A Place for Everything, and Everything in its Place

Favorite words of every OCD. :)  The latest subject in my attempt to deal with all of our "stuff," and create a household that is clutter-free and easy to maintain: the File Cabinet.  Oh, how I dread the file cabinet.  It seems impossible to not have the files constantly overflowing and very hard to organize them so you can actually find what you need.

I probably would have saved this element of our household for last, as its not terribly fun to deal with files --- but for my birthday last year, my sister and mother gave me a filing organizing system called Freedom Filer.  Ever since, it has sat in a pile of junk for me to deal with, and as I picked my way through this pile, I decided it was time to give it a go.

Freedom Filer was definitely designed by an OCD --- it even has practice labels so you can decide how you want to stick them on the label holders (stuck directly on top of the plastic insert, or inside the insert, or on a piece of paper in the insert) --- and yes, I did practice, and includes a discussion on why they chose to use sticker labels instead of paper labels.  I am totally impressed with and in love with this system, and admittedly wished that I had come up with the idea myself.

It was a lengthy process to set it up, which included three separate trips to Office Depot for file folders, as I kept under-estimating how many files we have.  Apparently, we have just about 100 files.  And dealing with the files themselves was not much fun.

But now, how impressive does our file cabinet look?  And while I haven't done any filing myself yet, Mark told me that it was indeed much easier after he dealt with our last round of bills.

So glad to be done with that project!

I'm not the only one completing organizing projects in our house, though.  Check out Mark's latest project:

The Garage

I wish he had taken true "before" pictures, as the garage was a MESS.  He's already spent many hours cleaning it up to get to this point.  His plan is to turn our garage into a use-able workshop, with future plans to build an airplane in it!  So the first step is cleaning out all the clutter that has been accumulating there during the past five years.  He's made good progress!  He is also working on the "design" of the garage.  And I should mention that he has a little OCD in him as well, as I caught him using my old engineering graph paper to draw out the dimensions of the garage (both overhead and elevation) and also created to-scale cut-outs for the contents of the garage to see where he would put them.  It's all rather cute. 

So look for future updates with progress as Mark begins installing wiring, insulation, a wall A/C unit, drywall, paint and then builds his cabinets to hang on the wall!  Whew, he's going to be busy!

Happy Independence Day!

Lessons in Domesticity

Two posts in one day (please see the other post for Katie below)!  Benjamin is home from school next week, so I know it will be difficult to get on the computer --- and there are so many things I want to remember from this special time at home.  So here we go.  We'll see how long Katie naps to let me get through these posts.

First, it's done.  Is this not a beautiful picture?

That's right --- these are the last few EMPTY tupperwares that housed our stuff from our Hurricane Ike evacuation.  It only took 21 months to move completely back in to our house. :)  Over the last few weeks, we've been putting the final items away, and even hung pictures on our walls.  It looks like we live here now, and I love it!

So now everything has a home.  No more boxes and tupperwares lining empty walls waiting to be dealt with.  I now have the luxury of moving on to stage 2:  trying to make the things that we actually use accessible and easy to put away.  Some of the closets are packed rather full, and while everything fits in them, it's not always easy to get things out and put them back away.  I'm hoping to purge more items during this second go around so that there may even be a little extra room to grow.  Because in all likelihood, we will acquire more stuff, and once we return to "real" life (ie me going back to work), I want to be able to maintain some sense of order and not let our house slowly (or in some cases, quickly) creep towards the chaos it had become before my maternity leave began. 

So on my to-do list is everything from cleaning out our files and organizing our digital photos to re-organizing the hall bathroom to make way for two children's worth of toys, washcloths, diapers, etc.

In addition to this "tweaking," I am still pursuing my other "project" --- learning how to cook.  While I am definitely contributing more to feeding our family than I was a few months ago, it's definitely not yet a 50-50 task in our household.  But Mark and I are getting much better at actually planning out our meals at the beginning of the week (versus, "shoot, it's 6 o'clock... do we have any pizzas in the freezer?) --- and I'm especially proud that we've incorporated more vegetables and fruits into our evening meals!  I probably actually cook only 1-2 meals per week, but I am becoming quite a skilled sous-chef for Mark.  It's fun to work together in the kitchen, and I like doing the simpler steps that don't require concentration like washing and chopping vegetables or herbs.  Because half the time, I'm trying to appease Katie or get something for Ben, and the other half of the time, Katie wants to nurse right smack in the middle of a time-sensitive step in the cooking process.  I've come to realize that I don't really have a strong desire to become an expert chef --- each household only needs one, and Mark fills that role beautifully!  His cooking has really improved (although I thought he was good already), and it's fun to enable him to use his talents to make delicious, healthy meals for our family.  Whoever thought that broccoli would become our family's favorite part of the meal?  (try Cook's Illustrated Roasted Broccoli --- it is absolutely fabulous!).  All this is to say that my efforts in the kitchen are going well.  The other aspect that we'd like to be better about is buying food seasonally and locally.  But hopefully that will also come.

