decluttering progress

We've made quite a bit of progress on our decluttering journey since starting March 5th with the rest of the "40 Bags in 40 Days" crew. I've shared some before + afters on Instagram and Facebook as we went along. It's great motivation putting your messy house on display, and it's been encouraging to get cheers from friends along the way as I share the progress.

Motivation to Declutter- 40 Bags in 40 Days

I came across Ann Marie Heasley's blog, White House Black Shutters last summer through Pinterest when she had started her "Summer Simplify" series. She shared inspiration for simplifying spaces around the home. I tackled quite a few areas and shared my success on Instagram along with her and other followers.

Now it's time for spring cleaning and our house (and garage!) could really use some decluttering and simplifying. Anne Marie came along again with 40 Bags in 40 Days and I was sold. Over the 40 days of lent you focus on areas that need to be decluttered and/or purged of the overflow. She even has a printable chart (see linked post above) to help you plan and keep track of your progress. I've got my whole house mapped out on one and am ready to start TOMORROW!

I chose fairly small areas and even broke some up into two days, for during the week. Saturdays are for bigger projects that Ben + I can take on together or one of us can spend time on while the other keeps track of the kiddos.

This is a layout of our teensie not even 900 square foot home to give you an idea of what we're working with here...

planning to catch up...

I'm currently surrounded by a couple heaps of clean laundry, a cluttered dresser and headboard, and a stack of mangled yarn. That's just in my bedroom, the room that we can easily shut in case of company. However, the rest of the house is in the same state. After 6 weeks of sickness and a scary illness that resulted in an unexpected hospital stay (which we all came home from with a new sickness), it's hard to figure out where to start. I'm still not feeling 100%, we all have this lingering cough that just doesn't seem to let go and so I'm having trouble figuring out how to get the house back in order.

I need a plan for catching up. I have a pile of mail that needs sorted, insurance and medical paperwork that need filed away, preschool lessons and finished projects, more laundry, sewing projects that range from just started to nearly finished that all got pushed aside when our healthy began to decline, a bag of items from Ben's birthday that never got put away, Sunday school projects, more shoes and coats than we need all at once next to the door, and probably more laundry. I also would like to get started on our taxes. Oh boy. At least the kitchen is clean, I have a very tired and amazing husband to thank for that (and all the other loads of laundry that actually did get put away). He's incredible. 

What do you do when you get behind on household chores and daily maintenance? Do you make a plan or just tackle it? Do you do a little bit at a time or wait until you get a chance to get it all done at once? 

I'm truly so humbled and encouraged by the friends + family who are still bringing us dinners. It has afforded us the rest and recuperation we need to get back into step with our daily lives and to focus on making sure everyone (especially Desmond) gets and stays healthy. Once again, we thank you. 

As an added note- if you haven't heard of it, the website Meal Train is incredible for setting up meals for people in need. For someone who has just had an illness (or 4), recovering from surgery, welcoming a new baby, or just could use a blessing- it means the world. We've been on both the giving and receiving end of several meal trains. I've used the site to organize meals for new parents, and for my mom after her surgeries last year. It's so easy and so worth it. 

mystery ailment + a cleaning challenge

I've lost count, but  it's been close to 10 days or so that I've been waking up to terrible cold/allergy symptoms. What's odder still is that each morning is worse than the previous. I've never had an illness where I get progressively worse over such a lengthy period of time. It's miserable. It's also really obnoxious trying to figure out what is wrong with me so I can treat it and move on with life.

First I assumed allergies, all the discomfort was in my sinuses and the Willamette Valley is literally the worst place in the U.S. for seasonal allergies. I've lived here all of my life and didn't begin to suffer from pollen allergies until 5 or so years ago, but even still it was fairly mild. These symptoms are not at all mild. 

A few nights ago I woke with trouble breathing, my throat felt like it was closing up. I woke Ben up and we googled strawberry allergies. I'd been handling and eating fresh strawberries every day since I had gone picking 9 days earlier. I noticed that day I went that my mouth felt tingly after just a couple berries, which was uncomfortable enough to make me stop. I hadn't thought too much about it as I ate strawberries in my smoothies and ice-cream and made strawberry jam and sauce, until I woke up feeling so weird. 

Turns out strawberry allergies (like most food allergies) have a lot of symptoms and "levels" of allergic reaction. Some people get that slight tingly feeling so they limit their consumption but indulge once in a while, others break out in hives, and then there's always the extreme cases where you go into anaphylactic shock. It was hard to determine if I was having a mild reaction from too many berries, if I had developed a worse case of seasonal allergies, or if I was (am) just suffering from the worst cold I've ever experienced in my 30-something years. 

My awesome husband woke up the next day to scrub down the entire kitchen and freeze the remaining fresh strawberries. He's some kind of wonderful, that one. I've avoided strawberries for the last 3 days and haven't really felt any respite. In fact, I've still been waking with additional and/or worsening ailments. 

I'm now suffering from sinus pain/pressure, running and stuffy and dry nose and sinuses, headaches of varying types and severity, swollen glands and tonsils, sneezing, watery/itchy eyes, a sore throat (dry, scratchy, burning, tight) that has been worsening each day over the last 10-ish days, on and off ear pressure/pain, hot flashes, fatigue... and the list goes on.

