Happy 2 Year Anniversary...

...to my blog!  Yes, that's right- I've been blogging for two years now!  It's a bit crazy to think that I've been publically chronicling my life for two years; the ups, the downs, the happy moments, and the crazy moments.  The main reason I started this blog was to keep up the day to day things that happened with Cooper, and in this past year I've now added Clark into that mix.  He's definitely been the biggest, most joyous, and happiest "thing" that's been added to our family, and this blog, in the past year.  This blog has been absolutely priceless in the fact that I can look back and relive all the sweet moments, milestones, and silly pictures of both of my boys, and have a date to know exactly when all these things took place.  I know I've started adding in different kinds of posts this year, but the heart and soul of this blog still centers around my family.  Even if nobody read my blog, I would still keep it up for them. 

I just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who takes time out of your day to read my posts.  That really means more to me than you could ever know.  I've had so many kind people reach out to me when they read about a struggle we may be having, and people that have told me they will keep us in their prayers for whatever reason.  We can definitely feel your prayers, and I'm so thankful I have an outlet to share things with all of you.  Writing this blog has been a great way to capture all my joy and happiness on my best days, and a good form of "therapy" to let out my sadness and frustrations on my worst days.  I hope to keep it up for many years to come, and hope that you will continue to read along with me!

 

My little family when I started my blog!

 

My little family two years into my blog!

 

An Exciting Opportunity!

Last week I was offered a very exciting opportunity for my blog.  What was even more exciting about it was that the boys were really going to reap the benefits.  That's all I'll say for now... here's a little sneak peek of what's to come.  I'll have a whole post about it soon- stay tuned!

A Change in the Beauty Routine

I just gave an update on my hair about a week ago, and now I've got another.  I'm in the process of growing it out, and to be honest, I hate washing and styling it every day, or every other day (I try not to wash it every day).  Don't get me wrong, I shower every day, but hate the hassle of washing, detangling, drying, and straightening (or curling) my hair.  The longer it gets, the harder and more time consuming it is to fix.  I also felt like I was in a rut with my shampoo/conditioner regimen.  One day my hair would be a greasy mess, and the next it would fill like straw.  I was frustrated, and vulnerable, when I ran across this on Pinterest:

http://livinginanotherlanguage.com/blog/2013/03/17/i-dont-use-shampoo/

This girl stopped washing her hair with shampoo and conditioner, which in turn made her hair stop producing oils so quickly (she explains it really well).  Shampoo strips your hair of it's natural oils, so in turn it produces them faster, making your hair greasy really quickly, and then you have to wash it again the next day or so.  Since switching to this new method of washing her hair stopped getting greasy so fast, she gradually was able to get her hair to the point to where she only has to wash it every 5 or 6 days.   At first I thought it sounded a bit crazy, but then I did a little more research on it and thought it sounded wonderful.  Who wouldn't want to only wash their hair once or twice a week, and make it healthier at the same time?  It would cut down on the heat damage since I wouldn't be styling it every day, it wouldn't strip my hair of it's color so quickly because there would be no chemicals used, and it would cut way down the cost I spend on hair care products.  If you didn't read the post above, you achieve this by washing your hair with baking soda and vinegar.  You make a baking soda/water mixture and apply to your roots.  The baking soda cleans the goop off your scalp.  You then spray the length of your hair with a vinegar water mixture (all the proper portions are in the link above) to condition it.  I thought "What the heck, if it doesn't work I can always go back to my old ways."

I went out and bought all my supplies at the Dollar General- a bottle for the baking soda mixture, a spray bottle for the vinegar mixture, baking soda, and white and apple cider (you can use either) vinegar.  They were all cheaper than I would've paid for a bottle of shampoo and conditioner. 

Day One
Here is a picture of my hair before I washed it using this method for the first time.  You can't tell how greasy it was, but it was nasty.  I washed it on Tuesday and this was taken on a Thursday.

