Joy & Austin 33: Pregnant Again

[SassyPants]

21 hours ago, GracieLou Free Duggar said:

There's that fundie entitlement on his side that I can see. "I'm one of God's chosen, I follow him. He wants me to do this, but Satan is at work." I mean, that's more of a J-Rod spin, but here's where a little more research and education could have helped out.
Dear Austin, go to real estate school before you try and pretend you're a big deal. 
 

Plus these males are totally, “the rules and proper protocols are for others but do not apply to me” endorsers.

[marmalade]

5 hours ago, HereticHick said:

This Duggar RV park was been in the works for years, right? (or is there more than one proposed Duggarworld RV park?). I'd been wondering why they missed the great opportunity to open it during the pandemic, when camping/RVing/caravanning was so hugely popular. Leave it to the Duggars to assume that they can just get land rezoned whenever they want.

I thought JD was planning one on land owned by JB. I forget the town, but it wasn't Elkins (the town Austin just failed in). 

I guess JD's park never got off the ground, I 've heard nothing, and it's been at least a couple of years.

[HereticHick]

1 hour ago, marmalade said:

I thought JD was planning one on land owned by JB. I forget the town, but it wasn't Elkins (the town Austin just failed in). 

I guess JD's park never got off the ground, I 've heard nothing, and it's been at least a couple of years.

Thank you! It was Fayetteville. Here's an article from 2018--yet another example of Duggars pissing off the neighbors in zoning meetings: https://www.5newsonline.com/article/news/local/outreach/back-to-school/neighbors-concerned-over-rezoning-proposal-uncertainty/527-59f4d122-9778-4f20-984a-b5864db3f8cb 

[Meggo]

22 hours ago, GuineaPigCourtship said:

After years of going back and forth on it, I finally bit the bullet and hired a cleaner for a deep clean in the beginning of February.  I am extremely stoked about it and I keep looking at parts of the house and thinking how amazing it'll be.  My husband does most of the cleaning since I'm the primary breadwinner and work longer hours, but our toddler has been off and on sick for months with cold and stomach bugs through daycare and has been sharing them with us.  I just couldn't take it anymore because we've been barely in maintenance mode and not able to get anything more done besides that.

Honestly when we had a regular cleaner, it was amazing. She came every two weeks or so (she had other jobs and we were flexible) and it was easier to keep up with. Since the pandemic started (and she worked in long term care facilities and would not come to our house with a kiddo, rightly)- we haven’t found anyone. Either too busy, too expensive etc. 

my husband wants a robot vacuum but we live with a 9 year old so there is usually clutter everywhere. He said “well we would pick it up!” But really if we do the picking up, the vacuuming is not a big deal so why bother

[neuroticcat]

I felt this way about robot vacuum too but I am a convert now. It’s the extra nudge to tidy at end of night and then it runs during bedtimes. Sure, I could come out and vacuum but I never do. Ok our house the robot improvements haven’t made it perfectly clean but definitely an upgrade. 

[Giraffe]

17 minutes ago, neuroticcat said:

I felt this way about robot vacuum too but I am a convert now. It’s the extra nudge to tidy at end of night and then it runs during bedtimes. Sure, I could come out and vacuum but I never do. Ok our house the robot improvements haven’t made it perfectly clean but definitely an upgrade. 

We have one, too. It doesn’t replace the standard vacuum but it’s a good daily supplement for weekly-ish vacuuming with the standard vacuum. 

