Thankful Thursday - 246

Full disclosure, this day did not start off great. I was up for a couple hours in the middle of the night. Partially because the baby was having a dance party, partially because I was thinking about bassinets and what newborns are like, but mostly because I had the Frozen soundtrack stuck in my head haha. Anyway, I think the lost sleep caused me to wake up on the wrong side of the bed at 6am. I did my regular morning routine, and decided to do an early (8:30) workout to get my blood moving and hopefully feel more alert and alive. Then instead I just got angry. I am angry about COVID. I'm angry that we haven't been able to hug our parents, and our kids haven't been able to hug their grandparents in months. I'm angry that I feel like my pregnancy is just happening behind closed doors (because it literally is), and I feel like nobody else is ever going to get to feel this baby. If you know me, you know how important and exciting sharing this part of my life is. I'm angry that I have to turn down the kids' requests to have sleepovers and pancakes at Opa & Oma's, or play at Gramma and Grandpa's. I know there is a light at the end of the COVID tunnel, but today it just seems very far out of reach. I know I have LOTS to be thankful for, but I allowed myself to just feel this morning. It probably needed to happen, but now I'm ready to try again to see on the bright side, and focus on the many blessings in my life.  

This week I am thankful for...

1. Organization after Christmas. Our tree came down early this year - December 28. It feels really good to get the house back in order, but boy is it a lot of work! The kids were so loved (I say this instead of spoiled haha) this year and were gifted many many really cool toys! This meant our house was an overwhelming mess of toys and new exciting things. Both for them, and for us. Couple that with all the boxes and wrapping paper and chocolates and every day mess, and it was enough to overwhelm anybody! On December 26, Dave and I made the snap decision to figure out an organizing solution - STAT! On to IKEA.ca and rapidly spent $200 on Trofast wall shelves and a bunch of new bins. We have moved our big white IKEA Trofast shelf from our living room to behind our dining room table and it's totally working there. We have now set up the wall shelves, but haven't mounted them yet, and I'm starting to have second thoughts about mounting them at all. Our original plan had us mounting them in our dining room above the play kitchen instead of the black shelves we have there that just collect junk. We could put little toys in there, and baby toys, etc. For now they're on the floor, and for some reason the kids (Emilia especially) love how organized it all is, and always puts her bucket back before moving on to the next thing. She actually walked past it all the other day, pointed to it as she swapped out her bucket, and said, "I love this." Our house is also kept significantly cleaner so far because there aren't toys dumped in piles all over the place! It's more focused. 

Where we started. Toys everywhere, messy black shelves, toys ALL over the living room as well, etc. I dislike clutter, but it is inevitable around here. I like having spots to put things. 

Work in progress. I got new shallower bins for the big shelves, plus two shelves so we actually have a spot for books now. The two units on the left are stacked now. They're the perfect height for Emilia to play with her microwave, and each little bin holds just the right amount of little toys. Right now they have lego (3 bins for 3 sets), playmobil, little puppy colouring set, 2 sets of stamps, stickers, etc. All the little things that would normally just be piled in one big bin and subsequently be dumped all over the place. 

There's still a ways to go, but I'm excited about the progress! We bought more shallow bins as well to put in Dom's room on his Trofast shelf. I'm like an ad for IKEA, yeesh!

2. A new washer/dryer. One of our anticipated goals (expenses) for 2021 was to replace our washer/dryer and hot water/furnace. They are both original from when our house was built, 13 years ago. We haven't had any issues with either, but a lot of our neighbours have replaced them, had them repaired, or had floods from their washer. We REALLY wanted to avoid having some sort of flood just because we delayed replacing/updating them too long. We noticed Jen & Ryan across the complex getting a delivery this week and I texted her for the details (we're nosey like that). Turns out they got a great boxing week sale on a washer/dryer set after doing lots of research. They have the same (but reversed) unit as us, so we did a little hunt online and decided to copycat them! We got an LG washer/dryer stacking set for 31% off. All in, including taxes, delivery, hoses, stacking kit, and removal of our old machines, it rang us less than $2,100. Not like we had that sitting around, but it was an inevitable 2021 expense, so... now it's done!

Out with the old (it hurts me to get rid of these machines that function just fine, but it's preventative...)

In with the new :) The washing machine is on and I can't even tell from downstairs. Our old one was so loud and it shook the house on certain cycles. 

3. A cleaned out linen closet. Ordering a new washer dryer made me realize what a mess our linen closet was. It's really small, but it was full of huge duvets and towels and sheet sets we never use. NO MORE!!

Before - yikes

After - floor space?! I also made room in our bedroom closet for our laundry basket. It will be so nice not to have that floating around our bedroom floor anymore. 

4. A surprise sunrise. On Tuesday I saw a pink hue through the blinds and opened them up to see the most incredible sunrise. This photo obviously doesn't do it justice, but I was expecting rain that day, so it was a great surprise. 

5. A healthy pregnancy. As much as I hate doing this "alone" (without the direct physical support of friends and family), I remind myself often how lucky I am to be doing this without any significant ailments or physical limitations. I am not on bed rest, my baby is healthy, I have the luxury of two independent children that allow me to sit down and blog sometimes, my baby keeps me up at night kicking me because it's growing and thriving... I do not take this for granted. 

Thankful for this sweet boy <3

6. These two have each other. I am thankful every day that Dom & Emilia have each other. They drive each other (and us) crazy sometimes, but much of the time they are best friends and compliment each other so well. 

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year this evening!