One week to go

Hopefully...

     I am super tired of being pregnant. We still have so much cleaning to do at the house, but I am over doing it all giant pregnant. Laundry is about caught up, thank goodness, and Tristan's room is just about done, but in cleaning Tristan's room we destroyed the rest of the house. We've got 2-3 loads of junk to take to good will, and tons more for storage. And then to organize the rest of the stuff.
     My Granny is coming home from the lake this week and is gonna hang around for a bit. And I'm going to put her to work. I have piles of baby clothes that need to be folded and sorted. Hopefully she'll be ok doing this while I clean and straighten the rest of the house.

So much Laundry!

     It's turned out to be a great blessing that we took on the challenge (not really a challenge) of making our own laundry soap (recipe to follow). It's really come in handy to have 5 gallons of laundry soap that only took a couple dollars to make. I have been doing an insane amount of laundry recently in preparing for the baby's arrival and just to clean up. I have bags upon bags of baby clothes that have been given to us from friends & family that all need to be washed. (they may not actually need to be washed, but we are a sensitive skin household so I'd rather not take the chance)

     This morning I was lucky enough to find 2 large bags of Tristan's baby clothes that had been soaked in a recent basement flood. They do not smell the best so we're trying our luck at getting them clean. I've still not been able to get my hands on the 2 huge tote containers that are housing tons of other baby clothes of Tristan's. Hopefully I'll be able to get Steven to pull those out for me tonight. 

      I really hate our basement/ laundry room right now. It could be because sewage can seep up out of the floor drain every time it pleases, but it could also be the clutter and extreme lack of organization. I would love to have a laundry space that looked clean and where I could actually feel comfortable folding clothes, hang them up, or iron them. Maybe somewhere I wouldn't be totally disgusted to take the baby and let it sit in a swing while I tended to the household chores. But for the moment, until we get MSD to install the sump pump and back flow valves, it's really pointless for us to even clean up much.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap
1 bar Fels Naptha
1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 cup Borax

The initial investment will run you about $15.
You will need a new clean 5 gallon bucket

First thing you need to do is grate the bar of Fels Naptha. You will place this in a stock pot with water and heat until it is all dissolved.
Next you will add your cup of Borax and Washing Soda. Heat until this is dissolved as well.
Take this mixture and pour into your 5 gallon bucket. Fill the rest of the bucket with warm tap water. Mix well and let sit overnight.
The next morning it's ready to use. The mixture may separate a bit, but all you need to do is stir it up. I like to store mine in a old laundry soap bottle that I rinsed out really well. For me this is much easier than scooping out a half a cup at a time from the bucket and putting in the wash. This laundry soap has been great with my front loading washer as it's low suds.

Preparing for baby

     We have 2 weeks left to prepare for baby and I really feel like there is so much to do, but when I look at our list it's really not all that much. Tonight, I'm going to a cloth diapering class to Target to get a small dresser to sit by the baby bed for clothes and such. Then it's pretty much just tons of laundry. We have the regular laundry from the week and then we have bags upon bags of baby clothes, and then I have to go through all Tristan's baby clothes. Lucky for me, Steven and I went through and sorted them about a year ago just to get them organized into sizes.

     I really feel like I'm getting more and more calm by the day, at least during the daytime. I tend to be worn out and very uncomfortable by the end of the day. The only real stress I have regarding the baby is just making sure the house is clean, which currently it is not. For some reason unknown to me, the laundry I hate to do most is my own. I don't mind towels and sheets, I don't mind folding Steven and Tristan's, but my own laundry I hate to fold and put away. 

     Every morning we unload the dishwasher, gather the dishes from around the house that didn't make it into the wash the night before and get those in the dishwasher ready for the next wash. Then we eat our breakfast. Usually somewhere in there I start a load of laundry, and then we head outside for the morning while it's still cool. This will be the time when I sit on the back porch and do my homework. Hopefully the baby will be nice enough to let me get some of this done too. I'll be fine with snuggling the baby while I take care of my homework and things. I really think that having homework to do while I'm at home with the baby will keep me more entertained. With Tristan I remember longing for something to do, I was so bored being home but since I've been laid off we've adjusted quite nicely I think.

     But for now, off to run errands!

Summer Plans

Even with a having a newborn at home we can still enjoy some projects and fun events. Here is a list of some of the ideas I've had so far.

Dinner and a Movie

We have a dvd projector that I bought last year with my tax refund. It was a great purchase and we've gotten tons of use out of it. It's also really nice that we have a great wall in the back yard to project movies on. The idea I had was to theme our dinner based on the movie we had planned to watch. The whole meal doesn't have to be based on the movie but some part of it does. I think this will also get us all in the kitchen cooking together at least every couple of weeks and get some experience under Tristan's belt. 

