Anti-Sippy, Day 1

Fact: My child has a serious addiction to sippy cups. He sleeps with them, has to have one in the car.. He cannot fall asleep without one. He also wakes up in the middle of the night for more liquid in the sippy cup and won't go to sleep until he has more.  We finally decided to wean him from the sippy cup addiction... 


Day 1


We started Tuesday- April 27, 2010. That was the last day he will have a sippy cup ever again. That night, he fell asleep without one. He whined for about an hour for a sippy but we did not give in. 
He woke up several times throughout the night asking, crying & whining for a sippy cup. About five am is when his crying started getting really bad. But he woke up around normal time and was okay until about noon, when he started getting really tired and wanted to take a nap. But it is now the end of day one and he is doing good with just a cup with a lid and straw. All of the sippy cups have been put into storage. We'll see how tonight goes with no sippy. Wish me luck!

Funny of the Day: Potty?

The past couple of weeks have been a real struggle with potty training. Amir will wear underwear and go on the potty sometimes and other times he forgets and pee's in his underwear. Most of the time he doesn't make it to the potty and he prefers to wear a diaper so he doesn't have to go on the potty. I've backed off with the potty training and the other day he went into his room and I realized that it was unusually quiet in his room so I went in to find him squatting over a bucket of blocks. He saw me and said "Mommy! Look at me! I go potty!!" ... All I could do was laugh. Then we went to the real potty and he went on there. 


I'm can't decide if that was a step forward or backward in our potty training adventures. 

Spring Crafts :)

Yesterday I made a cute Wreath Bird Bath & a Recycled Bird Feeder. I made a smaller version of the bird bath. 6" wreath and 4" saucer. Amir was really excited when he saw what it was. I cant wait until the birds come to use the feeder and bath. Amir will love it!

Earth Day

Its that time of year again. The day when everyone is more conscience of the earth & ways to be green.  Here are a few things I have been doing:

• Using florescent bulbs instead of incandescents
• Unplug small appliances when they are not in use (such as the toaster etc)
• We've just started eating two vegetarian meals a week, the WHOLE family
• Homemade laundry soap
• Recycle
• Instead of using harsh chemicals to clean my house I use vinegar/water & baking soda
• I try to use reusable grocery bags... Lets face it, who really remembers those every time.. I don't. ha!
• Reusable water bottles
• We have little to no clothing that requires dry cleaning. 
• HE washer and dryer
• We often wash our clothes in cold water. 

Things I would like to do in the future:

• Install low-flow shower heads
• Install a faucet aerator on each faucet
• Install "low flow" toilets
• Buy 'tree free' products (recycled paper products)
• Compost for the garden
• Shop at the Farmers Market

There are a bunch more but I always seem to run out of time during posts like these. So, in honor of Earth day we are not turning on any TV's in the house all day. And this weekend we will be planting not one, but two tree's. 


Here are a few Earth Day websites:




Earth Day 2010
Earth Day Network
EPA Earth Day

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been thinking about making home made laundry detergent for a while now. I've just been too lazy or unmotivated to do it. Finally when Katherine (sister in law) did it I figured its now or never. While I'm at it, I'll make home made fabric softener as well. I went and got all of the stuff yesterday.. Walmart is great for Borax, buckets & baking powder. While smiths is good for the rest of it. Walmart does not carry fels naptha or washing soda. Lame-o's. 


I mixed both the detergent and the fabric softeners in 5 gallon buckets. I doubled the fabric softener recipe. I did one recipe, and then repeated it because the chemical reaction of vinegar and baking soda almost overflows in the bucket. I recommend NOT doubling it at the same time. ha!


