mops and the great organization project

A couple of months ago, we met one of Colby's distant cousins at a family event. He is around our age and he and his wife live in Broken Arrow with their 2 year old son. I learned that she is a stay-at-home mom. We started talking about how staying at home can be lonely and really make you long for adult conversation. She invited me to MOPS (mother's of pre-schoolers) at her church and I went for the first time in January. They have breakfast treats, a speaker, and table discussions. It was really fun and Miller did really well in the child care!

The speaker at the January meeting was an organization expert and gave tips and ideas for organizing your home. I thought I was already organized, but I was wrong!

Just for fun, here are some of my "projects". Most of them are related to Miller and trying to fit all of his baby stuff into our tiny little house.

We actually had this done before Miller was born. We hung his bathtub on the back wall of our tub/shower. It's hidden behind our shower curtain and it can drip dry without getting water all over our floor or carpet. Perfect!

Cute storage for all of Miller's bath toys! It suctions right to our shower wall and the toys are easy to grab during bathtime.

This was a new project. Before, everything was thrown into one basket. I bought some plastic containers for his drawer. Now everything is easy to find. Vaseline and diaper creams on the right, brushes and tweezers/nail clippers next, medicine and droppers after that, and pacifiers/clips on the left.

His shoe drawer. I can't figure out how to turn the picture on blogger. The basket is for socks. Most of them were in the laundry when I took this picture.

I bought some hanging drawers to store all of his blankets. We have a lot of them! I couldn't fit them all into his dresser.

The top of his closet. In the green basket, I have binders with labeled plastic sleeves for special papers, cards, and memories. The plastic box underneath is for larger mementos that won't fit in the binder. I keep his little shirt from the hospital in there.

I found a really neat plastic container with a handle, so it is easy to pull down from the top of his closet. In it I keep extra accessories for his toys (such as chargers, headphones for his DVD player, etc.) in labeled sandwich baggies.

We had this basic concept in place before Miller was born. I had to reorganize after Christmas. The toys are easy to grab and the blue baskets look great in his room! I also have one on his changing table for all of his diapers.

I couldn't get a really good picture, but this is his cabinet in the kitchen. The white containers separate lids, nipples, teethers, and storage containers to freeze baby food.

We hung all of his bibs inside a cabinet in the kitchen. Each end of the string has a loop. So, when you want a bib you just pull one end of the string from the hook and slide off the bib. Or, you could unsnap/unvelcro the bib that you want to use.

Colby hung a shelf in the garage to store all of the baby clothes that Miller has outgrown. It goes so quickly! We chose small plastic containers so that things are easier to find and we don't have to dig through a huge 45 gallon container to find newborn onesies at the bottom. Also, I like the clear containers so that you can easily see what is inside. I also labeled the front of the containers. Miller's swing is on the shelf right now, but it will probably have to be relocated as we fill more storage containers with clothes. The shelf can hold 12 storage containers!

I had to include picture of my spice drawer. I love it! It is so much more convenient and efficient than storage risers or turntables.