So as I continue to be a SAHM "poser" (I felt like this way when Katie and I went to a recent lecture about "babyproofing your marraige" at our church on a Tuesday MORNING), I figured I better learn another job duty of a housewife (smile!) --- how to clean.  That might sound strange, but we have all sorts of cleaning products and I've never really understood which products you are supposed to use where, and why you need different products for different parts of the house.  What is the part that actually dis-infects and makes things clean?  What is the difference between natural or non-toxic and traditional cleaning products?  A big drive in all this is the fact that I would like to rid my house of anything "dangerous" to young children.  Partially because I'm tired of calling the poison control hotline ("um, yeah, my son may have just squirted 409 into his mouth, what should I do?") and partially because we really want to integrate more chores into our routines with Benjamin --- and I can't clean with him around if I have to worry about the chemicals I am using.  Understanding how to "organically" clean has been something I've wanted to do for a couple of years now --- but never had the time or mental energy to do anything about it.

So I picked up a book called Organic Housekeeping, and despite first impressions, it's actually a very interesting book to read!  Now the author is admittedly a bit extreme (no, I am not going to wipe down my shower walls after EVERY shower, and I intend to continue to use my sponges), but it's very enlightening (and also a bit scary) to learn what is in traditional cleaning supplies, what the natural alternatives are, as well as bigger picture approaches like thinking about how we set-up our house to make cleaning easier.  The Fly Lady's book is next on my list for another perspective.  If you have any other recommended reads, let me know!

Okay, Katie is now up from her nap, so it's time to go. More later!

Dear Katie

 Dear Katie,

Now it's your turn for a blog post!  I just settled you down for a little nap, and Benjamin is at school, so I (hopefully) have a few minutes to document a few thoughts on your life so far.

On Tuesday, you turned 3 months old!  You have now been in existence for one year (since conception, that is), and you have completed the "fourth trimester."  You certainly look and act more and more like a baby every day, and I'm admittedly a little sad that your newborn-ness is passing so quickly!

Katie, I am immensely enjoying my time at home with you!  Benjamin broke us in nicely, so I fret about much less with you (I still worry, of course, because that's what I do --- but it's not a panic-worry this time around) and just enjoy snuggling and playing with you, and I also very much enjoy the few quiet moments to myself when you are sleeping and Ben is at school.

So what kind of baby are you?  That's hard to say, because you change so quickly!  I held out hope that you would be an "easy" baby since you are a girl --- and most of the girl babies we know are pretty docile.  But you certainly wasted no time in making it known that you are not the average girl!  Your first breath after being born was a piercing scream, and even the labor and delivery nurses were impressed by your volume and intensity! 

You are certainly an intense little girl.  You are so obviously taking in the world around you when you are awake, and sometimes you have difficulty shutting everything out when it's time to go to sleep.  So sometimes you get over-tired and spend the evening screaming to block out all the stimulation.  We have ear plugs placed strategically throughout the house for such occasions.  Even Benjamin has sweetly asked you on occasion to stop crying.  I have no worries that you will be over-shadowed by your big brother or that you will become a shirking wall flower.  I once read somewhere that "fussy" babies are the intelligent ones --- that their fussiness is due to the intensity with which they are studying the world, and they don't stop to take a break or a nap when they need one.  At this rate, you are going to be brilliant. :)

But, Katie, even though you sometimes spend the evening yelling at us, you are still a very sweet child.  You smile readily at your mommy and daddy.  And when you smile, it's this great wide open mouth smile and your eyes scrunch up in delight.  You love being pulled up to a sitting position now and are even beginning to enjoy standing for little bits of time.  You love being carried in your sling by both Mommy and Daddy - whether it's to explore the great wonders of Target with Mommy or learning how to pan fry with Daddy.

I imagine soon you will smile for your big brother.  He's a bit intense for you right now, and likes to get right in your face when he speaks or plays with you.  We're working on that.  But it's good for you --- you will be a tough little girl!

Well, sweet girl, that's all I've got for now.  We love you very much, and when you get bigger and bigger and bigger, you and Ben are going to have great fun together!

Lots of love,
Mommy

Dear Benjamin

I have seen a number of posts recently where blog "authors" format the post as a letter to their children.  It's a very sweet idea, and since much of the reason behind this blog is to document this stage of our lives for our children to read later, I'm going to follow suit.  Many of my posts lately have been about Projects and getting things done --- but all the while, we are enjoying a very sweet and active little boy --- who just turned THREE.  So, Benjamin, this post is for you!

