Bed

I have been waking up with headaches and backaches for a long time now. I thought at first that it was because I was pregnant and being huge was causing my back to hurt. Then I thought it was because I was side-lying nursing and that was causing strain on my back. Then I thought it was because I was sort of squished between Smug-Hub and Smug-Baby some nights. I have decided now that it is the fact that our bed is 1) too small (queen) for three large people (OK, so Smug-Baby isn't that large, but she is tall for her age and her daddy and I are both big, so we take up her space) and 2) it is over 15 years old and was cheap to begin with.

I want a new bed. I asked Smug-Hub is we could go looking for a new bed and I thought he was going to jump out of his skin with excitement! He tells me that he also has been very uncomfortable for several years now and has been wanting a new bed. We talk about it before heading to the store that we are not going to buy a bed today, we are just going to look...

Two hours later and $2,100 lighter we have a new king sized bed to be delivered next Friday (8/19). It is the Serta version of the Tempur-Pedic bed, called iComfort, and it was a lot less expensive. It also has a 25 year warranty, so if at any time in the next 25 years we find that we are not sleeping as well as we do in the beginning, they will come out and repair or replace the bed. Also, there is a 6 month trial period, so if we get it home and decide we don't like it after a few months, we can return it for a full refund. It was also on sale by about $400 AND no interest for 24 months. So, as long as we pay $100 a month on the card, at the end of the two years, it will be paid for with no interest charges.

I am really excited. We got the flat version, but they offer a version with massage and adjustable head and foot stuff. We figured that we didn't really need that and we hadn't needed it in the past and probably wouldn't use it anyway.

So, just a few more nights of being squished and waking up with pain an headaches before our new bed arrives!

Now, I have to purchase sheets and stuff (yeah, I know, a hardship!!) and also figure out how this new big bed is going to fit into the bedroom....

Happy

I woke up this morning just before the alarm was supposed to go off. I turned it off so it wouldn't buzz and lay there a moment waking up. I was in the middle, cuddled between my husband and my sweet girl. They were both on their backs, hands behind their heads, one knee up in the air. I can't believe how much alike they are! I smiled as I watched them sleep and realized that it was Friday. My last day of work for the week and the final day of my weekly tasks around the house. Tomorrow I can sleep until I wake up, stay in bed until I want to get up and cuddle with my family until all our emotional cups are overflowing with love!

I felt really happy. I noticed that I had a smile on my face when I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and shower. I sang all the way into work and got a lot accomplished before I left for the day. I enjoyed a nice breakfast that included TWO whole pieces of toast! I was living on the edge man!!

I spent the day with my dear child, who after some separation anxiety, has decided that she likes playing in her bedroom for long periods of time (like 10 whole minutes) by herself with the door shut. She just knocks when she is ready to come back into the rest of the house. It is really cute! I worked on stuff around the house, knocking out not only my daily task of dusting, vacuuming and mopping, but I gathered up stuff for the Goodwill and did the deep cleaning tasks for the master bedroom. I'm already ahead of the game!

I made a nice dinner of burgers with potato salad, steamed asparagus and cauliflower and this zucchini, squash and corn dish and some corn on the cob. Mostly I made all this because the veggies were starting to look like they might be headed for the great veggie patch in the sky! It was nice and we sat around talking and laughing and watch Smug-Baby eat most of an entire ear of corn all by herself.

It was a good day and I foresee a lovely weekend!

I start counseling next week to deal with all my constant unhappiness. Could it be that my sub-conscious has worked through whatever was bothering me so much and now I don't even need counseling? I'm still going to go, but it was almost like the act of taking control of things and making the appointment was the defining factor and started me back on the right track. We will see I suppose!

Bumps

I was folding laundry last night and Smug-Hub had taken Smug-Baby outside to "help" him water the plants. I heard the garage door close and them moving around downstairs. Then my heart went into my throat and I went still listening. I had heard something fall or smack. I knew the sound before I knew what had happened. There was no crying, I thought maybe I was imagning things, then I heard her gasp for air and the scream came next. Smug-Hub was calling to me and coming up the stairs even I moved around the couch to get to her.

