20 chore Tuesday (Wednesday) Thanksgiving Prep Edition!

This is Just a quick link up for 20 chore Tuesday. I decided on a Wednesday Thanksgiving Prep theme this week. I worked a short day for my mom and came home to tackle all of the things!

Living Room
Pick up toys
Clear off couch
Vacuum

Kitchen
Unload dishwasher
Load dishwasher
Handwash pots/pans
Clear Table
Clear/clean counters
Sweep
Put away toys

 Cooking
Wild rice stuffing
Lime Jello with pineapple
Cranberry sauce
Pumpkin roll cake

Miscellaneous
Drink water
Wash towels
Clean back bathroom
Clean front bathroom
Empty trash cans
Work from 8am-11am

So far (as of 7:45pm) I have accomplished everything but cleaning the bathrooms and the pumpkin roll cake.  But I have hope that I will get it all finished before bed!

Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Adams...Party of 4! Update

In August I shared that we are expecting baby number 2. I also shared a list of projects that I hope to complete before the new babe arrives in March/April.  So far I have crossed these off:

     Create a "Crash Pad" in J's room
     Re-Organize J's closet for 2
     Clear space for changing station in the Master Bedroom
     Make a mobile for the new changing station
     Recover the Rock 'n Play
     Learn to crochet a baby blanket
     Finish sewing baby bedding (supposed to be for J)
     Create a "Napping Place" for the NB
     Make new wet bags/cloth wipes/pail liners
     Turn old T-shirts into baby gowns


I haven't gotten very far but I have been thinking about this list for the last few weeks. I am learning how to crochet and have plans to visit a friend who is a crocheting goddess for some help.  I dug out the box of old t-shirts to make into baby gowns.  I dreamed up an idea for the new changing station mobile.  I also procured some cloth wipes.

I'm feeling good about progress, especially since I felt like I'd been run over y a truck for the first 14 weeks of this pregnancy.  I am 17.5 weeks along now and feeling great. A little extra tired due to toddler chasing.  He is getting pretty independent which makes me hopeful that I'll get this list checked off in the next 2 months.

Twenty Chore Tuesday

Since I started working three days a week as my Mom's daycare helper (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) I haven't been able to participate in 20 chore Tuesday.  I was feeling pretty bummed about it.  It dawned on me, I can to 20 chores any day and still link up on Tuesdays, so here we are.  I have decided that Monday is my "cleaning all the things" day since Friday is my day to spend with my husband and my weekends are usually pretty packed.  So with out further adieu and in no special order, my 20 chores:

Drink Water (all day long)
Take Vitamins
Unload Dishwasher
Pick Up Living Room
Vacuum Living Room and Hallway
Defrost Chicken
Wash Diapers
Jack Laundry
Katie Laundry
Make Dinner
Clean Laundry Area
Clean Front Bathroom
Clean Back Bathroom
Dry/Put Away Diapers
Empty Trash Cans (4)
Empty Recycling
 Load Dishwasher
Work on Give500 Sorting
Sheet Laundry
Take Jeans to Mom's

Nothing super hard or exciting this week. Just mainly catching up from running my Mother's daycare four days last week. Being pregnant and caring for 6 children for 10 hours by yourself is REALLY hard. Kudos to mom's who have to solo parent all of the time.

Getting it together with Give500

My good friend Emily has created a challenge for herself to give 500 things before Christmas.  She has encouraged anyone and everyone to join in. Check out her idea on her blog.  I am happy to jump in on this one because it means a little more getting it together.  (We'll talk more about 'getting it together' another time.)

I got a head start on my 500 things last week when I gave away 57 jars of baby food and three boxes of infant rice cereal.  I am a participant of the WIC program and if you are nursing your baby you get a ridiculous amount of baby food.  We chose to do Baby Led Weaning and skipped purees and cereal when J was learning to eat.  So I have had litereally hundreds of baby food jars sitting in my pantry.

It felt really good to be able to give what was going to waste (some were about to expire) to someone who needed it. I have so many other things, including more than 100 items of baby clothing, to give.  I just need to find the time to sort it all out.

Feeling inspred?  Jump in and link up!



Join in the challenge to #Give500 things away!

Twenty Chore Tuesday

This is my first time attempting Twenty Chore Tuesday and I am very hopeful!  If you don't know what this is all about check out my friend Emily's blog. Anyway, we are headed off to the Happiest Place on Earth later this week and I need to get some things done.

Here we go:

LAUNDRY
Rinse Diapers
Hang Diapers
Put Away Diapers
Katie Load
Jack Load

PACKING
Jack toiletries
Katie toiletries
PNP bedding

KITCHEN
Unload Dishwasher
Load Dishwasher
Hand Wash Leftover/Misc
Clear Table
Clear/Clean Counters
Sweep

LIVING ROOM
Pick Up Toys
Clear Couch
Empty Mini Crib
Vacuum

MISC
Drink Water (times 10 glasses)
Pick Up Desinee from School

Not too ambitious!

