Early pregnancy and all that it intales

Here I am in the middle of march and look where my keyboard has led me?? You guessed right :)- back to the blog, I know- finally!!
The last couple of months have been exciting and exhausting.
On December 30th 2010, we returned from a wonderful day of skiing at Snoqualmie Pass to get the news we had been waiting for- baby Matthews #3 is on its way!!!!! Excited does not even begin to scratch the surface of the emotions that went around.
The next couple of weeks went by pretty uneventful and then it happened in about mid January- morning sickness, which in my case is all-day sickness, decided to hit full force. It was overwhelming and incredibly humbling. My two guys were more than troopers putting up with such a sick mommy who had the hardest time getting anything accomplished. I was blessed beyond means when friends came together for support and I do not know how to thank them all enough.

Here is a review of some of the remedies that I tried with mixed results:
1: frequent snacks consisting of some type of carb - not effective at all
2: frequent snacks consisting of some type of protein- much better when I could stomach it
3: anti-nausea pressure bracelets- seemed to lessen the effects to make it bearable
4: hard licorice candy- worked unexpectedly well
5: additional B12 vitamins- not sure if it made a difference
6: extra sleep- feeling rested made everything else more bearable
7: holding babies- put how I felt in the moment into perspective :)

Today marks week 16 in this pregnancy, hard to believe it has been 4 months already, but let me take a look down on the belly and oh, I believe it :)
The last 2 weeks have done wonders in the way that I feel, and for the most part I am feeling great, although I seem to wear out just a tad faster running after my active youngens :)

This time we are sticking to our guns and we will not find out the gender of this baby, and I look forward to the moment when my husband tells me wether it's a boy or a girl. :) It will be a priceless moment for both of us. Of course this means that we need to have some name ideas for both possibilities, which seems to be difficult for us. We are not agreeing on many at the moment, see there is a reason it takes 9 months to have a baby :)

We had our last prenatal appointment on the 9th of March and all was well. The "single" heartbeat was easily found and beating at 140bpm.

I will keep you posted on the progress and maybe soon we will sneak in a few photos.

Making your own laundry soap

Something that I have started enjoying immensely is caring for my family and cutting costs by making products where I can from scratch. My family has very sensitive skin and most commercial laundry detergent caused itchy skin and breakouts, in addition I am washing clothes for little ones which again calls for "clean" detergent. I was searching high and low as many soaps for sensitive skin did not get our clothes clean and those that got our clothes clean where astronomical in cost.

I have found a recipe for this liquid laundry detergent and it works wonderful. No more breakouts and itchy skin and our clothes get nice and clean. You can make the detergent scented simply by adding approximately 10 drops of your favorite essential oil.

In addition to working for my family it also works for my budget. One batch of this soap makes about 2 gallons and the cost is around $2 if not less :)

The ingredients are simple-

6 cups of water

1/4 bar Felts Naptha Soap- grated

1/2 bar Dr. Bronners Bar Soap- grated

1/2 cup Borax

3/4 cup Washing Soda

4 cups hot water

3 to 5 gallon bucket

1.5 gallons water

Heat 6 cups of water over medium heat in a large pot. Add the grated soap and let it melt together. Once melted add the borax and washing soda. Stir until it dissolves and starts to thicken. Turn off heat and add 4 cups of hot water and stir together. Pour the contents of the pot into the large bucket filled with 1.5 gallons of water. Stir and let sit over night. Once set up either stir together by hand or mix with an immersion blender. The soap is now ready to use.

This soap works great for HE washers as it is low-suddsing. I use about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of soap for a very full load of laundry.

I hope you give this a try - enjoy!!

Welcome 2011!!!!!!

Here is to another year, another opportunity and so many more memories!

What a year 2010 has been to us. Many things have changed yet stayed the same and many dreams have been placed in my heart. I believe that these passions and desires will only grow in the coming year and I am excited to see what will evolve out of my hearts desires.

2010 will go down in my books as a year of hidden treasures, as I never really felt that the year brought many awe inspiring moments yet managed to bring many blessings and revelations that might have gone amiss in those big moments that we sometimes yearn after.
I am truly grateful for the lessons that have been learned and the growth we have experienced as a family.

As we are looking upon 2011 I am convinced that this will be a wonderful year, filled with God's love and grace and abundant moments of awe inspiring beauty.
So buckle up and let's get ready for the ride!!!!!!!!!!!

Bananas, bananas, bananas!!!!!!!!!

Today I came home with a wonderful find- 30lbs of bananas!!!! Yep 30lbs, which come to find out is only half a box :) and I only paid $1.50 for all of them. Quickly do the math and that is only half a penny per pound. I am super excited and hard at work already. These are blemished, bruised and pretty ripe bananas, but those are perfect for my intentions.
I have started with my first batch of banana chips, I sure wish I had a few more trays for my dehydrator. The chips make a wonderful snack for little ones- we like our banana chips a bit chewy so even the little guy can enjoy them. I do not treat my bananas prior to dehydrating so the process to get them on the tray is fairly quick and Zander is a great helper.
Secondly, I took a whole bunch of bananas, peeled them and laid them out on a baking sheet. Those I will freeze and use for smoothies.
Next I will make some banana bread but need to get some eggs in the morning :)
I have also thought on making a double batch of banana waffles and freezing the extras for a quick breakfast when we are on the run.

So, I am very excited to have found this great deal on bananas and will continue to buy them periodically, but I wanted to ask you all for help. What are some of your favorite recipes that call for bananas??? Please share so that I can use up my whole batch and continue to buy these gems at such a great price.