The new year is a time for a clean slate. Fresh starts.  But as I look around my house, it’s anything but clean.  There are toys strewn about, the kitchen is full of dishes, little children’s artwork decorates the dining room table, and the hamper overflows.  This is the blessed life of a house full of children.  And I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.  I consider myself a laid back housekeeper though.  I don’t find it necessary to have perfection.  A little dust doesn’t drive me crazy, and honestly dusting makes my allergies go crazy.  Coming from the home of a mother who cleans when it looks perfect everywhere, I’ve chosen a more laid back approach to life. However, with four children and a husband who works from home, we do need to get some chores done.  And as I’ve had children I’ve learned that dealing with small amounts everyday keeps a baseline “clean” level.  It helps to be able to pick up quickly. And everyone is happier when it’s cleaner in the house.  If you aren’t doing something everyday, then you are just running around like  a chicken one day when you loudly declare “I can’t TAKE IT ANYMORE! We are all CLEANING RIGHT NOW!”

Enter Motivated Moms.  I’ve used this calendar for several years now. I have at times fallen off the motivated wagon but Motivated Moms always makes it easy to jump right back on.  Reasons why I love this calendar:

• It has a daily list of chores.  Things such as laundry, making beds, feeding pets, and emptying trash cans.  Sure this is stuff that we do everyday but it feels good to check something off the list, and it helps remind me to get the laundry going early or the dishes.  They are also chores that I can assign to a child.  My 3 year old empties the bathroom trash cans.  He can also change kitchen towels.  The girls can help make beds.  Everybody makes the mess so everybody should be accountable for cleaning up.
• It includes things that I would never think of doing regularly.  Things like dusting the dining room light fixture or washing the windows in one room.  It gives you easy tasks that you can do quickly.  Just the other day it said “clean living room glass”.  I have no mirrors so I took the opportunity to wash the three windows in the living room.  It took me 30 minutes of time and it looks so nice.  And I know that the other rooms will come up eventually.
• It reminds me to set aside time to plan ahead for birthdays the next month.  It also reminds me to do those household chores like cleaning the dryer vent and changing batteries in the smoke detector.
• And most important of all, you are never behind.  Motivated Moms was written by a homeschooling mom.  She understands that there are days where you are “grounded” on the couch nursing a baby. Or there are days when the stomach virus has turned the house upside down.  Or days when you go out and end up staying out all day.  No sweat!  Just skip that day and pick up the next.  You aren’t “behind” with this cleaning schedule.  Promise!

There are many styles of the calendar to choose from.  I choose the page per day with bible scripture.  I’m able to scribble notes on it as needed, write in appointment reminders, write in what I’m planning for dinner, and anything else I shouldn’t forget.  I don’t worry about using a page of paper per day because at the end of the day I toss it in the drawer with the coloring books and it gets used again for decorating before being recycled.  I print one page per day.  You may want the half size to fit in a Franklin style planner.

As grocery prices go up, I know Erich and I have looked for ways to make sure we plan to make our meals healthy, nutritious, and budget friendly.  We’ve learned that planning our menus accomplishes that. Having the menu prepped ahead of time all answers the age old question: “what’s for dinner?”

I know though that meal planning can be tedious.  It takes a lot of thought to plan so that we aren’t eating the same things over and over each week. Plus, the same old stuff bores me and loses my interest to cook.  And as we our activities like homeschooling, tumbling, and art lessons start to take up more and more time, having a plan already made is priceless.  I recently found E-Mealz.  Recommended by Dave Ramsey, they call themselves your “mental maid”.  E-Mealz appealed to me because unlike other meal planning services, the meals are simple family friendly dinners.  Nothing gourmet and not a lot of time consuming meals.  The categorized shopping list also easily references what ingredients go with each meal, so it’s easy to cross off a meal that our family won’t enjoy. (Okay okay, I’m the picky eater in this family!) They also list the staples you’ll need for each meal such as flour, honey, or ketchup- so you don’t find yourself buying a new bottle every week. Each weeks menu involves different prep methods such as meals you make the night before and crockpot meals.  While some meals will repeat a few times in 6 months, each week is packed with a brand new plan so you are sure to have plenty of variety making meal time fun again.

