Laundry Room + Tips & Tricks

laundry
When Hershey and I moved in together 7 years ago, there was a natural delegation of housework that took place.  Hershey takes out the trash and cleans up the kitchen after I tornado cook, I cook and do the laundry.  And when we added 2 little bundles of joy to our family, my laundry duty DOUBLED. I curse the day I took over laundry duty.
When we started searching for a home, it was important to me that I had a home for my beautiful stainless steel Samsung washer and dryer.  Lucky for me, the split-level house that we fell in love with had a finished little laundry nook on the mudroom level.  It’s even got a window with a beautiful view of the Ramapo mountains!
The only problem with it was that it was diarrhea brown (just like the mudroom, and most of the rest of the house), with red trim.  Barf.  It was dark and dank and depressing.

Hurry Up, Spring!

illness
I AM SO OVER WINTER 2015!!!!  I mean it.  Who’s with me??
I am finally on the tail-end of a horrendous sinus infection.  I don’t remember the last time I was this sick.  And while Jane and Emma have been relatively healthy, I had to pick them up from school today with fevers (again).  When is it going to give???
This winter we have been hammered with snow storm after snow storm, the Super Bug, enterovirus, stomach viruses, strep throat, ear infections.  We’ve had below 0 temperatures. For MULTIPLE days! This honestly feels like the MOST debilitating, freezing, disheartening winter I’ve been through.  Ever.  Enough is enough!

PPD + PTSD: And Here I Thought I Was Fine

NICU
This post has been a long time coming, but I have to admit — I’ve been avoiding it like the plague.  I started writing this post one year ago and I find that this is still a difficult subject for me to wrap my head around.
In college, I read a story called The Yellow Wallpaper  by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.  In the story, a woman is taken to a hideaway by her husband and imprisoned there after the birth of their child. During her stay, she slowly goes insane, hearing voices and seeing faces behind the yellow wallpaper. This story is about much more than a woman and a decorating decision gone awry. This is a story about postpartum depression and the fears and stigma surrounding it, much of which still exist today.

Going into my pregnancy, I feared PPD.  I have a family history of mental illnesses, and I have some personal experiences to draw from, as well.  I was monitored by the high-risk team that cared for me and Jane and Emma throughout my pregnancy, and they watched me like a hawk when I went into the hospital to deliver.  I was given a checklist, visited by social workers, and deemed fit to leave with no threat of severe depression after 4 short days.

6 Pin Sunday

6 pin sunday
6 Pin Sunday
I don’t know about you guys, but I am SO ready for some warm weather! February is rough because you get the sun up early, down later tease of spring, but the FRIGID FREEZING COLD of the dead of winter.  HURRY YOUR BUTT UP, SPRING!!!