To my paniked eyes the whole side of her face looked bashed in and the large purple lump was already visible. I took her little pain riddled body in my arms and rocked her and mermered softly to her while I got her positioned and myself free and her latched on. She nursed and pulled away to cry more and then nursed again. Smug-Hub had run to the freezer for some ice and by the time he returned she was calmer and even pulled away when we applied the ice to her head, which now we could see was just bumped and not bashed. I think that between the panic and her face contorted from pain and the terrible lighting in the living room, it just looked worse than it was.

Once she was calm and nursing and the ice had done its work, Smug-Hub explained that she had tripped over the vacuum cleaner and while she put her hands out to catch herself, the momentium had carried her face right into the concrete of the laundry room floor. We both felt sick to our stomach's and called our friend who is a retired doctor and she told us that babies are bendy and made to withstand falls like this. We both called our mom's for double reassurance too, but by then Smug-Baby was playing happily in the bath and Smug-Hub and I almost collasped from the sudden depletion of all our adrenaline!

I'm so glad that she is fine. It was really scary...

Recaping The Week

The last week was very hard on me but it was even harder on my poor Smug-Baby. She was cutting yet another tooth (she is down to only needing 1 more and then her two-year molars) and on Tuesday night spiked a 103 temperature. She woke up, sat up and said “ice” (her word for water) about 30 times until Smug-Hub was able to grab her sippy cup and then she drank like she was parched! This was after staying latched on most of the night!! Needless to say, she had a rough day on Wednesday. It was my busiest day and my BIL was off work and watching the girls so Smug-Sister and I could work.

Backing up, I am working on my quarterly project and have been running up and down the stairs trying to work and still be a good mom and there for my sweet girl, but every time I had to go back to work or attend a meeting I would have to leave and she would scream. Which is no fun for her to be sure, but horrible for my BIL who had to try to calm and distract her and beyond horrible for me who had to sit in my meetings listening to my child who is clearing communicating her needs to me and I am not coming to her aid. She trusted me to be there for her in her times of need and I (to her mind) had abandoned her! It was awful and I am so glad that it is over finally.

The fallout has been hard because now Smug-Baby bursts into hysterics if I leave her line of sight. We can be hanging in the living room and I walk into the kitchen, out of her eyesight and she notices and begins to scream until she can see me again. I feel horrible that she is having trouble and I am not looking forward to October when I have to do this all again L

On a positive note, I was able to keep up on my daily tasks and weekly project for the most part throughout the week and was rewarded with a free weekend to hang with my family and our friends. We had Saturday brunch with my sister’s family, Saturday afternoon we drove to a friend’s lake house for swimming, visiting and dinner. Sunday we had a nice relaxed morning and then had some long-lost friends over for lunch. After they left about 3:30, Smug-Grandma came over and told us all about her trip to Belize. I didn’t have anything hanging over my head, the house looked nice and I was at peace knowing that I have a plan of attack for the whole house!

After I spend another week or so tweaking and perfecting my daily and weekly schedules there are a couple of things that I want to tackle next. One being, fitness. I need to spend some time figuring out how to add exercise to those daily and weekly schedules. I think that once I have the house stuff under control and running smoothly, it will not feel such a daunting task to add another element. Second, is food. I really want to have healthy snacks on hand, healthy food in the freezer for those busier days and a good, plant-based meal every night, on the table when Smug-Hub gets home from work. This is another area that needs a bit of thought and planning to get it to fit into my life in a way that doesn’t cause panic or frustration. Once I have those two tasks integrated, all the areas of my life should be getting the attention they need and deserve and I will finally have found the balance that I so desperately seek!!

