Embrace the Camera - 1/26/2012

I have been slacking in the embrace the camera department lately! I guess I have just been busy and Kayleigh is obsessed with looking at herself in the camera that she usually throws a little tantrum if I try to take a picture of her. How fun!

I did get a few in though and she is even smiling in a few! Check them out.

I do have to say that I was getting pretty hormonal and emotional about bringing another baby into the house. I mean, Kayleigh and I are buddies, would this baby ruin the good thing we have going? Well hormones have subsided and I am happy to say that I cannot wait for this baby to come. I think YES, the new baby will change a lot of things but for the better. I will have two buddies to play with and they can play with each other.

For now, I am just enjoying these last few weeks with the little girl who makes me smile everyday. She is so intelligent, funny and sweet and I am so blessed to be able to stay at home and watch her make new discoveries or pronounce a new word every day. She is getting more and more independent. Wanting to feed, dress, bathe and do everything herself. So looks like this is a perfect time to bring a new little someone into the family!

Two more pics I want to share with you. During our photo shoot, LMFAO's "I'm sexy and I know it" came on and Kayleigh loves the wiggle part. So here is my little precious girl wiggling.

Look what I can do!!!

So, as most of you know, I am completely obsessed with the Duggar family. I think it's because I have always dreamed about having WAY too many kids but I now see that it probably won't happen. I think three or four will be it for us. Anyways, I once saw an episode where they made their own laundry soap. I was so intruiged but too scared to try it out myself eventhough they made it seem sooooo easy. 

Well my friend Marie did try it and said it was super easy and also was comparable to All Free and Clear. Now I had no excuse! I mean if another stay at home mom could do it then I could too right? If you would like to see Maries post about making laundry soap check it out since it probably way better than my post: Marie's Laundry Soap Story

So the first thing Dan and I did was save all of our milk jugs. Fun fact about our family: We drink WAY too much milk. We had about ten gallon jugs saved in just a little over a week. So then it was my job to grab all the stuff you need to make the detergent.

• Borax - $2.50
• Arm and Hammer Washing Soda - FREE!
• Fels-naptha bar - FREE!
• Funnel - $.99
• 5 gallon bucket - $2.50
• Optional: Fragrance Oil - $0.00

Now I could have written this blog post a while ago but I was having a hard time finding the Fels-naptha bar and Arm and Hammer washing soda. I know I saw it in Giant Eagle and Marcs so the conspiracy theorist in me came out and I concluded they no longer sell these in stores because so many people are buying the ingredients to make their own detergent. You lose stupid supermarkets!!! Luckily I was able to buy the ingredients off amazon and I was able to use my swagbucks so they were free!! 

If you would like to check out swagbucks, basically a program where you get paid to search, go here: CHECK IT OUT!

So my out of pocket total was $5.99. Still cheaper than most detergents out there on the market. Especially those without fragrance or dyes. So lets get onto how you make this stuff shall we?

1. Take the Fels-naptha bar and grate the whole thing. Dan and I both shared this task and it takes a little elbow grease. 

2. Put the grated soap into a pot with 4 cups of hot water. Stir continuously until there are no clumps.

3. Fill your 5 gallon bucket with hot water

4. Pour the soap mixture into the 5 gallon bucket

5.  Add 1 cup of Arm and Hammer washing soda and 1/2 cup of Borax

6. Stir! 

7. Fill the rest of the bucket with water and stir again 

8.Cover and let sit overnight. If you are a procrastinator with a husband who works insane shifts...make that 3 nights. oops.

After letting it sit it will congeal slightly so stir really well. Then take a gallon jug, empty laundry detergent bottle, etc, and fill it HALF way with the soap mixture. Fill the other half with water and shake well.

When you are ready to use your detergent, shake well and add the following to a load of laundry:

-5/8 cups for a regular top-loading machine
-1/4 cup for a front-loading (HE) machine

So now I have all this fragrance and dye free laundry soap which will come in very handy for the new little addition arriving in a few weeks who may have sensitive skin. Way more cost efficient than Dreft, which by the way is the most fragrant detergent to me. Are they all smoking the wacky tobaccy when they claim it is fragrance free??? So we paid about six dollars for roughly seven and a half gallons of laundry detergent. It took us about an hour total, making the stuff and then dividing it into the gallon jugs. NOT BAD!! It will be even cheaper next time since all I will have to get is the Fels-naptha bar.

I have done a few loads of laundry and have noticed no difference except the lack of fragrance. I know this is better for me and my family but I do LOVE my laundry smelling like chemicals so I may do the fragrance oils next time.

