bad thing, I just don't have that sense of accomplishment in one particular area of the house.  Good news is it still looks nice from the outside!  Because we cleaned a lot last weekend, it still looks good.  I'm just going through the stuff now.

Last night I embarked on a pretty big project (that didn't get done until midnight!).  But I don't want to share, because I haven't even told Whit yet! :)   He'll see this weekend.  I will say it's pretty awesome and I love it!!!  I also re-organized the piano books on my shelf last night.  This morning, I reorganized and cleaned out the pots and pans and found a solutions for the pan lids.  I used a basket for those (which I already had, thank you very much!).  I cleaned out all the kitchen drawers and got rid of some stuff I rarely use.  I also cleaned under the master bathroom sinks and our cologne shelf.  I got rid of cologne that we never wear (or scrunching hair gel that I got when I was a senior in high school... yeah.)

After lunch, my schedule leads me to the craft room, which has been on my groan list for many, many months.  It's almost too overwhelming.  But we'll start with the closet.  That way, if I run out of time (or get bored, frustrated or tired) I can move away from it without disrupting the beauty of a some-what cleaned room.

Here is a few pictures of my before...

Baby Sign Language

McCoy knows and uses these signs:
Eat
More
Please
Thank You
Water
Finish

I would like to teach the following signs in the next few weeks:
Milk (still working on it)
Bath
Book
Potty (Change my diaper!)
Cheese
Fruit
Sleep
Share
Sorry
Want
Stop
Open

I'll let you know how it goes! :)

40 Bags in 40 Days-- Day 1

One of my Facebook friends shared a Lent challenge called "40 Bags in 40 Days".  The idea behind is very basic.  You fill up 40 bags of trash or charitable items in 40 days.  It is supposed to be from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.  You can choose the sizes of your bags-- I'm not really sure that's really the purpose. The main idea is to rid your house of clutter and trash and things you don't love or use.  

Yesterday, the appraiser came so I took half the day off.  Let me remind you the house has been cleaned before she came-- but now is the perfect time to de-clutter!  Because the house is so clean, it's easy to make the progress.  I simply clean out what I'm supposed to and it's magically still nice looking!  So, now the bathroom looks great inside the cabinets and out!  I think I'm going to paint in there this Spring Break as well.

Here is a little bit about the bathroom.  I guess I'm sharing my personal stuff too, but oh well!  We're all girls!

My drawer that I keep my hair stuff in, toothbrush/toothpaste and miscellaneous stuff... 

<---- Before

I put in two baskets.  The first (yellow) is for my hair stuff (pony-tail holders, brushes, combs)

The second (blue) is make up, tootbrush/toothpaste and contact cases.

<----   After  

Under the sink in the hallway bathroom.

<---- Before

<----   After  

The bottom drawer.  Lots of panty liners that McCoy likes to 

take out and scatter throughout the house.

<---- Before

<----   After  

In addition to the hallway bathroom, I also cleaned under the kitchen sink, cleared off the hallway linen closet's floor, got rid of some pool floaties, and cleaned out the piano bench.

I have before pictures to add, but didn't get around to taking the after, so I'll post those for another time.

101....

I can't wait until I finish this list.  I want to create another one.  But if you notice, I still have a little over a year and I'm well on my way to crossing off this whole list.

Join Me in Spring Cleaning

In conjunction with February's focus: Budget and Bills, we looked into re-financing our house.  It's only been 3 years, so starting over wasn't a big deal.  We are more interested in saving money each month so we can pay off our loans and credit card debt.  If everything works out perfectly (fingers crossed) we will save nearly $250 a month!  Think of all we can do with that!

But we need to get the house appraised.  I asked several people on my Facebook status, how clean should it be and got several responses.  Some saying that it doesn't need to be that clean to repainting the baseboards!  So, Mom and Dad graciously took McCoy after church so Whit and I could "clean sweep" our house.  We got a lot done in a very short amount of time although I have to give props to Whit because his motivation and mad cleaning skills prevailed as I was whining and wanting to lay down around hour two.  Good job, Whit!

