Closet Chaos

The babies closet has become a disaster! It was completely overrun with mismatched shoes, a variety of sizes (9-18 months), and a changing table that we no longer use. Some of the bins were piled up high because there were so many dresses or boy's shirts. Not only was it an eyesore, but it was barely functional.

Jesse took apart the changing table and put the pieces in the attic for now. I bought two clear over the door shoe holders for all the shoes. Now we can finally see the shoes and keep the pairs together. We went through each of the bins and packed away small clothes in storage. We still have more clothes than they could ever wear, so we only picked our favorite outfits and reorganized the bins to better reflect their wardrobe. Now we can breathe easy again for at least a few more months!

Making Room for Changes

Jesse did a bit of rearranging last week to provide better space for our new hobbies. The first major change was clearing the office to create more floor space for our home gym. By gym, I mean weights and an exercise bike, with lots of room to move around. Jesse follows P90X videos daily and I have started T25. Those intense workout programs require adequate space.

Jesse also took down Maddie's pack-n-play that had been in the corner of our bedroom for the past year. Though Maddie has been sleeping in the nursery for a month now, I still liked having it there just in case she needed to come back. The pack-n-play is now in the attic.

Both Jesse and I have spent most of our recreational time reading. He moved the oversized chair and ottoman that was formerly in the office into the corner of our bedroom.

The comfy spot is between the windows and a dresser with a lamp.  We have nice reading light no matter what time of day it is.

In case you're wondering, this was my reading list last month. Clearly my preference is realistic fiction. I returned my library books and have put a dozen more on hold. Happy reading!

Goodbye Pump, Hello Formula

I've hated pumping since my pumping days at work when Jackson was four months old. After drying up, I tucked the pump away and never thought about it again. When the triplets were born, they were each able to latch right away. I breastfed fairly easily for a month. Once Jesse returned to work, I struggled figuring out how to feed all three on my own and keep up with Jackson. I also worried that they weren't getting enough. I made the choice to exclusively pump rather than breastfeed. While it gave me some peace of mind, I began to dread the next pumping session more and more.  My schedule was completely dictated by the pump.

I planned to stop pumping when the babies turned six months old. As much as I wanted to, I wasn't emotionally ready then. The guilt surpassed my disdain for pumping. Since becoming a stay at home mom, I felt like it was my job to provide breastmilk. I was making enough, so it seemed selfish to stop. I kept pumping, but gradually allowed myself to decrease the number of pumps per day. By 9 months, I was emotionally and physically ready to begin weaning.

Weaning was much more difficult than I anticipated. I naturally dried up with Jackson after returning to work, so I really didn't know what to expect. It has taken me three weeks to drop from 3 pumps per day (ppd) to 2 to 1 ppd. I am currently expressing every other day and still getting about 8 ounces. During these three weeks, I started my first postpartum period and the hormones, aches, and exhaustion have been INTENSE. I am just now starting to feel like myself again.

In the past few days, two different friends of the family have offered to donate their breastmilk now that their own kids have weaned. I've ended up with just over 500 ounces of donor milk. If I give each baby one bottle of donor milk per day, they will continue to receive breastmilk until they are 11 months old. 

I am so content with my decision to stop pumping. I will never miss:

• driving down the interstate connected to tubes and bottles
• setting alarms in the middle of the night to wake up and pump
• toting my pump around everywhere I go
• going upstairs to pump while we had company
• sleeping in old sports bras with holes cut in them
• washing out pump parts and bottles multiple times a day
• picking out clothes based on whether or not I can pump in them without getting completely undressed
• not being able to immediately console a baby because I was pumping
• having to abruptly stop pumping because I needed to tend to Jackson or babies' needs
• pumping while cooking dinner, washing dishes, etc
• running around topless for months (Jesse says it's more like National Geographic than Playboy)
• the aches and pains of clogged milk ducts, or even worse, mastitis
• stuffing my face with oatmeal and lactation cookies
• taking supplements (At one point I was taking 36 pills a day to maintain milk supply!)

Good riddance!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

The trio will be 10 months old next week and we still have 22 cans of unopened formula from the free Enfamil Multiples program. While that sounds like a lot, the babies consume 72 ounces a day and we go through two cans every three days. Between the formula and donor milk, we should only have to buy formula for one month. (I'm not sure what Maddie will drink after a year, but definitely not cow's milk.)

I came up with a really quick setup for formula. I had purchased sixteen 4-oz Gladware containers when I began making homemade baby food several months ago. The containers happen to hold exactly 8.5 scoops of formula. This works out perfectly because the babies take 6-oz bottles. (17 oz of water + 8.5 scoops of formula = 18ish oz of formula)  Every couple of days I fill the Gladware containers with formula.

Jesse's Blender Bottle has become the official formula mixing container. I just fill the Blender Bottle, dump a Gladware container of formula in, shake, and pour. This is our current kitchen setup:

It is amazing how much less time, energy, and space formula takes than pumping! Of course, I'm not advocating this route and I would encourage every woman to breastfeed for as long as possible. But, I've been there, done that. The babies had a good start. I saved thousands of dollars and provided the best nutrition possible for over 9 months. It's time to move on!

Grocery Shopping Success

I really hate grocery shopping, almost as much as I hate when Jesse goes grocery shopping.  Jesse doesn't think he needs a list, so he inevitably comes home with extra junk and forgets key ingredients for our meals.  As a Type A personality, I not only make a list, but have it organized in categories and highlight when I've placed the item in my cart.

