It's here!

Our new carseat came in the mail yesterday!! Which was super, super fast shipping. I got free shipping from Amazon on Thursday and it was at my doorstep Saturday morning. So here it is:This is how it looked when I pulled it out of the box. The upper headrest comes in the box, but not on the carseat. I have to say, I absolutely adore the colors. They are even better in person than on the website. It comes with an infant insert and headrest which is pictured here. However, the insert and headrest have only been tested with a child on the first shoulder slot for the harness, so once your child is up to the second slot you can no longer use the insert or the headrest. I tried B in the carseat to see how he fit.
He loved it!! Now in this picture, I still have the infant insert in the carseat and his shoulders were even with the second shoulder harness slot. Meaning, I can't use the insert. So I take the insert out and put him back in the carseat. Then, his shoulders were even with the first shoulder harness slots. I decided since he isn't an infant and he didn't really need the extra body support, he didn't really need the insert and so I left it out and left him on the first shoulder slots.
Also, you don't need to use the headrest as long as the child/infant is between 5-22lbs and their head is 1 inch below the top of the seat. (I always hated that rule b/c I don't always have a ruler handy and you can't measure from the top of the head and the seat. It's like this weird angle calculation. Sorry, don't have time for that!) Luckily, on this seat there is a tag at the top of the seat that has a thick red line on it. This is the line that determines if you need the headrest or not. B's head is slightly below the red line but with his hair its hard to tell for sure. I decided to go ahead and put the headrest on for safety sake.
I actually like this seat so much that I put it in the van instead of the truck. I took out the Britax Marathon and put that in the truck instead. I really like how the TrueFit has the side impact protection (Marathon does not) and how deep the seat it. Once I installed the seat, it gave B so much more leg room rear facing than the Marathon did. The install wasn't too bad. The LATCH anchors came in the forward facing position so I had to rethread them to go rearfacing, but besides that it was a piece of cake.

All in all, I adore this seat and it gives B plenty of growing room in it. He may actually make it to 2 years old comfortably in this seat before I have to turn him forward. I would definitely recommend this seat to anyone and the colors are very vibrant. Even the babe likes it! :)

The great carseat search

I am in the market for another carseat. We currently have 3 carseats and you think that would be plenty, but we need another one for dad's truck. It is getting old having to switch the carseats back and forth from my van to the truck every time I want to drive the truck. I also have a 20% off coupon right now for Babies R Us/Toys R Us and thought I would use that to save some money.

Here are the stipulations:
--It must have a weight limit of 65lbs
--It must be a convertible seat so that B can be rear facing
--It cannot cost more than $200
--It must have good safety ratings and comfy for the kids

In my van, we currently have P in a Graco Nautilus and B is still rear facing in his Britax Marathon. In the truck, we have a Graco MyRide 65 for P. I would like to find a carseat that I can put B in rear facing in the truck. I'm not a fan of the 40lb weight limit seats, I think they are a waste of money b/c my kids will be harnessed until they outgrow their seats. B is still rear facing b/c it is safer and they actually recommend that your child remain rear facing as long as possible or they hit the maximum height and weight limits of the seat. Our ped recommended 2 years old.

I have looked at and heard really good things about the True Fit seat from The First Years. It has a weight limit of 65lbs, you dont have to rethread the straps to adjust the height on them (this is a big perk!!!), and the price isnt too bad at $199.

I also looked at the Combi Coccoro and I adore the color choices, however, the weight limit is only 40lbs. :(

I've already had an Evenflo Triumph Advanced and I hated everything about that seat. Not to mention I could never get a really solid install in the truck with it.

Anyone have any suggestions or experiences??


**Well, I jumped the gun a bit. I found the True Fit on Amazon is a good color and the price was cheaper than the BRU even with the coupon and it was free shipping. I got it all for $157!!! That is a great price for this seat and it will last until B is out of a carseat. Woot! This is the one that I ordered:

Rub a dub dub

So, I took the challenge of making my own laundry soap and fabric softner. It was a challenge trying to find washing soda around here. I was told that many Ace Hardware stores carry it, but not ours. Want to know where I found it? The grocery store that I go to every week...duh! They also had the Fels soap and the Borax. So, I stocked up and headed home to mix my concoction up.

I started by blasting the crap out of the soap in the food processor. At first, I dont think my mixer was up to the challenge, but after a bit of convincing, it got the job done.

Then all I had to do was add the Borax and the Washing soda and my scent of choice, which was Lemon Pound cake. I then put it all into a glass canning jar and it looked like this:
And then I shook it up to mix it all evenly and it looked like this:

Overall, I think it turned out pretty well. I think next time I might try the Dove soap. I just enjoy the scent of that better than the Fels.

Then I tried my hand at making the fabric softner. The recipe calls for using conditioner, like Suave. I thought, great, I have some upstairs that never gets used. This is a perfect thing to use that up. Little did I know that apparently it can get sudsy if you shake it up.
Notice all of the suds at the top of the mixture. But I thought I would give it a shot anyways to see how it did. This method you can just add it to the wash, but I liked the idea of adding the soaked sponges to the dryer. (I thought I might get more scent that way and less static)To tell you the truth, I wasn't that impressed with the fabric softner, nor the sponge thing. I just cant get past the soap suds in the conditioner. Who would have thought?! (I guess that is why I can never use Suave conditioner on my hair!) I think I prefer just using vinegar in the wash and then adding scented oil to a wash cloth and adding it to the dryer. Or just using regular fabric softner. But hey, I tried!

Oh How I love my cloth!

