Not your ordinary post

Lately I have become a huge fan of pintrest.  It's the only down time thing right now that I can squeeze into an evening.  :-)  It has become a huge source of information and one that has gotten my attention with recipes to money saving ideas.  Although not all my info. has come from the site it has sparked my interest enough to search online for resources.  First I would like to say I tried the Duggar Family's laundry detergent recipe and I have found it to be just as good as any commercial brand.  It doesn't however have the fancy scents that most commercial brands now have... you have to make it with essential oils to make it scented.  I have found adding essential oils to the smaller batches and to a rag for the dryer to work best. 

Here is a link to the recipe the products are very easy to find.  Or at least in our area I had no trouble finding all our supplies at Publix.  It took about 30-45 minutes and you can view youtube demos if you aren't too sure about making it.  It really is simple and once your finished it will be a long time before you have to make it again. 

http://www.duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/homemade_liquid_laundry_soap_front_or_top_load_machine_best_value

The second thing that I found works great and is a huge money saver.  It's dishwasher soap.  Basically, all you do is buy Dollar General Dishwashing powder and mix equal parts of baking soda into a container.  I used one small box of baking soda (2 1/2 cups) with 2 1/2 cups of the DG dishwasher powder into a small pour spout pitcher.  Shake it up and use 1 tbsp in your powder compartment per load.  Then put a small squirt of Dawn dish soap on top.  In your jet dry compartment put 1-2 tbsps white vinegar.  You must use the white vinegar if you want spot free dishes.  I have had great success with this recipe and the only time I had a little residue on a dish was a pie pan that I baked chicken in..  the dish washed off easily with a little soap and water.  So no biggy.  But the rest of my dishes have been spotless and shiney.  A large thing of white vinegar is only a few dollars.  Your intial investment for the laundry is about $13 and the dishwasher is about $8.  Both of which will last you a really long time. 

I am in the process of trying out the fabric softner recipe to see if I like it or not.  I will let you all know. 

The boys are doing well.  I can't tell you how much they are growing and changing.  It's so fast that I actually used time out on Grayson today.  The first time ever.  He has such a temper and really needs to learn how to manage his out bursts.  So I thought it was time and you know it is working well.  Tomorrow or Monday I am going to actually write out a list of what's expected and what they will be rewarded for as well as what counts towards being punished.  We are making a REAL time out spot instead of using their high chairs.  This will be interesting because now they will be able to escape. lol  I use to use the old recliner for Braden and he did pretty good but it got ruined and I had to go back to the highchair.  So now it will be in the front entry.  I may be chasing them all week next week but hopefully it will get better as they get use to the new rules. 

Dinotrek with Jesse and Levi :-)

Well this has been a long time in the making.... we have tried many times to get together with our friends from the NICU the Ray's.  We have seen them at NICU reunions but we really wanted a playdate for the boys.  So today we went to the Zoo and saw the Dinotrek exhibit.  It turned out perfect.  We went early enough to miss the rain yet the overcast kept us from getting too hot.  It was humid but not horrible.  We just let the kids go at their own pace and they really enjoyed it.  Especially the part where they could climb on one of the dinasours.  Now our two are sleeping so I took the time to do this quick post and share some photos. :-)

Hello everyone....

I just wanted to let everyone know that Braden is doing awesome.  He did slow down on his eating last week which is to be expected after being scoped.  We have also noticed that Braden has blossomed again.  He is really doing some critical thinking and forward thinking.  He has been climbing to get to what he wants... like G. :-)  He is wanting to do more by himself.  For example instead of asking us to change his movies he wants to participate.  He does really well picking the movie, putting it in and pushing all the right buttons to get it going.  He has learned how to work his folding stool in the upstairs bathroom.  He gets into the van all by himself and is close to getting into his own seat.  It's a little awkard for him but we have a plan of action that he should have done soon. :-)  You can also tell how much more he understands when your talking to him.  We are just so excited about school and know he will be growing so much just by attending.  We just hope the distractions won't mess him up to badly. 


 We got a Van (which I love) and the boys love it too.  G actually runs to the van with excitement.  He never wanted to get into the 4-runner.  B seems excited too but he has always liked going places.   It's got so much room and so many things that help make our lives easier.  G especially loves playing in it when B is in therapy.  We only have an hour which isn't any time at all to do anything.  The traffic around here is bad even though it's a small town like area.  So much road construction etc.  it just makes it to hard to run an errand and be back on time.  So we sit in the parking lot and eat breakfast, watch movies and play on the ipad. :-)  It's nice to have some time with G alone.  He seems to appreciate it.  Therapy is right across the street from the park so now that it' warmer we may go play on the swings and slides. 

