Homemade Baby Wipes

I wish I would've discovered homemade baby wipes a long time ago! It would've saved me big bucks now that I'm diapering baby number 3. The recipe is readily available online when you Google "making your own baby wipes." After two batches I've come up with the recipe that I prefer. Here it is...

You will need:
Bounty Extra Soft paper towels (or regular Bounty)
2 cups water
1 Tablespoon baby bath wash (up to 2 Tbls)
1 teaspoon Baby oil (up to 1 Tbls)
7- or 8-cup storage container (such as Ziploc disposable container, a left over gallon ice cream tub, or something similar with an air tight lid)

Using a sharp serated knife, cut the roll of Bounty paper towels in half. Bounty works the best because they don't fall apart when they soak up the solution, and I think Bounty Extra Soft is just a lot softer on sensitive baby bottoms. Place half the roll, cut side down, into the container. Boil 2 cups water, remove from heat, then add your baby bath wash and baby oil. Stir. Then pour the solution over the paper towels in the container. Put the lid on. After about 5 minutes, flip the container over and let it sit for about 10 minutes to let the solution thoroughly soak into the paper towels evenly. After the paper towels are good and saturated the cardboard roll should slide right out of the paper towels and it will pull the first towel up from the center. It's ready to use!

These wipes work great because the paper towels are thick, strong, and are nice and wet with the solution. You could even use all natural baby wash and something like safflower oil or coconut oil if you wanted a natural baby wipe. And some recipes say you can use 1 tsp alcohol, but I'm not sure why since it could burn if baby has a bit of a diaper rash. I figure the savings will be huge since a pack of generic wipes is about $1.44 and the homemade wipes cost no more than $0.50 per container if you use inexpensive wash and oil.

Mother of Three Guarantees

You can guarantee that you will never get to sit down for more than 10 minutes at a time during the day.

You can guarantee that you will be needed as soon as you get on the phone.

You can guarantee that the bathroom door will fly open as soon as you get seated with pants around ankles.

You can guarantee that at least one little person will not be happy about an outing and will cry and whine the whole trip.

You can guarantee that you will never complete a meal without getting up from the table at least once (usually more) - and at least one of those times will be to wipe someone's bottom.

You can guarantee that spankings will come in groups of two - the perpetrator and the retaliator.

You can guarantee that everyone will cry or throw a tantrum at the exact same time, which will make you realize why God made women multi-taskers.

You can guarantee that by the time you get all three children down for naps, the first one down will wake up as soon as the last one goes to sleep.

You can guarantee that if one gets sick they will all be sick within 24 hours.

You can guarantee that you will get lots of hugs, kisses, smiles, and special moments that you will cherish for a lifetime.

If you know of more "guarantees" that I've missed please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Griffin is 4 Months Old!

On Aug. 23 Griffin turned 4 months old. He is such a sweet, precious blessing to our family. I'm trying to savor every minute of his infancy since I know before too long he'll be acting just like little Mr. Temper-Tantrum and Miss. Sassy-Mouth. Griffin is smiling and laughing constantly. He loves to watch his big brother and sister. I know before long he'll be right in the middle of the action. He rolls from back to front and front to back very easily. He worms and wiggles his way around to get different places in the living room floor. No more can I leave him on the couch or bed to watch the action from up high. He enjoys sitting in his high chair (which reclines for his comfort) while we eat dinner. I think he likes being a part of the family and seeing what everyone is doing. When I hold him he cranes his neck around to see everything he can. This has caused me to be more careful when I carry him for fear he'll squirm right out of my arms. He is sleeping so-so. He doesn't nap very well during the day, but he sleeps 5-7 hours at night. I can't complain even though I'm very ready for him - and me - to sleep more like 8-10 hours at night. Griffin is a good eater. He still nurses like a champ every 3-4 hours. As of last Monday, he weighed 15 lbs 5 oz (75th percentile). His cheeks are out-of-control chubby! I LOVE them and can't help but kiss them a million times a day. His eyes are a very groovy brown and blue color, which sort of looks greenish at times. It's still hard to decide if they will be brown, blue or some shade in between. If someone were to ask me what color his eyes are, I'd have to say I really don't know. His favorite places to hang out are in the Bumbo seat, the bouncy seats, and he's loving his exer-saucer now that he's big enough. Griffin enjoys all the different toys we hand to him, and they all go straight into his mouth. But I honestly think his all time favorite thing is for his big sister to talk to him. He belly laughs whenever she comes near and his eyes follow her every move when she's within sight. Lily is doing great with him and loves to make him laugh. Such a precious sight! Schaeffer is doing great with Griffin, too. But he's still more interested in his trucks to pay much attention to baby brother. Both Lily and Schaeffer are very gentle and loving with Griffin. I'm a very lucky and blessed mommy!

