I think over the past week or so a switch flipped in my brain. It’s time to get on top of our cluttered house situation. Lexie is starting to try to stand up on her own, she will be walking soon and I need to make sure our house is a completely 100% safe place for her to roam around. It’s going to take some time before I can maintain the house using the daily cleaning 101 steps. I’m setting small goals for each day after work and I am working them even though I feel tired and worn out by the time Lexie goes down for the night.

I’m having to create a cleaning habit, which is not easy. But I am happy to say that the last two days I accomplished one load of laundry each day, one load of dishes each day, and did a little picking up here and there. Last night I got the stove top cleaned up nice, and today’s goal is to clean and organize the counter tops on each side of the stove. One day at a time, small goals, and eventually I’ll be able to follow the 5 to 15 minute cleaning routines. I’m very excited to keep this going and see my house all nice and clean!

We spent most of yesterday running a fever, even while on motrin, and lying around on mommy. It was heartbreaking watching her. All she wanted was to be held. After a few calls to the doctor’s office we started alternating between motrin and tylenol, and finally we were able to get the fever under control. I’m happy to report that today Lexie is doing much and has not been running a fever today. Here’s hoping that this fever business is over and stays away for a long time.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, my advice and experiences in no way replace that of a doctor visit. If you have questions about treating your child you should always consult your doctor or pediatrician.

That said, here is what I did that worked for us with Lexie’s fever:

- I let Lexie run around in just her diaper. It seemed like every time I put a shirt or a onsie on her that it would cause her temperature to rise. So I just kept the house a comfortable warm and let her go in the diaper.

- Cool wet/damp wash cloth. I kept a cool, not cold) damp wash cloth that I would wipe Lexie’s face down with every now and then. When she was napping I’d let the wash cloth rest on her forehead. That seemed to help quite a bit. She was fine with it on her face….not so much when I tried to cool her back down….so we only tried that once.

- Alternating motrin and tylenol. After speaking with the doctor I was told that I could give Lexie a round of motrin and then two or three hours later give her some tylenol and continue to alternate with the motrin. Lexie continued to run a fever even while she was on the motrin, adding the tylenol into the mix definitely helped get her fever down and kept it down. (A note on the motrin, you should not give infant motrin to a baby under the age of 6 months. As always you should consult your baby’s doctor before you medicate your baby).

- When Lexie only wanted to be held I got worried that my body heat was keeping her temperature up and causing it increase. So I had her laying on a pillow on my lap. That at least kept me from adding my body heat to her. Plus I think the pillow may be more comfortable for her.

I’d love to hear from others on what you do to help your little ones feel more comfortable when they are running a fever.

I’m just about ready to bite the bullet and find that mommy balance. I’ve found a new blog that I love to read… A Bowl Full of Lemons. This site has tons of great tips and ideas for everything organizing and cleaning. This week on the blog the main author is outlining her evening quick cleaning routine for keeping her house clean. I find a lot of inspiration on this site. I have a huge spring cleaning list for the whole house that I want to get started on soon. My goal by the end of this year (yes I did type year on purpose….we are talking short cleaning periods when the baby is sleeping) is to have my whole house clean, de-cluttered, and organized. It’s going to be interesting!

Mobile Lexie

So, the sensory bag….here’s what you need:

Large zip lock baggie

Hair gel (clear or colored)

Small items to put into the bag

Colorful duct tape to secure all the edges and give it yet more color

 I found some pink hair gel for just a little over a dollar. In the party section I picked up some squishy pencil toppers, lady bug erasers, little flowers with mirrors, some beaded necklaces that are colorful, and some cute duct tape.

Step one: Pour all the hair gel into the zip lock bag

Step two: Add the little goodies into the gel

Step three: Squish around the goodies in the gel, try to get as much air out as you can before sealing the baggie. Secure all four edges with duct tape

And there you have it. A fun, colorful, and squishy sensory bag for baby to play with. I would recommend not leaving your little one alone with the sensory bag. Even though I did use a freezer bag, which is supposed to be made of thicker and more sturdy plastic, baby fingernails are very sharp and can poke little holes in things. I’m not speaking from experience here, but I like to err on the side of caution when it comes to Lexie.

This is a fun little inexpensive project that would be great for parents on a budget. Baby toys can get expensive, and it really does not take a whole lot to entertain a little one. The sensory bag is a good for distraction when little one is getting fussy waiting on dinner.

Enjoy!

Here are some pictures:

and the printer:

Also I have the pack-n-play by my desk area. That way I can keep a good eye on kiddo. Right now she is napping…finally…while I type up this post. Daddy is out playing paintball, baby is napping, and the house is quiet. Nice fall day. That said….I am ready for hubby to come home!

