Pregnancy Update — May

May 5, 2019

I am sloooowly getting out of the phase of all-the-time nausea/barfing. I’m still not feeling great and certainly not feeling like myself just yet, but the end is at least in sight and I have moments where I don’t want to just lay down and die, so it’s improving!

weeks: 14

baby’s size: orange

i’m feeling: mostly tired and barfy still, though this pregnancy hasn’t been nearly as bad as Lark’s was on the nausea front. I haven’t had to be on medication or hospitalized, so it feels infinitely more manageable — just crappy.

food love: pickles, sandwiches, and strawberries. Sometimes all together for lunch!

food hate: my food aversions have been a lot less pronounced this pregnancy. I’ve been able to eat meat (and sometimes even crave it!) which is a wholesale departure from my pregnancies with Prim and Lark where I couldn’t even THINK about anything other than white carbs in the first trimester.

3 pros for may: 1. The weather has been so nice lately — warm but not too hot, and it’s getting me really excited for all the summer barbecuing. 2. Prim’s birthday is this week — I can’t believe that this girl is going to be FOUR! Seems like just yesterday I was 14 weeks pregnant with her and thinking I looked SO pregnant (hahaha! Yeah right!) 3. I just took a girls trip to Palm Springs with some of my best mama friends — my first trip away from KC and the girls together — having the time away to relax and reconnect was amazing!

3 cons for may: 1. My nausea isn’t gone yet, nor is the crazy exhaustion of the first trimester, so I’m still not really feeling that great most days. Looking forward to hopefully feeling a little more normal in a few weeks. 2. The US medical system is proving to be a lot more annoying than the Netherlands one (shocker.) I constantly feel like I’m just a chart or another statistic at all these appointments, and fighting to have a “natural” pregnancy seems like it shouldn’t be this much work. 3. Sometimes I think about how much longer to go in this pregnancy and get really overwhelmed. Having been through this before somehow makes things both easier and harder because you kind of know what to expect.

currently living in: maternity dresses — so comfy and breathable. I mean, if I can pretty much avoid wearing pants altogether for the next 6 months I’ll call that a win.

looking forward to: the second trimester and a bit more energy.

dreaming about: naps and more naps.

Announcements / Baby / Motherhood / Personal

Party of Five

May 1, 2019

If you follow me on social media or know me in real life, then you probably already know that I’m pregnant. Sorry, I guess that should say, I’m pregnant! Exclamation point!

And yes, we’re very excited (especially Prim). But also I’m very tired and just starting to emerge from the all-the-time barf-fest that is the first trimester (and beyond…) so summoning up the appropriate amount of hutzpah is sometimes a little challenging. But we’re excited! It’s happening!

The realness of the first trimester (i.e. wanting to fall down and die of tiredness and debilitating nausea most of the time) is the reason that my “announcement” photo is so far beyond planned, staged, or anything remotely professional. I mean, I’m wearing zero makeup, the room is a mess, the mirror is dirty… I guess the reality is I’m just not that committed to being that sort of “blogger” or “instagrammer” or whatever. That’s my real life right there — a phone selfie in a dirty mirror because “I guess I should just tell people since it’s so damn hard to hide this bump now.”

I mean, the third baby thing — wow. I started showing basically immediately (let’s sing a song about self esteem! And also a requiem for my ab muscles.) and I feel like I look about twice (or 14) times as pregnant as I actually am. (Sidenote: this mostly works in my favor on BART, where I give zero Fs about asking for a seat since I’ve been down this road twice before already.) Ah, the miracle of pregnancy, right? I’m sure I won’t be AT ALL tired of maternity clothes by the third trimester since I’ve been wearing the stuff pretty much since week six (facepalm).

This is all to say though, that really, we’re excited. I’m 99% sure this will be our last kiddo (I really don’t think I can go through a first trimester again), so it’s been a little bit easier to weather the hard parts knowing that this is most likely the last time I’ll be dealing with this. And honestly, the girls’ enthusiasm over having a sibling really makes the tough parts so much more enjoyable. Prim has been running around telling EVERYONE that she’s getting a new baby sister/brother (we already know!) and constantly running up to my belly to talk to and give kiss/hugs to the baby, so really, just give me a couple more weeks and I’ll probably be on board to have like 15 more kids. Ha!

