Organized Home Challenge: Week One

      One of my goals this year is to simplify and get the house organized and I've realized that I'm never going to be able to do it all at once. I'm following several organization blogs to help motivate me to keep going, but I found one blog, Home Storage Solutions 101, that is doing a 52 week challenge to organize your house.    

    While perusing Pinterest last week, I ran across a pin for the Organized Home Challenge and repinned it. I had previously bookmarked a 2012 Declutter Calendar, but that had a different chore for every day of the week and was a little more labor intensive than I personally have the time for. So when I saw the weekly challenge, I was intrigued. After checking it out, I realized that it was something that I could do. Each week focuses on a different area of the home to declutter. And thankfully, the kitchen is divided into at least four weeks. I had already missed one week and was starting halfway through the second week of the challenge, but I jumped right in and figured I could do my best and catch up on a later week if I needed to. 
     The first week's challenge was to declutter your kitchen countertops and sink area. The creator of the challenge had a lot of great tips for figuring out how to declutter that area. The first concept that she asked followers of the challenge to do was to think about what functions you want for that area. For me, the main function of my kitchen of course, was cooking. But I also wanted an area to serve as a place for incoming mail because it typically gets dumped on the kitchen island (a common dumping ground for random stuff). Then she asked that you take things off the counter based on how often you use them (daily, weekly, or less than that). She recommended only keeping out things that you use daily. For us that meant keeping things like cutting boards, the coffeemaker, and the dish drainer. But it nixed a few other things, including, sadly, my KitchenAid mixer. So I wrote it a "Dear John" letter and stashed it in my pantry since I use it only occasionally.
      Here are my "Before" pictures of what my kitchen typically looks like.

See the kitchen island where I do most of my food prep? Covered with random things like car keys and sunglasses, empty milk cartons, paperwork, and baby clothes.

The lefthand side of the stove generally stays uncluttered, but the right side was a mess. We hardly ever put away clean bottles and instead just pull them from the draining rack. The KitchenAid mixer took up a bunch of space and dirty dishes are typically stacked next to the sink.

Our sink area. Dirty dishes, too many mildew-y sponges, medications in the windowsill, and a framed meal planner that I got from a MOPS meeting, but have never used.

And the right side of the sink where there are lots of coffee accessories and Tim's dump bowl. And clean dishes that need to by put away.

      One thing that I removed from the kitchen was a bowl that Tim has commandeered as his catch-all for keys, chapstick, his wallet, coins, and anything and everything else that comes out of his pants' pockets. I hated the way it made the countertop look so cluttered so I moved it into our bedroom on the dresser. I also got rid of the medications that I kept in the kitchen windowsill. I stored them in the linen closet in our extra toiletries tote until I find a better way to store our medication. I also got rid of a framed menu planner that we made as part of our crafts portion of a MOPS meeting, but that I never used. Another change I made was to move our fruit bowl over to the corner where the KitchenAid mixer used to be. It made room for my new mail center. Tim used to keep a bag of Splenda next to the coffeemaker so I put a sugar bowl next to it to make it prettier. One thing that I can't wait to get rid of is our draining thing for baby bottles and our bottlewarmer. The drainer was really cute at the beginning, but I'm tired of having it on the counter. But because it is something we use everyday, for now it stays. 

      Anyway, just doing those few things has really opened up some kitchen space and made our kitchen look much less cluttered. That and being more diligent about keeping dishes clean and then putting them away afterwards, and it will look great!

     Here are my "After" pictures.

Much better!

No more spoon rest unless I need it... No more bottles left on the drainer for forever...

No more KitchenAid mixer...no more framed menu planner...

Goodbye medications and old sponges...

Adios Tim's catch-all bowl and Splenda bag and coffee.

     So there you have it! My first challenge completed! It was actually pretty easy because my kitchen is kind-of small and it wasn't too bad to start with. It took me about one naptime to complete this challenge. Stay tuned tomorrow to see my results from Week 2 and then I will be caught up and able to begin Week Three with everyone else who is doing the challenge. I plan to post my weekly challenge results on Mondays, which is the day that the challenge creator unveils her plan for the next week.

