When All I Do Is Laundry

Between our new adventure of being parents and still figuring out my talents, my stage of life seems to contain load after load of laundry.

Cloth diapering produces a small load every other day. Then there is normally dirty baby linens and clothing which makes another load every other day. That does not include the three to four loads weekly of sheets, towels, and clothing my husband and I make.

I've gone from a carefree outlook on laundry where I only have one type of detergent and generic dryer sheets to now evaluating each load for it's specific needs. This could include an extra rinse cycle for the cloth diapers. Or what if our little bundle of joy spits up on my favorite shirt? Well, that's when the OxyClean comes into play, both powder and stain removing spray. Then the question of Dreft vs another detergent or maybe bleach?

The dryer had quickly become an elite club where diaper covers, biking jerseys, jeans, and sometimes pre-fold diapers are no longer welcome.  They have collectively joined together to take up prime real estate in my home on a drying rack.

Even though my laundry baskets are rarely empty now, I've come to terms with the fact that more and more of my time is going to be occupied by sorting, washing, drying, folding, and putting away laundry.

Take my word for it, I'm not super happy about being elbows deep in dirty clothing or constantly asking my husband to help me put yet another load of laundry away, but this increase in domestic responsibility can be "blamed" on one little guy, my son.

I'd do laundry 24 hours a day if it meant my son is in my life. I love him more than free time, more than a lower water bill, more than getting enough sleep. It's only 19 days that's he's been here and all I want is more! All I want is to hold him and see him discover, see him grow, see him change. If that means more laundry, BRING IT ON!!

First Buttercream and non-mix Cake

I never realized that when people said, "oh it's just a cake mix, no biggie," that there was any other option other than a mix.

I love cake, but I'm ashamed to say it took me a quarter of a century to make a cake without using a mix.

With friends and family that seem to bake as if they were born with a whisk in their hand, I knew this would change but was scared to try anything.

I found the following recipe on Pinterest: Sweet Potato Layer Cake with Molasses Buttercream

This was so easy to follow. The instructions were clear and with my limited baking experience, I was still able to have success. I still need to work on my icing techniques but the taste is amazing.

As I've mentioned before, my husband's sweet tooth is not as intense as mine, but he fully enjoyed the molasses paired with the sweet potato cake. I personally had to stop eating the frosting plain, or with strawberries, and with the cake itself because I would have made myself sick it was so delicious!!!

Now with my confidence, and sugar high, fed a bit, I want to try more! Now I just need more occasions or people to bake for!

Spring has Almost Spring Wreath

Here in Minnesota we have been hit with a long winter that simply won't let go. Winter hasn't taken the hint that the snow has melted off the ground three times. The snow keeps coming and the temperature is barely above 40 at its best. 

I've decided I have to have a bit of spring or else I might just go crazy! I want flowers and green trees and flouncy skirts. 

Where am I going to put this bit of spring since the trees aren't budding, I kill indoor plants, and if I wear a flouncy skirt I might freeze? My front door. 

I decided to make a wreath since the ones I found in stores were overpriced and looked really fake. 

I gathered the following materials

-Grape vine wreath ($4)

-Bunch of yellow daisies ($3)

-Ribbon (had it lying around)

-Glue gun and sticks (again lying around)

I picked the blooms and some of the greenery off the bunch of daisies so I could scatter them over the wreath. 

Pairing some of the blossoms with the greenery, I started arranging them all over the wreath concentrating the bulk of them in the lower right corner. Hot glue the picks into the wreath to secure. I made sure to turn the wreath over and secure both the base of the flower to the front and the end of the pick to the back of the wreath.

One way I made sure to space the flowers correctly was that I laid the ribbon where I would tie it so that I left enough spacing at the top of the wreath.

Tying a bow with ribbon and hanging on my door was my final defiance to winter.

Bring on SPRING!!!

Mint Puppy Chow

Pregnancy cravings still being active (even though I'm considered full term) I had make puppy chow to satisfy my intense sweet tooth craving.

However, we didn't have chocolate chips or enough peanut butter to make a batch. How was I going to do this? Well, I had some sold dark chocolate left over from Easter and thought maybe it could be enough. I chopped it up and it was hardly enough. I started scrounging around the pantry and found a bag of ANDIES MINT CHIPS!!!!

HALLELUJAH!!! 

So I decided to have an adventure... a MINT adventure, one of my favorites.

If you haven't ever made puppy chow, really you just melt some chocolate (1 cup), peanut butter (1/2 cup to a cup), butter (1/4 cup), and add a bit of vanilla (1 tsp); coat the cereal and then put it in a ziplock with powdered sugar and shake to cover all the pieces.

As previously stated, I didn't have the peanut butter so I just added more mint chips :)

This turned out great and I know it's not just my prego cravings because I've caught my husband sneaking a bowl or two and he doesn't really eat sweets.

This might turn into a thing... I could change the flavor to Nutella (thanks Jessie for the suggestion) or use different cereal.

