I hesitate posting about losing weight again. Why? Well, because even though I didn't FAIL last time, I can seriously under quota. If it was a job, I would have fired myself. It may seem all fun and games and like I'm all open and what not, but it's nerve wracking putting myself out there like this and letting it all hang out...literally...sometimes.
It all starts the same, I feel motivated and even happy about getting healthy, I'm excited, I dream about how my life will be when I'm all thin and amazing. Well, the truth is, outside of wearing smaller clothes, feeling more confident and spending less money on groceries, my actual life will pretty much be the same. I will still feel crazy some days with my children, I will still have the same amazing husband, I will still probably have those 5 annoying hairs that keep popping up on my chin and yup, I will still wear my hair in a pony tail pretty much every day (much to the dismay of my husband).
So, about a month ago, I decided it was time to give up the diet soda, basically give up aspartame in general. I've known for years it was terrible for me, I mean TERRIBLE for me, google it (I wouldn't normally tell anyone to google things because it can be scary and misleading but look it up, or better yet, ask your doctor or a nutritionist). So, what do most junkies do when they are giving up something? They binge, and that's what I did, yup, my husband even sort of called me out on it. I drank all the diet dr pepper in the house and even went and bought a few diet pepsi. My thoughts, I will end on May 1st, this will be my birthday present to myself, the best gift I could give myself. I started to prep myself for this, encouraging myself, telling myself how amazing I'm going to feel, speaking to my body, putting out positive words for myself. Well, I ran out of diet soda before May 1st. At first, I thought, "OMG, I'm going to get another 12 pack, I DESERVE this before I officially give it up." WRONG, what my body deserves is health, period, point blank. I mean, I have to be realistic and take all of this one step at a time. I'm a nursing mom, I can't expect to drop my calories to 1200 a day and not be completely starving, plus it'll drop my milk supply, so that would be pretty stupid. But what I CAN do is get rid of some crap I'm eating and drinking and go for some walks.
So I went for a walk today, as I've done now a few times. I'm not quite 8 weeks from a c section and tubal ligation (as a note, it hurts WAY worse to get both at the same time, than just one or the other, but of course, it's the smartest thing to do when you are DONE having kids, as I am), so anyway, I still get sore, often. I don't have pain meds left, I'm honestly afraid my doctor will think I'm a junky if I ask for another prescription (I mean I am a diet soda junky, is that like the gateway drug to prescription pain med addiction?). I put on my headphones, found my favorites list, which needs some major updating and editing, but I did. I found angry 90's white boy music and shameful Pop music, my two favorite genres to walk/jog too and it was great. Then, I did what I always do when I'm walking, I pretending I was practicing my run way walk for when I try out for America's Next Top Model "Old, Overweight and Short-ish" Season. Sounds plausible. I haven't quite figured out if anyone outside of my head knows what I'm doing but I pretty much don't care. Oh and I've never walked in heels, so this season of AMTM would also have to be no heels needed, of course. The walk felt great, at first, by the end of it I was pretty sore, but I did it, and it's the small things right now. I went further than normal and decided to "engage my core", that was, obviously, ripped opened just 8 weeks ago, ouch! I live in a gorgeous subdivision. I do wish I could walk completely around our lake, but I can't. But probably the worst thing about it is that so many people let their dogs run wild. I do like dogs, and maybe one day I will own one, but I do not love strange dogs running at me barking like they are gonna bite my legs off. Today however, all the dogs were well behaved and I'm beginning to figure out what houses have crazy dogs and which ones just have dogs who lay there.
I also decided to go through my closet about a week ago, it's been maternity clothes and baggy clothes for a while now, plus each time I go through it I find more stuff to get rid of, and I LOVE LOVE to declutter, I don't necessarily like cleaning but getting rid of stuff makes me super happy! So I pull two tubs marked "seasonal clothes" which...should be marked "too small for you". These clothes range from my skinniest, to clothes that are JUST below when I am now and in my head I feel like I should be in them "any minute". There's been times when I've looked at my skinny clothes (and not so skinny clothes) and just been sad, but today I was excited to see them, to remind myself of how dang cute they are and tell them that I will see them soon. So, I asked my husband to pull up my 'skinny' pictures, which he did. They did not depress me, as they normally do. I didn't think "oh, I will never see you again" I actually got excited to see where I was headed. And I reminsced about what I did when I was wearing what outfit and I actually remember thinking did my torso get longer in the last 10 years? Or did I seriously wear shirts this short? I kept some of them, I'm not sure why. Things are in totally different places now...
Here's a disturbing revelation I had: Um, I have NO style or any remote sense of fashion for when I do have to buy new clothes. I've spend the last 4 1/2 years being a stay at home mom so I rarely wear anything outside of yoga pants and a tshirt and before then my favorite thing to wear was jeans, a tank top and flip flops, that's it (which will still be my favorite thing and probably more than half of the $1000 my husband promised I could spend as a reward to myself will go to that, but I mean beyond that). So, I've asked my brothers girlfriend to help me out, she is always dressed so great, she has style. She said we could just go now and get new clothes, I had to let her know, that if we did that she'd quickly find me in the dressing room, crying, in a corner sucking my thumb. It's the truth. I have one pair of jeans that are the biggest size I've ever had to buy, it's the only one of two pairs of jeans that fit me, well, any pants beyond yoga pants. I have NO intention of buying another pair of jeans that size - EVER!
Today, being the day before Mother's Day, I had a couple dollars at Kohl's to spend, so we decided to go. We had all three kids with us, we had them out all morning going to garage sales, we had already stopped at Target and we still needed to stop at Aldi and Kroger...so...they did not do so great, but we made it. So I had on my biggest jeans, and was just planning on getting a shirt or even a pair of shoes, but I found a few pair of jeans on the clearance rack and decided "what the heck" and tried on a pair 2 sizes smaller than what I had on...which I remember getting at Kohl's. They were stretch jeans and a little long, but to my surprise they fit! I couldn't even believe it...they are SLIGHTLY snug, but 'second day jeans' are always the best anyway. (Let me quickly explain 'second day jeans' - well, it's exactly what it says. The second day you wear a pair of jeans, to me, they are always more comfortable - always, even when I was thin, more comfortable!). So, anyway. I decide to go to the Junior's department (I was in misses - I figure I'm 32 now, I should probably stop shopping in the Junior's department - okay - maybe - one day...who knows.). I pick up a bunch of other jeans on the clearance rack, one number bigger (junior's are odd numbers, misses are even numbers) and I couldn't get them over my booty! WHAT?! Stupid clothes. Luckily, I had already tried on the other pair so I was way less traumatized as I would have been. I thought, "I'm going home and gonna try on all my clothes this size and the bigger size". Then I talked myself out of it...smart move. I did try on a dress that I had at home, wasn't pretty but, again, not traumatizing.
I honestly can't be the only woman traumatized when trying on clothes? Even skinny girls have to go through things when they try on clothes, not all clothes are made for all body types. I guess, at least they can find sizes that fit at pretty much every store, but I cant' imagine the same thing that looks good on a girl with curves looks as good as a girl without. Or clothes than look good on girls with long legs (not me) look good on girls with short legs. So, I'm sure we ALL have moments. And here's another thing, mens sizes are ALWAYS the same. When it says 32 in one brand, it's 32 in another brand, it's not a guess, guys can fit in 32's in any brand. Nope, not girls if it says 10 in one brand, you might have to buy a 12 or 14 in another brand for a pair of jeans or maybe on those good days (as I had today) you can wear an 8 (no, not the size I bought today....I wish)! I think in the UK all sizes are done how the mens' are here in the US, which I hope means there's no guessing!
The rambling is out of control tonight!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Disappointment and Excuses
I turned 32 on Sunday, so as a gift to myself I was I decided I was going to get healthy. Okay, I've been "deciding" this for YEARS and haven't gotten far, so I'm not sure why I keep picking these moments that I think will change something in my head. I'm not sure where the connection between "yes, I'm going to do this" and putting in the hard work fails, miserably.
So, I didn't get a chance to weigh in before I started so I probably won't weigh in tomorrow. I have another doctors appointment next week and they always weigh me, so I'll just see what happened since the last time I was there and go from there.
Obviously being disappointed in myself I would like to now just get my excuses out of the way, because I have plenty of them.
