Be effective

Life is getting a little crazy. We are doing our best in learning how to balance everything with baby girl. Life certainly is not the same anymore and never will be. When we pick her up from daycare we just want to spend the rest of the day with her. We fight over who gets to feed her and hold her. "Here I'll hold her while you make dinner." "No, it's ok I'll hold her while you make dinner." She is very loved around here :) Everything else on the other hand is falling apart... dishes, laundry, cleaning, our to do lists, oh and making dinner. Our home can go from clean to dirty in less than an hour. It will be clean and the next thing you know there are dirty bottles, burp cloths, a random sock, headband, and pacifier everywhere. If something falls on the floor while you are holding her, you simply have to say "I'll get it early" to not bend down with her in your arms. At the end of the day, I am surrounded by unfinished projects and can usually go through and tell you exactly what happened in the middle of each (usually, her yelling at me or coughing, a feeding, or a diaper change).

I had a friend at work when Sophia was just one week old ask me "How has motherhood changed you?" I didn't have a good (or anything really) to say at the time. But this is what I would say now... Being efficient trumps everything. Anywhere from the clothes and shoes I wear, to shopping, to dinner. For example, online shopping has become my new best friend! I used to hate online shopping. I remember saying this when I would try and update or change something on her baby registry online. I just couldn't understand how you could buy something without seeing, touching, or wearing it. I'm convinced online shopping was made for moms. Being more efficient with my time is far more important than just "not liking online shopping" I got over my fear of it real quick! Today, I bought a friends baby shower gift online and bought a few things for Sophia as well. I spent enough (over $25) to get free shipping - which was another reason I disliked online shopping. Paying extra money for something pointless like shipping when I could go out and buy it myself was always a pet peeve. But now, even if I did have to pay a reasonable shipping price it would out weigh the headache and time needed for shopping.  Also today, I noticed it was time to order more heartworm medicine for Bossman. I decided to try the 1.800.petmeds I had seen online. Hubby said he felt more comfortable buying it from a vet. But then when I said "you know it will take us forever to make our way to the vet" he agreed and bought it online. It will be mailed here (free of shipping) in 5 days. Score! I also set up on amazon.com to have a package of genie diaper refills shipped to our place continuously every three months. Awesome! If my husbands class didn't throw us an huge diaper shower, I would have set up automated shipping for diapers and wipes. I will now be browsing online for good deals on things for Sophie as well.
Now with Christmas shopping coming up, my last minute gifts will probably be bought online. I still enjoy a good Friday morning shopping spree to save money. But maybe this year, I'll combine the two and shop online on Cyber Monday.

Another example on being more efficient with my time is cooking. I was never a fan of coming home after a long day and start cooking in the kitchen even before I was a mom. Now, I really don't want to cook dinner after I work and pick her up from daycare. My solution: frozen crockpot meals. I found this blog on pinterest about spending one day creating a bunch of crockpot meals and placing them in Ziploc bags and freezing them. Best idea ever! While my mom was here, we spent one day tackling this. It was a ton of food (9 meals) but very effective in the fact that they shared some of the same ingredients. It was so nice to put in the crockpot in the morning and dinner was waiting for us when we got home. The meals were all great - juicy and tender. This gave us more time with our baby girl each evening. That time with her is priceless to us.
http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html

So how has motherhood changed me so far?.... I feel that there are not enough hours in the day. There is not enough time to get everything done and spend as much time with our precious baby girl. She is our priority now and everything else can wait. So learning to be more effective with my time so we can spend as much time together as a family is how motherhood has changed me.

Sophie's First Halloween!

I think everyone will agree that holidays are that much more fun with little ones! Even my husband this month said the words "Having a kid is SO awesome!" She is truly the joy in our lives! Here is our little trip to the Pumpkin Patch. At this pumpkin patch they had a petting zoo, ponies to ride, tables to paint pumpkins, food, hay ride, and a little train. We can't wait 'til she's older and can enjoy these thigns. This will be the beginning of our little family tradition.

 

Our little pumpkin was a bit fussy... :(

 

 

 

 

For Halloween, our little pumpkin was an adorable lady bug! Growing up my mom always made my halloween costumes. I am proud to say that I made Sophia's first Halloween costume.

 

 

 

 I found a black long sleeve onesie and ironed on a ladybug patch from Hobby Lobby. She's wearing red leggings underneath her tutu. I wanted to her to have antennas but knew she wouldn't be able to handle long ones. So I just glued black cottonballs to a sequined headband. Her tutu was made out of tule. I cut strips of tule and tied knots half way through around a piece of ribbon. Then I would tie the ribbon around her little waste. No sewing needing! My kind of DIY halloween costume! Then I hot glued some black cottonballs to her tutu. I got the original idea here: No Sew TuTu I was planning to make the tutu all the way around. But when I stopped halfway around, I thought that was good enough. It worked out better to have the tutu only in the front and made it easier for her to lay on her back, sit in a carseat, and let people hold her.

 

My little lady :)

 

 

We can't wait for halloweens to come!