Still Addicted to Facebook

I'm still addicted to Facebook.

I had to put that out there. I know I've mentioned it in the past and I've even done a post about breaking my addiction. Do you want to know how long that lasted? A day. That's right, a whole flipping day. Maybe not even that much.

I can't seem to go more than a few hours without checking my news feed and it seems like everything around me is enabling my addiction. I've contemplated just deleting my account, but EVERYTHING is linked to Facebook. Many many sites use it as the log-in, so if I delete Facebook, how will I access those other sites? I can do regular email sign-ins, but I don't have that set up on anything.

So, for now, Facebook stays. I just can't figure out how to break my habit of obsessively looking at the newsfeed and checking the yard sale pages. I know that 99% of the posts are garbage. I know I'm too broke to buy other people's stuff. I know there are a million other things I could be doing. But I'm not. I'm checking the newsfeed worrying about missing out on something awesome.

And what about when I'm not at home? I have Facebook on my smartphone. I know I should delete it, but sometimes when I'm nursing my son, it's a nice distraction for me while he falls asleep. I don't watch TV, and I'm not currently in love with the book I'm reading, but I'm too stubborn to quit it, so what else is there to do?

Does anyone want to quit Facebook with me? We can form a support group and check-in with one another to break our addictions. I know I can't do it alone!

Daily Schedule

Every time the seasons change, I find myself yearning for efficiency, cleanliness and a better schedule. As we head into fall, those thoughts are just as prevalent as ever. As a result, I've been logging a lot of hours on Pinterest, looking at the schedules, cleaning logs and home-binders of perfect mothers across the internet.

That's not me.

Although I wish it was, I'm at a point in my life where I can finally admit that I will never be able to keep up with a household binder. It's basically just one more thing in my already packed to-do list. What works for me is simplicity - a to-do list, maybe some reminders and a grocery list. A regular wall calendar with appointments jotted down does just fine, though I do appreciate the reminder system in my phone too. I just wish it were easier to input appointments.

So this week, in addition to potty training my middle child (I just take the diapers away and let the chips fall where they may, it worked with my oldest and *knock on wood* so far so good with my middle child.), I'm also trying a new daily routine. It's not set in stone yet, but I'm trying to wake up an hour before everyone else so I can take care of me first thing in the morning (coffee, check email, etc.) and then I can tackle the rest of the day. Of course, that means waking up at 6 or 6:30 in the morning, but hey. I'm also working on designating the hour after the kids go to bed to picking up the house, doing dishes from dinner and showering. That's not easy. Once the kids are in bed, I pretty much just want to collapse and most of the time I have work to do, but I'm trying. It requires extra effort at night, but I've got to say that it is so worth it the next day.

One great resource I've stumbled upon in my quest to change my life is cleanmama.net. She has some great printables and ideas to help you change your cleaning routine into something manageable. With 3 kids under the age of 5, I find that just scheduling time to clean is the hardest thing of all. She's great at breaking the process down into daily tasks so you're not tackling the whole house every day. I think that if I can stick with her routine, I can eventually get my house to a place that I'm happy with it.

I'm wondering if anyone else has a daily routine that they follow. If you do, what does yours look like? I'm trying to get some ideas to make things easier on everyone. :-)

Bank Accounts for Kids

Today is my middle child's birthday. To "celebrate" we went and opened bank accounts for her and my older daughter. They both get money for their birthdays and up until now they haven't had accounts. At my daughter's birthday party, her grandfather asked if she had an account, which sparked a whole discussion on banks and what's wrong with them today.

Well, it turns out that I'm not the only one that had a hard time finding a FREE savings account for a kid. Most banks charge monthly maintenance fees for kids if they don't have direct deposit going into the account. I think it's supposed to encourage the parents to put something aside for the kids each month, but really - is that a good idea?? If it were their allowance, then sure, but my kids are young. Allowance isn't really a "thing" yet, and I'd rather treat allowance as a reward for chores rather than a sure thing.

After some searching, I found a local savings bank that has a kids savings account option with no fees and no minimum balance. Here's some of the perks:

• no fees
• no minimum balance
• interest on balances over $10
• a gift with each deposit
• a gift on the child's birthday

We opened the accounts and my daughters each got their own deposit books and bank ID cards. Now, when they're 16 and looking at cars, they'll have a little something set aside to help them with the costs. All of their birthday money, holiday money and other money will go right into the account so they should have a nice little nest egg when they're old enough to need it.

Do your kids have bank accounts? Did you have a hard time finding a bank that didn't charge a monthly maintenance fee?

