Organizing Baby Room and Pantry

As I said before, I have been following Simple Mom in her Project Simplify 2012 project.  I was too busy to upload my photos from last weeks project-"Kids Stuff", even though I did it!  (Actually finished early and have kept in clean for 3 weeks now!!)  This weeks project has been "The Pantry".  I thought I would share before and after photos for both!

KIDS ROOM:
Decor

Before

After

Although this is not complete... I want to still add stuff, I did get some of it done.  In the works are a owl mobile, "Hagen" painted on tiles for above his crib, and a large painted owl for above the changing table.  I'm working on too many projects, so they will have to come with time!

Crib
                            Before                                                                           After

So this one is obvious what got done!  I can actually put a baby in his crib! Being that it wasn't used for sleeping in, it became a storage catch all-but so full that I couldn't find anything!  Big change to take everything out and organize it!  I would love to hear your opinions on when we should start putting Hagen in his crib at night.  When did you transition from in the bedroom with you to in their own crib?  Well whenever we decide, his crib is now a crib!

Changing table

                                  Before                                                                          Before

 Before

                      After

                                   After

I showed a couple before shots to show a couple stages it went through.  I love that we had 3 matching clementine boxes.  Great way to have cheap storage!  And it comes in handy for wipes, burp cloths, and extra diaper inserts!  My water bowl is missing from the table, and a friend gave us a humidifier that now sits on the table as well!  I still have some labeling to do, but that will be an ongoing process as things change out quickly!  (PS... our changing table is a kitchen island that we bought for our old house but had no space in the kitchen here for it, so it became our changing table.  I did this BEFORE seeing it on pinterest and got really excited when I saw someone suggest it!  I thought of it without the help of pinterest!!) 

Storage

                       Before                                                      After

 

Since we don't have storage space, we dedicated part of the nursery for storage.  Our totes are piled up behind curtains.  New curtains, and more plastic tubs helped us re-organize this space.  Didn't get a shot of the finished insides, but I promise I can actually find stuff now!

Closet

                                                                             Before

                       After                                                                                               After

                                     

Wedding dress is now in a storage tub, clothes are organized my like minded items, tools are neatly organized, photos and other archival boxes are organized.  Although the closet has about 800 purposes which is hard to make look "pretty", it is now organized which makes it really easy to keep clean.  If the hammer has a home, when I'm done using it I know where it goes, so returning it is easier.... plus, when it's gone, its home is empty and it looks unorganized, therefore I'm more inclined to put the hammer back.  

Bookshelf

                                  Before                                                                  After

 

Here is where the 40 bags in 40 days came into play.  I got rid of 4 massive bags of books.  Books that I would love to absorb their contents, but that more realistically would rather spend time doing other activities.  When I have time, I decided THEN I can check them out at a library.  Moving boxes and boxes of books, that at this moment in my life I don't touch, is annoying!

See bags of books being filled up!  Last Sunday we took 7 bags + 3 boxes of stuff to Goodwill.  

And just to show some additional items in the room.... Thanks Uncle J for the sweet calendar!! 

 Although this isn't in Hagen's room at the moment, I did finish this Pinterest project, and I love using it daily!!

THE PANTRY:

                                 Before                                                                 Before

 

Major improvements, lots of hard work... but HUGE results that were so worth it!!  Chalkboard paint allows me to use many different types of jars together but still have a cohesive feeling. The jars are a combination of store bought and re-used bottles from our used food.  Buying 2 more shelves allowed  me to customize sizes and allow for more storage.  Fabric covered boxes gives me easier access to canned goods.  Fabric covered lids ties it all together and just makes it prettier to look at!!  What a difference this makes to have our food organized!  And yes, our pantry is a bookshelf we added since we had no room before!!

Getting this organized spurred me on to organize cupboard space in the kitchen.  Although I didn't get before pictures, I will post after and just prove I am getting a lot done despite having an infant in the house!!

