Cleaning!

I feel like I may have posted about this before but after the holidays we've just gotten worse and worse about keeping up with the cleaning. And now that we have a bigger place it's even harder. So a few weeks ago we started discussing making ourselves a cleaning schedule.

Now, it's not like our whole place is a pigsty or anything but the garbages get full much too fast, the table fills up with items we've brought home, dishes and laundry get backed up and sometimes Andrew's toys don't get put away at night so then they are in every nook and cranny. It happens so fast. One minute I'll be thinking "It's fine if we just go to bed tonight, it's not that bad in here. I'll catch up tomorrow." And then boom, there's crap everywhere haha!

SO, the other day I finally typed up a schedule:

I tried to zone things out a bit, and keep it to a minimum each day since often Jesse isn't able to help.

And just to clear it up a bit - often on weekends we have date nights or are gone a lot or just want to relax so sometimes we don't stay on top of chores as we should so that's why I have a "catch-up" day. Cleaning the front door means wiping away dead bugs, cleaning away cobwebs and spraying.

And the spider spray is a homemade recipe: 5 drops dish soap, 5 drops lemon juice or lavender oil and warm water. We spray this once a week because generally the only bugs we see here are spiders. And some of them are quite large and menacing looking :-S

Lastly, our car gets quite messy so we figured having a day to wash, vacuum, take out the garbage bag, organize, wash the car seat cover, etc would be great.

And I am sooooooo excited to get some new furniture for the patio. We're planning on getting a swinging bench (it's really cheap at Winn Dixie), 2 Bed, Bath and Beyond chairs and a smaller version of those chairs for Andrew. I also want a coffee table like thing but I haven't found one yet. But anyways, once that happens, I am going to deep clean the patio. Definitely have to sweep out there at LEAST once a week due to the dirt that gets blown in.

We also are caulking up some cracks on the patio because we have little lizards sneaking in and it freaks me out haha!

Well, that's all for now! TTFN <3

The first Dentist visit and our cleaning routine...

Tuesday was Andrew's first Dentist appointment! I have to say, it went better than expected. He definitely cried, buried his face in my chest and struggled... but I was expecting blood curdling screams so I was pleasantly surprised haha.

This was certainly not us. Maybe next time?? *Knock on wood*

It went pretty well though, he was used to the waiting room, but I think for a baby #2 we may try to bring them back to the exam room with us once or twice before their first appointment. He was of course shy, but also hates being held down at all and hates stuff in his mouth so he struggled and cried and bit down on the instruments but they were pretty much able to clean all of his teeth, asked about his diet (He doesn't ever really have sugar other than natural sugars in his fruit, only has juice maybe twice a week and it's one part juice three parts water, and he gets brushed twice daily), checked all the teeth and that was that.

The dentist told us that the ADA has now said that ALL children should be using toothpaste with fluoride rather than brushing with water or non-fluoride toothpaste based on the amount of cavities kids get. I immediately got uncomfortable and hubby and I agreed to research it before we used the toothpaste they gave us.

Here is an article from the NY Times advising using Fluoride on children under 2.

Here is an article from US Today also saying to use Fluoride on infant teeth.

Here is an article from 2010 in which both the CDC and ADA recommend NOT using Fluoride and even buying non-fluoridated water for your infants.

This is an explanation of Fluorosis, which is worsened when seen in a child in development.

Feel free to form your own opinions and do what YOU think is best, but we definitely decided no fluoride toothpaste anytime soon. Especially when recommended intake for a child under 2 is 0.05mg per K and our water supply alone is 0.20mg per K.

Click here if you'd like to see what the fluoride content in the water is near you.

Our Cleaning Routine:

Now let me get something straight. Our place is usually a mess in at least two places at once. The bathroom is ridiculously dusty right now, the kitchen needs garbage taken out and a good wipe-down, the table is full of mail and random crap. BUT recently I heard a mama looking for help with cleaning up after her 18 month old so I thought I'd post this :)

9:30am (ish) Andrew is eating breakfast. It usually takes around 30 minutes for him to feed himself bananas, oatmeal and milk so it gives me plenty of time to clean out the dishwasher, rinse his dishes, eat my breakfast beside him and pull laundry out of the dryer.

10 am Little man is washed up and playing, while I fold and put away his diapers/ clothes etc.

1:30pm (ish) Andrew has lunch. I usually can fit in my own lunch plus straightening up the kitchen, rinsing dishes and loading the dishwasher.

2:30 pm (ish) Naptime is upon us! I typically do work in our room, catch up on TV shows, nap myself, etc.