Dear Benjamin,

A few weeks ago, you turned three years old!  What a big boy you are now!  Sorry that it has taken me a few weeks to put together your three-year old letter, but with a new baby sister in the house, you are getting many opportunities to practice being patient.  Before your sister arrived, you had become accustomed to your parents jumping at every request and noticing every little thing that you did.  I expected Katie's arrival to shake your world a bit, and I'm sure it has, but you are adjusting magnificently well.  And you are proving to actually have a good deal of patience for a three year old - something we didn't give you much opportunity to practice before.

So how do I sum up the past three years of your life?  That's a hard one.  You have enriched your father and me in so many ways, and you bring such a new layer of joy to our lives that seems to get deeper with each day that you grow and learn and develop into your own person.  Has the time flown by?  Sort of.  Those first days at home with you as a newborn were tough.  I cried a lot, worried a lot, and mourned the passing of our "carefree" days before baby.  While we fell in love with you, both your father and I had to go through a lot of growing pains to make room in our lives for a new member of our family.  You have nicely paved the road for a more carefree beginning for your sister, though, as now we know how much fun children can be --- and we can endure her evening screaming a little easier knowing what the fun we have ahead. :)

In some ways, it's hard to believe you are just three years old --- it seems that you have been part of our family forever!  To me, it actually does not seem like you were just my little baby yesterday --- I'm quite accustomed to my talkative, curious and sometimes-demanding son.  But as you continue to grow in your independence, I do sometimes wish to slow down time just a little bit --- as it makes me a little sad to think about reaching the day where you won't call out for "Mommy snuggle,"  where me or Daddy are no longer your favorite playmates, and where boo-boo's don't require a kiss.

Benjamin, your development amazes us every day --- you have a wonderful, joyful personality --- and you are so full of energy and enthusiasm for life.  Parenting you is certainly a wonderful experience.

So what are some of your favorite things now that you are three?  Well, you love all things physical --- jumping, bouncing, running - you name it.  You spend a lot of time in our backyard - sliding down our slip n' slide that Grandma Susan and Grandpa Howard gave you for your birthday, digging with your excavator in your sandbox, poking at our overgrown herbs with a dowel rod, throwing rocks and dirt at the fence.  We recently enrolled you in swim classes at the YMCA, and while you tolerate the class, you LOVE the pool time with Mommy or Daddy afterwards.  You especially like to dictate what we'll do next: "Now Mommy and Benjamin dunk, now just Benjamin dunk, now Benjamin sit on the side of the pool while Mommy dunk, now Benjamin jump to Mommy, now Benjamin swim by himself (which involves me letting go of you for a moment to allow you to sink just a little bit before pulling you back out of the water)."  It is so much fun to watch the simple joy of a three-year old boy enjoying moving his body and learning something new.  Soon we start an introductory gymnastics class, and I am eager to see how you will like this as well.

While you certainly have a great NEED to move, your attention and perseverance to inside work also amazes us.  You LOVE puzzles right now, and we spend most of our free time together doing one.  While you can easily do all your puzzles yourself, you prefer that Mommy or Daddy do them with you.  Daddy laughs at this trait in you, which you so obviously got from me.  While you look a lot like Daddy, your preference for company is very familiar to me.  At first, we were only allowed to watch you do your puzzles, but now as you are learning how to play with peers, you let us put a few pieces in as well.  You are learning your numbers (I believe the highest you count right now is to eleventeen), and are quite interested in learning how to spell words.  Every night you choose several of your magazines for us to read to you --- either Baby Bug or Animal Baby.  You have a couple of years worth of each of these magazines, and we read them so often, you have almost all of them memorized word-for-word!  You can now spell the years (2008, 2009, 2010) for the publications, as well as the titles.  It's adorable to watch you use these letters to spell other things as well.  Just yesterday, we had a box sitting in the kitchen, and you looked at the letters on the box (Diapers.com) and spelled "B-A-B-Y  B-U-G.  That spells Box!"

Now, while you are a delightful little boy, don't let me get you thinking that we aren't having some challenges in our efforts to parent you right now.  You are certainly three - full of opinions and desires - which don't always line up with ours.  Particularly when we're trying to get out the door!  You sometimes leave us at a loss as to how to re-act, so Daddy and I both recently re-read Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood, and you seem to be responding very well!  In fact, you like to use it on us "Mommy, do you want mint ice cream or chocolate ice cream for dessert?...Okay!" or "Mommy, you can eat one more bite of dinner, and then it's time to do puzzles."

Okay, sweet boy, your sister is up from her nap, so I'm going to end this letter now.  We just love you so much, and are so proud of the person you are becoming.  I'll try to write again soon!

Love,
Mommy

Blueberries!