I just had a baby, not "just" but just. She's 8 1/2 weeks old. It was my third c section and I had a tubal ligation (which, if you don't know will make your c/s a million times more painful to recover from...if you want to know what they do for a tubal ligation during a c/s, just ask, but I won't gross everyone out.) I feel fully recovered in that area, even though I do get sore if I push it, but nothing that I can't handle. She doesn't have a schedule yet. She does sleep at least 6 hours straight at night, but goes to bed at different times. And sometimes she sleeps 8 or 9 hours and sometimes it takes her an hour to go back to sleep after waking up. Sometimes she'll go back to sleep for another couple hours, sometimes for just an hour or less. So, it makes it somewhat difficult to get up first thing in the morning, go for a walk and get my breakfast eaten.
I'm nursing, now this doesn't sound like a legitimate excuse, but here's the deal. First, Josie had thrush, second I got mastitis, and then I gave myself food poisoning. And through the mastitis I've become insanely sore while nursing, but that's not really an excuse not to lose weight, although it does make me sedentary more than I'd prefer to be. Nursing can burn up to 500 calories a day, which is positive right? Well, it also makes me so crazy hungry.
I know it's important when you cut calories to eat slower. Well, when breakfast, lunch and dinner are eaten with a crying baby, I literally inhale my food. She's such a great baby, but for whatever reason she knows when I'm eating and wants to wake up and me to hold her. Or she wants to eat again, so my food is either eaten really fast, or eaten cold and an hour or so after I want to eat it. Yes, ideally, I'd like to have breakfast by 9, lunch by 12, snack at 3, dinner by 6/6:30 and then a snack around 9. That NEVER happens, sometimes I don't even eat dinner until 9 and I know how terrible that is.
Yes, I could have taken the last 30 minutes I sat here writing to do some push ups, or plank (gotta get my back stronger) or cleaning (which burns some calories) or whatever, but do I not deserve anytime to do my own things? Or, sit the solution, making exercise and preparing good meals my 'own thing'? Maybe I've just answered my own dilemna. Plus, Josie's only sort of sleeping in the swing, there's always this thing that I hate getting started on something and then getting interrupted and let's be honest, Josie is not the only kid I have around here. The other two are still as needy as ever.
I will say that I have given up aspartame, well, as much of it as I can. I dont' drink diet soda anymore and I gave up all those Crystal Light type stuff. I drink a lot of water, like pretty much that's it. I have been drinking two cups of coffee a day, but I somehow broke the coffee pot, so the last two day it's been only water. I thought this was supposed to make you feel full and keep my energy up and all these things, I've got none of that...none!
I, by no means, regret my decision to have another baby, or to have three babies. If I have to use the word regret, I'd just say I regret this weight ever coming on me again after I lost it nine or ten years ago. And when I was losing some of it after I had Isaac and then just for whatever reason giving up and putting it all back on.
Does anyone know what "THAT" is? You know the connection that makes it such a strong desire in your head and even in my heart, but I can't pull it out in my daily life? How I make it my priority? So, what do I do now? I'm 100% disappointed in my first week and I have excuses to last for the next 6 months at least....
I thought knowing that I have no clothes that fit me would also be enough to get me moving. Nope! I have two pair of pants (other than my lazy pants) that fit. A pair of 'skinny' jeans (why do they even call them these, they are huge), that I'm about a week or two away from chub-rubbing through and then a pair of jeans, they are not great. They are too long, they are the biggest size I've ever had to buy in my life, and I have to wear them too high on my waist, ugh, they are stupid. But those are the only two pants that fit me right now. And as far as shirts go, they are not awesome either. Most of them are too small, the ones that do fit dont' look right with the only pants that fit me, so yeah, that SHOULD be enough to get me off my butt, but it's not. What is that?!?! ugh!
And I need to be 100% realistic, I have kids around and other people living in the house, so I can't exactly just remove all the tempting things from it. This is real life, I have to figure out what is going on that I can't seem to get it togther. I try to motivate myself, read other people's success story, I mean I live with a success story, my husband lost 50 pounds 5+ years ago and has kept it off.
So, what do I do? Keep going? I mean, I'm not really doing anything, there's no "keeping" to laziness, procrastination and eating whatever I want.... I guess the truth is, I won't give up. And if I want to quit complaining about it, I have to DO something about it...right? Complaining will get me no where, only hard work, dedication and will power is going to do anything for me.
So, I didn't get a chance to weigh in before I started so I probably won't weigh in tomorrow. I have another doctors appointment next week and they always weigh me, so I'll just see what happened since the last time I was there and go from there.
Obviously being disappointed in myself I would like to now just get my excuses out of the way, because I have plenty of them.
I just had a baby, not "just" but just. She's 8 1/2 weeks old. It was my third c section and I had a tubal ligation (which, if you don't know will make your c/s a million times more painful to recover from...if you want to know what they do for a tubal ligation during a c/s, just ask, but I won't gross everyone out.) I feel fully recovered in that area, even though I do get sore if I push it, but nothing that I can't handle. She doesn't have a schedule yet. She does sleep at least 6 hours straight at night, but goes to bed at different times. And sometimes she sleeps 8 or 9 hours and sometimes it takes her an hour to go back to sleep after waking up. Sometimes she'll go back to sleep for another couple hours, sometimes for just an hour or less. So, it makes it somewhat difficult to get up first thing in the morning, go for a walk and get my breakfast eaten.
I'm nursing, now this doesn't sound like a legitimate excuse, but here's the deal. First, Josie had thrush, second I got mastitis, and then I gave myself food poisoning. And through the mastitis I've become insanely sore while nursing, but that's not really an excuse not to lose weight, although it does make me sedentary more than I'd prefer to be. Nursing can burn up to 500 calories a day, which is positive right? Well, it also makes me so crazy hungry.
I know it's important when you cut calories to eat slower. Well, when breakfast, lunch and dinner are eaten with a crying baby, I literally inhale my food. She's such a great baby, but for whatever reason she knows when I'm eating and wants to wake up and me to hold her. Or she wants to eat again, so my food is either eaten really fast, or eaten cold and an hour or so after I want to eat it. Yes, ideally, I'd like to have breakfast by 9, lunch by 12, snack at 3, dinner by 6/6:30 and then a snack around 9. That NEVER happens, sometimes I don't even eat dinner until 9 and I know how terrible that is.
Yes, I could have taken the last 30 minutes I sat here writing to do some push ups, or plank (gotta get my back stronger) or cleaning (which burns some calories) or whatever, but do I not deserve anytime to do my own things? Or, sit the solution, making exercise and preparing good meals my 'own thing'? Maybe I've just answered my own dilemna. Plus, Josie's only sort of sleeping in the swing, there's always this thing that I hate getting started on something and then getting interrupted and let's be honest, Josie is not the only kid I have around here. The other two are still as needy as ever.
I will say that I have given up aspartame, well, as much of it as I can. I dont' drink diet soda anymore and I gave up all those Crystal Light type stuff. I drink a lot of water, like pretty much that's it. I have been drinking two cups of coffee a day, but I somehow broke the coffee pot, so the last two day it's been only water. I thought this was supposed to make you feel full and keep my energy up and all these things, I've got none of that...none!
I, by no means, regret my decision to have another baby, or to have three babies. If I have to use the word regret, I'd just say I regret this weight ever coming on me again after I lost it nine or ten years ago. And when I was losing some of it after I had Isaac and then just for whatever reason giving up and putting it all back on.
Does anyone know what "THAT" is? You know the connection that makes it such a strong desire in your head and even in my heart, but I can't pull it out in my daily life? How I make it my priority? So, what do I do now? I'm 100% disappointed in my first week and I have excuses to last for the next 6 months at least....
I thought knowing that I have no clothes that fit me would also be enough to get me moving. Nope! I have two pair of pants (other than my lazy pants) that fit. A pair of 'skinny' jeans (why do they even call them these, they are huge), that I'm about a week or two away from chub-rubbing through and then a pair of jeans, they are not great. They are too long, they are the biggest size I've ever had to buy in my life, and I have to wear them too high on my waist, ugh, they are stupid. But those are the only two pants that fit me right now. And as far as shirts go, they are not awesome either. Most of them are too small, the ones that do fit dont' look right with the only pants that fit me, so yeah, that SHOULD be enough to get me off my butt, but it's not. What is that?!?! ugh!
And I need to be 100% realistic, I have kids around and other people living in the house, so I can't exactly just remove all the tempting things from it. This is real life, I have to figure out what is going on that I can't seem to get it togther. I try to motivate myself, read other people's success story, I mean I live with a success story, my husband lost 50 pounds 5+ years ago and has kept it off.