6pm Dinner time! Again I eat with Andrew, rinse and load dishes.

9pm Andrew is down for the night. IF his laundry is full I take that out with me when I close his door. I put the load in, pick up all his toys (Small books go between bookends on TV stand, regular books are stacked on bottom level of the coffee table. Stuffed animals go in his little tent, everything else goes in the fabric bins or shelves of his cubby hole organizer). Then I get anything else in the dishwasher that needs to go in and run it. I also wipe down counters, table and highchair with Babyganics wipes and put rags in the kitchen laundry.

This will be us one day. A gal can dream, right? ;)

...I switch over the laundry after about 45 minutes and leave it in the dryer until morning. I'm usually in bed *able* to be asleep by about 10:15pm.

It works pretty well for us. It can get pretty messy by evening but while Andrew is "reading" his books or working on puzzles I sometimes clear things up a bit.

Things will change once we move to a bigger place in the fall/winter but for now, this system works well and serves its purpose haha

Well, TTFN! I have a munchkin to cuddle and a 16 month picture to take <3

Travel!

TOMORROW IS THE DAY!!!

I am SO ready for this trip. Literally I just keep thinking of going shopping with my best friend and get giddy. Last time we saw each other was her wedding in October and the poor gal was so busy we hardly got to actually spend time together so this? This will be epic hehehe :)

Today we finished packing. Oh Lord. Thank all that is Holy for THAT. Apparently since becoming a mommy I have begun to DETEST packing. I mean, I'm 99% of the time prepared enough for an apocalypse but this kinda sucked. Stupid airplanes and regulations.

First off, why would I spend another $400 so my 7 month old can sit in a seat in his car seat? It's not gonna be as secure as it seems like it should be and.... FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS! Yikes! To get to the point, I originally misread the TSA guidelines and thought that infants were allowed their own bag (aka diaper bag). Luckily today I had a strange feeling and double-checked. Turns out the bag is ONLY for ticketed infants (babies with their own seats). Le sigh. Fitting a purse filled with snacks for the plane, extra baby things, paperwork, wallet, etc. into an already overstuffed diaper bag is not the most fun thing ever.

So. This packing thing. We ended up with 7 bags between the three of us. One is a car seat carrier, one is a stroller carrier, one is a large suitcase we are checking, I have my duffel and Andrew's diaper bag and Jesse has his bag and a small duffel for A's clothes, etc.

Sorry for the poor quality photos!!!!

The suitcase holds:

• Travel Bassinet
• Bag-o-wipes
• Disposable overnight diapers
• Activity Gym
• Towels
• Extra bottles
• Swim gear
• Liquids
• Musical Frog
• Baby monitors
• Travel wipe warmer
• Infant life jacket
• Blankets
• Pack n' Play sheet 
• Wet Pad
• 6 Cloth diapers
• Books

Before the hubby worked his magic...

Andrew's bag holds:

• 7 days of clothes in baggies
• One set extra clothes
• Blanket
• Hygiene kit (incl. nail clipper, brush, ear swabs, etc)
• Baby powder\
• Sweatshirt
• Hats
• Shoes
• PJs
• Teething ring

The diaper bag holds:

• Powdered formula
• One bottle
• One sippy cup
• One spoon feeder
• Two pouches baby food
• Hand and face wipes
• Boogie wipes
• Paci wipes
• Paci on a string
• TOYS
• Swaddle blanket
• Thermometer
• Cards
• Travel wallet
• Bibs
• Burp cloths
• Wallet
• Plane snacks
• Wipes
• Changing pad
• Wet bags
• Extra clothes
• Books

Before needing to add in my purse contents

Each of our bags have some baby things as well, haha. I kept thinking "what could I get rid of?" but at least for our first trip with baby, I think we did pretty good only packing essentials.

Well, bags are packed and in the car, bathroom and kitchen have been cleaned, everything has been dusted and vacuumed, laundry and dishes are done... I even threw some bay leaves around and sprayed my homemade spider repellant. I think we are ready!

Tomorrow we leave at 7:30 ET, need to park, take the shuttle to the terminal, print boarding passes/ drop off the car seat and suitcase, make it through security, take the amtrack to our gate, hurry up and wait, our flight leaves at 11:55 ET and lands 2:21 CT. 

Wish us luck! We can't wait to see friends and family! And don't worry, there shall be many, MANY photos a week from now :)

Ta ta for now! <3

Andrew wondering what the HECK mama is doing and why she is making SUCH a mess.