{smiling through the discomfort b/c my boys were snuggly for 5 seconds}

Now I'm certainly not trying to whine about this, but merely communicate that I'm truly confused by what is wrong with me. In an effort to find some relief I've tried apple cider vinegar, local honey, Claritin, Benadryl (at night), tea, lemon, tons of water, resting, not resting and more. Nothing helps for long, or at all. I'm totally stumped. So I guess I'll just do my best to wait this out. Although if it lasts past 2 weeks I'll be sure to get myself into the Dr. to make sure it's not tonsillitis or anything that I should be taking antibiotics for. However, from what I've heard from friends it could be seasonal allergies and I could suffer this way into July! Say it ain't so!

I have been able to get a little bit done around the house in addition to the normal day to day. I'd been inspired by the Summer Simplify Decluttering Series by Ann Marrie over at White House Black Shutters. I did the first week's list of "what is good and what needs to change" and then took up a little decluttering each day.

On the first day, I started very small and just went through the kid clutter on the fridge...

Then I went after our desk, which is ALWAYS a problem...

I do admit, I still need to go through the "in process" and "to be filed" boxes you can see to the left. Another day's project for sure.

And here's what Ben did with the kitchen, which I affectionately refer to as "the galley"...

{He's a smarty and put away our coffee maker since we only use it for Small Group meetings, which are on summer break. I use a french press for my own morning coffee. }

Our BIGGEST project will be the garage. It's FULL of random projects and our laundry room is also in there. We had a garage sale a month ago and while we immediately go rid of 3/4 of the stuff that was left over, there is still quite a bit to be donated, stored, and otherwise reorganized. Then we also put in a new door from the garage to the garden area and that project isn't quite finished so all the tools and such from that are spread across a ginormous table. It's pretty scary in there and unfortunately I have to go through it to get to the garden, and in the midst of it while doing laundry each day.

Sadly I haven't done anything since Friday because I've been feeling so crumby and we kept pretty busy on Father's Day (I'll share our gifts to Ben a bit later). Tomorrow my mom is having surgery (yes again- nothing to do with her cancer, but please say a prayer if you think of us) so Ben is working from home to allow me to be with my dad during that. I'm hoping to feel better for that of course, and to get on with the decluttering starting Wednesday.

where my time goes...

I've been terrible about updating around here lately. I knew it would happen once Desmond was born, but there's no way I could've predicted just how busy and different life would be. I feel like I have about 30 different projects going all at one time between work and home, all in different stages of "doneness" and all demanding my attention. Nothing demands my attention more than Kai + Des though, and they always win.

However, when I do get a chance to work on something here is how I spend my time:

* laundry. every person in charge of the laundry with a family of 4 knows how ridiculous and NEVER ENDING this chore is. It's always overwhelming, always. Right now there are about 10 categories: 1. Mine + Ben's dirty laundry. 2. The boys' dirty laundry 3. dirty linens 4. mine + Ben's clean clothes that need put away. 5. The boys' clothes that need put away (currently occupying the crib in the playroom-yikes.). 6. linens that need folded and put away 7. Des' clothes that are soaking in oxi-clean 8. clothes that are in the process of being washed/dried. 9. things that are hand wash only. 10. Clothes in the closets/drawers/on our bodies.

* dishes. pretty much the same story as laundry, although these get done quicker because 1. it gets gross faster and 2. there isn't room in my tiny kitchen to have dishes piling up.

* gift sorting. this is kind of an odd one, I know. We had a pile of gifts from Christmas and my birthday that was kind of taking over our living room (along with the clean laundry to be sorted). I don't give Kai all the new toys at once, nor Des for that matter. First I had to sort through the clothes, de-tag and wash the ones that fit now and put away the ones they'll grow into later. Next I dug out all the books and when I need a good distraction while nursing or putting Des down for a nap I'll grab a new book for Kai to read. Next are toys, which are all in a plastic tote until their time to shine. Last is the giftwrap/bags that I'm keeping. I'm almost done with this project as I had some time over the weekend to tackle it.

* Taxes. Right now I'm in the collecting stage, we still have 3 documents we're waiting on before I can get started.

*General cleaning. I sweep the floors every day and vacuum about twice a week (sometimes more). Kai helps me clean the playroom every couple of days and I'm constantly wiping down the dining area after he eats. I try to dust and wipe the whole house down, and scrub the bathroom at least once a week.

* General clutter. Every flat surface in our house has the tendency to accumulate clutter. Birthday cards, grocery lists, user manuals, books, vitamin containers, pens, paperwork, etc. Sometimes we'll go weeks without really putting these things where they go. It never takes long to clear off the desk/table/dresser/etc. but cleaning up dirt overrides clearing off clutter in my list of priorities.

* 2012 calendar. For the past 3 years I've done a photo calendar with pictures of the previous year's events on each month. I'm behind every year. This next calendar may have a starting month of March...

* organizing photos. I'm the most behind on this project. Before we moved here (almost 2 years ago) I had been in the habit of deleting photos that weren't great and renaming them by the date and putting them in folders by month and year. Once we moved, unpacking and getting the house ready took a priority over this project and I still haven't been able to catch up. Just about every photo from 2011 is in an obscurely labeled folder on the desktop. ugh.

* blogging. It's one of very few things that I consider "me" time, but I also do it for my family. It's my alternative to scrap booking or journaling.

