Make Your Own Baby Wipes

When someone first mentioned this to me I thought "that's crazy! what can work like store bought baby wipes??" But, with going down to one income for C's first two years and Baby K coming along and having to go back to work we needed to save some money. So, one day I was out of wipes and I thought, "okay I'll give this a try and maybe I'll save some money. How hard could it be?"

Actually, not hard at all, and it does save you money. I've been doing this for almost a year now and I thought I would share it with you.

There are a ton of "recipes" for home made baby wipes around the internet but, this is the one I use that works for me.

1 jumbo roll Bounty paper towels (these are really thick and won't disintegrate)

1 1/2 cups hot water (if you use a regular size roll of paper towels you'll need less water)

1 Tbs baby wash (I have used Johnson & Johnson and also generic Target brand baby sensitive)

1 Tbs baby oil (whichever you prefer)

You will also need a container to keep them in. I use an old ice cream tub that has a handle on it.

Ingredients

1. Cut your paper towel roll in half and remove cardboard cylinder. You can save one half for your next batch.

2. Heat your water in the microwave for 2 minutes. Place your halved paper towels cut side down in your container.

3. Add baby wash and baby oil to water and stir gently to not create bubbles.

4. Pour mixture over paper towel roll. Put lid on container and flip upside down for 5 minutes to let mixture get all the way through.

5. Use wipes!

Easy! This usually lasts me a week or so depending on how messy the kids' diapers are, if you only have one child in diapers it would probably lasts 2-3 weeks. And you still have the other paper towel half for the next batch. This is also a great idea for babies with skin allergies because you can use whichever baby wash and oils your baby is able to tolerate. And if you're really creative you can decorate the container and give these as a shower gift with the recipe attached.

Kid's Room Clean Up

I was so excited about getting organized I hopped right in with something I've been wanting to do for a while. I forgot to take a before picture so, just pretend that the huge brown bookcase is next to the dresser/changer combo you see in picture 3.

Over the summer my brother-in-law moved in with us to help take care of the kids so that I could work part-time. In order to do this we had to put both kids in one room. It's been driving me crazy to have all the clutter and stuff in that room! The big brown bookcase was full of stuff...

Ugh!

I originally thought the brown bookcase would be great because we use cloth diapers for our daughter and we needed a place to put them along with the disposables we're still using for C. But, it's just so massive it made the room feel smaller and blocked the window. Also, C really likes to rock in the rocking chair that is a family heirloom and he knocks it into the bookcase constantly damaging both.

Once I moved the monster bookcase out of the room, I brought in a shelf unit that we've been dragging around since college. It's sturdy and can take a beating.

I brought in a basket we were using for C's books in the living room cabinet to put all of the cloth diaper stuff in to keep it organized. I also put a lamp on top for our night time book reading. Then I put all of C's books on the shelf below that.

The last thing I did and the only thing I actually bought was to put some baskets on the bottom two shelves to hold toys and small board books.

I love it! It really opens up the room and I can see the window when I walk into the room(the window is to the right of the rocking chair). I love that C no longer climbs on the rocking chair to reach his books too.

Next week's project... figuring out what to do with the monster bookcase.

Organization is My New Middle Name

Browsing through blogs today I came across I'm an Organizing Junkie's 52 week organization challenge. I thought to myself, "this is awesome!"

When I got my part-time job in October it was at The Container Store, the guru of organization. I love The Container Store, I've shopped there since college. Unfortunately, I am not a guru of organization. I'm more of an organized mess. I feel like a hypocrite some days working there helping people organize their lives when I can't even organize my own. I will say though, that I have started to organize more of my stuff and look for more creative ways to do so since I started there. There are just so many cool ways to store and organize your things.

I've been trying to figure out how to organize myself and my family better. My husband is constantly trying to get me to put my things away and they just pile up on my dresser. I would love to buy a ton of elfa products from The Container Store but, until I've saved enough for that I'll be content to reorganize(or organize for the first time) what I have. This is where Org Junkie's 52 week challenge comes in. Each week you do something little so you don't feel overwhelmed by it all. I love that!

This is the first week and the topic is "Where will you start?" Each week Laura will post a few questions about the week's projects on Friday for everyone to discuss. I'm just so excited about it!! I found out about this at the end of the week but, I already have tons of ideas brewing. So, this week's questions are...

1. Do you have your list written? (if you missed it, you can find the pdf here)

I'm still working on my list but, among the things on it are...February do the kids closet, March the kitchen, April master bedroom closet, May master bathroom, I need to work on each individual week.

2. What is the first thing on it that you hope to accomplish this week?

I actually had a goal before I saw this challenge to clean out my glass and tupperware cabinet and I did it on Tuesday. I was so excited!

3. How are you going to make it happen?

I love to cross things off of a list that's a huge motivation but, I'm also counting on my husband and readers to hold me accountable.

This should be fun. I'll take pictures of each project I'm tackling and do a post each Friday. Are you in??