Mommy must-haves and not-worth-havings

    Before I became a mother (as in, Owen was still baking in my tummy), I was convinced there were certain things that my baby just had to have! And while some of those things have been lifesavers, others have been a complete waste of money and space. Here are some lists for all you gals with the baby bug who may or may not punch your Mommy card sometime in the near future. Or for those of you who know a pregnant woman and want to get her something that she'll really need like based on our experience. 

    Here is our list of some of our must-haves as parents. Note: This is just our opinion and every baby is different so what works for us might not work for you.

1. Skip Hop Duo diaper bag. I love the size of this diaper bag. We have the exact one pictured. The pattern is attractive and neither Tim nor I have any problem carrying it. It is pretty slim so it doesn't have that big bulky feel of some diaper bags. It is probably one of the average priced diaper bags and is better than something you might find at Walmart or Target, but not as pricey as a Petunia Picklebottom, which can cost more than $100. It has several pockets of different shapes and sizes. There are two zip pockets on the top. I use one for my wallet, cell phone, and car keys and the other for pacifiers. The two inside pockets I use for diapers and a wipes container and diaper rash cream. The two outside pockets typically hold board books and other small toys. The net side pockets holds a water bottle or baby bottle. And then there is still plenty of room on the inside for a change of baby clothes, a rolled up blanket, some snacks, and a few more toys. Oh, and nine months later, it still looks brand new and has no stains or anything.

Diaper bag perfection.

2. Prince Lionheart Bebe Pod Flex Seat. We use this on a daily basis. It is similar to the oh-so-popular Bumbo Seat, but from what I've heard, this one has more room in the leg area for chunky baby thighs and therefore lasts longer. We have used this when we feed Owen (instead of a high chair), as a play seat when I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen, and he can sit in it at the table with us when we eat. The newer ones, like the one pictured, have a cute toy that can fit into the grooves of the tray so the baby can play with it. And it comes with a cute fruit-themed placemat based on the color you buy. 

My mom has this one for when we visit her house. 

3. Moby Wrap and Beco Baby. If you have read my blog before, you already know that I love the Moby Wrap. And when Owen was little, we also used a Snugli that we borrowed from friends. We really liked both, but if I had to make a recommendation, I wouldn't bother buying a Snugli because it only fits babies up to a certain size and Owen has now outgrown it. We now use the Beco Butterfly II to carry Owen and I really like it. Also, it has a newborn insert that came with it for free that we can use with our next baby. It carries a baby on the front or back up to 45 pounds. I would also recommend that with the baby carrier, you pick a fabric and color not based on your baby's gender, but instead based on what your husband would be comfortable wearing. Your baby girl won't care if her carrier is pink with flowers, but I can bet your husband won't really want to wear it. Also, if you plan on having multiples, you may use this for a boy and a girl and you might want it to be more gender neutral anyway. Tim really loves to put Owen on him in the carrier so definitely make sure it is something your husband can wear. Also, once the baby gets really heavy, it will probably be more comfortable for you to have your husband do it anyway. I have also heard good things about the Ergo Baby carriers from a friend, but I think you have to buy the newborn insert separately so while it is priced a bit cheaper than the Beco, once you add that on it is about the same price. 

Moby Wrap: $35. Peacefully sleeping colic-y baby: Priceless.

We have this one and it is really cute and soft!

4. Aden and Anais swaddle wraps. These are amazing. We have had two sets of them. I would recommend buying the kind from Target though because they are cheaper than at a baby boutique. I have also seen them really on sale at Baby Steals.com. These muslin wraps are great for swaddling because they are lightweight, soft, and really big. And Owen would always break out of those cloth swaddlers with the velcro. 

Another tool we used in the colic-y baby stage.

5. Avent bottles. These are the bottles that we have used with Owen from the beginning. Any other type of bottle that we have tried has not gone over well. 