Day 1

Well, I have been working to follow my new schedule and it is really helping me focus! I know when things are going to get done and I know what I need to get done today and tomorrow, so I know that I can work to get ahead or not worry about not getting everything done because I should have time to finish it tomorrow. It is keeping me focused on the tasks at hand and not wandering around looking at all the stuff that I have to get done with no plan of how or when it is going to get done and feeling depressed about it.

I knew that I didn’t want to spend the weekend working around the house, so we spent the weekend with family and friends and each other. We saw some friends whom we connect very well with, but hardly ever see. Nikki and I are very like-minded when it comes to parenting. We both love to cook and are organized, routine-loving people so we get along great! Sharing ideas and supporting each others decisions. I would really like to see them more and while we were there, we scheduled another breakfast at our place in about a month, so I am looking forward to that.

We shared two meals with my dad and step-mom and that was nice. We spent lots of time with Smug-Baby refilling her little attention cup. Given the week that we just had and the week we are diving into her quality time with mommy and daddy has been/will be limited, so we spent tons of time with her, just playing and rolling on the floor and stuff.

I spent zero time cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, nothing!! Sunday evening I did run a few loads of laundry because I knew that Monday was laundry day and I wasn’t going to be able to come back to the house during the day due to this special project that I am working on at work. I am able to work remotely, but still have to have care for Smug-Baby and Smug-Niece.

Today, I ran more laundry before I left for the office, I spent the day at Smug-Sister’s and my dad and step-mom came over and cared for the girls while Smug-Sister and worked. When I finished up, I ran by to see a friend who is in from out-of-town and visited with her for a bit and then got home about 6:30. I worked on finishing up the laundry, straightening up the house and making dinner. After Smug-Hub got home and dinner was consumed, he and Smug-Baby rolled around and played on the floor and cleaned up the kitchen and finished the last of the laundry.

Then it was bath time and we all got ready for bed. Now we are waiting for someone to get tired enough for sleep. It is close to 10:30 and she is still up and playing and having a good time with her daddy. I wonder if she is fighting sleep because she is just so happy to be with us. She has been bursting into tears on and off and I wonder if her belly is hurting. She had pizza for the first time today and I wonder if that is too much concentrated dairy for her sensitive stomach. I haven’t felt great in my stomach either today after I indulged in some pizza too, so…

Tomorrow’s task is to do the grocery shopping so I have spent some time tonight clipping the coupons and putting my lists together. I also found some organizers on sale at Target, so I might try to run out there after work too – I have big plans for the space under the stairs!! I will also need to collect all the trash and recycling and get that out. Not too much for one day really is it??

Time to get this baby concentrating on bed!!

A Brand New Plan

I have been trying to come up with a way to structure my work/home/family life in a way that is more workable than the running around like a chicken without a head like I have been recently. I have been trying different approaches but nothing so far as been working for me. I have found a lot of ideas online, along with some free printable lists, schedules, menus, etc to help one organize and run their lives. However, nothing that I have found was a totally “me” way of doing things and I wanted to customize a plan that would fit into my life.

As you know, if you have been reading my blog a while, I am working part time for the company that I have worked for since 2001 (6-10am), then I work several days a way for my sister caring for her little girl (10:30am-5pm). I also handle the house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, bill paying, diaper washing, etc. I don’t handle the garage or the outside, Smug-Hub takes care of the yard work, the landscaping, the little garden, mowing and shoveling snow, etc.

It has always been my position that since I am not bringing in as much money or working as long of hours as Smug-Hub then the responsibility of the other areas of our life should fall to me. Having said that, Smug-Hub does a lot around the house too, part of his responsibilities include picking up the slack and doing the things that I am not able to get done in a day/week. He is always willing to help if I ask him (he does tend to whine about it for a while, but he does do it).

So, my goal has been to find a way to run the household and get all the chores done during the week, so that we have the majority of the weekend to be together as a family and do fun things. I don’t want to spend the whole weekend cleaning, shopping, doing laundry or cooking. I want to take my family to the pool, go to church, get together with friends, etc.

It boils down to finding a balance between the things we have do to bring in the money, the things we have to do to run the house and the things we have to do to stay connected as a family.

