Thursday, June 2, 2011

12 Things That Get A Workin' Momma Through The Day

This working Momma is a busy Momma.  I have to try and keep myself as organized as possible to make it through the day.  Sometimes I feel like I'll never get it all done and there is no way that I will be able to keep up with the house, play with the kids, be myself and blog all in the few hours a day I have at home.

I need to run a tight ship {and truthfully I need to do a better job at it} but here are some of the things that help me keep my sanity while I am keeping my day job.  Nothing can make it EASY but these things sure help!!

1. THE most important thing I use during the day...My Medela Freestyle Pump.  This pump is the BIZZNESS!  Working full time and maintaining a 100% breast-fed baby is hard work and this pump makes my life considerably easier!

2. My Breast Milk Chart.  See a trend as to what I need/use the most?  I have a pretty {decor friendly} dry-erase board that helps me keep tract of how many ounces of milk I have and in what denominations they are split up in.  Every night I add milk to the freezer I mark it on the board.  Every morning that I take milk from the freezer, I mark it off the board.  LIFE SAVER.

3.  The Crockpot!  We have been eating a LOT of crockpot meals since I started back at work.  Number 3 leads me to....

4.  The CrockPot App for my iPhone.  It has sooo many recipes.  It goes outside of the box and isn't just Roast, Potatoes and Carrots.  So far we have tried Fiesta Chicken, Chicken Casablanca, and another one that I can't remember the name of.  They have deserts too!!

5. Along the same lines...the Pinterest App.  I. LOVE. PINTEREST.  I could spend hours a day on there looking at all the beautiful eye candy.  Having the app lets me check up on new and popular images while taking my break at work.  Spending 15 minutes a day on the app satisfies my "pinterest tooth" and that is 15 minutes that I have to do something else at home.

6.  Lotte's Craft Box.  In my craft area I have a basket with all of Lotte's crafty stuff.  She loves to color.  So when I have the kids by myself, and Mister isn't letting me put him down or I'm trying to get something cleaned or cooked, I break out her box.  It has coloring books, crayons, stickers, stamps and some other things she can play with without me holding her hand.  She loves sitting for a few minutes and just coloring and putting on stickers, and mommy loves the 5 minutes of her playing sweetly by herself.

7.  The Moby Wrap was seriously created for people like me.  I'm running around chasing a toddler at the park or the zoo is so much easier without having to push a stroller with Brother in it.  The Moby wrap is a God Send!  When he was newer and couldn't go to sleep, as soon as I put him in the wrap he immediately fell asleep and I was able to clean and get things done while holding him.
At the zoo with Brother in THE wrap!

8.  Our Daycare Tote.  My sweet aunt bought me a thirty-one mini organizer tote with our last name on it. I use this for our back and forth daycare tote.  It's so much easier than a diaper bag.  Every night I make sure to re-stock it with diapers, and thing of wipes, an extra pacifier for each kid, Brother's bottles and every morning I stick Mister's milk bag in it as well.  The tote is short so it is easy to see into when I pick up the kids to make sure everything is in there for the return trip home.
This is a pic from their catalogue.  Ours is in Mod Dot.

9.  Zantac.  I know it is horrible to have children on maintenance medications, but this is seriously a MUST for my little man.  His sister had acid reflux, but it was NOTHING next to his {my pediatrician said that it runs in families and is usually worse for boys}.  Having him on the Zantac has helped him so much.  He no longer projectile vomits, he doesn't get the hiccups every time he eats and he is sooooo much happier!  We tried to wean him off of it, but it was no bueno, as soon as possible he will be taken off of it, but not until he is better.

10.  Sectioned Plates/Tupperware.  This makes meals for Lotte super easy.  I know she needs 3 different varieties of food for her meals so I split it up and give it to her and BAM food is done.  For example: Breakfast she will get toast in her big section, blueberries in one of the smaller sections, and some plain yogurt in the second smaller section.   It also helps me to remember what she has had already that day so I can mix it up.
Terrible picture, but this is Lotte's Valentine's Breakfast in her section plate.
Heart shaped mini pancakes, heart shaped pears yogurt with heart sprinkles...
...that's how we do holidays around here.

11.  No Spill Snack Cups.  Lotte still doesn't grasp the whole tip-the-cup-over-and-all-your-cheerios-fall-out-on-the-floor concept.  So it is sooo helpful to have a snack that doesn't turn into a puppy snack by falling on the carpet!  Brilliant idea, wish I could have made a million bucks off of this one!  If only it could stop my daughter from grabbing a handful and spilling the ones out of her hand and into her carseat...sigh.


12.  The ONE thing that makes my life the easiest is having Moments Like This...
This is me HUGELY pregnant, horrible day...
I was crying for like 15 minutes 
and Lotte brought me all her baby dolls and tried to cheer me up. 
 It worked.

Snuggling on the couch with my newborn and my oldest baby!

3 comments:

  1. Awww This is such a good post and good tips. I remember some of these from a loooong time ago when I had babies. :)

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  2. Back when I was a working mom the pump in style was truly a life saver! And moments like #12 really do make it all worth while don't they? The baby dolls are too precious. Especially the two snuggling with you on the couch. ;)
    Great list!

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  3. Came over from 30DBBB and this post immediately resonated with me. I took my PIS with me every day for just under a year. I was VERY ready to be done with it by the end!

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