So, what do I do? Keep going? I mean, I'm not really doing anything, there's no "keeping" to laziness, procrastination and eating whatever I want.... I guess the truth is, I won't give up. And if I want to quit complaining about it, I have to DO something about it...right? Complaining will get me no where, only hard work, dedication and will power is going to do anything for me.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Josephine Marie and the words I speak
Wow, what a long time since I posted, but my hands are now officially 'runneth over' with children. If you've read my previous posts about how hard it was for me to get pregnant, this is a miracle! Jospehine (Josie) is an amazing baby. She pretty much only cries when she's hungry.
I did figure out that she likes to be swaddled, which is crazy to me, since the other two hated it. Which brings me to the thought that even though I've made three kids with the exact same man, who we are both raising together, our kids are so different. They all look the same and they are all weird, but that's about where their similarities stop.
So, as for all my concerns about my c section and all the yuckiness that came along, prayer worked. (duh!) I only dry heaved a few times, first when they put the IV in and also right after the spinal block. Which is amazing for me. Then the shaking, which is honestly way worse than the vomiting. The shaking was so minimal that I barely noticed it. I think maybe twice I realized it was happening, but again, nothing nuts. The moment of having the announcement "It's a girl!" was so amazing. There's a part of me that wished I always would have waited for all of them, but I dont' regret the decision to find out before! And I would encourage everyone to wait, it's so special. It brought tears to my eyes and I just couldn't wait to love her and hold her.
I remember at one point even thinking if it would be funny to say "ouch" but then thought, well, probably not. Because of course it doesn't hurt, but the "pressure" is so weird, it's hard to explain unless you've had one. I got to hold Josie right away, and as soon as we were back in our room I even sat up a little bit. My sister and sister in law were waiting for us and I got to share a very special moment with them telling them "Meet Josephine Marie"! So great, I loved it! Other than the actual announcement that she was a girl, it was probably my favorite moment ever!!!! It fills my heart with complete joy and love when I think it! We had so many visitors the first day, I was so exhausted, but I'm so glad Josie is so loved!!
I, of course, loved every second of the 4 days in the hospital. And now, I have lost all but 6 pounds of my pregnancy weight. But none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit very well, as everything is lying in weird places, which takes a few more weeks to fix. I took a very short walk the other day and hurt really bad when I got back. So still waiting a couple more weeks before pushing myself at all. And after hearing how they do a tubal ligation during a c section it makes perfect sense as to why I was way sore for way longer this time (and still am).
Yes, I feel overwhelmed. I feel like there is no time in my day but I get nothing done. I survive on very little, often interrupted sleep and even though I feel tired, it's almost like I don't have time to be tired! But my children are such a blessing in my life. I wouldn't change it.
I know the importance of what I "speak" over my kids but I want to encourage moms (and dads) even more in this area. From the time I found out I was pregnant, every day (and probably more than once) I'd say "you're gonna be the best baby ever" and she honestly is. She's so snugly and sweet and just perfect! I often catch myself saying things to my other kids like "Zoe, you cry EVERY DAY" and "Isaac, you never help unless you want to". I know these are not things I want to speak over my kids, so I need to watch my mouth more. I only want positive things, I only want them to hear me say positive things to them and to other people about them. I want to praise my kids, not bring them down. And, no, I'm not a delusional mom that never uses the word 'no' and my kids are absolutely disciplined, so don't be mislead. Words are just so unbelievably powerful, so I want those powerful words to be uplifting. I don't ever want to say to my kids when they frustrate me "just wait, just wait until you have kids" or "just wait, I hope you have a daughter just like you so you know how hard it is." Nope, never want to say that. And I honestly remember my mom saying it to me, not because she was mean, but probably because she didn't know any better.
I also try to never say "heart problems run in my family" or things of that nature. Without divulging into the Word and really pulling out what it says about these things, just try to think of something you've said. Maybe "I always get stuck behind slow drivers on this road"...does it keep happening? Or "I always break out that time of the month"...does it keep happening? Or "my kid always throws a fit in the store"...does it keep happening? Those two words "always" and "never", as I have seem to noticed, carry some of the most powerful punches. Maybe I can encourage you to just watch your mouth and see if things start changing. I've seen what my positive words do for my children and I've seen what my negative words do. I will no longer call myself fat, I will no longer say how hard it is to lose weight, I will no longer say that I can't fit into clothes that are too small. If I'm really going into this life change change...it's my whole life and my body is just a part of it.
I did figure out that she likes to be swaddled, which is crazy to me, since the other two hated it. Which brings me to the thought that even though I've made three kids with the exact same man, who we are both raising together, our kids are so different. They all look the same and they are all weird, but that's about where their similarities stop.
So, as for all my concerns about my c section and all the yuckiness that came along, prayer worked. (duh!) I only dry heaved a few times, first when they put the IV in and also right after the spinal block. Which is amazing for me. Then the shaking, which is honestly way worse than the vomiting. The shaking was so minimal that I barely noticed it. I think maybe twice I realized it was happening, but again, nothing nuts. The moment of having the announcement "It's a girl!" was so amazing. There's a part of me that wished I always would have waited for all of them, but I dont' regret the decision to find out before! And I would encourage everyone to wait, it's so special. It brought tears to my eyes and I just couldn't wait to love her and hold her.
I remember at one point even thinking if it would be funny to say "ouch" but then thought, well, probably not. Because of course it doesn't hurt, but the "pressure" is so weird, it's hard to explain unless you've had one. I got to hold Josie right away, and as soon as we were back in our room I even sat up a little bit. My sister and sister in law were waiting for us and I got to share a very special moment with them telling them "Meet Josephine Marie"! So great, I loved it! Other than the actual announcement that she was a girl, it was probably my favorite moment ever!!!! It fills my heart with complete joy and love when I think it! We had so many visitors the first day, I was so exhausted, but I'm so glad Josie is so loved!!
I, of course, loved every second of the 4 days in the hospital. And now, I have lost all but 6 pounds of my pregnancy weight. But none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit very well, as everything is lying in weird places, which takes a few more weeks to fix. I took a very short walk the other day and hurt really bad when I got back. So still waiting a couple more weeks before pushing myself at all. And after hearing how they do a tubal ligation during a c section it makes perfect sense as to why I was way sore for way longer this time (and still am).
Yes, I feel overwhelmed. I feel like there is no time in my day but I get nothing done. I survive on very little, often interrupted sleep and even though I feel tired, it's almost like I don't have time to be tired! But my children are such a blessing in my life. I wouldn't change it.
I know the importance of what I "speak" over my kids but I want to encourage moms (and dads) even more in this area. From the time I found out I was pregnant, every day (and probably more than once) I'd say "you're gonna be the best baby ever" and she honestly is. She's so snugly and sweet and just perfect! I often catch myself saying things to my other kids like "Zoe, you cry EVERY DAY" and "Isaac, you never help unless you want to". I know these are not things I want to speak over my kids, so I need to watch my mouth more. I only want positive things, I only want them to hear me say positive things to them and to other people about them. I want to praise my kids, not bring them down. And, no, I'm not a delusional mom that never uses the word 'no' and my kids are absolutely disciplined, so don't be mislead. Words are just so unbelievably powerful, so I want those powerful words to be uplifting. I don't ever want to say to my kids when they frustrate me "just wait, just wait until you have kids" or "just wait, I hope you have a daughter just like you so you know how hard it is." Nope, never want to say that. And I honestly remember my mom saying it to me, not because she was mean, but probably because she didn't know any better.
I also try to never say "heart problems run in my family" or things of that nature. Without divulging into the Word and really pulling out what it says about these things, just try to think of something you've said. Maybe "I always get stuck behind slow drivers on this road"...does it keep happening? Or "I always break out that time of the month"...does it keep happening? Or "my kid always throws a fit in the store"...does it keep happening? Those two words "always" and "never", as I have seem to noticed, carry some of the most powerful punches. Maybe I can encourage you to just watch your mouth and see if things start changing. I've seen what my positive words do for my children and I've seen what my negative words do. I will no longer call myself fat, I will no longer say how hard it is to lose weight, I will no longer say that I can't fit into clothes that are too small. If I'm really going into this life change change...it's my whole life and my body is just a part of it.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Pregnancy can be hilarious
I would first like to start with a few things. I am not, by ANY means, complaining about being pregnant. I used to get so bothered by women who complained about being pregnant because it took me so long to have a baby (4 1/2 years with 4 lost babies) and I just always thought "at least you're pregnant". So, even though I'm not one of those people who love being pregnant and I'm sure I have complained about things, I'm so grateful that I can get pregnant and have healthy babies.