I’m still working on organizing everything. I have several organizational housekeeping projects under way. I look forward to sharing them with you as I go. But for now, I must force myself to hop off the PC and try to get some laundry and cleaning done while Lexie is down for the count. Until next time….

When I said in my last post that our lives will never be the same…..that was an understatement! Our life is very different, but in a good way. We are still having to get up at least two if not three times a night with Alexis, but I treasure those middle of the night snuggles and I am sure I will miss them when she starts sleeping through the night.

A lot has taken place since my last post in May. I’ve returned to work. Alexis has hit some fun milestones. She is almost 6 months now and really starting to develop a little personality. Oh and her latest development is she has started sitting up on her own. This is new as of last Friday.

She is so much fun! She is doing very well at her school during the day. She is a pretty happy baby with a really good disposition. She is not fussy at all. I believe we really lucked out with her. Also new going on for us…we are working on making some big changes around the house. I’ve decided to turn my office into a full-time guest room, which means moving all my office stuff out of there. I’m working on setting up a “Mommy Command Center” in the corner in the kitchen/dining area. This way I can get the things done that I need to and work on my blog posts, and still be out in the front area of the house where I can keep an eye on Alexis. Hubby helped me get the rest of the boxes unpacked or moved to storage in the attic this past weekend. So now I get to pick out my new corner desk.

Also while I have been away I was introduced to pinterest…..holy cow the stuff you can find on that site! I’ve gotten so many ideas from there, hubby’s “honey do” list is growing every day. That site is super addictive. I’ve been printing off recipes to try, some turn out really good and some need a little work. I’ll post about those later, once I get my command center up and running. We have a lot of exciting stuff ahead of us. I cannot wait to share my experiences of mommy hood and life.

Alexis shortly after being born on May 10th

She is now just shy of three weeks old. We’ve already had our 2 week check up and everything is going good. Everyone that sees her talks about how pretty she is.

I already cannot imagine life without her. Who knew one heart could hold so much love for such a tiny creature.

A baby is born, a new family created. Our lives will never be the same.

Well, plans are already changing and I haven’t even made it to labor and delivery yet. At my 38 week appointment we discussed the ultrasound results from last week. My doctor recommended that we induce at 39 weeks based on how big the baby is measuring. We also discussed a c-section. Although the ultrasound machine is not exact just an estimate, the measurements were enough that my doctor is not comfortable waiting any longer than 39 weeks. The baby gets bigger everyday! 8 lbs last Friday could be 9 lbs this Friday. Scary thought.

After some discussion and going over the facts we decided to schedule the c-section. The facts are that I have a narrow pelvis, the baby’s body is measuring a little bigger than the head, which presents the risk that the baby could get stuck at the shoulders during a normal birth. The only course of action at that point may result in a broken collar-bone and permanent nerve damage to the baby. Unfortunately, that scenario is not one that can be predicted with certainty until you are at that point, and once you reach that point there is no turning back. I just cannot imagine taking that risk with my baby. So, although I would have liked to have a nice normal birth, we felt the c-section was the safer option for our baby.

The doctor’s office is scheduling us for a c-section for Thursday, May 10th. We’ll go in that morning and have our baby by that afternoon. I’m excited and nervous and anxious and just about every other emotion I can think of all rolled into one at this point.

So new things from the 37th week….swelling! I’ve started noticing swelling in my knees, ankles, and feet. It’s crazy! It’s getting to where it kind of hurts to do too much walking. It’s not as bad first thing in the morning, but by the time I get home from work there is a lot of swelling. My normal shoes feel tight…time for flip-flops! When I’m on the couch in the evenings with my feet propped up I do not recognize my feet anymore. Hopefully the swelling will go down shortly after the baby is born.

We had another baby shower last Saturday. It was fun, I got pretty tired by the end of it but I had a good time none-the-less. The friend who organized it really went all out. She made cake in a jar that was super yummy! White chocolate covered cake balls, sugar cookies with pink sprinkles, pink fudge, pink flower mints, Pink and White suckers that said it’s a girl on them! It was wonderful! I have another batch of thank you notes to write this weekend! I’ll have to take pictures of the gifts too.

Hubby got the last items on my to do before baby arrives list done yesterday. The car seat is securely installed in my car! I now feel 100% ready for baby to arrive and come home. Car seat is done, hospital bags are packed and in the car, Bassinet is set up, enough things have been washed for the first few days, I can’t think of anything else short of picking up around the house that needs to be done before the baby gets here.