Clutter Goggles

Back when we were just 2, our house was neat and tidy all the time. I hated clutter, things had to be organized and kept that way! I vividly recall visiting the house of a friend who had a small baby, and her house was a disaster. Piles of laundry every where, dishes all over the place, pop cans on the coffee table etc. Upon leaving her home I turned to my new husband and said " Is our house going to look like that when we have kids?" He bluntly responded, " No, but it won't look like it does now!"
A few years later, along came Liam, and I did my best to keep the house clean and tidy, and I did a pretty good job. Laundry was put away in a timely manner, dishes were washed, toys put away at the end of the day.  Then shortly after Liam turned 1, a little + sign appeared on the dollar store pregnancy test, and things went down hill from there.
Dealing with a toddler and the first trimester exhaustion lead to things getting pushed aside for a much needed afternoon nap, and an early bed time. As the months went on and my belly got bigger, keeping the house tidy wasn't that easy any more.
Now with 2 very active boys I have admitted defeat! The play area in the living room looks like a bomb exploded in a toy store, and some of those toys have migrated to other parts of the house. There are baskets of laundry that don't get put away for days. Piles of mail and paper work collect in several places, just out of reach of curious, destructive little hands. Some nights dinner dishes get left until the next day (thank goodness for dishwashers!)
Any tidying I do is very quickly undone. It's almost like trying to clean up during a hurricane. And when you know another hurricane is coming the next day, it's almost not worth it to clean up the debris.
Yet even with all the chaos and clutter in my home, there are things I now do several times a day, that I would have done maybe a few times a week before. Sweeping the kitchen floor after each meals is now a neccesity and laundry is a daily activity, otherwise it would take over!
My home is no longer at the standard it would have been before we had kids, and I accept that, but I still do a mad dash before company comes over to make it look decent. We recently had some people over, and one "compliment" I received was how great it was that we had a dedicated toy area for the boys, and how great it was that we didn't care if it was a mess. Although this was a bit of a back-handed compliment, I just smiled. People without kids don't seem to get it. It's just like you ability to tune-out a screaming child when out somewhere, you adapt when you become a parent. Certain things become less important to make way for new priorities. And soon you won't even notice the clutter, that in the past would have all had proper homes.
So don't come over and notice the disarray in my home, notice the two boys who have a wonderful space to explore and play, and a mom who spends time with them rather than time with the cleaning products.

Motivated Moms

Motivated Moms is an amazing opportunity for moms, like myself, to obtain a reliable source of income and stay at home to care for the family.  Let’s face it… You’re probably just like me!!!  Have a couple of amazing children that, at some point, you would have to entrust into the care of a complete stranger so that you can go to work.  You spend your days  working nonstop, only to make about enough to pay for daycare and maybe, be able to cover your bills.  So, you take on another job for the extra.  But (what a surprise) you need a sitter to watch the children so you can work a second job.  Or, your husband is the main bread winner while you stay home, and now you are struggling to make ends meet.  This is typical family life.
This doesn’t have to be you!!!  You can have the financial stability you crave.  With Motivated Moms, you have a strong support of moms like you helping you achieve your goal.  It is up to you what you want it to be.  If you already have a job and choose not to put in much effort, then our program can be used to supplement your income. But, if you are willing to work hard and make this a permanent replacement source of income, then the earnings you make are limitless.  Let’s be realistic now… you won’t achieve this overnight.  This is a legit business!!!!  And like any other business you have to start from the bottom up and work for it.
Motivated Moms will help you reach your goal!!!

Project Fun! (a.k.a keep Liam out of trouble!)

I have been wanting to get a sensory table for Liam, but after doing some searching, it turns out they are quite expenive, plus I really didn't want another piece of furniture in the house. Then I stumbled across an awesome website -Ikea hackers- and this
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/01/lego-table-from-ikea-kitchen-cabinet.html

and it gave me an idea.
A table that also worked as a sensory table with the tub underneath.
We bought an as-is table top from Ikea- the bin is from ikea aswell, then we bought some wood for the legs.
so here it is!!

* as it turns out we didn't think it through too well....the tub is screwed to the underside of the table, which is great....except when I fill it with water, how do I empty the water? Guess we'll just have to use a cup and scoop it all out! DOH!*

Garage Sale Fodder!

