IT WORKS FOR ME: laundry

I always like hearing from other people about how things work in their house and why they work the way they do. Yet, I also feel like everyone these days acts as if they know all about every subject they write about and can't say "this works for us, if it doesn't work for you, that's ok." Because of this, I decided to start a new little series called it works for me. I plan on covering all sorts of topics, mostly to give a glimpse into the day to day of our lives, but also to show why these things work well for us.

Now for a "hot" topic for moms:

laundry

Well all have it. Probably more of it than we even want. And how we all stay on top of it, or ignore it, varies from house to house. I know people that do all the laundry in the hampers every evening in their house. I know people that go weeks until there are no clothes left (we really don't have enough clothes in our house to go more than a week). I land somewhere in the middle.

It works for me.

I tend to do at least one load of laundry a day, usually during the day. I throw things like dirty bibs and Callum's clothes after dinner right into the washer and they sit there, then get washed with whatever is getting washed next. Then, I wash everyone's clothes when their hampers get full. Connor and Isla share a hamper, so their's usually fills up the fastest. Towels and sheets get washed whenever I feel like it, I really don't have a rhyme or reason to when I do it.

The real key to my madness is, I put away the loads of laundry after it comes out of the dryer. It takes all of 5 minutes. But, if I let the clean clothes pile up, it seems to become such a chore to put them away. So, I really work to not let them pile up...plus, like I said, we don't have a ton of clothes, so they need to go back into the drawers to be used again.

So there you have it. My exciting (sense the sarcasm) laundry routine. Even if this bored you to sleep, which, if it did, you're welcome for the cat nap, at least you get to see a picture of a cute baby who loves watching the washer and dryer go round and round.

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Callum Feeds Himself

^^ This may be my favorite picture ever! He isn't angry here, but actually holding up his bowl, screaming in pure joy.

The other day, I put Callum in his high chair to feed him and he literally went crazy. He was screaming and kicking and throwing himself around. Yeah, that toddler will has come roaring to the surface of my adorable babe. I had a feeling the real problem was that he wanted to feed himself. I tried handing him the spoon with some oatmeal on it, but he wanted the bowl too. So, I pulled him out, stripped him down, then put him back in his chair again and let him go to town.

Though he attempted to use his spoon a few times, he mostly just used his hand to scoop up the oatmeal and put it in his mouth. Then he would lick his fingers and start all over again. It was actually quite comical to watch. Aww, the messy stage of learning to feed yourself. It's fun when you have time to clean, but doing a deep cleaning of the house and a babe after every meal can get a little tiring. It comes with the territory though.

And if you want to see Callum in action, here is a short video clip of him eating his oatmeal.

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little moments not to be forgotten

// peek-a-boo //

// aloe vera clippings from a neighbor //

// writing...imagining //

// bubble blowing //

// eating //

// discarded drawings //

// baseball practice //

// happy boy //

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Callum {1 year, 3 months}

Weight: 21 pounds, 6 ounces

Length: 31 inches

tooth count: 8

Likes: playing/unloading cupboards or any drawer, puzzles, peek-a-boo, oranges, rice, going up stairs

Dislikes: being dropped off at nursery, his diaper being changed

Once Callum started moving, it's like a whole new world opened up. Sure, he is still entertained watching the world go by, but he also wants to get down and explore. He wants to go anywhere he can, and generally as far away from me as he can, then will turn around and cheekily smile at me. He seems to sense when the gate is down on the stairs and goes straight for them with gusto. The same is true for anything he isn't supposed to get in to. Want to see him crawl fast? Put a tub of legos across the room from him and you will be shocked how fast he can reach it!

Callum still crawls "funny", as everyone seems to say. That means he is still crawling with his right leg in front of him and sort of hopping. He loves going up the stairs, but still doesn't know how to go down them. We've tried teaching him, but he doesn't have much interest. He pulls himself to standing and stands on his tip toes to reach things. He cruises along furniture and will move from one piece of furniture to another. He also walks pushing things. And it doesn't necessarily need to be toys. He will walk pushing the vacuum or even a dining room chair. 

Callum still loves baths and really playing in any water, for that matter. I often times will give him a sink bath right after dinner. Not only does it leave him nice and clean, but sometimes I will do the dinner dishes on the opposite side of the sink while he is bathing! When Connor or Isla are in the bath, he will try to join them. But, group baths don't work well for him because he is so incredibly crazy in the bath, he can only have a little bit of water in the tub. 