Again, now that everything has a functional/organized home it is much easier to stay on top of every day messes.  Can't wait for our whole house to be mostly organized so we can spend our weekends and evenings enjoying each other and exploring God's beautiful creation!!  I would love to hear your progress.  I didn't share my struggles this time around because I wanted to celebrate the strides we have been making.  But know, the struggle is there, but keep going because the end result is SOOO worth it!! 

Happy Weekend!!

-Bekki

Monday Mugs

As Hagen is about to two months, what a perfect time to post pictures of his coming home!  HAHA!  That or I am just getting around to getting pictures off my phone.  Wait till I get them off the camera!!

Hagen's Coming home outfit!!!  I can't believe he was so little!!  

Look at those cute little hands and face!!

Proud Daddy!!

Proud Mama... I hate the vignette function, but it was better than seeing the icky background that I couldn't get rid of.

Happy Monday!  Enjoy the photos!  (Oh, and happy Birthday to Uncle I!!)

-Bekki

Cakes and cupcakes!

 I finally figured out how to get photos off of my phone and onto my computer.  So now I feel like I have to catch up with photo posts.  Let's start with my baking attempts.  Lessons learned:

1) Baking with an infant slows you down.
2) Baking with an infant "good enough" is a great phrase to memorize.
3) Baking with an infant is a GREAT way to feel like a true homemaker!
4) Baking with an infant makes you feel like you're not a great homemaker!  HAHA!!

 Lessons learned with making this years Super Bowl cupcakes.
-Leave yourself more than 3 hours from start to finish when last year it took two people ALL day!
-Taking breaks during your 3 hours to breastfeed slows you down.
-From my last lesson learned, I had to just say "good enough" and be done!

They sure did taste good.  And everyone blames the fact that the Patriots logo was backwards as to why they lost.  Sorry to you Patriot fans!

 After finding this beautiful cake on IamBaker blog, I had to do a trial run.  I am thinking of making this for Hagen's baptism.  I learned that I need more frosting and to line up my two layers of cake.  Also, I need to find a bigger star tip for it to look more like the "Pro".  But again the cake tasted good and I learned lessons.  Practice makes perfect!

Hope your Friday is just as sweet!!

-Bekki

Hagen 1 month!

So I know he's almost 6 weeks old, but I FINALLY took his 1 month pictures. I couldn't decide what I wanted to use as his measuring object.  But as I laid out the quilt that his soon to be god-mother made him, and my other favorite blanket for his backdrop, I realized that would be a great measuring tool!  Enjoy 3 pics as I played with the editing tools on my phone!!

Did I mention that he slept from 10pm to 5am????  I feel like a new woman!!!  

Happy Thursday!

Spring cleaning!!

I know it's not quite spring yet, but with a little one around I realize what is important and what isn't.  Cleaning has been the what isn't.  And with that I realized the Mr. and I have way too much stuff.


So I found a couple of my favorite blogs and they are giving me the kick in the butt I need.  This one starts in March, and this is the one I am going to be following.

If you want to read more about it, head over to the Simple Mom blog.

And then, I found this one on pinterest.  Clover Lane is the original blog giving me the challenge of 40 bags in 40 days!  

I'm going to combine the two challenges to try to make our house clutter free so that I can continue to make Hagen my priority.  

Thoughts on clutter...

Clutter makes Hagen unhappy too!!
(I won't say anything abut the fact that maybe it's just the onesie he's wearing...)

It causes stress and anxiety in my life when I see the clutter.

I spend nights awake thinking about how I'm going take care of the stuff the next day.

I then get frustrated the next day when I don't finish because there is not enough time in the day. 

All in all too much time wasted on thinking about the clutter when I could be spending that time praying for my husband, my child, my family, my friends... heck I could even have time to pray for politics if I wanted. More time in prayer means less stress.

It causes tension in my marriage.  

We get in small fights about who put what where.  

We spend all our free time cleaning, therefore not making new memories. 

If we didn't have the clutter, we could enjoy our time off outside, or at an art gallery, or... well anywhere... even inside our own home playing games or watching movies... working on our relationship with each other.  

It keeps me from building a sense of community.