Also, I am not trying to scare new moms or whatever, I honestly find these things hilarious.
There are things that happen to your body and your emotions that literally make no sense when you are pregnant. The stretch alone that your stomach has is insane! I mean, as you get toward the end, you actually think you're stomach can't possibly get any bigger and it does.
This phenomenon brings a lot of things with it. First, every organ that has claimed it's space in your gut has now become completely squished. Mostly your lungs and your bladder, those two things seem to take the biggest hit. Secondly, your entire center of gravity is off (this, honestly, is the least of your problems) but don't try anything too crazy, riding a bike (unless it's a stationary bike) is totally out of the question. Third, you cannot paint your toenails, at least not well. And if you do, it's probably something you should do in private because there's nothing pretty about it. I did this today and it was pretty funny. My 4 year old kept asking me why I was grunting. And I actually thought I did a pretty decent job, then put on jellies (I'll get to this soon) and ruined just one toe!!! There's also the problem with picking things up, I'm not sure if I'm just clumsier when I'm pregnant or I just notice more because picking things up has become a huge problem. My 4 year old just asked me if after I have the baby I can start picking up my own stuff because so often he has to do it for me. The best way to explain how you now have to pick up, is to think about a giraffe taking a drink of water from a river. If you can't picture it, just keep thinking about it, you'll figure it out, it's ridiculous.
It will also be hard to do normal things, spit toothpaste out. Why? Because you can't reach the sink as before. Also washing dishes will become somewhat of a task, again because your belly is right at counter height and it forces you to sort of lean over the sink. It's awkward to say the least.
Now, let's talk about something more disgusting...Maybe I'll just leave it like this...You are never done peeing when you think you are. And once you're belly expands to a point that you've never thought possible, wiping...well..it's interesting.
As part of the stomach expanding, I was unwilling to try to put on tennis shoes today, probably because I exhausted all my stretching trying to paint my toenails, so it was warmish, so I grabbed my jellies. It was great to say the least, not only did they somehow mess up ONE toe of my painting job. It really did look like a bunch of pigs trying to escape out of a pig pen. I will not wear these again, I will probably wear flip flops or slippers until the day I give birth.
Nesting: With Zoe I was a nesting fool, with Isaac we didn't have much room to nest. With this one, I go in spurts. One day I will spend the entire day going crazy doing stuff and then the next few days I literally do nothing (there's no such thing when you're a mom). I have written about my to-do list and well I've come to terms with many things on there that will not be getting done, it's fine, I do not feel crazy about it as I did a few weeks ago. The nesting is funny because every mom is different when it comes to what they need to do or how they need to do it and some have no desire to nest whatsoever.
On to the things you start to think about the closer your due date approaches...
1. OMG, will my water break________ (while I'm at church, in the store, in the car, in the bed). You will literally think of it everywhere you go. My water has never broken on it's own, so I'm not sure why being on my third baby I'd be worried about such a thing, but I do.
2. Will I poop when I'm pushing? EVERYONE will think of this, I literally thought of it so much it consumed me when I was pushing with Isaac. If you do, you will probably not even know you did it, don't worry, but it's natural to think about it. And honestly, who cares? Your having a baby, poop wherever you want...
3. Holy crap there's a baby in my shoulder, eye... Okay maybe this one if just me, but if I get a twitch in any other part of my body, my first thought is there is a baby there, for like one second I think it. My kids were all SUPER movers in my belly, like if they weren't kicking they had the hiccups, so when other parts of my body randomly spasm what else am I supposed to think?
4. Is that a contraction? Oh wait, is that a contraction? Is that my mucus plug? Yes, every movement, every Braxton Hick (I have SOOOO many of these), every pinch, twinge, pull, push will making your head spin that you are in labor. This time, it is only mildly amusing to me, because there is so much going on right now that I sort of feel like I cannot go into labor yet. Where typically, since I'm 38 weeks I'd be praying for this baby to get here right now, I'm begging Kiwi to hold out until at least late week....
5. Why is it so flipping hot in here? I mean, can't we just keep the heat off for the entire winter? Why do we even need it? There's so much heat radiating off my body I could probably heat the entire town. And then the hot flashes happen (this is a new one to me) I get this awesome bead of sweat right above my upper lip, and as I'm writing about it, it's happening. The closer I get the more often these things happen.
6. Who am I going to call in the middle of the night? This might not be a problem for you. This isn't exactly funny, and truthfully I have lots of support, but the best support, my mom, isn't here, so I ALWAYS worry about being a bother to people. It's not bothering your own mom, ever, but for everyone else even though they SWEAR it's not, it seems sort of like a bother. However, I do have this covered. But the emotional break down I had the last couple days because of it was unreal. Today, it's funny (the break down, not that my mom is not around)...tomorrow it may happen again (which is sort of funny too).
7. Oh I need to call (for me it's my baby brother, Andy), oh, my phone is in the other room. Guess I'll call tomorrow (repeat everyday). I really need some more water, well, if I wait it out my ice well melt and I can just drink that...
8. This, is probably not funny, but I know that the closer I get to having a baby the more people annoy me. I mean, like really really really annoy me. With that being said, I'm also insanely sentimental when it comes to my husband. I think about how busy he is at work and how I just want him here taking care of me and the kids. I mean last week, had I went into labor on a few specific days, he either wouldn't have been able to be at the hospital at all, or he would have been able to see Kiwi delivered and then he would have had to leave. Not to mention, we didn't have a lot of help for overnights with the other kids so he wouldn't have been able to spend the night at the hospital much, if at all. All of those things combined (with missing my mom) sent me into a two day crying spree. Literally, anything would set me off. And everytime I cried I'd sweat...ha!
This is a much more random thought and probably only pertains to me. I had probably one of the most hilarious conversations ever about the "bottle" you are given after birth. TWO ladies (okay, I'm giving them up, it's my sister in laws) want me to "steal" them one of these bottles. So I often wonder how I'm going to pull this conversation off with my nurses. Should I just be honest? "yes, my sister in laws are ridiculous and would like those squirt bottles, can I get two extra please?" Or...I've thought about this "We do gag gifts for my family for Christmas (true statement but not the right side of the family) and I'd like to use two of those squirt bottles for my gag gifts." Then I've thought about losing my squirt bottle, but is that even really possible? I mean, come on, you're in a hospital room, someone changes the trash, changes your sheets, cooks your meals, (LOVE), it's not exactly easy to just "lose" things. So, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm confiscating two clean squirt bottles, and it's hilarious to think about how I'm going to accomplish this and what's funnier is WHY in the world are my weirdo sister in laws wanting these?!?! Maybe they should just put in a bidet. I honestly think they are wanting one just to see if I can get them and just to embarass me :)
As I loom closer and closer to my "due date". (It's so weird having a due date when I have a scheduled c section. I wont' make it to 40 weeks, because if all else fails they deliver Kiwi at 39 weeks. So it's been so weird when people ask when my due date is, I finally just started saying 39 weeks, it makes more sense). But as I loom closer and closer I feel very overwhelmed. Had we followed my "plan" I would just now be like 8 - 12 weeks pregnant, but God had another plan and I'm honestly grateful. I'm pretty glad I wont' have to be pregnant again, even if I wanted more kids, it's honestly not really a great idea to go through another c section. The only "regret" I have is not being skinny and pregnant, I know this sounds assanine to some people. But for my last pregnancy I really wanted to be smaller (I don't really like the word skinny) then I'd have this cute belly, but I'm not mad about it, just wish I would have gotten myself healthier before I got pregnant again! However, with that being said, I dont' have to "worry" about getting pregnant again and I can spend the rest of my life keeping myself healthy!
Sitting here, blogging this, it's a few days in the making. It's so funny to feel what my body is doing. The miracle of carrying and having a baby is beyond my comprehension. Women's bodies are so unbelievable to me. I've finally stopped gagging when I think about laying in the surgery room, I've claimed my rights in Jesus and know this will be the easiest, healthiest and best delivery thus far. I anticipate what I'll feel if they say "It's a girl" or "It's a boy". Both excite me for many different reasons. I think about introducing Zoe and Isaac to the new baby. (And, yes, I think about being up all night, for a long time, but that's okay.)