[Cam]

A great purchase I made was a stick vacuum, cutting the need for a corded one. Omg, what a time saver. When I was raising my family, I learned to relax about the clutter that built up through the day. In the evening just a bit before bedtime, I’d start tossing kids’ stuff in bins or baskets, with their help, and tidy horizontal spaces like the countertop and coffee table, then quickly buzz the floors with the vacuum if needed. All this would take maybe 20 minutes and it helped signal the winding down of the day. For me, it was calming to wake up to a tidy house. I will also admit to wanting my husband to see me running the vacuum, a visual reminder so it registered to him that I “kept house”.  I still like to tidy the house in the evening. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Cam

[CTRLZero]

52 minutes ago, Cam said:

A great purchase I made was a stick vacuum, cutting the need for a corded one

I’m cat sitting at my daughter and son-in-law’s, who own one, and I’m rapidly turning into a convert to this sort of vacuum.  It really helps with all the cat hair.  The charge lasts approximately one-half hour, but I don’t vacuum that long at a time.  The features I really love are that it folds over to get under furniture, plus you just pull a lever and the canister drops the mess right into the garbage can.  Vacuuming is one of my least favorite chores, and this makes it so much easier.

We have a robot vacuum, too, but it would have a hard time keeping up with the cat fur.  I love it at our catless condo, though. 

[fluffernutter]

We got a Dyson stick vacuum that's cordless. I wouldn't recommend it if you have rugs. It sucks too strong and is impossible to run over them. So we use the Dyson on the laminate and our old corded vacuum on the throw rugs. 🙄

[WatchingTheTireFireBurn]

I bought a very cheap (like 20$? At walmart) corded stick vac. It's basically a dustbuster on a stick.

I vacuum so much more with it. It's just easier than the big guy vacuum. It doesn't have rollers for carpet (I have half n half carpet/wood) but it's just great to suck up the dog hair tumbweeds. Quickly zip over the bathroom tile etc.

My work has a lightweight battery stick vac that has the carpet rollers. It's pretty awesome too. Kinda want that for home but I'm broke right now.

[indianabones]

I got a Shark cordless vacuum for Christmas after my last one (some cheap off-brand thing) died a year into use. It's AMAZING. it vacuums my rugs so well and the battery lasts long enough for me to clean my whole house! I can't see ever going back to one with a cord.

[Gobsmacked]

On 1/14/2023 at 3:31 AM, Keys said:

I’m 6 months postpartum with our first babe, and we hired a cleaner biweekly a couple months ago too. I feel this SO hard. I haven’t told any family about it because it would be met with literal shock and displeasure 🙄🙄

Don’t feel bad. I hired a cleaner when my youngest son was born. Two boys 14 months apart and major spinal surgery- a cleaner was a must. She was a wonderful lady, the boys loved her and she went above and beyond. Never feel bad about having help. 
If your family ever say anything horrible to you for hiring your cleaner point out that you are creating employment for another person then ask them if they would be willing to take over should you stop hiring your cleaner. The silence will be deafening.

[HereticHick]

13 hours ago, Gobsmacked said:

If your family ever say anything horrible to you for hiring your cleaner point out that you are creating employment for another person then ask them if they would be willing to take over should you stop hiring your cleaner. The silence will be deafening.

This. Don't be ashamed for employing someone. And many cleaning services are small local businesses.

[AnywhereButHere]

My mom actually likes cleaning! Like, she loves the act of cleaning. I do not get that in the slightest. Don't get me wrong. I love having a clean house, but I have no love for the effort it takes to get that way. One day I'll get over my internalized guilt and hire someone to clean, but sadly I'm not there yet, so for now I'll go on grumbling my way through my weekly (mostly...) house cleaning sessions.

My most loathed task is vacuuming. You think I'd love it, since it's the last thing I do, so it means I'm at the end of the project. Nope can't stand it. My Roomba was the best Christmas gift I ever received. It does a decent job of getting the floor clean. Not perfect, but with my hate of the project, it does at least as good a job as I was going to do anyway! 🤷‍♀️ Every once in a while I have to rescue it from going off a "cliff" (it's a bit dramatic...), but overall - I love it! I even dressed it up as a ghost for Halloween. 😂

[Scrabblemaster]

I sometimes call cleaning "taking care of the house" to trick myself into it when I do not want to (like dusting). 

