Drowning in Laundry

I love that our bed has more baby/big girl blankets on it than it does pillows...and that says something. It also says something that I only slept with one pillow last night because John hurt his back and needed the rest of the pillows to help support his back/knees. And it says EVEN more that I actually let him use all those pillows without putting up much of a fight.

It's been an eventful weekend. John's back was hurting from doing a bunch of yard work Friday afternoon. We're working on my experimental garden in the back 40 and right now that involves lots of raking. Unfortunately, we started thinking about this project a bit late in the year, so we're sticking to the bare essentials this season and hopefully will research enough by next year to have a sweet little plot of veggie-producing land. I've always loved the idea of gardening, but I'm just so ignorant on the topic that I've never done much about it. This may seem ironic to those of you who know my parents: the green thumb duo of gardener and florist. How did this not rub off on me through osmosis? My rudimentary knowledge pretty much consists of: seeds + water = delicious produce. We'll see.

So after doing some back-breaking work in the garden, John decided he should "work out" his back pain by climbing Badger Mountain...while carrying Audrey. No dice. When he got home, he could barely move and has been trying to remain as stationary as possible since. This is when it would be nice if someone in the family had decided to go into chiropractics. Seriously? Why did no one think of forcing one of the Schweighardt children/cousins to do this yet? I'll get on that, I suppose.

Anyway, I was glad that John took Audrey out to the mountain because it left me all alone in the house with only a sleeping Gunniwolf. I don't remember the last time I felt that at peace while taking a shower and getting ready for the day. It helped that I had eaten cinnamon rolls and sour cream pancakes for breakfast as well; a good start to any day in my book. I also got to do a lot of cooking in peace. And boy, oh boy, was I cooking yesterday. I made two meals and two desserts to take to a friend who just had a baby and I also made several meals to freeze for the month. I've always been skeptical of those seemingly Super moms who plan menus for the entire month, but a combination of factors has led me to the conclusion that it might be best idea for my sanity...and my husband's too.

Reason #1: The GINORMOUS MOUND of clean laundry on the love seat in the living room that I keep telling myself I don't have time to fold because I need to get dinner ready.

Reason #2: The GINORMOUS MOUND of dirty laundry taking over our closet. It's frightening! I wouldn't advise entering without a buddy.

Reason #3: The only reason my bathroom has been cleaned in the past month is because my Mother-In-Law did it out of the kindness of her heart (And God bless her!)

Reason #4: Have you heard about the laundry??

It's a problem. And living in a chaotic world where mounds of clothes simply exist tends to drive my husband batty (as it would any normal human being) My solution was to eliminate the only obstacle I really could: cooking dinner every night while people are around who can hold my baby for me. Hopefully this means I will take advantage of both having meals frozen that I can pop in the oven and having people in the house who can hold that sweet little angel baby of mine so I can fold the dang laundry!

Speaking of angel babies, Bailey is doing fantastic. She is fitting in so well to our routine and hardly ever gives me any trouble. She rolled over for the first time the other day and is really starting to dig hanging out in her jumper. Audrey continues to be an amazing big sister; she's really starting to embrace the transition to being a big girl. She's stoked about being potty trained and continues to be more comfortable around other kids. Even though she still has breakdowns here and there, she is handling all these changes really well for a structure-oriented 'spirited' child. I couldn't be more proud.

Don't forget to check out our updated pictures on Picasa!