Baby names!

It is so stressful trying to come up with baby names! We didn't have this problem last time, we both had a boy name that we agreed on right away, but trying to come up with girl names this time is hard. So I am asking for your input. I have put a poll on my blog with the names that we have come up with so far. I'm not saying that we are going to pick the one that gets the most votes, but it's nice to know what other people think of what we have come up with. We are still open to suggestions, so if you have any good ones feel free to leave me a comment! Have fun voting!

We are so excited!

We went to the Dr. yesterday and found out the sex of the baby, It's A Girl! We are very excited and Noah is too! We asked him what we should name his new sister and he said "Beep". So until Keith and I can agree on a name, Beep it is! We can't wait! I haven't put the ultrasound pictures on my computer yet, but I will try to do that today.

We love So You Think You Can Dance!

Keith has Scouts on Wednesday nights so Noah and I love to watch SYTYCD. I really like the show, but more than that I like watching Noah dance along with all of the dances. I am always trying to get video of him dancing, but when he sees the camera he stops dancing and wants to pose for pictures. So last night I kept my cell phone close by and was able to get a quick little video of him, it's not the greatest quality because it's from my phone, but it's still pretty cute. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Making your own laundry detergent

My friend at work sent me this from one of her friends blogs. I thought I would post it in case anyone is interested in trying it out!

Makin' my own laundry detergent!
I'm not sure why it took me so long to jump on this bandwagon, but I'm excited that I finally have! First, my friend Helen got me into using liquid fabric softener in my dryer. I know, sounds loco, but I love it! I buy whatever I want at the store, then water it down (depending on the brand, equal parts water to softener or more) and soak sponges in the watered-down softener that I've put in a bucket. For instance, I bought a cheap liquid softener back in April, and watered it down once in a small bucket. I wring a couple sponges out and throw them in the dryer like dryer sheets and it's WAY cheaper than using the liquid in the wash, or actual dryer sheets! I bought Downy the second time, but apparently it's more concentrated than the cheap stuff, so I had to water it down 4 times so it didn't leave spots on the clothes... I guess the more expensive brands really are better, and it's lasted much longer, so no complaints here!
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ANYWAY!
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With this front loader I've recently acquired, I didn't want to have to buy the expensive front loader detergent that it "requires". But I wasn't sure how much I could use of the regular detergent and have it NOT suds up too much. This recipe is the one that the Duggar's use... you know, the "18 kids and counting" family on TV? They've got more front loaders than I have kids, so I figure if they trust this recipe then I sure can!
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I bought: new 5 gallon bucket $4.64
lid: $1.27
Borax: $2.98
Baking Soda: $1.00
3 bars of Ivory soap (any non/low-sudsing soap will do): $1.07

I grated one bar of soap into an old pot, added 4 cups of hot tap water, and melted it on the stove. Then I poured that into my bucket, and added 1 cup of baking soda, and 1/2 cup of Borax.
When it looked like that was all stirred up and dissolved, I added more hot tap water to fill my bucket and put the lid on. I'll let that sit overnight, and when I run out of my super-expensive Tide detergent made especially for front loaders, I'll use that empty container and funnel this in!

Update: I bought an oil essence at my favorite bead store for $3.50 and added HALF of it to the bucket. LOVE the smell, and can't wait to see how well it cleans!

I wanted to see how much this costs per bucket, so I measured out the Borax and baking soda I bought. You get 12 cups of Borax = 24 buckets, and 4 cups of baking soda = 4 buckets. So I'm spending 74 CENTS per 5 gallon bucket, and thinking this will last me more than a month with a family of 6. I usually buy Surf powder detergent for about $12, and it's gone within the month.

Noah's a BIG boy!

Last week we got Noah's big boy bed all set up. He loves to sit and play on it. This weekend we let him try it out. Friday & Saturday he took a nap in it and he did really good, I was very impressed! We let him sleep in it Saturday night too, I got a little emotional when I went in to check on him and saw him sleeping there. I finally realized that he is not my little baby anymore, it makes me sad! He only lasted half of the night, he woke up and came into our bedroom around 12:45, so I took him back to bed and he had a hard time falling back asleep so he went back into his crib. I guess it's good that he starts to get used to it now since we'll need his crib for the new baby in December.

Quick baby update: Everything is going good with my pregnancy, I'm feeling a lot better now than I was in the beginning. I go back to the Dr on July 20th and hopefully will get to find out the sex of the baby. I'm really excited and I will keep you all posted!

California Trip

As I said in my previous post, when we went to California we also visited Justin, Cheri, & Zack. We really enjoy going to visit them and spend time with them. Noah warmed right up to them, he wasn't too nervous around them at all, which surprised me a little. He loved trying to play with their cat Tigger, I say trying because he thought it was playing, but it was really Tigger batting and hissing at him to get him away. She finally snapped at him because he was pulling her hair. That was a month ago and he still telling us " Kitty bite, Kitty owe (as he points to his finger where she bit him)". I don't think he will ever forget it, if you ask him what a kitty says, he will point to his finger and "Kitty bite". It's pretty cute! Here are some pictures of Keith, Zack, & Noah playing with Noah's T-Ball set outside.

Family Vacation!

This year for our family vacation, we took a trip to California to visit my brother and go to Sea World. We had so much fun! I was a little worried that Noah was still too little for a place like Sea World, but he loved it! He was a little nervous at the first Shamu show, but he loved going to see all of the animals. He loved going to see the Wild Arctic exhibit, we had to go back like 8 times before the Polar Bear finally woke up. Keith and I decided it was the funnest trip we have ever had. We both love watching Noah have a good time and I think he had an absolute blast!

He was so tired!

Looking for the Beluga Whales!

Do you have a fish for me?

He loved the Flamingos & Duckies!
I can't believe how huge Sea Turtles are.

In the Polar Bear ice caves!

I need a break!

Checking out the Polar Bear!