Teeth

I've been absent a lot lately. Things have been hectic at home. With 3 kids and one of them in preschool, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of extra time to do things lately. My youngest is a baby and at the ripe old age of 5 months, he's cutting teeth. Teething is hitting him HARD. Last night he wouldn't sleep and I had to make an emergency run to Walmart at nearly 10pm to pick up every type of teething remedy they had in stock. I got gel, tablets, pacifiers, a weird teething thing that looked like a raspberry and a pacifier had a baby. It was madness.

When you have a teething baby, almost nothing else exists. The dishes don't get done for the night. There's no blogging and my regular work gets pushed to the side too. Since I'm nursing, I AM the comfort at this point in his life and I accept that. I embrace that and I know that when it's over I'll miss it. So for now, blogging takes a back seat and my baby gets me whenever he wants for however long he wants.

By the way - The 2 bottom teeth came through in 3 days and he's working on his third bottom tooth as we speak!

Savings Account

My daughter just turned 3 and her grandfather thought cash would be a good gift idea. He usually thinks cash is a good gift idea. Anyway, it got me thinking - it's about time to open her first savings account. None of my kids have accounts yet because the bank that my husband and I use charges a monthly fee if you don't have direct deposit. Given that my kids are all under the age of 5, none of them have jobs which means they don't have direct deposit. The fees would negate their life savings in less than a year, so they haven't had savings accounts yet.

I did some research on the computer and finally found a bank that doesn't charge fees for kids' savings accounts. They're horrid for adult savings accounts, but kids get off free. ;-) It got me thinking, what types of things should you look for in a kids' savings account? Here's what I came up with:

• FREE - There shouldn't be fees to save your money, ever. This is especially true if you're a kid. Adults can get around it with direct deposit, but what do kids do?
• FUN - The bank we're using gives a gift with every deposit and a small gift on the child's birthday. It makes saving FUN.
• LOCAL - It's important to use a local bank. Kids don't understand banking concepts, and giving someone money then driving an hour away is pretty scary for kids. The closer, the better.
• INTEREST - If you have multiple options, choose a bank with the best interest rates. Kids love rewards and getting money for saving money is the best one there is.

 Do your kids have savings accounts? What age did you start them?

Eggs!

It finally happened - our chickens laid their first egg. I think it was one of the barred rocks. The old girls are somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 or 19 weeks - I no longer have their ages marked on the calendar because I thought they'd be laying before now! Either way, it's very eggciting!

The first egg came up 2 days ago and my husband found it in the coop. It wasn't in the nesting box, but it WAS inside, so bonus! The next day there was nothing and today I found an egg the second time I went out to check, about 2 hours after we had let them out for the day. Sneaky, sneaky! It was in the same spot that the first one was laid, in the coop, but not in a nesting box.

The eggs are smaller than normal "large" eggs from the grocery store - roughly 2/3 the size, a medium brown color with a thicker shell. The yolks are a deep orange color and the texture is much creamier than a store-bought egg. We're saving up the rest of the eggs we get this week for our weekend breakfast. :-)

Fall Lawn and Garden Care

Fall is right around the corner and before I know it, the weather will cool down, the leaves will change and I'll start dreaming of cider and apple pie. Unfortunately, lawn care is never on the top of my list of things to-do in the fall and every spring I regret not spending a little more time the year before. This year, I'm determined to change that.

If you're like me, you may not know what you're supposed to do in the fall. I've done the hard work and research for you, so you just need to follow along.

Lawn

1.) Fertilize - It's important to fertilize in the fall. This will help keep your lawn healthy at the last portion of the growing season so it can go dormant over the winter without dying. Experts recommend 2 fertilizer applications - 1 right after labor day and the other around the time you make your last mow. In cold areas, choose a quick-release nitrogen-rich formula. In southern or western climates, choose a control-release formula.

2.) Eliminate broadleaf weeds - Dandelions, plantain and ground ivy are more susceptible to weed killers in the fall.  Choose a selective herbicide to take care of the hard work for you so you don't wind up pulling weeds throughout the next year.

3.) Mow the lawn - You'll want to keep up with your normal mowing routine until the lawn stops growing. Use the mulching mode so the grass and leaves can chop more finely and decompose easier. If your mower doesn't have that setting, bag the leaves using the machine's bagger and put them in a compost pile.

4.) Spread some seed - Give your lawn the seeds it needs to get a head start in the spring. If you live in a warm area, fall is the best time to seed new lawn or repair patches in your old lawn. If you live in a colder climate, wait until the soil thaws to put down your seed and let it lie dormant until the spring. You can cover the lawn with straw or mulch to keep the seeds safe from birds.

5.) Dethatch or aerate or both - Both processes can help improve drainage and supply oxygen to your grass. In cool areas, dethatch and aerate if there's another month before the first frost. In Norhtern states, mid-October is already too late.

6.) Test the soil - A soil test can tell you a lot of things about the condition of your lawn. It can tell you the current pH and what nutrients are lacking. 