I'll keep you posted if I get to experiment more.

ENJOY!

More Meaningful Gifts

We are so blessed in our society to have so many occasions to show those we love the ways we love them through meaningful gifts.

Since my pregnancy is coming to a close, I will be able to celebrate Mother's Day this year! I've dropped hints to my husband that there's also this idea of a "push gift" where he can give me a gift in the hospital. I'm a hint dropper...to a fault. I've told him too that he can combine those two gifts and get me something REALLY nice.

As I was thinking of other hints to drop as to what I want, maybe a necklace, maybe some crafting items, I get a letter from Operation Mobilization promoting their Freedom Climb. "The Freedom Climb is an opportunity for women in all stages, ages, and places to stand up and be a voice for women and children around the world who are enslaved, oppressed, exploited and trafficked today. "

The letter addressed the idea of honoring our mothers by helping those elsewhere who need it. The the letter grabbed my attention by offering a bracelet when you give $50 to support these girls (keeping two girls out of slavery). A lightbulb went off in my head and I handed the letter to my husband. This was my last hint to him: this would be great for Mother's day and the push gift.

I'm ashamed to say that it took this letter for me to remember those less fortunate. I hadn't even thought to look into this type of gift for marking this stage in my life. I am so blessed to not only to be having a child, but also to be where we are financially.

Imagine what we could do with our gifts by rather than going to the mall or the closest Target and grabbing just another item to wrap up! There are so many opportunities to support non-profits in this way.

I'm not saying that I will only ask for these types of gifts from now on. (Who would complain about getting a beautiful heartfelt gift of any kind?) But, why not make Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day, Birthdays, or Christmas so much more valuable by allowing your gift give back to those who truly need?

Quote and picture from OM Website

Cloth Diapering, So Many Decisions for One Little Bum!

Since my children are going to be my job (I'm so excited for my first day coming up!), I need to finish up my education on some things that will be important for the well being of my baby.

We've decided to cloth diaper from the start, except for in the hospital since the hospital will provide the diapers. I started searching the internet for help on navigating the new options of cloth diapering. It was Pandora's box...I never knew how much was out there and how many decisions this would require.

There are pre-folds, covers, inserts, All-In-One, All-In-Two, pocket style, and so many brands you can have a fun time making a parody of We Didn't Start The Fire by stringing them all together (I imagine it would be called You Didn't Change the Diaper? or something like that)

I found a great chance to have all this explained to me at my local parenting class center (Amma Parenting). They were hosting a FREE workshop put on by My Sweet Pickles. My husband and I made a date of it and got breakfast out before we went to the Saturday morning even. So many of our questions were answered and we were advised for the best options for our budget and commitment level. We were even able to start our stash with a Sale and Swap that they had after the seminar. My Sweet Pickles also offers free consultations for anyone.

With all this, there couldn't be any more great things that could come from this right? Wrong. The one thing I had never knew was that if rash cream was required, you can't use the go-to brands that I knew of. Creams like Destin and A&D Original contain fish oil or other ingredients that will coat the cloth diaper and not let it absorb anymore. Then the difficult process of stripping the diaper becomes your reality.

Amma to the rescue again! They sell Motherlove brand diaper rash cream which is safe for cloth diapers!

My husband and I are still treading the waters trying to make sure we don't get sucked into the tide of unnecessary accessories, but loving the flexibility of options for fitting our new family!

Vegetable Soup Memories

It's so interesting the memories that spring to mind when you're making something from your childhood.

I experienced this today when I was making the Veggie Soup my mom and dad would make all the time for my siblings and me. This simple concoction of tomato juice, root vegetables, ground beef, and noodles holds so many images from my childhood. From seeing my brother staring at himself in the shiny stock pot my mom used, to the way my dad would crumble the crackers into the soup and how I would try to imitate him, I love more than just the taste of this soup.

The tomato juice started as the tomatoes from our garden being cooked and put through the Squeezo. Taking turns, my mom, sisters, and I would turn the crank for hours; it seemed to make a years worth of tomato juice in a canning afternoon. With every sip of this soup (even though I make the soup with store bought tomato juice now), I remember my mom in the kitchen with quart jars in stages of tomato juice bustling around in her apron overseeing all of us.

The Autumn days brought the cool weather that made soup perfect for dinner. That's when Mom would brown the ground beef and onion while the tomato juice, carrots, potatoes, celery, and sometimes a turnip would bubble on the back burner. I always got excited when this soup was cooking, I knew I would LOVE dinner. While all the ingredients (all the above plus corn and elbow macaroni) meld together, Mom would make biscuits or rolls and have us set the table with soup bowls and plates with hot pads in place and the saltines by Dad.

This evening when I made the soup for my husband and me, I remembered more. My mom would always put the leftovers in mason jars and use the same funnel to keep the soup from spilling everywhere.  I was so excited the first time I put it away without spilling!

With all these memories flooding back and knowing that more will come every time I make this soup, I think I will have to rename the recipe in my recipe binder to Memory Soup.