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Everything Else

Woolizes Dryer Balls

I’ve eyed Woolzies dryer balls online & again at my local cloth diaper store. But something always held me back. {Typically my hands are full & pockets pretty empty!}

Our dryer is older, & we’ve tested it to the limits with a year of cloth diapering plus the added laundry of 2 babies. {Hello, 2 loads a night!}

We stopped using a bounce bar or dryer sheets when I started washing tiny newborn clothes. I’ve noticed recently, it takes an extra cycle to get it all dry & we’re getting some static issues.

So I was thrilled at the chance to receive a set of 6 XL Woolzies balls.
Woolzies Dryer Balls

I added them first into a dryer full load of our clothes {while I had post-tubes recovering Lucy at home all day}. And boom, 1 dry cycle later, they were done.

In case that was a fluke, I did a small load of cloth diapers that night & was thrilled to find they were 99% dry in 1 cycle {1 insert stuck in a cover was damp}.

We’ve kept the Woolzies in the dryer continuously since then & I’m hooked. Anything that makes my life easier {& a dreaded task quicker} is a win in my book.

In case you’re wondering, you can hear the balls if you’re listening for them. But they don’t make a significant noise over normal dryer noises & certainly not enough to outweigh their benefits.

Woolzies provided 6 XL dryer balls for purposes of this review. But all thoughts/opinions/photos shared are honestly my own.

Categories
Babies

Fifteen Month Appointment

We ended up taking Zach to the pediatrician last Thursday. {The pic of him sleeping on the cot is from when I arrived. So cute!} We & daycare were concerned over his dry cough coupled with a low grade fever, runny nose & lack of appetite. $20 copay later, no croup just a cold. And since we were scheduled for their 15 mo appt the following day, I asked the doctor I’d she could go ahead with it while we’re already there vs coming back. Since he wasn’t deemed sick, they said yes!

So Zach’s official weigh was a hefty 19 lbs 9.6 oz making him in the 9th percentile for weight! The biggest yet! Even better, he’d grown 3 inches since May putting him at 30 inches tall & in the 12th percentile! Great news for my littlest dude.

He took the shots like a champ & we succeeded in trashing the room, so we headed home. Couldn’t help but take & share a pic of our ‘super boy’ in his new bath towel.

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Lucy & J went to their regularly scheduled appointment last Friday morning. Lucy weighed in at 22 lb & 7.5 oz {68th percentile!} & was 30.25 inches tall {39th percentile}. I was thinking she’d weigh more & she looks more than 1/4 inch taller than Zach. But that’s what they got that am. Still so very proud of her percentages. Such an awesome big girl!

Her doctor was thrilled with vocabulary & development overall. Said they appeared to be doing great & were caught up/on target with birth date babies vs adjusted age.

I was flustered Thurs {& we saw a Dr I’m not familiar with} & wasn’t there Friday, so some questions I wanted to discuss like sleeping & night weaning weren’t addressed.

The Dr Zach saw didn’t think it necessary to keep putting carnation instant breakfast in all their whole milk. J forgot to ask the other Dr. But I’ve decided to cut that back to half the amount of powder in their daycare sippy whole milk. And we’ve introduced whole milk without it too. So we’ll see there.

We’re also going to focus on offering milk with meals. Lucy nursing before dinner & afterwards before bed, so I hadn’t been giving her any liquids during. But I guess I should be! So we are now. That’s leading to milk showers & puddles on their trays, but it’s a learning curve like everything else.

I’m thrilled we have good toddler eaters & drinkers who keep spiking up their growth charts! Very proud of my former 4 & 6 pound preemies!

Categories
Everything Else Motherhood

What I’m Loving {first world mom edition}

It’s been a while since I’ve done a shopping post. Well it’s rare I’m shopping much at all except online these days!

But I love seeing what other bloggers are digging & thought I’d join in. This is completely unsponsored.

My new Lilly Pulitzer Chi Omega bracelet. lilly-chi-o-bracelet.JPGI was unable to pass it up during their summer sale. And I’m so glad I didn’t! I’ve found reasons to wear red/yellow/mint green since it arrived Thursday.