* Reading. I NEVER get to do this, but last week I read The Help. I can't wait to see the movie!

* appointments. I used to make all the appointments, but now I have Ben take care of his own. So now I just schedule doctor, dentist, eye, and other appointments for the boys and myself.

* work. I've taken on a new job, which means more projects. I work on recruiting and scheduling volunteers at our church for nursery through 5 year olds. I make sure there are supplies for lessons, snack, clean up, diapering, and more. I organize curriculum for the two's and will soon be taking over the curriculum for 3-5's. I brainstorm ways to better the classrooms, volunteers, and more.

* finances. I keep track of our income + expenses, although this is something we've been talking about having Ben take over.

* small group. Ben + I just decided to host a small group through our church. It starts this week and I'm so excited! I need to prepare a snack/dessert and clean my house from top to bottom. (see all of the above items).

I'm sure I've missed something, and of course this is just all the indoor stuff since it's winter and we aren't tending to our yard + garden yet. Plus there's all the things that Ben does! He helps with the household stuff when I need it, but he also has plenty of other things to do like take out the trash, clean and organize the garage, maintain the cars, take care of all things technology and electronics and more.

clean + pack

Nothing too interesting to report today...only because I don't have to the time to blog. One of my besties from College, Carina, is coming to stay with us for a few days while she's on vacation. I'm so excited to spend some time with her and catch up. I haven't seen her since February, which is actually pretty recent for how often we go to the Portland area where she lives. She will probably be the last guest in our spare room before it turns into a play room (but we're planning on getting an air mattress so we can still have overnight guests...among the toys). 

In preparation for her coming, and for the long weekend coming up, I've been scouring the house and getting things organized. Clean clean clean, pack pack pack. Sweep, vacuum, dust, wash, fold, scrub, stack, organize...

We are going to attempt camping again this year. Having an (almost) two year old instead of an (almost) one year old should make some things easier and some things more difficult this time around. Add being in my 6th month of pregnancy and we may have a recipe for disaster. We're praying for fun instead. Feel free to pray with us, we could use the fun getaway. 

Once we get back we'll be celebrating our wedding anniversary, having a garage sale, then celebrating Kai's birthday, another bestie's wedding and planning for my baby shower. This summer is FLYING by!

What are your plans for the long weekend?








Don't forget to enter the two giveaways I have going on right now. One for Barielle nail strengthener that ends tomorrow and the other for an EcoMom gift card that ends on July 5th! Entries are low right now, so your chances are high!

Getting Ready

All week long I've been trucking through my list of things I want done before we take Malakai in for his surgery tomorrow. I've been de-cluttering, catching up on load after load of laundry, rinsing dishes, and scrubbing everything in site. I want it all taken care of so that I can focus on caring for Malakai and not the house.

I've hit a few bumps in the road with this plan. One being lower back pain. I didn't anticipate it being an issue at only 17 weeks pregnant but after lifting laundry, my 29lb. toddler, and scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees I was not doing so hot.

Then we received a bill from the 1st surgery consultation we had. There is no way we're paying for this appointment. The surgeon knew what we were there for, but waited for the actual appointment to tell us she couldn't perform the type of surgery our son needed. So I've had to make some calls on that.

I've been on the phone for what feels like two solid days trying to get all my questions answered by surgeons, nurses, billing and insurance personnel. I've been transferred so many different times I wanted to give up, but I didn't. I was actually able to speak with the manager of the surgical wing at our hospital who is personally going to see to it that as soon as Malakai gets set up in the PACU, we will be called to come in! I was on the verge of tears through all the transfers until I was able to speak with someone who truly understood me. Once I finally got off the phone I burst into tears.

{this scrunchy little face made everything better}

I've been back at the cleaning and de-cluttering (when I wasn't on the phone), but someone decided to put a kink in those plans. I opened the fridge to make myself lunch after getting Malakai settled only to see this...

{what, you don't soak your veggies in sugary drinks?}

Ben + I had made Passion Iced Tea Lemonade (sweetened of course) and I think that my mischievous little boy must have pulled the tab on the dispenser when mama wasn't looking. It wasn't leaking when I discovered the mess, so it must have snapped closed on it's own. However, the damage was already done. 

Thankfully Malakai was already set up to eat lunch so he was content and out of the way for me to tear the fridge apart. The next problem came when I couldn't figure out how to put it back together. First I took out the drawers, salvaged what I could, and cleaned them. Then I discovered that shelf where the tea was had gotten soaked and sticky as well so I emptied everything and wiped it down, but there were spots I couldn't get to. I attempted to take the shelf out but it fell apart. I called Ben, and we resolved to put the food in as I could and have him fix the shelf when he got home. 

I managed to get Malakai settled into his room for nap and make myself a quick PBJ for lunch. As I type this he has put himself to sleep after 15 minutes of pushing the buttons on his twilight turtle. 

{yes, I'm obsessed with my snoozing child}

So now I'm off again to try to get the most important things done and let the rest of it go. Surgery is scheduled for 10am tomorrow. Sadly we can't feed Kai breakfast, we're hoping he does okay with that. We'll be deploying all our best distraction tactics. Please pray that he's brave and calm and that the procedure goes by the book and he recovers well. Pray for my nerves and emotions and my worrying heart and that my husband can withstand all the tears that will likely escape from my eyes no matter how hard I try to hold them back. 

