Organizational Craziness

Lately, I've been on an organizational rampage. By saying that, however, doesn't mean that my house has anything to show for it. But, I have the itch to get my house and my life organized! Our house is small....quaint and cozy...but, small. So, I've been trying to find new ways to use every bit of space for storage while still making it look organized and neat.

So, last week and this week has been all about organizing while Tristen sleeps. I used to think stay-at-home moms had SO much time on their hands....I mean, they stay at home and watch a baby, right? HA!! I was wrong! I've been more busy now than I was teaching preschool so this big organizational project is taking quite a bit of time. But, I'm trying :)

On top of organizing the house, I'm oh-so-trying to be better at meal planning. Meal planning has been my greatest downfall as a wife but I am determined to beat it and use our money better and not waste food. So, so hard.....but again, it comes down to organizing which I'm trying to do.

Lest you think that it's been all work and no play around here, think again :)

Do these pictures convince you? He is full of smiles and sounds lately :)

We get caught off guard sometimes when we see each other in Tristen. He has my nose, lips, and ears, Aaron's hands and forehead, but we're still deciding on his eyes. Sometimes his eyes resemble mine and sometimes they resemble Aaron. Oh, and we're still slightly pinching ourselves to make sure he is real :) But, yes, Tristen is real and is a whole 6 weeks old this week! Where is the time going? Well, off to more organizing before he wakes up.....Happy Monday!

Tristen's Friends

Remember this pic? In case you don't, it's from our small group....the four of us were pregnant at the same time and due within a few months of each other. Now, our kiddos have instant friends! So, here are Tristen's friends....

Miss Caitlin born in Sept. :)

And, brand new just this week...Mr. Elijah :)

SO cute!
And now we're just waiting for the fourth one to be born before the playdates begin! THIS is fun :) Happy Saturday!

One more post about.....

IT IS FREEZING OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and it's cold in my house but I refuse to turn up the heat anymore than I already have....I finally turned it up to 69 degrees so I don't have much room to complain but it still feels so cold!) So, we'll just keep on dressing in our warm sweaters and cuddling in our blankets until our "heat wave" comes next week :)

Okay, okay....onto something more exciting than the cold...and I promise I won't complain again because deep down inside, I'm loving the coziness of this. And, I'm SO thankful for a cozy house right now. In honor of the cold, I dressed Tristen in a warm sweater and tried to capture what he looks like when he's not sleeping :)

Yawning isn't considered sleeping :) Plus, I think he's practicing singing....this boy makes SO many noises in the day. I wonder what he's thinking about :)

Becoming much more alert!

Momma's Boy :)

Yesterday I caught myself. I caught myself writing a mental lesson plan. Oops. I'd like to say it was a flexible schedule but when I started timing things to see how long they took (diaper changes, baths, getting dressed, etc.) and mentally writing them down in 5, 10 and 20 minute increments, I realized that I was writing a full fledged mental lesson plan for my son....out of instinct. Oh, boy :) Speaking of the little boy, I should attend to him....I'm past my 10 minute blogging increment on my lesson plan. Just kidding :)

January, Oh, January

Last night I declared to my husband that January has to be the longest month in the year! I love snow and the cold BUT, there gets a point where the cold gets too unbearable. And, it's there for me.....come on February...you are always so much warmer to me! I'm trying to hurry January along by thinking Valentine's Day is just around the corner (hence the new blog background)

But, this January isn't all bad....I mean, I get to hang out with Tristen all day, warm up delicious frozen meals that fantastic people like my mom, mother-in-law. and people from church stocked us up with before Tristen was born, and cuddle up on the couch with a warm blanket and hot chocolate. *sigh* Sounds cozy, eh?

AND, I get to play this new game:
I got this for Aaron for Christmas but we finally opened it up this past weekend when we were freezing cold and bored. And, oh.my.goodness. SO much fun and sooooo addicting! It's a card/strategy/random game. Hard to explain because it's like nothing we've ever played before. I would highly recommend it!

Well, onto another cold day in January....Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, everyone!

