*He Speaks*

Nathan loves to "talk". No, he doesn't speak words quite yet, but he sure loves to use his voice for laughing, giggling, yawning, sneezing, smiling, and most of all cooing. It's just so cute, I have to share with you! Check out his video below.

*hugs*
Roxanne :)

They're here!

Nathan's new cloth diapers are here!! Aren't they so cute! :)

I got them all washed up and ready to wear, so at his next diaper change, we put his first one on! I think he really loves the soft feel of the fabric. Even though pampers are quite soft, nothing quite compares to the real deal. :)

As soon as I got it on him he was just'a'kicking and'a'punchin like crazy! His arms are in the 'fencing' pose. His pediatrician pointed it out at his 2-month check up that it was a very good sign he was 'fencing'. I think it has something to do with their sense of balance.

We have about 10 pair of cloth diapers. As soon as I start getting paychecks again (mid-March), I will probably buy a few more just to have on hand. We're not totally writing off the disposables though. I will put them on him for night time and day care will have them as well. I don't want them to make extra laundry than necessary if they change him and he's hardly wet. I'm also not going to make the Grandma's (or Debbie who's helping before my mom can take over) go cloth, so they will have disposable as well. Unless, of course, they WANT to give the cloth a try...I won't object.

It's really easy. Here is my plan of attack:

Wets: Wet cloth diapers get tossed into a reusable bag to be taken down to laundry every other day.

Soils: Soiled cloth diapers vary. Breastmilk #2 is water soluable, so you just have to get the excess off and the rest will clean just fine in the laundry. If it's really soiled, I have pink kitchen gloves to wear as I carefully swish the soil into the potty, then the diaper can go in the reusable bag for laundry. If it appears stained, my cousin told me to mix up a 1/2 cup baking soda, a 1/2 cup peroxide and 1 cup hot water, and let it soak. So I spared a tupperware container and set it in the bathroom so we're all set and ready!

I'm sure some of you may think I'm crazy for going cloth, but I really don't feel like it's that much more work. It makes me feel good about my baby's bum and the environment. Just call me domesticated... :)

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

Saving Money by going homemade!

Being on maternity leave these past 11 weeks has shown me that I can (and need to) save money in new ways; to find corners to cut and normalcies to challenge.

My favorite website right now is Etsy.com Everything on here is homemade. Every seller makes the goods they sell. I love this idea! I love homemade and handmade goods. There is so much love put into these items and so much to be said for the homemaker, too. I LOVE YOU, homemakers, and I strive to follow in your footsteps as I slide back into my full-time job in a few weeks.

Here are my favorites:

Baby Carrying I met a gal in my hometown who makes slings. Her business is called Keep Your Baby Close. The link is to her Etsy shop. I bought a ring sling from her, she gave me a pouch sling, with which I figured out how to sew my own pouch sling! I know these are repeats, but here is Nathan in his two slings. I have yet to photograph the new sling I made. I also am going to make another one, so once I'm completely done, I'll post pics of our new slings!



Cloth Diapers While I actually haven't gotten to give these a try quite yet, I am very much looking forward to when my cloth diapers arrive. The kind I purchased (on Etsy) are called KCK One. That stands for Kayla's Cloth Kits One size fits all. They are amazing and fit babies 8lbs. to 40 lbs. I bought from two sellers on Etsy. Purple Ducks and BabyBelle. Below is a diagram of these diapers. Also, on Kayla's Cloth Kits website there is a You tube Video show how the diapers work.

I did buy some plain colors, too, but I just HAD to have this camo and skulls one! The cloth diaper also is a great swim trunk, so no need to buy little swimmers. sorry kimberly-clark!

Homemade Laundry Detergent I did buy some from a seller on Etsy, Crunchy Clean, but then I started doing my own research. After all, The Duggars make their own laundry detergent and say it saves so much money, so why shouldn't I give it a try. Well I did and I am SO glad!!! It is SO easy, people, SO easy!!! Not only is it easy, but it's gentle on all clothes, for all skin types, but it will clean up #2 diapers really good as well.

The mathematics come out to about 30cents per load when I use one cap per load of the 64oz bottle of Tide VS 2 to 3cents per load when I use 2tbsp of my homemade powdered detergent.

Here are some websites that I found helpful when doing my research.
10 Recipes This is the one where I formulated my version of the recipe.... keep reading for my recipe!
The Family Homestead
The Simple Dollar


My recipe:


1 bar Ivory soap, grated
1 cup Borax (20 mule team)
1 cup Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)
1/2 cup Baking Soda (Arm & Hammer)
1/2 cup Oxy Clean

USE 2 TBSP PER LOAD, 3 TBSP FOR A REALLY DINGY LOAD.

I added the Oxy Clean cuz I had read it in one of the website while doing my research. It has good soil removing properties which will help fight off #2's and coolant from Tom's work clothes. (of course his work clothes are washed seperately from our clothes and Nathan's) The websites I linked above referred to a bar soap called Fels Naptha. I couldn't find that in my stores here, but one of the websites also said Ivory or Pure and Natural soap work great too.

The Container. I found a 1-gallon glass jar (earth friendly as it is not plastic!) and kept repeating the measurements of ingredients until the container was full to my content.

The Test. I washed our loads of laundry....clothes and towels....in my new homemade powdered laundry detergent and they came out fresh and clean!!! I'm so proud and so happy this is going to save us a TON of money!!

The Stainfighter. My cousin and I have been sharing a lot of this lately. She is on her trial of cloth diapering her son, and now she is going to make her own laundry detergent. She shared her recipe for a Stainfighter with me and said it works great to get really big #2's out of cloth diapers. Soak in the solution for 3-4 hours, then launder as usual. She did this and couldn't even tell the diaper has ever been soiled, nor did any of the colors run!

