Cheaper, Better Laundry Detergent

Have you ever wondered why you're paying so much for laundry detergent? I have. When I decided to use cloth diapers on Vance, I started reading up on how to wash them. I learned that I was going to have to switch detergents to find one safe for diapers and Vance's sensitive skin. After researching a good bit, I found it's almost necessary to switch all of your laundry to this type of detergent since you wouldn't want to add the unhealthy residue to his diapers by alternating detergents. That left me frustrated because I knew that I couldn't keep paying so much for detergent. Then, I found an awesome solution. It's called Charlie's Soap, and it comes highly recommended on several cloth diapering websites. The things I love about it are that it's inexpensive compared to what I've been spending, it's more natural, and it eliminates the need for fabric softener. You don't have to be a cloth diapering family to enjoy it either. To read more, go to Charlie's Soap. This is the page about the laundry detergent, but it's just called Charlie's Soap. They also sell all-purpose cleaner, which you can read about from a link on that page. Now that I'm living in the big city I am able to find this easliy. I went to a Whole Foods and purchased the detergent and the all-purpose cleaner after I read the website and testimonials. I made the detergent switch over the weekend when I finished my old detergent, and I can honestly recommend it to you. My clothes smell clean, and I'm also saving money.

If you're a liquid detergent kind of person, they also sell liquid. I opted for the powder since it's cheaper, and it's not like using other powder detergents since it's a fine powder and you only use 1 tbsp. That's right- one tablespoon.

One important note: Whole Foods sells the Charlie's Soap powder detergent (80 loads) for $9.00 ($.11 per load), which is $5.00 cheaper than the Charlie's Soap website...

If you like to buy in bulk, you can order from the Charlie's Soap website. I might end up buying the 12 gallon bucket, which does 1280 loads for $121 ($.09 per load). If anyone wants to split the bucket with me, let me know.

This doesn't apply to me, but if you have a front-loader, you can use Charlie's soap. It's front- loader/HE compatible.

Oh, and check out the all-purpose cleaner testimonials. Amazing...

It's in his genes...Poor guy!

Poor Samuel... I started talking in my sleep at Samuel's age, and then I started walking after that. This week Samuel started talking in his sleep. I went to bed one night and heard him say, "truck". It was just out of nowhere. I dismissed it thinking that I must be hearing things, but then Jeremy and I have heard it since then. Just today during his nap he said it again.

I'll tell you why I feel sorry for Samuel. Most of all it's because I most of my life I haven't gotten a good night's sleep because of it. I went to a doctor about it at one point and even had a sleep study done, but none of the medicine they prescribed worked. My neurologist went as far as to say that I would stop by the time I was 30. Jeremy and I think he was just trying to get me out of the door since he didn't have an answer for me. Thankfully, it has gotten a lot better since I had Samuel. I only walk and talk every once in a while, which is a huge improvement over every night...

I pray Samuel doesn't suffer like I did. I won't bore you with stories about walking and talking in my sleep, but I seriously could write a book about those dangerous and very embarrassing moments. If you ever want a good laugh, ask me to tell you some stories. Just remember that I only know what friends/family told me since I rarely remembered any of it.

(I could even tell you stories about my grandfather's walking and talking escapades. He even walked down the block to his grocery store one time. )

Wi-Fi Family Radio

This Wi-Fi Family Radio is now on my wish list. I love everything I read about it. For a one-time investment of $179, you can take Christian programming to the next level. I love the thought of our children growing up in a home that is always filled with the sounds of encouraging music, stories, and messages. This radio looks like a great way to make that happen! Check it out!

30 weeks

Today I had my 30 week appointment. All is well with my pregnancy. I wasn't surprised when the nurse midwife (that's going to deliver Vance) said that 2nd (and all subsequent) pregnancies are harder but with easier labor and delivery. I'm definitely more tired and uncomfortable than I was at 30 weeks with Samuel. I am READY for June 23 to get here!

I go back in two weeks, and I will let you know how that goes!

Vance is kicking me as I write this! He's definitely an active baby just like Samuel was. I am going to have my hands full!!!

So proud of my hubby!!!

Today my hubby made a wise decision to cancel the cable tv that we ordered almost two weeks ago. I could say it was because of all of the garbage on tv, but it was actually because we're trying to watch how we spend our money. There is a lot of garbage on tv, but my hubby was interested in sports. That is the hardest thing for a man to give up- live sports events. I, on the other hand, could take or leave cable. I was excited about On Demand for Samuel because they have cute cartoons for little kids, but that's not a big deal because he has videos that he can watch.

God working in mysterious ways??? Funny thing is that we ordered the cable almost 2 weeks ago, but they were unable to get it working for us. They were out here on Friday and then again on Saturday. I see it as God's way of giving us time to re-think our decision. Today I started thinking about how we could save that money each month, and I mentioned it to Jeremy. The cable guy was set to come back today to work on the problem, so we didn't have much time to call and cancel. I only mentioned it once to Jeremy, and before I knew it he said that he was going to call and cancel it. They didn't even give him a hard time when he called to cancel. (Before he called, he said to me that if he was going to cancel cable that I was going to have to quit buying unnecessary books and stuff at thrift/consignment stores. I agreed, so I guess both of us are going to sacrifice...)