Solution to Ole

No, I didn't flush Ole down the toilet. It was SUPER tempting but I resisted :) After my last blog post, Aaron got right on the problem....I'd like to think it was because he felt so bad for me but I think it had more to do with him not wanting to lose one of his fish! The solution? Moving the rock and plants around....it sometimes breaks up the tension in the tank and allows other fish to take control. (Photo above is the new rock set up)

Fish lesson for the week. :) Why the fish lesson? Well, to update about Ole and also last night Aaron looked at my blog and said, "You haven't blogged for a while. You should write a blog....about my fish." :) Ha! So, there you go, honey :) (*side note* Ole is still mean but Tove is dominating the tank as we speak. Go Tove! (a cool looking dolphin fish)

But, onto way more exciting news.....here's a few pics of Tristen :)

For those who don't have facebook...my profile pic. My favorite out of our Christmas pics this year

My little knight 10 days old...

First church outing=Success!

Photo taken yesterday at 3 weeks! Doesn't he look so big already!?! He's already out of his newborn clothes! I still say that pregnancy takes forever but having a newborn is so different....3 weeks has flown by already!

Meet Ole

Meet Ole. One of 12 fish in our aquarium. All of our fish have Norwegian names and naming this one Ole was one of my favorite. We also have Lena who looks exactly like Ole. Anyways....Ole and I don't get along so well. Actually, we're enemies. Such a shame too with a cool name like Ole! If I would have known, I would have given him a bad name and saved Ole for a nice fish. Ole is a mean, overbearing, domineering fish. I guess since he's a "Dragon Blood"breed, I should have known he'd be mean. This morning I announced to my hubby that Ole needs to go. It's either me or him and I'm thinking the hubby will pick the fish....umm, hopefully!

So, what's the point of this? Well, EVERY time I go to blog or facebook, I have to look at Ole scaring the rest of the fish into a corner. Thus, I don't want to blog or facebook....it's really Ole's fault that I've been out of the loop lately. Most would blame Tristen but I'm blaming good 'ole Ole...but, I suppose the little man has been part of the blame too :)

Like father, like son!

Next week Aaron goes back to school....it has been such a great break! I'm sad to see it go but excited for my hubby to get back to studying and learning :) And while he does that, I'm trying to survive the cold. Brrr...it's freezing here! Hope all is well...have a fabulous weekend everyone! I'm off to figure out how I can "train" Ole not to be a bully (or what to do with him!) :)

Update and Job Change

I kept attempting to write an update but just couldn't quite find the words to write. But, here I go....

These last two weeks have flown by and I can't believe how well they've gone! Among the most common questions we've received have been: How is he sleeping? Are you (meaning Aaron and I) getting any sleep? How is Sadie doing with the new baby?

So, I'll answer these questions if you're wondering and then try to talk about something non-baby'ish....although it's hard to do these days!

How is he sleeping? Like a champ....I almost fear writing that because it could change in a matter of days but ever since the third night at home, he has slept the night away and usually only wakes up when I wake him up for feedings. I think we're getting just a bit spoiled with this first one....which leads into the next question....

How are we sleeping? Amazingly well. Again, I fear writing this because I know it could change but we both get at least 7-8 hours a night. *gasp* I know....I was thinking I would be living off of 2-3 (which could come in the future). In the meantime, I'll take my 7-8 hours even though it's interrupted for feedings.

How's Sadie doing? Just fine and dandy :) She was scared of him at first but is taking a "liking" to him....meaning she will at least sit on the same couch and let his feet touch her. She's doing just fine :)

So, all in all, we have a very content, very quiet baby. And, we know that it might change so we're enjoying every second of this "newborn" stage....a stage I never thought I would grow to love (yes, you all were right...it IS different with your own!) I'm just loving all his new noises and movements....the video camera is out a lot in our house now :)

Okay, onto non-baby news...well, sort of non-baby....I've officially resigned from my position at the preschool. I was advised to do so after Tristen was actually here "just in case" so now it's "official" official. Woah, I just realized how many quotation marks I just used.....sorry :) So, I'm officially a stay-at-home mom!

So, another new journey as I leave the work world and enter the stay-at-home mom world....I already know I need outlets (as I love to stay busy) so I'm writing a mental list of things that could be outlets that would give me the time away I need yet help me not get too overcommitted as Tristen is my main priority now. Any ideas of good outlets? I would love ideas :)

Well, that's our life lately :) Thanks for reading!