Being Thrifty Results in Pure Awesomesauce

Literally, I made this Awesomesauce

That, my friends, is 128 loads worth of laundry for a buck fiddy. ($1.50)

Our last trip to the commissary was exhausting... excruciating actually.  Everything is just getting freaking expensive, and well, we're not gonna take it!  At least, not if we can help it which in this case we can :-)

I saw the idea on Pinterest first, and it linked to here. Read that in detail if you want to know the process, cause I'm too lazy (read as nap time is almost over) to type it all out myself.  I will say this, while it was very easy to make, you do have to follow the instructions TO THE LETTER.  Don't cut corners, don't try to use different sized mason jars, don't try to substitute ingredients, don't get impatient.  It takes time, but it was oh so worth it!

The initial cost IS more than $1.50.  I already had quart sized mason jars, but had to buy a full box of Borax, and Washing Soda, and the bar of Fels Naptha.  BUT all those things are super cheap, and the next few times I make the stuff I will only need to buy the Fels Naptha at a whopping 97 cents.

Here's the best part, the stuff works AWESOME!  Seriously, whites whiter, colors brighter, all that crap Tide tries to tell you in their commercials!  It gets the stains out of my cloth diapers better, it is super gentle, and doesn't have a strong smell (even though it totally stunk up my kitchen and made my eyes water while it was on the stove).  It works by just putting one spoonful of the stuff right in the drum of my HE machine with the clothes. 

Easy Peasy, Super Cheap, Win.

My mom thinks I'm crazy...

...and so does my Grandma.  Meanwhile, my best friend is cautiously optimistic, and also a little shocked.

This is the part where you ask why... brace yourself.













I cut up my wedding dress. 

Yup this beautiful gown right here:

is now this:

I might be starting to panic just a little bit, damn you Pinterest!

After looking through hundreds of pictures of Baptism gowns that cost an arm and a leg, and not being able to resign myself to our little girl being in the super simple "boy" gown that my son wore, I fell into a great re-purposing craft.  Turn your wedding gown into a baptism gown for your daughter.  So many "pinners" had wonderful things to say:

"my MIL did this with hers, she made 3, one for each of her kids and all mine have been baptised in it...so special and a great hereloom (sp?)"

"We did this-I cut up my wedding dress and made her Baptism gown out of it. Pretty awesome. Yes, my dress still can be used-I cut the train off."

You can see more of the beautiful girlyness HERE

It's not like I'm ever going to wear it again right?  Plus, as an event planner I do not live in a world where I actually think there's a flying pigs chance my daughter will want to wear my old, outdated, "Mom, was that ACTUALLY popular back when dinosaurs roamed" gown.  I wore my mothers veil and we will save that for Evelyn, meanwhile the baptism gown can be another heirloom.  Genius!


Did I mention I've yet to sew any clothes at all on the my first sewing machine I've only owned for 6 months... Oh, AND I have no pattern, I'm designing that too.

Stay tuned for updates and more pictures as this process moves forward.  I think I'll have at least three emotional breakdowns between now and May 26th.  Luckily I have a good sewing support network to help me out.

Joe is TWO

How on earth does this...

...become THIS

Time has gone by WAY too fast!!!  None the less, we celebrated our little mans 2nd birthday over the last couple of weeks.  With a birthday that's only 4 days after Christmas we tend to wait until after the new year for the party, and just have a small family lunch to celebrate the day.  This year Mamaw and Pop were here to celebrate at the family lunch with us.  We went to IHOP and let Joe eat all manner of junk food (However since he already had chocolate milk, and chocolate pancakes with whipped cream, we politely declined the free birthday ice cream.  I only felt it fair to not make him throw up on his birthday)

We had Mickey Balloons and his Mickey Party Hat from his first birthday still fit.  Then after eating we opened presents :-)  He got an LSU Shirt and nightlight from Mamaw and Pop, and a Mickey movie from Mommy and Daddy.  We even got baby sister, Evelyn in the party spirit and dressed her to match!

Then last Saturday we had his birthday party with friends.  The theme was Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  My cousin designed these AMAZING invitations for him (Which obviously didn't say "whoosh" that's a privacy screen)

We had a play dough table, opened presents, and generally just let the kids have fun.  All the treat bags had a train whistle, car stickers, and an airplane cookie in them.

Here is the Cake with all the treat bags behind it.

 

I lined up PBJ's(in the club car), pretzles & raisins(in the lumber & coal cars), & fruit(in the produce car)

Joe playing with all his friends....

...and opening presents

A good time was had by all!

Homeschool in T minus 11 hours

Well, it's starting!

After a year of downloading, Pinterest hunting, laminating, researching, and hard hard work, we start our home-school curriculum this week... tomorrow in fact!

I set up Joe's school corner this week so he could become accustomed to it being there and his toys being moved.  He's very pleased with himself and his new "Joe sized" table and chairs :-)  Here you can see him playing with his play dough.  The walls are still a little bare, that will change as we start to dig in to the curriculum.  He does have a calender hanging above his desk though, you just can't really see it in this picture.

 

Right now the goals are small and simple, they are also different than that of most two year olds because Joe is speech delayed.  Things can and probably will change rapidly once we get the communication "explosion".  We will do 1 hour of guided play per day, with a different letter of the alphabet being emphasized each week.  At the end of the alphabet circuit we will address his development and either repeat it again, or move up.  Right now these are our goals.

Be able to sing the Alphabet

Be able to count to 10

Increase attention span to 15 minute tasks or projects

Be able to follow 2 step directions

Be able to identify actions from pictures (ie. show me who is happy, who is sad?)

