Homemade Wipes

Ok so last post I mentioned that I had been doing some things to save money. One of the things I tried was homemade wipes, and I love them.

I have tried several different solutions and have looked at several different blogs, but when it came down to it I had to do my own recipe.

I end up saving about $10 or so a month and they work just as great as regular wipes. So here is the recipe

First you need a big container to put them in. I found mine at Big Lots. They were $2.40 for 2 containers!



This container is about 8 inches tall. It is the perfect size for your homemade wipes.

Next you need
1 roll of huge select a size bounty paper towels
2 cups hot water
2 Tablespoons of baby oil
2 Tablespoons of baby wash
1 Tablespoon of rubbing alcohol




I bought a huge pack of the bounty paper towels for $12.00 at Target. They need to be the select-a-size kind. They will probably last me for at least 6 months.

First you cut the paper towels in half, so that you have two mini rolls. Put them in the container cut side down.

Next, mix the hot water, baby wash, alcohol, and baby oil. I use the alcohol so that the wipes won't mold.

Take your water mixture and pour it over the paper towels. Start at the center where the cardboard roll is and work your way outward. Let the wipes set for a few minutes and pull out the cardboard center.





Start pulling your wipes from the center and use them on your baby's bottom!
I have been using them for a little while now, and neither of my children have had rashes or any problems. They also smell great!

If you like your wipes a little wetter, just pour some more water on them, if you like them not so wet, then you can squeeze them out!

Add them into your wipe warmer or into your travel case and you are ready to go!

I also make my own disinfectant wipes...recipe for that tomorrow!

To Cloth Diaper or To Not Cloth Diaper

I love saving money. Since my husband is in school, we try to make our money stretch as far as possible. We spend about $50 in diapers a month, so I thought that cloth diapering would be a great way to save money. I have two kids in diapers, and know that more kids are in our future. Just think of the savings.

My friend had some cloth diapers that she wasn't using, so she let me borrow them. I was really excited about trying them out, and they look so cute.





The little boy also looks adorable! My favorite little boy!



She brought them by on a Friday, and I started using them on Sunday. Now I don't what happened next. I don't know if I shouldn't have started on a day when we were going to be out and about a lot with church, or if my kids just had a ton of wet diapers that day. It wasn't pretty though. Sunday morning went pretty good. I just put Zoë in a cloth diaper to try it out. It was great. She wore it for about an hour and I changed her as soon as we got home.

After lunch it went downhill from there. During Zoë's afternoon nap she leaked out of her diaper all over the place. I figured I probably just put the diaper on wrong or put the insert in wrong. So I gave it another try.

We were getting ready for church that evening and I put a cloth diaper on both of my kids. Halfway during church Zoë starts getting really red in the face and starts grunting. Zoë is a pretty explosive pooper, so needless to say I wasn't too excited about dealing with a dirty cloth diaper at church.

I start getting the diaper bag ready to go change Zoë when I notice that Jonah has wet all over himself. His shorts are soaked. He had two inserts in his diaper and had it on for less than an hour and had still wet through. I gave Jonah to Hopson and I took Zoe (who has also leaked through all over her clothes at this point) and we changed our kids. When we changed them we put disposable diapers on them both. They haven't been back in cloth diapers either!

Thankfully I have found other ways to save money! I don't think cloth diapering is in the future for this family, unfortunately.

Chore Time!

As parents, Hopson and I know that we want our children to help around the house. Since Jonah is almost 2 and Zoë is only 3 months old, there isn't much that they can do.

About a year ago, I started teaching Jonah to pick up his toys. He learned that his legos go in the lego box and his cars go in a different box etc. We have really worked on teaching him to pick up after himself. He doesn't always do it right away or without whining, but it is a process.

I don't want Jonah to just pick up after himself though, I want him to help around the house. I know I can't expect him to wash the dishes or clean the bathroom...not yet anyways, but he could set the table.