-The first idea I had for dinner and a movie is Ratatouille & Ratatouille. I located a really great recipe that looks like a pretty easy meal to make and by the time we start this event our garden will be in full production mode and it will be a very cheap meal to prepare for us. Here is the link to the recipe, I think it's just a beautiful dish.  rat-a-too-ee-for-you-ee 

-The second idea is just as simple - Spaghetti and Meatballs for Lady and the Tramp, and the list goes on.

-Seafood for Finding Nemo

-Apple Pie for Snow White

-Vegetable Korma for Aladdin

-Peach Cobbler for James and the Giant Peach

-Deer Roast for Bambi (I know this one sounds a little mean but hey)

And this is just the starter list of ideas. I'll post recipes when we actually make the dishes.

Science Center Trolly Adventures

I think during the extremely hot months this is a great treat for the kids. We usually plan this outing with another mom and kiddos. The science center charges $5 for parking, which isn't really much, if you carpool or especially if you have a membership and can go to the science center for free, but it can add up and anything you can do to save definitely helps. So we've come up with the Trolly adventure on top of the already exciting visit to the Science Center. Parking on East Market Street is free and it's on the same Trolly loop that passes directly by the Science Center, and the Trolly in this city is free so we're saving $5 and whatever else it would have been on gas for the extra driving to the Science Center. So if we play our cards right (packing our own lunch and such) we're getting a very exciting and fun day excursion for the cost of gas it takes us to drive to Market Street.

Members Only Mornings at the Louisville Zoo's Splash Park

Self explanatory. If we get to the zoo when they open (10AM) the kids get an hour in the splash park with other members only. Another perk of getting to the splash park early is getting a picnic table in the shade, as there are only one or two. The zoo membership in itself is great because you don't feel obligated to see or walk the entire zoo in one visit. You can pick and choose the exhibits you want to see on which day. I've also been told by another mom that it's wonderful to go on the overcast days when there's a chance of rain, because almost no one goes on those days and you can just go to visit the indoor exhibits like the aquarium and take your sack lunch for a outing when you otherwise may not have gotten one for the day.

Park playtime and picnic lunch with Daddy

Steven's work is located pretty close to a nice park with a few really nice playgrounds. I'm sure we will be making weekly or bi-weekly trips to this park. We are lucky enough to also have good friends who live very close to this park. It will be great to meet up with our friends early in the morning for playtime and then when it's time for Daddy's lunch break, he can come meet up with us at the park and we can all have a family lunch together.

Fast food play dates

These are easy enough. Meet up at any fast food location that has a play place and go from there. We are not too big on fast food in our household so we usually eat before we go and just get an ice cream as a treat when we go. I really hope that after the baby decides to make it's debut, I get my taste for Chick-fil-a back as I've not wanted to touch it this entire pregnancy.

The nice stroll around the mall

Tristan really loves the mall and it's a great way to get out of the house on the excruciatingly hot days. Same thing as I've mentioned before, pack a lunch and window shop. Tristan just loves looking around the Disney Store and I always love to check the sale racks to see what I may be able to buy for the upcoming seasons.

Backyard play while Mommy does her school work

Tristan's been great about just playing in the back yard while I sit on the porch in the mornings and do my school work. I really think we need to get him some type of play gym or something else to do in the back yard because his kiddie pool is probably getting a bit old.

But that's it for now, batteries about to die. Hope some of these ideas work for some others.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome

     This blog is something I set up new, for the newest addition to the family. From here on out this will be the blog used to capture moments from the kids lives going forward. Our oldest is my son from a previous marriage. Tristan is 4 years old and has been the center of my universe since the moment I found out I was pregnant with him. Our newest little bit has not yet arrived. It's estimated that this little one will arrive sometime within the next few weeks. Tristan about to find out what it's like to be a big brother and what it's like to share the spotlight and being the center of Mommy's universe. I think he's up to the challenge. He's been amazingly sweet and such a big help to me as I've grown larger over the past few months. Picking things up off the ground, carrying things for me, and letting me nap are just a few of the ways he's been a amazing help.

     We are super anxious for the arrival of the new little one. I believe we've just about got everything prepared to welcome this newbie properly. I am just about to the point of being over pregnancy and the toll it's taken on my body this time around. We are just ready to have this little one here to snuggle and see what it looks like. The baby area is set up for the most part, and the birth kit and supplies are purchased and ready to go. Fingers crossed everything goes as planned. We are calm and relaxed about the entire process and just plain excited.