Valentine's Day

I absolutely love getting gifts for my husband and daughter.

Especially my daughter, it's so much fun.

My husband is very difficult to buy for. Typical man, right?

I decided to get my daughter some goodies for Valentine's Day.

My husband was gifted the Xbox One.

He's been wanting it for a long time, before it even came out.

So, that's what he received. I also bought him some Budweiser glasses.

He needs some manly cups for the kitchen, haha.

And of course his favorite candy, reeses. He loves them.

I was going to make my husband something, but I am saving that for his birthday next month.

I am very excited to make it, it's going to be a lot of fun.

My Keira's Valentine's goodies :)

She got a sweet card, a little balloon, wonder wow coloring book & markers, hair clippies, snacks, sippy cup, the cutest pair of shorts, much needed butt paste, light up ball, plates & a couple pieces of candy.

She doesn't get too much candy, but this is an occasion. 

My husband came home from his life guard course with roses and some Godiva chocolate. I treated myself with a four pound container of red vines. Sweet and simple!

We opted out going to dinner. We didn't want to try to fight through the Valentine's crowds. We all just wanted to hang out at home and spend some time together. Plus my baby girl had a fun little photo shoot.

 

Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all <3

DIY Laundry Detergent

How much do you think you spend on detergent?

Well, I spend a lot!

 I have always used Tide, but recently heard it's not good to use with Hawaii's hard water. 

So, I switched to Whisk. It's smells great and it's much cheaper than tide.

 I finally decided to make homemade detergent.

Let me just say I was super excited about making my own :)

I was fishing around for recipes and decided to take ideas/ingredients from each.

Okay, let's get started!!!

INGREDIENTS:

Borax

Washing Soda

Fels Naptha 

Purex Crystals

Grater

Bowl

Container 

Gather all your ingredients!

First I grated two bars of the soap. Does it not look like I grated a block of cheese though?

Anyway, I put grated soap in my glass jar.

Next I poured three cups of Borax and three cups of Washing Soad in my glass jar with the soap.

I then poured my Purex Crystals. Pour until your little heart is content.

VOILA!

I added some color to my plain jar :)

Use 1-2 tablespoons per load. I will update and let y'all know how this holds up to my husband's ACU's that love to be covered in red dirt. Ekk!

Why it is IMPORTANT to clean bath toys

So I am a big fan of Pinterest, I mean who isn't?

While I was browsing I came across a pin about cleaning bath toys. 

Last night I decided to clean my daughter's toys, including her bath toys.

I filled up my sink with HOT water.

I put a couple of caps full of bleach into the hot water and added all the toys. 

I let them sit in the water for an hour or so.

After letting them soak I put them in the dish rack. I took all the bath toys, the kind that you can suction up water and squeeze out, and put them aside.

I then got a paper towel and squeezed the water out of each of them.

A couple of them had black stuff come out (mold) so I decided to cut those open.

I ended up cutting open a total of 7 of the toys. If you look closely there is black mold in THREE of them. 

One of the three didn't have much, but it's still mold. I was completely grossed out!!!!! Luckily my daughter hasn't used them in almost a month. My friend was bathing her daughter in our tub and the washcloth she was using was stuck in our drain, so my daughter was getting sink baths.

Only three of them survived and that's because they were new.

With the remaining three I heating up the hot glue gun and glued the holes on each of them.

TADA!!

If I purchase anymore toys like this, for the bath, I will be hot gluing them before they go into the bath tub. I am so glad I came across the pin. Prior to doing this I would squeeze out all the water and put all the toys in her bath toy holder. Which I also bleached!

Hope this helps y'all like it helped us :)

Toddler Fun DIY Finger Paint

Who doesn't enjoy finger painting? The best part is EDIBLE and I mean it tastes great!

So let's get started.

Ingredients:

Kool-Aid packets

Pudding

Cups/Containers

Make pudding as instructed on the back. Then pour in individual cups. Then add a different Kool-Aid pack in each one, careful not too add too much. Stir and that's IT! 