I am too embarrassed to have people over when our house is clutter filled.  

IF I have people over, I spend weeks cleaning, and not going out with friends till things are shoved away so it at least looks clean.  I would love to invite people over at any given moment so the Mr. and I can build precious friendships, which military life makes time that much more special since it can be oh so short.

Clutter makes moving harder than it needs to be.  

And come on, did I mention we are military?  Moving is the name of the game. Why are we moving unnecessary baggage with us wherever we go?

Clutter keeps me from pursuing my interests.

We like to play guitar.  

I like to paint.

We like to go camping.

I like to create.

I want to do all of these things and more with Hagen.

How can I implement them back into my life with Hagen if I don't have the time to do them now?

Isn't holding this wayyy better than constantly moving around clutter??

So as you can see I know why I am fed up with clutter, and Hagen is a good reason to kick the habit for good.  As I thought about what I want to give up this year for lent (I'll give you the reasonings for following this spiritual act if you ask!!), I thought it's time to get rid of stuff!!!!

So we are going to have 40 less bags of stuff in our house. We are only going to keep what is necessary to build relationships and pursue our passions.  (Oh and of course things of necessity like clothes, food and hygiene... but not overkill in any of those areas!)

Who wants to join me? I know I offered this last spring and didn't follow through with it. But this year I am.  The more people who do it with me, the more motivated we will all be! Including me!! 

Happy Fat Tuesday!!

Hagen's Birth Story

So, Hagen is ONE month today.  It is crazy to think that he has been with us for a whole month.  It seems so short and yet such a long time at the exact time.  Well for all those people who would love to hear his story about how he came into the world, here it is.  If not, I'll try to at least post pictures so you can skip the words and just see the pictures!

Wednesday night the Mr. and I went to bed.  Not much had been happening on the pregnant front.  I was feeling lots of baby Z pushing on my stomach, lots of movement, but that was nothing different.  I woke up at around 2:30am (so technically Thursday morning) to pee.  Again, nothing abnormal, I was getting up multiple times a night to pee.  After I noticed there was blood.  It wasn't a ton at first, but it was enough to know it was blood. I called the Mr.  ... Let's just say I was super glad my water didn't break.  I told him about the blood.  He said I was fine and he fell back asleep!!  I called for him again and told him I needed him in the bathroom.  About 5 minutes later he stumbled in, looked at it and said, "I don't think it's that bad" and crawled BACK INTO BED!!!  I went into the bedroom and told him that I think that I should call the answering service to see if this was something to be concerned with.  So finally after about 30 minutes of calling around to find the right number to call, I got a call back and the woman said it was probably safest to go to the hospital and get it checked out.

We realized at this point that it would have been helpful to have taken the hospital tour, or registered at the hospital.  We were clueless as to where we were actually going.  After feeling like a rat in a maze, we finally got to the nurses station at Labor and Delivery and they told me I looked too comfortable to be there.  But when I told them about the blood the said it was probably safest for me to come in and get checked out.  They took me into the triage room, and as I was putting on the gown realized I was bleeding more so finally stopped feeling stupid for going to the hospital.  They hooked me up to the monitors and told me that I was having regular contractions every 5-6 minutes apart!  I laughed!  I FINALLY knew what a contraction felt like.  They had been asking me if I had been having contractions, but nothing hurt so I didn't think I had them yet. Now that I knew what it felt like, I was like yeah, I've been feeling those for a couple days now.  I had just thought it was Baby Z moving more forcefully!  Unfortunately I was only 1 cm dilated so they sent me home.

Thursday a friend came over while the Mr. went to work.  I had fairly regular contractions all day, but they still were not painful.  Just a tightening sensation.  I thought to myself, I can TOTALLY handle the pain of labor if this is what contractions are!  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!  I will NEVER think that again!  That night the Mr. and I went to Target to walk around.  We timed my contractions and they were becoming 4-5 minutes apart with the occasional 3 minute time span.  They still were fairly comfortable. I think the worst got up to a 3 on the pain scale.  (Although at the time I said a couple got to a 4... I soon felt a 4, they were not 4's!!  Only 3's!)

