Organizing small spaces

It's no secret that we live in tiny apartment. It was too small for us before we had a kid. Now we have two.

Photo by Natalie Chiles

We haven't moved because we love how close we live to the beach and love the semi-urban beach town we live in. (It doesn't hurt that the landlords haven't raised the rent since we starting renting in 2005!) 

Because we have limited space we've had to get creative on how we use it. Imagine shelves, lots of shelves. Recently we turned the downstairs walk-in shower into our junk closet in order to utilize the kids' closet for their things.

The closet in the kids' room use to be the dumping ground for all kinds of things. Jeff's tools, extra diapers, the vacuum, light bulbs, a tent, board games...just to name a few. We even took off the door, that opened into the closet, to add more shelving to fit all of our stuff.

Here's what the closet looked like before I cleaned it out and organizing it.

Forgot to mention that this photo was taken after Jeff removed all the non-kid related stuff. There was an additional shelving unit on the other wall.  Packed full!

I took EVERYTHING that was left in the closet, pulled it out, and sorted it into piles: Carson, Leila (no-access), Leila (able to access), kid related stuff that I use, and stuff that didn't belong in the kids' closet.

I decided I wanted this closet to be a functioning space, not just one to hold our stuff, so I moved the shelving to the other wall. This allows us to actually walk into our walk-in closet (which is surprisingly bigger than I originally thought!)

We are using a baby gate to limit access to the closet instead of putting the door back on to give us more space.

1. As you can see, the back of the closet has a built in ledge that holds some of Leila's toy bins perfectly.
2. Once the shelf was moved I was able to hang some of Leila's clothes on the actual rod that was made to hold clothes. 
3. Carson's few outfits are hung on a shower rod that we added across the top of the closet (where Leila's clothes use to be hung. His extra diapers and next sized clothing (washed and ready to wear) are on the top shelf.
4. This shelf is still out of Leila's reach so I put the portable booster seat, humidifier, bottle parts, and extra empty baskets on this shelf.
5. We have some toys that are not quite age appropriate for Leila or Carson yet. I don't really care if Leila discovers these, so they are on a lower shelf. Who knows, she may be ready to play Candy Land or do a floor puzzle with my help/
6. On the bottom shelf I am storing larger toys that Leila doesn't need access to daily. I will be using these future toy rotations. (Read about our toy rotation here and here.)
7. The built in shelves at the top of the closet (not pictured) hold large baby items, like the pack and play,   that I don't want in the attic (just in case we have an animal or insect family make a home up there).

It makes me smile every time I see this newly organized space! Have you done any Spring cleaning or organizing lately? Come link up with Mama Dish for their Spring Clean Fling or visit the link up to get some ideas for your own Spring cleaning.

Six weeks later {Postpartum life}

If you could see the half-folded laundry on the couch or the dishes in the sink, this would be the perfect photo describing our life the past six weeks. 

Toddler meltdown. Smiling baby.

Someone is always crying, fussing, or whining (this includes the adults). Toys and baby gear are scattered about. Chores are half finished. The television is on the Disney Jr. channel. Someone is eating. Always.

It's crazy. At times the crazy drives me crazy. Other times I can go with the flow and not stress out. Wine helps. Getting out of the house helps. Knowing that "this too shall pass" helps.

I am excited to go back to work and to begin an exercise routine. I have my 6 week postpartum check-up tomorrow and my maternity leave is officially over on Tuesday. I am ready to slowly get my body back, wear regular clothes, do my hair and make-up, and spend time fueling my passion for teaching. 

I'll be training for a 5K, using the well-known Couch to 5K program, for a fun run this July. I know it will take time to lose the last 15 pounds (yikes!), especially when I plan to be nursing Carson as long as I possibly can. 

I also plan to BE KIND to myself and not hate on my body during this process. This is it. No more kids. No rush to get back into shape before the next baby. My plan is to go back to my healthy and active lifestyle, whatever that may look like with all the new changes in my life.

You bet I am still wearing maternity pant! My pooch is way worse without the panel sucking me in.

Six weeks later...

• I am still sweating at night.
• My deodorant is no longer doing it's job during the day either, but Jeff''s is.
• I am starving but having trouble finding time to eat, grocery shop, and prepare meals.
• My hair is always in a pony-tail.
• I've had one pedicure.
• I am not nearly as tired as I thought I would be (despite the tired look on my face in the picture).
• And the laundry still doesn't do itself.
• Carson has only peed on me once but in his own face twice.
• We leave the house daily.
• I love rocking my baby to sleep.
• I STILL need a new blog name.

The Great List {4.22.13}

I feel like I totally rocked this week...so who cares that this post is a day late. Gratitude should be a daily thing anyways!

1. I made it out of the house every morning with both kiddos...and twice before 9:30. It's getting easier everyday and even though I am tired, it's nothing coffee can't fix.

2. Our impromptu water day at the bay was the highlight of the week for both me and Leila. For me, it was stressful getting her cleaned up with limited supplies (towel!) and a baby strapped to me.  I didn't panic and asked for help when I needed it which is a big step for me.

3. I started purging our clutter and it feels amazing. Gotta have some control in this chaotic time, right? I love having photographs in frames lying around the house but our place is too cramped with baby accessories and toddler toys to have more than a few on the shelves. I also convinced Jeff to part with an outdated globe and an end table (although it made it out the door but that's about it).

4. I LOVE when people make us food. If you are wondering, it is not too late to send dinners our way. I mentioned before that we aren't eating until really late these days when I cook so the quiche Lauren made us allowed us to eat dinner (and lunch the next day) at a decent time.

I've got another busy week ahead. Looking forward to my last week off before I go back to work!   

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Come back each week for my newest list and don't forget to check out Betsy's list each week too.  Warning...positive thinking is addicting!

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My gut

(Not the flabby one.) 

My instinct. 

Often times when I get or give advice it's, follow your instinct or go with your gut. Great advice. It is usually right. 

Except...what if your gut isn't telling you anything? What if your motherly instinct is temporarily clouded? (Not because of the wine.) Then what...?

Ask Twitter and Facebook of course! 

I've been wondering if I should still be waking Carson every 2.5 - 3 hours during the day to nurse. He's been gaining weight like he should be and is waking twice on his own at night to eat. Seems like what I am doing is working. So why mess with it? 

I'm curious.

There are two opposing viewpoints and I don't believe in either wholeheartedly. Never wake a sleeping baby vs. nurse every 2.5-3 hours. Twitter told me to never wake a sleeping baby and Facebook told me to wake to eat during the day.

I'm curious to find out which one works for us. Although it seems like what we are doing is working, could it work better? Could I have a workout, a shower, and time for my to-do list during Leila's three hour nap if I allow Carson to sleep that long too? Sounds ideal. 

I think my gut just told me something.

He's enjoying a nap and I am enjoying some me time.