Sickness and Savings

Oh my goodness.  What a month July turned out to be!  I am not trying to wish away our summer as a family of four, but I am really glad things are coming to an end.  It seems that the whole month  someone in our house was sick.  Caroline and Olivia both had stomach viruses, then Caroline's virus continued to develop into Roseola.  Poor thing was covered in a rash from head to toe.  We ended up taking her to the ER on Sunday night (this was a couple of weeks ago) because her fever was so high and wouldn't come down.  She was diagnosed with an ear infection and put on antibiotics.  Two days later, she breaks out in hives, on top of the Roseola rash.  Diagnosis?  An allergic reaction to Penicillin.  CRAZY!!!!  So, now you see why we are all glad to say goodbye to July, right?

She looked so precious in that little gown!

Thankfully, that chaos is over and we can enjoy being healthy for a while!  It is unreal how quickly September is approaching!  I had a routine check-up with the doctor this morning and he had nothing new to report.  The baby is growing normally and everything looks good.  We scheduled the Cesarean for Thursday, September 20th!  It just seems so crazy that this baby and Caroline will only be 13 months apart!  It never fails, someone in the grocery store or the doctor's office always makes a comment about how crazy things will be and what a hand-full we will have.  It is true, but I am certain that everything will work itself out.  TONS of mothers before me have parented children just as close in age and managed just fine.  Not to mention, I have about the greatest support group EVER!  I have made so many great friends in the community through playgroups and programs specifically for moms.  I feel very blessed to have such a large circle of friends.  We are making plans and getting things organized and into place for this new baby.  It won't be long and we'll be finding out if we have a boy or a girl.  Olivia is convinced it's a boy (this week).

On another note, I have had several friends discussing the different ways they cut corners to be able to stay at home with their children during the early years and beyond.  I consider this a great privilege.  During the time that I was a working mother it was a huge struggle.  I constantly felt torn between doing laundry and playing with my baby.  I often felt like I was neglecting her needs by leaving her with a sitter, while I knew that it was necessary for me to be a provider.  This is ONLY speaking for my own family, but I just felt so pulled to be at home with my little ones and thankfully my husband agreed.  Anyway, it isn't easy by any means.  When I was a working mom I had no second thoughts about spending $30.00 on a tub of Tide or buying groceries that would make meal times quicker.  Of course they were more expensive but, they shortened the time that I spent cooking, which in return gave me more family time.  Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, I have the time to make my own laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, cook homemade meals, and re-purpose items that I threw out before.  I thought I would share some of my recipes for those who might be looking for a new way to cut costs!  It is time consuming, but worth it if you want to save a little extra!  

**This is the recipe I follow for homemade laundry detergent.  I usually make a HUGE batch of this, enough to fill up my old Tide dispenser.  It works wonders!  I don't use this for my cloth diapers, I do use a store-bought detergent for those since little bottoms are so sensitive!

**Here you can find the recipe for homemade dishwasher detergent.  I will say that it doesn't dry the dishes as well as store-bought, but if you use a little vinegar in the rinse your glasses will come out sparkling like new!  Also, upon reading reviews it was suggested that you add about 3 drops of original Dawn dishwashing liquid on top of the dry detergent.  This works great!

Another thing we have opted for in our family, is cloth diapering our little ones.  My husband thought I had lost my mind when I suggested this.  I think the initial cost was a shock to him.  Honestly, it does seem pricey when you are purchasing all of the materials.  We use the FLIP System by Bumgenius.  When we first started out, we bought 6 covers and 18 organic cotton inserts.  This was enough to diaper Caroline for one full day, but it seemed like by the time we were done with the washing and drying process we were down to one diaper, or we would have to use a disposable as a backup.  We ended up buying 2 more covers and 4 stay-dry inserts and this stash works perfectly for our needs right now.  Making the switch from disposable to cloth, we also realized we would need a diaper sprayer (a sprayer that attaches to the bottom of the toilet) for washing solids off of the diapers, and a pail and 2 washable liners.  I am so happy with our choice to cloth diaper, and although Nathan wasn't on board in the beginning I think he has been happy with how much money we have saved!  We haven't bought disposables since we went on vacation in March!  Olivia still uses a pull-up just in case she has an accident overnight, and we use the FLIP Trainer for her.  One trainer comes with 3 inserts and runs about the same price as a box of disposable pull-ups.  Overall, our investment in cloth is about $300.00.  We have been using cloth since December.  If we spent $160.00 per month on disposable diapers, wipes, and pullups, over the course of the last 9 months we would have wasted $1,440.00.  That is just unbelievable!  Not to mention, these diapers have been laundered carefully and still look GREAT!  They will definitely hold up for another 2 years, and at that point we will be able to donate them to a family who can put them to good use.  

I have learned that all those little things you splurge on really do add up.  We wash a lot of clothes and dishes in this house, and if I can contribute just a teensy bit by saving money on household cleaning products then I feel like I am doing my job.  I am so thankful that I have such a hardworking husband.  My family has benefited greatly from the sacrifices we make to ensure that one parent is at home with them.  Thanks for reading our blog!  We will update with more pictures soon!  