In an effort to de-junk and simplify I am dedicating Thursdays to these efforts.
In the only 6 years together, Jason and I have managed to accumulate alot of stuff, then throw in 2 kids and that more than doubles. Then my mum moves in with us, and you get the picture.

So with a move in our near future, ( our Landlord is terrible at maintaining his house to say the least- but more on that later) I want to avoid the issues we had during our last move. Things weren't packed up to the day we moved, things that should have been gotten rid of before we moved ended up coming with us. Even 10 months later, the stuff we have stored is more than likely stuff we don't have any need for. If it keeps up you'll be watching us on Hoarders.

So the plan for all this? It's a big job, but pile by pile, closet by closet and room by room we will conquer it!
First place to tackle is our room, and organize a few items we have that we are going to be listing on kijiji to sell.
Stay tuned for next weeks episode of "Garage Sale Fodder!" for before and after pics!

Going back- When 3 became 4

Miles J arrived Sept 25th at 9:17pm, weighing 8lbs 6 oz 20.5" long
He is perfect!!

Saturday morning I started having irregular contractions about every 30 mins lasting maybe 15 seconds, but since I had past "false alarms" we just went about our day, took Liam to the science centre as we had planned.The contractions continued all day, about 10-15 mins apart, not really lasting longer than 20 seconds. I called my dad so he could come down and get Liam, and they left our house at about 5pm. Me and Jay went for a walk around the block to see if we could get things moving, Then I came home and took a shower to help with the back ache, and bounced on the yoga ball for a while. We put on a dvd (season 2 of the gilmore girls LOL) to just have something on to "watch" and contractions got a little more intense and a bit closer together. I had decided earlier on that I would call the midwives around 8pm to give them a head up, and see if they could suggest anything to help getting things moving. Well we ended up calling them at 7:30pm when contractions were about 4 mins apart and lasting 30-45 seconds, while I was in the tub- the jets were great on my back for the most part!When they arrived at 8:30 I was feeling like I wasn't going to be able to do it any longer, and the contractions were getting pretty close together. They checked me and I was 5cm and 70% effaced, and I was really feeling like if that's all, there was NOWAY i was going to make it without pain meds (which would mean I would have to go to the hospital) I breathed through some more contractions and made my way up to the bedroom, and they checked me again at 9pm- and I was 8cm and 80% effaced. I stood up and leaned in Jay during the next few contractions- and kept saying "i can't do it" but the room full of people (Jay, my mom and 2 Midwives) kept telling me I was doing great. at 9:10 my water EXPLODED as I was leaning on Jay(his reaction was to ask my mum to get him some new socks LOL)(it felt like a water balloon swelling and then it exploded all over the floor and Jay's feet) i got onto the bed and the urge to push was so overwhelming, I swear I did hardly any of the work.He was born at 9:17pm- the backup midwife arrived at 9:19pm she just missed it!i had a second degree tear, pretty much in the same place as the episotomy i had with Liam, but i feel much better this time around, still sore but not nearly as bad.nursing is going ok so far, still working on it,He is gorgeous. It was so awesome being able to just get into my own bed afterwards and not have to go anywhere, i couldnt have asked for a better birth.

Liam came down to meet his baby brother around 3pm the next day, and I was so pleasantly surprised at how enamoured he was with him. He was rubbing his head and being very gently (with only a little bit of reminding) Miles needed a diaper change, and ended up peeing into the air (as little boys do LOL) and Liam went and got his potty! Liam went back to granda's for the night, and will be home tomorrow morning, so we can get started on our life as a family of 4.

Let get this Blog started~!

This will be a blog about anything and everything that goes on our life. Namely with our boys.
Liam- 2 and Miles- 5 months.
We don't lead a fabulous live, we lead a normal life, with struggles, spills, and temper tantrums, and lots of love.
We just make it up as we go along.
Some people would consider us "crunchie parents" and in some ways we are, but in other ways we're not.
We cloth diaper, EC, make our own baby food, Miles was born at home, we use as much homemade natural cleaners as possible, but we still have lots to learn.

So welcome to our blog, I hope you enjoy following along with our lives!