Clothes Organization (please help!)

Okay, I have put this off for ages, and I am now finally getting around to going through the kids' clothes, giving things away, and putting outgrown items in storage as well. But I have a dilemma--space! Georgia and Baxter share a room, a five drawer dresser, and a good sized wardrobe. I have a wonderful and gracious friend who has handed down LOTS of her son's clothing in 24 month/2T, and we could not be more thankful. However, I am not sure where to put everything. Baxter is now big enough that he will wear the same size in different seasons, which was not the case in the past (i.e., his 12 month clothes were mostly winter, his 18 month clothes were summer, etc). So, do I take out the 2T clothing for fall/winter, and stash away the 2T clothes for warmer seasons? But it is still warm, so do I just keep out everything right now? I really don't have room for all of that! Georgia does not have as many clothes, so it is not as much of an issue for her, but I am still dealing with how to best optimize space. I think I need to use the wardrobe more, but I am not sure if that means I should buy hanging shelves (like this), or a plastic drawer or two to sit on the bottom of the wardrobe. Or do I need to bite the bullet and buy another dresser? Or buy two small dressers, and use the large 5 drawer for the new baby? (not that the new baby will need that much space either)

How do you organize your children's clothing? What do you do with out of season clothing, if you are blessed to have them? Do any of your children share dressers or closet space? I would love your thoughts!!

Funny story and a request

As a special treat for the entire Finn family, we are taking the kids to see a minor league baseball game next week. We told Georgia about it yesterday, and she woke up this morning asking if we were going to the 'ball game park'. Nathan and I told her that it was still a few days away, and then I borrowed an idea from Girl Talk and we told her it was four 'night-nights' away. Later in the morning, after I told the kids we were going to a playground park, Georgia said "We are going to the playground park today. And after four princess nightgowns, we are going to the ballgame park." She's my silly, smart girl :-)

And then there is Baxter (who is also silly, often smart and not a single bit 'girl'). Can I ask you to be praying for him, and for me and Nathan? Recently Baxter has started waking up from his naps and in the mornings screaming. Really, truly, screaming, often at the top of his lungs. Two mornings this week he woke up MUCH TOO early screaming. Thankfully I was able to comfort him and put him back down. He also is not napping very long in the afternoons, though he is obviously tired and cranky when he wakes up. Add this new habit to other ones he has picked up--squealing in anger while fighting with his sister, and blatantly disobeying (pretending to not hear us)--and Nathan and I are feeling a little stressed and tired. I think he may be teething, which would explain a lot, but is still something to work through. Even in the midst of all of this, he is sweet and cute and cuddly, and I praise the Lord for that. God gives grace, and I know this phase will pass all too soon and he will be wanting to, say, drive my car. Thanks for reading, friends!

I don't know what to do

In the past week or more, Georgia has not successfully gone "#2" in the toilet. She has pooped in her panties or her diaper every time. It is a complete relapse--she was pooping in the toilet like a champ before this setback. It is not that she is hiding in a corner and pooping in her panties. She usually tells me that she needs to "try" (her phrase for going #2), but she is in the process of going when she tells me that, so by the time we make it to the toilet, she has pooped in her panties. This morning, she had a couple different false alarms, where she thought she had to go. I knew it was coming, but I still couldn't get her to the bathroom fast enough when she really started pooping. I am trying to encourage her to "run, run--hurry!" to the bathroom when she has to go, but this morning (and other times), she gets upset about the pooping, starts fussing (instead of running), doesn't hurry to the toilet, and poops in her panties. It is like, all of a sudden, she can't stop it. I don't know what to do, and I am very VERY frustrated right now. What do I do????

Early riser

My adorable little son has developed a little problem. He is an early riser. About two months ago, Baxter went from waking up after 7 a.m. to waking up around 6:45. After talking about it and trying to decide the best thing for my family, I decided to start getting up at 6:30 (in the past I would just wake up with the kids, but that did not allow me to do anything like shower or read my Bible, in peace). I managed to wake up before Baxter for about a week, and then he started waking up earlier. And earlier. Today he woke up at 5:52 a.m. Though Baxter is quite possibly the sweetest, mild-mannered baby in the world, when he wakes up he is cranky. He does NOT fall back asleep! Waking up so early throws our schedule off for the entire day--he eats earlier, needs to nap earlier, and so goes on the day. How can I help him sleep later? Just another 30-45 minutes would be great! Any advice would be great.