6. Bouncer seat. This was a must-have for us from the beginning because Owen had a hard time sleeping flat in his cradle. In this though, he slept like a baby. Well, a newborn baby. Which isn't that good. But it was really great until he outgrew it. It's also a great place to strap a baby in if you need to take a shower.

A must-have! And for us, it worked better than a baby swing. 

7. Dreft stain remover. This stuff is awesome! And not just for Owen's clothes. I use it all the time on our clothes too. Especially for Owen-caused stains. 

Spit-up pureed carrots, you don't stand a chance!

8. Cloth diapers as spitup rags. These Gerber cloth diapers aren't really great if you want to use them as cloth diapers, but they are fabulous as burp cloths. The cutesy burp cloths are thinner and more expensive. Plus, you can bleach these. 

Not just for baby's bottom.

9. The book "The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet" - by Karin Knight, R.N. This has been my favorite book about making my own baby food. It has really comprehensive charts about what types of foods you can introduce to your baby each month and includes a lot of other cool tips too. It also tells you which recipes can be frozen and how long they can last in the fridge. I just love it. 

    And as a bonus, here is another must-have item regarding making your own baby food. The Beaba Multi-portion Freezer Tray. It is made by the company that makes the special baby food maker (more on that later in this post) and it can be used to freeze 2-3 oz. portions of baby food. I only have one tray and I think that is enough because they are kind-of expensive. I use it initially to freeze the puree and then I transfer them into a labeled Ziploc freezer bag. The lid does not stay on close enough to prevent air from getting in there and causing freezer burn so I wouldn't store food in it longterm. The frozen food also pops out really easily from the container.

10. BOPPY pillow. This is a must-have! I know, I know, our mothers got by just fine without them, but I really loved ours. It can be used in a lot of different ways in addition to propping a baby on it while you are feeding him. We have the exact one pictured and I really like it because it is super soft. 

Because a baby can get really heavy while you're feeding them.

11. Chicco Keyfit 30 Infant Car Seat. I really love our car seat. We have the exact one pictured and have really loved it from the beginning. I remember sending Tim out to the garage when I was about 32 weeks pregnant to install the carseat thinking that I would be hearing curse words momentarily, but he came in just three or four minutes later and had it already installed. It is so easy! Even I can do it. It's especially easy if you have a car made within the past 10 years or so because they have the latch system and you just snap two buckles into the metal clip that is welded into the seat frame (in case you were wondering what the heck those things were in your car, that's what they're for!) Adjust the level of the carseat with a bright orange button and you're done!

I love the pretty gender neutral green!

    And here is a list of some of the products that we bought Owen or had on our registry that didn't turn out to be worth the money. Or products that might not be useful depending on your circumstances. 

1. Baby bath robes, towels, etc. - While all these things may be oh so cute and adorable, they are a complete waste of money. And to tell you the truth, the towels are so thin they couldn't dry a dish, much less a baby. (We had the Circo brand towels from Target). After learning that fact, we still use baby wash cloths (Carter's makes the best ones), but we always dry Owen with a regular towel. And you know what? Wrapping him up in a giant snuggly soft adult-sized towel is twice as cute as trying to wrap him in a teeny paper thin, yet colorful towel with fish on it. Also, a note on baby bath robes. Owen has worn his maybe twice. And only for photo ops. 

Cute, but worthless.

2. Cloud B Sleep Sheep. Oh so adorable, right? A magic sheep that will make a baby fall asleep instantly. Complete with the sound of a toilet flushing (gentle stream) and mating whale calls. Now, who decided that was what made a baby go to sleep? As far as I know, Owen has never seen or heard a whale before so why would that soothe him? Now, don't get me wrong, this was great for us when Owen slept in our room because we had trouble sleeping through his little newborn snorts and snores, but a cheap $10 noise machine would have done the trick just fine. 

A sheep that makes whale noises. Way to confuse our kids early, Cloud B.

