Thoughts on cleaning

Bear with me as I rant/ramble.

I am one of those people who hates to clean.

Don't get me wrong: I love a clean house, but I hate the process.

One of the great things about moving is supposed to be starting fresh with a clean house, although about 12 hours after moving in here we realized that the people who lived here before us (renters) hated to clean too. But apparently they did not care about their living condition. I haven't decided if this makes me feel sorry for them or us more.

Anyway, we have spent a good part of the last 2 months doing "little" cleaning jobs between the major repairs that have come up as a result of some crazy rain + tornado + bad window seals I am starting to feel a little like we have almost rid ourselves of the old resident's left-overs but every time I clean something I find something else....some things are just going to have to be completely renovated (in time)...like the kitchen cabinets that didn't have handles on them and have very odd things going on as a result of 16 years of oils from hands on them (plus water and whatever else)...and the louvered laundry room doors that I have cleaned for hours and still look dirty (pretty sure those were never cleaned since this house was built)...and then there's the sheet rock repair that needs to happen because of the previously mentioned rain.

I really hate cleaning but I get such a sense of satisfaction when it's done....plus, then your house isn't dirty! I have no clue how the previous residents lived in such a gorgeous house and stared at the 2000+ square feet worth of base boards every day and didn't feel one nagging pull of "I should clean those." Weird, because I did.

I love that we are finally getting to the point where we can just do "maintenance cleaning" and I know I will gladly do it...if nothing else to avoid having to do any major cleaning anytime soon.

Like I said I hate cleaning, but at least I love a clean house.

Dentist Success!

The kids had their check-ups at the dentist today. I take them to a great dentist who is so patient with them. This was Gianna's second appointment and Connor's first. I was hoping that Connor would watch Gianna in her portion first and see what's going on (plus it helps Gianna to feel calm when she knows she is teaching her brother something) but he fell asleep on the way there. Turns out that was for the best because Gianna wanted to sit on my lap for her appointment.

The difference between her first visit and this time were amazing! Last time he barely got to count her teeth. This time he counted them all and she was interested then he flossed her, brushed (!!!) and even talked to her for a bit. She was completely cooperative. She was very happy to get her goody bag and prize at the end.

Then it was time to wake Connor up for his turn. He was a little tired but once he got to hold his new tooth brush he was pretty happy. He LOVED having his teeth brushed (of course he loves this every night) and was so calm during that part. Gianna talked Connor through everything Connor was doing and was very excited when he got his goody bag and prize at the end too.

One of Gianna's favorite parts is that the dentist gives her her own "dentist kit" with gloves, a mask and a small mirror to see in her mouth. She wore the mask for the next hour. I am sure people driving by us in the car were wondering what she was up to. Haha.

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On a totally unrelated note: On the way home today Gianna told Justin and I that she wants a "real dog" out of the blue. Uh oh....

Learning consequences

Yesterday morning we told Gianna that if she was nice we would walk over to try the frozen yogurt place that is near our new house. She said okay then proceeded to spend the morning testing us. She was pretty mean-spirited and had an attitude all morning. She must know us well: Justin and I were still so tempted to go to frozen yogurt because we had been looking forward to walking there and having some too. We finally decided that with the amount of tantrums she had thrown and with the way she had been treating Connor that we wouldn't go. She was genuinely surprised. I guess I'm usually a push-over.

So this morning she woke up in an amazing mood and has been very sweet and listening well (with very few exceptions). Of course, she has asked if she can go to frozen yogurt and we told her she has to be a good girl. So far the difference is night and day.

I wonder if she will stop thinking of me as a push over? We'll see.

Quick minute

Since I have the treat tonight of having both kids in bed before 8 (yay!) I thought Id share a few quick things:

Gianna is really into "middle naming." She can often be heard through out the day yelling, "Connor David!" or ... all too often: "Mommy Margaret."

I laughed the first 50 times or so. I wonder where she learned to do that? Lol.

Connor just figured out how to high-five and thinks it's awesome. Added benefit to me: he loves it so much that he'll run across the room if I bribe him with a high-five. Works great in the mornings while I'm trying to get my little escape artist dressed.