Laundry and me

When I was in high school living in DC, in college at the W,and back in DC again to intern when I was 20, I HATED laundry. It made zero sense to me, and it never failed I ended up re-washing all my clothes because I didn't fold them, or left them too long in the washer and they started to get funky. One time I think there was even an incident in DC where I had a pretty good buzz going, and instead of actually doing my laundry I ended up on the roof with it in the pouring rain. ..........Well. It made since at the time! Don't even get me started on when Chris and I got married. Let's just say, it's a good thing my Momma lived 5 minutes away the first 5 months of our marriage! OR Chris would have had nothing to wear....hehehe. Once Ben came along, the laundry got crazier, and I pretty much pulled a Scarlett O'hara. "I'll think about that tomorrow!" It got so bad, I can remember sitting on the couch feeding Ben a bottle, surrounded by laundry and crying. Well, let's face it, you cry over everything after having a baby. But laundry was pretty bad back then. Skip forward two years- Now we have TWO babies! So that makes three boys, one girl, and tons of laundry. I thought it was bad with just me, but you don't know laundry until you have three boys in the house. After much prayer and thought on the matter, I decided I just had to take the bull by the horns, specially since I was jumping on the cloth diaper train. I was already making my own detergent (which I LOVE!!!) but I did some research on fabric softeners (not for cloth diapers!) and found out vinegar does an amazing job and baking soda is a great wash aid (I'm also doing some research on natural stain removers. I'll get back to you on that). I started religiously reading the tags on all the clothing we own, sorting better(I used to wash towels and silk together. Not even kidding) and I somehow convinced my precious husband and sweet father-in-law to build me a clothes line. The clothes line pretty much sealed the deal on reversing my hatred of laundry. Every morning I take my load of clothes out to the line to hang up, and I get 5 whole minutes of being alone (plus I feel kinda like I'm saving the planet by not using my dryer) outside, without the kids pulling on me. It's GLORIOUS. And I am loving how much better my clothes feel and wear. Also, because I do mostly medium loads of clothes (and only two loads a day) I have the time to take the clothes down at lunch time when they're dry, and immediately put them away. This means the clothes sitting in the laundry basket for days doesn't happen anymore. I highly recommend getting your sweet husband, tall friend, or Daddy to help you set up a clothes line. It saves on energy/money, (I cut our electricity cost by $25 a month) keeps your laundry fresh, and gives you a couples minutes alone without your babies. It'd pretty much win-win in my book :)

Fluffy booties!

Life has only gotten exponentially crazier here in Merrifield Land! The babies and I spent TWO (amazing, restful, salt water pool filled) weeks at Mimsey and Da'Dim's house. The trip away was just what I needed. I was able to actually lay out by the pool (alone!) and catch up on reading, praying, and writing. The time of peace, and extra hands, was incredible. But, I missed Chris bunny terribly. So it was nice to get home to see him. But the trip left me refreshed, and I felt like my BRAIN was working again. Yes, yes, the mommy oatmeal brain does go away every now and then I promise...Only to come back at 4am in the morning when Ben's diaper leaked and I got in a fight with his duvet cover. The darn thing won. While on the trip, I felt convicted by the Lord that I was NOT being a good steward of all the blessings he has given us. I came home with a renewed sense of purpose, and a long list of projects for poor Chris Bunny. The first project tho, was for me. I decided to dive headlong into the cloth diaper world. Why was I wasting our money on disposable diapers when I'm a stay at home Momma, with the time and energy to wash them? Yes I have tons of energy. It's a curse. Seriously. I can't sit still (I've made lunch, put my hair in bobby pins, and checked my facebook like 20 times while writing this. It's nuts) I did a TON of research. Hours of reading reviews, talking to other crunchy friends,read up on how best to wash them, dry them, etc. I finally settled upon the BumGenius brand of one size cloth diapers. I went with the 4.0 version because according to reviews they had more room to grow, and around here, we grow em' big! (I guess my boys aren't taking after me in the petite department) Since Ben will be potty trained eventually, and Christopher Robin is 6 months old, I decided to use the one size diapers for BOTH babies. I ordered 12 (with the snaps, not velcro) from thegreennursery.com. I compared prices from ebay, amazon, and many other sites. But this site had a special going on where if you ordered ten you get two free. This was the best deal I found. I decided to start with 12, and then order 12 more if I liked them. They came in the mail a week ago, and it was like I was a kid in a candy shop! But fluffier. Cutest things I've ever seen!! So far, I'm a fan. But let me pro-con it for you. Pros: The colors are bright and cute The snaps stay put and Ben hasn't figured out how to undo them, thank the Lord! They dry on the clothes line pretty quickly, as well as on my indoor one in my laundry room. The inserts are easy to slide in and out, which make cleaning them easy. They seem pretty absorbent (But we haven't done it at night yet, just naps for now) The Cons: The snaps! They drive me nuts. I hate snaps. But they stay put! (so a con/pro mix) I'm having a hard time keeping Christopher Robin from leaking. Since he's smaller I'm struggling with which fit is best for him. I think that will come in time. I need more than 12. I plan to order 12 more next week. I'm having to get used to the bubble booty it gives them. It's hilarious! I'm also super freaked out about washing them. I think I did too much research because I've given myself a complex about the whole thing. I'm so worried I'll ruin them. I can't wait to see how they work at nighttime! I plan to insert the regular and newborn insert in them for both boys for extra abortion once I purchase more. I'm also back to making re-usable wipes. I tailored the recipe to better suit my boys needs, specifically Ben's eczema. And I love them! Here's my recipe for the wipes: Cut up two baby towles, or soft cotton baby blankets into wipe sizes place them in a plastic container with a lid -Mix up one cup water. One tablespoon each of olive oil and coconut oil two tablespoons of Dr. Bronner soap 3-4 drops of tea tree oil. Pour the mixtue over the towels and allow them to soak up the water. Use as you would wipes, and wash in hot water and detergent. Well, that's all folks! Next time I'll try and delve into the wonderfulness of my new clothes line my amazing husband and father-in-law built for me. It's just precious.