When I had all my ingredients mixed up and ready to go I hopped in the shower.  Clark was in rare form on this day, aka extremely fussy, so he hung out in the bathroom with me while I showered.  The first thing it tells you to do is to make sure your hair is really wet.  After I let the water totally drench my hair I got the bottle of the baking soda mix and applied it to my roots.  Let me tell ya, you mix 1 tablespoon of baking soda with a cup of water, so basically it's the consistency of water.  It runs out fast, and doesn't lather AT ALL- it's like pouring water on your head.  I knew it wouldn't, but it was still a very strange feeling washing my hair with no lather.  That's basically how I can tell if I've covered my whole head, by how much lather I have.  Well, with this new method, and no lather, it was really hard to tell which areas I had "covered" and which areas of my scalp I hadn't.  Plus, I had a wild 11 month old pulling back the shower curtain and soaking himself in the face- I was in a bit of a rush.  I scrubbed my scalp until the baking soda mixture felt "slimy."  Slimy meaning it pretty much had a shampoo feel to it.  I didn't leave it on much longer than I would normal shampoo.  I then rinsed it out (I'm not sure I got it all out), and the sprayed on the vinegar mixture.  I didn't spray my roots, just from about the top of my ears down, making sure I coated my ends pretty well.  I left it on as I washed my body, and fought to keep Clark from tearing off the shower curtain.  After two or three minutes I rinsed it out.  My hair felt really weird not having that silky after conditioner feel to it, and I was really worried about tangles.  I combed it immediately after I rinsed it out, and it was much less tangled than it had been in the past week or so.  I didn't have any trouble combing it out.

 

When I dried my hair it dried much faster than normal.  It felt a little lighter than normal, and was a lot bigger/puffier and had more body.  I didn't notice any issues until I started flat ironing it, and when I did I knew immediately what I had done.  Right in the middle section of my hair (close to my ears and on the back of my head) I had a few areas that felt and looked a little greasy/dirty.  Those were the areas I knew I didn't hit with the baking soda mixture.  Next time I'll be prepared for the fast flowing mixture and know to saturate more of my scalp.  And, I will definitely wait to wash my hair next time either at nap time or when Andy's home to fight Clark.  Other than that slight issue my hair styled perfectly, and looks better than it has in awhile (at least I think so).  It seems to have more volume and not look so dead.  Here is an after picture- I know you can't tell much by it though.

Everything I've read says your hair does great the first few washes and then it goes into overdrive producing it's own oils (aka the transition period).  It says some peoples transition period lasts anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.  Ouch- I'm hoping for just a couple of days!  I've got too many places to be in the upcoming weeks for my hair to look super greasy.

Day Two
Here is a picture of my hair on day two (today).  I know these pictures are terrible, I'll try to start using my Nikon so you can see what's going on a lot better.  It hasn't even been 24 hours since I washed my hair, but so far so good!  I could definitely wear it down today, which is saying a lot since I usually have to pull it up for nastiness the day after I wash it.  My goal is to make it to Sunday before I have to wash it again.  Part of the process is "training" your hair to go longer between washes.  Everything I've read says that during the beginning of this the normal time between washes is 2-3 days.  By a month or so in you're supposed to be able to go 5-6 days between washes.  My sister just started this process as well, and her hair is completely different from mine.  My hair is coarse, thick, naturally curly, and very unhealthy.  Hers is straight as a board, silky, non-colored (so very healthy), and a quite a bit thinner than mine.  She's done the initial switch over and is a day ahead of me in the cycle.  I'm anxious to compare notes and see if we have the same issues in the transition period.  So far hers is doing great too.

I'll keep you updated during this process of going shampoo-less!  Everyone on the Pinterest (and the internet) calls this the "no poo" method, so if you search for that you'll find an endless amount of information!

Calling all Photography Buffs!

Hello to all my photography friends!  I've got two 35mm film cameras (Pentax ZX-M and ZX-60), four 35mm film lenses (50mm, 28-70mm, 70-210mm, and 28-90mm), and a flash that I'm trying to sell.  Unfortunately, they aren't compatible with my Nikon D5100, and momma wants a new lens!  They are all in wonderful working condition, and are all interchangeable with both cameras.  I'm asking $150 for the bundle, but I will sell the camera bodies and lenses separately if you're interested.  Pass the word along to your photography savvy friends!

11 Months of Joy

Clark is 11 months old today!  He's really growing, and becoming busier by the day!  I didn't think anyone could be busier than Cooper, but Clark is giving him a run for his money.  Describing him as busy would be an understatement- the child never stops unless he's asleep.  He won't even let us hold him in our laps anymore (unless he's just exhausted or sick).  Some of his favorite things to do these days are play on the little trampoline with Andy, play with his crawl-through house, push Cooper's Thomas toy, and tear up Cooper's train set.  As you can imagine, many of these things don't sit well with Cooper.  He also like watching Thomas the Train so he can dance (it's about the cutest thing ever!), and he likes exploring outside.  As far as new skillsets goes he's now dancing, waving and saying "bye-bye," saying "Da da," and "go-go-go!" and we think he's trying to say "cookie."  I think he's picking up on the things Cooper says quite often.  He's also showing a little more bravery when it comes to "trying" to walk.  He's been walking around our furniture for months now, but is just now starting to stand a tiny bit on his own.  Andy and I tried to coax him into walking last night, but he would just "dive" at us.  Oh well, I'm sure he'll be walking and running before we know it!

