Motherhood

Well, it's been awhile since I've been here. Like you probably know, I tend to create much more than write. Lately I've been creating one of my best works!

My son.

He's pretty cool. Except at 3 am...and again at 6.  Then he's only kinda cool.  And I'm usually too asleep to judge his coolness anyway.

Regardless, he's been the catapult to launch us into being a family of 4. I'm still getting used to trying to do errands with a toddler and an infant.

You learn all of these new strategies as a mom, like parking next to the cart corral, even if it's farther from the entrance. That way you can load the kids into the cart and then roll them into the store. It's much better than trying to carry the car seat, a toddler, and the diaper bag across the parking lot until you get to the carts inside. There's one thing I haven't figured out yet, though. If I'm grocery shopping with a toddler riding in the top of the cart and the car seat in the main part of the cart, where do I put the food?

Back to the point.

I'm a mom. Again.

Not only that, but I've started to think about all of the things us at-home moms do. It's hard work, you know. Yeah, yeah, it's great and wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but let's be honest. It's hard. Maybe it's harder for me than some of you other come-by-it-naturally moms, but for me, it's a job in itself just learning how to be a mom.

Motherhood is about raising your kids, yes, and I have two under the age of two. But it seems like in this culture of blogging and Facebooking it's more about raising your kids to beat out all of the other kids on the block in the world. You know what I'm talking about. The baby milestone charts aren't enough to keep you feeling under pressure to get your kid to perform, so you've got Susie Shoo over there whose kid isn't even one and can already speak in full sentences in 3 languages AND count to 10 while doing somersaults. You're kid is just average.

Then there's all of the do's and don'ts. "Breastfeed until they're 1." "No TV until they're 2." "No processed foods." "Cloth diapers only!"

Let's be real. That doesn't work for everyone.

There's a lot of pressure that goes with being a mom. But there's more to being a mom than just the kids part. There's the cooking, the cleaning, the grocery shopping, the laundry, and let's not forget the WIFE part. That one's important.

Then there's the other stuff that comes up like refinancing, managing insurance policies, changing trash companies and so forth

To top that all off some of us also have other responsibilities. For me, it's my photography business and the real estate investment company where I'm a managing partner.

Most of the time I feel like this guy.

I pretty much feel like that 24 hours a day, thanks to waking up to cries on the baby monitor at 3 am, even if my hubby is getting up to take care of those tears.

Somewhere at the end of all of that is the "ME" part. That part where I take some time to relax. Oh wait, but I have to work out!

:::breathe:::

But alas, that's just the 'normal' around here. The fact is that plates do fall. Floors don't get cleaned and laundry doesn't get put away. When it comes right down to it, my family is priority one. I do my best.

And for all of you new moms and dads out there, I give 3 pieces of advice:

#1. Trust your instincts

#2. Do what's right for your family

#3. Stop caring about what anyone else thinks about your decisions regarding #2

.peace and rest.

Thrifty Project: Cloth Baby Wipes

If you're already cloth diapering, these are really easy! If you don't have the time or patience to make the actual wipes, you can just use baby washcloths and skip to the Making Solution section.

Making Wipes:
Some people like to make 2-layered wipes with a cute fabric on one side. Go for it if you want! I'm a practical sort, though. Since these are made for wiping up poop, my theory is to save the cute cloth for the clothes!

You will need:

• Fabric for the wipes. Anything absorbent with a slight nap (so you don't just smear the poop!) such as terry, flannel, microfiber or any cloth diapering fabric.
• Ruler
• A sewing machine and thread

1. Gather your fabric. I used an old towel that had a stain on one section. Mark off your squares. I used squares that were 15"x15".

2. Cut out your squares. You can make as many as you like! I recommend about 15.

3. Zig zag stitch or serge around the edges to prevent fraying.

4. Wash your cloths! Remember to use a fragrance & dye free detergent to be easy on your baby's skin.

Making Solution

You'll need:

• Water
• Olive oil
• Baby wash
• Spray bottle

Mix your solution in the spray bottle: 1 cup water, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 Tbsp baby wash.

To use: Wet your cloth before use, then throw in the cloth diaper load!

