Still Alive!

Ugh, I know it's been forever since I updated our blog...like 5 months :-( So, here's a quick recap:

The biggest news is that we are expecting baby #2 in the middle of January, so I am 22 weeks pregnant right now, and the doctors are predicting a girl!  Yay!  Still trying to determine a name, but there's still time for that.  The biggest challenge with this change in our future has been preparing Evie for the arrival; the challenge being to help her acknowledge it.  Ah well, it will become all too real for her once the baby comes.

Big change number 2 is that we moved to Spanish Fork, UT at the end of May.  A little upgrade from our two-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom town house.  It came at probably the best time a move can come during a pregnancy, but either way, I detest moving at any time and it wasn't the most joyous event needing to eat during a majority of the process.  C'est la vie.

Also, we were able to get Evie potty trained before our move, which was an adventure.  I think we were pretty lucky though, because she got it down by the end of the second day.  I'm just happy I had Brandon to keep my sanity in check; that first day was awful.  But definitely worth it at the end of day two.  Since then she's been fairly consistent with using the "big girl potty."  Not to say she hasn't had minor relapses and accidents, but I feel overall our experience was not as bad as it could have been.  I'm mainly excited we got this taken care of at the beginning of the pregnancy, so that when the baby comes, Evie will have had nine months to have the whole thing down pat.  Also, we won't have to buy diapers for two kids. Bonus!

And finally, I have officially, OFFICIALLY, graduated with my Bachelor's of Science.  I received my degree in the mail shortly after our move, and at some point I may get it framed :-)  Now, what should I do with all that knowledge that I paid for? Hmmm....  At this point in time, I am thinking about teaching piano lessons to beginners.  This would allow me to work at home, it won't be super time-consuming, and it'll bring in a little extra income, which definitely wouldn't hurt.  So, for the past while I've been casually investigating different book series and tips/techniques for teaching...hopefully this will all come in handy if/when I can get this gig going.

That's a brief overview of what's been going on at our end of the universe.  I'm hoping now that the nausea has left, I'll be able to get back to being productive and keeping everything together more effectively. 

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've had a couple of people ask me for this recipe, and while I was making a new batch, I remembered that I should probably give it to them. I've been making this homemade laundry detergent for about 8 months now, and using my mom's before that. I decided to continue this tradition after we found out Evie has eczema. This recipe is super easy, eczema-friendly, and your wallet will love it.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap. (I have never found this, so I use a full bar of Lever 2000, or whatever is on sale.)
• 1/2 cup washing soda. (Haven't found this at Wal-Mart either. Substitute 1/2 cup baking soda.)
• 1/2 cup borax powder. (This you CAN find at Wal-Mart with their other laundry supplies.)
• 2-gallon bucket. I use a 3 gallon BYU Creamery ice cream bucket.

Instructions:

• Grate the soap and put it in a stock pot or large sauce pan. Add 6 cups of water and heat it until the soap melts. (The original instructions tell you to add the washing/baking soda and the borax powder here. From experience, I'm telling you not to. The mixture will boil and rise over the top of your pot, leaving more mess for you to clean up.)
• Pour 4 cups hot water into your bucket.
• Remove soap/water mixture from heat, and add to your bucket.
• Add washing/baking soda and borax powder, and mix until dissolved.
• Once dissolved, fill your bucket to the 2-gallon mark (or your best estimation) with hot water and stir.
• After your solution is mixed, let it sit for about 24 hours (it takes mine 36-48) and it will gel. Use 1/2 cup detergent per load.

(This recipe was originally taken from http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com)

Just for fun, I'm going to add up your expenses, and you can compare this to buying 60-load or whatever Tide or Gain however often you need to from the store :-)

8-pack Irish Spring bar soap:~$4.50
borax powder:~$4.50
baking soda (16 oz):~$2.00

I didn't have to purchase my bucket, my mom gave it to me for free, but any food storage bucket will do that you can get from Macey's or somewhere cheap. Some places, like the creamery, may give them to you free. Now, I do on average a load of laundry a day, with my child who spills and makes messes on everything. I bought each of these things when we moved into our apartment at the beginning of last June, and I haven't had to go buy more of anything. Today I made my 3rd batch, and I'll need to get more baking soda for the next time. So, $13.00 a year on laundry detergent? I'm ok with that.