Life in the New Year

Life in the New Year for the Stegs is....well I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's busier than the "Old Year".  The only reason I say this is toddlerhood. I had forgotten how crazy busy little toddling babies can be.  And honestly I think Logan is our busiest toddler.  I have heard from numerous Steg family members that Logan is obviously the spawn of his father and is taking after his busy footsteps.  I'm not sure if this is encouraging or discouraging....except to say that his daddy turned out pretty good so there is hope :)  But, my sweet boy....he is a bundle of boy energy and into everything.  I can hardly sit down w/o having to get right back up and chase Logan, grab something out of his mouth, keep him from going up/down the steps, take something breakable or chokeable away from him.  I am constantly cleaning up his messes. I will get the living room (my one clean place!) all cleaned up and within about 5 minutes "tornado Logan" will blow through and 50 DVD's will be out, along with 10 ornaments off the tree and all his toys (he has a lot of toys thanks to Christmas and bday!).  I am not sure why I even bother picking up except at least I can say I did it even if you can't tell.  Last week, Logan successfully ate part of a bush in our dining room (the memorial lily we had from Kev's grandpa's funeral).  It was actually up high, but his high chair was a little too close and he choked down a green snack while he was sitting there one day :)  He has also fallen down the stairs again (this time it was the upstairs one).  It left a mark :(  We have not found a good solution for the gate issues we have...between our other kids not being able to get over them and our old kitties...there is no good solution.  He got stuck head first in a box the other day reaching for something he wanted.  He shredded his big brother's preschool Christmas tree that had all handmade ornaments on it :)  Sigh.  He has just about taking my whole porcelain village down by pulling on the cords.  It is barricaded now by our dining room chairs.  He always has something in his mouth.  I am looking at him now and he has a rubber duck in his mouth.  Most times it's paper or fuzz or lately it's my fake snow from my porcelin village...he likes to shred it and eat it like cotton candy :)  And just like our living room, I will clean up our kitchen and within 5 minutes he'll have all the tupperware out and scattered about. I tripped over it this morning and knocked Logan down in the process.  If making a mess could be a superhero trait, he would be MessMan and could win all mess wars :)  There is just not enough space in this house for a busy boy like this! haha :)  Honestly, I am not complaining at all. I love this busy boy and wouldn't change a thing about him.  He adds such spunk to our home.  And he has been good for my perfectionism b/c I have really learned to let a lot of things go with him in the house.  (Well, maybe this is bad?)  But, I don't fret over things like I used to. People show up at our house and it's a mess and it's ok.  So maybe Logan is good therapy for me :)  I'm choosing to think so.  He is definitely making me think outside my normal parenting box.  But, I really didn't mean for this post to be about him.  He just makes things busier than last January...well, mostly b/c he is mobile now and last year this time, he was a newborn just sleeping away.  Those days are gone. I don't necessarily miss them, but I am wondering how in the world we are going to try to clean up this house and pack to try to move this summer with a busy boy finding trouble wherever he goes.  I am grateful for a slow start to our New Year in some respects.  The snow closings last week were a good transition back to the schedule. I have realized this week that early mornings really are a huge obstacle for me.  I am not a morning person and have had a tough time getting back at it this week.  I know I have been a grump and have had a hard time being motivated to clean/organized, etc.  Kev's been working evenings too so that's also exhausting for me as a mom.  I am still trying to take down Christmas stuff, still trying to find stuff from FL b/c we never properly unpacked, still trying to clean up this house from the holidays.  I made a first step today and called a cleaning lady.  Shocking, I know. A year ago I got the gift of housecleaning from two sweet friends at my baby shower.  I never used it for many reasons (mostly embarrassment over my dirty house...yes, it's that bad that I don't want a cleaning lady here :))....but I know I need some help now.  Now that Logan's bday is over, I can officially start on the house revamping.  It is going to be a huge process and a difficult one, but has to be done for us to function better.  It will mean a lot of reprioritizing for me which is going to be a challenge (less time spent volunteering at schools and less fancy bday parties, less friend get togethers, etc). I know this will be hard for me, but if my sanity is going to stay intact, the house needs to get in better order. I truly believe a cluttered house can make for a cluttered brain and we are past the clutter aspect at this point.

So....here's to a different 2014.  One where we buckle down and try to get some stuff done around our house.  One where we take very few vacations (just NYCx2 at this point and maybe me going with the kids to MI if time/the house permit).  Please be praying we can make progress on all this b/c I really think my mental stability will depend on how much we accomplish in the next 6-9 months.