1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
1 cup hot water


Do you have a homemade recipe or any tips/tricks of the trade? I would LOVE to hear them!!!

*hugs*
Roxanne :)

Nathan's Valentine/10wk pictures

I know the traditional is to do 3-month pictures, but I figure by then we will have Easter pics, so I took advantage of the Valentine's Day holiday! I have to say, my son is quite the charmer :) He loves to smile, and does so more with bigger smiles at home, but these little sly smiles give you just enough of a look into his little personality. Nathan is so full of love!

Our little angel for Valentine's Day.

*hugs*

Nathan :)

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All Good Things Must Come to an END

My maternity leave is coming to an END. I have loved being home with Nathan, becoming a mother, learning about him; his little cries, whines, and the noises he makes when he nurses, even the grunts when he sleeps. I've falled totally and utterly in love with this precious child the Lord has given to me. I've always worked full-time, and thought of myself as a sort of 'business woman' since earning my Bachelor's degree. Now that going back to work on March 2nd is coming so close, I now look at myself as a 'business-mom-woman'. As much as I'd love to stay home with Nathan, we just can't afford the missing salary....we've got bills to pay, and Nathan can't quite meet my salary requirements. He's a strict boss, I tell ya! heehe :)

Our plans for Nathan's daily care when I go back to work has been that the Grandma's would share the week taking care of him. At first didn't want any Grandma's to have to be daycare person plus Grandma, because it's not fair to their right to spoil the kids as Grandma's are supposed to do. Well, the price of full-time daycare convinced us otherwise, but I've recently found an option that will work!

Back up for a second... Tom's parents have offered since day 1 to help watch Nathan for the first year. While they love their grandson, we want to be sure they can enjoy him fully, and taking care of a baby in their 70s is much different than taking care of a baby in their 30s-50s. In addition, my mom is turning 60 next month, and with my dad's health rapidly declining, she's got him to take care of as well. Basically the Dr said he would very soon need Adult day care. Long story, don't want to get into it, very emotional...

So I began my search for daycare centers with any possible openings next month. I called 3 places nearby home here and all 3 had openings. One was full-time only, one was Mondays & Fridays only, and the 3rd is a flexible schedule... so full-time or part-time, and any combo of days. That's KinderCare, and my friend Julia has been taking her 3 kids there for a while now and they love it.

I had a chance to tour the place the other night and fell in love. They can not only give Nathan wonderful care, but provide him with developemental toys, games, kids, and so much it blew me away! Their secruity is top-notch so I don't have to worry about my child being kidnapped. I am really excited for Nathan to have this wonderful experience and I know he will really thrive by going there. The Center Director just had her baby girl on Nov 20th, so she and Nathan are only 2 weeks apart. I think the babies will learn a lot from watching eachother, and growing up together. Look out baby girls, another girlfriend for Nathan! :)

*hugs*
Roxanne :)

Tom's 37th Birthday

We had a fun-filled weekend for Tom's birthday. Friday night we spent the night in at home, then Saturday night we went to our friend's J & Nikki's house to watch the UFC fight, and Sunday (his bday) we went to our friend's Greg & Lisa's house for a Super Bowl party, then Monday Tom took the day off of work and we had a fun day running errands and strolling the mall.

Tom said he really had a great birthday weekend and he didn't want to go back to work today. He wanted to stay home with Nathan and I, and let me tell you.... I would have loved to have him, but.... bills must be paid, so back to work he went.

Tom's friend Greg has this life-sized Brett Favre decal on his wall in his basement "man's room".

....and we thought Nathan was the perfect football! He didn't think that it was very funny at all.

Our trip to the mall on Monday was fun and relaxing. You wouldn't believe how empty the mall is during the week in the middle of the day. It's so great!

Nathan was so cute riding around in his car seat attached to the stroller, but shortly after this last picture, he said "enough-is-enough" and I popped him in the pouch sling and he instantly fell asleep. Sweet baby!

Until next time....

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

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Nathan at 2 months

I can't believe my baby boy is 2 months old! You know the saying how time flies, and boy does it ever!!! Nathan has changed so much over the past 2 months. He's very alert, loves to move his arms and legs, he's learning and growing everyday. We just love him so much. It's so fun to get him smiling and encourage him with baby push-ups.

And then Theo got in on the fun!

We've been enjoying some time outside the house. There are days that it is brutely cold outside, so we stay in on those days, but we've also been enjoying meeting up with other mom's and babies at Mom and Pop Place downtown Neenah. We meet there with a breastfeeding group and a baby wearing group. I've really loved wearing Nathan in a sling. We first started with the ring sling, but Nathan is so small he kept scrunching down too far over a period of time wearing him. So now we are using a pouch sling. I feel like a mama kangaroo with my little bundle in my front pouch! Here's Nathan in his oh-do-adorable shirt that makes me look at him like a big boy. I just love these colors on him. He's such a ham!

Tomorrow (Wed) is Nathan's 2-month check-up at the doctors. This is the appointment that he gets like 6 shots. :( I'm already so worked up about the shots and I'm not even the one getting them. I know I can handle shots in my own arm, but my precious little baby has no idea the little needle will only sting for a second. Tom's coming with, like he has for all Nathan's appointments, and I already told him he's going to be the one to hold Nathan when he gets the shots because I will probably be a wreck. Then I'll cuddle him afterwards..... Mommy to the rescue!

I've got more pictures to post from Tom's birthday, so on to my next post! Yeah TWO in one day! hehhee :)

*hugs*

Roxanne :)

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