My Latest Projects

So a few weeks into my THIRD trimester, it appears that I've finally gotten the energy spurt they say comes in the SECOND trimester! With both pregnancies I've been completely exhausted until the beginning of my third trimester when I start 'nesting' and going on major cleaning sprees and decluttering missions around the house. And I'm happy to report that the reason I haven't been blogging much lately is because I've been on a ROLL with my decluttering and organizing. 

Last Thursday I spent 2 hours during Leo's nap cleaning out and organizing everything in our basement (Grampy, you'll be impressed!) I really thought this project would take me several days, so I was really surprised by how quickly I was able to tackle everything. First I started by bringing everything upstairs that I wanted to give away. These items included a lacrosse stick, a squash racquet, a pair of roller blades, some board games, some purses, a desk, and some bags. I posted these items on Freecycle and within a few hours I had various Freecyclers picking up the items (as a quick note, for safety purposes I always arrange for Freecyclers to pick up the items outside of my house. I'll tell them our address, but I'll leave the items outside unless I know the person who is coming to pick it up). What's terrific about Freecycle is that you really see how your 'junk' can be someone else's treasure! It makes giving things away so much easier. It's so nice to know that items we no longer need anymore are going to good homes where people will care for them! 

My next step was to get some giant brown trash bags and to throw away anything that we didn't need anymore and which wasn't in good enough condition to be Freecycled. I ended up filling 2 large trash bags! (and yes, despite my protruding belly, I was still able to lift the bags up the stairs all by myself and leave them outside for the garbage men to pick up!)  

The basement was looking better already!  Next I went through the rest of the items and organized them into bins which I labeled. A few months ago I had organized all of Leo's baby clothes into separate giant zip-lock bags which I labeled by size. So it was nice that I didn't have to do that now! I only kept the clothes of his that I absolutely loved. The rest I consigned at our local children's consignment shop which means that I have an account there with $ in it for when the new baby arrives :-)  

While I was decluttering the basement, I came across 2 bins filled with old college textbooks. All of the books were in good condition, so I decided to try posting them on Half.com for sale. It's been a little over 10 days, and I've sold over 20 books! Apparently, it just so happened to be the perfect week to post books since all of the college students across the country are buying books right now for their new semester. I've already made over $200 and I still have 60 books posted! 

My online book selling went so well that it inspired me to post a few items for sale on eBay. I posted an old bridesmaid's dress I never ended up wearing (new with tags). It sold for $50! Then I posted some other items and ended up making another $200! I must admit that it was rather fun watching people get into bidding wars over my clutter!

All of this of course means that for a few days our house literally looked like a post office! Thankfully, we only live a few doors down from our local post office, so making frequent trips with Leo in tow wasn't too difficult. It has become part of Leo and my daily routine to walk to the post office every day around 3:30 to drop off our packages for shipment and to pick up our mail. 

Leo also really enjoyed helping me pack the items. He especially enjoyed the packing peanuts!

We are now in the process of converting Ben's old office (the bright blue colored room downstairs off our dining room) into a playroom for Leo. It's almost entirely decluttered, and I've been slowly moving Leo's toys into it. We'll also clear out the closet in that room and put all of his clothing in it. The computer will also stay in the room so I can type while he plays (or at least I can try to anyway!) What's great about the blue room downstairs is that there's a doorway but no door. So it's perfect for a baby gate. I will be able to watch Leo play without worrying about him wandering off too far which will be important when I am nursing the new baby and can't chase after him as quickly! (I will post pictures when the room is done).

Once the playroom is done, the only other major organizational project I'll have left before the new baby arrives will be to put all of our photos in albums and to finish Leo's baby book and his baby album. These will be big projects, but I am very much looking forward to doing them. They seem like the perfect pregnancy projects for a mother of a young toddler in New England who is snowed in!