Bumpdate Week 19

How far along? 19 weeks
 

Weight Gain: Still holding strong at about 3 pounds.
 

How Big is Baby? Mango
 

Maternity Clothes? Still happy in my fat pants.
 

Stretch Marks? Still none.
 

Sleep? We got a new bed, and my mom bought me one of those pregnancy body pillows , so I have been sleeping like a baby. I love waking up and having my back not hurt!
 

Best Moment of the Week: Finding out that our baby is a boy!
 

Movement: Still not much.
 

Food Cravings: Stuck on sweets and noodles. Oh how I love noodles this week!
 

Gender: Baby Selman is a BOY!!!
 

What I Miss: Wearing normal clothes. I just want to wear a skirt but they don't fit!
 

What I'm looking forward to: Designing the nursery now that we know the gender.
 

Symptoms: Heartburn is still rough. And I am not waking up in the middle of the night STARVING.
 

Emotions: So weepy. My Auburn Tigers played in the National Championship (and lost-sad day), so I have been in overdrive!
 

Belly Button in or out?  In.
 

Wedding rings on or off?  On.
 

Things I Need To Do: We picked out the chair for the nursery, but that is the only thing we done. Hoping to decide on a nursery theme soon!

Not a whole lot of changes this week, but I KNOW those are coming soon!
 
It's not of this week (hopefully I can get Ben to take some bump pictures from now on), but this is from Christmas, and my belly hasn't really changed since then. (You also get a bonus picture of my babies, Ellie and Kobe!)

 

DIY Laundry Detergent

If you read my 2014 Goals post (click here if you haven’t or if you just want a refresher!), you know that it is my goal to try one Pinterest-inspired DIY project a month. I ran out of laundry detergent and thought, “ Why don’t I try making my own?” After lots and lots of research and perusing Pinterest (I feel like all of these posts on this topic start the same way!), I found a recipe that I liked. I also discovered how much money this could save us! (And with a baby on the way, I figured it that couldn’t hurt!).

I found several recipes that I thought could work, but the one with the best reviews was this one from here so I went with it. I also did research on if Borax would hurt baby skin (since I don’t want to make a huge batch only to have to throw it out because it wont work for baby), and according to the sources I read, even sensitive skin is OK with Borax. Crazy, but hopefully its true!

Ingredients:

1 4lb box of Borax

1 4 lb box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda

1 3lb box of Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda

1 3lb container of OxyClean (some recipes omit this but I chose to include it for major stain fighting power!)

2 bars of Zote or Fels Naptha soap

1-2 bottles of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener. (I originally planned to use 2, but using an entire bottle in a half recipe-which is the same as using 2 in a whole recipe-barely yielded any scent at all, so I opted not to purchase the second bottle).

My ingredients. I actually had to go back to get the 2nd bar of soap which is why it is not included in this picture.

Directions:

Step One: Grate your soap. Now you can do this the old fashioned way with a cheese grater (make sure you use the finest grater possible), but I felt like this would take way too long and I just don’t have that much arm strength (pregnancy + carpal tunnel= no good!), so I did not go that route. People also had success with using a food processor, but I am not fancy enough to have one of those. So I went with the microwave. All you do is cut your soap into a bunch of pieces, place on a microwave safe plate or container, and microwave for a minute or so. (My microwave actually took a lot longer-closer to 3-4 minutes but it shouldn't take that long if you have a decent microwave.)  Then all you do is crumble it and it makes a really fine powder. I had a little difficulty achieving the right texture, so I had to do it a little differently than the original recipe called for. I crumbled each piece into a colander and reheated what didn't crumble each time. It took a few extra steps, but I eventually got the correct texture.

This is one bar of the soap. I only microwaved one half at a time.

This is what HALF of the bar looks like when you microwave it. So fluffy!!!

This is the texture you want to achieve when you are crumbling it. This makes sure the soap is fine enough to dissolve even in cold water!

 

Step Two: Mix it all together. Seriously. Its that easy. I went with the recommendation of other bloggers and did it in batches-I poured same amounts of each ingredient and mixed each one together. Then did again. And again. Until I had used all the ingredients. I think this was much easier than pouring it all in the huge bucket and trying to mix it all at once (once again, carpal tunnel is not my friend!)



Here is half of a recipe all mixed up.

Step Three: Do your laundry. It is really that easy! Use 1-2 tbsp of this and you are good to go. Yeah, that’s it. 2 tbsp. And if you bought the Purex Crystals like I did on the recommendation of my recipe, you don’t even need to get a special measuring scoop just for your detergent-the lid does it for you!

