The Tote Queen that I Am

Have you ever gone a day too long before realizing your child's room has become a danger zone? I am hyper aware of how messy Madeline's room has become over the past week or so because I have to be oh, so careful not to fall and hurt myself right now (shoulder issues). Well, this morning I had had enough. If I don't fall and re-injure myself, someone else who is healthy just might. It was out of control! (For the record though, I have had my arm in a restrictive sling for over a week now and house cleaning has not been on my priority list.) Hurt arm or not, I was not going another day without getting her room put back together.

Where to start? I looked around the room and hadn't a clue. Then I called my sister-in-law and asked her how I should go about it. She gently responded to my dilemma in a pretty direct way, so I got the clue when I heard her day "Your the Tote Queen, just put everything in totes".

With just the right inspiration I needed, I was off to Wal Mart before Madeline had even gotten out of bed. An hour later, I was full speed ahead. Madeline has way too much stuff and not enough to space to organize it.

Madeline was trying to help me but what kinda help is it when I toss out crumpled papers or the likes and she pulls it back out of the garbage bag? Or, how 'bout the McDonald's Happy Meal toys that she insists on keeping because she swears she plays with them? I wasn't getting anywhere with this kind of help. I had to take her to Auntie Lisa's house if I was going to get the mission accomplished.

Five hours later...

Her room looks great! 4 labeled and full totes in the closet, the 2 long narrow ones with wheels on em under the bed and everything else in it's place. I'm exhausted though. My arm is throbbing too. But, like I said: it looks great. A job well done.

The Organized totes in her closer:
When you first walk in her room:

Her bed:
trust me, the other 2 totes are under it.
PS: This was by far one of the most frustrating posts I have done yet. It was erased twice and I had a terrible time getting the pictures on it. They are not in the order I wanted and there were a couple other ones I liked better. I'm done messing with it.

Baby B****

In honor of my sister Lori, who is due with her 1st baby (boy), I thought it would be fun to write about how babies get their names. I'm only an expert with how my own daughter got her name, but I figured that whoever reads my blog might share their own personal insight as well.

Madeline Paige B**** is what we named our daughter 7 years ago. For the first three days she was called Baby B**** because I was so scared to pick the wrong name and had not fully decided on my choices before going into labor.

The first name I came up with was Kathrine Grace. I have a very dear Great Aunt who has this name and I liked it for that reason, but I also liked it because I love nick names and Katie was my favorite at the time.

The second name I came up with was Abigail Nicole. Lori helped me with the middle name and I really liked it but when Andy came back with Abaleen, I realized he was not fond of Abigail. I told him to be sure and tell me when he didn't like names and to not make them up. lol

Then, about two weeks before I went into labor, Lori called me and told me the name she really liked and wanted to use if she had to name a little girl. She decided to share it with me because her husband had already vetoed it just in case.

On the way to work that very afternoon, I picked up my best friend Amanda and she blurted out "What do you think of the name Madeline?" Was this a sign I wondered.

I had never heard it and it had a very nice sound to it. I kept thinking over and over in my head what I could use as a middle name. Madeline Rose? I liked it alot but wasn't completely sold. Then I came up with Paige. I loved it.

When I told my mother, she was like... "What do you think of Madeline Suzanne? Or, Madeline Louann?" Uggh! I cant please everyone and I really liked Paige. Hmm.

On the way to the hospital Andy looked at me and said "Honey, this is your baby, you name it whatever you like." That was a relief and alot of pressure all at the same time. Kina like contractions. Just kidding.

When she was born, I didn't think she looked like a Katie. I always thought of a Katie as a girl with blond hair. Hers was dark brown. That was out. Would I regret Paige?

One hour before I was discharged to go home I had to give the official name. I chose Madeline Paige. Andy made me look up the spelling, but I was glad to know he liked the name.

Anyway, that is how Madeline got her name. And, my mother actually likes it too.