I'm not really sure of his current weight.  Last month, when he had an ear infection, he weighed right around 18 pounds, so I'd say at the most he's close to 20 pounds now.  His legs seem to get longer every day, as does his hair.  It's getting crazy!  A little trim is probably in his future!  He's comfortably wearing 12 month clothes, even though he still fits in all of 9 month stuff.  He's still eating a lot, too.  This month we've slowly transitioned from breastfeeding to whole milk bottles.  He was losing interest, and my milk supply was quickly dwindling.  For the last few weeks he was breastfeeding in the mornings, and taking three bottles throughout the day, with his night bottle having baby cereal in it.  Well, I decided that this morning would be our last breastfeeding session.  Due to his lagging interest, my extremely low milk supply, and teething, I decided it was time to stop.  I used to be able to tell he was getting milk when he nursed (he'd have it on his face when he would stop), but now I don't ever see milk, so I'm afraid there's just nothing left for him and that I'm leaving him hungry.  Trust me, it wasn't an easy decision, and I cried a lot about it.  As Andy told me though, 11 months was a good run.  I was able to nurse him a lot longer than I ever expected to, and his little life has been completely formula free.  That was my goal in the first place!

As far as sleeping goes, he's still an early riser!  He goes to bed between 8pm and 8:30pm, and is usually up between 6:45am and 7:15am.  I can't complain though, he's been doing great recently with sleeping all night.  He's still taking two naps a day.  His first nap is an hour or two after he wakes up, and then he takes his longer one after lunch.  He could still use a catnap around dinner time most days, but he refuses most of the time.  He's still sleeping with two pacifiers and his blanket.  He's recently discovered stuffed animals and pillows, and he absolutely loves them!  He really snuggles in when he finds them.  I'm sure he'd love to sleep with one, but I still feel like he's too small for that. 

Here are his latest pictures.  The first ones are from yesterday (in the headphone pajamas), and the last are from this morning.  He's getting very hard to take a picture of- he never stops moving!

Conversations with Cooper

I've had many posts on Cooper's speech progression, and now I've got a new one.  Like I've always said, he's definitely not at the speech pace of a "normal" (I hate saying normal because I feel Cooper is perfectly normal) 2.5 year old, but he's definitely making a ton of progress.  He literally never shuts up once he's awake- he's talking all the time, even though much of it we can't understand.  Anything he lacks in his speech, he makes up for with gestures (something we're trying to discourage some so he'll use words).  We can definitely understand everything he "says."  He's one of the most polite little boys I've ever seen.  Anytime I give him anything he says "thank you!"  He's also saying "bite bite" when he eats, "all done" when he's finished, and his new favorite things to say now are "Oh Toodles," "Cheers," and "Hotdog" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  When he wants to watch his DVD player in the car he always says "See!"  Now when we ask him if he's tired he fake yawns, and then promptly tells us "No!"  Another one of his other favorite phrases is "I don't know!" which I couldn't get him to say for the life of me in these videos (he finally says it very lazily in the last one).  Anyone with children knows how hard it is to get them to do (or say) something when you want them to.  What I captured in these videos isn't all that he can say- he definitely has a lot more words and phrases in his vocabulary- it's just what I could get him to cooperate with at the time.  I keep a journal of his vocabulary/new words, and from everything I can remember (which I'm sure I've forgot some) he's got a verbal vocabulary of right under 100 words.  Like I said, no quite at the pace of your "typical" 2.5 year old, but we've been thrilled with his progress.  His comprehensive vocabulary is through the roof (another reason I'm not too worried about his speech delay- he understands everything we say).  Excuse my country/hick voice in these videos, I hate hearing myself!   Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Hair Update

Yes... I'm still growing my hair out.  This is a record for me (besides when I grew it out for our wedding), and I feel like I've hit wall... a growth wall.  Like I've said before, I know it's still growing because I keep having to cover up my gray, but it just doesn't seem to be getting longer.  Here are a couple of pictures to help compare my hair growth- the first was taken right after I chopped it all off this past September.  Yes, that piece almost level with my mouth was the absolute longest piece... it was extremely short (that's what has scared me into not cutting it anymore).  The bottom picture was taken this past weekend (it goes down below the tops of my shoulders in the back).  It's definitely grown, and I guess at a pretty quick rate for how unhealthy it is.