These pictures are his attempt at setting the table. They may not pass at a four star restaurant, but it sure does make me happy.





As he gets older, we will work on being a little neater in his table setting abilities, but I think he does pretty good for now!

It is also good for me as a mom to get in the habit of giving Jonah age-appropriate chores.

What chores do your smaller children do around the house?

Life as a family of four...

A lot has happened since I have last been on here. I have had a baby, had a wisdom tooth pulled, celebrated my sixth anniversary in Chicago, and changed 1000 diapers!

Our precious little Zoe was born on leap day--exactly when Hopson hoping she would be born. It has been so different from when Jonah was born. I am amazed at how many differences I can already see between them even though she is still a tiny baby.

I am also amazed at the love I have for both of my children. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to love them both, but I do. It is incredible the amount of love I have for my two kiddos.

Over the past few weeks I have learned a lot about myself and about God. I have realized to be a godly mom I must die to myself every day. I have take care of my kids when they have needs...not when I feel like it. To take care of them means to give up what I want to do or my own comfort 99% of the time. It would be easy to think that I am done working once Hopson comes home from work, but that isn't true. When he comes home it means I have to work even harder and give up more. I have another person to spend time with and work alongside. This may sound horrible, but it isn't. I have so much joy doing these things the way the Lord wants me to do them. He has taught me so much about being His daughter, being a wife, being a mom, and taking care of a house. I can honestly say that I am content with the path He has chosen for my life.

Zoe's Room

 I am finally putting up pictures of Zoe's room. She is sharing a room with Jonah, so she has two walls and he has two walls.Thanks to my mom and mother-in-law, I was able to do Zoe's room for under $50.

 The whole theme for Zoe's room is elephants. Hopson got me this elephant when we were dating. I made it a tutu and a bow for it's ear. It was the perfect way to start her room!

 I saw this yarn tree online so I asked Hopson if he would be willing to help me recreate it for Zoe's room. He was pretty skeptical, but he did a great job outlining the tree and sticking in all the push-pins.

Once we did the tree I asked him if he would be willing to do an elephant. I wanted the decorations to match. I had been looking online for a vinyl elephant and tree but the cost for those two things would have been almost $200. That is not really on budget for a seminary student...

So....400 push-pins and a few hours later the projects was done. Oh by the way, when we leave our apartment we have to patch all the holes or else pay 50 cents a hole...it is worth it though!

 Next, I made curtains for the window. My mom is very talented at sewing, and she has taught me a lot. I found sheets at Target for $4 and made them into curtains. I made tulle balls to hang from the curtains so they wouldn't look plain. The kangaroo piggy bank is something my mom made for me when I was little :)

My mother-in-law taught me a TON about crocheting. I was able to crochet the little birds that are on the tree and the elephant to match her room. Again, I saved a lot of money. My mom made her quilt and the crib skirt. I decided not to do bumper pads this time because I didn't use them much with Jonah once he started rolling around (didn't want him to suffocate). Maybe I am paranoid, but it has worked for us! 

My mother-in-law is making Zoe a beautiful afghan! As soon as I get it I will put pictures up of it too. She is sooo talented and she is doing a hard and tedious pattern at my request. It is definitely a work of love and I can't wait for Zoe to use it! Jonah still uses the one she made him as well!

Well that is all for now! Jonah is upset because I won't let him help me type, so we are going to go get some of this energy out and maybe do a craft. Maybe something for St. Paddy's Day :)

Diaper! Diaper!

Yesterday was a rough day in the Boutot house. Jonah pushed every button that he could. Within minutes of getting up he was pitching a fit. Not the best way to start the morning.

We went and visited Hopson for lunch. We had a good fun, but when we got home it was time for Jonah to take a nap. I changed his diaper and put him in his crib. I didn't put his jeans back on him because I thought he would be more comfortable without them. He played in his crib for an hour, singing songs, talking to himself, and counting. Then he finally fell asleep. I didn't mind him playing in his room because this 9 month pregnant mom needed a break!

It was about 5:00 and Jonah was still asleep, so I started dinner. As I was cooking I hear Jonah yelling for me from his crib. He was ready to get out. As I open the door to his room, he says diaper and hands me his diaper. Little did I know that during his play time, Jonah thought it would be fun to take off his diaper. It was horrible. I have dinner on the stove, a baby covered in pee, and sheets and blankets covered in pee. Thankfully there was no poop!

I am also thankful for a husband who only works 5 minutes away and is willing to come home and help clean these messes! Hopson thought the whole situation was really funny....which it is, but at the time it was very frustrating and overwhelming.

After a bath, load of laundry, and some Lysol, we are ready to go! Hopefully today will be a better day!

2 weeks!

So today I am officially 38 weeks! It is really exciting to be so close to holding my little girl! I can't believe how fast the first 8 months went by. BUT these last 6 weeks have DRAGGED by so slowly.

I am praying that she comes any day now. I can get induced once she is a week late, and that seems like soo far away!

Hopson and I have been talking a lot about all of the emotions that we are feeling about having our second child. We are excited, scared, nervous, happy, and terrified! I am pretty sure I felt the same way before I had Jonah. This time though these feelings are increased because I don't really know how I will be able to handle 2 children. I know God will give me strength and I also know that millions of other moms have done it.

Pray that she comes soon!!

It's been awhile...

It's been too long since I have written on here. I have been having some horrible pregnancy insomnia which has led to a lack of motivation when it comes to blogging.  We have gotten Zoë's room ready. We live in a two bedroom apartment, so she will be sharing a room with Jonah. So I have given Jonah two walls, and Zoë two walls.  I also have less than a month to go! The doctor won't induce me until I have gone a week past my due date, so I pray everyday that she comes early. I will keep you posted!  I will be posting pictures of her walls later this week, and some updated maternity photos :) 

Every Pregnant woman should have a...

Great husband like mine! I don't know how I would get through this pregnancy without Hopson. He truly is a gift from God.

Hopson has done so many dishes, changed a lot of diapers, picked up a bunch of toys, and taken care of a lot of meals. He does it out of love and with no complaining.

I have an app on my phone that is a forum filled with pregnant woman and so many of them complain about their husbands. I am not saying Hopson is perfect, but I do love him and appreciate everything he does for me :)

I am not trying to be mushy or anything, this is truly how I feel :)

Goals for 2012

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
~Hebrews 12:11

2011 was a hard year for my little family. We moved at the beginning of the year and didn't really have a schedule or plan for the year. This year my theme verse is Hebrews 12:11. I know that having goals and disciplining myself is hard, but that is when I will see real growth. If I have no goals, I won't fail at achieving them, but what will I have gained?

At the beginning of December, Hopson and I started talking about what different goals we wanted to incorporate into our lives this year. We began to think about the areas that needed growth and the areas that needed consistency. This is what I came up with...

~Read through the Bible
~Read through 3 "serious" books
~Read through 3 books as a couple
~Be more consistent with date nights
~Work on disciplining consistently
~Spend one-on-one time with both kids (after March)
~Continue to actively read to and teach Jonah
~Lose the baby weight plus some
~Exercise 4-5 days per week

There are a lot more goals that I could name and a lot more areas that need work. However, I needed to have a manageable list. I didn't want to be overwhelmed before I even started. I also want a way to measure my growth over the years. I want to be open to the Lord's leading in my life, and I know that I need to be a disciplined person to see growth.

What are your goals for 2012?

8 weeks to go!

Today marks the 32 week mark until I meet my little girl! It's crazy how fast it goes by the second time around!

For the past week we have been getting everything ready. Her room is ready minus a crib. Her clothes are all washed and put away. The baby swing is out and her toys are cleaned and put out of reach of her older brother. I have a list of the things I need to buy before she comes and another list of projects that I want to do.

Hopson and I are excited and nervous and scared. I am praying she comes early!