New Post for My New Laptop

BJ surprised me today with a brand new laptop. I'm not braggin' or anything. My old one had been acting funny: screen going black, shutting off/on by itself, freezing up, etc. (I guess just PC sort of stuff). BJ said my laptop was old - circa 1994. I guess that's old in laptop years. I was just now getting used to it and having a new found love for it. I've started using my laptop on the kitchen counter as opposed to going into the office to get on the new mega-machine that BJ ordered a few weeks ago. The new mega-machine is nice - 2 wide panel flatscreens and lots of memory (so I'm told). But, whenever I go in the office the little tykes follow me in and then they get into lots of trouble with all the books, paper, pens, drawers full of stuff they've never seen before, computer, outlets, paper shredder, etc. So its best that I stay out of the office unless everyone is sleeping. Simultaneous sleep in this house is rare so I was on the mega-machine after 9:30 p.m. Until I realized I could leave my laptop on the kitchen counter and use it whenever I needed. I actually pulled up recipes yesterday and had fast access to them right there in the kitchen. I know this is sort of a no-brainer for most of you, but I hated to waste valuable counter space for a laptop. But it works out great and now I'm spoiled and can't go without it on my counter. And then it started acting up and I got totally frustrated. So BJ came home today with a new, pretty HP box with my new, pretty HP laptop in it. I like it and wanted to break it in with a new blog post. So here it is!

Planting

Here are two church plants started by friends of ours: Arrowhead Church and Ridge Church. Take a minute to check out the exciting things they are doing and the people they are reaching. It's awesome to see God working in so many interesting ways.

Homeschool...Here we Come!

"Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6)

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." (Deut. 6:7)

A few months ago we made the decision to homeschool Lily when she starts Kindergarten next year. It was a decision that weighed heavy on my heart until I finally gave in and told God I was up for the challenge. And since I'm a type-A personality (God made me that way quite possibly for a time like this) I've already begun planning and preparing. The first step in the process was to ensure I had a good handle on our household chores so that I can be sure to keep up with the added work load of homeschooling. I created a Family Chore Chart that lists chores for each day so that by the end of the week every thing gets done: laundry, kitchen, floors, bathrooms, bedding & towels, dusting, sorting, groceries, and picking up. Of course there are always extra projects and we just squeeze those in when needed.

I've also sorted out all of the kids toys and put most of them away (I stole this idea from Michelle Duggar, the mother of 18 and counting). The idea behind this is to help children focus on just one or two toys at a time, and then they learn to clean up before getting out other toys. This has already helped me out tremendously since there aren't tons of toys scattered across the house all day long creating more work for me. I've sorted toys and put them in labeled totes: trains, cars, Barbies, blocks, crayons, play food & kitchen stuff, etc. And then the totes are kept in a location out of reach from the kids. If they want to play with them they simply ask me and I will get them out for them after they clean up their prior mess. Although, they have instant access to their few favorites in the toy boxes (Lily's dinosaurs and Schaeffer's cars). I've already noticed that Lily will stay focused longer on a set of toys when other things are out of view and not creating a distraction for her. She has a tendency to bounce around between toys and never complete a thought or series of events, and she even gets overwhelmed by the clutter (this is typical of children with sensory processing disorder). So this type of organization is important to help her learn focus and concentration.

One of my favorite recent projects, BJ helped me turn a coat closet into a supply closet where I can organize and stack all of our coloring books, paper, craft supplies, games, puzzles, etc. I love this closet! It's like my sanctuary. When we want to do a fun crafty project I just reach for the labeled boxes, get out the supplies and then return them once we are done. This closet has simplified my life so much!

Meantime, I've been praying over my homeschool goals. I had read that it's wise to create some goals so that everything you do can be filtered through them. And since I just began researching curriculum options I now see why having written goals is important ~ there are a million options and it can get overwhelming fast! Having my goals helps me see if the curriculum and the tons of ideas out there are going to stack up against my goals. All my goals come from a Biblical worldview, which is very important to me. So I included the verses that support them. I hope to memorize these scriptures over time and teach them to my kids.

My homeschool goals are to lead my children to:

1. Have a vibrant, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
· I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
· For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
· For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

2. Love the Lord their God with all their hearts, soul, minds, and strength.
· And he [Jesus] said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)
· But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul. (Joshua 22:5)

3. Love others.
· You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39)
· Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:12-14)

4. Enthusiastically embrace the Truth; love righteousness and hate evil.
· I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. (Romans 16:19)
· Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3:2)

5. Be wise in the LORD and to be trained in the Truth of God’s Word as it relates to every academic discipline.
· The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:7)
· Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)
· And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

6. Connect the Bible to real world so that they have a proper foundation for understanding this world in which we live, and therefore, making them able to answer many challenges they will face in our culture.
· For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 3:11)
· So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.” (Isaiah 28:16)

7. Persevere and find joy in learning and growing into the people God desires us to be.
· For the LORD your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. (Deuteronomy 16:15)
· Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:12)
· Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1)

There's so much more to do, but I'm grateful that I have a full year to research, plan, and pray. I'm really excited about all the ideas and boundless opportunities in educating my children.

Ring Sling

This post is mainly for my friend Staci who inspired me to get a ring sling. After some research, and discovering that ring slings can cost anywhere from $35 to $60, I decided to make my own. I found directions on how to make a no-sew sling (but actually my mom hemmed the fabric so that it was reversible and no selvage ends). I've enjoyed using my new sling and I have a black one and a brown one (pictured) that I simply change out when I want a different color. For the price of one $35 sling I could have half a dozen different fabrics. Instead of purchasing the more expensive and lightweight aluminum rings at http://www.slingrings.com/ I purchased my steel ones at Lowe's. They are heavier and they are only available in 2 inch, whereas, 3 inch is more recommended especially if you are using heavier weight fabric. But, my $1.00 rings work just fine (and they are rated for use up to 200 lbs - I could carry BJ in the my sling if I wanted...if only I were that strong!).