Be able to put two words together to express desires and emotions (i.e Drink Mommy or Go Byebye or I hurt)

Here's to the next chapter!

Wordless Wednesday

She's Here!

Well, little miss Evelyn made her way into the world about two weeks after my last post, making me a very busy mama!  She's now 5 and 1/2 weeks old, and the time has flown by!  I've been really taking the time to savor her infancy and feel like I appreciate much more than I used to how fast it goes.  She's a good sleeper, and nurses like a champ.  I'm feeling very blessed by those two things.  Below is her birth story, if you care to read it.  I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, if you're not interested you can skip to the bottom for pictures ;-)

She was born at the same hospital as our son, which is a bit rare when your in the military.  It was a case of perfect timing.  I really wanted to go into labor on my own and not need Pitocin like I did with Joe.  I'm not completely into natural birth (bring on the epidural!) although I have many friends who are and think they are women warriors, but I wanted spontaneous labor and to be able to actually dilate on my own.

My labor was textbook!  I started to notice more "real" contractions about a week before she was born, starting in about the 4 per hour range. The gradually got stronger, and then closer!  About 3 days before she was born I started to notice that in the evenings I would have a few hours where contractions were anywhere between 8 and 6 minutes apart.  Then one morning I woke up and the contractions were still 6-8 minutes apart.  This is when I realized I was getting close.  That afternoon during my sons nap I decided to take Sirius (our GSD) for a walk and see if I could move things along.  My Dr. had told me to go ahead and wait until I was about 4 minutes apart before coming in since we live a bit away from our hospital and she didn't want me to get sent home only to come back.  I loved my Dr., and she is the best OB/GYN I've ever seen, so I trusted that advice.  Rightly so :-)  My husbands re enlistment was that night anyway, and I wanted to witness the oath, so why not wait!  At the re enlistment his Lt. and another Petty Officer both commented about how I could go anytime.  They had no idea how right that was, that night active labor began!

I took a bath, breathed through a few difficult contractions, and went to bed.  I told my husband I needed an early bed time because at this rate I was going to need the rest.  At about 1am I woke him up and told him I was at about 4-6 minutes apart and we should head to the hospital!  When we got there I wasn't quite dilated enough, and the beds on the labor deck were full!  They still considered sending me home, but I knew it was time! So I told them I felt a trickle that might have been my water starting to break *wink*.  It sounds shady but I knew how things in this hospital ran, especially on a busy night.  It took them two hours of me sitting in triage to get someone to come do the exam to check, and by then they couldn't do it, because I was two minutes apart and couldn't hold still for them.  They HAD to admit me at that point, and I saved an extra two hours of driving and lowered my risk of giving birth in a tunnel.

I started in a bed elsewhere in the hospital so I could get my precious epidural, even thought the labor deck was still full.  I love epidurals, and even though my anesthesiologist was a "new guy" and had to try 3 sites and take 20 minutes getting it in, I was grateful!  I got about 3 hours of sleep before the show started.

For those of you that aren't familiar with the drill (no pun intended), in a military hospital it is rare your Doctor is the one who actually gets to deliver your baby.  It's just the nature of the beast, with duty shifts and other military responsibilities it's just not always possible.  I had a great and funny midwife there to catch my baby though.  Her bedside manner was unlike any I've experienced.  We had two conversations, the first went like this.

"Ok, I'm going to check and see where you're at.  You say you feel some slight pressure?"

Me: "Yes"

Her: "Ok, you're at a 10!"

Me: "Seriously" (I didn't feel the same pressure I did at a 10 with my son so I was a bit surprised)

Her: "Of course! I wouldn't joke about that! *grabs instrument with fancy name that is really just a giant crochet hook* Ready for me to break your water?"

Me: "Ok"

Her: "Oh! Nevermind!"

Me: "Ummmmm..."

She then left to call my Dr. in a last ditch effort to see if she would be able to catch my baby.  Sadly she could not.  So then my laid back and funny midwife came back.

Her: "So Dr. Love won't be able to be here"

Me: "That's fine"

Her: *Deafening silence*

Me: "Sooooo, should I push?"

Her: "Do you want to push?"

Me: "Ummmm, kind of?"

Her: "Ok then push"

Not exactly the 5 nurses running in a room with two doctors yelling push at me that I had with my son!  It was great, she let me go at my own pace and Evelyn came 4 contractions later, with me determining when to push every time.  My Dr. came running into the room 45 minutes later, bless her heart, and was surprised and proud my labor went so smoothly and quickly, but like she said, this wasn't "my first rodeo"  Besides.... look at the reward :-)

 

 

A Blog? Yeah... I have one of those, somewhere...

I don't really know why I stopped blogging.... Facebook took over all the social networking I seemed to have time for, and then Pinterest.  Oh!  How I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest!  Plus, it's just been a busy year!

So, starting with where we left off last year in the top left corner we have Joe in his first Halloween Costume.  He was MAX from Where The Wild Things Are, then we have the family picture we took for our Christmas card last year.  Of course, 3 days after our family picture we added to our family in the form of a black, German Shepherd Puppy  (Now, he's a 75lb horse, as opposed to a cute little fluff ball).  Joe had his first Christmas, then first Birthday (more about that in another post), then his first hair cut!  By the time March rolled around we found out we were expecting Baby #2!  Over the summer we kept a low profile due to the pregnancy and some minor complications, but did manage to squeeze in Joe's 18month pictures, a trip down to Louisiana, and a few belly pics!

Now with only 3 weeks to go until my due date I'm not sure it's the best time for me to be attempting to blog again.  It will either be a grand journaling opportunity or it will backfire horrifically!