Needed: Potty training advice and prayers!

Warning: the following post talks about poopy. If you can't handle it, stop here.

I am at my wits end. Georgia had been doing so well with potty-training, even getting to the point of telling us when she needed to go (previously we needed to take her to the toilet regularly for her to go). A couple of weeks ago, she was doing well with telling us that she needed to go to the toilet for pee-pee and poopy.

Then it seemed like she regressed. In the mornings, while Baxter naps, Georgia plays in her room for 30-45 minutes by herself. I normally get a shower during this time. Three days last week, during those 30-45 minutes, she pooped in her underwear. It seemed to 'hit her' right while I was getting out of the shower and I couldn't get to her in time. So this week I changed things some--instead of getting a shower during her play time, I stayed in my room and cleaned or read my Bible, so I could have easy access to get her to the toilet quickly. One day she didn't poop, one day we almost made it :-), and for the past two days she has pooped in her underwear RIGHT AFTER I have taken her to the toilet! Yesterday she said "Sit toilet" three different times, but did nothing when I took her to the bathroom. Then she pooped in her big girl panties. Today she asked to go to the bathroom, went pee-pee in the toilet, ran back to her room and before I could hardly get her door shut, she had pooped in her underwear. I don't know what to do. Oh, and it is only on the days that she plays by herself in her room that she poops during that time. It has never been that regular!

I guess I could restrict her quiet play time, and just hover over her watching for the signals, and that is probably what I need to do to reestablish a 'pooping in the toilet' pattern. But Georgia ENJOYS her play time in the room--she asks me to go take a shower so she can play--and I need for her to do that! I feel like it is good training, teaching her to play by herself and to know that the world does revolve around her. I realize so many moms have gone through this, and that we will survive, but it is rather frustrating right now. Please pray for me to have strength, patience and wisdom in dealing with Georgia. Pray that Nathan and I will know what steps we need to take to continue her training in this area! Thanks to all of you who read and commiserate with me:-)

The forty-five minute intruder

Baxter's naps have recently been interrupted by the "45 minute intruder"--he wakes up after only napping for 45 minutes. Sometimes he can fall back asleep, but more often than not he starts to cry and then works himself into a tizzy. I read Baby Wise when Georgia was an infant, and I know that this phenomenon is not uncommon. However, what do I need to do? It completely throws our schedule out of whack when he wakes up early, though he is generally not unhappy once someone rescues him. I desperately want B and G to take an afternoon nap at the same time (or at least part of the same time), but with this crazy early-waking from his naps, that can be hard to achieve. I would love any advice anyone can give! It is only 10 a.m. on Monday, and Baxter has already been down for a nap AND woke up early from it (he woke up at 6:30, went down at 8:20, woke up at 9:15 or so). Thanks, blog-reading friends!

Advice requested: listening to the IPod in the car

Okay, so the Finns were a little late getting on the IPod bandwagon, but now that we are, we really enjoy having one. Here is our dilemma: though we have a nice new model mini van, there is no external jack for us to use with our IPod (one of several small areas in which the van falls short, but I will not chase that rabbit right now). We would like to have the freedom to listen to the IPod in the van, especially during our travels this holiday season, but we don't know the best option to pursue. How well do the FM tuner-thingys work? Any thoughts?

To update everyone on an old post where I requested advice about phones/internet/cable, etc...
On the recommendation of several people, we bought digital converter boxes, which work wonderfully! The channels are much clearer most of the time, and we pick up a few new ones. I had gotten really frustrated with our home phone service because it went out several times over the summer. After the last time--when it didn't work for a week--it was finally, truly fixed and we have had no more issues. So we kept Embarq as our home phone/internet provider. Our biggest change came with our cell phone. We upgraded Nathan's phone to a Blackberry and switched to a data plan for him with more minutes overall. Our budget for cell phone went up, but our actual spending on the cell phone did not (because we had gone over so much in the previous months). That may be more information than you care about, but I appreciate everyone's thoughts!

