Oh my, where has the time gone! It seems with the addition of baby girl that things have been so hectic. I can't believe she is almost 17 months old!
It's nice to have a blog to look back and see all that has happened.
Here are some baby blankets I have been making for 2 of my coworkers and my husbands coworker. They are 2 layers of flannel so they are super soft and warm and so durable!
I have some from when I was pregnant with Little Pumpkin (over 5 years ago) and I still use them on Baby Girl ALL THE TIME. They are my "go-to" blankets, they are perfect for nursing covers, car seat covers and blankets, and just plain blankets.
Red and Blue Firetrucks, Cars, Helicopters, etc. with cute matching spotted blue.
I added 2 straight rows of red/white top-stitching.
I love the greens and blues in this! Robots, aliens and space with coordinating chevron backing.
Cute pink, blue and green butterflies with coordinating spotted back. I love all the different embroidery fabrics available!
If you are interested we have matching blankets in our etsy store.
To help stay warm and prevent the thermostat from being turned up when cold keep warm throws on your chairs in the living room/family room to keep you warm and cozy.
A couple of weeks ago while at the store, Little Pumpkin picked out a helmet to wear while riding horses at my parents house. She could hardly wait for a nice day to go riding!
Little Pumpkin and her friend feeding Romeo
So first they had to stop and feed Romeo - miniature horse - some treats. They are learning to keep their hand flat so they don't get bit.
Little Pumpkin petting Romeo
Giving Romeo more treats and love.
Little Pumpkin waiting to go
Here you can see her helmet she picked out - it has a horse on it. She was so funny wearing it in the store when she picked it out.
If the Myth Busters exhibit comes to a museum near you-GO! We had a great time at the museum!
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to get our picture taken with the duct tape boat!
Thank goodness I had the Ergo Carrier! Here we all are at the start of the exhibit-the cool thing is they have the real props from the show!
Little Pumpkin with a paintball experiment - looks dangerous!
Little Pumpkin with all the show props
It was a great experience, the entire exhibit had an air of fun!
The Artist and I couldn't resist - We had to do Jamie's mustache just like Adam does!
Baby Girl is sleeping, oblivious to all the fun we are having!
This exhibit was one of my faves!
They had telephone booths and boxes of capes, masks, gloves, goggles, etc. for you to change into-like a superhero! Who wouldn't love doing this? My kids thought I was a geek! I looked for a pic of me dressed up buy sadly, there isn't one!
This was a live action show, they shot a paintball at a lucky contestant!
How long can you hang on a cliff?
The boys tried the Cliff Hanger-not as easy as they thought!
Baby girl finally woke up! What's all the excitement?
She slept, ate and looked around from the best seat in the house-her Ergo Baby Carrier!
Can The Artist pull the tablecloth out without pulling off the dishes?
Close!
Kids....Don't try this at home!
Kids, let dad show you how it's done!
Oh My!
Dad couldn't do it either, after many tries the challenge proved too much for any of us!
Who Got Wetter?
We went through this exhibit several times, who will get wetter the person who walks or runs in the rain? Who cares! This was fun and refreshing. Black lights and water are highly entertaining! The lady running the exhibit was worried baby girl would get wet, but I just pulled out the rain/sun cover and she was fine-nice and dry!
No one tried this one, trust me I would have put the pics here!
Little Pumpkin
Then we checked out the rest of the rest of the museum.
I don't know what it is about dinosaurs, but kids love them!
This weeks tip....Get organized! How many times have you "lost" something then bought a replacement only to find what you lost. This is a huge money waster.
You can buy cheap bins for organizing at the dollar store, or find them at the thrift store, or maybe you already have some! Go find them.
Overwhelmed? Pick one area and start there, a closet or cabinet. Don't try to do it all in one day, take baby steps and as you see your progress it will help motivate you to do more. Make sure you let others in the house know that these organized areas are to stay organized, or else!
