I am a bit of an organizational freak. Which is maybe why I’m having twins. It’s the universe’s way of telling me I need to loosen up and deal with chaos a little bit better. You know, go with the flow. And for being a fairly uptight person, I think I have embraced this new way of life quite readily. Yes, I’ve prepped the nursery, I’ve read the books, I’ve scheduled a birthing class, but I also have decided that I’m not going to stress over breastfeeding, or cloth diapering or the big one–whether or not the Hubby is going to be here for the birth of the boys (he may not be due to military training, depending on when these little guys decide to make their debut). Don’t get me wrong, I’m going to try breastfeeding, and cloth diapering (I know I’m crazy), and I REALLY hope the Hubby is here for the big moment. But if not, formula has worked well for millions of babies, I’ll pay more for diapers, but save a lot on laundry, and if my Hubby isn’t here, a dear friend or my mom will be right there with me, and my Hubby will be here not too long after the boys arrive. Because in the end, I can’t organize every piece of my life into a chart. And stressing over these things..none of that is incredibly useful.

So…that being said, I’ve tried to think about the next few months and what things I CAN control. And no, it’s not much. Like I said, we’ve set up the nursery. We have family scheduled to come out to help in those first few months. We have a wonderful support group of friends here who are standing by ready to babysit, help feed babies, and walk the dog. And to make myself feel like I’ve got all of my ducks in a row–I made a binder. I’m kind of obsessed with my little binder actually.

I found this great website that has printable pages for creating a Household Notebook. Using many of this site’s templates, I’ve filled the notebook with all the vital information both my Hubby and I and our friends and family helping us may need. The book features a calendar of when family and friends are coming and going, takeout numbers, lists of daily chores, important contact numbers, etc. And because I was on a role I also made a list of all those household things that happen seasonally that the Hubby usually takes care of (changing AC filters, scheduling yearly yard maintenance, etc.), so when he deploys, I’ll have a list to run down. And now all that fabulous info. lives in my handy dandy notebook!

And while I completely recognize that in all the chaos of feedings, diaper changes, and long naps (a girl can hope…), I might not ever consult my notebook again. But at least today, while I’m on bedrest and contemplating the massive life changes about to happen, my little notebook makes me feel like I’m ready. Well, as ready for chaos as a girl can be!

I’m a terrible, horrible person and have no pics to go along with this post. And I ALWAYS like to have pictures in my posts. But I thought that this information was valuable enough that I should share it with you despite my complete lack of visual aids. I do apologize.

As I told you yesterday, I spent most of last weekend cleaning out every drawer, cabinet, and closet in our house. I’d like to say that this was some crazy pregnancy thing…and maybe a small part of it was, but let’s be honest, I do this once a year or so pregnant or not! I have a pretty good purging and organizing system that I’ve honed over the years, so I thought I’d share it with you today. You can apply this method on any scale: your purse, your silverware drawer, or if you’re really motivated, your garage!

Step 1: Commit to your project. Say you’ve decided to clean out that junk drawer in your kitchen–you know the one–it’s that drawer filled with paper clips, scotch tape, buttons, and what seems to be a growing colony of stale gummy bears. Set a deadline for yourself: because it’s JUST a drawer, 30 minutes should be enough (depending on the size of your gummy bear colony). Now hold yourself to this! That means no breaking to find out what that random key goes to, no stopping and throwing everything back in there because you get tired, no taking everything out and leaving it all over the counter because you’ll “come back to it later”. No, today is the day that you’ve committed to yourself that you WILL clean out that darn drawer! Be sure that this time limit is realistic. If you’re working on your garage, know that 1 hour is probably not going to cut it. So go ahead and give yourself the weekend to work on it. Just make sure you hold yourself to your deadline!

Step 2: Take everything out. Yup. I said it. Everything. Take it out. Of that drawer. Including the “organizer” that you have in there right now.

Step 3: Sort everything into one of four piles: Keep, Throw Away, Give Away, Sell. Now, depending on how motivated you are, you may or may not have that last pile. Depending on my mood and the value of the object, sometimes I’ll choose just to give everything away because I don’t want to take the time to sell those old Pez dispensers on eBay. But then there are other times when I start thinking about what I could do with the $20 I will make off those Pez dispensers and decide it’s totally worth it to take the time to sell them.

Step 4: Evaluate the situation. This is my favorite part. This is where you decide your plan of attack for putting things back. Was that drawer organizer working for you? If so…put it right on back in there. Was it the wrong size and failing miserably? Then maybe you need to trot right on over to Target or WalMart or, if you’re totally lucky and live near one–The Container Store (oh how I’d KILL to live near one of these).  If you need to do this, you can pause your 30 minute clock…just be sure to finish your project as soon as you get back!

Step 5: Last but not least, but everything back where it belongs. This is usually the quickest and most rewarding step!

Step 6: Okay, I know I just told you Step 5 was the last step, but really, it’s this one. Deal with all the stuff you’ve sorted into piles. Throw out that trash pile. List all your Pez Dispensers on eBay. Take that load of stuff to Goodwill. Okay. Now you’re done!

I think everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that sometimes I can be, well, a little crazy sometimes. But pregnancy, combined with my regular need to purge in the new year has brought out a whole new side of neurosis. I am a nesting FREAK! Especially now that I’ve moved most of the nursery things into the nursery, and I can finally see the rest of my house.

I am extremely excited that by coincidence a local charity thrift store is going to be in our neighborhood next week picking up donations at homes. You know I jumped right on that opportunity. No lugging carloads of junk to the thrift store? Sign me up! It’s also been great because it puts a deadline on my neurotic purging (I think my hubby is VERY happy to see me stop cleaning out drawers and closets).

I have to say I’m pretty amazed that I still have drawers and closets to purge. After all, I am pretty darn good about taking stuff to goodwill every six months or so. But as I put away laundry today I looked through my drawers and found loads of old swim suits, scarves, socks, and shoes (apparently I take things to Goodwill alphabetically and just skipped over the S’s). Some of these items I’d had since high school. Now high school doesn’t seem that long ago…but let’s face it…ten years is a long time to hang on to an old swimsuit!

So…the purging and nesting continues. I’m so excited to be done with it though and start making room to accommodate all the stuff that these two new little additions are going to bring! How about you…any New Year’s purging going on in your house?