Anyway, here is the recipe's I used:


Laundry Detergent:

1 quart Water (boiling)
2 cups Bar soap (grated)
2 cups Borax
2 cups Washing Soda

• Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.
• Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the Borax and Washing Soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.
• Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

Fabric Softener:

Baking soda

Distilled White Vinegar

Water

Essential Oil (optional)

• Start by adding 1 cup of baking soda to your large bucket or container. Then add 1 cup of water to the baking soda. You do not have to stir to dissolve the baking soda, as the next step will do that for you.
• Now, slowly pour in 6 cups of distilled white vinegar. This will cause a chemical reaction with the baking soda, and the mixture will start to fizz. (This is why you need to mix it in a large container.) Let the mixture fizz for a few minutes to help dissolve the baking soda.
• Now add 6 more cups of water to the mixture. This will stop the fizzing process. Stir to properly mix all ingredients together.
• If you want to add essential oil, you will now add your choice of oil. 10-15 drops of pure essential oil is generally sufficient enough to give the fabric softener a pleasant scent.
• Pour your fabric softener into your choice of container. If you have left over fabric softener or laundry soap bottles, those will work excellent for storage of your new fabric softener. Just make sure they are properly cleansed before you add your new mix.

Funny of the Day: I NEED

[Cookie face]

Today Amir was especially upset that Rich was leaving for work. He ran outside after him and cried at the gate in the back yard until Rich came back and gave him some words of encouragement. Some of those words being: "I'll bring you a treat when I get home". When Amir came back inside he did his own thing for about ten minutes then he came to me and said: "I need ice cream..... We need donuts... *gasp* LETS BAKE COOKIES!"  We gathered up the stuff to make cookies with and started to make some cookies. Three minutes in he lost interest (I wouldn't let him taste yet) and ate a hot dog while I made the cookies.

Funny of the Day: Breakfast in Bed?

We have leftover cheese cake and Amir woke me up this morning by bringing the entire box of cheesecake with a fork into my bed. He sat next to my head and tapped my forehead with the fork and said "Want some? Want some cake mommy?" 
He was angry when I got up and made him put a piece into a bowl instead of eating the entire thing.


Note to self: Don't put any cakes or sweets on the bottom shelf in the fridge. Otherwise they will end up in my bed.  

3 Years Down....

...A million more to go - Yes we made it to year three somewhat intact!
Yesterday was mine and Rich's three year anniversary. Can you believe it? I hardly can. It feels like forever but not... I don't know if that makes any sense at all. Ha!
The day started out pretty slow and normal. Amir and I hung out at home and Rich went to work. I got absolutely nothing done so my house was a mess and the car seat had vomit all over it from the night before. (Amir threw up in the car on the drive home, by the time we got home it was too late so we just went to bed and then I never got to it) Then around 2:30 in the afternoon after watching an episode of Chuggington there was a slightly angry and disturbing knock on the back door. It was Katherine (Richard's sister) .. Apparently she had been pounding on the front door but I couldn't hear it. Our doorbell is retarded and I cant hear knocking from downstairs. lol. Katherine and her mama were picking up Amir! I had NO idea they were coming so my house was a disaster zone. Plus the previous mentioned state of the car seat.
After they took Amir, Rich called me and told me that I had a massage scheduled (can you say best husband ever?) I had to hurry over there to make my appointment. It was AMAZING... I don't think I was really fit to drive after... I was in a half dream state, it was awesome. That is something I have to do more often!
When I got home Rich was already there! I got home a little after 4:30p... Needless to say, Rich getting off earlier than 5 is a miracle in itself! He had cleaned up the house a little bit and had plans to go to dinner. We went to Johnny Carino's (I may have misspelled that) That was the place I suggested we go for our first date but it never happened. So almost 4 years later, we went!! The food was alright, but our waitress must have been new. She was forgetful, I felt bad for her.
Rich also bought me a necklace! Here's a pic:

(Poor quality photo, I took it with my phone)

After dinner we went and picked up a cheese cake from the cheesecake factory then went up to Rich's parents house to pick up Amir. We were planning on him spending the night up there but I have a hard time staying away from him overnight so we had to pick him up. Bigger bonus: The car seat was CLEAN! THANK YOU Katherine and Evelyn.. Lifesavers. 

Goal for the year.. Make it to the next anniversary in one piece. Ha ha ha.

Happy Easter!

Easter already? I cant believe how fast this year is flying by! Mine and Rich's anniversary is on the 6th. We have been married for THREE years! It feels like forever (in a good way, most of the time.. Haha)


Here are some pictures from this morning... :)

Amir playing with all his toys. :) He had so much fun.

Easter morning. What a cutie.

Crab.. He got some blocks that made this cool guy.