A Clean House

I went to my sister-in-law's wedding shower Saturday. Watching her open all her gifts for their new home made me think back to 3 years ago when I was doing the same thing. Back then I remember thinking about how I was going to make such a warm and inviting home. It would be easy to keep clean and always look nice.

Then life happened...

I'm not always a good housekeeper. When the mood strikes me I'll really get to it and knock out some cleaning, but sometimes it takes a while for me to find that mood. Last week I really got to thinking about our home. Now that I'm a SAHM (which I'm LOVING btw) I have a lot more time to put into my home. Ok with 5 month twins I might not have a lot of time, but I've got some. So I searched the interwebs for some advice on a good cleaning schedule.

I needed help in scheduling because that's how I am. I thrive off of a schedule. After an afternoon searching while the girls slept I found the perfect thing for me. I've done it for a week now and it helps me feel like I actually accomplished something at the end of the day.

In case you are like me and need that schedule here is mine. Feel free to take it and tweak it for your own home.

Daily:

Make the bed

Wash the dishes

Pick up clutter (clothes, shoes, toys, papers, etc.)

Laundry ( I have a different load for each day M-Morgan, T-Liz, W-R+K, TR-towels, F-linens)

Weekly

Monday- clean floors ~ vacuum, sweep, mop every room

Tuesday- scrub down the bathrooms ~ tub, shower, toilets, counter, and mirror

Wednesday- wash the windows

Thursday- dust

Friday- clean the kitchen, disinfect counters, wipe appliances, clean microwave

Saturday- disinfect toys, door knobs, soft surfaces. Febreeze beds, curtains, rugs.

Monthly

1. Clean out fridge & front of cabinets

2. Vacuum the couch

3. Change air filter

4. Check smoke alarm batteries

5. Spot clean walls

6. Vacuum car

Quarterly

1. Clean exterior doors & patio

2. Wash curtains & blinds

3. Clean baseboards

4. Clean out closets

Confession of a Twin Mom

I confess that some days I hold one of my girls more than the other.

I confess sometimes I give my girls paci before they get fussy to prevent fussiness from happening.

I confess I sleep til 8 even though I say I'll stay up after 6 when the girls wake up for the first time.

I confess that bed time is the best part of my day.

I confess that I give Kate a stuffed animal at naptime even though the experts say not too...that's the only way she'll go to sleep.

I confess that I take a shower at 3 pm everyday.

I confess that I'm not looking forward to babyfood mess.

I confess that I scan pinterest.com and facebook sometimes when I should be playing with the girls.

I confess that I look forward to my runs and grocery shopping for some baby free time.

Ok there is my confessions...what's yours?

4 Months

I'm learning that life as a mom of twins means things don't get done quick. In fact it takes a long time to finish projects or work on extra things like my blog and pictures. So I spent today ignoring my messy bedroom to edit the 4 month pictures I took of the girls. I love my camera and wish I could take a class to get better at photography (that's a whole other blog post in itself). My idea I've had is to take pics of the girls for each month "birthday" in these big floppy hats we inherited.

Rose is my physical girl. She loves to stand on her legs with help from Mom & Dad of course. She also has a better time when on her belly. Don't get me started on tummy time! This week she rolled over for the first time but hasn't done it again.

Rose has learned to grab her toes when she is on her back. She also is the better sleeper of the two, and always sleeps spread eagle. She loves to be in the jumper and moving around. I think she might be the first to crawl, we'll see. Oh and she still sticks that tongue out all the time.

Kate is my talking girl. That girl can squeal. Cute when she's happy, effective when she's not. She loves being silly with her Daddy and will laugh and talk to him. She loves her new toy that plays music and will yell at it when it's not playing.

I think Kate will be our hard head. She has good neck control, but don't put her on her belly. She refuses to lift that head up! But once you lift her up and talk to her you see those big blues.

I think both girls are going to keep the blue eyes. They only keep getting lighter. They are both getting so big. I know I'm prejudice, but they are both beautiful babies. Everyday is a new adventure and we're looking forward to our 5th month.