And again, the recipe are delicious!  Tonight I made a simple grilled garlic ham and cheese sandwich and Magdalena declared it “better than Subway!” That’s what I call two thumbs up!  They have a variety of different meal plans including low fat, 2 person menu, points menu, and the standard family menu that serves 4-6.   They also have menus based on the sales ads of Kroger, Walmart, and Aldi.  I choose the “any store” menu since I like to shop at different stores for different things.

And last but not least, it’s affordable!  $1.25 a week and you don’t have to think about “what’s for dinner?” Please use my link to the right and go find your very own mental maid – you’ll be glad you did!

The castle is full of two things: dirty laundry and bad debt. What the queen needs is for the king to increase commerce, enforce the law, be a good husband, and a good father. What the king needs is for the queen to be professional, organized, and thorough. While each is focusing on their strengths (the queen knits while the king markets), the weaknesses (management and accountability) suffer.

It is more than a Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus type of thing. It is more of a non-complementary strength-set kind of thing. Neither one of us wants to manage  our household, our personal finances, or each other. We just want to be able to do whatever we want, whenever we want to. So what happens when we can’t do whatever it is we want to? You get a mountain of laundry, a mountain of debt, and a castle full of frustration and shouting.

Now that we have identified some of the problems, what can we do to work towards resolving them?

1. Seek an accountability partner. See if any of your family, friends, neighbors can or will help you stay accountable. It can be humbling to ask for help because it feels like you’re admitting to failure, but first, realize you are having this feeling, acknowledge it, then let it go. Try this with any limiting thought and see how it will change your life.
2. Seek professional help. Depending on what issues you are facing, this could mean seeking a financial counselor, hiring a maid, or seeing a marriage counselor. Marriage counselors aren’t just for those couples who are just getting married or looking to get a divorce. They can be helpful for management issues like the ones we are facing today.
3. Empathize. Learn to see the world from the other person’s point of view. The queen is responsible for taking care of three kids, 24 hours a day, and being the personal assistant for the king who leaves the house for 10 hours a day, then retreats to his office for another 3 hours each night to continue working. No one day is easier or harder than the other – each has it’s own set of problems and responsibilities.

Marcus Buckingham, an authority on identifying strengths and weaknesses, provides a road map for people to learn how to approach their work by emphasizing their strengths rather than weaknesses. He offers a 6-step plan for 6 weeks of reading and habit-forming action for determine strengths. Buckingham believes that the best way to work is to capitalize on your strengths, identify your strengths and weaknesses, do more of what you are strong at, do less of what you are weak at, and continue to learn and do activities that play to strength. By focusing on your strengths, you will have the most impact in your work and in your life.

And for those who haven’t heard of Dave Ramsey, he is one of the best personal finance coaches around. If you are in debt and want to start “beating debt and building wealth,” then please check out The Total Money Makeover. You can find this book and the series at Amazon. You are highly encouraged to also attend the Financial Peace University, where Dave Ramsey teaches you how to manage your money, so that your money doesn’t manage you.

The Work Nap

If you are fortunate enough to have a workplace that has an area for naps and your workload can wait, take advantage of that benefit – shoot for a 20-30 minute nap to take the edge off your exhaustion. A shorter nap will keep you in higher levels of sleep, which prevent you from waking up groggy. In order to accomplish this feat, set an alarm on your cell phone or ask a coworker to wake you.

The Work at Home Nap

If you work at home, being sleepy on the job is not as much of a problem, or is it? The real problem is keeping it from becoming a habit. And actually the habit is only a problem if it interferes with your productivity, clients, or your family. If you successfully incorporate napping into your schedule, then go for it. But if it becomes something that cuts into your work, try to do this only if you are super-tired so that you can get the most work done.

