chart-topper

asah took jax in for his 5-month visit today.
once again, he's just as healthy as can be and enormous.
this time he's off the charts in both weight and height.
22 lbs 5 oz, 28 inches
i'm amazed at how massive he is, and how adorable. he steals hearts with his all-over smiles.
i included some diaper shots and pictures of his growth charts. I plotted these for Jordan's baby book as well, just fun to see on paper.

quiet mornings with jax

jaxon enjoys waking at 6 am most mornings. we hang out for an hour or so until he gets ready for nap #1 of the day. i nurse him and feed him breakfast during this time. i enjoy it because it's our "one on one time" and you can still "hear" the quiet of the morning before the toddler wakes and i am thrust into reality.
here's a video (not terribly exciting, but mostly for the grandparents).
love and miss ya'll.

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partied too hard

we had great fellowship with our college students tonight at a bbq. jaxon could not hang. his 6:30 bedtime was calling him....

J&J after bathtime

i took some fun pictures last night after bathtime. jordan refused to "hold" jaxon so we did our best to get them in the same shot.

these are some PJ's that jordan wore last Christmas that still (barely) fit. He's just gotten much taller.

homemade laundry and dishwasher detergents

got this off a blog i read (see "Rebecca's Bargains" on the sidebar).

I was about to head to Walmart to buy more Dishwasher Detergent AND laundry detergent AND fabric softener today when i ran across these recipes, and thought to myself, WHY NOT? we're trying to slash the household budget and this can only help.

i'll come back later with a report on how it all worked and if they are a good deal. but for now, anyone up for trying it with me?

Homemade Detergents

Dishwasher Detergent:

Liquid Detergent

1 part baking soda
1 part borax
1 part water
1 drop lemon or orange essential oil per cup of detergent

Mix the ingredients thoroughly and store in a sealable jug. Use 2 to 3 TBS per load.

Powder Detergent

Mix equal parts of washing soda (or baking soda) and borax. Use 2 TBSP per load.
For extra cleaning power, you can add a few drops of regular (liquid) dishsoap to this.

Rinse Agent

White Vinegar. Seriously, just add it to the dispenser like you would any commercial rinse agent, and you’ll have clear, spot free dishes. You can use it with any detergent (even commercial ones, if you choose not to go the ‘make your own’ route)

Laundry Detergents:

TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don’t use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value
4 Cups hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (can use any bar of soap here-Ivory, etc)
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.
-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.
-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)
-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.
-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.
-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)
-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar (or any bar of soap)
1 Cup Washing Soda
½ Cup Borax
-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

Inexpensive Fabric Softener Recipes

Recipe #1

1 Cup White Vinegar

Add vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too.

Recipe #2

1 Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener
4 Inexpensive sponges, cut in half
Pour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet.

update

jordan: feeling much better after a weeklong virus. he didnt eat much for a whole week and threw up many times. we are calling him "skinny" now. his size 6 diapers are very loose and so are all his clothes. hopefully he'll put the weight back on. he doesnt look quite right skinny.
that virus was no joke though.

jaxon: finally holding that big ole noggin up. thought he'd never do it. STILL not rolling over. oh, well. the doc says chubby babies have a harder time with it :)

he is loving eating "real" food. favorites so far are bananas and apples. we are feeding him once in the am and once in the pm for right now.

he is FINALLY "sleeping through the night"....well, what i call sleeping through. his night is different than mine, but i will take it. we've been putting him down around 6:30 or 7:00 and he goes to about 4am. praise the Lord! last night i got my first 7 hour stretch of sleep in 5 months. it felt a-mazing.
how did we get jaxon there? gasp....formula. i nurse him all day...but we give him his final feeding of the day in a bottle....formula with some rice cereal in it, warmed really really well. he will only take it if it is 98.6 degrees :)
this was asah's idea; and it worked. big boy just had to get his belly really full. otherwise he was up every 4-5 hrs. i'm totally okay with this arrangement.

here are some pics from this week.

put daddy's shirt on top of his pj's-

don't know what j is fussing about here....

brothers

bumbo seat!

hand in mouth 24/7. he LOVES this little lamb (thanks gram!)

deal of the DAY

havent done this in awhile. today only, FREE bottle of any suave product (shampoo, conditioner, haircare, lotion) by

CLICKING HERE

enjoy!

1st bath together

last night J & J enjoyed their first bath together as brothers. all went smoothly until jordan decided it was time to rinse jaxon's hair and dumped a HUGE cup of water all over him. oh, well.

past few days

past few days havent been the funnest. jordan came down with a stomach virus thursday night. after puking for 24 hours and having some bad diarreah which led to a bad rash that we had to go to the doctor for; he seems to be on the mend.
meanwhile, jaxon is teething in full force and needs to be held lots so mommy and daddy are very tired.

i had bought a bunch of produce and wanted to make jax's babyfood this weekend, despite the yucky sickness so i sat him in his new highchair and let him watch me while asah tended to jordan. we managed to get everything made and i'm pleased with the outcome.
we did butternut squash, carrots, peas, bananas, plums, pears, apples, and sweet potatoes. i think i have enough to last a loooong time too. so worth the time it took, in my opinion.

here are some pictures.

watching mommy make my food

new highchair! sitting up like a big boy. (all the fruits and veggies behind him eventually became puree)

the boys in the new recliner!

this shirt makes me laugh

feeling puny.

so, jaxon polished off his first tastes of sweet potatoes in record time. the boy loved them!

scooter fun, trees, and my blue eyed cutie pie

jordan's loving his new Scooter he got for Christmas.

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is this not the cutest little squishy blue eyed baby you've ever seen?


makes me wanna do THIS all day long.....


for some reason at dad's house, J started scratching his back on trees. since we've been home he's continued to do so. guess it feels good or something.

4 months

19 lbs 12 oz
27 inches