35 Weeks and counting!

So I am hoping to get a picture of me all pregnant and whatnot although most people tell me I do not look 9 months pregnant. Whatever, I am, I hold babies well I guess. Here is what is new:

- Total weight gain so far is 19 lbs! Despite eating loads of oreos, chocolate, ice cream and cup cakes...I am not in a diabetic coma or about to go on half-ton pregnant mom of one...coming to a reality channel near you.

- I have shortness of breath like you wouldn't believe! It makes people who talk to me on the phone not believe that I am about to go into a diabetic coma or that I am not a half-ton pregnant mom of one...

- I am 100% ready for this little bundle of joy. All her clothes are ready, car seat, bouncer and swing. Everything is clean and waiting for a little baby. Oh wait, except for the diaper bag I have to pack for her. Hint, Hint; Nudge, Nudge.

- I have sciatica...is that how you pronounce or spell it? Apparently I am also extremely lazy since I can just google it but choose not to. Basically I have this sharp pain that shoots down my lower back and into my upper thigh. My doctor assures me it will get worse...thanks doc?? 

- Sleeping is OK. I just feel like I just can't get enough of it! Like before I was put on thyroid meds. I could sleep for 18 hours and be happy...wake up and want to go back to sleep. Motivation and production around here is at an all time LOW.

- Heartburn - let me just say my child knows what tums are...she calls them "mommys tums!" That's sad.

Other than that I am feeling pretty good. Everyone was right, being prego with a toddler is totally different. You don't have time to rest, nap, eat. I'm pretty pumped though and would do it all over again so I guess that's all that matters.

BTW, how is that little toddler of mine? I feel like the new baby is ALREADY stealing her spotlight. Well, for any of you that know our little princess that is pretty much impossible. I guess I will give you some updates on her.

- She now talks in complete sentences. I actually have conversations with her now which is pretty cool. She can tell me what she ate, did, what hurts etc. The downside of this is that she talks all the time! Her new favorite phrases are "Mommy will do it" "Daddy fix it" "What is it" "I do." Pretty much any command is her new favorite phrase. With vocabulary came bossiness apparently.
- I am at a loss as to what to do with her now a days. She has mastered her alphabet (I wrote a post on that earlier, she was about 18 months), she knows all her numbers and colors and most of her shapes. She can identify every animal out there and what noise they make. I have no idea how she does it I am convinced someone is teaching her in the middle of the night. I know they say babies are like sponges but it is amazing to watch her learn something new everyday! I am very blessed to be able to stay home with her. I have also been scouring the internet for activities to keep that sponge soaking up knowledge!
- She is 100% OBSESSED with Disney princesses. We watch the movies pretty much daily now and she loves taking all her figurines and making them dance in the barn daddy got her for Christmas. She uses it as if it were a stage and all the figurines face eachother and dance...seriously...where does she come up with this stuff?

So I think that is all for now. She amazes us everyday and we are so happy she is part of our lives and can't wait to see what little Riley brings! Kayleigh is absolutely in love with her baby dolls and changes their diapers, feeds them and does everything else a good mommy should so I am hoping this will be an easy transition. Until next time....

Yay Homeschooling!

Now that I got you all to come visit my blog...totally should have monetized this thing before I made that my title...but anyways, I just want to say I am in no way currently planning on homeschooling my children. So family and friends who are like...wtf is Megan doing now, you can all relax. Just in case you were all wondering, Dan and I are checking out a few Catholic schools in the neighborhood and we hope to harvest all the money from our money trees out back to pay for tuition (since I know that will be a question from some folks out there when they read this).

WAIT...what? Your tree's don't supply you with endless amounts of money. Don't worry! I just jotted down that I have got to write a blog about where I get my money tree seeds from. For those interested don't hold your breath though...I can't see a dinky blog about money trees bringing many readers so I will probably never get to it.

So, when did homeschooling become the "IN" thing to do? Seriously, I met a few people in Buffalo who home schooled but it seems like it is an epidemic in the midwest! Now, I am sure there are many readers out there that wouldn't even give homeschooling a second thought. I mean, I know. I was one of those people. Before I got pregnant, I was never going to breastfeed. I mean, why bother when there is formula right? Well after some research, and some help from support groups and lactation consultants, I exclusively nursed my first child for 11.5 months and plan to nurse the second for longer if possible! It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I am so happy I was open minded about it. Then the minivan. Friends and family probably have plaques on their walls about how I would rather "insert horrible morbid comment here" than drive a minivan. Guess what? My husband and I now have a minivan and love it! Bottomline...everything changes when you become a parent...especially your opinions about being a parent since you have no idea what you are talking about until you deal with the little hellions yourself. It's fun looking in from the outside and judging...but then it happens to you...and you realize that person you were judging was actually doing a great job!