Kiwi's feet are in my ribs and I can feel baby just pushing down. I'm still getting hot flashes often and small, occassional braxton hicks (I will continue to call them that until they become consistent). Everytime I have to stand up for something I'm pretty convinced my water will break, but...that hasn't happened yet. And I have to pee about every 30 minutes. If Kiwi holds out, tomorrow, I'm either goign to my dads to ask him to make me biscuits and gravy (yes, I NEED it) or I'm hopefully gonna get some more stuff done on my list. Actually, I just felt a burst of energy, time to sand some dresser drawers :)
Also, I am not trying to scare new moms or whatever, I honestly find these things hilarious.
There are things that happen to your body and your emotions that literally make no sense when you are pregnant. The stretch alone that your stomach has is insane! I mean, as you get toward the end, you actually think you're stomach can't possibly get any bigger and it does.
This phenomenon brings a lot of things with it. First, every organ that has claimed it's space in your gut has now become completely squished. Mostly your lungs and your bladder, those two things seem to take the biggest hit. Secondly, your entire center of gravity is off (this, honestly, is the least of your problems) but don't try anything too crazy, riding a bike (unless it's a stationary bike) is totally out of the question. Third, you cannot paint your toenails, at least not well. And if you do, it's probably something you should do in private because there's nothing pretty about it. I did this today and it was pretty funny. My 4 year old kept asking me why I was grunting. And I actually thought I did a pretty decent job, then put on jellies (I'll get to this soon) and ruined just one toe!!! There's also the problem with picking things up, I'm not sure if I'm just clumsier when I'm pregnant or I just notice more because picking things up has become a huge problem. My 4 year old just asked me if after I have the baby I can start picking up my own stuff because so often he has to do it for me. The best way to explain how you now have to pick up, is to think about a giraffe taking a drink of water from a river. If you can't picture it, just keep thinking about it, you'll figure it out, it's ridiculous.
It will also be hard to do normal things, spit toothpaste out. Why? Because you can't reach the sink as before. Also washing dishes will become somewhat of a task, again because your belly is right at counter height and it forces you to sort of lean over the sink. It's awkward to say the least.
Now, let's talk about something more disgusting...Maybe I'll just leave it like this...You are never done peeing when you think you are. And once you're belly expands to a point that you've never thought possible, wiping...well..it's interesting.
As part of the stomach expanding, I was unwilling to try to put on tennis shoes today, probably because I exhausted all my stretching trying to paint my toenails, so it was warmish, so I grabbed my jellies. It was great to say the least, not only did they somehow mess up ONE toe of my painting job. It really did look like a bunch of pigs trying to escape out of a pig pen. I will not wear these again, I will probably wear flip flops or slippers until the day I give birth.
Nesting: With Zoe I was a nesting fool, with Isaac we didn't have much room to nest. With this one, I go in spurts. One day I will spend the entire day going crazy doing stuff and then the next few days I literally do nothing (there's no such thing when you're a mom). I have written about my to-do list and well I've come to terms with many things on there that will not be getting done, it's fine, I do not feel crazy about it as I did a few weeks ago. The nesting is funny because every mom is different when it comes to what they need to do or how they need to do it and some have no desire to nest whatsoever.
On to the things you start to think about the closer your due date approaches...
1. OMG, will my water break________ (while I'm at church, in the store, in the car, in the bed). You will literally think of it everywhere you go. My water has never broken on it's own, so I'm not sure why being on my third baby I'd be worried about such a thing, but I do.
2. Will I poop when I'm pushing? EVERYONE will think of this, I literally thought of it so much it consumed me when I was pushing with Isaac. If you do, you will probably not even know you did it, don't worry, but it's natural to think about it. And honestly, who cares? Your having a baby, poop wherever you want...
3. Holy crap there's a baby in my shoulder, eye... Okay maybe this one if just me, but if I get a twitch in any other part of my body, my first thought is there is a baby there, for like one second I think it. My kids were all SUPER movers in my belly, like if they weren't kicking they had the hiccups, so when other parts of my body randomly spasm what else am I supposed to think?
4. Is that a contraction? Oh wait, is that a contraction? Is that my mucus plug? Yes, every movement, every Braxton Hick (I have SOOOO many of these), every pinch, twinge, pull, push will making your head spin that you are in labor. This time, it is only mildly amusing to me, because there is so much going on right now that I sort of feel like I cannot go into labor yet. Where typically, since I'm 38 weeks I'd be praying for this baby to get here right now, I'm begging Kiwi to hold out until at least late week....
5. Why is it so flipping hot in here? I mean, can't we just keep the heat off for the entire winter? Why do we even need it? There's so much heat radiating off my body I could probably heat the entire town. And then the hot flashes happen (this is a new one to me) I get this awesome bead of sweat right above my upper lip, and as I'm writing about it, it's happening. The closer I get the more often these things happen.
6. Who am I going to call in the middle of the night? This might not be a problem for you. This isn't exactly funny, and truthfully I have lots of support, but the best support, my mom, isn't here, so I ALWAYS worry about being a bother to people. It's not bothering your own mom, ever, but for everyone else even though they SWEAR it's not, it seems sort of like a bother. However, I do have this covered. But the emotional break down I had the last couple days because of it was unreal. Today, it's funny (the break down, not that my mom is not around)...tomorrow it may happen again (which is sort of funny too).
7. Oh I need to call (for me it's my baby brother, Andy), oh, my phone is in the other room. Guess I'll call tomorrow (repeat everyday). I really need some more water, well, if I wait it out my ice well melt and I can just drink that...
8. This, is probably not funny, but I know that the closer I get to having a baby the more people annoy me. I mean, like really really really annoy me. With that being said, I'm also insanely sentimental when it comes to my husband. I think about how busy he is at work and how I just want him here taking care of me and the kids. I mean last week, had I went into labor on a few specific days, he either wouldn't have been able to be at the hospital at all, or he would have been able to see Kiwi delivered and then he would have had to leave. Not to mention, we didn't have a lot of help for overnights with the other kids so he wouldn't have been able to spend the night at the hospital much, if at all. All of those things combined (with missing my mom) sent me into a two day crying spree. Literally, anything would set me off. And everytime I cried I'd sweat...ha!
This is a much more random thought and probably only pertains to me. I had probably one of the most hilarious conversations ever about the "bottle" you are given after birth. TWO ladies (okay, I'm giving them up, it's my sister in laws) want me to "steal" them one of these bottles. So I often wonder how I'm going to pull this conversation off with my nurses. Should I just be honest? "yes, my sister in laws are ridiculous and would like those squirt bottles, can I get two extra please?" Or...I've thought about this "We do gag gifts for my family for Christmas (true statement but not the right side of the family) and I'd like to use two of those squirt bottles for my gag gifts." Then I've thought about losing my squirt bottle, but is that even really possible? I mean, come on, you're in a hospital room, someone changes the trash, changes your sheets, cooks your meals, (LOVE), it's not exactly easy to just "lose" things. So, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm confiscating two clean squirt bottles, and it's hilarious to think about how I'm going to accomplish this and what's funnier is WHY in the world are my weirdo sister in laws wanting these?!?! Maybe they should just put in a bidet. I honestly think they are wanting one just to see if I can get them and just to embarass me :)
As I loom closer and closer to my "due date". (It's so weird having a due date when I have a scheduled c section. I wont' make it to 40 weeks, because if all else fails they deliver Kiwi at 39 weeks. So it's been so weird when people ask when my due date is, I finally just started saying 39 weeks, it makes more sense). But as I loom closer and closer I feel very overwhelmed. Had we followed my "plan" I would just now be like 8 - 12 weeks pregnant, but God had another plan and I'm honestly grateful. I'm pretty glad I wont' have to be pregnant again, even if I wanted more kids, it's honestly not really a great idea to go through another c section. The only "regret" I have is not being skinny and pregnant, I know this sounds assanine to some people. But for my last pregnancy I really wanted to be smaller (I don't really like the word skinny) then I'd have this cute belly, but I'm not mad about it, just wish I would have gotten myself healthier before I got pregnant again! However, with that being said, I dont' have to "worry" about getting pregnant again and I can spend the rest of my life keeping myself healthy!
Sitting here, blogging this, it's a few days in the making. It's so funny to feel what my body is doing. The miracle of carrying and having a baby is beyond my comprehension. Women's bodies are so unbelievable to me. I've finally stopped gagging when I think about laying in the surgery room, I've claimed my rights in Jesus and know this will be the easiest, healthiest and best delivery thus far. I anticipate what I'll feel if they say "It's a girl" or "It's a boy". Both excite me for many different reasons. I think about introducing Zoe and Isaac to the new baby. (And, yes, I think about being up all night, for a long time, but that's okay.)
