Chugging Along

Quite a bit has changed over the last month around here. I have been doing pretty well with keeping up with my cleaning schedule. I, of course, sometimes have a day or two of laziness, but usually get back on track pretty quickly. I have also started couponing again and this time more consistently. I have been getting papers every Sunday and have graduated to a coupon binder that has all my coupons organized in it. Last week I spent about $220 on groceries, personal, paper, and house hold supplies, but saved about $120 with coupons and sales. I would say that's not to bad considering I'm still kinda new to the whole couponing thing. Originally I planned on going shopping every two weeks, but I think I'm going to try to stretch that to more like every 3-4 weeks other than milk, maybe some meal ingredients, or if there is really a big steal that I can't pass up.

I have also been doing better about planning my menu. It has helped me to feel more organized and more likely to actually make meals. Instead of saying 'this is what we're having on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday ect. I just make a list of the meals that are available to be made so I can look at the list and see what I have time for or am in the mood for that day so I don't have to feel like I'm 'failing' by not making what I had on the calendar for that day.

I hope to keep up with cleaning, couponing, and menu planning, but we'll see what happens when i've got a baby and a toddler (and babysitting kids) to take care of!

RIP Officer Craig Birkholz

On Sunday, March 20 the Fond du Lac Police Department lost an officer. Officer Craig Birkholz was shot and killed in the line of duty while trying to save a fellow officer. His memorial service is today, and all week I have been crying on and off just thinking about what his wife is going through. Officer Ryan Williams was the officer Birkholz was trying to save after he was shot twice by the man they were called about. Thankfully, Officer Williams had the intuition to grab an extra bullet proof vest so he had two on. If he hadn't follow his instincts chances are he wouldn't still be here today. My prayers and thoughts go out to the families of both of these officers as well as to all the brothers in blue who put their lives on the line every day to keep our cities safe.

Feeling Good!

Today was day 9 of my cleaning schedule, and it has felt so good to have a clean house consistently! I have even done more than what's on my schedule! I have gotten to where when I'm feeling lazy and not wanting to do my chores for the day I find myself saying to myself 'you can't quit now, you've been doing so well!' or 'there's got to be something else you can do, you did so much yesterday, you've got to do at least just as much today!' I really hope this motivation sticks around!

I did change one thing on my schedule. Day 9 is now menu planning and grocery shopping day. I went last night so I wouldn't have to take the time to do it today. It really has felt so good to have things more organized!

My new toy!... Coming in about a week or so will be my new Ipad 2! I'm so excited to get it, and use it to be even more organized! (and have fun with it of course!) I"m getting a white Ipad with a blue smart cover. I think it is going to look really nice! Can't wait to get it!!

Back on the horse!

I am finally on the back end of an almost month long cold/sinus thing! During my down couple weeks I got pretty behind on my cleaning. However, now that I'm feeling better I'm back on the horse! Today was day four in my rotation and I have done what I'm supposed to do every day and then some! I have also reorganized Taylor's closet, our hall closet, and a book shelf! So tomorrow is day 5: deep clean the kitchen. In addition to that I am also meeting with a new potential babysitting family, and sitting my usual family. Should be a busy, but hopefully another productive one.

I am 18 weeks pregnant today. We have our ultrasound next Friday, and I am both excited and terrified all at the same time. I can't wait to find out what we are having, but I am also scared that something might be wrong. Everyone that has guessed has pretty much guessed that the baby is a boy, which, if I had to guess I think I agree.

All throughout this pregnancy I have had this gnawing feeling in the back of my mind that something might be wrong. On the morning of our 20 week ultrasound with Taylor I had a nervous feeling. I remember even telling Trav "I'm sure everything's fine, but I'm nervous about today." Hind sight is of course 20/20 and that feeling must have been God preparing me for the news we were about to receive about her having cleft. It has been that little feeling every once and a while during this pregnancy. So I'm left to wonder if it is once again God trying to prepare me or if it is just my brain playing tricks on me. Most of the time I am more excited than scared, but it's still there poking it's ugly head up every once in awhile. I, of course, hope that this feeling is put to rest once and for all at our ultrasound next week.

Cleaning Schedule

I have decided on what my cleaning schedule is going to be. Mine is not a 7 day schedule, but a 9 day schedule because I am going to do it based on Trav's schedule. He works 6 days and then has 3 days off. By doing it this way I will be able to break things down a little more so I won't have to do so much everyday and will have more time to spend with Taylor. So here it is...