We did a lot to the house, but most of it was stuff that I just "put away" or found a spot for.  There are several areas of the house that really need some spring cleaning.

So I am extending an invitation to you!  Join me in a spring cleaning party!  I'll give you a plan for each week and then follow up on what I've accomplished (or failed to complete!).  Join me and we will get rid of clutter, clean dust and cobwebs, and enjoy living a more simple life.

I vow to get rid of stuff that I don't love or need.  I vow to clean out the "groanable" areas of my house and I will publish what they are so that I can be held accountable.  And yes, my car is a part of my house!  I don't have a deadline for this because I'm guessing it will go well into the summer months.

So here is my list (yes, a list!!!)
De-clutter:

Basement-- Computer room.  This room needs to be purged, really.  Too many books, computer stuff that I don't even know if it works, and little stuff that I've gathered throughout high school and college and the first few years of marriage.  I'm going to make that closet shine!  (As best I can).

Craft Room-- This one is tough one.  I'm thinking of getting rid of MOST of the stuff in this room and here is why.  This room is so cluttered that it will take years of throwing stuff away or donating it to get it cleared.  I want to eventually get rid of everything in here because it will most likely be our next child's bedroom.  And I want to do it before we starting trying so that when if I do get pregnant again, I won't be moving and scrambling around to get things done while I'm doing so many other things.  I want to move the table and craft stuff downstairs to the office.  That will take some figuring out though because as previously stated that room is cluttered too.  I have some stuff that I hate to give away simply because I either paid a lot of money for, or I made it.  Needless to say, the closet is stuffed full-- but at this point in time, you can walk through it, although it's tight!

My closet-- of course, getting rid of clothes I don't wear

Whit's closet-- of course, pulling teeth to get Whit to get rid of clothes he doesn't wear

Closet in hallway-- of course, getting rid of coats and *gasp* games we don't ever play!

Bathrooms-- this just needs to be purged as well-- mostly my stuff

Garage-- I feel like I just need to put this on here just because...

Van-- cleaning and getting rid of junk.

Speaking of cleaning cars (that is this month's focus), I have like four rubbermaids full of stuff that has been taken out of various cars.  Like from last summer.  I really need to de-clutter my car!

Okay, that's enough!

The Pit in Pictures

MARCH-- Clean out the car!
So in order for me to be held accountable, I am posting pictures of the Pit.  Embarrassing, you bet?  Motivating?  Even more!

Check back soon to see pictures of a fresh, newly cleaned, non-pitted out van!

Pretzels, Sliders, and Manners

This is one of those multi-topic posts today.  Several things I want to talk about.  So, here we go.

Pretzels
If you've noticed lately I've been really trying to be more frugal.  I've made menu plans, budgets, and shopped secondhand.  I have been doing all this in light of several things.  First and foremost, our household budget was failing.  It was absent, really.  I claimed to make a budget, but what I was really doing was writing down all the money we spent on credit card bills, the mortgage, doctor's bills, stuff like that.  I wasn't telling my money where to go.  I wrote it down, and then watched it disappear.  Secondly, Dave Ramsey has been teaching me how to be in control of our money instead of letting it control us.  That has been one of the best things that has happened to us in a long time. We are finally taking ownership.  Lastly, I'm so tired of relying on pre-made products.  I hate how easy it is to buy a bag of frozen food and throw it in a frying pan and dinner is ready in 10 minutes.  How can this be healthy for my family?  This is when I made my vow to cook with more whole foods instead of frozen, pre-made foods.  But that's another topic in itself.  (So, how is this about pretzels?!)  Anyways, I am really focusing on how to be more frugal.  I'm following blogs of frugal people and reading up on how to cheerfully live on less.  So, I got a bread machine as a wedding present from my in-laws.  I used it a few times, burnt the bread, and then put it in storage, proclaiming I couldn't cook and I didn't even know how to use a bread machine.  Well, I'm dusting it off.  Codi told me just to use it as a "kneader" and then bake the bread in my oven so I can control the temperature and time.  This weekend I'm going to give it a whirl.  I'm going to make Soft Pretzels and I'll let you know how they turn out.  I love to eat these things, but they are just so darn expensive!  Even the frozen ones at the commissary are like $8 a box.  And we can eat them all in about a day.  If I can make them, and they turn out great, maybe I'll make like a quadruple batch and freeze them for a "handy after-school snack."  According to Cozi, I have all the ingredients!!