A Steam Cleaner Tip: Saving Money on Solution

I have two big dogs, a red clay backyard and rooms with tan carpet. Add it all up and what you get is a big, nasty mess! I have even paid professionals to come out and clean our carpets and they were still left a dingy red.

I have a steam cleaner at home and for years have been using the steam cleaner soap, until about 6 months ago when I stumbled upon the best steam cleaner "soap" I have ever used - and it's not soap! I now get the big buckets of OxiClean powder and use 2 Tbsp of the powder per tank, plus water and that's it! My carpets are cleaner than they have been in years and it cuts the dog smell without leaving a strong cleaning smell! It even picked up the dirt the professionals left behind! I know the steam clean machines say to only use the approved soaps, but after 6 months of use it has caused no problems in my machine. I just shake it up to make sure the powder is dissolved.

Now for the best part: it's so much cheaper than buying the steam cleaner soaps! One big bucket of OxiClean powder is $10.99 regular price and that bucket will get me 96 tanks of cleaner. The regular solution that I was buying was 9.99 and would get me about 8 tanks of cleaner. What a savings!

Thrifty Project: Lace Earrings

These lace earrings are so cute! I love that every pair is unique and they are so lightweight that you can wear them all day long.

You will need

• Lace (just a few inches!)
• Fabric stiffener
• Earring findings
• Thread

1. Cut out 2 pieces of your desired pattern from lace.

2. Coat the lace with fabric stiffener and let dry. Then coat the other side and let dry.

3. Attach your earring hardware with thread. You can use a jump ring, but since the lace is so thin it can slip off of the jump ring. I'm using nylon earring findings from AAA Jewelry since my ears are extremely sensitive to all metals, making finding earrings that I can wear very difficult!

Try variations using fabric dye or adding beads. Have fun!

All Walmarts are Not Created Equal

I went to return a couple things at Walmart and a customer service representative informed us that Walmart's prices are not the same from store to store! Apparently, Walmarts change their prices based on their locale. In other words, Walmarts in lower income areas have cheaper prices than Walmarts in higher income areas. If you have a choice between two, choose the one in the lower income area!

Shopping Savings

I swung by Publix tonight to pick up a few things we needed. I saved over 50% so I'm happy!

• 5 pkgs cheese ($2 ea)
• 10 boxes cereal ($1.25-$1.50 ea, plus $5 off fruit in peelie coupons)
• 4 pizzas ($2.25 ea)
• yogurt (free after coupon)
• soymilk (free after coupon)
• bananas (free after coupon from cereal)
• grapefruit (free after coupon from cereal)
• 4 jars spaghetti sauce ($1.40)
• gallon milk (reg. price)
• strawberries ($1.75 after coupon from cereal)

Total spent: $48.89
Total saved: $58.78

Trifty Project: Diaper Prefolds and Doublers

Prefolds
Diaper prefolds are great. Some people use them for burp cloths, but I need a few more around the house as diaper soakers. If you have spare, absorbent fabric around the house, this is a great project. However, prefolds only cost about $1 each, so don't spend too much money on this project or it would be cheaper to buy! I happened to have a few extra hand-me-down receiving blankets that we don't need and since they are made out of flannel, they are great for this project.

1. Gather some absorbent fabric (microfleece, flannel, a thin terry, or cotton - think old t-shirt!) and fold it in half. Cut it to 15"x17" with the height dimension (15") on the fold. (You may need to adjust your height dimension to fit your size diapers. Just measure from the front to the back of the diaper and subtract 2 inches so it doesn't hang out. This can be your height dimension.)

2. Measure and mark 4" from the cut edge of the fabric along the opposite side of the fold. Sew along that line. You now have a tube of fabric with an extra 4" flap.

3. Turn the tube of fabric inside out and lay it flat with the sewn seam 4 1/2 inches from the right hand edge. Lay the 4 inch flap to the left so that the entire flap is now flat in the center of the prefold.

4. Stitch down the left side of the center, double thickness section.

5. Zig-zag stitch or serge the top and bottom edges of the prefold to prevent fraying.

Doubler

If you have extra fabric like I did, you can make a doubler! Use these in addition to prefolds when cloth diapering overnight.

1. Cut 4 pieces of fabric the same height as your prefold and 4 inches wide. 

2. Stack the pieces on top of each other evenly and zig-zag stitch or serge around the edges.