3. Baby monitor. Now this isn't really a waste of money. They definitely come in handy once you've moved your baby into their own room. But if you, like us, live in a house small enough that you can hear your baby cry from the opposite side of house in his nursery, you don't really need a baby monitor. (Plus, when you become a mom you automatically become a super light sleeper anyway). We will save the one we have of course for future babies and future (bigger) houses, but at the moment we don't need ours. So if you are trying to save a few bucks when getting ready for baby, if your house is small or if your bedroom is close to the baby's room, don't bother investing in a baby monitor right away. 

Don't buy unless you have a BIG house!

4. Gumdrop pacifiers. These things are ridiculous. They weigh about a pound each so Owen was never able to keep it in his mouth. I'd put it in and it would just drop out. So don't buy a bunch of these thinking that they are the thing to have because you've always seen babies at the hospital with them. Our hospital actually didn't use this kind. My advice is to see what kind the hospital gives you and then go from there if your baby seems to even want to use one. We personally like the Avent brand kind. 

Cute, but heavy.

5.  Receiving blankets. They may be cute, but unless your baby weighs four pounds, there is no way you can use it to swaddle or wrap your baby in it. We used ours a few times to wrap around Owen's legs when he was in his carseat, but otherwise those flannel receiving blankets don't do much good. My advice is to have swaddling blankets (see above) and maybe one of those cute, thick, and fuzzy blankets for snuggling. 

Too small to do any good.

6. Pee-pee Teepees. If you are having a boy, these are so very cute. And tee-hee-inducing. But actually aren't really worth the effort. And unless your baby never moves, it won't stay on long enough to do any good. And at $12 a pop, I'm ashamed I ever put them on my baby registry. 

A party hat for your baby's private parts!

7. Newborn-sized clothes - We only had a couple newborn-sized clothes thankfully, but they are majorly too small. We got by just fine with size 3 months and size 0-3 months clothing. They were a little too big for newborn baby Owen, but we got a lot more mileage out of them than if we were to have bought a lot of newborn-sized clothes. So unless you have a preemie, I wouldn't bother buying a lot of newborn-sized stuff. On a side note, here is a little lesson on baby clothes sizes because they can be confusing. If a clothing item has a single size on it like 3 months or the number 3, it means it will fit the average-sized baby up until they are three months old. So don't wait until your baby is three months old to wear it because chances are he will have already outgrown it. If the garment has a range of sizes, like 3-6 months, then obviously it fits an average 3-6 month old.   

So cute...for about a week and a half.

8. Special baby food makers - I really enjoy making Owen's baby food at home and I really wanted one of these when I first started. I thought it was a necessity. But it turns out, I have everything that I need to make baby food in my kitchen already. Pots and pans, a microwave, and a blender. So unless you have $120 to burn, I wouldn't bother buying it. 

The KitchenAid mixer of baby food makers. Looks cool on the counter, but not a necessity.

     And a couple of other things that I never owned myself, but heard from friends were a waste are shopping cart covers and baby wipes warmers.
     On the other hand, there have been some baby products that I thought were pretty useless, but that have actually turned out to be great to have. 


1. A pacifier clip. Originally, I just thought this was sort-of a pointless purchase, but after picking up Owen's pacifier off of the disgusting grocery store/airport/gas station/bathroom/etc. floor, I am so grateful for it. The kid seems to immediately spit those suckers out onto the asphalt as soon as I get him out of the car seat. Also, in church nursery, it never fails that when they need it, the nursery workers cannot ever seem to find a pacifier in his diaper bag (top pouch generally has at least two, but with several pockets in his diaper bag I guess I can't blame them), so now I just clip it to him when I drop him off. 

2. Boogie Wipes. Yes, the concept seems as ridiculous as the name, but they really are great when Owen has a stuffy or runny nose. The saline helps to gently break up his dry boogers. Owen still hates to have his nose wiped, but these at least make it quicker.