Kiwi's feet are in my ribs and I can feel baby just pushing down. I'm still getting hot flashes often and small, occassional braxton hicks (I will continue to call them that until they become consistent). Everytime I have to stand up for something I'm pretty convinced my water will break, but...that hasn't happened yet. And I have to pee about every 30 minutes. If Kiwi holds out, tomorrow, I'm either goign to my dads to ask him to make me biscuits and gravy (yes, I NEED it) or I'm hopefully gonna get some more stuff done on my list. Actually, I just felt a burst of energy, time to sand some dresser drawers :)
Monday, February 13, 2012
Pinterest Cleaning: The Oven Door
On Pinterest I found a link to clean the over door. It was "super simple". Make a runny paste out of baking soda and water, spread onto oven door, wipe off with scouring pad. Okay, simple right??
I did first actually put my oven on self clean. Why I ever had a oven that didn't do this...I will never know. And, unlike last time, I actually wiped it out before and after I ran the self clean. Damp rag, wipe, that's it. Last time I didn't wipe it out after and I started teasing people that I had a "smoker" in my oven because it kept burning the junk on the bottom. But anyway, I did put it on self clean first. Which takes 3 hours of cleaning and about an hour of cooling down.
While that was happening I cleaned the basement bathroom, it took me two hours! WHY?!! You ask, well, it was supposed to be done for for months now and it never got done (I will leave it at that). I didn't check because first, I think I've peed in that bathroom maybe 3 times since we lived in this house and second, I avoid the stairs at all cost these days. It was BEYOND disgusting!!! I mean, when I realized how bad it was I was embarrassed that my step sons 13 year old friend had to use it the other night when he stayed over. I've seen and cleaned disgusting bathrooms. My dad and two brothers never cleaned bathrooms, so I've seen and cleaned those. However, this was so gross. Because I think when it actually was cleaned 3 or more months ago, the shower was never cleaned and it's possible everything else was just wiped down with water. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. But on top of the fact that it hasn't been cleaned in forever, we bought our house from "do it yourselvers" that SHOULD NOT have done anything themselves. So the wallpaper (which will come down one day) is really sloppy which just makes it seem dirty and the caulking job on the shower is really sloppy, again, making it seem dirty. And I think everything they picked for that bathroom came from a resale it shop (which also will be replaced one day), or I'm crazy, but I think it did. And, this is probably too much information but somehow every toilet seat in our house is deteriorating. We do NOT have hazardous waste coming out of our bottoms, so I have no idea how this is happening. So, when they did their "addition" and "remodeled" I'm almost positive somethings got skimped on, one of those being toilet seats. One of these days we will replace them but until then, they just continue to deteriorate, so even when they are clean they just look dirty.
Okay, so thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Which, by the way I used the "Magic Tub and Shower Cleaner" I wrote about in this shower...but I added more vinegar. Still sudsy but this shower needed it. And again, it doesn't fight hard water, just soap scum, so this shower actually benefited from it considering the last time it had been cleaned. Oh, also in this time I wiped down 90% of the walls, doors and wall plates in the house. I have little kids, it takes no time to get those things dirty. And I probably have never done it, at least since Zoe :) But they look awesome, just vinegar water and a rag, worked great. I only had to use a magic eraser a few times.
Back to the oven. This is what my oven door looked like before (after it was on self clean but before the baking soda bath):
I did first actually put my oven on self clean. Why I ever had a oven that didn't do this...I will never know. And, unlike last time, I actually wiped it out before and after I ran the self clean. Damp rag, wipe, that's it. Last time I didn't wipe it out after and I started teasing people that I had a "smoker" in my oven because it kept burning the junk on the bottom. But anyway, I did put it on self clean first. Which takes 3 hours of cleaning and about an hour of cooling down.
While that was happening I cleaned the basement bathroom, it took me two hours! WHY?!! You ask, well, it was supposed to be done for for months now and it never got done (I will leave it at that). I didn't check because first, I think I've peed in that bathroom maybe 3 times since we lived in this house and second, I avoid the stairs at all cost these days. It was BEYOND disgusting!!! I mean, when I realized how bad it was I was embarrassed that my step sons 13 year old friend had to use it the other night when he stayed over. I've seen and cleaned disgusting bathrooms. My dad and two brothers never cleaned bathrooms, so I've seen and cleaned those. However, this was so gross. Because I think when it actually was cleaned 3 or more months ago, the shower was never cleaned and it's possible everything else was just wiped down with water. At least, that's what it seemed like to me. But on top of the fact that it hasn't been cleaned in forever, we bought our house from "do it yourselvers" that SHOULD NOT have done anything themselves. So the wallpaper (which will come down one day) is really sloppy which just makes it seem dirty and the caulking job on the shower is really sloppy, again, making it seem dirty. And I think everything they picked for that bathroom came from a resale it shop (which also will be replaced one day), or I'm crazy, but I think it did. And, this is probably too much information but somehow every toilet seat in our house is deteriorating. We do NOT have hazardous waste coming out of our bottoms, so I have no idea how this is happening. So, when they did their "addition" and "remodeled" I'm almost positive somethings got skimped on, one of those being toilet seats. One of these days we will replace them but until then, they just continue to deteriorate, so even when they are clean they just look dirty.
Okay, so thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Which, by the way I used the "Magic Tub and Shower Cleaner" I wrote about in this shower...but I added more vinegar. Still sudsy but this shower needed it. And again, it doesn't fight hard water, just soap scum, so this shower actually benefited from it considering the last time it had been cleaned. Oh, also in this time I wiped down 90% of the walls, doors and wall plates in the house. I have little kids, it takes no time to get those things dirty. And I probably have never done it, at least since Zoe :) But they look awesome, just vinegar water and a rag, worked great. I only had to use a magic eraser a few times.
Back to the oven. This is what my oven door looked like before (after it was on self clean but before the baking soda bath):
So, it honestly wasn't really THAT bad. But I thought, it could be cleaner, so I decided to put this baking soda bath to the test. I made mine fairly thick. I probably should have taken a picture but I used my hands to mix it and put it on the door and well, honestly I had too much else in my brain to think about it. I knew I needed to vacuum the stairs, make the guest room bed, and vacuum that room also so I decided to let it sit until those things were done.
Oh, why did I have to vacuum the stairs at 36 weeks pregnant? Well, while I was cleaning the basement bathroom my two adorable children decided to play in the cat foot (that I had sitting on the stairs because we keep their food, water and litter in that bathroom). Zoe was apparently trying to count the food, she's 2, she can't count past ten but she tried. Then Isaac thought it would be fun to use the pooper scooper to try to pick up the cat food that she was dropping. It was a complete nightmare to say the least. And, while I was cleaning, it was a battle I chose not to fight, I just let them play in the cat food, it was much simpler than running out of the bathroom every 2 seconds to yell at them, at least they weren't in the bathroom making it dirty while I was cleaning it. And they weren't eating it, like my brothers would have, or playing with the cat poop...so...I figured vacuuming was worth the fight. I went and vacuumed, made the guest room bed (we can't talk about the guest room cause I will go into another rant about why it wasn't cleaned to begin with) and vacuumed it.
Here is what it looked like after:
I would say it's quite an improvement. I tried to capture the baking soda 'flakes' all over the floor but it didn't really capture very well. So, all in all, I would say that I'll probably do it again, maybe make the paste a little runnier and hope that doesn't mean a bunch of flakes. And I've now checked a few more things off my list, but chances are I'll at least have to run the self clean again, before baby, especially considering I oh-so-smartly decided to make pizza tonight...brilliant :)
We ordered the granite for our center island and while there I asked them what to do with this ring I have on my granite that we got from sitting a container of hot bacon grease on it. (We haven't sealed it yet, I honestly didn't even think about sealing the granite so we need to do that also but that's beside the point). She first gave me a sampler thingy that I actually left there, oops, but on top of that she told me to take and make a baking soda paste and rub it on the spot and then tape down Saran wrap over that spot and let it sit for quite a while. So interesting to me, so I will be doing that hopefully this week and letting you know how that goes :) Maybe someone will actually 'pin me' if it works well!!