Love, Maegan

The 4th and More

The last couple of weeks have flown by!  It has been a billion degrees here so we have been doing a lot of "lazy day" indoor activities.  As you know from previous posts, I finally finished our downstairs "homeschool" room.  I picked some things up at yard sales, some on sale sites, and others have been given to us at no cost.  Others have been DIY projects that cost little to nothing to make.  Anyway, our basement is like a real classroom overflowing with educational toys, games, and activities to expand the minds of our children!  It seems like the first few weeks that we had the room all set up we just had one busy day after another.  I was really over-doing things.  We are usually very active during the week, visiting the library, Discovery Playhouse, the park..  I have been trying to fit in all the outings we could before baby time comes.  With three little ones our outings for at least the first month will be on hold, and limited for some time after that while I am recovering and we are all adjusting.  Needless to say, I think I was feeling a little "mommy guilt" and trying to compensate for that by keeping our days busy with summer activities.  I started having contractions a couple of weeks ago, and we slowed things down.  The whole next week we had helpers at our home.  Everyone took shifts!  I don't like to ask for help, and I don't like to be stuck either!  It was certainly a wake-up call. Thankfully, after slowing down on our crazy running around we are all back to our normal routine and the contractions have completely stopped.  Back to the room downstairs, it has come in SO HANDY and they honestly enjoy being at home just as much!  They both get excited to go downstairs and play with the toys and books.  Our kids truly do enjoy educational toys more than anything else.

Olivia using the pegs for counting.  The printable counting sheets can be found here

She loves this more than anything!  It was $8, so I love it too! :)

Caroline is growing and picking up on more and more things daily.  I have such mixed feelings about her 1st birthday that is swiftly approaching...  I am excited because being a ONE YEAR OLD brings so many new milestones, and I guess you could say I am a little sad for the same reason!  She is so hilarious.  I know everyone thinks their baby is hilarious, but really, she is.  She has recently learned to stand in the middle of the floor with no support.  I was able to get a picture of her the second time she did this and I am so glad!  

She was so unsure here!  She is a pro at this now.

She is definitely amused by getting into trouble.  She really is a joy to watch!  I don't understand how someone could be mad at this face.  No, I don't love all of the messes, but I do love watching my children discover new things and explore.  To Caroline, toilet paper isn't just toilet paper.  Toilet paper is some mysterious rolly-thing you can spread all over the floor.  And apparently it tastes good to her, because she likes to sneak into the bathroom and eat some every now and then.  We have finally adjusted our household to shutting the bathroom door at all times.  Good thing her grand-dad has access to free toilet paper.  

"Hey, Mom!"

Just as Olivia's vocabulary is expanding, so is Caroline's.  She is signing more and more things and using motions and sounds to communicate.  We have given her a valuable tool by being able to communicate so young.  She isn't frustrated and when she is ready for her bottle she signs "milk".  When she wants some Cheerios (which is often), she signs "eat".  It is the sweetest thing to be cuddling her on the couch and you can tell she is sleepy and she reaches that little hand out and asks for milk!  I just adore it.  The other day, she was in her high chair having a snack and Nathan went and stood by the pantry.  She signed "eat" and pointed to him, and placed a Cheerio in his hand.  It was precious!  She was sharing her snack, saying, "Here, Dad.  You eat this Cheerio".  It was just so sweet.  She has some crazy moments, too where she just feels like being silly!  

I just love this goofy baby!

She loves her Remy, too!

I really should be doing an update every week!  So much has happened in the past two weeks, it is hard to recall all the sweet things said and done.  We had the best Independence Day celebration.  My brother went with us to Poplar Bluff to visit with Nathan's family.  We all ate too much food and it was a sleepy ride home!  We actually didn't do any fireworks at home, we just ran out of time!  Olivia was so terrified of the fireworks last year that we didn't have much of a celebration.  This year after we got back from Poplar Bluff, we went to see the fireworks display at the park in Jackson. Olivia's reaction was priceless!  She kept saying, "Make a wish and all your dreams will come true!"  I think she may have got that from a Disney commercial, of course. :)  I didn't expect Caroline to care much about the fireworks, but she sat on the blanket in my lap just gazing up at them and reaching her little hands up.  It was perfect.  Neither of them were bothered by the noise, which is shocking because they were LOUD.  It was super hot, and I forgot my camera so the best I have is cell phone pics..  Not impressive, but better than nothing!  

It has been a great summer so far and I am really looking forward to the months ahead.  It is such a blessing to watch our family grow, and the more our family grows and changes, the more I realize just how blessed we are.  I am so thankful that we have healthy, happy children.  I have heard of so many friends lately who are struggling in different ways.  Some are facing health problems and some have children who are suffering from health problems, which is a suffering I do not want to imagine.  It has really opened my eyes to what a blessing we have in our family.  I am so grateful for all of the people in our lives!  We'll update you again soon! 

 ~ Maegan