3. Diaper Genie II Diaper Pail. Tim initially thought this was overkill and too expensive. But now after some of the diapers we've had to change, he's actually happy that we have it. It really keeps the smell down and if you don't twist the bag to contain each diaper separately in the plastic bag, you won't have to spend as much on refills. And it still keeps the smell in just fine. If you like, you can twist it only after really stinky diapers and not after plain No. 1 diapers. 

   So there are some of my recommendations as a mom. What are some of the baby products you couldn't live without? And what was a waste of money or space?

Pinspiring Friday!

     This week I finally completed a craft that I have been meaning to work on since before Christmas. I had been looking for a way to save all of the cards that we got at my baby shower and after Owen was born and I found this idea on Pinterest. The original crafter did it as a way to preserve her wedding cards, but it can easily be used for any other type of card like baby shower cards or Christmas cards. I may make one for our wedding cards at some point if I can find a good piece of cardboard that isn't too thick. At the moment, they are a box in the top of our closet. 

     Tim was sweet enough to help me with a lot of it. He helped cut the cardboard front and back pieces and also punched holes for me because the cardboard was pretty thick. He actually broke my hole punch when he tried it the first time. I glued down pieces of scrapbook paper on the front, back, and insides and attached the ribbon onto the back so that it could be used to tie the entire thing together. I think it turned out really cute. I am considering labeling it with Owen's name and what the cards are from, but I haven't gotten around to it.
     Here is the finished product.

This is the front cover. The ribbon is from a diaper cake that I got at the baby shower. 

And the back cover. I added a cute stamp of baby feet.

And when you open it up, you can read all of the cards!

      The other Pinterest-inspired project I did this week was a recipe for chocolate chip cookies with Oreos baked inside. They were very good, of course. The original recipe is from a blog called Picky Palate. I have made recipes from that blogger before and really liked them. Tim and I had a late night craving for something sweet last Friday so I checked Pinterest for my pinned dessert recipes and tried to find something that we had most if not all of the ingredients for. And this fit the bill!

    Hers seemed really quite petite from the photo, but these are actually really big cookies! She used an ice cream scoop to put a scoop of cookie dough on each side of the Oreo to encase it. I used a bit less since they were turning out really large. In the end, they turned out delicious. How could a cookie with another cookie baked inside be bad? 

Tastes great warm with a big glass of milk.

Tasty Thursday

     I haven't been posting my reviews about how my new recipes turned out in a while and I thought I would resume doing that for those of you who might be interested in trying out one of my meals. Last week we had taco cupcakes; beef, potato, and quinoa soup; autumn penne pasta with brussels sprouts; and Italian pot roast. You can check my previous post for links to these recipes. 

Taco cupcakes: These were tasty, but were more of a novelty recipe. You know, the whole cupcake craze. Tim and I both agreed that we would rather just have tacos or a taco salad. This may have been because I did not bother to buy the queso cheese and just used shredded Mexican cheese.

Beef, potato and quinoa soup: This was really good, especially because of the cilantro. I'm not sure if I would bother to buy quinoa specifically for the soup though unless you already have it in the pantry. I don't feel like it really added anything to the soup, particularly because it seemed like a little much with the potato in there too. 

Autumn penne pasta: This was one of my favorite recipes of the week. I like that it still has plenty of flavor with the addition of a bit of hot pork sausage with the ground turkey. And it has tons of vegetables: brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, onion, and tomato. It makes you feel so healthy even though you're eating pasta. 

Italian pot roast: This recipe filled my house with the most wonderful flavor as it slow cooked all day. I really liked the flavor, but I didn't really like it on the potatoes and carrots. I think that I would maybe rather just make the roast in the slow cooker and then make the sides separately. When we ate the meat for leftovers, I made roasted potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and green beans. In fact, it was a better meal than the original!

And here is our menu for this week.

Thursday: Easy mulligatawny. An oldie, but a goodie. It has been really cold here lately so a nice warm soup is on the menu. Tim and I both really love this soup because we like curry a lot and as strange as it may seem, green apple, onion, curry, and chicken are actually good together. 