Rose=13lbs 1/2oz & 24in Kate=13lbs 10oz & 24in

Here's a link to the rest of their 4 Month pics on Picasa.

My Rant on Coupons

I've been trying my best to get into couponing. Since I quit my job to stay home with the girls money has been tight and I thought coupons could give us some help. Couponing is everywhere. I hear about people paying $20 for $100 worth of groceries, what's not to love about that? So once the girls were born and I got into a rhythm I started buying the Sunday paper and clipping away. That's when I first noticed the problem.

It seemed like I was only clipping 4 maybe 5 coupons. Most of them are for things I don't buy. Nobody eats Fruit by the foot or buys hair coloring in this house. I kept at it cause that's what everyone told me. Now I have used a few coupons, but nothing that really astonished me by my savings.

So I'll give it another month to see if it gets any better, but I'm pretty convinced that couponing is not working for me. I get more frustrated with it then it works for me.

What I'm Listening To...Now

I absolutely LOVE Pandora.com. For those of you that don't know about this little gem of the Internet (do you live under a rock?) it's an online radio station. Type in an artist, song, genre that you like and it will play that plus similar artist you may be interested in. Back in the day you could listen without interuption, but now they have commercials. So what do I listen to? Here is my top 10...for now. Last month it was different and next month will be different too.

Starting from the bottom:

#10 - Pat Benatar - Because Love is a Battlefield and we stand heartache to heartache

#9 - Children's Radio - For those times I sing to the girls and need a little help remembering kids songs.

#8 - Katy Perry - I don't like pop that much, but this girl can sing...good running music.

#7 - Jim Gaffigan - Love me some stand up. Good for long trips.

#6 - Adele - I like to listen to this to relax at the end of the day.

#5 - Band of Horses - When I feel like indie music, but not hippie.

#4 - Glee - Morgan hates it, but I'm a Gleek.

#3 - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Long name but a great band.

#2 - Beatles - I skip anything not Beatles that comes on this station.

#1 - Mumford & Sons - Hands down most played station on my profile. I listen to this station cleaning house, running, driving, anything!

Some honorable mentions that show up pretty regular: Weezer, Johnny Cash, & Jack Johnson.

Three Months Old

I cannot believe my girls are three months old today. Where has the time gone? Right now the girls are so smiley. They smile when I wake them up in the morning. They smile when we talk silly to them. And they are starting to "ahh" and "cooo" They love when Morgan and I repeat what they say. It's absolutely adorable.

Kate is Daddy's girl. I think she looks a lot like Morgan, but she also does a few things that remind me of him. For one thing she wakes up like him. She opens her eyes fast and looks around a little confused figuring out where she is.

Kate also is the more vocal. She loves to coo and will stare at your tongue and try to move hers when your talking to her.

Rose looks like her Mommy. When she is awake she is very bright eyed. She loves to stretch and stretch when she wakes up.

Rose loves Mommy to hold her. She also has mastered the pouty face.

I love these girls to death and can't wait to see how much they grow in the next month!

Getting in Gear

Ok it will be 3 months next week since I had the girls, and I've got about 12 pounds I need to lose in order to be back into pre pregnancy weight. Having twins does a number on your body. I was very proud because I only gained the 40 pounds recommended in a twin pregnancy. I read a lot of stories of women gaining much more when pregnant with twins.

So my goal for the next few months is to get back down to where I was if not even lighter. Another goal is to get back into my jeans comfortably. To do that I've been getting taking the girls on a walk every morning. I walk for about 30 minutes. It's not a really brisk walk because of the heat but it's not a stroll either. In the afternoon while the girls are taking their long nap I've started doing a workout from the p90x series that my pirate brother in law made for me. Those workouts kick my butt. Sometimes I just have to look at the tv and laugh, but I'm getting there. Then most nights I'm trying to run at least 2 miles. My goal is to get to 3 miles by Sept and run the Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving...in 30 minutes or less.

It really feels good to be back running, but 9 months of not running really sets you back.