Pre-Epidural... still smiling between contractions!

Friday I had my regularly scheduled Dr. appt. at 10:00am.  They checked me out and I was still only 1 cm. dilated.  Talk about frustrating!  I figured I HAD to have gained some ground as my contractions were becoming more frequent!  The Dr. told me that Baby Z's head was really low and she wouldn't be surprised if he came by that night!  Here was to hoping!  We were wanting to have a baby born on Daddy's birthdate of a Friday the 13th.  (Different months of course!)  Friday my contractions continued to gain strength.  Around 5pm they were getting hard to talk through, so I decided to start timing and writing things down.  They were about 3-4 minutes apart and getting stronger every contraction.  At about 10:00pm I decided that it would probably be best to go to the hospital as I thought my labor was moving along quite nicely.

This time I got a wheel chair ride up to labor and delivery.  (I must have looked like I was in labor this time!)  After getting all connected up, they checked me and I was ONLY 3 CM DILATED!  I wanted to scream!  They told me I was in active labor so had a couple of choices.  The nurse gave me her opinion that since I was trying to go sans pain medicine, it would be more comfortable to labor from home some more: my own shower, no wires hooked up to me, my own food, comfy clothes, etc. I figured this would be perfect since my mom's flight landed at 11:00pm.  We left the hospital, picked my mom up at the airport and went out to eat at Applebee's.  I was having pretty frequent/painful contractions, and just had to breath through them.  Needless to say, I didn't eat much and I'm sure the waiter thought I was crazy!  We went back home and I tried to get comfortable.  HAHA!!  Contractions and comfortable are not two words that are used together, and now I know why!  We tried the shower, we tried different positions, I tried to sleep... The last was least successful! Around 2:00am, they were getting really unbearable, and 2-3 minutes apart so I figured I had dilated more so should be safe to go to the hospital, as I was afraid of having the baby at home!  (Hindsight, I would have stayed at home a few more hours!!)

Trying to walk to help with contractions. Obviously still pre-epidural.

Now when people talk about contractions, I thought they were just in your belly!  I figured I could handle it!  NOT TRUE!  Contractions are felt from your shoulders to your knees!  Front AND Back!  WOW!  I always thought people on labor shows on TV were just exaggerating and making more of a scene than necessary!  Maybe true, but I now know the pain is VERY real and VERY painful!

I got to the hospital and we made bets at how far dilated I was.  I figured it had to be at least a 6, probably more like a 7.  I WAS 3.5!!!!!!!!!!!!  ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  This time though they didn't give me an option of going home.  They figured I would dilate much faster now, as they could see my contractions were stronger and consistent, and close together! (Again, hindsight, I could have gone home again!)

2AM
3AM
4AM

The labor and delivery room... I think I'm actually napping in this picture.

They told me to try to rest.  Try to rest??? How could I?  I was so uncomfortable.  They talked with me about a pain medication that they could give me through IV that would help to take the edge off and help me sleep, but it would only be temporary.  At this point, the sleep sounded fantastic!  So I took it. I thought it will wear off and I'll have finished dilating and be able to push!

5AM
6AM
7AM

I got SOME sleep!  But by now the medicine was wearing off!  They checked me.  4 CM!!!!  AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So they decided to break my water.

8AM

New Doctors and nurses, it was time for the shift!  My wonderful nurse Regina came in.

9AM
New Doctor checked me after the breaking of my water!  I hadn't changed!  STILL 4CM!!!!!

9:30AM, I could not handle my contractions.  I was doing fine thinking that I'd only have to endure X amount more, but knowing that I WASN'T DILATING, and that this was going to go on for what seemed like forever, I knew I was going to be too exhausted at the end.  I was afraid I wouldn't have any energy left to push, so I decided that I needed an epidural.  Luckily I had been in long enough that I had almost finished off my first IV bag of fluids so they could get the anesthesiologist in pretty quickly.

