Enough is enough.

My baby is now 7 1/2 weeks old, and it's time to start getting my act together.  I kept telling myself it's okay that there's a huge pile of dirty dishes, or that there are dirty clothes all over the floor, or that I haven't vacuumed in weeks, or that I STILL have 20 pounds to lose, or that Mark is starving because there are NO groceries, because,  well, I just had a baby.  But the thing is, at this point, I didn't JUST have a baby.  I had a baby almost 2 months ago.  So today, as I'm home with my no-longer-brand-new-baby, surrounded by dirty dishes, laundry, and the biggest dust bunnies you've ever seen, enough is enough.  My husband is probably reading this and thinking, "It's about time."  Yes, yes, it is about time.  Time to stop eating fruit snacks for breakfast, and frozen pizzas for dinner (and just totally skipping lunch).  Time to stop laying in bed with my baby all day (although a couple times a day is still allowed).  Time to actually cook dinner again, AND do the dishes, all in the same night.  It's time.  Because my kitchen can only look like this for so long before I lose my mind.... and this is organized chaos.. those dishes may be stacked, but they are all dirty.

Being a stay-at-home mom is a funny thing.  It's a job.  One I don't get paid for, and whose working hours are 24/7.  It's the best job on earth, but it's tiring.  But my goal, (aside from the obvious one of raising my baby girl and enjoying every minute with her) is that when Mark comes home from work and says, "What did you do today?" I can respond with something other than the play-by-play of diaper changes, feedings, and tummy time adventures.  In addition to a moderately tidy house, I'd like to do one thing each day for ME, and one thing each day that is out of the ordinary, something I don't do all the time.  What in the world am I talking about, you ask?  Well, my "me" thing might be exercise, or taking a bubble bath, or going out to get a chai tea and a muffin, etc.  And the out of the ordinary thing?  Nothing crazy, just some sort of bigger accomplishment or activity.  Maybe taking Riley to a playgroup, or cleaning my closet out, or finishing 5 more scrapbook pages, or baking some cookies from scratch.  Just one thing each day.  It doesn't sound like much, but I think it will bring a sense of normalcy back to our lives.  And I like that.

So we start TODAY.  Today, I finished our office redecoration project.  It was a spare bedroom, but our only visitors are my parents, and so the bed really only gets used maaaaybe twice a year, and the rest of the time it's just taking up space and blocking the closet.  It made it so Riley and I couldn't really be in there with Mark while he was working, and I really wanted my own space as well.  So, I took the bed apart, bought and built a new desk for Mark, and voila... the new and improved office... 

Bigger workspace for Mark, a small "work" space for me, and play space for baby bug!  I think we're going to move her swing and play mat in there too.  Speaking of play mat, Riley loves her new octopus friend...