21 Day Cleaning Challenge: Day 3

So I woke up this morning ready to tackle the rest of the house. My wonderful baby girl slept in until almost 9:00 am! She's usually up around 7:00, so that was just a huge blessing for me. And my husband cleaned the kitchen for me (although I did have to do the sweeping and mopping). So all that was left for me was the rest of the laundry, the bathrooms, and the most dreaded room of all: the master. But its all done! Okay, so the master bedroom was kind of half-assed. But hey, Abby was fussing and my husband had to get to work!
Day Three: Bathrooms/Master Bedroom
Okay so the first bathroom is actually the "guest" bathroom. Its also where I give Abby her baths. So things automatically clutter there, because apparently my daughter doesn't like to be left naked. The second bathroom is the "master" bathroom, and things get cluttered there because Matthew and I are messy. Plus, because he's military he shaves before work every day. The problem is that he refuses to rinse out the sink after he's finished! So he leaves gross, nasty facial-hair-shavings everywhere. The third and final picture is our master bedroom. And its pretty much always a disaster. I walk in here and don't even know where to get started. Its overwhelming and embarrassing, and I hate even being in the room. Its not relaxing for me at all, because I'm always trying to figure out how to get away from the "clutter".

Before:

After:
And I realized after uploading this picture, just how much still needs to be cleaned. I guess I could at least make the bed, huh? Off I go again, to continue to unclutter!

21 Day Cleaning Challenge: Day 2

Today has been emotional and overwhelming. Lets just say I'll be glad to have my mommy here tomorrow!
Day Two: Part One: Dining Room and Entryway
I forgot to take a before picture of the dining room, but I just want you to know that it was pretty bad. My child likes to fling food all over the place! And smear it on any surface within reach... that combined with all the clutter (because everyone knows that the kitchen table is a catch-all). It was a disaster.
Oh and the entryway was mostly just cluttered with shoes, hats, gloves, and miscellaneous things we would drop as soon as we got in the door. I didn't sweep or mop it (yet) but I was still proud of myself for at least putting the footwear away!

After:

Part Two (if I can get the energy to do it) is tackling the laundry/hall. Its an eyesore! I mean, I literally have to walk around and over clean clothes. How awful is that? Not to mention the two (count them, TWO) baskets of clean clothes that have been sitting in our bedroom for weeks. Laundry is my dreaded chore. More than cloth diaper laundry, more than dishes, and more than mopping. I hate the laundry. So here I go, now, off to tackle another project today! Hello, new, productive, Amy!

Before:After:

21 Day Cleaning Challenge: Day 1

I found a post about "clutter" and the overwhelming feeling of raising a child, being a wife, AND cleaning the house. A fellow mom came up with an idea to do this 21 Day Cleaning Challenge, and I'm jumping on board. I'll spend about 20 minutes each day cleaning one area of the house that is in need of some TLC. The clutter in my house is overwhelming, and embarrassing. I want to have people over without apologizing. I want to walk in my house and not think "look at all of this stuff I have to do!" I want to be proud of my home, and I want to take good care of it. Lets face it, I'm a stay at home mom, and how the house looks reflects on how well I'm doing my job. So here we go!

Day One: The Living Room
We spend probably 85% of our time in this room. My husband watches TV, plays Black Ops, and goofs off with Abby in this room. Its where most of her "play time" occurs, and where nearly all of our family time takes place. Because of this, there is always a random array of things cluttering up the couches, floors, and any surface.
Before pictures:

After picture:(excuse the vacuum, but it IS proof that I cleaned the floors!)

All Those Baby Dresses!

Oh goodness, have I been busy with my sewing machine! I've started sewing up a storm for my little girl. Here are a few of the dresses:
This one was my first try at a zipper (and has a wonderful paisley print!)


These are a few tie-top dresses that were very simple and quick to whip up! The brown and pink one is actually from an upcycled pillow sham.
There are two more dresses that have been sewn up, but I don't have pictures of them just yet. And here is the set of blocks I made (my first sewing adventure ever):

an update on that afghan!

I am halfway through! I've got 5 1/2 rows done, and want 10. Whew! I just have to get it done before Christmas! There's no way around it... I don't have a "backup" gift for my sister if this isn't finished. So now I'm weaving in loose ends (literally) until I can get to Walmart for another skein of each color.

In other news, I've made my first pair of babylegs! They were so easy, its crazy. I didn't get any pictures though, so you'll just have to wait...

Also, I'm going to TRY and get some blocks sewn for Abigail. I bought a charm pack off ebay for a couple bucks, and couldn't figure out what to make with those blocks of fabric! Then it came to me: fabric blocks! So I just sew them all together (six per block, duh) and stuff with filling. Easy right? Yeah, now if only I can find the time! We're in the middle of moving, man. And its rough to spread out my time between crafts, cleaning, cooking, packing, and baby.

In other news, I have my first follower! Woohoo!

What I've added to my play mat, and my new project

Whew, today has been long and tiring! My husband wasn't able to come home for lunch, so I didn't get a break from my little girl. And she was FUSSY. I've been having to supplement with formula, but changed the brand we used. I think transferring her over caused some tummy aches. She refused to sleep all afternoon! I'm trying to finish my latest project before Christmas. Eeek. Doing that with a 7-week-old is no easy task, let me tell you! And tomorrow I've got another baby shower, so hopefully that won't take up too much time. I guess we'll see... Anyway, here are a few pictures of things I've added to the play mat I'm trying to make for my baby girl.
I made this "flower" with pieces of leftover ribbon from another project, and a big button. It was hard to sew through all that ribbon! Next time I'll probably just glue it all together, instead.
I also sewed on some random buttons, just to catch her eye and make her curious once she's a little older! I am still planning on putting on some shapes attached by ribbon so she can pick them up and play. And also maybe a pocket or too. We'll just have to wait and see...

And this (Drum roll please!) is my newest project. A hexagon afghan! These are so quick, and fun to make up. They are crocheted by the way, because its easier than knitting. :)This is just a photo so you can see the size. The link for this pattern is here. I am using a smaller hook, because its what I could find at the time. Hey, I'm a new mom and just slightly scatterbrained!

Alright, I'm off to feed Abigail and watch a movie with my husband! I'll update again when I have more added to my play mat, and the hexagons are crocheted into strips. :) Let me know if you have any questions!

Recent Projects:

So this is my most recent project, although I'm picking up something else tomorrow. Its a play mat for my little girl. I'm doing it all by hand-no sewing machine! And I'm making my own pattern. I'll sew on buttons and little "play" things for her to look at and touch later. Its basically a mini quilt. There's four squares, with a thin batting in the middle. Then I'll sew through the layers, like you would a quilt, by hand. So far so good!

I'm starting an afghan for a family member for Christmas too. I'll post pictures of it as I go, but basically it's all these little hexagons put together. It'll be pretty bomb, I think.