The Work at Home Nap with Kids

This is similar to situation above, but because your “boss” is your kids. If the kids are young enough, try to get them to nap with you or nap when they nap. Of course don’t leave young children unattended. If you’re afraid you can’t stay awake, call a friend, family member, or babysitter to come over and help you out. Lastly, you can always try The Meditation Nap if you need to stay awake, but also need to get some rejuvenation.

The Meditation Nap

This is not a sleeping nap, but it will give you the similar feeling of renewal that you get after a short nap. In a nutshell a meditation nap is conscious quiet rest time. Here’s how you do it.

• Allot approximately 10-20 minutes.
• Start by doing a couple stretches, whatever feels good.
• Next take 10 deep breaths with eyes closed and sitting upright.
• Take the rest of the time to empty your mind of everything. A good way to do this is to mentally repeat a mantra, which is one word or phrase such as “empty the mind” or “peace” or “om” or whatever works for you. As thoughts come into your mind, notice them like clouds going by in the sky, but don’t grab hold. Just keep coming back to your mantra.

At the end of your allotted time open your eyes, take another couple deep breaths and stretches. If you suffer from eye-strain, lightly place your hands over your eyes during part of the time. This helps eye strain tremendously. You can also try giving yourself a face and head massage.

Need more advice? Here is a complete website on how to stay alert.

If you are a mom, likely something you use daily is laundry detergent.  As a cloth diapering family of five, I find my washer and dryer are constantly going just to keep up with the demands of an ever growing Mt. Laundry.  In fact, I tend to start my day by getting laundry going and the dishwasher.  The soft whirl of both machines feels homey and comfortable.

But for years I’ve struggled with the laundry soap dilemma.   When we first got married, I used Tide.  It was what my mom had used and I enjoyed the scent.  But I was always bothered by the big price tag that comes with Tide and so as money became tight, I switched over to Era.  I would buy a giant container of it at Sams Club and it felt like the next best thing.

With the addition of Magdalena, I found myself needing a new detergent.  She was a rashy girl who reacted to paper diapers and cloth diapers if they weren’t washed *just right*.  So I added BioKleen to our routine. I used the BioKleen on diapers, Baby All on her clothes, and Era on everything else.  I liked the BioKleen, and wished that we could use it on everything for environmental reasons, but it came with the same problem that Tide had- the price.  I also hated that if anybody walked into my laundry room, they would have no clue what soap to use on what!

I searched for the perfect detergent.  This seems to be an ongoing quest of cloth diapering moms- to find the perfect detergent that won’t hurt your diapers, will rinse cleanly, and won’t cause wicking of your most prized diapers.  I had an extra challenge– hard water.  The hard water makes it hard to really rinse things clean.  And I always felt that those huge cups of Era or Tide were wasteful when washing clothes.  Were we so dirty that it required THAT much detergent?  By this time I had also added a front loading machine that required an “HE” detergent.  What is a girl to use?

After much searching, I found the Sears brand of detergent.   It appeared that it would help solve my dilemma.  It required only using a very small scoop of detergent per load of laundry.  It worked with cloth diapers.  And worked with our hard water.  I buy it in the bulk version which used to be a 5 gallon bucket.  Now they sell the largest version in a 26.4lb box.  I still have my bucket though and fill it up when it gets empty.  I almost always am able to buy it on sale for around $22 which makes each load cost roughly 8 cents!  That’s affordable!   And I don’t buy detergent often anymore.  One bucket full generally lasts between 4-6 months. The larger our family grows obviously the faster the soap goes as well! (Oh! And be warned– toddlers love to use the soap as sand. I learned that the hard way.   )

I really can’t sing the praises of this laundry soap enough.  So if you are looking for something new, or are looking for something more economical- run to Sears and get yourself some.  And don’t worry, you can buy smaller boxes to try out at first!