Cost Breakdown:

Borax: $4.39

Baking Soda: $2.48

Super Washing Soda: $3.19

OxyClean: $7.85

Zote soap: $1.94

Purex Fabric Softener:$8.96

(I used a borrowed container, but I will eventually buy one that is a little more aesthetically pleasing. I only filled up about half of this huge container!)

Total: $28.81

To give that some perspective, we typically use Gain detergent that at the moment costs about $15 at Walmart. We go through this box about every 2 months, give or take, plus the matching Gain dryer sheets for fabric softener that lasts about the same which is around $6. That comes out to around $126 for the whole year. This detergent supposedly lasts 9-12 months. So if it does in fact last us a year, we saved almost $100 by switching to a homemade detergent that took  a little more than 30 minutes to make. Crazy!

Review: So you know how to make it. You know how much it costs to make it. And now you know you know how much you can save by making it. But does it work? I haven't done a huge amount of laundry with the new detergent, but I can tell you a few things: 1. It gets the clothes clean. I have a husband who can get a little sweaty, and it gets sweat stains and odors out of the clothes. 2. I haven't needed to use the dryer sheets, so that aspect appears to be working with no static. 3. It leaves my laundry smelling clean and fresh. No, there is no discernible scent, even with using the Purex, but sometimes the fact that it just smells clean is better. 4. My sensitive skin has had no problem with the switch. I was a little afraid that I would have some sort of reaction to it, but so far it seems to be working just fine. The jury will be out for a final verdict until we wash baby clothes and see how that works, but right now I am so pleased with this detergent!

Have you ever made detergent? What did you do differently?

 

It's a....

BOY!!!!!!

Like I mentioned in Friday's post, we had our sonogram that day to determine the baby's gender and that we were having a small party to reveal it with our family. We decided on a Disney theme (which was the genius idea of my friend Macey), and picked everything around that. We had Mickey and Minnie cakes (generously made by Macey's sister-in-law Donna) and even pulled out a Mickey from our bag. It was so much fun to share that moment with some of the people dearest to us. I hope you enjoy the pictures from our eventful Saturday!

 

We are so excited about our little "Mickey." We cant wait to start planning all the things that go along with baby boys!!

 

Bumpdate, Week 18

I actually had another post planned for today, but I had a few technical difficulties so I will be doing a BUMPDATE for you all today. I decided that since I am pregnant and will have so many changes going on, I will be doing weekly “bumpdates” to fill everyone in on my progress. I have seen this on a few other blogs, and just decided to go for it here and make it a weekly thing! (I decided to finally make the plunge after seeing a friend of mine do it on her blog!). I am excited to keep track of these things and watch how they change over the coming weeks.

How far along? 18 weeks
 

Weight Gain: 3-4 pounds. (Mind-boggling. My belly is huge!)
 

How Big is Baby? Sweet Potato!
 

Maternity Clothes? Heck yeah. I swear my belly just popped-I cannot figure this out!! I can still “technically” fit into most of my pants, but it is just so much more comfortable to wear the maternity pants. My mom is amazing and bought me a few pair, so I haven’t had to buy anything yet.
 

Stretch Marks? Not yet-but I moisturize every day!
 

Sleep? I have actually been sleeping pretty well. I wake up at least once to go to the bathroom, but I can usually fall right back asleep.
 

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing the baby at our Sonogram was pretty darn amazing. Blueberry (that is the nickname we have given the baby-the size when we found out!) was just moving and rolling and flipping and would not sit still! The tech had a hard time getting good profile and face pictures, so we don’t have great ones of that, but we got to see the important parts.
 

Movement: A little. A few flips and pokes here and there, but they are so easy to miss! It is so amazing that I have not been able to feel it after seeing how much Blueberry is actually moving. But they say that’s normal for your first, so I’m not worried. I cant wait to feel them regularly though!
 

Food Cravings: Sweets. Apples. Fruit in general. Anything sour. And Taco Bell. It’s really disgusting, actually.
 

Gender: We find out tomorrow at our Gender Reveal Party. I will know by the next bumpdate!
 

What I Miss: I just want a glass of wine. That’s all.
 

What I'm looking forward to: Finding out the baby’s gender tomorrow!
 

Symptoms: Crazy bad heartburn. And crazy appetite. It shocks me that I have only gained 3 ish pounds bcause I eat CONSTANTLY.
 

