Monday, October 6, 2008

Busy Days and Restless Nights

For those of you that check my blog and are aggravated that I have not updated, I am sorry!
It seems that time is fleeting and there's so much to do. So, until I can get my ducks more into an orderly row such luxuries as the computer comes absolute last. While keeping busy with dailies such as play, school, chores, discipline, etc. we are enjoying the new addition to our family along with church activities and periodic visits from family and friends coming to greet Gloria.

Sometimes I feel rather melancholy and going with the flow and then suddenly I feel as if I am engulfed into striving to stay in control of all activities going about. So in those minutes of chaotic spells I try to take deep breaths and think good thoughts.... get some fresh air and focus on reality and not what I am feeling at the time! I can truly tell you though that I have felt the least of postpartum "anythings" this time around. Amazingly I haven't been hormonal much at all. I waited for the third day postpartum hormonal decline that I have always had with the bouts of crying for no reason and just feeling overwhelmed. Praise God, I have not felt this at all this time! Physically I am doing very well as well. It seems for the most part that I have a sense of relief after delivering. I have had minimal aches and pains compared to the last delivery. Maybe because Joy-Anna had to be turned and Gloria did not. Oh, and the hospital beds were much better this time too. I didn't have the princess and the pea affect as I did with Joy-Anna's delivery.

We have started back school. It has been a slow struggle but I have a feeling that from here on out we will have much success. I am coming up with little compromises to make our lives much easier. I am thinking of working on a 4 1/2 day week schedule. Meaning that Monday mornings we will NOT try to have school. This, indeed, will be spent on whipping the house back in order from the weekend. So, I won't feel have a sense of neglecting anything if I leave the schooling to clean. The rest of the week will be spent doubling those subjects that we did not do Monday morning.

Another thing that is new in the home school realm is homework. What's that, you say? YES, homework at our house! This means that if the three oldest do not get their whole math lesson completed in the allotted time, they will work on completing it during their free time. I am sick (and tired) of the dawdling during math.

I feel really good with learning these two ways to help things run rather smoothly at home. I hope to be able to tweak even more in the following weeks. I have been learning some easy things to make life easier in housekeeping as well. Here are a few ideas and I am sure I will have more in later posts:

~ We go through a lot of shampoo in our house but mainly due to the children wasting it. So, I cut apart a few "egg cups" from an egg carton and washed them out. Then I put a "serving" of shampoo into each cup and lined up four of them in the shower on the shelf. I instructed all the children to use one cup per washing. It's worked great since! I do help the girls with their hair as we condition as well so this is mainly for the boys. I refill the cups as needed.

~ My Mop n' Glo bottle busted and I had to quickly find something to put the contents in. I had an empty glass cleaner bottle and filled it. Then I had the idea to try and spray the floor cleaner through the sprayer. It worked! I am also stretching the Mop n' Glo as well! I plan on refilling the spray bottle each time with Mop n' Glo.

~ I keep an ice cream bucket on the floor by the kitchen sink. Once done with kitchen washcloths and towels I put them in the bucket. Then I can carry the little bucket to the washroom and dump right into the washer! I had a horrible habit of plopping the cloths and towels onto the floor in a pile (oh, come on! You haven't done that?). But, now this is not a problem.

~ This is not a tip but I wanted to share some of my favorite cleaner that works best for us.
Glass cleaner: Glass Plus I had to find a cleaner that did not have ammonia in it to clean our windows with. Glass Plus was the cheapest I found earlier this year and I have been hooked since. I love the smell of it and it does a great job.

Furniture Cleaner/Polish: Liquid Gold This stuff does cost a pretty penny but it goes a long way and it does a GREAT job in polishing furniture.

All Purpose Cleaner: Odoban I love, love, love Odoban! Hey, I've got three bed wetters, not including two others in diapers. Odoban has been a godsend for my life! It truly gets rid of urine stench quickly. It's also a disinfectant and great all purpose cleaner. I bought a gallon size container at Sam's along with a spray bottle for quick cleanups.

Okay, that's all I can think of now. I am sure that I will think of more later.

I want to thank everyone for the congrats on our new wee one. She is such a delight and I am excited to have even another female to share the joys of homemaking with. Hopefully it won't take near as long to post again. I'd be surprised, after three weeks, if anyone even comes back to visit!

Have a blessed rest of the week in the Lord!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Susan!

Don't you dare apologize for not posting! LOL It's not like you've been sitting around, doing nothing, watching TV and eating Bon-Bons! LOL

I'm glad you posted though. I've been thinking about you and praying for you and the new baby too. I hope you continue to take some time for yourself and allow yourself time to heal. Good grief! You just gave birth! :0)

Take some time and sit out on the porch with a cup of joe. I'll be thinking of you and say an extra prayer for you when I do the same.

Take care and post when you can.

Love ya!

Mary-Jane

Anonymous said...

You take your time. We are so thankful and happy for your family. Rest up and don't worry about us.

wykate

Anonymous said...

i'm glad you are not having post partum issues. good golly, i get it *BAD*.

Hope you have a superbly fine Wednesday.

Anonymous said...

I'll still be here with you, even if you have long times between your posts!!

I am glad everything is going well with the family!!

Take care of yourself!!

Dana

Cathy said...

Susan,
Just a little note to let you know I'm thinking of you all. Gloria is just beautiful, love the pictures Brittany has posted on her blog.
Love you my friend,
Cathy

Ruth said...

You don't need to apologize for your lack of posts. I think we are all big girls and can understand that your hands are very full right now.
I am very glad to hear that things are going well and you feel good.
Thank you for sharing these excellent tips with us. Thank you for taking the time to think of us and blog.
Enjoy your family and your precious new baby.
Blessings,
Ruth

Anonymous said...

Susan ..no need to apologize.. your allowed down time and as we know that in your house doesn't happen ..besides There are more important thing than Blogging *GASSP* like cuddling and kissing that cute little baby girl..

Cryssie

dayz in and dayz out... said...

No aggravation here! I'm just glad that you gave us a bit of your what time you could spare! Thank you for the up-date. I will keep checkin' in "just in case" :-)

momtogirls5