Saturday, my first day alone with all 4 kids, went perfect! All 4 of them napped, and I got a few minutes to myself. I have to work on timing it just right, so that I nurse Artie after the girls quiet down for naps. This helps him get a nap in, and I can enjoy a quiet lunch. :)
Sunday didn't go very well. No one napped, the baby was fussy, and I was done, mentally! The girls were acting up. It was a bit chilly to take the baby out, so we just stayed in. I reorganized all the cupboards in the kitchen. It took me all day. I reorganized the pantry as well and even added a 3-drawer rolling cart in there for storage. I'm happy with how it turned out - much more functional and I now have "stations". I read in another mom's blog about creating stations in the kitchen for different tasks/things. It made so much sense to group things together for how they're used, not just because they are like items.
I now have a beverage station - one shelf that has mugs, teas, hot cocoa mixes, a sugar bowl, and instant coffee packets. Directly below that cupboard is where I've relocated the coffeemaker. So, now, in the morning, we don't have to pull down the coffeemaker from on top of the fridge, then find the mugs in another area, then go get the sugar from yet another area. It's all there, together. So clever!
Then, I moved the microwave from our largest section of counter space to a small area. I made the largest section of counter the baking station. Directly below it, in the drawer, are utensils used solely for baking. Below that is 2 cupboards that I filled with all the pans, mixing bowls, and appliances I use for baking everything! It is so handy. I used that station this morning to make some cran-apple muffins and it worked wonderfully!
Those are the only 2 stations I organized. Everything else is sort of how it was. The pantry was reorganized to have everything the girls use within their reach. I might regret this later, when I find spilled cereal or they've eaten too many snacks! :) I put all the breakfast foods on the bottom shelf, so they can grab what they want on cereal days. Then, the middle drawer of the cart has all things snack related - raisins, dried cranberries, marshmallows, rice krispie treats, goldfish, ginger crackers, fruit snacks, etc.
I made things accessible for the girls so if they are in need of something and I'm busy with the baby, I can instruct them to get it out themselves. They were so excited about the snack drawer! :) Hopefully, they don't sneak anything without asking!
Today has been going well. I'm working on laundry, and we had 2 visitors this morning - a friend of mine and her little girl, who went to preschool with Iris last year. My girls were so excited to see the daughter! It's been several days since they've played with other kids. And I was happy to have another mom as company. (It's been several days for me, too!) They bought Artie a handprint kit, so we can make his handprint in clay! I'm so excited to do this. I've done it with the girls (just last year, actually, and not as babies), so I'm happy to being doing Artie's hands as well!
I am hoping to get to the grocery store on Wednesday. It'll be my first time out with all the kids, so pray for me! I plan to have the baby in the Moby wrap on me, and have the girls in the kid-friendly cart. Meijer, Dominick's and Target all have those carts that seat 3 kids. Jewel does not, so I don't know if we'll go there...seems like I'd be ASKING for trouble! Haha!
One other thing...I cannot believe how BIG Artie is already! He was 8 pounds 13 ounces at 6 days old (up 9 ounces in 3 days between his doctor visits!!). He did not fit into most of the newborn outfits I had for him and he is quickly outgrowing the 0-3 month size clothing! So, pretty much everything I borrowed from my sister for him is no longer fitting (or didn't fit at all!). This just seems crazy to me. Today he is in a 3 month size outfit! I am, again, so thankful for the surprise shower my girlfriends had for me, because I'm already into clothing I received there! If I didn't have that, I'd be out buying clothes. $$$$
My sister-in-law is graciously allowing my sister and me to go through her boy clothing, up to size 2T!! She is having their 4th baby this Fall; it is another girl (that'll be 2 and 2 for them!). She is wanting to sell her boy clothing, but she is letting us go through it first to see if there's anything we need/want.
I am so grateful to have such wonderful members of our extended family, who are so willing to let us borrow/have clothing. It saves so much money for us! I am sad to think of the day when our kids are too big to get any hand-me-downs! I'll actually have to start budgeting for clothing. Boo!
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