Toddler Closet Organization

As I mentioned in a previous post, the organization bug has bitten me. I've been meaning to organize/clean out both of the girls' closets for a while and I've finally done it!! 

I wish I would have taken before pictures, but I didn't. :o( Anyway, here's what I did and how I did it.

Bins for book storage. We've got tons of books. I like to swap them out for the ones on Eve's bookshelf every now and then so I needed them to be accessible. I bought the blue bin at Target for $10. Then I found the green ones at the Dollar Store! 

Dress-up clothes. I bought hooks at the Dollar Store to hang her dress-up dresses on. I wasn't sure how it'd work because before this I had them all shoved into a box and it was easy for Eve to put them away (even though I did it most of the time). Turns out she LOVES to hang them up! I've had to stick the hooks back on the wall twice, but that's what you get for $1 items. I already had the stack of 3 drawers on the left and it works perfect for dress-up accessories.

Saw this on Pinterest. Love it! I use it for both Eve and the babies' lost socks.   

I decided to hang most of Eve's clothes and get bins for the rest. I already had these white ones but I saw some just like them at the Dollar Store. That's also where I got the polka dot bins. Shoes now go in the striped basket. Perfect, because it keeps Eve out of them and focused on her dress-up shoes for playing. I labeled the bins because we have 4 people in the house who could potentially dress Eve and because my step-daughter is here every now and then, I wanted to be clear where everything is. 

I HAVE DISCOVERED CLOTHES ROLLING!! What a space saver! In the bins are rolled panties, balled up socks, swimwear and rolled up knit pants and shorts. For more on rolling, check back when I post pics of the babies' closet and dresser. I went crazy!!

Getting It Together!

I LOVE ORGANIZING!

I LOVE THE DOLLAR STORE!!

I've been on a cleaning/organizing binge lately! It started with me declaring war on germs in an attempt to keep the flu away. That bled into organizing the girls' closets, drawers and clothes. I'll post more on all that later. 

So I went to Target to get some organizing equipment and ended up with a big basket for books for $10. I was okay with the price for what I was getting. But then I came home only to discover I really needed 2 more of those baskets. 

Instead of going back to Target, I headed to the Dollar Store! SCORE!!! I found everything Target had at the Dollar Store plus more. Granted it's probably not the quality I would've gotten at Target, but it worked perfectly for what I needed.

I discovered how rolling clothes and towels can save SO much room in your drawers and cabinets and look so much neater. With that in mind, I found these amazing drawer organizers! FOR A DOLLAR! They had 2 different sizes. I'll post pictures later of the organizers in use so you can see how amazing they are in action!

 They had 2 different sizes - small and medium. But that leads me to believe there's a large somewhere!

This is how they looked in the package.

Kiddie Kid Update

Well I made it though Christmas and took about 5 pictures. I'm the worst mother ever!! Long story short, my phone is my main camera and when my good phone broke I got a functioning "new" phone with a horrible camera. (Thus the low quality pictures I will be posting) But I managed to get at least 1 picture of each kid at Christmas. 

So Eve will turn 3 in March! It seems like she's been 2 for a decade! I'm very excited to see what 3 holds. Justin and I have both loved the 2s. Her name means "life" and she is the life of our family that is for sure! She has been taking gymnastics since September. She is the youngest and smallest girl in her whole gym. Yet she was the first one in her class to do some pretty advanced tricks by herself! She loves it! Right now she's in a mommy and me class and I'm so reluctant to move her because I absolutely love her coach! My job during classes is help keep her focused and remind her she's supposed to listen and obey then to help coach in getting her to do the tricks. She's learning so much!

  

My stinky bug as a newborn.

My baby big girl at gymnastics.

On the baby front, the girls are getting BIG! I've noticed just in the last few days how solid they're getting. They're SO close to crawling. But that doesn't keep them from getting around. Between scooting and army crawling they get around ... FAST! I'm loving it!! They are starting to recognize people and when Justin comes home from work they get so excited and try to get to him. 

They've been growing within 1/2 an inch or 1/2 a pound of each other. It's really been fun to watch them grow. I keep thinking they'll start looking drastically different and they keep looking more alike!

They're interacting with each other. They'll hold hands and touch each other's faces. They'll put each other's hands in their own mouths and try to play with the other's clothes. The absolutely LOVE Eve and Toria! When Eve walks into the room they're fixated. Granted it's hard to be because she usually runs into a room singing and dancing. Toria sings to them and they are mesmerized. They're getting to be so interactive and fun!

 Who's who?

Sharing.

Eve's doing. She wanted Noomi to play dressup with her. 

Playing with her sister's pumpkin butt!

My Life Is Complete

I've got an amazing husband and the best 3 daughters anyone could ask for! What more could a girl ask for?? A VITAMIX!! This week I got one! I've wanted one of these for literally years! My mom and I finally went together and got one. 

I fought with the dang thing the first morning we had it after mixing 1 cup of coffee and 1 cup of protein drink with a bunch of ice and ending up with about 20 cups of a separated liquid ice slushy mix. BAH! It didn't detour me and later that day I made a very drinkable green smoothie.

So excited at the possibilities!!

Little Girls

I would love feedback on this post.

Maybe I'm a little old fashion, but I want my little girls to look like little girls. I came from a very modest family. I wasn't able to wear a 2-piece bathing suit until I was 16-17 years old. My sister and I were allowed to wear tank tops but nothing that was form fitting or shorter than an inch or 2 above our knee.

I look at little girls today and so often I'm so sad by what I see - a generation of girls who don't know the meaning of the word modesty. I see little girls wearing clothes that grown women wear to look sexy, but for some reason on a child it's overlooked and excused away. I hear so many mom's say "So-and-so looks so grown up!" Well let's not dismiss the fact that you buy that little girl clothes that allows her dress like a teenager or young woman in her 20's. 

I just don't understand how moms can let their 9, 10, 11, 12 year old daughters wear clothes I see on Abercrombie and Fitch advertisements. I want my little girl to stay and look innocent and wholesome for as long as possible. She'll have her whole life to dress like a woman. 



This is the ad for Hollister. Are you okay with your little girl wearing clothes that represent this?

Even more, I want to instill modesty and self-value in her. I want her to understand that she's beautiful inside and out but all of her outside beauty isn't for the whole world to see.

I wasn't even close to being "in style" when I was growing up. I was a homeschooler in a homeschooler community and dressed the part. I don't want to put that on my child. However, if being stylish means letting my little girl (and by this I mean preteen) wear form fitting dresses, halter tops, off the shoulder shirts, mini skirts and daisy dukes then bring on the denim jumpers!

Maybe I'm too judgmental. But when people look at my 8 year old, I want them to see an 8 year old, not a little girl trying to look like a 16 year old.