Hi friends! This is Mark writing. Last Saturday, Benjamin and I had a killer time together that I thought would be fun to share here on the blog. We picked blueberries! Katherine and I did this way back when we were young and without kids - I think it was the summer of 2002 in Corvallis, OR. We both remember it being lots of fun and had hoped to go the last couple years. Our feeble efforts weren't helped by the fact that the previous two summers were excessively dry, enough to make for a paltry blueberry crop. The place we went, Moorhead's Blueberry Farm, offers updates on the state of the berries. We also have some friends who went and reported it was pretty dismal last year. But things are different this year - we got a few nice rains, and we have a three year old! It was a disgustingly hot day, and we didn't get there until about 10:30am, so the sun was fierce. But that didn't stop us from having a great time and coming home with some darn good eats. I loved this activity for a few different reasons:

1. Like most, we have a busy schedule, so it was precious to spend some quality time with Ben. His character is shining more every day, and it really is a joy to witness.
2. While we don't do it often enough, I really like the idea of buying locally grown food - it's fresher, supports the local economy, and is cultivated for flavor rather than transportability.
3. I think it's great for Ben to see that food comes from things like plants and animals, not just the grocery store.
4. We got some outstandingly delicious berries - noticeably better than the ones at Kroger.
5. $3.20 for two pounds of blueberries, $2.00 for snowcone afterward. Not bad for good food and good entertainment.

Ben had a ball. I had to spend a few minutes explaining that we wanted the blue ones, not the red ones. And at first he just wanted to eat them. (See the children's book Blueberries for Sal. Apparently this is normal.) They encourage sampling at the farm, so I ate a few too. But after putting them in the bucket for a while, I asked Ben if I could taste one of the ones he picked, and he replied, "No daddy, we have to save them for our pie." Shafted! We made a great team. He really put his small frame to use, climbing under the bushes and finding berries the adults couldn't get to. While he was down there, I would go for the ones higher up. We shared a bucket, and he'd pass it over when my hands were full of berries.
     Here's a few photos from the blueberry farm:

3-year-old access to choice berries.

Sweaty boy enjoying a well deserved snowcone.

Katie's Room

Katie's room is just about finished, so I'm going to go ahead and post the pictures now.  There are two things still to be finished on her room:

1. Replace her crib.  After much consideration, we decided it was time to replace her crib with a new one.  I was reluctant to do so mostly because I am quite attached to this crib.  It was what my sister and I slept in when we were babies, and we also used it for Benjamin.  But when we reviewed the recent guidance from the CSPC regarding drop-sided cribs, we decided it was just too risky to continue to use a 30-year old drop-side crib that was getting a bit loose in the joints.  So on Monday, Mark is going to pick-up a new crib from IKEA.  For anyone else who needs to replace their crib, the IKEA has a very simple model for $100, and it feels quite sturdy!

2. The other thing I want to do is to put some pictures on the wall above Katie's crib.  Again, IKEA is the go-to source for these (and, really, just about 50% of our household contents come from IKEA) - as they are very lightweight frames with plastic fronts, so if they did happen to fall in her crib, they could not do much damage.  My plan is to put five small picture frames above her bed: one picture of our family, along with four baby pictures of the most recent generation of Griffiths (Katie, Ben and cousins Josh & Nathan).  I'll try to post a picture when I do this.

Here is her room!  Check out yesterday's post for a comparison to the before model.  When we remodeled after Ike, we painted 3 of the walls yellow and the window wall a dark blue.  Mark re-painted the wall pink.  Fun to have a little girl!  Sorry this first picture is a little dark.

Here is a picture that Aunt Tita (Katherine III) bought during a trip Cuba --- an original work with a certificate on the back.  Very cute --- thank you for sharing it with us, Aunt Tita!

The quilt hanging above the changing table was made for the "next great grandchild" by my Grandma Kate (Katherine II) before she died 9 years ago.  Benjamin happened to be the next great grandchild (born 6 years later), so we received this quilt shortly before Ben was born.  We hung it above the crib when this was his room.

We updated our dresser/changing table by re-painting the knobs in pastel colors, and adding Katie's name to it.

Here is the other side of the room, which includes a few sentimental pieces.  I didn't get a good picture of it, but you can see a little bit of a lace heart on the pink wall behind the rocking chair.  This was something I had hanging on my bedroom wall from grade school to high school in my parent's house.  The rocking chair matches the crib, which my parents bought before my sister was born.

My Aunt Lisa gave us this boat that my grandfather had engraved for my grandmother (Katherine II) during a trip to Egypt.  You can see her name "Kate" on the side.

My Aunt Tita (Katherine III) made this lamp for Katie. So fun to have things from Katherine's II, III and IV in Katie's (Katherine V) room!

These are fun whimsical pictures made by the same artist - one my mother gave to me when I was in high school.  The other I found in a thrift shop when we lived in Starke.

 And finally, here is the gift that Benjamin picked out for his little sister before she was born.

I think I am now up-to-date with our projects.  I'll try to post more pictures and thoughts about our kiddo's in the next post.  It feels good to be blogging again!