How about any of you who read my blog? How did you come up with you're children's names? If it is a long story, then you can post your own blog about it, just please let me know to check your site.

My Right Arm

I wish I could think of an interesting story as to why I had to give up my right arm but truth-be-known, the story is actually boring. I was laying in my bed waking up from a nap and the next thing I knew, my shoulder has dislocated. OUCH! This wasn't the first time it has happened though. At least the other times came with good stories. (Like the time I was driving down a ridge cut in Tn and I dislocated my shoulder reaching for a pacifier.) I had surgery 6 years ago in hopes that it would never happen again. Unfortunately for me though, it did. It was out for over an hour and now that it has been a week... I still feel like I got beat up.

Andy has gone above and beyond in trying to be helpful and patient with me. I have yet to go to bed with dishes in the sink, he gets Madeline ready for school and packs her lunch, and hasn't uttered the first complaint of a messy house. Impressive? or what?

I have a few other posts I've been wanting to write about, but with my arm stuck in some contraption that is more restrictive then a sling, it takes longer to type. Plus, even though I finally found my pictures from Halloween, I cant seen to find the cord to get them into the computer.

I took Madeline to get her hair cut a few days ago. She looks like Auntie Nay-Nay now. She had 12 inches cut off and she is sporting a stacked bob. Pictures of the new look are also stuck on my camera with no cord. Her hair was just getting so hard to brush through and I was tired of fighting with her every morning before school. She looks cute. She doesn't think she has to brush the back anymore now that she doesn't have much hair. Will I ever win on this one? Speaking of brushing hair... You should see mine. I haven't been able to brush it myself for a week so Madeline has done it for me. It looks quite cute. HA! lol at least it is brushed. I think her favorite part is telling me to be still and don't cry,

Sweatn'...Not to the Oldies Though

Oh how I would have hated to be wrong this time!

About 6 weeks ago I bought a brand-new mattress and box spring set. Okay, Francie, this is for you... It was a $1500.00 set that I got on a great deal: lets just say it was a really great deal because I was able to pay cash. And to all of you who know me, you know it had to of been a GREAT deal! Anyhow, I finally got delivery confirmation for tonight and Andy kept telling me how it was not going to fit up the stairs and my great deal was going to be a waste of money if we couldn't get it up to the bedroom. I so knew it would fit, he just needed to see my skills. Well, I was confident it would fit until it actually got here. Ummh, how come it is so much bigger then I imagined? (It should be the same size as the one we already have.) Not that I made mention of my concern though because come hell or high water, I was not going to be wrong.

Well, Andy is asleep right now on our new mattress set and I am downstairs wondering how in the heck I am going to get the banister put back up. I made Andy and the delivery guy take it down because they just couldnt figure out how to turn the unbendable box spring just right and it kept getting stuck. Yes, although I did sweat just a bit, the new bed did in fact, make it upstairs.

On another note:
I have some of the cutest Halloween picture and others of sorts that I have been wanting to blog about, but I cant figure out how to get them from the file they are in, onto a CD. It should not be that complicated, but for some reason, it has really been a time waster for me. Maybe I'll ask for help from someone who knows more about PCs then I do (which shouldn't be hard).

School is still going well. Madeline is about to loose her front tooth and Andy has a wisdom tooth coming in and it seems pretty painful. He is so stubborn. I gave him some Advil yesterday and he finally "tried" taking one today. I say he "tried" because he wont take any more since it didn't help. He only took one 200mg pill. Not sure they should even sell them in such low doses. I guess it makes it look like you got a good deal when you buy 100 at a time. Not so much a deal when you gotta take 4 at a time though. Right? I should tell him that acute pain is really bad on the cardiovascular system and scare him into taking a higher dose so that if not for nothing...at least I might get some relief.

Well, thats it for now. Hopefully it won't take another 3 weeks to make my next post. Once I change the laundry, I'm off to sleep in our new bed. I really hope it is comfortable after all that work. G'night.