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We've been working with Dani on a project for school for Black History Month. We found this while proofreading.
We also fixed it, but not before I died laughing on the floor.

Laundry Soap

Along with my recent endeavor into coupon shopping and building a stockpile, I made my own liquid laundry detergent. There are several recipes floating around on the internet and even some for powdered, if that is what you prefer. This is the one I used.
1 bar Fels Naptha Soap. It is located in the laundry aisle. I really like how it smells. Grate this.

Add it to 12 cups of water, heat and stir over medium heat until the soap melts.

While it melted, I put 1 1/2 cups of Borax, and 1 1/2 cups of washing soda into a 5 gallon bucket. These are also both found in the laundry aisle.

This is your melted soap. It is yellow because the soap itself is yellow. You can use other types of soap, Ivory was the most substituted in what I read.

Add your melted soap and 8 more cups of hot water into the bucket. Stir this until the Borax and washing soda are dissolved. Then add 12 cups, and 2 more gallons of water. I added cold and it seemed to gel instantly with the temperature change. I'll try adding warm water next time. Stir, and stir, and stir some more. I also used a whisk to break up a lot of the clumps. I was literally elbow deep in laundry det.

Let it sit for 24 hours before you use it so that it will gel appropriately. I whisked several times in this 24 hour period. You use 1/2 cup per load and 1 cup for large loads. It is low sudsing so it is safe for HE machines.

This made a little more than 3 gallons for me and it should last me 6 months. I have lots of the Borax and washing soda left to make more batches when I run out. I refilled old detergent bottles that I had kept for this purpose. I did notice that it tends to separate as it sits, so I give the bottle a real good shake to remix it. I may fill up another container halfway so this shaking is a little easier. I am suffering from Tennis Elbow from schlepping around the Squirt so anything weight bearing is a little painful.

If you want a different scent, you can add essenstial oils. 1/2 oz. to 1 oz. depending on what you like. I'm wondering about getting some lemon grass so that it will help detract mosquitoes.

I calculated the cost that it took me to make. Based on what I used of the ingredients, not including the water, it was $2.00 to make just one batch. That works out to .02/load.

This was a lot of fun as I enjoy doing things like this. I am really enjoying this frugal lifestyle that I started. Do me a favor though, when I start cleaning and reusing zip top bags, have me committed, K?

Transition

It's official. 75% of our household is in school. E's online class started this week. My classes are in full swing. Dani just brought home a good report card. Yay!!

I'm trying my best to make the transition easier for all of us. Tues. and Thurs. nights are slow cooker nights. I'm trolling sites like here and here for ideas. Before I leave for school in the morning, I put dinner in the crock pot. This leaves me time in the afternoon to catch a nap if a certain smallish person in our house doesn't let me sleep through the night. We have been working ahead in Dani's homework on the weekends and on non karate nights so that she has some extra free time. E's routine is very flexible as his class is online and he can check in several times a week.

Speaking of transitions, the Squirt is growing, still. I know, right? He will be 5 months old on Monday. I had to start moving him up to 6mos. clothing. I think it is more in his height. I've also realized that he doesn't like wearing pants. I think that they may be too tight on his waist. So we have a lot of diaperless time, or as the wildly cute newest internet term in the Nicky noo-nah!! Love it.

And lastly, I had to give him a suppository today. He hadn't pooped in 5 1/2 days. Now, I am really perplexed in this. He only gets a formula bottle four times a week. Two each day that he is at the sitter. He has decided that anything that is not milk, he hates. So, we have had no cereal. Only in the last day or so have I introduced juice because I am desperate to get things moving, so to speak. Right after I administered the suppository, I sat him on the toilet and he did go. So, at least some of the pressure is off. Oddly enough he hasn't exhibited any signs of discomfort over the past week. So, I am guessing he wasn't in pain, but I thought that 5 days was a little excessive.

Otherwise, things are good. I have pictures to post of my homemade laundry soap making experiment. My class load isn't too bad. I'm sleeping better. Dani is awesome. I have an amazing husband. I'm really happy.

Wow.... I'm REALLY happy.

For real.

This post sucks

What's the point of having a baby that sleeps through the night if he doesn't sleep through the night?

I don't know what is wrong with him.