I'll do my best to post a quick update after we get home tomorrow. All depending on if he'll rest, if not I might be MIA for a while. 

Clean Sweep + 16 weeks

I love the weekends, but they go by entirely too fast. We just start to get into a groove of having Ben here all or most of the day and suddenly it's Monday morning again and he's out the door before we even wake up.

We had an impromptu dinner at my in-laws on Friday night followed by chasing Malakai around the yard in the beautiful weather.

Saturday was reserved for finally going through the garage, "Clean Sweep" style. During Kai's nap we  moved the car out into the driveway, swept the floor and taped down labels. We had a section for trash/recycling, donation, garage sale, storage, and keep/unpack.

I wish I would have taken before, during, and after pictures like I usually do. We were so in the zone and trying to make the most of our time before Kai woke up that I didn't think about it. I did take the advice of a friend and took pictures of things that aren't useful but have sentimental value so I could donate them or throw them away. How did I not think of that sooner?! Such a great idea for things like my counselor nametag from outdoor school and the box full of elementary school artwork that my mom snuck over from her storage.

Once Malakai woke up we tried to bring him out to have a snack in his stroller so we could keep working, but that didn't last long. So decided to leave the rest for after lunch on Sunday. Plus we had Ben's grandma and aunt come by to visit. They were seeing the house for the first time. Malakai was in a terribly cranky mood, throwing fits for seemingly no reason at all. I think he simply woke up on the wrong side of the bed and wasn't ready to entertain new people.

Later while I put dinner together Ben took Malakai to play out back. He got these incredible pictures of him discovering the dandelions. It made me wish I had been out there, and surprisingly enough it made me not hate the weeds as much as I usually do.

{look at the little seeds floating away, so pretty}

After dinner Kai decided to make another discovery. That the bed in the guest room (soon to be playroom) is like a bigger version of his. He looked so tiny when he climbed up and pulled the quilt over himself. I know that once our 2nd baby is here, Malakai will probably never look tiny again. 

{my mom made this quilt out of fabrics from my childhood: other blankets, clothes she had made me or my dolls, etc.}

On Sunday we did our regular church routine. Malakai did better with me leaving him in the nursery than he has been lately and was very pleasant with the volunteers and other children. The past few weeks he's been pushing and tantruming...not my favorite. 

Once we got home, Kai napped and we went back to work on the garage. He woke again before we finished, but we had gotten enough done that Ben could do the rest himself. Our trunk is now full of things for donation and everything in the garage is much more organized. There are still a few boxes to unpack, but at least we know what's in them and where we want it to eventually go. Once we have our garage sale we will have even more room. Right now we have our upright a/c from the old house, space heaters, a tv, and a ride on toy taking up most of the space. We're hoping we can make some good money to put towards Kai's surgery. 

Later that night we unpacked our DVDs for the first time since we moved just over a year ago! Shows how much time we have for watching movies around here. We actually decided to get rid of about half of them and added them to the garage sale pile. It felt so nice to know that we'll soon be rid of a LOT of clutter. I am really looking forward to the empty space in our future. 

Next, before the garage sale, we are going to go through all the closets and sort out clothes and other unpacked boxes. I'll mostly be working on this during nap times and Ben will help after bedtime during our rare free evenings. Is it weird to be excited about this? 

After finishing the garage Ben took the weekly belly picture. I had to laugh that I was wearing a really cute and put together outfit for church that morning and we took the picture in a t-shirt and jeans. Oh well. 

How far along? 16 weeks.

Total weight gain/loss: 7 lbs! Seemed like a lot to me, but I can't remember how much I had gained at this point last time around and Dr. M says it's just fine. 

Stretch marks? nope

Maternity Clothes: still a mix of small maternity and medium sized pre-pregnancy clothing. I've found myself digging out all my long tops. I have a feeling I'll need to store some shorter shirts already. 

Sleep: pretty good this week.Especially last night after all the work we did over the weekend. I find myself rolling onto my stomach and back lately. 

Best moment this week: Ben hearing the baby's heartbeat for the 1st time.

Movement: yes, lots! I can't wait for Ben to feel it. 

Gender: ultrasound scheduled for May 26th!

Labor Signs: nope.

Food Cravings: stirfry, vanilla ice cream, brownies. you know, healthy stuff. 

Belly Button in or out? in

What I miss: my pre-pregnancy jeans. I'm stuck to the same 2 pairs over and over right now.

What I am looking forward to: the ultrasound in just 25 days (yes, I'm counting down). 

Weekly Wisdom: get ready early. I'm so glad we're starting to get all the big cleaning and organizing items done now before I'm too big to lift and bend (although I'm careful about anything heavy). 

Baby Brain Moment of the Week: forgetting the words to things all the time. For some reason, with both pregnancies I seem to have trouble with words for describing furniture and fixtures. Last night I couldn't think of the word "knobs" when talking about the sink fixtures. 

What did you do with your weekend? Was it sunny and beautiful like it was here? 

some reviews...

I've been on a bit of a break from posting reviews and giveaways, but have some past due reviews for CSN to share with you. The wonderful team at CSN stores gave me the great opportunity to choose some items for review recently.