About the worst thing in the world to Callum are diaper changes. Sometimes he starts crying just seeing the changing table when I am carrying him to it. He literally uses all his might to flip over and fight me the whole entire time. It makes it hard to properly get his diaper on. Sometimes I can distract him with his toothbrush or a phone, but I have to be careful that it doesn't end up in poop...not that I would know or anything ;) 

In terms of sleep, Callum still hasn't fully recovered from learning to stand in his crib. But, it's much better than it was when he first learned to stand, so baby steps, I guess. He goes to sleep with one of us in his room. Depending on the night, either holding our hand through the slats in his crib, or if we are really lucky, with one of us just sitting in the chair in his room...Callum lay down...Callum lay down. I thought he was pretty much ready to switch over from one nap to two, but lately he has been waking up for the day sometime in the 6:00 hour and he definitely needs two naps on those days. 

Callum will eat mostly anything, but has to be in the mood for it. If he's not, or even when he gets full, he just throws the unwanted food onto the floor. I let him feed himself and he generally eats what we are eating - full pieces of pizza, pasta, any and all meats, tomatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, hard boiled egg, oranges, grapes, bananas, pear, apple, etc. 

Callum loves playing with puzzles, emptying drawers of their contents and bugging his brother and sister. He still loves saying no to practically every question asked, waves at people generally after they've turned around and will bite anyone when they least suspect it. He really is a fun one to have around and makes me smile numerous times a day with that cheeky grin he gives me. 

Because I love looking back, Connor and Isla at the same age. 

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Three Kids

The thing about three kids is they keep you busy. I often find from the time I get up until the time the kids go to bed, I may not even get five minutes to sit and do something for me. Now, I don't mean all that time is directly spent on the kids, but there are things like laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, etc that also just take time. With all the busyness, sometimes it can feel like the one that screams the loudest is often the one to get the most attention. And, for all intensive purposes, that's the baby. Because of this, carving out special time each day with Connor and Isla has become important to me. Usually that time is in the form of cuddling up to read because I really enjoy reading and they seem to really enjoy being read to. But that also can look like coloring with Isla, playing scrabble junior with Connor or even running an errand alone with one of them. It doesn't happen often that I get out alone with just one of them, but I really like it when I do. When they are alone with me, they seems to come alive and just talk and talk and give their opinions on anything and everything and I totally eat it up.

The other day I walked to get Connor from school without Isla with me and he literally held my hand the whole way home from school and just talked and talked about his day. Now, he normally talks on his way home from school, but with Isla not there, the talk didn't quickly turn to pokemon! I have always valued picking my kid up from school because they just seem extra chatty about the little things that happened that day as soon as you pick them up. Those walks and drives home from school are always some of my favorite times.

I am acutely aware that every day I am laying the groundwork for the relationship I will have with my children later. I am also aware that I am laying the foundation for the relationship they will have with each other. All this terrifies me, but also makes me want to be the best person I can be.

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Getting Out

Around this time every year, I start itching for adventure. Sitting around cozied up in front of a fire is no longer appealing. I am ready to jail break from the confines of my home, in search of adventure. The problem is, it is still far too cold to enjoy many outdoor activities. So, I find myself often drawn to Knight Ferry. An easy place to walk, climb rocks, explore all while enjoying the sunshine. The exploration also tends to help with the child attitudes that come along with too much indoor time.

Now I would be remiss to just leave the story here, along with all the happy pictures. The thing is, Saturday was hard. There seems to be a lot going on with both mine and Ian's families that is just weighty. Pile on the fact that we stayed out until 10pm on Friday night with the kids...so we had some tired kids on our hands. Sure they had fun. But there was much whining and crying about things that didn't matter, in between bursts of exploration. Am I glad we got out? Yes. I think it's important to get some fresh air and sunshine on our faces, because life is about so much more than what's on tv or the angry birds app on an ipad.

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February Video Review

You may have been wet, February, but you were good to us. We had a snow day. We got fresh made bread every week that not only tastes amazing, but is made by the sweetest person. There was wildflower picking, play dates with friends, unexpected date nights, Gilly the tadpole, baseball season starting and more. Connor and I finished the first Harry Potter book and started the second. Isla's ballet class started learning their recital dance. Callum has mastered cruising around and goes up the stairs with gusto. Ian is head deep in busy season. And me? I'm drinking coffee every day, mothering these babies the best I can and trying to cook delicious soups as often as I can before the weather turns warm.


On another subject, if anyone has any advice about sharing videos, I'm all ears. I can't figure out why the quality isn't there when I post it to my blog, vs how it is on my computer. I figured out how to fix it not showing up on phones, but the quality isn't there. #nontechsavvythirthysomethingyearold

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