Maybe its because his quilt needs to be washed so he didn't get to sleep with it the past 2 nights? See previous post and the bullet referring to the Puke Bath I was subjected to. Maybe he doesn't like being swaddled anymore so he has to learn not to flail his arms while sleeping and wake himself up.

Maybe he's teething? He has been gnawing on his hands and wrists for a couple of weeks, but not drooling.

Getting a cold? His nose sounds very snuffly. He coughs a little bit, but most of the time I think he just likes to make the noise but there are a few 'real' coughs in there.

Come to think of it, his naps haven't been that great for the past few days either.

As for other Squirt news , he currently uses a bink. Though it seems that the only time he really uses it is when he lays down for a nap or for the night and when he gets really upset and needs to be soothed. I have seen him suck on 2 fingers but his coordination still isn't that great to have formed it as a habit. Also, when he is in the swing, he doesn't use the bink to fall asleep and sometimes when I lay him on the floor to play he dozes off with nothing in his mouth.

My reason for introducing the bink in the first place is because I currently have a 7 1/2 year old who still sucks her thumb.

So, at what point do you start weaning from a bink? I was thinking at 6 months. But is that too soon and will it cause him to find a substitute soother such as his fingers or thumb?

About Last Week

Oy. I'm glad last week is over with. I'm giving it to you in bullet style because every time one of these things happened, I felt like I was dodging one.

• I emailed E at work to ask him a question and as soon as I hit 'send' my laptop POPPED and the screen went black, it partially rebooted and told me I had a system error. I suspect that the hard drive died.
• I missed an appt. of Dani's with the ortho. for her elbow. When I made said appt. the receptionist asked about the 5th. I said I have another appt. that day, so she set me up for the 6th. Well, when I get to the appt. on the 6th, Dani's Dr. is not even there on that day. She was still scheduled for the day before. And they didn't bother to call and let me know that I had missed the appt. That would have been nice, wouldn't it?
• While leaving for said appt. I back out of the driveway and close the garage as I'm leaving....only the garage door gets ALL kinds of jacked up on the way down. Well, the 3 feet down that it made it anyway. The cable had popped off the pulley system and on the opposite corner the roller had popped off the track. E and I had to force the door closed without squishing ourselves and now we have to replace the door. Bye-bye tax refund.
• My left hand was practically useless for 2 days after the garage thing because evidently I strained my muscles somehow and I lost most function of my left thumb.
• It took me 2 hours to do my grocery shopping because it seems like every 5 minutes I had to stop and soothe the Squirt. I was so exhausted by the time I was done. And between schlepping all the bags into the house, feeding the baby, getting Dani from her Scout meeting and throwing something together for dinner, it took 3 hours to get everything put away.
• The night that I needed the Squirt to sleep through the night, he didn't. I was up with him twice the night before my classes on Thursday. He must has sensed my excitement.
• E came home in a foul mood Friday. Male PMS I swear. He was grumpy and impatient and short with Dani. Which makes me feel that I need to compensate for him so I am extra sweet to her. I spent the weekend being a mediator between the two of them.
• We spend Sat. shopping in P'Cola. Dani wanted a new Webkinz and I had a coupon for a bookstore that sold them. Only the one that she wanted had had the tag stolen off of it.
• We bought ourselves a new computer chair because it was on sale for $50. Only on the way home I realized that our total was a little high.... the sale didn't go through at checkout so E had to go and reconcile the receipt the next day.
• The kids got E a dartboard for Christmas. We have been trying to get a nice space of wall accessible in the garage to hang it up and we still haven't gotten to it.
• My bio teacher (who is a 5 ft. Asian woman and speaks with a Jamacain accent) assigned 12 chapters to be read for our first section.
• And as an honorable mention. Last night I was getting the Squirt's quilt ready to put him to bed. He still likes to swaddle so I was getting it and him into position (he was over my shoulder). I was seconds away from putting him down, then he burped.... sort of, and I heard him spit up a little.... only he didn't get his head away from my shoulder so he kind of breathed it back in through his nose and his mouth, and think that make him choke which made him throw up. He wretched 3 times and each time a substantial amount of milk came back up. I think he threw up everything he ate from the whole week. He was literally covered head to toe, it was up his nose, in his ears, on his head. Then there was me. It had pooled on the burp rag then ran down my back, he slammed into my head which put it in my hair, and when E grabbed him the pool ran down the front of my shirt, down my cleavage, and all over the floor. Of course I had given him a bath an hour earlier.

