Build it and they will come.

I guess that's an invitation for anyone wanting to stay at our house! =) Our guest bedroom now has a full size bed and twin size bed that ISN'T just mattresses on the floor!! Thanks to my wonderful father who owns a circular saw and was willing to get and cut the wood for me (not to mention my AWESOME Kreg Jig that was an anniversary gift!), my husband and I ventured into making our own twin platform bed. I stumbled across as awesome blog with instructions and plans for pretty much anything. You can make your own furniture for a fraction of the cost and it's FUN. Yes that's right, fun! The only problem I stumbled upon was that fact that I didn't use my wood close enough to when it was cut and my long boards warped so after a quick trip to Home Depot and another $6 bucks (no biggie) we were back in business. So lesson learned. I'll post the a link to the wonderful website then post a couple of our pictures...we are so proud! Can't wait to start my next project! I even impressed the man at Home Depot by whipping out the words pocket holes and countersinking screws. ;)

http://ana-white.com/2012/02/plans/fillman-platform-twin-platform-bed

We decided to leave the "platforms" off for now due to space issues.

Also no paint yet because it will eventually go to Q and J's room and we'll decide on color at that time!

Recent Pinterest Trials

So I've been trying a few things I've seen on Pinterest around the house. The first is most exciting to me because I've been out of my own body wash for probably a month or more and have been stealing Paul's (hence me smelling like a guy!). I came across a recipe for making your own Dove body wash with the Dove bars. Even better when I scrolled down I found that you don't have to grate the soap (lesson for next time!) but you can melt it in the microwave with same effect! After 24 hours mine didn't seem to be as thick as hers but the consistency of mine isn't bad just a little thinner!!
So here's the website
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/02/make-your-own-body-wash.html
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/his-and-hers-no-grate-homemade-body.html  (men's version with picture of melted soap)

Filled this container to the top with soap!

Was fortunate to catch a sale with a coupon and get 5 bars for 2 dollars!

Next I adventured to the citrus vinegar cleaner. I've been LOVING cold oranges lately so getting the peels was extremely easy. I let mine sit on the counter for about 7 days. The citrus smell overpowered the vinegar smell until I filled the rest of the bottle with water. I must say it is a good cleaner (I use it as an all purpose cleaner and mostly in the kitchen/bathroom) but I wish it didn't smell so much like vinegar! =)

And lastly, after using my homemade dish washing detergent for a while I just didn't LOVE it. It left a film and I felt it wasn't cleaning my dishes as well. So again I found an alternative which I DO LOVE! I've used it in a few loads of dishes and all come out very clean and sparkly. I do what she recommends with the vinegar and I too got my oxygen cleaner at the dollar store (for a dollar!) and I already had the dawn and vinegar. Here is the website and a couple of pictures of my dishes afterwards! Even with the Dawn I didn't have suds overflow so don't worry about that. Just make sure you are putting the recommended amount!
http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/03/homemade-dishwasher-soap-not-detergent.html

The glasses are sparkly and no film!

 

Next I'm going to try different grout cleaners for our bathroom shower. I'll let you know if I have success!

Making Baby Book

So for Q I ended up purchasing a really cute baby book off Etsy for $60 (what was I thinking??). I loved it and then didn't have time or energy to make my own. Well now that I'm living more frugally, $60 seemed a little pricey. So after searching the internet I found a template you can download (and better yet, customize) to make your own for half the price. With a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby (yes Paul and I BOTH used them on the same trip!! =) I was able to get all the supplies for $30. I probably could have done better but shopping with a 2 year old, I don't have the energy to go to all the different craft stores to compare prices. Here is the website link in case you have a little one coming soon. I'll post pictures of mine soon when I get it completed!

http://www.younghouselove.com/2010/06/something-free-five-lifesavers/

Here are some pictures of her book.

Once a Month Cooking

This is not my freezer but my meals look the same with directions on the outside for easy cooking!

Ok so unfortunately pregnancy (more like my spine ripping out of my back!) has stretched my one day of cooking into 3 (and not all day!...just taking my time making the meals). I must say when tomorrow is over and I've got all my meals made I'm gonna love this way of cooking! The meals we've eaten so far have been really good and I like variety. Plus the recipes incorporate lots of healthy items and lots of veggies! My freezer is full but I can't wait to decide what we want for dinner in the morning, put it out to thaw in the fridge all day, then cook at night with the container being disposable so clean up will be a breeze! Thumbs up so far!!!!

Once a Month Cooking

When doing some research on freezing my potatoes I came across this website www.onceamonthmom.com. This lovely woman gives you a months worth of freezable recipes (well not EVERY meal is covered, like her we still like to eat out every now and then!). She pretty much lays it out for you. What to do on assembly day, etc. I'm waiting on July's menu to come out (or if I get anxious I might just run with June's). She also posts pictures of what you'd be making on Pinterest so you can see what your meals will be. For those busy mom's it's a DAYs worth of cooking for a month. Um...sign me up and my hubby is just gonna have to find something to do with my kiddo for a day! I'll let you know how it works and it's cost, etc!

Freezing Potatoes

Before we head out to Pittsburg for 4th of July activities, I noticed a 10 pound bag of potatoes I'd bought from Aldi's about to turn. All in all it took me about 45 minutes but I washed, peeled and cut potatoes (diced, french fry length, and shredded for hasbrowns). For the diced and french fry length you need to "blanch" them (a new word for me). Basically it means to place them in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Then rinse them in COLD water, spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place potatoes in a single row. Put in freezer and once they are frozen, store in freezer bags and date (for reference). When ready to eat, heat oven to 425 and bake on sprayed cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes. 

I found this website which was pretty helpful. http://www.diyreviews.net/2011/how-to-freeze-potatoes/ If anyone has advice or good websites on freezing things like produce, etc. please let me know!

It's official!

Another personal post: I promise not to make this a baby blog....just easier to have everything on one blog. Should be the last one unless I get more sonogram pictures later on!

Profile

 I'm a girl!!!

Spine

Profile

Staring straight us! Skeleton view of face.

Face straight at sonographer and hand.

My favorite profile picture. Looks kinda familiar don't you think?

Foot

Here are the new pictures of the newest member of our family. It was confirmed 100% that little one is in fact a girl! Nothing grew since the last time I got to see her. Heart rate was 149. Baby is 1 pound 2 ounces. Measures a little small but probably caught her before a growth spurt (and 41 percentile is pretty normal outside of the womb so she just might be petite!). Right now she is breach but I pray that will change (I knew I felt a LOT of bladder kicks!). I think profile looks pretty similar to Q's but we'll have to wait and see. Now just anxious to get her out and meet her...I guess I have a while before that happens so I'd better just settle in for the ride!