A Day Around The House

We get up every morning at 7:00am. Sometimes Titus and Adelaide are up before this, but they play patiently in their cribs till either Matt or I get them. If they aren’t awake at 7:00 we get them up and start our day.  We feed the babies their bottles between 7:15-7:30. After the bottles I facilitate the solid food portion of the meal while Matt heads off to either school or work. I start them off with the jar food. Once they are done this, I give them some finger food. This is their favorite part of the meal. During this time I normally empty the dishwasher and put away the dishes from the night before.  When I am done, if they haven’t finished their breakfast, I will fix myself something to eat.

Once they are done eating, we head into the living room for diaper, and clothing changes. Then, the babies play till around 8:45. At this time I sit them in their reclining infant seats and read to them. This always includes a Bible story first. After the Bible story, I do the alphabet or numbers, and some random books. Their favorite books  are “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle and “Bubbles, Bubbles” a Sesame Street book. 

After reading time, is nap time.  I do have to tell you that the babies are awesome nappers. Most days they lay down without any problem. Normally they are asleep within 3-5 minutes. Titus and Adelaide normally sleep 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Sometimes a little more, but I am usually not that lucky. During this quick break, I try to get my shower and read my Bible.

When they wake up, I check diapers and change them if necessary. Then I give them a snack. Normally it is Cheerios or KIX. Then they play till 11:00. At this time I give them their bottles/sippy cup of formula. Then they eat their solid food again.

After they eat they have free time again. They play until 1:00 and then go up for another nap.  Once again they sleep 45 minutes to an 1 hour.  If I have any cleaning to get done, I try to do it at this time. I also check Facebook, and work on blog posts.

At 3:00 we repeat the bottle, food, diaper change routine. Playtime follows. They normally don’t take anymore naps during the day unless they are particularly fussy or grumpy.

Since the babies won’t be taking anymore naps, this time is used to go out if we need to. If we don’t go out, and we stay at home, the rest of the day is filled with playing, reading, singing, and dancing.

Bath time is at 6:00pm. They love taking baths. 

After bath time (normally around 6:15), Matt and I feed the babies their evening bottles. Once they are done, it is bedtime. Most days Titus and Adelaide are in their beds, asleep by 6:20. There are occasional days that they go to bed earlier. 

Once Titus and Adelaide are asleep, Matt and I spend the rest of the evening together.

These are just the highlights of the day. In between all of this, there is kissing boo boos, cleaning spit-up off the floor, stopping Titus from playing in the spit-up, random diaper changes, random clothing changes, snuggles, hugs, and lots more.

Another Homemade Cleaner

In an attempt to save some money, Matt and I have been trying some new things.  Last week I posted about making our own laundry detergent (If you haven’t read it yet, you can read it here). Soon after discovering homemade laundry detergent, my cousin told me that he makes his own dishwasher detergent.  I did some research and found that it can be hit or miss depending on your water, washer, and so forth. So I scoured the internet to find the recipe that would work best for us. I took into consideration the things I already had around my house, and settled on this combination.  

1 Cup Borax

1 Cup Baking soda

1/2 Cup Salt 

Vinegar (as a rinsing agent)

Whisk together all powdered ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Use 1.5-2 Tablespoons per load. Put the vinegar in the spot for a rinsing agent.

I have done 2 loads so far, and have been happy with the results. You will have to try it on your own to see if it works for you. 

As for the price. It is much cheaper than the name brands, but comes out about equal with a store brand, unless you have coupons for your items. So to be sure if using homemade would be beneficial to you, you will have to do the math.  For us, using homemade was cheaper.

"Jesus Is the Reason for..."

“Jesus is the reason for the season.”  This is a saying I have heard all my life. I hear it every year at Christmas time, as I am sure you have too. This year I have really started thinking about this quote. Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season, but he is so much more than that.  We should see Jesus as more than just the “reason for the season”, but as the reason for everything.  Titus and Adelaide have a book called “For God So Loved The World.”  In this book there is this sentence. “Jesus lived on earth, but he came to die, cause he loved us so- that’s the reason why.”(emphasis added)  Christmas is just the beginning of the story.  The Christmas story is the springboard to the greatest truth we could ever know. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will will not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him(John 3:16-17).”  

How many times do we celebrate the birth of Christ full force, and then once the new year starts, fizzle out into mediocre christian living?  We wait all year to celebrate Jesus coming to earth as a baby, but we forget to celebrate the truth we have all year long.  Or how often do we criticize the liberals for taking “Christ out of Christmas”, while during most of the year we take Christ out of our own lives?  We forget the freedom he brings, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17).” We forget the joy he offers “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11).” We forget the peace he gives us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you (John 14: 27)” And most of all we forget to love Christ in the way he wants “If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:14).”

This year I urge you to make Jesus not only the reason for the season, but your reason for everything.  Let’s not only keep Christ in Christmas, but keep Christ in our lives throughout the entire year.

Baby Book Worms

The Easier Option?

Originally I wanted to take the babies to Picture People to get their Christmas photos done, but as Matt and I discussed it we decide that it would be to much of a hassle to get them done there. Not only would it have been packed because of Christmas, the only Picture People near us is about an hour away. So I opted for the more convenient (or so it would seem) option of taking some pictures myself.