 

I still feel like it's at an awkward length though.  I can't really do any cute "summer" styles because they require longer hair, and it's too long to look like a cute short cut.  Plus, a lot of summer looks I love involve some intricate braiding, which I can't do- it took me two years to learn how to French braid my bangs for crying out loud.  I've been doing lots of wavy dos, lots of ponytails, and lots of pulled back/braided bangs.  I'm also having major issues with tangles- something I've never had a problem with in my entire life.  I just had it thinned out and trimmed up, but that hasn't seemed to help much.  I can't run a comb or brush through it after I shower without bringing tears to my eyes.  I don't know what to do to help with that.

 

Here are some more inspiration photos I've found to keep me motivated.  I feel like there is no end in sight!

Walmart Dresses

When I started these clothing posts I shared my love for Walmart clothing.  Ever since I had the boys, I buy the vast majority of my clothes at Walmart.  They are extremely affordable, cute, and easy to run out and get with two wild men attached to your hip.  They also run pretty true to size, so if I order online, or don't have time to go in a dressing room with both boys, I can pretty much guarantee whatever I buy will fit.  One of the cutest articles of clothing they carry are their summer dresses.  For the past two summers I've bought all my maxi and sundresses from there.  And, I've not paid over $18 for any of them... most of them are under $10!  I wear a ton of dresses during the warm months.  I wear them to church, on dates, or just out and about with the boys.  I hate shorts, so dresses are shorts for me!  Now, some of you may think these aren't cute at all, but I absolutely love them!  My sister says she never finds anything cute at Walmart, but she doesn't look.  You have to look and do some rummaging.  I find most of my clothes on the round racks, completely out of place, or on clearance racks.  I'm sure I'll wind up with a few more dresses in my closest by the time summer is over... and I don't feel guilty about it since they're so cheap!  Sorry for the low quality pictures, they were taken with my phone.  Since I've moved into the world of SLR cameras, phone quality pictures drive me insane.



 This is a full length maxi dress that is a little dressier.  You can't tell much, but the skirt has some really cute detailing on it.

 This is a high-low color block maxi that I found last week.  I wasn't sure if I would like the high-low style, but it's so comfortable I couldn't pass it up!

 This is probably my favorite Walmart dress I've ever found!  This picture doesn't do it, or me, much justice, but it's really cute, and can be dressy or casual with the right shoes.  The details of the neckline are down below.

 I love this maxi dress because it has sleeves.  It makes it feel more casual, and it's so comfortable!

 I'm the queen of buying something I really like in several different colors, and there was no exception last summer with this dress.  I wear these dresses all the time when I'm out and about with the boys.

 This is an animal print dress that I bought last summer when I was pregnant with Clark.  It was great for when I was huge and about to pop, but now it doesn't have much shape, so I pair it with a belt.

 I bought this dress when I was pregnant with Cooper, and have worn it a ton since. 

I found this little beauty last week for $7... yes, $7.  It's so much prettier in real life!  It's full of bright pinks, robin's egg blue, and gray watercolor designs.  It's dressy, and I think it may be perfect for a wedding we're attending later this summer.

*On a side note- this is my 400th blog post!  My blog birthday is at the end of this week, so I find it a bit crazy that I've had 400 posts in two years!

An Outdoor Movie Experience

One of the things I was looking most forward to on our Summer Bucket List was attending an outdoor movie.  I came across an event put on by the Chattanooga Parks and Recreation and a local church that looked like it would be great.  It was free, in a safe location, and very kid friendly. 

I planned it as an event for our young adult's Sunday school class at church, but only my sister's family and us showed up, so it turned into a family event.  We had a lot of fun, and the boys were better behaved than I ever imagined they would be.  The event started at 8pm, but the movie didn't start until a little after 9pm.  They had inflatables, and the park where it was held had a playground, so the boys were happy until show time.  Clark was a wild man who wouldn't stay on our blanket, but Cooper loved playing on our little spot.

The movie they showed was Madagascar 3, and Cooper loved it because of all the animals.  He watched it for about 30 minutes, and then became more worried about the moon.  He kept trying to run off at that point, so we packed up and called it a night.  All in all we had a great time, and will probably do this again this summer!