Emotions: All over the place. Those ASPCA commercials that seem to come on every five seconds? Yeah-those really get to me!
 

Belly Button in or out?  In.
 

Wedding rings on or off?  On.
 

Things I Need To Do: Pretty much everything. Hopefully we will knock a few things off the list this weekend, though!



We cant wait to find out what the baby is tomorrow! Check back Monday for a full report of the party with pictures of all the cuteness!!

2014 Goals

So I havent blogged since my epic Disney week. That was so much fun to think about and put together. I cant wait to go back, but it seems that our trip for September 2014 has been cancelled because of a very expensive souvenir that we brought back-a baby!! That's right, we are expecting a baby in June of this year! We cant wait to be parents, and could not be more excited about the changes to come in our lives! That is also part of why I have been so absent-I was pretty sick for a while and was just so tired that I didnt make writing a priority. Now that I am feeling better (I am 18 weeks today!), I want to get back to what makes me happy-writing! Even if no one else reads it but my mom, I am really looking forward to getting back into this creative outlet. I have worked hard to get organized to start off 2014 on the right foot. I dont really believe in New Years Resolutions, mostly because I can never keep them, but I do make goals for myself. That being said, here are my goals for this blog in 2014.

* I want to commit to writing a blog post 3 times a week. In the past, I have pressured myself to have content ready every day, and I just got burned out and lost the joy in sharing my thoughts and ideas. So this year, 3 times a week is what I want to do. If at any point this starts to pressure me, I reserve the right change my mind!

* I want to work on encouraging other bloggers and building my online community. It has always meant so much when other bloggers have reached out to me, so I want to be that to other women as well.

* I want to do more exciting things to blog about. I cant reasonably expect to write about anything if all I do is laundry and sit on my couch! I want to get out and explore my city more this year. If nothing else, it will make me feel more at home here!

* Ben and I are going to be putting together a series of tutorials on woodworking projects. We are not experts by any means, but we have really enjoyed putting some things together, and excited to document that here on the blog.

* I want to completely revamp my blog this year to make it easier to navigate. I dont know at what point this will come, but is something I would love to do!

* I would LOVE to go to a blog conference this year. This is most likely just a pipe dream as we will be preparing for baby and then I will have a newborn, but it is something I would love to do.

* I want to do more craft projects this year. I love using Pinterest as inspiration, so I want to do one Pinterest project a month. These dont have to be high dollar, crazy projects, but I want to commit to it so that I have to!

* I want to take more pictures this year. I got a new camera for Christmas, and I am so excited to learn how to use it. I know that if I take more pictures, I will have more to blog about!

* I want to catch up on my digital scrapbooks. I love putting them together and I want to share them here on the blog. I hope you like looking at them as much as I enjoy putting them together!

* I am going to take a picture a day in 2014 and share them each week. I have seen other bloggers do this, and it looks like a great way to keep up with the changes in our lives.

* I want to participate in as many link-ups and themed parties as I can. I think that this will give me more things to write about and ideas to inspire my projects!

* I want to work towards co-hosting a link-up and writing a guest post. I dont think I am ready for this yet, but I want to work towards this in 2014.

I know there are more things I want to do, but I think these are great things to start with!

Since it has been so long since I last posted, here are some pictures of my life!

Our first look at Baby Selman!

Mom and I met one of our favorite bloggers at the Chapel Market (Rhoda of Southern Hospitality). 

We watched some Auburn Football with the Alum Club.  

We traveled to watch the Auburn Tigers play the Tennessee Volunteers. We met up with our friends Neil and Sarah.  

I got to see my second parents Jimmy and Carol who moved to Knoxville. 

We love these sweet friends.  

My sweet friend Elyse married Michael, the man of her dreams, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony. 

We watched an incredible Auburn vs. Georgia game at the reception. 

And got to hang out with our besties, Macey and Chad!

And used the opportunity to share our big news via the photo booth!

I decorated a few trees for Christmas.  

And celebrated Thanksgiving twice with my hubby! 

I got a custom hand painted portrait done of our sweet Ellie. 

And snuggled with that sweet girl on more than one occasion. 

I dressed my Diva-Dog in embarrassing yet adorable clothes. 

And made her wear these antlers for Christmas. 

We spend a whole day creating Ben's new tool room. So excited about what will come out of here this year! 

What are your goals for 2014? Do you believe in New Years Resolutions? Why or why not?