7.) Water it - If you haven't had a whole lot of rain, feel free to water your lawn. The summer droughts should be over, so give it a good watering to help strengthen roots before the cold winter weather beats down on it.

Trees and Shrubs

If you live in a cold region, you can plant trees, shrubs and vines through the end of October. This gives the plants time to grow roots in the still-warm soil before the temperatures drop. If you live in an area with a mild winter, the planting season extends a little farther. Soak the root ball before planting for the best results.

You should also wrap the young trees with mesh hardware to prevent mice and rodents from feasting on the tender bark when the pickings get slim. Leave about an inch between the mesh and the trunk and make sure you bury the mesh at least 3 inches into the soil.  Remove it in the spring.

If you have boxwood, holly or rhododendrons, you should cover the plants with burlap or old sheets to protect the leaves. Use stakes and burlap material to make sure it doesn't weigh down the branches of the plant and secure the dressings with staples. The material will shade the bushes from wind and harsh winter sun to prevent the plant from losing too much moisture.

You can also water trees and shrubs around your yard if the rain has been light to help them develop roots before the winter sets in.

Some types of trees and shrubs should be pruned. If you have one of these, you can prune lightly in the fall to remove broken or damaged limbs or to provide shaping. Summer isn't the only time you can prune, so if it's September or early October, don't be afraid to give your plants a hair cut.

Flowers and Gardens

1.) Plant bulbs - Fall is the season to plant springtime bulbs in most of the country. Aim to have them in the ground by late October. Put them in the ground 5 to 8 inches deep and follow the directions on the package.

2.) Plant garlic -  Look at your local nursery to get garlic bulbs. Plant them outdoors in good soil 1 to 2 inches deep and 4 inches apart. The bulbs need to winter over before sprouting a green stalk in the spring and eventually creating a new garlic bulb in the late summer.

3.) Plant annuals - If you have a wild winter, you can get a crop of cabbage, kale, pansies, primroses or violas. These flowers will be the last of the season, but the cold-weather crops are always a treat.

4.) Protect roses - Most roses can't stand temperatures below 10 degrees, so you should mound soil over the plants central crown or bud. Wrap it with a wire or mesh cylinder to protect the stem and fill it with a light mulch like composted bark.

5.) Mulch - You can spread compost, composted cedar, pine, fir bark or weed-free straw in the fall to get your garden ready for the spring. After the winter, just till it in and you'll be all set to plant new crops.

 

6.) Divide your perennials - You can fill in empty spaces throughout your yard with perennials in the fall. If you have any plants that are overcrowded, divide and conquer the mess roughly a month before the frost sets in. To divide, lit the entire root mass then use a fork or small shovel to separate a clump. Cut back the leaves to 2 ro 3 inches and replant.

Preschool

I'm officially the mother of a preschooler. I don't know when it happened, but at some point my oldest grew up and turned into a young lady. She's one of the oldest kids in her class, and despite all of my fears, she's doing great in school.

She follows directions, plays nicely with the other kids and can't wait to give me a run-down of everything they did in the 2 1/2 hours she was away from home each day. I really can't complain - she loves school and I love having 2 kids instead of 3 for a couple hours. I'm sure that makes me a bad person, a bad mother in particular, but I think her new preschool adventure is good for all of us.

On a side note - when did preschool get so expensive? Considering I have to take her in, pick her up and supply a snack and drink for the entire class every 5 weeks, I'd think the cost would be a little less!

Breastfeeding After Abscess

Before I had my 3rd baby, I was looking all over the internet for information on breastfeeding after an abscess. I didn't find anything at all. I even asked the doctor and she didn't have any cases of mothers choosing to breastfeed after an abscess, so she didn't have any information for me. I felt very alone and I wasn't sure what to do.

I wound up going ahead and trying it, figuring that if I got multiple clots, I'd quite before it could progress to the point it had. I spoke with my doctor and we had a plan in place to start antibiotics at the first sign of a clot that wouldn't disappear since I had no symptoms of mastitis the last time around.

I'm happy to report that we're now 4.5 months into it and I haven't had a single clot yet. In the beginning when I was overproducing, I simply used the pump (a Madela) to empty both breasts completely to prevent any clots. Around 3 months I was able to stop doing that, by slowly decreasing the pumping to once every other day, then every 3 days, etc.

I think it helps that my son has a strong suck, so nothing gets left behind. We co-sleep and he nurses throughout the night, so in the morning I'm never engorged. I think that's the key - frequent nursing with a strong suction and not letting them get engorged. At 4.5 months, my supply has leveled out and I'm not overproducing any more.

So, if you've suffered an abscess, there's light at the end of the tunnel. You can breastfeed another baby without any problems. :-)