I’m still doing Motivated Moms. The house continues to impress me and come into shape. I’m finding that when I have all my chores finished early that I find the time to declutter little areas. The act of actually cleaning the house is a lot less overwhelming in general. It’s really nice. Last night I did a little extra and decluttered little areas that just seem to accumulate constantly. It looks so nice in there. Things are starting to be dusted off from head to toe; frames, corners, nooks and crannies are all getting clean. Very nice to start to the year if I do say so myself. Of course there is always more, but the more seems manageable and like a light at the end of the tunnel. I also like that motivated moms gets around to the stuff that gets overlooked. Like today one of my chores is to deal with one kitchen drawer. Just one, not the whole kitchen, just one single drawer. Totally doable and will not suck the life out of my day, you know? If you want to get your own calendar, there is a link over there in the sidebar where you can do just that. Really and truly I can’t sing the praises enough!

This week also happened to be teeth cleaning week. Erich went yesterday. The dog has his teeth cleaned on Thursday. And Magdalena and I have our appointments together this afternoon. Last time she let them polish two teeth and that was it. She did let them count and they said her teeth were beautiful (of course!) and that the fact that they were spaced far apart was something they like to see in children because they are all easier to clean well. This time I’ve been talking to her all wee about how we need to let them count her teeth and polish them with the loud buzzy thing that tickles. (like my technical terms? haha) I told her that they would make her teeth all pretty and white for her birthday party on Sunday. And that is a note that rings in Magdalena’s head,we must be our prettiest for the party you know.

Speaking of party, Magdalena will be FOUR on Monday. FOUR. It doesn’t seem possible. She was just that 5# little breathing ball of human we brought home from the hospital during a snow storm. She has been planning her birthday party for months. And has really focused on it since Christmas is over now. She wants another Sesame Street party. For those keeping track at home this will be her fourth birthday party and her third Sesame street themed one! I tried to talk her into something else, a princess party? How about a backyardigans party? Nope. Sesame Street. And who can argue with that. You only turn four once, right?

So she’s been planning this party. She had me write out a list of all the people she wanted to invite to her party, her long list of friends and family including all the new babies. It was really painfully cute to listen to her list off the people. At first she wanted FOUR cakes but I have talked her down to two. Really two cakes is overkill and a lot of decorating work for myself, but it’s her thing and I want to make her birthday special. Her pinata will be here today, it’s a cookie monster pinata. And I’m going to see if my mom will stay and watch Carmina while Magdalena and I go grocery shopping to get all the supplies. Fun stuff, I love birthday parties!

Today was a LONG day. Erich had to go into work early because of some software upgrade fiasco. And of course, I couldn’t go back to sleep after getting up and making him lunch and stuff, so I sat down to knit. I really should sleep less and knit more anyway. I enjoyed a show of LOST online. I’ve been watching all the back seasons on netflix and online. I’m hooked. Seriously. I just wish the online streaming didn’t get so bogged down at night causing the thing to repeatedly stop. I’m trying to finish up season 3 in anticipation of the new season.

Then after the girls were awake we did the first part of our chores and took off to run errands. That ended up taking a while but I got a lot done. Picked up a new cable modem from the cable company. Hopefully the internet will go faster. I’m a bit unsure of how it could be faster, but Erich assures me that we are not getting what we are paying for. Who am I to argue with the computer geek?

Then when we came home we processed all the stuff that came home with us and started our chores. I’m really loving my Motivated Moms calendar. A few online friends are doing it along with me, so I’m totally have the motivation/support from them. Today one of the chores was to vacuum the furniture in the living room. I found a remote control that Erich lost a while ago! Super bonus. And my cousin came over the other day and her eyes got all big and her jaw dropped and said “I’ve never seen your house look so good!” That totally made me day! It’s nice to see everything coming together.

We rang in the new year in bed… asleep. It’s official, we’re old. No really, we were exhausted. My mom treated us to a movie yesterday afternoon as a late Christmas present so that was a nice 2.5 hours of no kids just vegging in a theatre eating popcorn we didn’t pay for.

Today it’s snowing. Seems kinda fitting to ring in the new year with a fresh blanket of snow. So I’m going to try and make some new years resolutions.

1. I’m gonna try to keep up on the housework. Really. Truly. As I add more and more things and commitments to my schedule, it gets harder to do and I was never that great at it anyway. Hopefully this will help: http://www.motivatedmoms.com/
2. I’m going to meal plan. Eat out less and eat healthier and all that stuff.