 I chose the Hoover Wet/Dry Hand Vacuum back in August. This little thing has been a lifesaver. I must say that my primary reason for choosing this product was to clean up after Malakai's meals. His highchair has a way of collecting crumbs and I didn't want to remove the cover to shake it out after every meal. The wet/dry feature was important for obvious reasons. I also wanted cordless and something with a wall mount. This was the only choice in a small handheld vacuum with all of those options.

It holds a charge for a long time. I don't always put it on the charging base and it has yet to die on me. It's also super easy to empty + clean out. My only complaint is that it's SUPER loud and makes a bit of a high pitched sound. I'm assuming all hand vacs are about the same in this, I just make sure Malakai isn't near it when it's running.

Earlier this month we received the North States Supergate III for review. We were in need of a gate that would work for our hallway to keep Malakai out of the other side of the house so we could get things done without constantly having to find out where he ran off to. With the layout of our house, this also enables us to have our bedroom + bathroom doors open more often which keeps the whole house at an even temperature. We also move the gate into the kitchen when I'm working with the oven or Ben is loading/unloading the dishwasher to keep Kai away from hot, sharp + breakable objects. We only do this when the other one is home to watch him since we only have the one gate and he could wander out of sight to the other side of the house.

This gate has worked really well for us so far. We've only been using it for about 3 weeks. I only have 2 minor complaints. One was that when we received it there was styrofoam literally inside the gate between the two pieces that slide and it was nearly impossible to remove them to use the gate. Second, it's really difficult to get the lock into place. I'm guessing this is probably pretty standard with tension gates in order to get them to stay, but it's really difficult!

Being short, this gate is a bit too tall for me. I've already fallen once (go ahead and giggle) because I caught my toe. Not the first time something like this has happened to me...all 5'2" of me tried hurdles in High School...bad idea.  Anyway, I just have to be really careful when going over it.

We're thinking of getting another one to create a bit of a smaller space that keeps Malakai on one side of the house AND out of the kitchen at certain times. Just an FYI we don't use the gate all the time or keep Malakai only on the one side of the house. We feel it's important for him to be exposed to all the parts of our home for the purpose of exploration and to learn boundaries.

As always, feel free to ask me for additional information or tips in the comment section or via email (link to the left). 

social hangover

Just when I think I've been super busy, last weekend's events reminded me that my day to day isn't so full after all.

In preparation for our friends coming to stay and our housewarming we had been unpacking (still, I know), deep-cleaning and decorating the house (finally). I don't have a lot of pictures of our newly decorated walls or the lovely faces that came through our doors on Saturday, instead I'll show you this horrible photo...

This is a before + after of the grout in our dining room + kitchen. I already hated this tile before, but I had no idea that it was this dirty! I've cleaned these floors frequently since we moved in 6 months ago. I simply focused on the grout with an abrasive bristle brush, and look what I've been missing!

The only thing worse than having lived with this dirt for so long without knowing it is that this discovery came after I had already washed all 100+ tiles on my hands + knees with steaming hot water. As if I didn't have enough to do the day of our guest's arrival, I scrubbed all the grout clean and then wiped the floors down again. Yes, I cleaned the floor 4 times in one day. I wanted to die. (insert dramatic tone here).

I calmed down quite a bit once our guests arrived. I decided to just let the messes that were undone wait for the next day and just hang out and relax for a while. Meeting their little baby Liam was so overdue, and he's just a doll! (photos coming soon...). That night we watched Community + 30Rock before bed and it felt weird to sit and relax for an evening after not doing so for more than a week.

On Saturday it was go-time once again. I started baking fairly early to get the rest of the brownie cupcakes done. I had already made the other treats earlier in the week (recipes coming soon...). Ben did some finishing touches outside, we tidied up our room and I was still setting up the food when our first open house guests arrived at 1pm.

We showed the house, ate food,  and visited with friends + family until 4:30pm or so when it was just us and our house guests again. Then we went out to dinner and the babies made a mess of the place and passed out on the car ride home. Us parents weren't far behind.

Sunday after church I did some family photos for our friends, which I'll post about later. When we got home to our house, just the three of us again,  Malakai wanted to explore the neighborhood a bit before dinner. He chased his shadow, went up and down the curb a dozen times and felt the textures of concrete + dirt.

It was a whirlwind of a weekend. We were surrounded by people for 48 hours straight. It was great, I'm thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to relax in the calm after the storm.

How was your weekend?

Thankful on a Thursday: clean

I'm in the middle of cleaning up the house. I can't believe it's already Thursday. This week flew by, and while I'm mostly glad for that, it also means that not everything on my to-do lists got checked off. So, even though my tension headache has had me on a roller coaster of intense pain to a bearable ache I'm determined to get things done. But first I'm taking a break from scrubbing the toilet + folding the laundry to eat lunch and type out my thankful list. It's just as much a priority for me to sit down and reflect on the gifts God has blessed me with. Big, small + everything in between.

This week I'm thankful for:

271. quiet moments to relax and try to sleep off this ache.

272. Malakai's bright green eyes + big silly smile.

273. my husband and his co-worker/carpool buddy for stopping at Starbucks to pick up my tension remedy: iced Caramel Macchiato. It hit the spot, for about an hour anyway.

274. the feeling of accomplishment after completing those daunting tasks like the stack of laundry that's taller than me, and the ever growing pile of mail +paperwork that needs sorting. 