And I saw a Youtube short a couple of days ago, where a woman paid herself to deep clean her house instead of paying a cleaner. I will try this, because I can definitely pay myself for cleaning my house (getting paid for scrubbing the bathtub will be therapeutic AND I get money I can spend for something funny, like books).  It would be a win-win-win for me. 

[KWLand]

We bought our old house from a house cleaner.  It was disgusting.  I just kept telling myself it wasn’t any different than Dh repairing computers and mine still be broken.

 
we talked about hiring someone, but the problem isn’t deep cleaning as much as it’s putting things away.  Once they put things away the house just looks cleaner.

our robot vacuum is a lifesaver.  We can start it when we are ready to leave the house and if it worked correctly the main floor is clean.  

[lumpentheologie]

Gee reading all this makes me feel like I should get up and do some cleaning 😂

[AnywhereButHere]

43 minutes ago, lumpentheologie said:

Gee reading all this makes me feel like I should get up and do some cleaning 😂

Resist the urge! Sitting on the couch with a drink and entertainment option of your choice is so much more fun.

Also, maybe don't listen to me. I'm a bad influence.  😂

[Expectopatronus]

I hate the mess but don’t know how to fix it. Plus, my tornado toddler destroys everything I clean. Please tell me that as she starts to get closer to 3.5 instead of just turned three she will suddenly stop throwing things, running through the house and actually clean up after herself, stop dumping baskets of toys, drawing on walls etc. 

[Gobsmacked]

5 minutes ago, Expectopatronus said:

I hate the mess but don’t know how to fix it. Plus, my tornado toddler destroys everything I clean. Please tell me that as she starts to get closer to 3.5 instead of just turned three she will suddenly stop throwing things, running through the house and actually clean up after herself, stop dumping baskets of toys, drawing on walls etc. 

I did not want to be the bringer of gloom and doom but…….. possibly when she is 8 or 9. So that  phase will possibly last until 11 or 12 . Down hill from there until 17 or 18 years old.  Or until she moves out. 🥰

[viii]

I just stay on top of it. If you tidy every day, then nothing is very overwhelming and you're able to do the big cleaning moments whenever the opportunity presents itself. However, I also say that from a place of extreme privilege where I live alone and so it's much, MUCH easier to stay on top of things when it's just yourself. 

[AnywhereButHere]

29 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

I did not want to be the bringer of gloom and doom but…….. possibly when she is 8 or 9. So that  phase will possibly last until 11 or 12 . Down hill from there until 17 or 18 years old.  Or until she moves out. 🥰

Son was home from college for winter break, and I was so impressed that he was finally making his bed perfectly every day. As it turns out, he was sleeping on top of the duvet and under a fleece throw blanket he brought home with him. Hopes dashed. 

[Bastet]

On 1/26/2023 at 12:40 PM, AnywhereButHere said:

My mom actually likes cleaning! Like, she loves the act of cleaning. I do not get that in the slightest. Don't get me wrong. I love having a clean house, but I have no love for the effort it takes to get that way. One day I'll get over my internalized guilt and hire someone to clean, but sadly I'm not there yet, so for now I'll go on grumbling my way through my weekly (mostly...) house cleaning sessions.

My most loathed task is vacuuming. You think I'd love it, since it's the last thing I do, so it means I'm at the end of the project. Nope can't stand it. My Roomba was the best Christmas gift I ever received. It does a decent job of getting the floor clean. Not perfect, but with my hate of the project, it does at least as good a job as I was going to do anyway! 🤷‍♀️ Every once in a while I have to rescue it from going off a "cliff" (it's a bit dramatic...), but overall - I love it! I even dressed it up as a ghost for Halloween. 😂

Surely you have a picture to share . . .

[AnywhereButHere]

4 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Surely you have a picture to share . . .

He was supposed to float gracefully through the house when I turned him on. Instead he spun around in circles and tried to eat his sheet. He's definitely my ghost...

Spoiler

 

 

[indianabones]

I invite friends and family over so I have motivation to clean my house. I don't care about the dog hair and dust piling up, but I care about other people seeing it and thinking it's gross.