That’s probably good enough for now. I don’t want to get overly ambitious.

Whenever you stop and think “gee the baby hasn’t pooped in a while”, make sure that your laundry is caught up. Because if you think about the poop, the poop will come. And it won’t all end up in the diaper. And you’ll have to stop all of the laundry to push the swing cover to the front of the line so it doesn’t stain. And you’ll have to stop eating lunch to clean it up.

One would think I would have learned this lesson by now, huh?

I remember, I have a blog. OOps. Sorry about not updating. Don’t worry. STILL pregnant.

Last week, we all got sick. Really really really sick. It started on Friday the 2nd, Erich came home not feeling well. By the middle of the night it was apparent that he had the stomach flu. Blech.

Monday, Magdalena woke up puking. Joy. We took her to the doctor to get some anti nausea meds and to get Erich a note for work because he wasn’t feeling well.

On Tuesday (6.6.06), I started puking. And I kept puking and puking and puking. It became apparent around 7pm (after starting this sickness around noonish) that I needed some help. So off to the maternity ward I went. They ran in one liter of saline and some phenegran and….. I was still puking! Only me, seriously. So I was admitted to the labor room and given some other stuff. I was up and down all night to the bathroom (this virus was BRUTAL) and Magdalena and Erich went home to rest. Oh and I might mention that I was contracting every three minutes. Apparently, Bambina was thinking that she was jumping this ship. Heh. I went home Wednesday morning, but still didn’t feel good.

And then, because this was the flu that never ends, Wednesday night Magdalena started puking again. We didn’t all feel okay until the weekend and even then Magdalena and I were having tummy troubles. We still have the remnants of this stinking bug, but we can eat and keep it down. Our tummies just act a little funny still.

So yeah, that completely trashed my house and buried me in a piles and piles and piles of laundry. I lost a lot of the time I thought I had to get ready for Bambina’s arrival. Last Friday I had an OB appointment. It was pretty uneventful. My blood pressure is behaving and everything is all set for Thursday morning.

That’s right folks. THIS Thursday we’re having a baby. We had an u/s a few weeks ago and it looks as if this Bambina is going to be just about the same size as Magdalena was (6#10oz) She is fully formed and has super super super long legs that measure way ahead. She was pouting too, to cute.

Today I had a tour of the Maternity ward and talked with the Director of Nursing. She drew all of my pre-op labs and we talked about the “birth plan.” She said she “likes how I do things” since we talked about me refusing a full course of prophylactic antibiotics. And I wanted to confirm if I needed to make little signs politely declining formula, bottles, sugar water and pacifiers. (We apparently don’t.) And we talked about how once this little girl is taken out of my body, she doesn’t leave the eyes of Erich or myself.

So Magdalena and I came home, visited the library, and came back to work on the house. I cleaned the bathroom and master bedroom yesterday. Today I vacuumed and dusted the downstairs, sorted itty bitty baby clothes, and put them away. I’ve divided all the diapers for both girls so we have two diaper stations, one upstairs and one downstairs.

Tomorrow we’ll mop floors, finish up ALL the laundry, and pack. We have to be at the hospital at 5:30am which means we need to leave here at 5am (which means I have to up at **cough** 3:30am) The hospital has high speed internet (can I say YAY!) and so look for an update and pictures (!!!) Thursday evening. I won’t be able to get out of bed until the evening so I’ll update then. And it’s shaping up to be a busy busy day.

Magdalena is talking about her baby constantly. We are talking about sharing the “durses” and she seems prepared. We washed her big sister shirt and it has a matching onesie for the baby. So today she folded her shirt and her “didters” shirt too. She’s excited about a BAYBEE and how she’ll help Mommy by getting diapers and holding her and kissing her. So cross your fingers that things go well.

Belly pictures to come later when I stick batteries in the camera.

The rules for this meme are as follows:

Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom spot. Very simple.

