Decluttering the Kitchen

The room next on my list was the kitchen. It was not functional, and I found myself being frustrated as I moved piles to try to cook. Here is the embarrassing before picture:



And here are the after pictures (much better!):





I had hoped to work on our bedroom next, but yesterday at the doctor, my blood pressure reached a level that concerned my Ob/Gyn, so she put me on bed rest. I am glad I was able to finish what I could before the appointment.

Now I will just keep my fingers crossed that my blood pressure stays in check before this baby is born. (Only 12 more days to go!)

Decluttering the Living Room

One of my goals before the baby comes is to declutter the house. Our living room serves as livingroom/diningroom/playroom, so it gets cluttered easily. In addition, my 17 month old loves to look at her books and rip them. (Seriously, my son never did this, but she loves to tear up books, even cardboard ones. Do other kids do this?) Every time she started to rip a book we just shoved it somewhere higher on the book shelf, which is part of the reason we had the disaster in the first picture:

BEFORE:

My son's books are on the second shelf, but we had to pack them in tightly so my daughter couldn't pull them out or she would rip every single one. The end result, though, is that my son also has a hard time getting his own books out, so I cleared out the entire second shelf and will make room for the books in his room, where he can read in peace.

I also found several items to sell on eBay and some to put on paperback swap. I filled a box with items for the garage sale and recycled quite a few items. Here is the end result:

AFTER:


The next area to tackle was their toy area.

BEFORE:


I weeded through quite a few unused items and added them to the garage sale pile. I also spread out the toys, putting my daughter's stuffed animals on the second shelf where my son's books used to be and creating a separate bin for all of the baby rattles, etc. I also put some toys (the big ones) up for awhile as they hardly get played with. I will probably bring them out in a few weeks so they will feel "new" to the kids. Here is the final result:

AFTER:

It feels so nice to have this cluttered space cleaner. I still have to do deep spring cleaning (hoping my mom will help me with this), but I think I am off to a good start.

I shared this post at Money Saving Mom.

My Plan for My Mom After the Baby Comes

In my experience, some people are cleaners and some people are cookers.

For instance, it drives my mom crazy when her house is messy; when she comes to my house, all she wants to do is clean. Yet, when it comes to cooking and eating, she really is not that fussy. She will happily eat a rotation of the same 3 to 5 Weight Watchers meals every night for dinner. Even when I was little and she did cook, it was always the same main meals.

I, on the other hand, am a cooker. It bothers me a little when our house is messy, but unlike my mom, I don’t feel immense satisfaction in cleaning the walls or heating vents. I just don’t care that much. I do, however, love to cook. I enjoy trying new recipes. Last summer I made a binder of our 90 favorite recipes; I thought that would be enough, but I still continue to want to cook new things.

I am only two short weeks away from delivery now, and rather than clean the house top to bottom, my nesting instinct seems to be coming in the form of cooking. I am trying to fill our freezer with yummy foods that will feed us for 6 to 8 weeks after the baby is born so we don’t have to rely on processed frozen food or take out.

Don’t get me wrong, I am noticing things around the house that need to be cleaned, but it is just that I don’t have much energy after taking care of my little girl all day and trying to stock the freezer in addition to getting my eBay business up-to-date while she naps.

My mom will be here for almost two weeks after the baby is born (huge thanks, mom!), and I know she will get antsy. I also know she will want to clean my apartment. This can sometimes lead to frustration on my part, because she seems to fixate on things I don’t care about like trying to get all the dirt build-up off of our ancient radiator in the bathroom. (It is impossible; she tries it every visit, and every visit she tries anew.) So, this time, I am making a list of the things I would like to clean but have not had time to do. That will keep her busy (and, strangely, happy) and I will end up with not only a freezer full of food, but a clean house.

Goals for the Weeks Before Baby #3 is Born

I am now officially on maternity leave, and just 34 short days from now, our third child will be born. (The only good thing about a mandatory c-section is that at least I can make firm plans and know exactly when the baby will arrive, unless, of course, she decides to come early.)

Now that I am through working, I can focus on our house, which is in sore need of attention. Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows that I love lists, so here is my list of things to accomplish in the next 5 weeks:

Clean our bedroom and rearrange the furniture so there is room for the baby.

Clean out our small dresser to make room for the baby’s clothes.

Clean our living room book case. The bottom two shelves where my 16 month old daughter can reach are very neat and full of her books. The upper three shelves are a cluttered mess, and now that she is growing taller, she is starting to reach up there. I can just see everything falling on her head.

Clean our entry way.

Write several freelance articles.

Make at least 15 freezer meals for after the baby comes, which should get our freezer meal total up to 20 to 25 meals.

Declutter the house. I am going to set the goal of getting rid of 200 items in the next 5 weeks.

List all of my son’s outgrown summer clothes on eBay and sell them all.

Most importantly, decide on a name for the baby!!!!

My Dirty Little Secret

My mom is a neat freak. When I was about 7, I distinctly remember one New Year’s Day when she decided it was time to start the year fresh with an even cleaner house. So, she scrubbed the kitchen floor with ammonia. Did I mention we lived in Michigan and it was about 10 degrees out? The fumes nearly did us in.

When she has free time, she likes to clean. While I like how tidy her house is, I don’t like all the work that goes into having a spotless house. I can find so many other things to do like playing with my kids, cooking, blogging, working on my store, etc. Cleaning is something I do because I have to.

My house is what I like to call get-by clean. The floors are swept daily (or at least every other day), the dishes are done every day (often a couple of times a day), the bathroom is cleaned at least once a week. Still, when my mom comes to visit, she ALWAYS suggest things she could do to help. “How about if I dust the living room?” “Next time I come to visit let’s really dig in and do a deep cleaning. . .”

Yes, get-by clean means there is plenty of room for improvement, especially with clutter, as the picture of our kitchen table demonstrates. That is why I was excited to learn about simplemom.net ‘s spring cleaning party May 4th-15th. I plan to take part and blog about my experience. (After all, having an organized house can save a lot of money.) Click on the button at the top of my blog if you are interested in joining.

Maybe after the spring cleaning party my mom will finally be satisfied with the state of my apartment, but I doubt it. A neat freak can always find something more to clean. :)