Secret, Secret, I Got a Secret!

Tyler and I have been keeping a little secret!  We didn't want to post anything on the blog until everything was final because we didn't want to jinx anything BUT... we bought a house!  We are really excited and have already started making it ours.  

Tyler signing the paperwork

We are currently living in the basement apartment of my parents house (which we love) but over the summer we realized that it was time to start looking for a house of our own.  Interest rates are at an all time low right now and thanks to Mr. Dave Ramsey, we have been preparing ourselves financially for the past four years (yes FOUR years) to buy a house.  We have been scrimping and saving and paying off debt to get to this point and it has paid off!  Trust me, we still have a good ways to go to be truly financially free. 

Me signing the paperwork.. look at Tyler's face!

So we started searching for homes in our desired area and found a few that we liked, loved, and had to have but one home stuck out above the rest.  We went to settlement on the house yesterday and we are now proud homeowners! 

Here is our new home!

It definitely a turn-key house and we could have moved in yesterday if we wanted to however, we are planning on doing some "fixing up" before we fully move everything over.  We plan on painting every wall in the house, taking down some outdated spindles, possibly adding a "pass through" (aka whole in the wall), and doing some good cleaning.  So we headed over to the new house yesterday to get started! 

Everett exploring around the house

We ate our first "meal" at the house yesterday... Chipotle!  Everett loves it! 

Tyler worked outside on the driveway, pulling up weeds and prepping it for sealing (which he and my dad will be doing on Sunday.)  It was so nice outside so we opened all the windows up, it seemed like some of them hadn't been opened in a looooong time.  After we got them open it was apparent that they needed a good cleaning so I grabbed a sponge and some warm water and got to work.  

Everett looking outside! "Daddy!"

Stay tuned for a full walk through of the new house complete with our "to-do" list for each room!  Can't wait to share all the pictures!

Even Mowgli loves the new house!

Mouth Watering Wednesday: Shepherds Pie, Paleo Style

Welcome to Mouth Watering Wednesday! Spice up your life and try a new recipe! This week I am sharing one of our staple recipes, one of the ones that we make a few times a month.  It is something that you can make ahead and freeze, take to someone's house or church for potluck, etc. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• 1 lb of ground beef (or your meat of choice)
• 1 package of frozen peas
• 1 head of cauliflower
• milk
• butter
• 1/2 a sweet onion- diced
• garlic- minced (or garlic seasoning) 
• salt and pepper
• A1 or Worcestershire sauce

Here's what you'll do: 

• Steam and puree your cauliflower
• While mixing the cauliflower, add minced garlic, salt, and pepper 

• Next, brown up your meat with the onions, A1 and/or Worcestershire sauce
• Cook your peas
• After meat has cooked layer it on the bottom of your baking dish and then add the peas

• Add the creamed cauliflower to your meat and peas
• Finally, bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees 

There you have it folks! As always, if you make it let me know how it goes! 

Everett's Birth Story

Everett was due on May 23, 2011 and we anxiously awaited his arrival! When I went for my weekly check up my doctor said that she would like to induce labor because she thought that little Everett might not end up being so little so Tyler and I agreed for me to be induced that Friday.  This was before I was crunchy and I really didn't know all of the risks that went along with induction. I wish that I had done more research prior to agreeing to induce labor. 

They induced me on Friday, May 20th at 7am with pitocin.  When I came in I was only 1cm and maybe 35% effaced.  They left me on pitocin all day (until 6pm) with no changes at all even though I was having steady contractions.  The doctor decided to take me off of everything that night and start with pitocin again in the morning.  At this point I should have know that he wasn't ready to come out but I guess I figured since I was already at the hospital I might as well continue on.  When I was hooked up to the pitocin, the only time I could get out of bed was to go to the bathroom or to sit on the bouncy ball.  

I started the pitocin again Saturday morning around 8:30am.  The doctor came to check on me around 10am and I hadn't made any progress.  She decided to use a foley catheter to get things moving.  Once that was inserted in I started feeling the contractions a lot more.  The contractions were steady and about 2 mins apart for most of the day.  

Around 4:30pm the foley catheter came out and I was in a lot of pain (from the contractions) and  asked for fentanyl (through the IV) and managed the pain pretty well with that.  At 7:30pm I was 5cm and asked for the epidural because things were getting very intense.  The epidural was working very well up until around 3am when I started feeling a lot of pressure.  They checked me then and I was 7cm.  Yay progress!

By 4:30am I was really feeling like I needed to push so they checked me and I was 9cm and 90% so they started prepping the room for delivery.   At 5am I told the nurses that I was going to push whether or not the doctor was at the hospital! :)  The nurse checked me and I was at 10cm and 100%!!  She had me do a "test push" to see how far down I could get him- well after 1 push she said that I better stop pushing or I would have the baby before the doctor got there! 

At 5:30am is when they had me really start pushing.  Although I had pushed him into position with the first push, I couldn't get him any further because he was attempting to come out forehead first rather than the crown of his head.  The doctor finally came in around 6:30am and suggested we try the vacuum- so we did.  She only used it for 1 push - just to position him correctly.  After that I was able to push him right out! By 7:30 am he was nursing and content in my arms!   He was born at 7:01am on May 22, 2011 and weighed 6lbs and 12oz. 

Overall it was not a bad experience but I really did learn a lot of things that I will plan on doing differently next time I have a baby.  I really am going to be opposed to being induced unless I am way overdue.  I definitely will not want to use pitocin again because I was not able to deal with the pain the way that my body wanted to (i.e. walking around, sitting in different positions, etc.)  I think that if I were able to get up and move around more I would have been able to hold off on the pain medication a little longer. May 22nd will always be one of my favorite days because it was the day that God blessed me with the most perfect gift, Everett.  