Sliders
The sliders I made the other night were OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD delicous!  They will be going on the menu again and again!  They were so pretty and very tasteful.  They were simple to make and I enjoyed watching McCoy become excited to eat them.  Okay, that was short, but I thought I would let you know that the sliders are defiantly worth a try. (Click for the recipe).

Manners

Awwww, this story melts my heart.  This one is about my precious baby boy, who is growing up to be a fine, well-mannered young boy.  Recently, we taught McCoy how to sign "please".  Within a few days of signing it on a regular basis, he began to speak the word.  "Peeeeeees!"  He can sign and say that when we ask him to say it.

Mac: "uuh uuh" (and other whiny sounds)
Mom: "McCoy, can you say 'Please?'" (while signing)
Mac: "Peeeeeeeeess!!" (while signing)
Mom: "Good job, Buddy!  Here you go!"

Now, McCoy can say several other words clearly-- Momma, Dada, and Bubba (the dog), but his first, real, word, is "Please."  How wonderful is that?

This morning, McCoy woke up around 5:00 am (I know, right?!) and so I brought him in bed with us and nursed him for about half an hour hoping he would fall back asleep.  Alas, he did not.  He shimmed out of our bed and walked into the kitchen to the refrigerator asking for his milk cup.  So, I said what I always say, "McCoy, can you say 'Please?'"  McCoy says "Pleeeeeeesss??"

We were getting dressed and McCoy saw this stacking toy (that Whit hates!) on the top shelf of his closet.  He began to make his whiny sounds and opening and closing his hands like "gemme, gemme!"  And this time, all I said was "McCoy, what do you say?"

Then music rang out.
"Pleeeeeeesss??"

YES!!!  I didn't have to say "McCoy, say 'Please'".  No, he knew.  I love him and love watching him grow smarter everyday.  I'm so blessed that he is one smart cookie!!

The Pit

Yes, I'm referring to my car.

It's always been so dirty!  Not just the outside-- actually thankful for the rain we had on Sunday, the car is no longer dirty-dirty.  It's only partly dirty. :)

No, the inside.  It's horrid.  I claim I live out of my car.  And when I upgraded to a van this past summer, I vowed to keep this car clean!  My vow lasted all of five days.  And my excuse?  "Life happens."  "That's what you get when you have kid(s)."  "I am so busy."  "I don't want to use up my family time cleaning my car." BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!

FlyLady.net says you should clean out your car every Friday.  Friday is desginated to refreshed up the car, check the car seats, throw away empty soda cans and fast-food cups, and to clean out your purse.  Luckily for me, I haven't been carrying a purse for a while.  My purse is my diaper bag (or vice versa).

Here are some tricks I have done (very inconsistantly):

• Between the front two seats, using the hand rests, I have placed a Wal-mart/target bag to collect trash (Target bags are the best, they are thick!)
• Throw away loose trash every time I fill up with gas
• When going into a store or a building, throw some trash away

But right now I have in my car:

• Some of McCoy's dirty clothes
• at least two pairs of shoes (Mac)
• TOYS!  Too many toys!  My kid doesn't even need a toy while riding in the car.
• two cups from the KU Football game Whit and I went to in like November....
• Valentine's day candy
• receipts, receipts, receipts
• a wintery coat
• bed sheets
• baby wipes... lots
• notebooks
• binders
• paperwork
• programs from various piano stuff
• water bottles 

It's just plain pitted out.  I need to invest an afternoon and get it cleaned!  So, this month is dedicated to cleaning out my car and KEEPING IT THAT WAY!  And no, I'm not going to wait until March 31 to clean it out.  I'm going to do it soon.  Check back as I hope to have before and after pictures of The Pit.