Lillian Michelle

She was born 2:20pm 6/11/2013. 20" and 7lbs 1oz! Such a tiny little bean! :)

38 weeks!!!

Ok so it's getting so close now!!! I'm so very excited to meet this little girlie! Here's a couple of belly pics, just for fun! :)

Laundry detergent

First, let me say this is NOT my recipe. You can find it all over the Internet in various forms. Just do a google search for DIY laundry detergent and you'll find a bunch! 

Y'all know I'm thrifty, but refuse to be so at my family's expense. So... I've been using whatever natural-as-I-can-get laundry detergent, and it always costs a pretty penny! So when I decide to finally make the plunge and try to make my own I was super excited, bc I get to choose what goes into it! :)

So this is what I used:

-4.5 oz of a natural bar soap that had tea tree oil in it(bc I liked the way it smelled and it used essential oils so my sensitive kids are ok with it)

-1 cup borax(NOT boric acid!)

-1 cup washing soda

And this is what I did:

First, I grated the soap(not the giant side that's showing here! I used the tiny side!)

Then I took the grated soap and ran it through my food processor. You don't have to do this but I wanted it to be uniform in consistency bc that's how I roll.

Then I mixed it in a bowl with the borax and washing soda.

Then, I put it in a jar with a label, bc, again, that's how I roll. You could totally keep this in a tuperware or plastic bag, or whatever! 

Total cost was about $4. This should do 64 loads, and it took me about 10 minutes to make. Totally worth it! :)

BJ's wholesale club

Ok, so we used to have a Costco membership, but since moving here to NC we let it go. We did this for 2 reasons, first, it's 45 minutes away. Second, they don't have half the stuff we bought from them in Alaska. 

Hubby and I have noticed our food budget rising at an alarming rate, which has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we have 6 kids, 1 of which is a teen, 1 of which is a preteen, and 1 of which is a bottomless pit! So, we decided to re-visit the wholesale club thing. We really are hoping to sell our house and move on post, so we decided to look at our options in Fayeteville before Cary. They're both about a 45 minute drive for us at this point, but Fayetteville will be much closer when/if we move. 

So, first we checked out Sam's club. If I was looking to save money on "safe" cleaners, it would be worth it.  I'm more concerned with food, so that was out! 

We already knew what Costco had, and they don't have a store in Fayetteville, so we checked out BJ's. They don't have a store in Fayetteville either, but they are opening one soon, so it seemed like a good idea to check it out before going back to Costco.

We were very pleased by what they had. They didn't have as many organics/naturals as the Costco in Alaska, but they did have more than the one here, so we bought a membership. Bonus, they were having a special so we only paid $40.

Here's a list of what I found:

-bakery bagels 9/$3.99 (no corn syrup!)

-organic cheddar cheese 1lb/$7.99

-organic celery 3lbs?/$3.59

-organic butter 2lbs/$6.99

-pistachios 2.5lbs/$13.49

-organic salad dressings(Caesar and balsamic vinegrette) 21oz/$$3.99

-organic spring mix 1lb/$5.99

-apple gate sliced provolone $6.99

-organic farfalle 2lbs/$4.99

-organic frozen triple berry(strawberry, blackberry, raspberry) 3lb/$9.99

-organic maple syrup 32oz/$12.99

-unsalted almonds 3lbs/$12.49

-apple gate uncured beef hot dogs-16 (my all time favorite hot dogs BTW!) 24oz/$8.29

-dried mixed fruit(apples, pears, plums, peaches, and apricots UNSWEETENED!) 2lbs/$7.49

-yeast 2lbs/$4.49

-organic naval oranges 4lbs/$5.99

-raisens 3lbs/$6.99

-king authur unbleached flour 10lbs/$6.49

-organic baby carrots 2lbs/$3.29

-organic apple juice 1 gallon/$4.69

-organic diced tomatoes 6 pack of 14.5oz/$5.99

-granny smith and fuji apples (I think they were 3lb bags) $8.99

-organic frozen peas 4lbs/$6.49

-organic milk 2-64oz/$6.49

-organic thyme 3.3oz/$4.99

-organic cumin 7.8oz/$5.49

-organic ketchup 2 pack of 44oz/$6.99

-Annie's Mac n cheese 12 boxes/$10.99

-roasted unsalted peanuts 5lbs/$5.99

There was more stuff too, but this is just a list of what I DID buy that day. I noticed they also had organic juice boxes, organic fruit snacks, z bars, etc!  Hope this list helps SOMEONE! :)

Peanut butter

Ok, so peanut butter is something we use a LOT of at our house, and natural or organic PB is SO expensive! One of my beauties can't have corn syrup, and I've been really trying to cut out all overly processed sweeteners for the rest of us too! Although, my hubby and I STILL can't give up our organic evaporated cane sugar for our coffee yet! 

So... What to do? Continue to pay over $5 for a jar of organic PB(which still has sugar in it) when we go through 4 jars a month bare minimum, find it in bulk, OR make my own.  We recently aquired a BJ's wholesale membership(a whole other post that needs to be made!) so I looked there for "safe" PB. No luck. But what they DID have was this giant bag of unsalted roasted peanuts, still in the shell!  I think I payed $4 for this 5lb bag!

