28 Day Challenge Update

It’s pretty obvious that I recently lost all motivation to post.  Zach left Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago and since I’ve been able to talk to him more often, I haven’t spent much time organizing/thinking of things to post.  As far as my 28 day challenge goes, I did start and finish organizing the master closet (which I’m sure Zach will appreciate once he’s home) and I’m halfway done cleaning both of our cars.  With the 90+ degree weather we’ve had, we haven’t been spending much time outside.

Now, for the exciting news of the day week year Zach will be HOME within the next 2 weeks!!!!  He’s not having surgery and is in Kentucky right now, waiting to fly home. 🙂  He has internet access there, so we’ve been able to skype (and see each other clearly for the first time in 6 months!).  Irelyn was confused & happy to see him clearly for the first time on skype yesterday.  I hope this helps these last 2 weeks pass quickly…although now that we’ve made it through 9 months of this deployment, 2 weeks seems like nothing.

The three of us went to the park this morning (at 7:30am!) and took some fun pictures this afternoon.

Irelyn loved riding in the stroller and Kaden had so much fun playing at the park.  Irelyn ended up needing an outfit change after spitting up all over her clothes and needing her dirty diaper changed on the picnic table five minutes after we got there.  We managed to make it home before it got to 80 degrees though!

We decided to have a mini photo shoot in our living room today – of course with a red, white & blue theme!  Irelyn had fun trying to eat the streamers and Kaden tried rolling them into the flowers I made a few weeks ago.  I’m pretty happy with the pictures we did get. 🙂

And here are a few pictures of the past week (plus one of the hubby 🙂 ).  I came across an $80 Baby Einstein jumper I liked for Irelyn and was able to find the exact one at a garage sale for $15!  She’s loved sitting in that and her bumbo while watching Kaden play.  Kaden has been learning so many new things lately and he’s so excited for Zach to come home in a couple weeks (I’ll probably have an entire post of pictures once he’s here!).

That’s all for tonight.  I’ll work harder on posting regularly again… at least until Zach is home.  🙂

Day 13 – Toy Organization

This project is the one I was dreading most (along with the master closet which I’m planning on starting this weekend).  It went surprisingly well and Kaden loved helping label everything.  I’m very happy with how his room looks now and he’s been putting his toys away in the right places for the past two days 🙂

Now, BEFORE you look at these pictures… let me warn you that I did forget to take the “before” picture before I started doing anything.  I had already moved toys (with Kaden’s help) and cleaned off the bed before I realized I hadn’t take a picture.  These pictures are worse than his room actually looked by the end of each day, but they just make the finished product look that much better 😉

…….and here’s after!

It turned out even better than I thought it would.  The room looks a little smaller with the bed where it is now, but there’s more room to store toys and I don’t have to climb in the toy box to put his laundry away 🙂

My other exciting news for the day is that I ordered a sewing machine!! (…I remember watching my mom sew when I was a kid – I never thought I’d be so excited about sewing) It will be here early next week and I’ve got  a list of projects that I’m going to begin working on (reusable nursing pads, cloth diaper inserts, cloth wipes and burp rags), I’m already planning a modified “28 day challenge” for sewing projects!

Well, tomorrow’s task is the medicine cabinet (which is actually just a basket) and grocery shopping.  Here’s one last picture of Kaden in his clean room!  Somehow this kid manages to sleep with every item on his bed, plus about 6 blankets you can’t see folded up at the bottom.  I always have to double check to be sure I’m kissing his head (not Mickey’s) when I check on him at night.

Days 9 & 10 – Coat Closet & Toys

We haven’t gotten much sleep the past 2 nights – between Irelyn waking up more often (I think I can thank her 3 month growth spurt for that), Kaden wetting the bed (cleaning a mattress at 5am while Irelyn is crying in the other room is not the way to start the day) and me having very creepy dreams whenever I do manage to sleep, I couldn’t drag myself off of the couch after the kids went to bed last night to post (I was also finishing the 3rd and final book in the series I’ve been reading).  I’m really hoping we all sleep better tonight.

Anyway, here are my before & after pictures of the coat closet:

The only thing I actually ever open this closet for is the vacuum.  The only item of mine in the closet is my winter coat…which I couldn’t zip over my belly this past winter, so I haven’t touched this closet since we moved in.

Day 10 – toys (day 1).  I’ve decided not to post the before pictures until the room is done.  I forgot to take a picture before I started moving things around, so it looks like I let my child live in a complete mess (not true, we clean it before bedtime, but it amazes me how quickly he destroys it during the day).  I’ve gotten half of the organizing finished.  All of his toys will soon be in labeled baskets/boxes and on a shelf (that I’m going to have to steal from Irelyn’s room).  Day 2 of my toy organization is on Wednesday, so I should have the after pictures to post then. 🙂

Well, I’m going to make a decision I’ll regret while I’m wishing for a second cup of coffee in the morning (although I’ve accepted my dairy free diet, limiting my caffeine intake is one part of breastfeeding I’ll never enjoy) and I’m going to stay up a little longer and enjoy the peace and quiet.