1. Running2Ks
2. Allison
3. Fair Dinkum
4. Welcome to the Monkeyhouse
5. And They Lived Happily Ever After

Then you select five people to pass the love on to.
Here are my five:

1. Julee
2. Allison
3. Manda
4. Mani
5. Blessed Mama

Now, on to the questions!

What were you doing ten years ago? I was in school. **blush**

What were you doing one year ago? I was getting ready for my baby’s first birthday.

Five snacks you enjoy

1. chips and salsa
2. wheatables
3. cottage cheese
4. glass of chocolate malted milk
5. flavored coffee

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics.

Wow, um I can’t even begin to name songs I know the lyrics to. I know to many!

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire.

1. Pay off all our debts.
2. Buy Erich a super cool Manly truck.
3. Invest so Erich can work part time and be with us.
4. Set aside money for fertility drugs so I can have as many babies as I want.
5. Buy a piece of land and build our dream home on it.

Five bad habits

1. Bite my nails.
2. sailor mouth
3. I have about 3 knitting projects all started.
4. Spend to much money.
5. Talk to much.

Five things you like doing

1. Knitting
2. Blogging
3. Washing diapers (something about pulling clean diapers out of the dryer makes me feel warm and whole inside)
4. Laundry in general.
5. Cooking and Baking

Five things you would never wear, buy, or get new again

Heck, I don’t know!

Five favorite toys

1. Laptop
2. Washer (it’s a front loader!)
3. my husband **wink**
4. sewing machine and serger
5. knitting stuff

Yesterday morning I went in for my (obviously negative) beta HCG blood draw. I was informed that I needed to make an appointment with Dr. H and I would have to wait a cycle before starting drugs again. Almost in tears, I approached the counter, paid my balance, and asked to make an appt. She asked me how soon I wanted it and I asked for this week, because I knew I’d forget all the questions mulling around in my head if I waited to long. She said she had an appt that afternoon at 2:15 and I jumped on it.

So Magdalena and I went and found Daddy who had a service call early that morning. We went to a couple of computer stores and then went to Chilis for lunch. After that Daddy had to head to work and Magdalena and I went to Wild Oats for some Bac Out and then to Target. At about 1:30 we headed back towards the doctors office arriving there around 2pm. Magdalena was asleep and I somehow managed to carry her in to the office without waking her up.

We waited, waited, and waited some more. Around 3:15 they called me back and I chatted with the nurses. At about 3:30, Dr. H came in. He apologized over and over about leaving me waiting so long with an almost 2 year old. And then he apologized for not getting the results we wanted. He said he was sorry it didn’t work. I pointed out that it did work (I made eggs) but we didn’t achieve the wanted outcome. He said I should be the doctor, that sounds exactly what a doctor would say.

We talked about how my left ovary stopped responding and he agreed that it was probably “resting” since last month it was the over achiever. We talked about an IUI and how Erich really doesn’t want to do that and Dr. H made it clear that he didn’t think an IUI would make the difference for us. And then he laid out the plan…

The plan is to start out on Follistim at 150units. (Last month we started at 125units.) Towards the middle of my cycle he will give me a drug called Antagon which will essentially shut down my pituitary gland so that it won’t send out the surge and make me ovulate. Since he is shutting down my pituitary gland he has to add in another fertility drug called Repronex. When he gets the desired amount of follicles at the desired size he’ll trigger with Novarel (HCG). Three days after ovulation I’ll be put on progesterone support since my pituatary gland may need a bit of help after the Antagon. The progesterone they will put me on is Crinone.

After the plan was laid, I asked if he really wanted me to wait a month. I really wanted to keep going and he agreed that I could as long as I didn’t have any big cysts or such from the drugs last cycle. So he sent me in and did my baseline u/s immediately and all is well in my ovaries. And so we were given the thumbs up to keep going.

So there you have it. Injections start today. I’m 99% positive that I’m going to be hurting when I get done with this cycle. That is a lot of injections, sometimes 3 a day plus every other day blood draws. Not to mention the butt shot and all the vaginal u/s. Of course all of that sex will wear me out too. But hopefully in 14 days (or so) I’ll be incubating a tiny embryo, and hopefully in 28 days, I’ll be puking and not bleeding and otherwise blissfully pregnant. So start contorting your bodies and crossing things and sending me some baby vibes. And you ladies are the best in case you didn’t already know it. Thank you for following my journey and being anxious and hopefuly with me, it means the world to me and helps SO much.

