Friday, June 8, 2012

Free Trial! Calling all Mommas!


Hooray for Free Stuff!
Click on the link below to order your Free Eco Friendly Diapers and Wipes. You can also get a little bundle with laundry soap and other baby needs!
Just pay $4.95 for shipping and handling and then cancel your subscription online or on the phone when you get your package in.
A $80 value!
You can pick a design for the diapers that get, and they are super cute!

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Go to the Bundle and Save link scroll to the bottom and click where it says get your Free Trial.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Haircut

Yesterday Josiah got his very first haircut.
Well, actually I have trimmed his hair a little bit, but that was just because it was so knotted that I ended up trimming his beautiful strawberry blonde curls.(but not so good) When you start combing cookies and fruit out of your toddlers hair daily, it's time to cut it short.

It's great to have a Grandma that went to beauty school and can actually show me a few techniques. I can't imagine paying someone to cut my son's hair. Thank you Wendy!
With the little that he and my husband have, why not just learn and cut it myself?
It's definitely a learning process.
Here are some pictures that were gathered during his haircut.


Bye-Bye long curly hair--we'll see you again soon!



We had many snacks to keep the wiggly one still






Happy boy!


The haircut turned out great and don't worry, it'll grow back. ;)

-Jess

Monday, June 4, 2012

Messy Toddlers? Shout!

Ahhhh!
Yes, your toddler.
He is so great at staining that super cute Old Navy collared Sunday shirt you got him the week before.
She is so wonderful at dropping food on her cute little ruffled pink dress.
Because of the lovely fun your beautiful child(ren) have, they know have no more nice clothes to wear.
Has your stain remover become your best friend before laundry day?
Mine did!
I love stain remover but...it's not cheap! Well, for the good stuff any way. I use it a lot! 
Shout Stain remover has done wonders in getting blueberry and blackberry stains out of my son's light colored t-shirts. Not to mention my husband isn't any better at keeping food that stains off his shirt either. ;)
Oh BOYsssss!

This month I decided to make some homemade shout stain remover.
I collected this on Pinterest awhile back and I was so excited to try it!
Well let me tell you something. It WORKS! You know what else? You may have the ingredients in your home already.

2/3 c. Dawn Dishwashing Liquid(or whatever dish soap you have on hand)
2/3 c. Ammonia
6 Tbsp baking soda
2 c warm water

Mix it altogether and there you have it! Your own Shout!
Shake before each use. It tends to separate if it's sitting for too long.

Give it a try! You'll be surprised by the results as much as I have been! Let me know how it works out for you!


-Jess

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Wish us some baby dust!

So here we are.
Trying to conceive baby #2.
Ben and I decided this a few nights ago that it is a good time!
When we found out that my Dad can put me on his health insurance, we both said aloud together...time for another baby! :)

Back in the beginning of February I had a miscarriage, he/she would've been due in September. 
We have name him/her our little Ember. :)

Now after almost 4 months, we are ready to get serious about this. We haven't been on birth control anyway, but now we are actually taking about it and letting people know.
Before I conceived Ember in December Ben and I already discussed waiting until November of 2012. So when #2 was born Josiah would be 2 1/2 years old, hopefully potty trained by then.
Then when I found out I was pregnant in January, we were both very surprised and didn't expect it. We were happy but a little scared because we weren't ready, this baby was going to come 10 months earlier than planned. By fall of next year we would have been a more financially stable. I don't regret getting pregnant, and I don't regret going through what I went through. It was painful, but I'm a stronger, wiser person. Now I can't wait for our next chapter in life!

It's still a little early, but now we have a new goal. To get pregnant before November. We will see what God has in store for us. These next several months are going to be challenging yet exciting. I'm not going to be one of those people that freak out and think that I'm pregnant just because of a simple symptom, or take a hpt before my period even starts. We are taking it one day at a time and enjoying our lives together. I do know when I ovulate, the woman's body is a very complex wonderful thing. But I'm not focusing on that, we are just focusing on having fun and although some around us are pressuring it, they don't know the true story and I just have to politely smile and tell them, "We are trying but right now it's all in God's hands". Don't like the answer? Well tough, I don't like it either. But it's true and that's the only answer that I can think of. He will bless us at the right time, we just don't know when that is. 

So, this post is just updating you all about our lives.
Hopefully soon we can announce our Rainbow baby!
Thanks for reading.

-Jess




Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Good Tuesday

Skimping by...
That's what we have been doing these last few weeks.
But it's been good!
Why?