Day 1: Deep Clean the Bathroom
Day 2: Vacuum, Dust, and Clean Windows
Day 3: Sanitizing Day- Toys, Light switches, handles, remotes
Day 4: Clean out the Fridge
Day 5: Deep Clean the Kitchen
Day 6: Clean the bedrooms and change bedding
Day 7: Clean the Basement
Day 8: Give Tillie (dog) a bath and clip her nails
Day 9: Relax, go grocery shopping

On top of doing these jobs I will also be doing somethings everyday. These include: laundry, dishes, make the bed, and pick up Taylor's toys before bed.

I hope that having a schedule will help me to stay on track with my cleaning so it will actually get done everyday/rotation. We'll see how this goes!

It's been awhile...

Crazy how time just gets away from us sometimes. A lot has been happening around here physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Physically... Taylor was sick all last week with Bronchiolitis (different from Bronchitis) so I was pretty occupied snuggling and trying to make her as comfortable as possible. In the process I got a pretty yucky cold. So between the two of us being sick, not much got done around here. Thankfully Trav didn't catch it, which he somehow always manages to do.

I am now 15 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good. I have had some issues with back aches and my neck being sore, but I went to the chiropractor and it hasn't been as bad since. My skin is finally starting to clear up which has been SO nice! I definitely have a nice little bump going, and I think I have maybe even felt the baby move a few times. I can't wait till I can feel him or her everyday! I have my 16 week appointment scheduled for this Friday so hopefully everything will look good still. I also scheduled my 20 ultrasound for March 18! So just a little over a month till we find out what we are having and whether or not this baby has cleft. It will be a big, nerve wracking day either way! Thankfully it's in the morning so I won't have to go through my whole day being nervous!

Mentally... I have been thinking a lot lately about how to make our house run smoother and how I can be a better mother and wife.

House. I want to get on a cleaning schedule, which I have tried before and failed, but I'm hoping this time it will stick. I read on Time-Warp-Wife's blog about having a cleaning schedule and I like the idea of it. You can read the article at her blog at www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com. I will probably tweek her schedule a little bit but I like the idea that the house is deep cleaned every week. We'll see how it goes.

Mother. I have been trying to give more attention to Taylor and actually sit and play with her and read to her throughout the day. She had a speech eval a couple weeks ago and is behind in her speech so I want to really focus on working on her speech. She has also started to throw fits more so we are going to start doing time outs when her behavior is unacceptable. Third, she has started to become somewhat of a picky eater so we are cracking down on meals. Before we would give her her drink or a snack in the living room, but now all eating and drinking is done in her high chair in the kitchen so she will hopefully start to associate definite meal times so she's not snacking as much during the day and will hopefully eat her meals better.

Wife. I am going to be working on being a better wife to Trav. We both need to better to each other so I hope that with each other's help we can take our relationship and marriage to a place of greater respect and affirmation.

Emotionally... With all that has been going on I have felt a little drained emotionally, but hopefully by implementing these new ideas that will get better!

Here Goes

In trying to learn new ways to save our family money I have bought two books. One is called "Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half" and the other "America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On The Money" both are by Steve and Annette Economides. For more information about them and their books visit their website www.americascheapestfamily.com.

I have started reading "Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half" and have learned a few good tips so far that I will start implementing in my grocery shopping and planning. The first tip I will be using is to plan out our meals for the month, and only go shopping once a month. The reason for doing this is because by going shopping once a month you avoid impulse buys. You can go to the grocery store once a month at spend $300 or go twice a week and spend $60 each trip and half the stuff you don't need or don't even equal a meal. The authors of the books buy all their food and cleaning supplies and toiletries for a family of seven for $350 a month, and they don't rely on hours of clipping coupons either. I hope to learn even more and I'll share what I learn and what tips I actually use as I go along.

Productive all around... A couple days ago I had a very productive day! I cleaned the house with the help of my sis in law, did all my laundry, and even organized the laundry room. It all was really needed, and I felt so good when it was done! Now to accomplish my real goal of keeping it clean! So far so good! I have kept up with dishes and laundry and keeping things tidy. I am trying to keep it in my mind that I just need to do it! Things need to be done and not doing them right away will only make them worse so I need to just suck it up and do them right away.

Reading... Another one of my goals is to read at least a little bit everyday. So far I have been doing good with this too! I have been reading three books. One for fun, one for personal growth, and one for bettering our family.

Baby Update... I am eleven weeks pregnant today and feeling pretty good. My nausea hasn't been bad really at all so other than started to get a baby bump, being more tired, and this stupid acne taking over my body i'm doing great! ha. I've got another appointment this week and I'm hoping we'll be able to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler. I don't know for sure if we'll be able to since I won't quite be 12 weeks yet, but we'll see.

We will see see how things continue to go. Hoping and praying I keep having days like these!