DIY / Going "Natural"

DIY: Homemade Laundry Soap

February 21, 2019

As I mentioned in this post, I’ve been working on making most of the household cleaners we use myself, to both cut down on plastic waste and so I know what I’m putting on/around my kids.

There are a number of different recipes out there for making your own laundry soap, and the recipe below was not the first one I tested. The first batch I tried included Borax, but after reading up on Borax, I decided that it was an ingredient I didn’t want to include in my household cleaning products. (This is also the most likely reason that the dishwasher detergent recipe I used didn’t work well. Borax can really make a difference!)

I tested multiple laundry detergent recipes before landing on one I liked, and ultimately found the right recipe that makes a giant batch with minimal time commitment. Also, all the included ingredients have an A rating on the Environment Working Group website.

You don’t need a whole host of items to make your own laundry soap, and you can buy pretty much everything on Amazon for cheap and use the whole thing in one go. If you’re interested in making your own laundry detergent, below is the recipe I use, with a full linked ingredient list at the bottom of the post for shopping ease.

Recipe:

Laundry Detergent
55 oz / 3 lbs 7 oz super washing soda (one box)
64 oz / 4 lbs baking soda (one box)
4 bars castile soap
3 lbs OxiClean Baby or OxiClean Free (one container)
32 oz / 2lbs epsom salts (one bag) optional, acts as a softener

Use a cheese grater to grate castile soap, or cut into pieces and add to a food processor with baking or washing soda then pulse to combine.
Stir together all ingredients to combine and use 1 tablespoon per load — no softener needed.

Shopping List:

Laundry Soap:
Washing Soda
Baking Soda
Bar Castile Soap
OxiClean Baby or OxiClean Free
Epsom Salts

Storage:
Large glass canister (for storing laundry soap — I also store excess washing soda, baking soda, and Epsom salt in these, since they come in a set of four)
Tablespoon scoop
Old-school label maker (if you’re extra type-A like me)

DIY / Going "Natural"

DIY: Homemade Cleaning Products

February 20, 2019

If you’ve ever done any research on the Environmental Working Group website, you’ve probably realized how many household and cleaning products are hazardous to the environment and/or your health. In an effort to limit the number of outside chemicals used in our home — especially those that come into contact with the kiddos — I decided to try and make most of our cleaning products myself.

There’s plenty of information out there on the web about how to DIY your own cleaning solutions, and after a little online sleuthing I set to work making ours and found it surprisingly easy and cost-effective. It requires a bit of an investment at the start, but overall I’ve found that my homemade recipes go further than the “traditional” cleaners I used before, and because I purchase the ingredients in bulk they end up costing less over time. Making my own products has also drastically cut down on the single-use plastic bottles coming into our home as well.

I’ve tried multiple recipes and have listed out the ones I use and like below. I tested multiple laundry detergent recipes before landing on one I liked (that post is coming up tomorrow!), and also tried both homemade dish soap and dishwasher soap, but hated both and so haven’t included those recipes here.

You don’t need a whole host of items to make your own cleaning products, and you can buy pretty much everything in bulk at Costco and/or on Amazon for cheap. If you’re interested in making your own cleaning products, below are the recipes I use, with a linked ingredient list at the bottom of the post for shopping ease.