This week has to be better.

One Fun Hippie and an Old Crow

Today is my first day back in class. My self prescribed maternity leave is over. I'm currently in between classes. I have a lot of time to kill so I'm at the library scouting websites to see if I can get any good deals on a Bio book. Hopefully I can find one and return the one I paid full price for before the return date.

My other class in Eng. Lit. My teacher is a hippie. I love her already.

I think I did great getting myself and the Squirt out the door this morning. I even donned a real bra instead of a nurser. I'm feeling like I belong in society and everything. The only things I forgot were my cell phone, and to put on a real pair of shoes. I'm wearing my fake Crocs. I meant to put on sneakers, but oh well. At least they aren't my slippers.

The old bird in the book store wasn't impressed with me I don't think. Nor I with her. She rang up my book, took my card, gave me my card and I started putting my things away and getting them ready to carry. While my receipt was printing she said, "Slow down, you're awfully brisk. I need to tell you that you have until the 15th to return your book and you must have your receipt." I guess I have to go as slow as the staff that works there to understand that I need my receipt to return my book. My speed in doing things is a curse of being a highly efficient person.

Criminy.

Again

There has got to be a better way. Today I started my FOURTH blocked milk duct since December 23rd.

FOURTH!!!

I want to cut off my boobs.

4 Months

The Squirt's fourth month was almost magical. He went from a mewling newborn to an excitable baby. He squirms and twitters with excitement when he sees a member of the family. He loves Dani and the feeling is mutual. She makes him dance by moving his arms and legs for him and he loves it. We've gotten full on laughs and, toward the end of the month, hyper squeals.
My waning breast milk supply made me curious to try a little bit of cereal before bedtime to make his belly fuller while sleeping. He can take it or leave it. Most of the time I leave it. He can eat it, but he doesn't get excited when he sees the spoon. Now show him a boob and he gets excited. He flails his arms and when I pick him up he turns his head into my breasts waiting for me to feed him.

He had his first visit with Santa. And there was no crying!! I don't even think that he realized that there was a strange man in a red suit holding him. Though I think we missed the traditional Christmas squawl by mere days. He has started to look weary when a non family member is holding him. It's almost as if he believes that if he avoids eye contact then that person doesn't exist and all is well.

Christas was good to him.... at least as good as it can be for a baby who is completely immobile and gets by on his good looks alone. Just toys for this little boy.

And because everyone needs a "Stupid Christmas Hat Picture" I donned reindeer antlers on him. He loved it. Everytime he moved a little bit the bells would jingle which caused him to move again.

He has grown 7 inches since birth making him a tall 26 inches. He hasn't gained any weight since turning 2 months old. Part of me is a little concerned, and part of me is fine with that. He gained a lot in his first 2 months and I think he plateaued. Also, I don't think he has been getting enough from me.

So we started the 5th month off by supplementing formula. I still feed him every other feeding. That is exactly the time frame that I did that with Dani so it doesn't come as a huge surprise. However this time it makes me sad and upset because now I know it is attributed to PCOS.

He isn't rolling over yet, tummy time is grounds for a huge tantrum, and laughing is on the top five list of favorite things to do. Naps are predictable after about an hour of awake time in the morning. He exhausts himself and must rest. Baths are a joy.... he splashes incessantly. And as for sleeping through the night, for the most part we are there. Sometimes he wakes up though and replugging the bink just will not do. And there is the occasional 3 am poopy diaper that can't wait til morning.

I got so lucky. He is so precious. E and I have a hard time remembering when he wasn't here with us. Yet he has only been here a short time. He has just fit in perfectly. I stare at him and wonder what he is going to be like when he is 1 or 2 or 3... then I stop myself and say, "Liv, he'll get there... don't forget what he is like now." So, I stop, and trace my fingers down the bridge of his nose, and brush away his non hair off of his forhead, kiss his cheeks and snuggle into his neck. And I vow to never forget what it feels like... because I will never be able to do it again.

Redux

I guess it's that time of year to jump back on the fitness train.

Last night I drempt that I won the title of "Meatiest" in a beauty competition.