Now, time for water and bed cause these Braxton Hicks are a little too regular for me tonight.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Another Day of Pinterest Cleaning, Bathrooms, Stove Top
So, it takes me a while to get moving but I eventually did today... I had a different agenda in my mind for what I wanted to get done today but sometimes I just have to do whatever happens. My bathroom was in desperate need of a cleaning (and so is the bathroom in the basement, which someone is supposed to clean but conveniently has forgotten for the last six months...yeah it's gross, I usually get down there about once a month and clean it up so I really need to do that...).
On Pinterest I keep finding these great tips for cleaning and also for making cleaning products. I tried cleaning the microfiber with rubbing alcohol and it worked magically! Of course, my children have already spilled enough stuff on the recliner that when I clean the couches I will have to re clean the recliner, or at least re-spot clean it. Anyway, I know it works and that's great for me. Back to the bathroom. I still have bathroom cleaner that we purchased and toilet bowl cleaner and Windex, and I don't like making stuff until I run out of other things but I did want to try out the tub and shower cleaner I found online. And I figured while I was at it, I'll try cleaning the glass stove top because mine desperately needed it and other than a wipe down I haven't tried to really clean it. Plus the other day I'm pretty sure I boiled over two pots, twice, so it really needed it. (And by the way, the put a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water and it won't boil over trick...only works sometimes, in my case only maybe 20% of the time so far).
The first I wanted to try was cleaning the shower down with a fabric softener sheet. First, I've been wanting to make my own but haven't got around to figuring out the sewing machine so that's on the back burner. Which is really sad because I desperately want to make a baby blanket, which I have NO clue how, but I want to. So, the pictures for the shower were not the greatest and when looking at them you can't really tell what they did, so I'm not even going to upload them, I'm just going to give my opinion. The fabric softener well, it didn't really work. I mean maybe if you're trying to combat soap scum and not hard water spots it'll work but it didnt' work on the hard water at all. It left a residue on the shower that I had to wipe off with a rag.
So, I moved on, to the 12 oz hot vinegar and the 12 oz Dawn Dish Soap. Now this definitely made a huge difference. I have started using vinegar anyway to clean my bathrooms, so this was the extra boost I guess it needed. Plus it smelled way better than just vinegar water. Now, it made everything really shiny and pretty much got rid of the hard water spots, HOWEVER, I kept having to go back and rinse the rag because it was really sudsy (obviously with all the Dawn dish soap). Which, in turn, took twice as long because I had to go back and rinse the rag so often and wipe the shower again. With all that, I will probably use it again, but only when the hard water gets as bad as it was. I will probably just stick with vinegar water until then. I will also probably not be able to use it regularly because I'll never be able to convince the other people in the house that clean the bathrooms the whole process of wiping, rinsing, wiping again. So...like I said it'll be used when the hard water gets as bad as they did, but it won't be my everyday bathroom cleaner. Also, I sort of wonder about what it'll happen when I take a shower, will the floor be super slippery from the soap? And, lastly, it did leave a residue, albeit you couldn't really see it, but I could feel it. I think if I had maybe wiped everything down with a paper town it would have went away, but that would have meant ANOTHER step in the process so I'll just let it be for now.
Also in the bathroom I soaked the shower head in vinegar/baking soda mixture. A few weeks ago I had soaked it in vinegar because it was getting clogged and it worked fairly well, so this time I added the baking soda (which makes it bubbly) and I let it soak for probably an hour or so.
Here's before:
On Pinterest I keep finding these great tips for cleaning and also for making cleaning products. I tried cleaning the microfiber with rubbing alcohol and it worked magically! Of course, my children have already spilled enough stuff on the recliner that when I clean the couches I will have to re clean the recliner, or at least re-spot clean it. Anyway, I know it works and that's great for me. Back to the bathroom. I still have bathroom cleaner that we purchased and toilet bowl cleaner and Windex, and I don't like making stuff until I run out of other things but I did want to try out the tub and shower cleaner I found online. And I figured while I was at it, I'll try cleaning the glass stove top because mine desperately needed it and other than a wipe down I haven't tried to really clean it. Plus the other day I'm pretty sure I boiled over two pots, twice, so it really needed it. (And by the way, the put a wooden spoon over a pot of boiling water and it won't boil over trick...only works sometimes, in my case only maybe 20% of the time so far).
The first I wanted to try was cleaning the shower down with a fabric softener sheet. First, I've been wanting to make my own but haven't got around to figuring out the sewing machine so that's on the back burner. Which is really sad because I desperately want to make a baby blanket, which I have NO clue how, but I want to. So, the pictures for the shower were not the greatest and when looking at them you can't really tell what they did, so I'm not even going to upload them, I'm just going to give my opinion. The fabric softener well, it didn't really work. I mean maybe if you're trying to combat soap scum and not hard water spots it'll work but it didnt' work on the hard water at all. It left a residue on the shower that I had to wipe off with a rag.
So, I moved on, to the 12 oz hot vinegar and the 12 oz Dawn Dish Soap. Now this definitely made a huge difference. I have started using vinegar anyway to clean my bathrooms, so this was the extra boost I guess it needed. Plus it smelled way better than just vinegar water. Now, it made everything really shiny and pretty much got rid of the hard water spots, HOWEVER, I kept having to go back and rinse the rag because it was really sudsy (obviously with all the Dawn dish soap). Which, in turn, took twice as long because I had to go back and rinse the rag so often and wipe the shower again. With all that, I will probably use it again, but only when the hard water gets as bad as it was. I will probably just stick with vinegar water until then. I will also probably not be able to use it regularly because I'll never be able to convince the other people in the house that clean the bathrooms the whole process of wiping, rinsing, wiping again. So...like I said it'll be used when the hard water gets as bad as they did, but it won't be my everyday bathroom cleaner. Also, I sort of wonder about what it'll happen when I take a shower, will the floor be super slippery from the soap? And, lastly, it did leave a residue, albeit you couldn't really see it, but I could feel it. I think if I had maybe wiped everything down with a paper town it would have went away, but that would have meant ANOTHER step in the process so I'll just let it be for now.
Also in the bathroom I soaked the shower head in vinegar/baking soda mixture. A few weeks ago I had soaked it in vinegar because it was getting clogged and it worked fairly well, so this time I added the baking soda (which makes it bubbly) and I let it soak for probably an hour or so.
Here's before:
Here's after:
I'd say that was a pretty good success over all. An hour or so after I took the bags off there seemed to be a little baking soda residue on it, but nothing that wouldn't have been fixed by just running the water for a minute.
Now, onto the stove top. I've never had a glass stove top before this house. My parents always had gas ranges, and our last one was burners, not glass top. It's supposed to be wiped down everyday (yeah, that doesn't usually happen) and no one really scrubs it but me. I've used this amazing scrubber thing my husband's aunt makes and gives all of us at Christmas (however, I missed the last Christmas so I never got a new one). I have no idea what it's made out of, but it doesn't scratch (I've used it on my glass shower doors before) and I can throw it in the dishwasher whenever it gets too yucky, I'm seriously sad I missed getting one or two this year. But, I've never tried any "products" on it, so when I found the link for cleaning it I was pretty excited. Here's what it looked like before (don't judge):
Now, it was super shiny but it definitely didn't clean as I had hoped. There's a lot of burnt marks still on it. I tried it again on the other front burner and had the exact same result. And after about 15 minutes after everything dried up it looked like this:
Eek! Sort of grossed me out more than the first picture, but I knew it wasn't really a big deal. So, I grabbed my vinegar water, sprayed it down, put a little more baking soda on it and scrubbed it with the handy dandy homemade scouring pad and well, it wasn't much better than whatever else I did. The hot soapy water was dirty when I was done and the rag was dirty when I rinsed it out, so it did clean SOMETHING, just not as good as I had hoped I suppose.
I did not put the "car wax" on it as another website had suggested to help "repel" the new stains, I'm just not sure how great of an idea this is. Won't it like stink when it gets heated up? But I would say it wasn't a complete fail but it wasn't a complete success either.