275. our small home. even though sometimes it feels cramped, it keeps us close together. 

276. funny moments like this...

277. connecting with new + current friends through blogging.

278. ice cold water {I can't drink it any other way}

279. Kai's tiny handprints all over the house

{hi, mama}

280. the upcoming long weekend, I love having Ben home with us. 

What are you thankful for this week?

 Leave a comment, or share your blog post.

naturally

When I was younger I never related much to environmental causes. I didn't see the sense in going out of my way to buy natural products or organic foods. I didn't think one person could make much of a difference. The only thing I really did do was recycle, in Eugene Oregon just about everyone does. It's actually weird not to recycle here.

Now it's much more convenient to buy natural products from cleaning to cosmetics. Organic produce is in almost every grocery store and Farmer's Markets and other local meat + produce merchants are easier to find.

Information about what pesticides + chemicals do to your system and what products contain them is more prevalent as well. We now know more about how these things do more harm than good. Unfortunately, harmful chemicals are used more than they were. My grandma made the observation the other day that foods in the grocery store are more widely imported from other countries than when she was raising kids.

However, for me, starting to live a little bit more healthfully + naturally wasn't inspired by availability, popularity, or even ease of use {although those things help!} but by wanting what's best for my son. Informing myself by doing research online and talking with other parents has really inspired me to take the extra step. This is why I chose to breastfeed, make Malakai's baby food, buy organic, use natural cleaning products.

I had a conversation with my cousin over email not too long ago {she's expecting her 1st baby in February} and she made a funny statement about becoming a "hippie mom". The choices we are making to lead more natural lives surely would have landed us in that category 10, even 5 years ago, but now it's becoming part of popular culture.

More people are choosing to save some money, live healthier, and feel better. Companies are using the trend to sell their products by using hot button words like green, natural, organic + eco-friendly. While this is a great trend to be taking place, consumers still need to be mindful of what they are purchasing. For example, with foods, things can be labeled as "Certified" or even "USDA Organic" but still contain traces of hormones, antibiotics, + pesticides. Had I not done my research + had the necessary conversations with others who had done theirs, I would have just assumed that if it said "USDA Organic" that it would be free + clear of anything unnatural.

In my effort to change things for my son, I've also started to introduce more organic products for myself + my husband. We started using vinegar, baking soda + even vodka as natural ways to keep our home clean. More recently we've been using Seventh Generation products. In my quest to use better products in our home, I've found that natural ones don't always work better. I've also discovered that in some instances I'd rather just use the cheap generic system because the benefit can outweigh the risk.

Recently I've wanted to try cloth diapering. I'm still working on getting Ben on board. After advice from readers + some twitter friends, the only thing that got him to say "yes" is if we got some products for free. Needless to say I have been entering giveaways like crazy! The more I read up on all it takes to cloth diaper {the initial expense of purchasing enough diapers, inserts, etc., plus laundering, special detergents, a diaper sprayer, wet bags, + more} I'm not sure if it will save us money, even in the long run. We buy Up + Up diapers for the daytime and use Amazon's subscribe + save to get a discount on pampers for overnight. This only puts us at spending about $350/ year on disposable diapers. If we switched to cloth I'd want to try a couple different kinds, plus the expense of a whole set once we chose our favorite would easily be $400 alone {I'm basing this off of an assumption that we'd go with some nicer AIO's} and that's not including all the extras I mentioned! I also know that babies are prone to a diaper rash at the onset and I don't know if I want to put my son through that discomfort.

So, while we're moving towards "greener" living, I just don't know if cloth diapering is going to be in our near future. However, I can totally be convinced otherwise if you give me some counterpoints {or some free diapers!}.

7th Generation Review + Giveaway {CLOSED}

As you may have noticed I've been trying to be more health + environmentally conscious. I think being a mom has really made me think about the chemicals we have around and put into our bodies.

Recently I contacted the wonderful people of Seventh Generation about working with them on a Review + Giveaway. Obviously, they agreed! I was so excited to try out their baby + cleaning products. They sent me their Natural Baby Starter Kit which included the following:

Chlorine Free Diapers

Chlorine Free Baby Wipes

Disinfecting Multi-purpose spray

Disinfecting Bathroom spray

Disinfecting wipes

Baby Laundry Liquid

Natural Recycled Paper Towels

The first thing I noticed is that the labeling on all their products encourage consumers to know more. They list their ingredients and some information, but then go beyond that and invite you to view more information about what is in their products at their website. I love that they are so transparent, it's refreshing in comparison to most manufacturers. 

Their disinfecting cleaners are fairly new and use natural ingredients to disinfect instead of the usual bleach or whatever else is in your typical household cleaner that most of us can't even pronounce. Gotta love that!

I was the most excited to try out the diapers. Malakai hasn't had trouble with any other disposable diapers, but I was still curious of these would hold up to what we were used to. Normally we use Target's Up & Up brand during the day and Pamper's Extra Protection for bedtime. The Seventh Generation diapers did great during the day, they actually kept Kai dry longer than his normal diapers.  I was even brave enough to try them out overnight a couple of times and we had no leaks and no redness!

The wipes were okay at first. They seemed a little thin and sort of dry. Fine for a wet diaper, but both Ben and I hated using them for soiled diapers. Even after using 4 or 5 wipes I felt like I wasn't cleaning Malakai's diaper area good enough with them.