Braden and Grayson have two new playdate friends.  The girls have a similiar schedule to ours so we can easily set up playdates.  We plan to go to the zoo soon.  We are sooo looking forward to more playdates with them and some of our other friends this summer.  It's going to be so much fun as we have a ton of activities that have been discovered since end of last summer.  :-)

We ordered our March of Dimes shirts and we are excited about the upcoming walk.  We just want to thank all those that have donated so far.   We are thankful for so many who keep Braden in the prayers and keep up with his life.  He is such an inspiration for all who know and love him.

Well I have two little boys crawling all over me so I need to go before one of them falls off my chair or hits the delete button.

Monday's procedures

Well the last few days have been eventful to say the least.  We were nervous about Braden having his hydroseal surgery but all went great and we are thankful.  He had his vocal cord injection and his scope after Dr. Adams did the hydroseal repair.  All went well until recovery.  They think Braden had a reaction to the vocal cord injection and the swelling was much greater than usual.  Which led to Braden having difficulties breathing.  So much so that they were very worried at the initially but thankfully B recovered quickly right after the Dr. spoke to us for the second time.  We were surprised that they came to get us right after Dr. W told us what was happening.  As a precaution we spent the night and B was able to get off oxygen by 10 PM and we went home first thing the next morning.

Today we had Braden's cardiology appt..  It's been a year since Braden had myocarditis and they still had some concerns.  Well all is now resolved and the Dr. went so far as to say Braden's heart is normal and he looks like he never had Myocarditis. :-)  We couldn't ask for better than that.... .  She still wants to see us again next year but that should be our final visit. 

Grayson did really well for Nana while we were at the hospital.  He was very entertaining.  I was told he painted the whole house with chalk and they had to take it away. lol  When we came back home Grayson came to me and then went to Nana.  I said he was a traitor and has been Nana-rized. hee hee  He has always been a Momma's boy so we are glad he finally loves Nana enough not to mind being left.  We sure do hate to leave him but we want him to be happy.  So knowing he is not just in good hands but happy to is very important to us. 

Well G didn't get a good nap today and is melting down.  I have to get off here... Thank you all for the continued prayers. 

A few new pics and an update

We are all well again.  Hooray!!!  Grayson is a real bear when he is sick and makes the rest of us suffer.  lol  So it's always a good thing when he gets better. :-)  Braden is doing great.  He did so much better with this cold than one's in the past.  Which is very encouraging.

Braden has two procedures on Monday next week.  He has a routine vocal cord injection and scope.  He is also getting a hydroseal fixed.  Which is suppose to be a minor procedure but we still get nervous even now when he has to have anything done.  So please keep him in your prayers that all will go smoothly.  He will be going home same day so that is always a plus. 

What's new with the boys.  Well I think the photos will sum it all up.  Grayson loves the Ipad now and is really very good at using it.  He absolutely LOVES puzzles and rocks them out.  He likes to make large messes and enjoys sorting toys into a row.  He runs in circles and dances to music.  He loves music.  Especially in the car and during bath time.  We listen to mostly nursery rhymes and Veggie tales. 

Braden is doing alot more with Grayson.  They fight and play together a good bit now.  Braden is becoming more of an explorer and is getting much better with his own forward thinking.  He will run down a hill now without thinking about it.  He even takes the ball and will put it on the slide to let it fall.  He plays in puddles of water and loves to splash.  All things he never use to do without someone directing him.  He gets in the ball pit.  Gets into all the drawers in the kitchen we tell him not to get into... lol  I had found a blog on pintrest that listed 71 thing your child needs to know before kindergarten.  Here's the web link http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2012/03/71-things-your-child-needs-to-know-before-kindergarten/.  I realized how many things Braden is doing fairly well at and how many things we haven't even tried.  I guess it's a little overwhelming when you first look at it.  Braden is doing great with his matching skills, good with knob puzzles, he is doing well with lacing as long as we stiffin the thread, he loves numbers and writing his name.  He brushes his teeth now pretty well for a 4 year old.  He loves to jump on the bed.  It's his favorite thing to do in the morning to wake up his daddy.  :-)

Please don't forget to click our link to the right for March of dimes donations.  It's for a good cause and is something special in memory of Kaleigh and to honor Braden's big fight for life as a preemie.

Braden loves Cheesy puffcorn

Grayson when he was sick decided to pull all the tissue out of a new box. lol

They love the ipad and mobigo