Those are my Pinterest Cleanings for today. I want to try the one that I just found about how to get the white "hot plate" spots off of wood tables, she did do an update saying that not everyone was having success with it, but I'll try it. I also still want to try the carpet cleaning, with the iron, yeah, maybe I'll get to that one this week. However, I'm trying to remind myself that the daily cleaning tasks (laundry, vacuuming, dishes, etc) are just as important these days as "THE LIST!" Because, let's be honest, you never know with my body when the baby decides it's time to make an appearance. I've been talking to Kiwi about how I need to get Zoe's 2nd bday and Joshua's 13th bday parties out of the way, because if not I will sit in the hospital and worry about when I'm going to do it, and HOW I'm going to do it. So, it's best to get those two things done before Kiwi makes an appearance. Anytime after March 8th I feel okay about, that would be about 38 1/2 weeks, I think we can do that!!! With all the cleaning I did today I am having an insane amount of Braxton Hicks and lower belly cramps (which honestly I attribute to the fact that my belly weighs a million pounds and I seriously need a belly bra to hold it up).
Here's to getting stuff done tomorrow. I'm hoping the fridge, the basement bathroom and the kitchen floor desperately needs a mopping! Oh and we have a pillow in our bedroom that's leaking stuffing I should probably take care of! Oh the list, the never ending mommy list!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Lists, I love them
I absolutely love lists, I love making them, reading them and checking things off of them (did I already cover this area before?). It's actually the checking things off that excites me most. As a kid, we'd get off the school bus (that my mom drove) and she'd have a list of things there for us to do. Now, me and my brother Travis would pick the easiest things and wait until about 10 minutes before her or my dad got home and sort of do them...sort of! My sister would always end up with the hardest chore and she'd do it right away and then sit down to do her homework! But my mom made lists, all the time!
I also make lists all the time! Lists of phone calls I need to make, lists of chores I need to do, lists of names I like, lists of things I want to buy but can't afford right now, lists of home improvements I want, lists of things I want my dad to build me..... lots of lists. I try to use up one notebook before I start a new one, but sometimes that doesn't happen. I'm a notebook freak as it is. I have probably 3 or 4 boxes of journals, poems, notebooks, diaries and calendars from years pasts, they are pretty hilarious to read and I've thought a lot about sharing some of the terrible poems I've written as a pre teen and teenager and some of the journal entries. Do you know I LIED to myself in my OWN journal? Who does that?!?!?! Anyway, I really wanted to be cooler than I was..... But luckily I grew up to be 100% awesome, so it didn't really matter how cool I was in middle school/high school now did it??
So, I made a list about 2 weeks ago of the stuff I need to do before baby gets here. Now, my husband likes to "make suggestions" for this list, and he thinks he's very good about being nonchalant about it, but he doesn't fool me, that's why we're married :) But I add those things and they get a cute little question mark, which means, I don't really care if I get to it, but it's on the list...SEE it's on the list! My aunt and I were talking today and had the funniest conversation about list. She said her church had a guest speaker and he asks about making list. THEN he said what I thought was my own little secret and apparently it's not! He asked who ADDS things to their list AFTER they do it, just so they can mark it off??!! I totally did that yesterday!! I thought I was the only crazy person who did such a thing, but apparently, I'm more normal that I think. I scrubbed down our kitchen chairs...which Zoe is probably the most disgusting eater on the planet, so they really needed it, and it wasn't on my list, it should have been but it wasn't. So, I added it, and proudly scratched through it (ONLY one line, I have to be able to read what it was I accomplished, there's NO scribbling on the list.)
Then, I realized that if for some reason my list gets messy, like I've started added bullets in the margins or it got doodled on by one of the kids, I have to rewrite it. And I won't leave off the stuff I already accomplished, I will keep those on there and scratch through them! And there's no numbering on the list, just because "sand and re stain the bar" is on the 4th line DOES NOT mean, it's number 4 on my list, and it does have a question mark behind it, so it's really no where near the top. There is no order to the list, things get done in whatever order I feel like. Numbering the list would probably throw my brain into complete chaos. I don't like being told what to do, especially by some silly piece of paper that I myself wrote on. Now, somethings make sense to do before other things, duh! Like, I need to organize the linen closet before I can organize the laundry room.
Here's something silly I've come across. I have about 7 1/2 weeks until my scheduled time to have this baby. It is my hearts desire to keep this date, so I'm going to continue to believe it, but I will also be somewhat realistic with my birthing history and realize that this baby COULD come in 5 1/2 weeks, that's WAY sooner than 7 1/2 weeks.... So, I keep having these moments of "well, if I do THIS then I just have to do it AGAIN before the baby gets here." How lame is that?!?! Like wiping down doors and walls and light plates, I KNOW I will have to do this again before baby gets here, my children are dirty little humans, so....do I wait until it gets closer and then possibly not have enough time...or do I do it now and risk having to do it again?!?! What a silly silly pickle!
I also have a few "sewing" things on my list, I don't exactly know how to sew. I did sew about 5 inches of something the other day and now can't get the machine re threaded and when I thought I did it still wouldn't feed the fabric through...so.... I dont' know if those are fair things to have on the list, I can't exactly do them, but I want to.... I'm probably more forgiving on this list thing than I should be....
So, in conclusion, I love list. I absolutely love them. I'd love to post my entire list, but that would probably bore people, you don't want to know my list of chores do you?!
I also make lists all the time! Lists of phone calls I need to make, lists of chores I need to do, lists of names I like, lists of things I want to buy but can't afford right now, lists of home improvements I want, lists of things I want my dad to build me..... lots of lists. I try to use up one notebook before I start a new one, but sometimes that doesn't happen. I'm a notebook freak as it is. I have probably 3 or 4 boxes of journals, poems, notebooks, diaries and calendars from years pasts, they are pretty hilarious to read and I've thought a lot about sharing some of the terrible poems I've written as a pre teen and teenager and some of the journal entries. Do you know I LIED to myself in my OWN journal? Who does that?!?!?! Anyway, I really wanted to be cooler than I was..... But luckily I grew up to be 100% awesome, so it didn't really matter how cool I was in middle school/high school now did it??
So, I made a list about 2 weeks ago of the stuff I need to do before baby gets here. Now, my husband likes to "make suggestions" for this list, and he thinks he's very good about being nonchalant about it, but he doesn't fool me, that's why we're married :) But I add those things and they get a cute little question mark, which means, I don't really care if I get to it, but it's on the list...SEE it's on the list! My aunt and I were talking today and had the funniest conversation about list. She said her church had a guest speaker and he asks about making list. THEN he said what I thought was my own little secret and apparently it's not! He asked who ADDS things to their list AFTER they do it, just so they can mark it off??!! I totally did that yesterday!! I thought I was the only crazy person who did such a thing, but apparently, I'm more normal that I think. I scrubbed down our kitchen chairs...which Zoe is probably the most disgusting eater on the planet, so they really needed it, and it wasn't on my list, it should have been but it wasn't. So, I added it, and proudly scratched through it (ONLY one line, I have to be able to read what it was I accomplished, there's NO scribbling on the list.)
Then, I realized that if for some reason my list gets messy, like I've started added bullets in the margins or it got doodled on by one of the kids, I have to rewrite it. And I won't leave off the stuff I already accomplished, I will keep those on there and scratch through them! And there's no numbering on the list, just because "sand and re stain the bar" is on the 4th line DOES NOT mean, it's number 4 on my list, and it does have a question mark behind it, so it's really no where near the top. There is no order to the list, things get done in whatever order I feel like. Numbering the list would probably throw my brain into complete chaos. I don't like being told what to do, especially by some silly piece of paper that I myself wrote on. Now, somethings make sense to do before other things, duh! Like, I need to organize the linen closet before I can organize the laundry room.
Here's something silly I've come across. I have about 7 1/2 weeks until my scheduled time to have this baby. It is my hearts desire to keep this date, so I'm going to continue to believe it, but I will also be somewhat realistic with my birthing history and realize that this baby COULD come in 5 1/2 weeks, that's WAY sooner than 7 1/2 weeks.... So, I keep having these moments of "well, if I do THIS then I just have to do it AGAIN before the baby gets here." How lame is that?!?! Like wiping down doors and walls and light plates, I KNOW I will have to do this again before baby gets here, my children are dirty little humans, so....do I wait until it gets closer and then possibly not have enough time...or do I do it now and risk having to do it again?!?! What a silly silly pickle!
I also have a few "sewing" things on my list, I don't exactly know how to sew. I did sew about 5 inches of something the other day and now can't get the machine re threaded and when I thought I did it still wouldn't feed the fabric through...so.... I dont' know if those are fair things to have on the list, I can't exactly do them, but I want to.... I'm probably more forgiving on this list thing than I should be....
So, in conclusion, I love list. I absolutely love them. I'd love to post my entire list, but that would probably bore people, you don't want to know my list of chores do you?!
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