A New Year a Non Resolution

I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions along with the rest of the world for the past week. Every year I try to think of a creative resolution, like in 2006 I resolved to do something different that I hadn't done before. That year I raised $2300 and walked 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3Day. I think that was about the coolest resolution I've had and actually followed through on.
Last year my resolution was to be a good mom. It's not a creative or unique resolution, it's not even measurable. But, I think I achieved it. I've been away from the blog a while, pretty much since baby K was born in July. During that time I was fulfilling my resolution to be a good mom, not that I wasn't before then, I just had a little more time! In June and July I spent several weeks on bed rest before baby K was born and in October I went back to work for the first time in two years so I could help pay for baby K and C. Kiddos are expensive! Those are just two big things in between the loving my new baby girl and her big brother, changing diapers, midnight feedings, working, changing diapers, 3am feedings, playing, and did I mention changing diapers?
So, this year I had a hard time thinking of a resolution. Of course I still want to be a good mom but, I wanted a new resolution. And no using the "I want to lose weight or diet and exercise." That's a cop out resolution. Every one wants to lose weight! So, I decided this year no resolutions for me just a list of things I would like to do this year. Here are my non resolutions for 2011...

1. Potty train C...eek!
2. Write on this blog twice a week and actually keep it up the whole year.
3. Read blogs again, I really miss all my blog peeps.
4. Stop getting caught up in what I don't have and enjoy what I do have.
5. Go on a date with my husband
6. Go on a date with my husband and not regret leaving the kids at home.
7. Take the kids to the zoo.
8. Keep up with the house cleaning...ugh

Here we go 2011. Happy New Year to all!

Please Excuse the Mess

Since it's been 5 months since my last post some things will be changing around here. Please excuse the roughness while I change some things around.

Happy New Year!

Nuts and Bolts

Saturday night C climbed/fell out of his crib and came screaming into the living room because all of a sudden he seems to have a fear of sleeping. So, immediately my husband converted K's crib (which she isn't using yet) into the toddler day bed with the rail and switched the two cribs. This would have gone a lot smoother if we would have realized two years ago that C's crib which does convert requires a $70 conversion kit. Hence, the taking apart two cribs and switching rooms.

C is not a fan of the new situation either. He eventually goes to sleep at night after screaming at the gate we had to put up in his door way for half an hour or longer. And the two hour afternoon nap he desperately needs? Nope, hasn't taken one for two days. His books are getting a work out though.

Last night, C fell asleep sitting straight up in his booster chair at dinner. The poor kid is so tired he can't handle anything. He's crying all the time and on top of new baby clingy-ness, he's even more clingy. I read an article on baby center that said after a few days if the toddler is still having issues with his new bed, it's a good idea to put him back in the crib because he's just not ready to transition. It's only been 5 weeks since K came home from the hospital and I know he's just having a really hard time.

Then today rolls around. He slept until 9:15 woohoo! We try to go meet our play group for breakfast which turns into a disaster so, we come home and I try to put him down for a nap. Of course he doesn't sleep. I talk to my husband and tell him one of the other girls in my group took the spring out of the crib and put the mattress on the floor and her kid didn't die. We didn't do that originally because we know our kid would find some way to wriggle under there and get stuck. So, we decided since someone else tried it, I would make the switch. Keep in mind, we've already taken both cribs apart and put them back together in different rooms once...

I remove the bed rail from K's crib that's in C's room, put the front back on and the mattress on the floor...it's noon. By 12:45 this is finished and C is put in the crib for 5 minutes before he crawls underneath the crib and comes out. Sigh. We have lunch. At 2 pm we go back to C's room with the measuring tape, only 6 inches of space between the bottom of the crib and the floor! K's room with C's original crib only 4 inches...okay round 2.

I take apart C's original crib and move it C's room and put it back together with the mattress on the floor. With this one there is no way he's getting out of there. The mattress is stuck between the crib walls and nothing can get between it, no little hands or feet. Why didn't we do this in the first place??! It's 3 pm. I put C in the crib move K's fully assembled crib to the side of C's room because now I have to disassemble and reassemble it back in her room but, that will wait until after C's much needed nap.

3:34 C finally stopped crying while I'm writing this and has gone down for his nap. He used to be awesome at nap time and bed time, what the heck happened? And why do cribs have so much hardware??

I'm Still Alive I Promise!

It has been one crazy month. After two weeks in the hospital on bed rest, my body decided that it could no longer be pregnant. Katherine Grace made her appearance on July 9th at 1:49 pm via emergency C-section, weighing in at 5 lbs 10 oz and 18.5 inches long. She was perfectly healthy and was able to stay with me in my room after the first harrowing night that I had. I was not perfectly healthy but, I am now.

Katherine has been doing great and made it over 6 lbs by her 2 week appointment! C has been having some adjustment issues but, we're working on it.

I've been working on recovering and taking care of 2 children under 2 so, that's why I have been MIA. I'm still here, I promise and soon we'll be back in the swing of things! And in the meantime, if you have any suggestions on how to make C feel more included and better about his role as big brother please let me know!