I know, I know, not organic, but really, I'm more concerned with the sugars in my PB anyway! So, here's what you need...

A really good blender(or one you don't mind burning the motor out in!) or food processor

Peanuts-about 2&1/2 lbs before you de-shell them. This gave us about 5 cups after the shells were off. I've heard that blanched ones work good for PB too, but since this is my only experience, I can't say for sure!

Grapeseed, coconut, or olive oil-I think I ended up using about 2 TBS

Maple syrup or honey (if you like your PB sweet)- I think I used 2-4 TBS

Sea salt-I probably used about a teaspoon

First, if you bought the ones that are still in the shell you have to de-shell and de-skin them. The roasted ones are super easy to get the skins off! The kids loved helping me with this, and my littlest man(almost 4) did a super good job at this!

My littlest lady (almost 2) also helped, but she ate all the peanuts she de-shelled! Anyway, after you get them all ready, toss them in your blender or food processor and grind away! You'll need to stop often to scrape down the sides, and to prevent your blender or food processor from over heating! You can add a bit of oil if your machine is really struggling. Once it's smooth and moving in your machine like a thick liquid like substance, you can add in your sweetener and salt. This is really to taste, but I did notice that as the PB cooled it actually turned out sweeter than I thought  it was! Then, just pour your PB into a container of your choice! I store mine in the fridge because I DETEST stirring PB, and this will separate! I used an old pasta sauce jar! I got about 25 oz of PB from this! :)

Strawberry muffins

I found this recipe online, and it didn't work for us at all, so I made a ton of substitutions and they turned out super yummy! This recipe makes 36 smaller or 24 big muffins.

3&1/8 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 TBS cinnamon 

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

3 TBS ground flax seed

3 TBS wheat germ

1 cup maple syrup or honey

1 cup mashed strawberries(I used my blender)

1/2 cup butter(melted)

4 eggs

2 cups strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins.

Slice strawberries and set aside.

Mix together your dry ingredients, then add the wet ones in. Mix JUST until the ingredients are blended. Over mixing anything with whole wheat flour will make them have a yucky texture but you definitely don't want lumps of baking soda either! :)

Bake in preheated oven for 12-20 minutes depending on your oven and the size of your muffins!

If you added another 1/2 cup of sweetener, and slapped some cream cheese frosting or whip cream on the top, these would make GREAT cupcakes too! :)

And the baby is a...

So I made Terence a card to tell him the sex of the baby... So here's the pics! See for yourself what the baby is! :)

Gideon????

Ok so this is quite possibly the most hilarious thing that has ever happened to us. We had this cat. His name was Gideon. We got him off Craigslist last year for FREE when we were looking for a mouser, you know, because we live in the sticks. So he was the best cat EVER. Probably about 5 years old. All this loose skin like he used to be overweight, green eyes, fixed, and BIG. He snuggled inside, and caught mice, and spent half his time outside, bonus because it meant less mess in the litter box.

Terence was deploying, and my parents didn't especially want a cat at their house. So Terence asked around at work to see if anyone wanted a cat. Then when he thought he might be coming back he just tried to find someone to cat sit. He finally found someone. So they watched the cat, and we left to go to WA.

When he got home he started asking about the cat. Because of scheduling issues and busyness it took him almost a month to get the cat back. When Gideon came home he acted funny, wouldn't jump up on the dryer to eat his food, he was extra clingy and needy to Terence, and he wasn't really interested in catching mice. Weird.

So I get home a few days ago, and I start to suspect, this is NOT Gideon. First, he is smaller, and all his extra skin is gone. Then it hits me, this cat is NOT fixed. Finally I realize the thing that really makes him look different is that this cats eyes are light brown/yellow, and Gideon's eyes were green, super green. This is not my cat.

So who would pull a stunt like, that is what I want to know, and why? I don't care too much as long as he's nice and catches mice. I think the thing I'm most annoyed with is that now I have to pay to get this cat fixed, wormed, and vaccinated. The great cat switcheroo. Who knew things happened like that except in movies??? Hope you had a good laugh. I did.

Day 9

Last day of travel! 590 miles! We made it home about 5pm. The kids were super excited to be home and so was our little dog. I think he got the short end of the stick on this trip. He wasn't allowed to get out of the car except for walks and potty breaks the whole 9 days. What a champ, he made it! We'll see if I get revenge played out on my later! Haha!

Day 8

Today was our last day with the Oddens. :( We had so much fun though, running errands, lunch at Panera Bread, and LOTS of playtime! Terence decided he'd rather I tell him the sex of the baby then hear it accidentally so I made him a card(with Steph's help!) Here's some pics of it! Sad and super excited to be heading home tomorrow morning! NC here we come!