I used the disinfecting multi-purpose spray in the kitchen the most. My favorite thing about the spray is the bottle itself. The sprayer works really well and doesn't drip. I think I may have been buying too many sprayers at the dollar store recently. I liked the fresh scent and it cleans up really well. I don't feel like I have to clean twice to get rid of chemical residue or deal with the sour smell of vinegar. I've used the Clorox Green Works before and I think it smells absolutely awful and stopped using it. The Seventh Generation Disinfecting spray is MUCH better!

I used the natural paper towels with the spray often or just with water in the kitchen. They work better than the regular paper towels I get. They were very absorbent but a little on the scratchy side for the occasional wiping of my son's face/hands/arms etc. after a meal if I needed something quick.

I tried the bathroom spray in the shower. It worked okay but I think I prefer an abrasive cleaner for tubs + toilets. If Seventh Generation came out with something like Ajax, I'd buy it right away! Although they do carry specific shower and tub + tile spray cleaners that I haven't tried.

The disinfecting wipes are one of my favorite items. Having a baby, I have a lot of surfaces that need a quick wipe down {changing table, high chair, counter top, spills on the floor, toys, etc}. I used these in all of those places and more. They work great and have a pleasant smell, but it doesn't linger. Ben even used them to clean up a hand-me-down toy we received and was pleased with the result.

I've used the laundry liquid several times. It comes in 2x concentrated so you don't have to use very much and it's specially formulated to work in cold water. I almost always wash Malakai's clothes in cold, but I tried it with our clothes too and liked being able to wash more things in cold and feel like they were getting clean! There is no scent or color. I'm used to using a free + clear detergent, but love that the ingredients in this are natural. 

Overall I loved Seventh Generations products and am so happy to have had the opportunity to try them out!

GIVEAWAY!

Now it's your turn to try out Seventh Generation's wonderful products. One reader of Breaking New Ground will win the Natural Baby Starter Kit that I reviewed. Open to US residents only.

For your first and MANDATORY entry please visit Seventh Generation and leave a comment here with what product you have used and love or would try if you've never used their products before.  

Giveaway ends Wednesday July 28th at 5pm PDT!

For additional entries {leave 1 comment for each fulfilled}: 

• Become a member of the Seventh Generation Nation + leave a link in your comment to your profile once you've signed up. 

• Follow me + Seventh Generation on twitter and tweet the following: "#win Seventh Generation Products from @ShanLeAnn + @SeventhGen at http://bit.ly/9VMcnT " can be done once per day.

• Become a public follower of my blog

• Add my button to your blog and leave a link where I can find it. 

<a href="http://www.breakingnewground.us/"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y229/shandell/blog/MLBbutton.jpg" /></a>

Any comments that do not fulfill the requirements for entry will be deleted without notification. If you are not signed in to a google account with an email attached to your profile, please leave an email address in your comment and use the example at gmail dot com format to avoid spam!

Disclaimer: While I did receive products from Seventh Generation for the purpose of review I was not compensated for this or any review and the opinions stated are honest and my own. For additional details see disclosures. 

As always, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need clarifications. Find me on twitter or click the email me button to the right. 

Good luck!

lists, notes, boxes, + checkmarks

I love lists. I'm always making new lists, referring to old lists, trying to find lost ones so I can remember what I wrote down so I wouldn't forget...or to prove to my husband that I DID tell him something that he inevitably forgot. Sometimes, lists save my life.

Other times, lists take over a bit.

I have a list for almost everything. Recently we went from one shopping list to two. One is for groceries and the other is for non-food items and sometimes {like right now} the 2nd one has a to-do list on it instead. Every time we run out of something I add it to the shopping list so that when we're at the store next, we won't forget. Except....I usually leave this list on the fridge and sometimes I remember to transfer what's on it to a smaller list.

The newest list is written in sharpie on an old dry erase board. It's a weekly chore list adapted the cleaning plan of another blogger. I like checking things off with my red dry erase pen. Sometimes I get more of a thrill when Ben notices how many of the boxes have red check marks than from actually checking them off..

The list from our move {packing, cleaning, address updates} is still on the wall. Below it is a list of things that need to be done here at the "new" house. Below that is another shopping list of sorts...a reminder for a lot of gifts we had to get or need to get soon for weddings, birthdays, + graduations. This one is very important in avoiding our usual trip to the store just before the event. I HATE doing that!

I also have lists that I make when I read. I jot things down when I'm reading through a magazine; fun ideas, websites to visit later, other things that pop into my head. I'm currently reading through The No-Cry Sleep Solution {more on that in the near future} and am making notes and to-do lists on our plans to implement it's advice.

Often I'll scrawl out quick to-do's in my pocket calendar, trying to keep track of all the events we have going on each day of the week/month/year. I also have a notebook of questions and advice from all of Malakai's pediatrician appointments with a list of things to ask at his next well visit.

Writing all this stuff down is really helpful for my tendency to forget things {that started with the infamous pregnancy brain}. Like I said, sometimes my lists save my life.

However, sometimes I need to stop writing stuff down and just start doing. I like to make lists of what I want done around the house. This is actually really helpful when Ben is also here and working along side me so he knows what to do next {he asks for this kind of help}, but when it's just me I need to forgo the urge to create a list and just get going.