Here is my first day of taking Titus and Adelaide's Christmas pictures.

Adelaide was more interesting in escaping than posing.

You can see Titus' pants falling down in the background.

Titus didn't want to sit still either. He kept trying to get to the humidifier  on the other side of the room.

This next set of pictures was taken yesterday morning before we left for church.  On Sunday's the babies don't get their morning nap, so they only did well for about five minutes before chaos erupted.

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Adelaide is starting to fall asleep

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Yesterday I put a post on Facebook about how I made my own laundry detergent, and had a few people ask for the recipe.  I wanted to make sure it worked before I gave out any information.  I didn’t want a bunch of people buying the supplies and then it not work. I have done a few loads with it and it seems to work just fine. The recipe I used is for a powder detergent. If you want a recipe for liquid, this website http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/02/make-it-homemade-liquid-laundry-soap-1/ has a recipe for it. Here are the instruction for the powder laundry detergent.

2 Cups Borax- $3.38 for 76oz

2 Cups Arm and Hammer Washing Soda- $3.24 for 55oz

1 Fels Naptha laundry bar $0.97 (You can use Ivory soap instead. It is about $0.45 a bar)

All of the above items except the Ivory can be found on the laundry isle at Walmart.

You can get a $1 off of 3 Arm and Hammer laundry items on Arm and Hammer’s website. http://www.armandhammer.com/Resources/SavingsCenter.aspx

Here are the steps to making the detergent.

1. Shave down the bar soap. I used a cheese grater, but a food processor works well.
2. Measure out the powdered ingredients
3. Mix everything together in a container.

When doing laundry, I have used 1 Tablespoon per load. This has worked for me. Depending on how soiled your items are and what kind of water you have, the amount per load may differ.

I did the math, and it costs me $0.03 a load. I used the Fels Naptha laundry bar, but if you use the Ivory, it will cost you a little less per load.  Also, if you decide to do liquid detergent, it comes out to about $0.01 cent per load.

The Many Faces of Titus

This week Titus and Adelaide have been more mischievous than ever before. Adelaide has figured out how to climb the stairs and she tries to do it whenever she gets the chance.  Unfortunately for her, we keep the stairs blocked off as much as possible.  At first we were using our shoe rack to block the way, but Adelaide quickly figured out how to push it out of the way, and slide between it and the wall, and maneuver up the steps. So the shoe rack barricade is out. Now we use our glider to block the way. This seems like a fool proof plan, but we will see.

Another instance of mischief happened on Friday evening. I was sitting at the computer and heard a rustling sound coming for across the room. I didn’t recognize the sound so I figured Titus and Adelaide were doing something they weren’t supposed to.  When I turned around I found saw that Adelaide was stuck, lying on her back, squished behind the playpen (we have it up against the wall). Not only had she managed to move the playpen and get behind it, she had gotten the Christmas tree cord and given it to Titus, who was chewing on it.  So I retrieved Adelaide from behind the playpen, took the cord away from Titus, and pushed the playpen back.  This did not deter Titus. He still wanted to play with the cord. He tried to crawl under the playpen to get the cord back, but his head was to big and didn’t fit. Eventually he gave up on this endeavor.

A few minutes later I heard Titus whining. This is how I found him.

I guess when he couldn’t get the Christmas tree cord, he decided to go for the tree itself. 

Despite all the work it is to keep them from getting into things that could hurt them, it is amazing to see how Titus and Adelaide are trying to problem solve. I think I have two little geniuses in my house.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

This is Titus and Adelaide’s first Christmas. Being only nine months old, they really don’t know what is going on, but I am trying to involve them in things and do holiday type activities with them. One of the activities was to trace Titus and Adelaide’s hands on the Christmas cards that were sent to grandparents. Adelaide didn’t mind me holding her hand down to get the outline. Titus on the other hand got mad every time. So the majority of his hand prints were really squiggly or only had four fingers. I am sure he was relieved that I only traced his hand for the grandparents and not everyone.

This was some snow we had right before Thanksgiving.

I also involved them in some of my Christmas baking. I brought their highchairs into the kitchen and let them play with some of the plastic utensil. I also let them sniff and sample some of the ingredients.  This is something Matt and I don’t normally let them do (the sampling not the sniffing). I try to have them eat as healthy as possible, but I thought this was a special occasion. Their favorite was the brown sugar. I am not sure if they liked eating it or squishing it in their hands more. Either way, it made for two very sticky babies.

The tree is another Christmas experience for them. The other evening after coming home from church, Titus saw the tree and got a big grin on his face and started making excited noises. This is his normal reaction when he hasn’t seen the tree in a while. Since they enjoy the tree so much, we have to block it off. If we didn’t I know it would make my job as a mom 1000 times more difficult. So Titus and Adelaide get to admire the tree from a small distance.  I do want them to be able to play with the tree some, so at different times during the day Matt and I hold them on our laps and let them touch the branches and the ornaments. This seems to be their favorite of all the Christmas activities.

Note the baby barricade