Hawking my wares

A crafty friend of mine, Lindsey, is graciously allowing me to share her table at the upcoming SEBTS Craft and Bake Sale on November 1. I had originally planned to have my own table with another friend, but things fell through, and with Baxter's arrival, I didn't think I could complete enough projects to make it worthwhile. Sharing space with Lindsey will help us both--we are both "sew-ers" who can make things to order, but don't necessarily have a lot of products already made. Lindsey is a monogrammer as well (I am not), and you should really check out her work! I especially like her bridesmaid dress quilt.

Anyway, this post is to let you know that I will be at the Craft and Bake Sale, selling nursing covers and travel diaper cases, and you should stop by! You don't have to buy anything, but please come by! It is being held next Saturday, November 1, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Ledford Center Gym on SEBTS' campus. Also, I need some help--I love my travel diaper/wipe clutch, but I don't know exactly what to call it. I change the name every time. Any suggestions? Here are a couple of pictures to refresh your memory:

Ten Days

Baxter has been in our lives for just over ten days, and we know that life will never be the same! He is still a sweet, cuddly baby who LOVES to eat and sleep--though his sleeping habits leave room for improvement:-) Here are some pictures of the past ten days.

Going home from the hospital

Baxter brought Georgia a gift--a Disney princess umbrella!

Brother and sister cuddles!

Grandma and Baxter

More brother and sister cuddles:-)

The first 'spraying'--thankfully it hit Baxter and not me!

Cuteness personified

Baxter and Papa

Advice sought: for those of you with more than one child, how do you 'entertain' your oldest child while feeding your infant? I am nursing Baxter, and for the past several days entertaining Georgia has not been a problem because family has been around and Nathan is at home. Next week, however, we are 'going it alone', and I am not sure how I will keep G busy multiple times a day! Thanks for any input:-)

Decorating Advice?

Since we bought this house in March, there has been a blank wall in the kitchen area that has bugged us. We just didn't have anything that fit, and everything we liked was the wrong color or too big. Until today!

In the process of shopping for a dresser for Georgia (we found one! Yippee! Certainly took long enough), we came across the beautiful piece of furniture below. It looks great with the other furniture around (the dining room table) and is the perfect size. Now my question is, what else should we do? As you can see, the piece is not terribly tall and there is still blank wall above it (please ignore the hideous phone cord). Should we put shelves there, with decorative items or cookbooks, etc., or should we put a piece of artwork? What about on top of the table (I call it a table because it seems like a console table)? I think that a tea service would look amazing, but I don't have one :-( Of course, I need to consider 'breakability' as well, with a toddler and another on the way. So any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Please ignore the junk around the table, and focus on the beautiful furniture!

Even more advice needed

Okay, I promise to post pictures soon! I actually tried to post pictures yesterday, but my camera battery died right in the middle of my uploading pictures. I charged the battery overnight, so hopefully I will have some photos of this week for you soon.

Here's my scenario and need for advice:
In the past few days, Georgia has started telling me when she has gone "poopy" in her diaper. (Sorry if that is too much information for you!) Now, she doesn't tell me BEFORE she goes--just after she finishes. I can often tell what she is doing, and I won't enlighten you on that :-), but now she is telling me. And let me say, Georgia saying "poopy" is absolutely adorable even if the subject is not!

So do I start potty training? And if so, how? I read an article about 'signs of potty-training readiness', and Georgia has a few. She definitely knows when she is doing "number 2", and she has shown a couple of other signs of potential readiness (I'd rather not go into those right now). However, she would rather wear her potty seat on her head, she does not know how to pull up or down her shorts/pants, and I NEVER know if she has gone "number 1". All I know to do is to sit her on her potty seat with her clothes on so she can get used to it, and work from there. Any thoughts?

Your input requested: cell phone vs. home (land) phone?

Okay, blog readers out there, I am seeking your input. Our cell phone contract is desperate need of updating (we share 400 minutes--the plan does not exist anymore, and hasn't existed in years!), and we are trying to make some hard decisions. Currently we bundle our home (land line) phone and DSL internet and use rabbit ears for our television. In addition to phone changes, we will have to make some changes with the switch to digital television in February.

Should we drop our home phone completely and increase our cell phone minutes substantially? What do you do? If you only use your cell phone, what plan do you use? How many minutes do you have? and do you like having only a cell phone? I am old-fashioned enough to not want everyone to able to get in touch with me all the time--hence, the home line:-) On a similar note, should we try to bundle our internet/home phone/cable together? Thanks for your input!