Beg, Borrow, and "Steel" Peace

Babies are expensive. 

Having babies is expensive. 

Those sweet, squishy, delicious babies have a heavy price tag around their little, yummy toes. 

So, as budgeting people, how do we afford our delicious bundles of joy? 

They usually don't cost anything to make. (wink wink)

But after conception, it's gets PRICEY. 

We add to our "eating out" budget when I get pregnant because I am worthless the first trimester and can't make toast without puking. 

You think I'm kidding. 

But I'm not. 

Worth. Less.

And then there's prenatal care. 

And vitamins. 

And maternity clothes. 

And baby prep.

And... And.... And....the baby's not even here yet!!! 

How on earth do budget conscious people have babies? Let alone more than one?? 

Here's how:

BEG, BORROW, and STEEL 

Let's start with Beg. 

Have a birthday coming up? Ask for onesies. 

Christmas while pregnant? Ask for diapers. (Don't be ashamed, people often enjoy buying you something you actually will use. Maybe it's a bit tacky, but so are ugly sweaters.)

 No special holidays while pregnant? Get on your knees and ask people for baby things.

I'm just kidding. 

(Or AM I?)

Now onto Borrow:

Having babies is a very common thing. It's a beautiful, miraculous, wonderful thing, but lots of people have babies. And those babies usually grow up and grow out of things. One thing about baby stuff is you can keep it for subsequent children but in between it just sits in storage. OR! It could be used! 

Most of the things I have for my children have also seen numerous other children. I am so grateful for the people in my life willing to lend us their kids clothes. 

Borrowing expensive luxury items like swings, bouncers, cribs, cradles, strollers, and the famous Bumbo seats can really save a great deal of money. It's nice to have a pretty, cohesive nursery but the baby truly just needs a few essential things. Focusing on such essential things can keep your money in your pocket and not in Babies R Us's pocket. They have deeeeeeeeep pockets. 

Which brings me to Steel: 

Steel??

 (Not S-T-E-A-L. I would never suggest you steal from others😄)

Steel. 

Steel will. 

Steel impulses.

 The ridiculously strong ability to NOT buy the $16 layette at the baby stores. 

Babies R Us is a bright shiny store with bright shiny things for our bright shining baby stars. 

Keep your wits about you, ladies, this place will suck you in and steal (that's STEAL not steel!) your money. 

A tough, strong-as-steel will can push you to resort to yard sales, thrift stores, and other moms' storage units and save a lot of money in the process. 

I try to remember these things when we get pregnant to keep us from spending our savings on, cute, non essential baby items. 

I find it helpful to consider the baby an addition to the already formed family and not the center of the family's world. This helps me to remember the needs of the family as a whole and what would benefit us emotionally, financially, and physically. That limits the importance I place on baby items and gives more weight to the amount of money I actually DO spend. 

So, moms, moms to be, ladies, dads, etc... I encourage you all to look through the heavy consumerism that surrounds the world of babies and focus on the essentials of your family. The whole family. Save money where you can. Put to use the many, MANY used baby items already out there. 

Wishing everyone out there Baby Spending Peace and...HAIR PEACE!! 

Garden Peace

With spring finally blossoming, I've managed to get excited about flowers and vegetables. 

Whoopty-do, right?

Wrong. 

I think every summer, "I'm not going to do a garden next year."

And then winter rolls around and all I wanna do is dig in the dirt in the springtime. 

I keep surprising myself with the motivation to do a garden come springtime. 

This year, I'm pregnant. 

Eek. 

It should be no big deal, but I manage to spend my first (and second) trimesters hugging the porcelain throne and then returning to my indent on the couch. It's a tough time for everyone in the family...especially my husband. The kitchen itself is a serious trigger as well as dirty diapers. That leaves my husband to pull a lot of extra weight around around house. 

Sooo...when I hit week 5 1/2 and the sickness started full force, I dismissed the idea of a garden completely. (As well as showering, standing, moving, breathing...)

Now, here we are at 13 weeks and I'm digging dirt out of my fingernails! 