Prepping for Friday

I've got some prep work going on for Friday's Nap Time Craft Time post! Any guesses? Stay tuned!

Pig Paw is Home

Everett is so excited that his Pig Paw is home! He was out of town for work this week and Everett did not like that! :)

Just to Brag...

While reading one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love yesterday I saw that Sherry posted a cute tutorial that was fast and (almost) free!  She took the cute new Andy Warhol Campbell's Soup cans and turned them into pen/crayon/marker holders for her little girl's art table. So cute! 

At the end of the post Sherry asked: "Any other fast and almost free projects going on this Friday?"  Well yes Sherry, I do!  I was so excited to share my cloth wipes/unpaper towels tutorial!  I didn't think that she would actually look at my blog BUT she did! Check out the screen shot below! 

AHHHHHH! I was so excited when I saw that not only did she write back to my comment but she read my blog! What?!  Has this happened to anyone?  Been tweeted by celebrities or favorite bloggers? 

Nap Time Craft Time: Easy DIY Cloth Wipes/Unpaper Towels

Welcome to Nap Time Craft Time! Shhh, don't wake the kiddos!  These posts feature a craft that is so easy you can complete this project during nap time! This project can also most likely be completed with items you already have at home! Simple, cute, and free?! I know, awesome right! 

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Those of you who have kiddos know that you can go through baby wipes and paper towels very quickly, like use a whole roll in a day quickly.  All of those baby wipes and paper towel purchases can really add up and you end up throwing them away! Have you ever thought about that? You buy these products just to throw them away!  There is a better way people!  

My friend Vivid (make sure to check out her blog here) introduced me to the idea of cloth wipes.  At first I did not like the idea of using a cloth wipe to wipe Everett,  it just seemed weird to me; but then I got to thinking that I already use cloth diapers and a few years ago I would have though that was odd too! Basically, I keep the wipe warmer about half way full of water with some coconut oil in it and I just dip and wring out the wipes in it when I change Everett's diapers.  Confession: I only use cloth wipes on E when he pees and save the baby wipes for the poo (when he doesn't go on the potty.) 

Vivid also told me about using unpaper towels in the kitchen and around the house rather than regular paper towels.  You can use them for EVERYTHING  that you already use regular paper towels with and then you throw them in the wash.  Get this- Vivid and her family have gone one whole year without using paper towel! Amazing for the environment and your wallet. 

There are more professional versions of cloth wipes (like these, these, and these) and unpaper towels (like these which are actually made by my friend Sabrina, check out her store here) that you can purchase or if you have a few items at home you can make your own. 

Here's what you'll need: 

• Sewing machine
• Thread
• Receiving blanket(s), flannel, or any absorbent material 
• Scissors

Here's what you'll do: 

• First you will need to decide what size you want to make. I made my cloth wipes and unpaper towels the same size however you can really make these as big or small as you want them.  I wanted mine to fit into my old wipes container so I made them 8"x8"
• Cut out as many wipes as you want! I cut mine 16"x8" and then folded them in half so that they would be "two ply" thick.  You could also cut two 8"x8" pieces and then attach them together. 
• Helpful tip: If you want yours to be a standard paper towel size, use a paper towel and trace around it.

• Next, fold over your fabric (or place the two pieces together) with the right sides facing OUT

• Now use a zig zag stitch (or serge) along the entire perimeter of the fabric, including the fold.  It is important to stitch over the fold because it will help the cloth wipes/unpaper towels to keep their shape. 
• That is it folks, you are ready to use them! 

I have my unpaper towels folded so that they will "pop up" out of the wipe container and I have it sitting right next to the sink. Check out a tutorial for how to fold your cloth wipes/unpaper towels here. 

 

So that's it! What do you think? Easy huh? 

Daily Happenings: 09/13/12

Everett and I had a nice day today! We ran an errand this morning and then went with my mom (Gran) to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Uncle Julio's.

After we got home Everett took a nice long nap which gave me some time to work on some stuff around the house. He did wake up in a pretty crappy mood but he is still feeling crappy and those molars haven't broken through yet! Poor guy! Now we are just hanging out and jamming to E playing the guitar!

Mouth Watering Wednesday: Egg Casserole

Welcome to Mouth Watering Wednesday! Spice up your life and try a new recipe! This week I am sharing a recipe for an egg casserole that I made this past week for Tyler to take to work every day.  (For another easy to take egg breakfast recipe check out this post!) 

So here's what you'll need: 

• 12 eggs
• 1 lb Jimmy Dean (or other) breakfast sausage
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Italian seasonings (to taste)

Here's what you'll do: 

• First take your onion and your breakfast sausage and get them browning up in a skillet. 

•  While your meat is cooking get all your eggs cracked open and into a big bowl. 

• Add the remaining ingredients, to include the onion and breakfast sausage mixture (once you've drained it and it has cooled.) 

• Grease or butter up your baking dish and poor in your mixture. 

•  Stick 'er in the oven for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees. I suggest stirring the casserole around 20 minutes to get anything that is stuck to the sides already! Also, make sure to test it by sticking a fork or tooth pick in the middle of it! 

There you have it folks! It's a pretty easy breakfast to take on the go- just slice it up and take it with you! 

Other modifications you can make: 

• Add additional veggies
• Give it a Mexican flare- use a can of green chilies or Rotel
• Use bacon instead of sausage

Enjoy! Of course, if you make it leave me a comment and let me know how it went! 

Happening Now

Resisting sleep...

Sweet boy