10:00AM- The epidural was not working.  I had to wait 20 minutes every time and keep pushing the button for more.  My nurse was concerned that I was still feeling them.  AWESOME!  I mean, it took the edge off, but they were still quite uncomfortable.

11:00AM
12:00PM
1:00PM

I got some sleep here and there.  The Dr. checked I was 6CM now.  WOOHOO!!  Unfortunately Baby Z was looking up which was why I wasn't dilating very quickly.  So we worked hard the next couple hours to turn Baby Z's head!  Leg up on a table, laying on my stomach... ALL very uncomfortable.  The Doctor told me it was usually an hour a CM at this point, so would be having a baby very soon!

2:00PM
3:00PM
4:00PM

7CM

At this point, I was so tired, uncomfortable (back labor had hit me full force and the epidural was NOT touching that pain!)  I looked at the Mr. crying and said, I can't keep doing this.  This is not how I pictured labor.  It was moving along SOOO SLOWLY!

5:00PM
5:30PM

I WAS FINALLY 9/10 CM dilated.  I would be able to push soon!  So they started prepping everything for delivery.  I was so excited when they told me this I started crying tears of joy!

Now the next half hour is kind of a blur, but here are things I remembering happening:
-catheter removed so I could push
-throwing up TONS (my question is what did I have to throw up? It had been 18 hours since I had eaten anything)
-The nurse told me I could start pushing, so I did.
-The doctor finally came in
-On my first push I could already see Baby Z's head!!

Apparently my contractions were really long, but also farther spaced apart.  Normal is 3 pushes of 10 sec  each during a contraction.  I could get 4-6 pushes in.  This meant though that I made great progress during each contraction, but I lost more ground than usual between contractions.  But all I knew was I wanted to FINALLY meet this baby, so I pushed as hard as I could... Even though I couldn't feel anything down below.  I could feel my back labor still, so could at least tell when my contractions were happening, so knew when to push.

6:25PM

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Can you believe he is OURS??"

I was so happy to finally be holding Hagen. To give him his name. To kiss him. To hear him. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!  The staff was awesome. I got to hold him for a long time before they took him away to measure him, weigh him and clean him. As soon as I got him back, I asked if I was allowed to feed him. They told me he was my son and if I wanted to I could. I remember having no idea what to do, but I loved that he and I got to figure it out together! He was actually amazing and pretty much latched on right away, and I only had to do a bit of prodding.  I feel blessed that breast feeding worked for both of us, as I have heard of so many struggle stories!

And now for a WHOLE series of pictures!!

Still not able to get enough of him minutes after he was born!

Hagen Lane

January 14, 2012

6:25 PM

8lbs. 7 oz.

21 in. long (although they said 19 at the hospital, but 2 days later he was 21 1/4", and the pediatrician didn't believe he was 19!)

The doctor and nurse: AMAZING!!!

Once we got to the 9/10 cm stage, we made our guesses!  Dad was RIGHT on for time.  Glad Grandma's time didn't win!  HA!

After the choas of delivery, cleaning him up, being sewn up (I AM thankful I had the epidural as I did quite a bit of tearing both internal and external!) and everything else that went on that I was kind of clueless to, as I was holding/nursing my baby boy, they had to take Hagen to the nursery.  After he was gone, we got all packed up and the wheeled me to the maternity ward.  Not going to lie... that first night did NOT have a good first impression of the staff. 

Mark, Sarah, and Dana... Hagen's first visitors!  YAY!  Young adult bible study!

Sunday was a big day.  We had visitors, and pictures, and A SHOWER for mom after getting my IV out!  Wish they had been in reverse order but, oh well....

Monday Jan. 16th, we got to go home!  What an exciting adventure!

Kittlesby so excited to see what this new moving creature is! 

So, that is our story.  We'll get to more later!!  Happy Valentines day to all our friends and family!  We can't wait for everyone who hasn't met Hagen yet to finally meet him, and for those who have to get to know him more!  He's growing so much every day!  I'll try to post something weekly on here so everyone who WANTS can keep updated.