With the beautiful sunshine and napping kiddos, I managed to plant lettuces, carrots, and radishes. 

A small garden but an enormous amount of gratefulness that I am feeling well enough to move let alone plant. 

Even planting a little lettuce in a planter on a sunny porch can make a little salad! 

You don't need to be a garden master to plant a few vegetables. 

I encourage everyone out there to plant something wonderful this week: vegetables, flowers, or even just a little peace in someone else's heart. 

Wishing everyone out there garden peace and....HAIR PEACE!! 

Soap Peace

Everytime I go to store to buy soap, I'm appalled at either the price or the ingredients. 

My skin hates me if I buy the wrong kind of soap. 

I make my own body wash from Dr Bronner's unscented bar soap, water, and glycerin, but sometimes I like a little scent. There are a lot of smells that go along with having small children in an old house...

That's actually a huge understatement. 

Small children. 

Old house. 

Hard working husband. 

Dog. 

So. Many. Smells. 

I like a little scent sometimes but buying commercial always frustrates me. So I like to buy local, handmade soap that have natural essential oils. 

There is a soap shop about 15 minutes from us that is DIVINE! Divine, but pricey. And rightly so. A good quality soap, with good quality ingredients takes effort, time, and money. 

How do I know this??

Well, my adventure buddy extraordinaire, Cecelia, and I embarked on, yet again, another crazy adventure in self sufficiency. 

I deeply cherish our friendship for many reasons. One reason is that she agrees to do crazy things and asks me to do crazy things. I most always say yes because I end up loving the craziness. 

So when Cecelia asked me if I want to make soap with lard we saved from the pigs we raised and slaughtered...(yes, THOSE kind of crazy things) of course, I said, "Yes".

Cecelia had been saving her wood ash from the very cold winter days with the bright hope of making amazing homemade lye. But after a serious effort producing little reward, we broke down and bought lye from the store to begin making our own soap. The wood ash idea hasn't died, just been temporarily postponed. 

Two pregnant women (yup both pregnant) with 5 kids (7 total if you count the belly babies) making soap for the first time...ever. 

That's just the way we do things. 

So we began. 

Homemade lard from the pigs we slaughtered ourselves, coconut oil, essential oils, water, lye, soap molds (one of which is a PVC pipe), gloves, stainless steel pots, and cinnamon tea for courage. 

After researching, Cecelia discovered the need to be very cautious with lye. It can be really harmful to skin, eyes, etc. It was a healthy fear that produced such pictures as this:

(Behind her is their beautiful orchard!)

And this:

Making the lye proved to be less eventful than we had originally anticipated, but the precautions were still necessary. And...we got in a hearty laugh or two. Or seven. 

So our first batch was the test. The test to see how we handled everything. The test to see if we could do it. Just...the test. We had low expectations. 

We made the lye, melted the lard and coconut oil, and began the cooking mixing process. 

And then...

Whoosh!! OUR SOAP STARTED BUBBLING OVER EVERYWHERE!!! 

Laughing and freaking out we moved the soap from the grill to the grass and tried to stir it down. 

It finally calmed down and our bewilderment lead to giggles and a drive to make the best of what we thought was a horrible situation. 

We kept going with the process, added essential oils, and made this:

Now THAT is a beautiful soap. It's eucalyptus and tea tree soap with Violet petals for eye appeal. 

We are very proud of the soap because we pushed on through a confusing and, what seemed to be, a bad situation.

We fed the kids and ourselves, put the little ones down for naps and made more soap. 

These are the little ones:

So cute :)

We made patouili and cedar wood soap and a rosemary salt soap, each double batches. And we did each batch a little more smoothly than the last. 

The soaps have a curing time of a few weeks so we can't use them right away, which is torture!!! They smell so good!!! 

I always enjoy trying new things, especially with good friends! 

I encourage you all to embark on your own crazy adventures and explore everything this life has to offer. 

Make things with friends! Hard work is often the most rewarding. 

Wishing everyone out there soap peace and...HAIR PEACE!!