Next time I think I will do this minus the kool-aid. I will use food coloring instead. I'm a big fan of the pudding flavor. I LOVE me some vanilla pudding, who doesn't though.

My daughter had a BLAST!

Baltic Amber Teething Necklace

Who uses these wonderful necklaces?

I LOVE ours! 

My daughter cut her first tooth at 11 months then they all started coming in. 

At 17 months she has her two bottom front teeth, two top front teeth, the tooth on either side of them and two top back molars. OUCH!

She has always been an excellent teether, but her molars got to her.

She was still doing great, but I knew she is a lot of pain. 

She was very clingy, cranky and wasn't sleeping or eating well.

I found her Baltic Amber teething necklace, we had one (it was a photo contest) and put that miracle to use. 

She has had it on for 4-5 days and she is doing fantastic.

You wouldn't think she was teething.

I take her necklace off before naps and bedtime, the paranoid mom in me.

“Succinic acid is a natural pain reliever, anti-inflammatory, and a central nervous system calmer. It is so effective on babies and small children because it simultaneously eases their pain while also having a strong soothing effect on their nervous system – all with zero side effects!”

The picture that one her the teething necklace. The contest was "fun in the sun"

The necklace! She had a brown colored one that I gave to a friend. I'm a big fan of this one!

It matches very well with her clothes.

DIY baby wipes

I came across this recipe for these wipes about nine months ago. I tried it and NEVER went back to store bought wipes! 

These wipes feel very light & soft. Plus they smell amazing! 

Ingredients:

Paper towel roll (DO NOT use a cheap brand! I use Brawny)

Coconut oil (I use organic virgin coconut oil)

Baby wash (I use Burt's Bees wash)

Now that you have all your ingredients grab a kitchen knife. You're not going to want to use a knife with teeth, or else you're just going to shred the paper towels.

Cut the paper towel roll in half, try to make two even halves.

Then fill your wipe container with 2-3 cups of warm water. Add in about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 1-2 tablespoons of baby wash. Stir it around and let the coconut oil dissolve completely. 

While you wait remove the cardboard from the middle of the roll. 

Once the coconut oil has dissolved set your paper towel roll in the solution. Once it soaks up the solution halfway I like to flip it. 

 Now that the paper towels have soaked up all the solution it's time to unravel them. I like to give the roll a gentle squeeze so it's not dripping solution everywhere while I unravel it.

This is how I go about unraveling it.

Then I put them back in the wipe container and VIOLA! 

The next time I make these wipes I will be adding a few drops of Tea Tree Oil :)

Hope you enjoy your homemade wipes. We sure do in my home!

Blog Name

I was sitting here thinking of names when this one came to mind. It was the second one I thought of. In June 2013 I was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism and the following month I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease. As y'all may, or may not know, last month was Thyroid Awareness month! The symbol is a butterfly.Your thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland in your neck, just above your collarbone.

Hyperthyroidism, also known as overactive thyroid, is a medical condition caused by an abnormally high level of thyroid hormone in the bloodstream. The thyroid gland produces an excessive amount of thyroid hormones. Graves disease is an autoimmune disease in which the patient's own immune system attacks the thyroid gland, causing it to produce too much thyroxine. 

My endocrinologist told me my body was slowing going down this path, but it sped up after I gave birth to my daughter. Everyone was surprised that my daughter was even conceived and arrived in this world with no medical issues. She was born six weeks early, but that has no connection to my disease. It's time to spread AWARENESS, y'all! 


"Every cell in the body has receptors for thyroid hormone. These hormones are responsible for the most basic aspects of body function, impacting ALL major systems of the body.
Thyroid hormone directly acts on the brain, the G.I. tract, the cardiovascular system, bone metabolism, red blood cell metabolism, gall bladder and liver function, steroid hormone production, glucose metabolism, lipid and cholesterol metabolism, protein metabolism and body temperature regulation.
For starters. 
You can think of the thyroid as the central gear in a sophisticated engine. If that gear breaks, the entire engine goes down with it."