Enter a new development…

Smug-BIL just got a promotion which is going to change his schedule from a rotation to Monday-Friday with an occasional Saturday. So, instead of waiting until Thursday or Friday to find out what days in the coming week, if any, I am going to not be working for Smug-Sister, I will have a more set schedule.

This is how we are going to move forward on a trial basis, Smug-Sister is going to watch her baby herself on Friday’s, so I can plan on being off that day each week. Then I am going to work for her the other four days of the week. The plan is that I will come to her place right after I leave the office at 10am. I will nurse, change diapers and whatnot for a bit and then put the girls in the car and let them have a nap. When they wake up we will be at my house and I will let them play while I attempt to accomplish something around my own house.

To this end I have developed a schedule that I think will be doable given the short amount of time and the huge amounts of distractions I will face from the girls while there:

Monday – laundry (this includes the normal loads, plus a monthly rotation of curtains, blankets, rugs, etc.)

Tuesday – grocery shopping (this includes trips to Kroger, CVS, and Wal-Mart) and collect trash and recycling.

Wednesday – this is project day (more on that later) and washing diapers

Thursday – clean both the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms

Friday – the dusting, vacuuming, sweeping and mopping. Also, since I will be free after 10am, this is the day to complete anything that I may not have gotten to during the week.

That leaves Saturday and Sunday both free to spend together as a family, with the exception of running another load of diapers through the wash on Saturday.

Now about project day (Wednesday) – I want to maintain a really clean house but I normally end up doing a surface cleaning of things (dusting the coffee table without cleaning inside the drawers, or sweeping and mopping the entry way without washing the grubby fingerprints off the banister, etc.) because I am warn out and have a limited window of time. So, I concocted a 3 month rotation of deep cleaning that, once I get it done once, should be totally doable within the few hours that I have on Wednesdays to maintain.

There are 12 areas in my home (dining room, living room, hall, bathrooms, master bedroom, Smug-Baby’s bedroom, kitchen, entryway, laundry room, office, & garage). If I concentrate on one area each Wednesday, each room will have a deep cleaning every 3 months!

I have created a checklist with the tasks that need to be done within each room to complete the deep cleaning. I figure that I will be able to follow that list, marking off each one as I complete it throughout each project day. This way, if the girls’ need me or I am otherwise interrupted I will know quickly where I need to pick back up to complete the day’s task.

This plan also allows me to spend the evenings during the week focused on spending quality time with the family making dinner, having bath time and story time without pressure to clean something. My daily plan will include things like making sure the kitchen in clean and the house is picked up before I head to bed.

I know that life will sometimes get in the way and I won’t always be able to stick to my schedule, but if I can I really think that it is doable and will balance all the areas of my life without weighing me down and wearing me out!

Pool

Today Smug-Grandma and I took all four kids to the pool. We actually had a lot of fun and when the girls got tired, I took them for a drive while Smug-Grandma stayed at the pool so the boys could play more. The girls slept almost 2 hours!!! I guess all the swimming wore them out!

It was a good day overall! I came home and made kabobs and grilled potatoes and corn on the dob for dinner and Smug-Hub said it was a big hit. We worked together to clean up the kitchen and then he watered all the plants while I did the bath thing with Smug-Baby. She was almost asleep by the time he got back inside, so we laid her down and spent a few minutes talking about our respective days. Now he is watching TV and I am updating you :)

It was a nice day, but I have had a headache the last few hours that is seeming to be getting worse. Now my throat seems a bit scratchy too, I really hope that I am not getting sick! While it is almost the weekend and if you are going to get sick its nice to not have to miss work and put Smug-Sister in a bind, but I would hate to be sick!! It is supposed to be a nice weekend and I have a massage scheduled for Saturday morning! I want to enjoy it and not be feeling horrible!!! Oh well, I will double up on the Emergin-C tomorrow and hope for the best!!

Good night cyber world!! Sleep well!!