The appointment went well yesterday. I’m not going to go into the details, but there are follicles and my estradiol more than doubled again. It was 277 on Monday, and yesterday it was 625. They did increase my meds again. I hope I trigger on Friday, because if not I’ll have to buy more meds. Ugh.

In really great news (and bad too) my ovaries really really really hurt. They feel large like golf balls and they are constantly achy. They are heavy and hurt when stepped on by toddlers. My stomach is also getting bruised and battered and my arms look like an IV drug users from the four pokes I’ve gotten on each doctor visit.

In other news, I’ve decided that I need to stop sitting in front of the computer so much. I have so much stuff that has to get done like correspondence, reading, some writing, knitting, canning (still), and baking. Not to mention that my house has been slipping because I’m so tired lately. I’m not sure why I’m so tired, maybe my body working to hard to make eggs? Who knows, but if I cut back my computer time, I’ll get the other stuff done. In fact this morning, I’ve gotten the laundry going, vacuumed the carpet in the LR, playroom, and entrance. I’ve pulled off the cushions on the couch and chairs and vacuumed up stray cheerios. I made Magdalenas breakfast and cleaned the DR table off. I sprayed out poopy diapers and set some in the sun to bleach stains. I’ve been very productive. So my plan is to get up, check my forum, read email and blogs and then shut the computer off until I’ve completed a bulk of my tasks. Then I’ll check stuff again, and turn it off to do the rest of my tasks. And right before bed, I’ll check blogs and email again. Sounds like a plan, huh? Now if I can stick to it.

Also, I’ve taken over Hip Attachment for Lili. If you haven’t been over in a while, go and post! If you aren’t registered, well what are you waiting for?

So. Lots going on here. Magdalena is continuing to use the potty while at home and doing really really well. She even took initiative to just go to the potty chair and sit and use it yesterday instead of coming to tell me first. I don’t see her completely potty training at this point, but it’s nice to not have to rinse the poopy diapers and have less laundry to do.

Erich has been working a lot. His friend started a computer repair business and Erich has been in on it the entire time. This last couple of weeks has really picked up and we just don’t see him anymore. This has been rough for me with the anxiety of my 2ww and the let down of AF showing up. But I can’t even tell you how hard this has been for Magdalena. She really really misses her Daddy. As a result she has been pitching fits and has been super super clingy. She never cries when I leave generally. Yesterday I was leaving her with Erich to run to the bank and Erich says she lost it. So, it’s been a tough week.

I’m so proud of Erich though. He has taken on a lot and has really helped us out. He just handed me a check to deposit and it’s enough to clear off all the debt on one credit card. I’m giddy about paying this off. I know he is happy about it too. And I am actually imagining the next debt we are going to pay off.

The insurance guy is coming over in a bit. I saved us a ton of money by switching to Geico. JUST KIDDING! You have all heard that commercial right? LOL We had Geico once and didn’t like it at all (sorry Manda!). Anyway, I called the guy and had him add home insurance to our policy with them. (Previously we only held auto policies with this guy) We saved like $200 by switching the insurance and then saved $100 on the auto policy. I also took off some stuff on our auto insurance that was really really stupid and then I added the stuff for my home biznaz. So I saved us a grand total of $600. Wowee that felt good. That’s like a week and a half of work man. So I get to just lounge the rest of the week right? Nope.

I got my embroidery machine Monday. I’ve been trying to sit down and really get it going but a number of things have been standing in my way. A) Magdalena is super clingy and not really into me sitting in front of my machine. B) The embroidery machine is a bit intimidating. There I said it. It’s all computerized and fancy-schmancy. It threads itself! How cool is that! If Erich gets a couple of hours to play with Magdalena I am so going downstairs to conquer that mountain. C) I need to sew diapers.