This week- that's what I'm doing! Wish me well...

routine

I've never had much of a routine. My whole life it seems as soon as I start to get into a groove something changes. Within the last couple of years I've learned to expect and embrace the changes. That's where the name of my blog comes from as we're constantly on the brink of something new.

A lot of women, especially moms, seem to have a daily routine. This is something I've only dabbled in, but never tried with much fervor. When I was a college student I grew accustom to spontaneity and quite enjoyed the ability to do almost anything I wanted whenever I wanted. That and the fact that every 10 weeks I had a whole new class and work schedule. It worked for me.

When I "settled down" and got married a few years ago neither Ben or I had much of a regular schedule. He is a musician, which translates to casual and flighty for the most part and had just started a new job. I was a couple years into a job at a college which had it's seasons, but pretty much changed from a desk job to an on-the-road job every few months. Things weren't quite as spontaneous but we still had the ability to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. I indulged in eating ice cream instead of lunch, watching movies uninterrupted late into the evening, heading out for coffee with a friend at a moment's notice, laying out by the pool for hours on warm summer weekends.

Near the end of my pregnancy {this time just last year} I wanted to do less, and just stay around the house more and more. We didn't go to the movies {last night we went to the theater for the first time in 2 years}, we declined the few invitations we received to go out to late dinners, and the most activity we got was walking at least a mile every day in an effort to get labor going. We were still doing what we wanted, when we wanted...we just wanted to do less.

sitting for a minute

We surely had a busy weekend as I referenced in Friday's post. My siblings actually came over and helped Ben do some yard work. I'm so thankful for them picking up all the tree debris that was in the flower beds. We have an enormous maple tree in the front yard that had dropped a ton of seeds (you know the ones that spin down like helicopter propellers) before we even moved here. It was so bad that there were actually little saplings shooting up all over the yard! I wish I had a before and after picture, but they made the yard look so much better. We also happen to have an equally gigantic maple tree in the back that had dropped leaves everywhere that never got cleaned up while the house sat for sale from September until March. Sadly the once lovely lawn now has a ton of dead patches from the leaves. I'm not sure we'll get a chance to remedy this until next spring.

Meanwhile, I got some unpacking done while my sister-in-law played with Malakai. I'm going to try to finish a couple rooms today and clean up the kitchen. I'll be watching Henry at our house today for the first time, hopefully that goes well!

Now that's it's Monday and we didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping I'm eating a rather healthy breakfast of oatmeal (chocolate chip cookies).

keeping it clean

This new home has consumed our lives. Every time I turn around there is something new that needs attention. The biggest job has simply been getting it clean. Those who've been following for a while may remember that we were given the keys to our new home only 18 hours before we were scheduled to move in.

I thought I could get the major things cleaned in that amount of time. Scraping the dreadful wallpaper off of the walls in the tiny bathroom took 5 hours, with two people. We accomplished an impressive amount of painting and I was able to spray the oven with cleaner so it could sit overnight (later I noticed that said oven was actually self cleaning-whoops!). We finally left the house that night at midnight to go pick up Malakai who was having trouble sleeping at Grandma's.

On Saturday March 27th I found myself moving into a very dirty house. I never noticed how dirty it was until I got on my hands and knees and adorned those yellow rubber gloves. The previous owner had actually passed away and the home was in the care of her heirs. It made me sad that it looked as though nobody had helped her out with the cleaning as it had to have taken quite a while for the grime to build up the way it had it places that people don't think to clean when selling a house.

My sister helped me get started with the kitchen, which was by far the dirtiest of all. She scrubbed the oven as well as cupboards and drawers while I took on the fridge and freezer. I will spare those of you who may be eating while reading and not describe the filth in detail.

Over the next couple weeks I scrubbed the kitchen and swept the floors during Malakai's naps. My mom came over a couple times to help out as well. The kitchen is now totally moved in, but *GASP* it isn't totally clean yet. We still need to get underneath the fridge and the oven. These jobs I've designated to my wonderful husband as I'm sure they will be quite gross and I did the rest of the kitchen. Thanks in advance Ben!

For cleaning supplies I started to use cheap bleach cleaners from the Dollar Tree and they worked just fine. I wiped everything down with hot water afterward to make sure to not leave any residue that would linger on us and eventually transfer to Malakai. 

I also discovered that white vinegar and baking soda make a great natural cleaner. It took out the musty smell in the dishwasher that had been sitting unused for way too long. I also happened to have a giant container of really cheap vodka left over from a going away party three years ago. Ben and I obviously don't drink a lot of hard alcohol. It works great as a cleaner and really makes things shine without leaving behind any of those strong smells. 

For the floors my in laws purchased a Shark steam mop for their own floors but let us try it out first. All it uses is water. I loved this concept as I am reluctant to use any chemicals on the floors now that Kai is scooting and crawling all over them. It worked fairly well but left water streaks on the wood laminate flooring. I'm not too picky, so I'd probably use it again!

This past weekend I scrubbed down a bunch of the doors and light switches. My favorite tool to use on projects like this is an old toothbrush. I also used a toothbrush to scrub the nooks & crannies of the refrigerator. It's amazing the places that old food will find to hide. 

We are far from being done and keep finding new things to add to our list, but it's nice to finally be in a position where I feel like most of the house is clean and we can move forward with settling in.