It makes me think about what I could do to help my family save more money.
Yesterday, we didn't leave Costco unless I had the coupon for toilet paper and liquid dish soap.
Good thing they still had coupons up at the front cause we probably would've been using disposable baby wipes(which we still have left over from 6 months ago)when we run out of toilet paper till I got paid on the 7th...of June. 
It was only a $2 coupon, but still, every dollar counts!
I've been slowly becoming an annoying wife like that and I think that Ben has a hate-love relationship with it.

Let me just say that no, we aren't starving, we just aren't using our credit cards anymore and we still haven't quite wised up with our money spending yet. :/ 

So we left Costco and went to Walmart, I still had $17 left over in cash. Just enough to buy dishwasher detergent which I had enough left at home for 1 more wash. I guess that we could have went without it and I could have washed everything by hand...hmmm, no, I don't think so.
My childhood years are over and I am done doing EVERYTHING by hand that I don't have too. I love my dishwasher, and I love the fact that it cuts my chore in half so that I have more time to spend playing with my son.

Well, the dishwasher detergent was more than I wanted to spend at Walmart, plus, I still needed to get ingredients for laundry soap. I was nearly out of that to with only maybe 3 washes left. I almost had to choose whether I wanted clean laundry or if I wanted to wash dishes by hand. Obviously I would've chosen the dishes. :/
BUT, I remember I had a pin on Pinterest that had a homemade dishwasher detergent recipe using almost the same ingredients as my laundry detergent. Double bonus!!! 
I'll let you all know how that turns out.

So we were able to get everything that we needed yesterday for under $50!

Oh yeah, and in case you didn't know, last night at around 8 or so, Ben was browsing Craigslist and found a queen size bed with a wood frame and box springs for FREE! Usually we turned away quickly with a deal like that because most the time the contents are nasty about 90% if it is free. But we both noticed that the home where the picture was taken was clean. So we took a chance to contact the person who was getting rid of it. Not even 10 minutes later we get a call, it was still available and we can pick it up tonight! Awesome, so we make our way over there and the house was adorable on the outside, the guy showed us the bed and frame. Much to my surprise it was in great condition, it was clean, I inspected for bedbugs and the house smelled of lavender. While I was searching I was thinking the whole time trying to figure out why they are getting rid of it and for free. 
Turns out they were getting a new bed set and Ben caught a glance at the mans shirt indicating that he works at a mattress store. I was super excited to get our new found treasures into Ben's truck, the guy was nice enough to help us haul the mattress and box spring. I love the wood frame, I love that instead of stubbing my toe on metal I will be stubbing my toe on wood! 
This is a big deal, really!

To top it off I had a cute video I got an adorable video of Josiah.
I love this kid. :)


Well, that was my good day.
Hidden blessings from places I could not imagine in our life. 

-Jess

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Food Reviews


This is it! I'm going down the list of my Pinterest Food board!
It desperately needs some attention and I'm baking/cooking and reviewing each one just for you(and myself). 
:)

OK so I totally made these Glazed Doughnut Muffins and they are delish!
It's lighter than a muffin but a little denser than a doughnut, so it's right in between. So yummy! You can change it up a little by adding some lemon zest and lemon juice to the icing mixture, that might give it a little kick! 
If you are craving something sweet, give them a try! 

Also...

I made these Oven Baked Parmesan Seasoned Fries for a late night snack with the movie Immortals Ben and I were watching last night. 
They were pretty good but I think that they would've been tastier(and healthier) if I would've used sweet potatoes. 
I swear if you did that they would taste exactly like Venties sweet potato fries. 
The seasoning is pretty darn close
Next time I'll definitely give that a try!




Thursday, May 10, 2012

Thursday

Whew!

Well, I've been busy lately, I feel awful for not keeping up on my blog posts. :/
First I had my birthday going on a couple weeks ago.
Then, it has been super nice outside, so my son and I have been having a blast outside in the sun.
Also, when Ben has a day off it's a huge treat! He has been working a ton at his store, at another company store, filling out applications, doing work for his dad, working at the church, etc...

I myself have been really laying low too, like...
being unintentionally on time(we're usually a little early) to church.
leaving as soon as church is over(we usually hang around and talk)
Josiah naps and I'm napping(not cleaning like normal)
When Josiah is awake we go to the library or the park if it's nice
Cooking a lot more at home(which is good cause we are trying to save money)
Staying at home more so that we don't spend money that we don't have

Anyway, the list goes on and on.
On May 19th I'm going back to work every Saturday.
My Grandparents are coming to town next week, I only get to see them every other year and they are the only ones that I know. They'll be here most the summer.
In June I'll be at Seaside one week then another week I'll be on a anniversary vacation with the hubby and we are planning on going camping another week.
June will be busy!
Hopefully August will be more laid back.

So my friends, if it seems like I have been avoiding you, I'm not, I promise.
I still love you all and I miss hanging out and having my girl time.

Love,
Jess