Recipes:

All-Purpose Surface Spray
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup purified water
20 drops essential oil
*I like to use a mix of seasonal/citrus essential oils in this for the kitchen spray and tea tree essential oil for the bathroom spray

Wood Furniture Spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup purified water
20 drops essential oil
*I like to use eucalyptus or pine, and sometimes mix it with lemon

Glass Spray
1/4 cup rubbing alcohol
2-3 drops liquid castile soap
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 cups purified water
10 drops citrus essential oil

Tub and Tile Scrub
1/4 cup liquid castile soap
10 drops tea tree or thieves essential oil
1 cup baking soda
*add ingredients to a mason jar in the order listed, then shake to combine

Sink/Stove/Counter Abrasive Cleaner
I use straight baking soda mixed with a tiny bit of water and use a microfiber cloth or scrub brush

Shopping List:

Cleaning:
Baking Soda
Distilled White Vinegar
Liquid Castile Soap
Purified Water
Rubbing Alcohol
Essential Oils*: tea tree, thieves (this is a less expensive dupe), lemon, eucalyptus, pine, grapefruit, tangerine, orange
*My recommendation would be to start with three essential oils: 1. tea tree or thieves, 2. eucalyptus or pine, and 3. a citrus. This is a nice starter mix, though you may want to add on a citrus oil to it. This assortment is a nice mix if you want more than one citrus option. This is also a great comprehensive starter pack.

Storage:
Glass amber bottles (I use 8, 16, and 32 oz bottles)
Mason jars
Old-school label maker (if you’re extra type-A like me)

Lark / Motherhood / Toddler

Motherhood Update: Lark at 2 years

February 19, 2019

Saying: Lark’s language skills continue to amaze us. She is so verbal and is now speaking in full sentences. She loves to tell (yell at?) me about her day when I get home from work, which is hilarious and adorable. (“I go to dance class! I go in, Mama!” Lark recently got to join Prim’s dance class since she finally reached the minimum age of 2 to join, so getting to go into the class rather than just staying the waiting room has been a big topic of conversation in our house.) And while Lark’s speech is very clear for being newly-two, I love how she still mispronounces certain words like octopus (“hock-a-post”) and sleep/sleeping (“afweep/afweeping”).

The other day Lark decided that she didn’t need to nap (despite clearly being tired) and spent over an hour standing in her crib screaming. When I finally gave up and got her and Prim up from their “quiet time” (quiet… haha YEAH RIGHT) Prim asked why Lark was so upset. I told her I didn’t know and asked Lark, “Why didn’t you nap today?”
Lark: “I talk to you.”
Me: “You wanted to talk to me?”
Lark: “Yeeeeaah!”

Lark’s Favorite Things: As I mentioned, Lark recently got to join Prim’s dance class, as they have a minimum age of 2 to start. It has been the sweetest to see these girls in their leotards and hear all about how much they enjoyed class and how they “jumped over Swan Lake.” Lark grooves to any music she hears, so I’m glad that she’s bringing her sweet moves into the class now too!

Reading: Room on the Broom, Moon, and I Want My Hat Back.

Latest trick: Lark is slower to warm up than Prim is (although, EVERYONE is slower to warm up than Prim. She’s everyone’s best friend the minute she meets them.) but once she’s comfortable she is so sassy and silly. We are constantly joking about what a teen Larky is because her attitude is so front and center these days. This girl has the best side-eye in the biz, and let’s get real, that serious resting face of hers she gets 100% from me.

Favorite toys: We bought Lark a scooter to match Prim’s for her birthday this year, and while Prim wasn’t really into riding her scooter until age 3, Lark is already a scooting pro (no doubt due to watching her older sister zip around on it). It’s so funny watching her sail by on her scooter with one leg in the air and a big smile on her face.

Sweetest things: Lark and Prim continue to be the best of friends and are so, so sweet together. When Lark joined Prim’s dance class, Prim spent the whole class encouraging her and holding her hand — clearly so pleased that she was finally able to join in the fun. That evening after their first class, we FaceTimed both grandmas and Prim excitedly told them, “Larky was in my dance class today!” which was quickly followed up with Lark yelling, “I go IN! To dance class!” (OMG these girls. I can’t.)

Favorite thing about this age: Lark loves to sing just as much as Prim does and she knows so many songs now. It’s fascinating to see how quickly she picks up new songs, and it’s so sweet to hear her singing to herself before she goes to sleep or from her carseat in the backseat of the car.