I’ve been going to the same salon for a couple times now, & they recommended {& had on sale} KMS Free Shape shampoo & conditioner. It was more expensive than my usual Target brand, but it feels like a delicious smelling luxury & makes my curls & color shine.

I’ve been loving a few moms of multiples resale Facebook pages recently. I’ve bought most of Lucy’s 18-24 mo & Zach’s 12-18 mo clothes from other MoMs. Including a new lot of Trumpette 12-24 mo socks. I’m obsessed & love that they’re gender neutral!

I haven’t hit purchase as I currently refuse to spent $25 for an outfit for Lucy when she has a closet full of 18 mo clothes I’ve super sale or consignment shopped for her. But oh my goodness I love the current owl line at Gymboree! Look at these ruffle leggings.wpid-IMG_20130823_113627.jpg

 

Lemonade. Random? Yes. But I think since I couldn’t handle lemonade while pregnant due to heart burn, I’m making up for it this summer. I like it pink, homemade, store bought &/or mixed with sweet tea. My current favorite is from Panera.

I am loving my current read: Stephen King’s 11/22/63. I’m also loving that my cubemate, dad & husband have all read it. So in addition to September’s book club chat, I’ve been one-sided {no spoilers!} chatting as I read along. I’m getting close to the end & can’t wait to see how it wraps up!

Whole Foods: it’s nicknamed Whole Paycheck for a reason, but if you’re in a rush & need a quick meal that you know is going to taste great, you can’t beat it. This week I went to Whole Foods for a to go dinner for a new mom friend & also left with breakfast muffins & a bean & cheese burrito lunch for myself. Loved every bite.

What’s your current obsession? Be it food, drink, clothes? I am missing something I will ‘need’ for fall?!

Categories
Motherhood

Working Mom Weekends

As a working mom, I sometimes struggle to keep the balance on weekends. The balance of getting all.the.things done & having fun with my family.

I wrote about my working mom weekend experience on liberating working moms today. And I happened to put my words in action this weekend.

Saturday, I started laundry, got clothes out for this week & labor day weekend bag packed for the kiddos. Then we took off to a park & played & walked around a 2 mo lake followed by lunch out & a group Target run.
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We took full advantage of a beautiful day & got home in time for the babes to take an epic afternoon nap while I read 11/22/63 & sold some of their outgrown clothes online.

Sunday, while J worked, my aunt & I took Lucy & Zach with us to church, had lunch at home, visited with friends who stopped by & played with their water table on the back deck. I stuffed diapers while Lucy napped beside me & while catching up with my aunt. Another day that was a perfect mix of getting {most of} my list done & soaking up all the fun with my toddlers.

How was your weekend? How do you manage to balance it all?

Categories
Babies

Zach: Fifteen Months

Oh our little wild man! He is a hoot!

Zach has a hilarious personality. He still loves their big car & has discovered the fun of pushing this small toy car around the kitchen floor. In a room dull of toys though, in the evenings he’s just as likely to run around with a pillow than anything else. He’ll run, laugh & fall on it, pick himself back up & do it all again.

Zach 15 months

We spend hours reading each week as Zach loves books which he calls ‘ba’. He loves to point out each photo & says something kinda like ‘this’ as he’s doing it. Zach’s great at turning pages & flipping up or down the flaps in find baby or goodnight animal books.

He’s gotten into balls {which he also calls ba}. Zach loves to throw & fetch as well as kick. It’s so cute. He loves to nest our stacking cups & shake them around.

He has ten teeth & another {we hope for all our sakes!} about to break through. Four front, 4 back & his 2 top 12 month molars. It’s his bottom right 12 molar that’s kicking his ass right now.

Teething slows down his appetite a bit, but he’s typically a great eater at home & daycare. We’ve discovered he’s the only one in our family that’s a big fan of watermelon! He’s still doing great with sippy cups & the increasing amount of whole milk {up to 2.5 oz out of the 5.5oz}.

Zach getting big {at least big for him}! We’re slowly removing the 9 mo outfits from his closet & filling them with 12 month ones for the rest of summer & fall. He’s tall enough that all shortalls must already 12 mo sized & as do pjs.