Day 6

We drove another 650 miles from Fort Riley, KS to Fort Knox, KY. This was after not getting to bed until midnight, and then waking up at 3am to Jeffrey crying because Ryan woke up and puked all over him. I swear one day we'll get through a road trip without any vomit, but Terence says I have to wait until all the kids the house! So we were on the road by 7 and made it to my good friend Stephany's house by 7:30. The drive was great other than one puking incident and I even got to pull over and snatch some flint from the flint hills! I know I'm a dork but I've always wanted to grab some! :) I also got the BEST gas mileage in my van this section of the trip!

Day 7

Today was spent just relaxing and playing and relaxing! The kids played inside, then outside, then inside again. It was so good to spend so much time with good friends! Steph and O stayed up until 1am just talking(shocker!) :)

Day5

We covered 480 miles from Denver, CO to Fort Riley, KS. It was a nice quick trip. The kids did great. We were stationed at Riley when the kids were little so I thought it would be fun to war dinner at their old favorite restaurant. Not my favorite place but the kids were so excited. We even ran into someone my hubby worked with in Alaska. See people, small Army world! :)

Day 4

Today we spent with some really good friends. We went to the park and took the kids swimming! I'm surprised that they're still awake. The only sad thing about today was that I waited so long to do my laundry that I have to stay up late AND there's only 1 working dryer at this hotel. So sad at my own bad choice! Haha! At least tomorrow is my short driving day.

Half way

I am officially halfway home!!!!

Day 3

We traveled from Butte, MT to Denver, CO, which is 780 miles. I'm pretty proud to brag a little that we made it in 12 hours! :) The kids did good and they were very excited to make it to the hotel. The kids even built tents in the car to keep themselves entertained! This was our longest leg, so with that behind us the rest of our trip should be easier!

Day 2

Great day spent with great family! I especially loved seeing my sisters in law and my nieces and nephews! I always leave feeling like I didn't get quite enough time! Hers a pic of all the kids. Good looking group, right? :)

Day 1

We made it through our first day! Bonney Lake, WA to Butte, MT 607 miles! Phew! This preggo lady is beat! It only took me 11 &1/2 hours to make a 9 hour drive with 6 kids so I'm pretty proud! :)

Family update

Ok so without FB I know so many of you are lost, and to be honest, it's even hard for me to keep up with whats going on with our family!

So in December we picked up and moved our kids in with my parents to make things easier for this deployment. Terence took a plane back to NC early January for the end of January deployment. So, OF COURSE they decided at that point that they would keep him on rear d. So, what does that mean? The kids and I are packing up and heading back to NC.

Yeah... it's a trip. We're making the best of it, taking about 10 days to make 3000+ miles. We're stopping to see friends and family along the way, so it should be fun! It better be fun... got that kids??? :)

I'll try to update on the road, but no promises!

Good News! :)

So we had our follow up ultrasound today, and it was good news all around! The doc said that the hole was no longer visible by ultrasound and the baby is growing great! My original due date was June 2nd, and the doc wanted to change it to June 12th. This ultrasound placed the baby's growth at a June 8th due date, which means, not only did the baby grow how much baby was supposed to, but even more! So my due date is now officially June 12th, so those of you who know me, know this kid might even wait until July! ;)

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support! I know some of you are just now finding all of this out, and others got a frantic text or call from me 3 weeks ago, but thank you either way for supporting and loving us! Baby bump pic update soon I promise! :)

Baby Boyer

Well the last post I wrote as I was waiting for the ultrasound tech to come back in the room so I could leave. I ended up waiting for quite awhile. Turns out I had to wait to speak to a doctor because the ultrasound showed a problem with the baby's heart. Our little tiny baby has what's called a ventricular septal defect(VSD), which is a big long term for a hole in the baby's heart in between the 2 main chambers.

It's the most common of all birth defects, and there's a chance that it could close up on its own. The doctor is playing it extra safe though since our baby is also measuring about 10 days behind. The plan at this point is to have an echo and a growth check ultrasound on Feb 11th.

Sorry it took me so long to update with this, but I needed time to process and talk to all our family so that they weren't blindsided by the blog. We appreciate all your prayers and I'll update again after the 11th.
 
On a funny note, 3 of the middle kids (Elizabeth, Ryan, and Anna) wanted to know the sex of the baby. Since I felt like they should have a little fun too I let the ultrasound tech tell them, fully knowing that they would eventually spill the beans to me. They actually didn't tell me, but someone they did tell accidentally told me the same day.

If you know us, you know that we don't ever find out the sex of the baby so this is a whole new thing for me! I'm actually having a lot of fun knowing, and it makes me feel closer to our little baby. Terence doesn't want to know, so until someone accidentally tells him, you'll all have to be in the dark! :)

Ultrasound

We had our 20 week ultrasound today! Baby is beautiful. I let the ultrasound tech tell the kids the sex of the baby. I almost wanted to know myself this time, but resisted! Anyone want to take bets on how long the kids can hold it in? :) I'm guessing I'll know by the time the baby comes! Here's a profile pic!

20 weeks

We made it half way! So much more news to share but we're busy busy busy! I promise to update soon! :)