I just wanted to say how proud I am of Jeremy. I know it wasn't an easy call to make, and I'm sure he's going to miss watching sports because we've always had cable (even in Honduras).
Once our house sells, we will probably reconsider our decision, but for now we will get used to life without cable. As I type this, Jeremy is reading a book we just bought called Heaven. It's by Randy Alcorn, and it was recommended to us by several people. Life without cable isn't so bad after all. Now if I can just put this computer down and pull out my book...

Counting and the ABCs

Samuel is learning to count to ten, and I'm going to post a video soon. He's counting to six without a problem. Sometimes he gets to seven. He knows nine too. I think he'll be counting to ten shortly. It's so cute!

He's also working on his ABCs. If you don't have Fridge Phonics, I highly recommend it. Samuel loves it, and it works! He carries it around the house while he sings along. Talk about funny...

I will post videos soon.

Stem Cells Discovered in Breastmilk

Here is an article that some of you might find interesting:

Stem Cells Discovered in Breastmilk

Wednesday night fun and games: Who does Samuel look more like???

Since I took a late nap before we went to church, I'm up and am having fun with myheritage.com
This is the first of 3 posts tonight. Enjoy!!!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Just for Fun: Our celebrity look-alikes

I went to MyHeritage and found a link at the top (Face Recognition) where you can upload a photo and find out who your celebrity look-alikes are. Here is what happened when I uploaded Jeremy's photo:



This makes me laugh!

Here is my collage:

Muffin recipe

This morning I made some muffins using a recipe I found on a blog. I am guilty of not writing down the name of that blog. If this is your recipe, thanks! Jeremy doesn't care for cinnamon sugar, which I think is the best part, so he passed. Samuel and I enjoyed them though! These muffins remind me of donuts. YUMMY!!!

Feather Light Muffins

1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening, sugar and egg. Combine the dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Fill greased muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Roll warm muffins in melted butter, then in sugar mixture. Serve warm.

Yields 8 to 10 muffins.

If you like consignment stores, consignment sales, or yard sales...

I just found this. I know some of you will be interested! I have found 2 consignment stores (with maternity clothes) I want to visit and 2 consignment sales this month. Fun, fun!!!

my "new love"

I never thought a high chair could make me so happy... Before Samuel was born, we bought a high chair by using a gift card I got at a shower. We loved the high chair, but we realized that our dining area was too tiny for it. My parents wanted to buy a high chair to have at their house, so we went ahead and gave them the high chair. We used a booster seat until now. Since Vance is on the way, I have been thinking more about wanting a high chair. I know some people don't want the bulky high chair in their eating area, but I love the flexibility of a high chair- being able to roll it wherever you want to use it, being able to fold it up if you don't need it, being able to use the large tray for puzzles, etc... when you want to clean the kitchen and don't want them wandering the house. I'm also happy that I will no longer use one of our dining chairs for the booster seat. We were always in search of a chair when company came since it occupied 1 of our 4 chairs.

Today I was at Babiesrus to buy Oh Mama bars for myself, and I noticed the high chair I just registered for was at the front of the store (a floor model) for 15% off. My parents had always said they would buy a high chair for us if we wanted one since they took the one we had, so I called my mom and shared the good news with her. I love this high chair. It's by Chicco, but it's not the most expensive one they make. It's got a huge tray with 2 extra trays that snap on and can't be unsnapped by your toddler. :) Its vinyl cushions can be wiped down easily. It's got 7 heights and 3 reclining positions. Tonight I had Jeremy lower it to the height of the table since Samuel was extremely interested in sitting in the "new high chair, " as he called it. I never thought he would want to sit in a high chair, but I guess he can for the next 8 months or so until Vance is on solids. Since we quit using a tray on the booster seat last week, I will just remove the high chair tray and push it up to the table. It doesn't take much to make me happy! Here's a photo of my "new love":

Let me take that back...

Ok. I know I said I was going to quit the blog , but I decided that I will just do it when I have time. That might be once a week or once a month, but something is better than nothing, right?

I wanted to put up a few photos since I finally uploaded them. I have videos too, but You Tube was giving me problems. I will figure that out tomorrow because I'm ready for bed.















Samuel eating what he calls Ma's cereal. He calls my mom "Ma", and this is the cereal that my mom eats. She fed it to him for the first time when I had the stomach bug. He's been hooked ever since. It's Honey Bunches of Oats, but I just buy the Publix brand.
















Samuel has decided that he loves cantaloupe. It doesn't hurt that we now live around the corner from a Publix, which always has good fruit! My mom will be happy to hear how much he loves cantaloupe, as I grew up eating it and have fond memories of my mom cutting it up for me. Wasn't that sweet of her? Now I have someone that I cut cantaloupe for. Actually, Jeremy cut this one up, so he's the sweetie!















This was taken on March 30 before church. Jeremy and Samuel snuggling on the couch. Samuel loves time with his daddy, and Jeremy enjoys every minute with Samuel! Let's not forget Bob the Builder. He is always with Samuel when we're at home. Bob is now on restriction and can't leave the house because he's so dirty. Samuel tries to sneak him to the car sometimes, but he is a good sport. I was shocked since he's such a Bob addict. If you could only see how dirty Bob is though! My dad bought him a new one for his upcoming birthday (the 27th of this month).















This was taken yesterday (April 1). I thought he looked adorable with his hands on his face like this. You would never know that he was being difficult. He didn't want to eat dinner, which was a turkey dog (bun, cheese, and all) and fruit. It took Jeremy taking out the camera and snapping many shots of him for him to eat. Jeremy told him to smile for so and so... It was a draining experience, but it worked. Nice thinking, Jeremy!