Adams, party of... 4!

Yep, I am pregnant! Squee!!!

There are so many things I could write about this new babe on the way, coming April 2013, but I am focusing on getting the house ready (for now).  I'll save the emotional bits for when I have more time to reflect and get mushy. Just sharing a "get this out quick" moment.

I have a slew of projects dreamed up and I am itching to get to them. I have ideas for transforming J's room from a space for one to a room for two. There are plans for revamping the master bedroom to be more NB friendly. I am even going to attemt some things that never got finished before J arrived.

So, let me give you a rundown of what's in my head now:

     Create a "Crash Pad" in J's room
     Re-Organize J's closet for 2
     Clear space for changing station in the Master Bedroom
     Make a mobile for the new changing station
     Recover the Rock 'n Play
     Learn to crochet a baby blanket
     Finish sewing baby bedding (supposed to be for J)
     Create a "Napping Place" for the NB
     Make new wet bags/cloth wipes/pail liners
     Turn old T-shirts into baby gowns

That is just a sampling of the million things I have pinned for babies and this new one specifically.  I have about 9 months to get them all done and I am shooting for 75% completion attempted. 

If you have anything you think would be awesome for a new baby, link me in the comments. I'll try anything!

Sugar Detox and attempting Paleo/Primal

I have been in a love affair with carbs my whole life, thanks to my mother's baking.  I am over it. Over.It.

I did a sugar detox during lent this year and it was only hard the first few days. I felt great the whole time and even lost 5 pounds.  Then on Easter I ate about a pound of it.  I am great at avoiding foods when I have a purpose. Pregnancy, upset tummy, heart burn, etc.  But obviously staying healthy hasn't been important enough. Until now.

I really want to get healthy, get pregnant, and have a VBAC.  But mostly I want to be healthy, which will give me the best shot at the other two. Notice I didn't say I want to lose weight.  I have said it, lost it, and gained it back many times.  I want to be HEALTHY!

So sugar detox is back on and I'm going to attempt the Primal Diet as best as I can. The primal diet is pretty interesting.  Essentially, no refined sugar, grains, processed foods.  Just foods that our ancestors lived on when they were hunter/gatherers.  My friend Emily and her family eat this way and it just seems better. Although right now she has cut out dairy which means she is eating a more Paleo style diet.

I started tonight after dinner with an awesome snack. I'm not following it super strictly but close enough to know it will make a difference. I made strawberry banana frozen yogurt and it was delish!  I used frozen fruit which is usually a no-no but I froze it myself.  I also used pasteurized yogurt and honey which the diet prefers you to eat raw.

Strawberry Banana Frozen Yogurt (Primal Style)

2 frozen bananas (peeled and cut into chunks)
1 cup frozen strawberries (cut in half)
1 cup plain whole milk yogurt
2 tablespoons honey

Add the frozen fruit to a blender or food processor with a little bit of water to get it moving.  Blend until smooth.  Add yogurt and honey, blend until incorporated. Enjoy! Makes enough for sharing with a husband and son.

I am hoping to keep this up for the next few weeks so I can see how it works for me. If I get the results I'm after I'll start working on my Husband!  Wish me luck.

-Katie

The blog, chaos, and cupcakes.

I have been tweaking the blog a little bit but I have no clue what I am doing with this thing. But I do know what happened tonight while I was trying to work on it.

Complete and utter CHAOS...and cupcakes.

The exact thing this blog is about.

Jackson, my son, has had a cough now for about 3 days. Today it got yucky and I suspect teething as well.  We slept in this morning (9:30)!  So I didn't even think about nap time until 1. He was out around 1:30 and that's where the trouble started.  30 minutes into his usually 2 hour nap he woke crying and coughing. It took another 30 minutes of singing, bouncing, rocking, and finally nursing to get him back down. He slept another hour and woke up in a great mood.

This was perfect timing for bed. He would be getting sleepy at 7:30, take his bath and go down. And he did, like clockwork. And then the CHAOS!  He woke about 9:30 crying and coughing. After 2 HOURS of Jeff, my Dear Husband, and Me trading  soothing duties I gave up and strapped him into the Moby.

We haven't used the Moby in almost 6 months, but it was a life saver tonight.  I strapped him on and handed him a mesh feeder full of ice and set to work. I whipped out my phone and pulled up a grain-free cupcake recipe (from elanaspantry.com)I have been wanting to test for Jack's birthday.  He fed me ice while I gathered ingredients and mixed up the batter. And just as I was setting the timer he started yawning. We plopped on the couch and he nursed to sleep while the cupcakes baked.

They are cool now and I am going to enjoy one with a glass of milk before hitting the sack.  It's 2 am and I have to be presentable at church for my first Mother's Day in just 9 short hours.  This will be an awesome story to share with him on his first Father's day. But that is a long way off, hopefully.

-Happy Messing

Hi.

I finally decided to start a blog.  I have been thinking about doing this for  long time now. Not really sure what I'll make it into, but here it is.