Photo from Pioneer Woman Cooks.

Friday: Italian pie. This is another of my favorite recipes. It's easy to make and tastes great. And it's an interesting twist on eating "Italian" without having pasta.  I chose to make this because I still have some leftover Italian sausage in the freezer from my pasta dish last week. We'll have it with a side salad or steamed broccoli. 

Photo from Publix.com.

Saturday: Leftovers.

Sunday: French toast with bacon. This is Pioneer Woman's recipe and the best for French toast that I have ever had. I have been craving breakfast for dinner for a while now and we haven't had this French toast in several months. When I made this in the past, I also made fruit butter with it. This time though, I will probably just top it with fresh berries and a pat of butter. 

Photo from Pioneer Woman Cooks. 

Monday: Stuffed cabbage casserole. This is a recipe from Skinny Taste that my friend Katie made last week. She said it was really good and her husband also gave it a high rating so I have high hopes for it. It basically seems kind-of like lasagna, but with cabbage instead of noodles. 

Photo from Skinny Taste. 

Tuesday: Leftovers. 

Wednesday: Chicken tikka masala. I really like chicken tikka masala, but it's not exactly the healthiest meal. This recipe is Skinny Taste's healthier version of the dish. I am interested to see how it compares to the recipe that I normally make. 

Photo from Skinny Taste. 

    And as a special treat this week, I am going to make Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones. This is the most recent post to Skinny Taste and it looks really good. I have never made scones before, but the creator of Skinny Taste is well-known for hers. I figure it will be a nice treat and we can eat them over several mornings. 

Photo from Skinny Taste.

Home Management Binder

     I am linking up with my friend Katie over at Playing Life's Game to show off my new home management binder today. In case you haven't heard, home management binders are all the rage right now on Pinterest and on several blogs I read. So we decided to jump on the band wagon. 
     Basically a home management binder is a notebook containing all the information that you need to run your home and it can be customized in various different ways based on your household's needs. I have spent the past couple weeks searching the Internet for various printables to include in my notebook and arranging and rearranging sections based on what I thought I needed and would actually use. I have eight sections in my notebook: Calendar and To Dos, Birthdays and Special Events, Finances, Home Maintenance, Auto Maintenance, Cleaning, Emergency and Medical Information, and Contacts. I am really excited about my binder and I hope that it will help us stay organized and on top of things around the house. 
     So here it is!

Here is the front cover.

The first page is a view of the week where I can write down events going on that week, to dos, and what we're eating for dinner.

Next is a calendar section where I can get a quick look at the month and the important events going on.

The next tab is for birthdays and special events. I plan to use the front pocket to hold invitations and any cards that I buy and need to mail out.

Inside that section I have a listing of important dates for all the months of the year. After those pages is a gift log so I can write down gift ideas.

I took the information from the finances binder that I made last week and just put it in the finances section of my household management binder. This is our receipt tracker.

Next up is our home maintenance section. It's not really complete yet, but I intend to put information about things we do around the house here.

The auto maintenance section has a log for each of our vehicles and I keep the receipts from any work we have done on the cars behind those sheets. I also put the brochures for two of the places we have used in that section for quick reference.

The cleaning section starts with my daily and weekly chore lists.

After that is a monthly, semi-annual and annual cleaning list. I also have found a weekly challenge list online to organize your house so I might print out that information and put it in this section too.

      Next in the binder is the emergency and medical section. (I didn't include a photograph because it has personal information in it.) I have a sheet for emergency contacts and then a medical sheet for each of us with our insurance information and any medical history and our doctor's information. I also keep Owen's check-up packets in there as well.

The last section is contacts. I have an address book, but I thought this might be nice to keep track of the women in my mom's group and Owen's playgroup buddies. There is also a contact list for take-out food. I also have a booklet that we got when we moved here of important numbers to call in Richland. And last but not least, I have a plastic holder to hold business cards for the doctor and dentist and photographers and whoever else we might need.