Definitely going to go get some stuff after the insurance leaves and then I’m going to cut fabric to make some diapers. Are we all getting excited about my store opening? I am! Things are falling into place nicely. I’ve finished the pattern for my knitted soakers. I have a friend working on a pattern for crocheted soakers. I’ve found a place to supply yummy soaps and powders and lotions and such. Oh! It’s so lovely and exciting!

Okay, I’m going to go eat a cookie. I deserve it. Then after the insurance guy comes I’m going to go pick up my birth control. Do you remember the Seinfeld episode when Jerry and Elaine are in a big fight over things that had happened when they were dating? It was about being in the bedroom and finally Elaine comes over and says “we have to have sex to save our friendship!” and Jerry says “sex… to save the friendship? sex to save the friendship…” That’s how I feel right now. “birth control.. to get pregnant.” LOL

Okay, I finally got off my butt and started. I took a small tiny cat nap. You know the kind, where you can hear the TV in the background and you wake up and don’t think you have slept any until you realize that the TV is on a different show. I’m about 3/4 of the way through the laundry. It shouldn’t take to much longer. I’ve vacuumed the LR, fed Magdalena and myself, and picked up all the stuff. We ran errands and hit the bank and filled the gas tank up in the car. Next on my list is to do the dishes and finish cleaning up the kitchen. Then my mom should be here and her and Magdalena can pack the bag of toys. While they are doing that I can pack the clothes and such. Then I’ll bathe Magdalena and pack up the toiletries. Then once Magdalena is asleep I’ll load the car. And then Erich should be home and we’ll shove off. I still have a lot to do, huh?

I should be packing, cleaning up my house, and doing massive amounts of laundry. But I’m not. I’m here, piddling around on the computer checking blogs and reading forums. Magdalena is just laying beside me too.
We’ll be leaving tonight at midnight and traveling all night. In between laundry, cleaning, and packing I should take a gigantic nap.

I am exhausted. I was ready for a nap about an hour after we got up this morning. It’s ridiculous. I don’t really think the sleep I got last night was bad though. I can tell you I had a bunch of really random oddball dreams. I can’t remember one of the ones that I was thinking of this morning but it was weird.

Anyway, Magdalena is quite the little imitator these days. Anything you can do, she can do better **sings I can do anything better than you!** heh. Sorry, I broke into song. As I was saying, she loves to mimic and imitate and do things like a big girl. She recently started shampooing her hair. As soon as the water gets her hair wet, she puts those cute chubby hands up there and rubs her head. She loves to brush her teeth, though I always get to brush her teeth first. She loves to help with the laundry. I’ve been just putting the wet clothes on the dryer and letting her push them in. I asked her to throw the fabric softener sheet into the dryer, but she tried to blow her nose with it so I don’t do that anymore. heh. The other day I was taking clothes out of the dryer. I’d get a shirt and then shake it out and fold it or hang it up. So Magdalena started taking clothes out of the dryer and shaking them. It was hilarious! If only I could teach her to fold them, because after she shook them, she threw them on the floor.

She is a major Daddy’s girl. She loves her Daddy. She is asleep when he gets home from work generally, but first thing in the morning after breakfast she goes looking for “Dadeeee.” Erich works in the basement on the desktop computer a lot so she’ll walk over to the basement stairs and holler “Dadeee!” When she sees him her face lights up and she giggles and gets completely thrilled. It’s the best little face ever, and I’m sure it feels good to see that face smiling at you.

She now marches and dances and sings. Well, she’s been dancing and singing for a really long time, but the marching is to cute and funny. It’s so funny to see this tiny little girl running around the house. She is so short! Though, in the last two weeks or so, she’s gained almost an inch in height. At her 15 month appointment she weighed 19lbs 2 oz and was 30 inches tall. She is finally outgrowing 6-9 month clothes, but only in length. She was declared perfectly healthy and way ahead of the developmental timeline which is always nice to hear. She is such a complete joy and we are so very thankful. I’ll post cute pictures tomorrow. Right now, it’s time for bed.