So...back to my original subject...homeschooling. Sorry for the ADD folks. I just wanted to jot down some pros and cons that I can see. I am of course an outsider so any homeschooling moms out there I would love your input! These are just a few pros and cons that I have jotted down and I plan to write a follow-up on them. I just wanted to see what input I received first before I dove directly into a heaping pile of you don't know what you are talking about.

Pros:

• Spending Time with your kids
• One on one attention -Even if you have 7 kids, that's a 7:1 ratio!
• No Bullying
• You can actually control what goes in your kids food...for real
• You can go on vacation anytime
• Cheaper than Private school!!

Cons:

• Socialization 
• Different Perspectives
• The teacher (parent) has to be disciplined and very organized
• Learning to deal with different personalities and difficult situations
• How broad will the curriculum be?
• What if you're not a teacher??

So there we go folks. I guess I just wanted to talk about something that is becoming more and more popular but is something most people don't even give the time of day as an option.  Breastfeeding and minivans have taught me that everything is an option when it comes to kids. After all, I probably will never have a Buick enclave but I still research the heck out of them just for fun. I guess that's what you can call this...

Oh Christmas Tree!

 So Dan and I had a blast decorating our tree this year and we left a few princess ornaments for Kayleigh to put on the tree. She wasn't overly enthusiastic since trees are a big "no-no." Her friend Pipers tree had been up for a few weeks and she learned not to go near them...so needless to say she was a bit confused.

"I'm sorry you now WANT me to touch the tree??"

Daddy trying to show her it's ok...

"You crazy...here you touch the tree and deal with Mommy's wrath."

 Now, I wanted my little girl to enjoy decorating the tree so I decided to take a project I found on pinterest.com and make a fun felt Christmas tree for her.

It was a hit! Dan and I both made the tree and ornaments. She played with it for days, even weeks and it kept her busy so I could attend to some other important matters....like finding more stuff on pinterest. Seriously, that site is dangerous!

Also, in case you didn't know, the ornaments can also act as "clothes" for baby dolls. She did this herself and spent hours covering the baby's different body parts. It was very cute.

Where have I been???

WOW! I have been busy. Sorry folks, I got caught up with the holidays and this whole being pregnant thing. So I hope you all enjoyed your holidays. We are looking forward to 2012 being an awesome year. We are expecting our second baby, a little girl, and we are planning to name her Riley Niamh. How is the baby doing? Well, at my last appointment (which was like a month ago, but I was distracted, remember?) everything was normal. I have a glucose level of 110, which the doctor said was perfect. Now, the only reason I am bringing this up is because my diet lately has consisted of oreos, pepsi and other chocolate products. It's actually very scary. My doctor said it was normal though and even though I am eating absolute crap, I do not have gestational diabetes. Hopefully she says the same thing at tomorrows appointment. Now, isn't eating all that junk just packing on the pounds for ya, you ask. Well actually no, at my last appointment I had only gained twelve pounds total. So I got the green light to continue indulging in my bad habits. Thanks doc!

This baby is wayyyy more active than Kayleigh ever was. I am also out of breath a lot because she is sitting so high. I admit, I told my husband the other day I was done being pregnant. It's just not as easy being pregnant when you have a toddler to run after. Don't worry though! This doesn't mean this baby is the last, I still want at least one more afterwards. I am just done with this one.

So here is a recap of the holidays. We had a WONDERFUL time with family and hope all of you did as well. A few things we did this holiday:

We visited the Cleveland Botanical Gardens for their Christmas Wintershow. It was very nice. We saw over a dozen themed decorated trees, gingerbread houses and then we got to explore the gardens themselves. They have an indoor area with ducks, insects and small animals so Kayleigh was in heaven. Oh, I also got our tickets on Groupon and basically paid for only one adult instead of two! Score!!

"Look at all these trees!"

"That snowman is just my size!"

Checking out La Cucarachas!

This is her sitting for one second to get a picture....

Trying to see the ducks...

You should always stop to smell the flowers!

 

We also had a very busy and hectic Christmas. We had eight people stay at our house bringing the grand total of people actually staying here to eleven. Holy crap that is a lot of people. It all worked out though. One of the things I wanted to share with everyone was when Kayleigh made Christmas cookies with her Kiki (Grandmother). I need this cookie recipe because it was absolutely amazing! Kayleigh had such a fun time rolling out the dough, playing with the flour, eating the sprinkles and icing the cookies!

So I wanted Kayleigh to taste the frosting and this was her reaction....lol

That's all for now!