Maddie and I have been doing the grocery shopping on the weekends for a few months now.  I've been trying to do a better job with meal planning, looking for sales, and determining what the best buys are.  Maddie and I went to Sam's to price check and see if paying for a membership would benefit our family. I have memorized most of the prices for our staples at Aldi.  (Exp: cantaloupe=$1.19, strawberries=$1.79, grapes=$2.99, milk=$2,89, carrots=$0.99, ground beef=$4.40/lb, dozen eggs=$1.79, canned beans=$0.59)  Very, very few food items were cheaper per ounce at Sam's.  If I have to switch to formula in the next few months we will buy a membership, otherwise we'll be sticking to Aldi for now.

My goal is to go grocery shopping every other week and to stick to a monthly budget of $350.  I *think* I can do that.  I'm okay with running into Aldi on the off week for a quick milk/produce run but I really want to stick to our menu plan and avoid any extra purchases. 

Jesse and I spent a good fifteen minutes to discuss upcoming events and plan our meals for the next two weeks.  I organized our grocery list and kept it out to reference throughout our shopping trip.

I purchased every single item on my list.  The grand total was...drumroll please...

The total came in under budget because we're able to utilize previously purchased chicken and salmon when they were on sale. (If you really want to factor in those costs, our two weeks worth of meals will include an $8 package of chicken and about $6 worth of fish that we have in the freezer.) 

I was so proud of myself for coming up with tasty, healthy meals on a budget.  I unloaded all the groceries and made Jesse guess how much it cost.  Of course I wanted to take a picture since I'm a bit crazy.  Jesse mocked my excitement.

As much as I hate grocery shopping, I certainly enjoy a well stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer. 

With the grocery shopping out of the way, I get to focus on one of my favorite tasks--cooking.

Pantry Makeover

Our pantry has always been an eyesore.  It's too small and too cluttered.  As many times as I have organized it, I've never found a permanent solution to keep things tidy.  It's hard to locate items because Jackson is constantly climbing the shelves and rearranging items so he can get his own snacks.  (Childproof locks do not work with our determined child!)  I spent several minutes looking for the vanilla extract, only to find it in the bin of cookie cutters.  This happens regularly.

My major goals were to:

• place any snacks in an easy to reach location for Jackson. 
• eliminate as many boxes as possible.
• relocate items that are seldom used.
• throw away all expired food.
• group items in a logical way that we can sustain.

Danger Zone

I browsed Pinterest for ideas and tried to come up with a better organization system.  I wanted shelves that would hang over the door to better utilize the small space.  I couldn't find any at local stores.  I did, however, find an over the door shoe holder.  It took me three stores to find a shoe holder with clear pockets.  I also picked up some clear Rubbermaid rectangular containers for flour and sugar.

Jesse emptied out the pantry for me.  Here were all the food items:

Our bottom shelves were crammed with odd appliances, bags, and cookie cutters.  Jesse hung all the cloth bags on a hook in the laundry room and relocated our rarely used juicer to the garage.  I organized my large collection of 100+ cookie cutters.  We put all the aprons except one in a pile to donate to Goodwill.

I was able to place pasta, flour, sugar, etc in clear canisters.  All of the loose items such as tea bags, oatmeal packets, and fruit snacks found a new home in the shoe organizer. 

So much recycling!

I was surprised to discover how many spices we had, especially considering I only use about 4-5 in regular cooking.  Half of them were wedding gifts that had expired. Others were just bizarre spices that we never use such as English Prime Rib or Garden Salad Seasoning.

I'm in love with our new pantry.  I just keep staring at it with pride.  Here's the final breakdown:
-The top shelf has baking items.  As a general rule, the higher up, the less access I want Jackson to have.
-Next is produce, breads, and cereals. 
-The middle shelf has canned goods purposefully staggered so we can glance at what all we have on hand. 
-Next shelf includes spices and items that would be part of a recipe/require cooking such as wheat germ, milled flax, and panko. 
-Jesse insisted the griddle stay on a shelf and I didn't protest since he cooks us pancakes and bacon every Sunday morning.  Beside the griddle is a bin full of individual snacks that were too large to fit in the shoe holder.  That way they're still neatly concealed but Jackson can reach them if needed. 
-I have a clean bin with cookie cutters on the floor, along with our craft tablecloth.  We use cookie cutters several times a month for baking, play dough, tracing, and painting.
-Every other item is organized and easily accessible in the clear pockets over the door.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Jackson was blessed to receive all of this for Christmas:

Of course, the challenge was where to put everything.  It took two entire days for Jesse and I to take down Christmas decorations, sort through old toys for Goodwill, clear space, and make room for new things.  I tried to take a panoramic view of Jackson's room.  Obviously the bed doesn't normally look like that, but it was impossible to get the corners of the room in the picture. 

We tidied up Jackson's closet and made room for his dresser to go under the closet shelves.  (It has been against the wall since before he was born.) 

After realizing how many little toys and sets Jack has, I decided to move Jack's toy box into the babies room and bring in their storage baskets.  We took down his tent to make room for this piece of organizational heaven.  I sorted everything into bins: train sets, board books, matchbox cars, super hero figurines, Little People, musical instruments, etc.  I'll most likely go back and add picture labels to help Jackson know where to return the toys, but he's really great at cleaning up and organizing his toys downstairs.

The book shelves haven't changed.  We've just rotated/added more books.

Jackson has Batman sheets and blankets on his big boy bed.  Now if we could just get him to sleep there all night.  Sigh...

He still has play areas downstairs.  It only took minor rearranging to provide adequate floor space and play areas for both Jack and the trio.  His toy kitchen has been moved to the dining room.

And his easel/crafts are in an open nook of the living room.

Thanks to the small storage bins, Jackson can bring a bin downstairs, dump it all on the floor or table, then quickly clean up.  We are all so much happier when we can keep things clean and tidy and everything is easily accessible.