two weeks, getting in the groove

[LuckyClown]

I have not really been busy, I guess I have just been establishing my routines for staying at home. Today is Faith's last day of school, and i sent her with a card and box of chocolates for her Head Start teachers. They are such great people and they absolutely love Faith (of course- what's not to love right?)

Krista still has a couple more weeks but you know what? she is actually counting down the days? I don't remember being so ready to be done as early as Kindergarten? I don't understand what her rush is to stay at home every day, I know I would rather be in a class.... Either way I have already begun thinking about how to do our schedule once both girls are off school.

I have already begun building a routine- if you have never checked out Flylady.net do it now- because I am a lazy person by nature and could very easily sleep until 10 am or later and then just sit on the computer all day, procrastinating like crazy. That is just my personality, I have always been that way. BUT, I found the fly lady and have been taking some notes from her website. My personal favorite is "It didn't get messy in a day and it won't get clean in a day" she is very easy on us mommas who are trying to learn because she realizes that the chances of us spending all day cleaning are slim to none- so I will not repost all of her great ideas here but suffice it to say that if you have trouble with a routine or getting motivated you should check her out.

The first thing she tells you to do is wake up before the kids and shower, do your face and hair and get dressed to lace up shoes- Ok so right there I already cheat.. i am pregnant, my feet are fat and my sneakers are no longer comfy so I throw on the cushy sandals that my mommy gave me for my birthday. I also tend to take my showers at night, My hair takes so long to dry it is just easier that way. Now after you have done your morning bathroom routine you swish the toilet, wipe down the counter and pick up any laundry you have and walk it to the machine- bathroom done- check

Then you take care of feeding all the critters including pets and YOURSELF. I find it funny that fly lady actually puts feed yourself on her list twice in two different places, as though she knows I'll forget...

so I have been swerving at this point because I take krista to school after they are all fed and taken care of, but either way you empty the dishwasher and clean up after breakfast and then you take a break (isn't she great?) that is when i get on the internet for a while and spend time with my Faith.

I usually have some trouble afte rthis point getting motivated again, but what i found helps is to make my to do list for the day. I am very specific, insomuch as if I have yet to run the dishwasher that is put on my list. today my list was:

-clean living room table- take care of basket of stuff on sofa (it was stuff that belonged in different rooms)- dust furniture- clean out and wipe down fridge- start girls' laundry- empty dishwasher- swiffer kicthen and bathroom floors

See, that's it! and now everyting on that list is crossed off and while my house is not perfect, at least my living spaces are clean- kitchen bathroom and living room are very much clean and look nice. I still have to get a handle on our bedrooms. I am spending 15 minutes a day cleaning mine, and am giving the girls one mission a day in their room- (yesterday Faith had to put all of her dolls and stuffed animals on the shelf while Krista had to put all dirty clothes in the basket) I am hoping that after spending a littl ebit of time each day on a room eventually it will be as easy to keep clean as the rest of the house is turning out to be.

So there we go, I am getting the hang of this SAHM stuff. I think my best motivator is if the dishes aren't done when my husband gets home from his second job he will do them- he will also do the laundry if i haven't- I love that he is willing to help but honestly feel awful if he does it, because he did just work two jobs... so I have been making sure that anything he could think of to do in the house is done by the time he gets home. He also is awesome because he notices when I've done something extra and will still tell me that it looks good... that was a really big motivation when i first started, and it was still messy and harder to get through in a day.

In other news I do plan on putting Krista in Cheerleading this year- yes it is expensive but honestly we do not really rely on child support being paid- even though it has been coming regularly for over a year or two now, so we do not spend that money on bills or groceries or anything- usually we use it to pay for fun activities or I will take us out to eat with it or we just save it- so I am planning on using that money now for her cheerleading and also to get Faith into some sort of class this summer. She is such a klutz i really think either dance or karate or gymnastics will be helpful to her. also it will get us out of the house for a while this summer.

In more other news, i think I have almost broken myself of my caffeine addiction- I was to the point where if i didn't have coffee by 10 am I'd get a headache by lunchtime- well I switched to half caf, and because I have been doing most of my housework first thing in the morning I don't much feel like a hot drink- so I drank 3 cups for a few days, then 2 for a few mor days, and finally yesterday I had one cup of half caf coffee... today i tried an expiriment and did not have coffee at all... it is 2:04 and I have no headache. I admit though i am seriously considering having a pepsi, because i like it...

In pregnancy news I have 7 and a half weeks left to be pregnant- and my ribs are constantly on fire, my back feels contorted no matter what I do, if I stand it is my lower spine, around the tail bone, and if I am sitting it is my upper back, between the shoulder blades. lil Gabriella is as we speak letting me know that the lap top is in her space by slowly pushing it away every few seconds... hehe, it is kind of cute

I guess I have rambled for long enough now so I am going to call it a journal and look for ways to cook salmon...