I have simply fallen in love with our cloth diapers. Now, don't get me wrong, obviously I have loved it for some time to cloth diaper 2 kids. But I've gone up and down with the love of my stash of diapers. At this particular moment and for the past 6 months or so, I have been very content with my stash (this is rare!). I have found a system that works really well for us and is easy for family and the babysitter to use. I've also found a really, really good wash routine that has done away with the stinkies and never leaves any stains.

Since March, we have been using exclusively Nana's Bottoms AIO's (All in ones) and Fuzzi Bunz pocket diapers. This system has worked really well for us. I send either the Nana's or FB's to the babysitter and then use the FB's at night for both boys. I usually double stuff the night time diapers and both boys go all night with no leaks. The Nana's are uber trim under clothing and I don't need to size up Bubba's pants with them like you have to sometimes with cloth diapers. Here are some pics of the little guy with his Nana's on:
We have also recently acquired some flat diapers. Basically these are just a large square piece of fabric. You have to fold them in order to put them on, or you can trifold them and lay them in a cover. The nice thing about these diapers is that they are super cheap ($12.50 a dozen) and you can fold them according to the size of your baby, making them truly a one sized diaper. Here are some pics of Bubba in the flats:For both diapers, the Nana's and the flats, I have made my own fleece liners that I just lay on top as a stay dry liner to help keep Bubba's bottom dry. The FB's have a fleece inner so they are already stay dry.

Our wash routine has also been perfected. We have hard water so its hard to find a detergent and wash routine that does not cause stinkies. This is what we do: wash on the heavy duty cycle on hot with a 1/4 scoop of Tide HE original powder. Then do another hot wash on heavy duty with no detergent. This has worked perfectly and we never have any stains. I just love it when everything seems to come together and you achieve stash nirvana! :) And, there's just nothing cuter than a little cloth covered bum!!!

A cool find!

During some down time at work I was reading some emails. I am a subscriber to the Hillbilly Housewives newsletter and I had a new one in my Inbox. I am a big fan of the Hillbilly Housewife simply because there are a lot of great tips, recipes, and tricks to getting the most for your money. They even have an emergency meal plan for a week for a family of 4 for $45!!! You can find the website here and subscribe to the free newsletter if you are interested.

Anyways, I was reading the newsletter and was browsing through the recipes and such. I came across the homemade detergent section and read a reply that had a link to the lady's blog. I then started to read her blog. She had some really good recipes on there for homemade cleaning products, fabric softner, and laundry detergent. She even posted a great link to an online store where she buys her scented essential oils. So, of course I visited the store because I have been looking for some more scented oils to put in our wetbag for diapers and other uses. So I ordered Monkey farts (smells like banana and other yumminess), pink sugar (which is my favorite and I even have the perfume), Amish Friendship bread (you know this HAS to smell good), and lemon pound cake (I love lemon smelling things, very fresh!). They were only $2.50 each and you can use them in so many things. I use them for scenting our homemade cleaners, laundry detergent, wetbag for diapers, and many other things. Here is a link to Natures Garden where they sell the fragrance oils.

I really wanted to share this blog with everyone because it has some really good recipes and tips on there. And with the economy the way it is at the moment, we all can really use some ways to save money. (Hint, cloth diapering is a great way!! :)) Anyways, here is the link to the blog: Farming on Faith

I hope you enjoy it and learn as much as I did. :)

A little bit of Christmas

The boys and I have been hard at work trying to get some of the Christmas decorations up around the house. It's been difficult without daddy here to help us get the house ready for the holiday season. I decided not to put everything up this year, just the important things that would make it feel like Christmas for the boys.

We travelled to the tree farm last Sunday to get our tree. Last year daddy chopped one down for us, but my plan this year was to just pick out a pre-cut one from the farm. However, Peytonn was having no part of that. Luckily, Papa and Nay Nay were with us and helped us pick out a tree. Papa was kind enough to cut it down for us and Peytonn helped pull the cart with the tree loaded up on it.
Once we got home, Peytonn helped Papa untie the tree and open it up. He then helped me decorate it and put the lights up. Everyday he reminds me to turn the lights on. He was such a good helper putting everything up with me. He even helped me decorate the mantel with lights and our stockings.
We have gotten all of our stockings from Pottery Barn Kids and I love them!!! We have gotten one each year and this year was my turn. This picture has my old stocking in it, but my new stocking came in the mail the other day and is now up on the mantel with the others. I got a red one so we now have 2 red and 2 blue ones. Our stockings are now complete. I can't wait to fill them up with fun things for the boys for Christmas.

Here we go....

We're very, very soon going to have a full blown walker on our hands. Bennett has been walking for a while holding just one of your fingers and will stand alone, but he would not take any steps on his own. So I got this brilliant idea to try out the old fashioned white Stride Rite shoes. I even got those little bell things that keep the shoe laces tied. And let me tell you, what a world of difference those things have made! Bennett loooooves the bells and will kick his legs just to hear the bells jingle. I've noticed he feels a lot more stable and sure of himself with the shoes on.

So, its been about a week and a half since we got the shoes and today he took his first steps all by himself. (I was only slightly trying to bribe him with his cup of milk) He is so cute though, he gets so excited and happy when he is standing by himself. He will even dance and clap his hands.

He is just growing so fast and quickly turning into a toddler instead of a baby. He is now into 18 month clothes and quickly outgrowing the 12 month stuff, especially in pants. I think he just has long legs and a short torso, because he not a "big" kid. I think he may just have long legs like his daddy. The outfit he has on in this picture is head to toe 18 months. He just looks so big in this picture, like a little man. :tear: