We are having a...

GIRL!

I had my 20 week scan on Monday and we got to see our baby and found out it's a healthy baby girl! She was so active and oh so cute! I can't wait to meet our little angel and hold her in my arms. I'm over the half way mark so not long now :)

Soap Nuts!

I was giving up on cloth nappies altogether before I discovered this wonderful, natural product. 

No matter what I did my nappies would always end up smelling and were becoming less absorbent. I tried using less and less detergent, sun dry morning through to afternoon and hot water strip my nappies, but they still always smelled. 

You can't use bleach on MCN's (modern cloth nappies), like you could with the old terry towel squares. I was initially using rockin green detergent, but it isn't cheap and you have to get it shipped out as it's only sold in specialised stores. It worked well and was also all natural which I liked, but I just couldn't keep paying for it any more. I recently found soap nuts which is another natural alternative to detergent, and boy oh boy do they do a great job! My nappies don't smell at all and come out beautifully clean. I won't be using anything else on my nappies now.

There are also many other uses for soap nuts around the house -

• laundry liquid
  
• hand soap
• shampoo (replaces shampoo and conditioner together, try a spray bottle!)
• pet shampoo (leaves hair soft and silky, will also repel fleas, mites, ticks, mosquitoes etc)
• general purpose cleaner for the kitchen and bathroom
• carpet cleaner (spray or sponge onto stain and blot clean)
• dishwasher soap (liquid in dispenser section with optional 1tbs vinegar as a rinse aid)
• pest spray (use spray bottle to spray bugs on plants)
• glass cleaner (1tbs soapnut liquid, 1 tbs vinegar and 1 cup water)

Here is a link with some faq's about the nuts if you are interested - http://www.wildsoapnuts.com.au/FAQ.html

Sucker for punishment

Yep, that's me. There is no other way to describe it. I would have to be to go out and buy a puppy when I am in the midst of toddler wrangling and baby growing. 

Meet Abbey! Isn't she a cutie?

We added this new addition to the family 4 weeks ago this Saturday, and she is an absolute delight! We have been wanting a dog for a while now, but have taken a long time in researching and deciding which breed of dog would fit into our growing family perfectly. I have always had dogs as pets growing up and have always wanted one for my own family. 

We decided on a Cavoodle (poodle x cavalier), as they are great with kids, loving, loyal, gentle natured and very easy to train. Abbey is such a cute, loving dog and is quickly becoming Mikayla's best friend. These two are inseparable, and you can always find them getting up to mischief together, leaving one very tired Mummy at the end of each day. I love seeing them together and can only imagine how their bond will grow as they both grow up together. Abbey has really helped Mikayla come out of her shell and has given her a lot more confidence with so many things. Plus it will be great for Mikayla to have a little friend to occupy her when this new bubby comes along.

Here are a few pics of the terrible two together -

Just thought I would mention...

that Alex and I are expecting baby number 2 in early November!

We are so thrilled to be expecting again and can't wait for our newest little family member to join us. Mikayla and bubby will be a month shy of being 2 years apart and I think that is a perfect gap. I can already tell Mikayla will be the best big sister in the world and can't wait to see her with her little Brother or Sister. She is so sweet and already pulls up my top and kisses my belly constantly. 

I am 19 weeks and 3 days pregnant at the moment and we find out the sex on Monday. I am so excited to find out what we are having. I think I am more anxious about it this time then last. I would love a little sister for Mikayla, as I had nothing but brothers growing up (four to be exact), and I always wanted a sister of my own to hang out with. I would love to see that with my own children. Though a boy would be wonderful as well, I think it would be so cute to see a mini Alex running around.

My baby bump, 19 weeks and 3 days

Making toilet training a little easier

It is really starting to get cold here at the moment, and all these extra clothes we are putting on our children is making it a little harder for toilet training. I have had Mikayla using the potty from the time she could sit. Just mainly getting use to it and helping her figure out how her body works and the signs that tell her she needs to go toilet. 

I have to admit though I have been pretty slack at keeping up a routine and being stringent with it, but now Mikayla is 18 months, I figure it's time to knuckle down and get on it before she reaches the terrible two's and it becomes a lot harder. Though I do think this little girl of mine is heading into that wonderful stage I have heard so much about already. Someday's I swear I just talk to myself. I am discovering very quickly that I have one very strong willed daughter, eeep!

I have been getting rather frustrated with the multiple layers of clothing I have been having to take off just to see if my daughter may or may not actually use the toilet, only to put them all back on again, and 10 minutes later I spy her making some gesture or another that makes me think may be her new queue to let me know she needs to go. It's usually not, but sometimes I get lucky. Ahhh the joys of it all.

I have been looking/drooling at the really cute baby leg warmers on Etsy and thinking about how much easier they would make this whole process, as well as look super cute on my girl! The idea is that she can still just run around in her knickers and keep her legs warm without her going through multiple sets of clothes a day if she has an accident or two... or three (I swear this girls bladder is the size of a pea).

I wondered if they would be that hard to make myself and went searching the net to try and find an easy to follow pattern. After 10 seconds of searching I was lucky enough to find a great Blog (I now follow) written by a wonderful women who has shared a really easy to follow pattern using knee high socks. You can find it here, the whole blog is definitely worth a look though.

After finding this pattern at about 4pm on a Saturday afternoon, I was super excited and decided I needed to dash out to the shops to get these socks right away. I had the good intentions of getting back and making the leg warmers that night. I was keen to make this toilet training business easier on me and Mikayla. With the shops all starting to close around me, and babe in arms, I quickly found four  pretty cool pairs at Target (Target also being the fourth shop I had to check to find any, grrr!).

It's now Monday afternoon and I have now finally started and finished the four pairs of baby leg warmers. Mikayla has been wearing a pair for the last hour and they have already been a huge success! I love them!

Here are three of the four pairs I made.

And here is my gorgeous girl rocking the other pair.

Give them a go! :)