In the effort to save money and live better by eliminating unnecessary
chemicals, I started making laundry soap a couple years ago.I like it,
because not only does it save money, it is also highly customizable!
This time when I filled our containers I used a downy fresh scent. You could use any oil you want or if you choose, don't! Make a different scent for each family member! I just add one to three drops per container-you don't need much.
Downy Fresh Fragrance Oil.
Here is my concentrated washing slime...It looks and feels funky, but works really well! This 5 gallon bucket is from one batch of soap and lasts my family of 6 almost a full year! If you make this for one person you might just make the powdered version.
Bucket of washing slime.
I line up all my containers-recycled laundry soap containers.
These are containers I saved from when I shelled out big bucks on laundry soap.
And get some water-since this is a concentrate, you use half soap and half water.
Pitcher of water
Then I get a funnel and start to fill them up, that simple!
Funnel to fill up laundry containers.
I get my ladle and scoop it in, it's like money in the bank! lol.
You can see how slimy it looks!
Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine
4 Cups - hot tap water 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar 1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* ½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full
of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well
until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water.
Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. -Stir and fill a used, clean,
laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way
with water. Shake before each use. (will gel) -Optional: You can add 10-15 drops
of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas:
lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil. -Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. -Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads) -Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)
*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
Homemade Powdered Laundry Soap- top load machine
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar 1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda* ½ Cup Borax -Grate soap or break into pieces
and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For
light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2
Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)
*Arm & Hammer "Super Washing Soda" - Baking Soda will not work, nor will Arm & Hammer Detergent - It must be sodium carbonate!!
Save money on groceries by making a menu. This is so simple and a great way to save money on food. If you run out of ideas ask your kids! Need a recipe? Go to All Recipes on the internet.
How long should your menu be for? I usually 2 weeks or sometimes a month, it depends on when you get paid and how much room you have to store the food. Don't forget to "shop" in your freezer, cupboard and pantry when making your money saving menu.
I also try to combine ideas with sales, for example if cheese, pasta and tomatoes are on sale I might make spaghetti, macaroni, chili mac, tacos.
This is a great way to use leftovers as well, make chili and use the leftovers for chili mac.
A great way to make a meal go further is to add bread or potatoes. Baked potatoes topped with leftovers! Healthy, affordable and delicious!
So with the arrival of Baby Girl comes the opportunity to nurse her and hold her. Unfortunately, sometimes I have other things to do besides nurse and hold Baby Girl. So I started looking for a carrier I can use that won't kill my back, is comfortable for Baby Girl and I can nurse in.
I have a Moby Wrap from Little Pumpkin, but I can't comfortably nurse with it-I know, some women can, but I was struggling.
I have a couple of other carriers-one is for older children and one is for infants-but Baby Girl doesn't care for it, it kills my back, and I can't nurse her in it.
I was able to discreetly nurse for this photo.
Then I found the Ergo....what a wonderful carrier! Fits all 3 of my needs and more! With the infant insert Ergo can carry a baby as small as 7 lbs. up to 15 lbs., then you take out the insert and you can carry up to a 45 lb. child. It is a bit pricey, but totally worth it! After I bought mine I checked ebay and found out they are WAY cheaper there! As low as $75 New In Box!!!
The shoulder straps are SUPER padded. The carrier material is really strong and durable. It comes with a hood, and it is super easy to modestly nurse-no one can tell when I am nursing! The Ergo comes in a variety of colors, I have an olive green one and a khaki colored one.
I bought 2-one for Baby Girl and one for Little Pumpkin.
I can carry Little Pumpkin on my back AND Baby Girl in front---oh my!
Little Pumpkin and Baby Girl both love it! I carried Baby Girl 3 hours while shipping last week-no problem, she ate, slept and smiled...then repeated! When we were done my mom asked if Baby Girl needed to eat, I told her she already did-twice! I told you no one can tell!
So go on over to ebay and buy one-they make a great shower gift too!
If you can't find what you want there check out all the choices at the Ergo website---SWOON!
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