Some favorite green "recipes"....

Toilet scrubbing:
About 2 Tbsp Borax
A few drops of your favorite essential oil, I recommend eucalyptus because the scent goes nice with tto.
A few drops of tea tree oil (tto).

Put into toilet and scrub well with a brush. I let it sit for a few minutes after brushing so everything can settle and I can see if I need to swish the brush around once more.

I love baking soda as well. It really is a multi-tasker. Cooking, cleaning, personal care... The works. I buy the big bag from a bulk store like Costco and then break it down into smaller containers for various areas at home. I have one obviously in the kitchen because I do a lot of baking when the motivation hits, one in the laundry room, one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom or wherever the shoes happen to be.

For my laundry I do the following:
2 cups of Borax
2 cups of Super Washing Soda (sold in some stores and can be hard to find, but you can call 1-800-524-1328 with the UPC of 33200-03020 to locate it at a store near you)
1/2 cup of Baking Soda
20-30 drops of mixed essential oils to make whatever scents I want. Right now I have eucalyptus and tea tree oil mix. I can't decide what my next batch will be.
To use in laundry I measure 1-2 Tbsp depending on load size. 3 Tbsp(which equals 1/4 cup) if it's heavily soiled. And this will last quite a while. However, I only use this on our clothes and some of DC's outerwear like jackets and blankets. DC has sensitive skin so for the clothes that touch skin we still use Purex Free and Clear. I also wouldn't use my homeade soap on DC's cloth diapers. For that I recommend sticking with Purex Free and Clear and I've also heard that Crunchy Clean works wonders on cloth diapers.

Come back for more recipes later. Right now, my nighttime nursling is calling to me.

More sewing time and everything else

I made 12 more cloth wipes in the past two days. I have to admit that I am really proud of myself for sitting down when I can at my machine and trying to get better at sewing. The fabric for that I have is ugly as sin, but it's being used on a behind so does cuteness really matter? So, far that is 18 wipes I have made in the past couple weeks. I still have a lot of fabric left to make more. I am going to have my mom scour for some more cheap fabric for me so that I can continue to "practice". I think most of what I make for right now won't be worn outside mainly because the fabric patterns are hideous, i.e. mostly plaid or really floral neither or which is my out and about style, but I am having fun making these things and coming up what ideas I'm going to tackle next.

I think I'm going to make a nursing tank/sleep shirt next, but I have to get some paper that is wider than a newpaper so I can make a ton of markings plus various notes and it should give me some leeway in case I need to make adjustments in the size. I also want to make a changing pad cover since DC does not like laying on the changing pad itself. There's always a temper tantrum to be thrown if I don't have a blanket of some sort down. It does make for easy clean up for those rare pee ons since the blanket absorbs the pee. I just take it off the pad after a change and throw it in my laundry pile. And it sounds like DC needs another nursing session...

Projects

Waving a sigh of relief. I am apparently capable of handling other domestic activities pretty well once I set my mind to it. Other than cooking, but I'm pretty good at that if I do say so myself. :-)



Ok, so I finished the hat I was crocheting this past weekend. Plus, I also turned another project originally slated to be a dishcloth into a pouch. It actually turned out to be really cute. And it was nice to see the finished product of something that I started. I tend to be one of those people.... I start things and take forever to finish them.

I'm actually pretty excited that I've been trying my hand at some things that I've wanted to do for a long time. I remember liking sewing when we had Home Ec in middle school. So, it has been pretty nice to be able to sit down at night when I have some free time and do something productive. I have had a hard time sleeping lately and although the projects aren't helping me any to fall asleep it has felt nice to have something to do with my hands. Otherwise, I think I'd stare pointlessly at the television and not really know what I'm watching...which tends to happen even with I am paying attention.

Should be sleeping

but, I'm not. DH and DC are both taking up the bed so there's no room for me to squeeze in at the moment. I also should be finishing up the hat I'm crocheting, but I just don't have the motivation. I'm almost done and think I'll actually finish it up this weekend. It took me the better part of my free time at night this past week, but I think for a first project that it looks cute. And is it just me or does the wrong side actually look really neat, moreso than the right side of things sometimes.

I tried to learn to crochet when I was younger and gave up because I just didn't understand it. Plus, I only had my mom tell me how to do and moving so fast through a basic single stitch that I was incredibly confused and didn't ask follow up questions. I went onto this website http://crochet.about.com/ via a google search and up popped not only instructions but pictures to boot. Seriously, I love the internet sometimes just because it seems like you can find anything that you want to know. (Except how to fold socks/clothing military style...go figure! And yes, this is something I'm interested in purely because I'm selfish and would love to save some space in my tiny falling apart wardrobe.) Anyway, back to crocheting, I really can't believe that I didn't try harder to learn this when I was younger. It really is pretty easy to do and I am actually enjoying it. I can't wait to hopefully finish the hat this weekend so I can make a scarf to match it which I haven't decided if I'll knit (which I'm also teaching myself to do) or match it up and crochet in the same pattern as the hat. And if I have enough yarn left, which I think I do and can figure it out a pair of mittens to match would be absolutely perfect. Is it terrible that it would be a birthday and Christmas gift all in one? I hope this little girls' mama appreciates the effort and thought. :-)

It's been just over a year of exclusivity...

...with breastfeeding. And tomorrow, we start DC on cereal. I know that our relationship is not ending, but it is changing. And I am sad to see this change. My baby is now considered a toddler. I have enjoyed breastfeeding this past year to be honest. The beginning was incredibly hard and no one told me beforehand just how hard it would be. I almost came close to giving up and going to formula on a couple of occasions. But, in the end I stuck in there and am so glad that I did. I have a happy, healthy thriving child.

I know that our decision as a family has caused a lot of issue amongst our respective families, especially with DH's very involved family. I understand that they mean well, but I never asked for their opinion on this and never wanted any advice regarding it. I know that DH's mother supplemented with him when he was a baby. And that is what she had to do and felt was right to do. However, I do not feel that formula is or was right for us. And I have no intention of ever using formula for our baby or any future children. I only wish that I had thought to start this blog last year so that I could have shared with others what has gone through my mind and what we've experienced over this past year. For now though, this all the energy that I have to compose my thoughts and I am now going to relax so I can go to bed.