Welcome to Life Outside the Womb, Karis Grace!!

We are so, so thrilled to announce the birth of our second born child, Karis Grace!  She was born on Saturday, May 18th at 8:38 pm.  She weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces.  The Lord was beyond faithful in so many of the details of her birth, to the point that we couldn't have written out a more ideal birth plan if we had tried.  (I will save those details for another post for now though.)

Karis has been a sleepyhead newborn for the past few days, but today she was more alert with open eyes.  Enoch has adjusted well to having a baby sister in the house with him, and he's quite interested in his "bah-bah".  Hugh's been doing a rockstar job taking care of him and the house, and yesterday my mom arrived to add in some extra help as well.  Recovery from this birth has been very quick and easy for me, for which we are also quite thankful!


For all of our family & friends who aren't here to see our sweet girl in person, here are a few pictures of her:

 

And a video of her wiggling around during one of her alert times yesterday:

For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

    my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

(Psalm 139:13-16)

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My Handsome Little Wedding Date

We had some friends get married a few weekends ago near Jackson, MS.  Since it's such a long drive, Hugh decided to stay home and get caught up on some work/projects.  Enoch and I went ahead and drove down though because we wanted to support this sweet couple (and let's just face it, there's not much a 37 week pregnant lady with her 1.5 year old son can accomplish at home in an afternoon besides napping, haha!).

It was a good wedding, we got to see a few old friends, and to top it off, I sat by an OBGYN doctor at the reception (in case anyone was worried about a 37 week pregnant lady being 3 hours away from home and without her hubby).  :)  My favorite part though was enjoying my handsome little wedding date.  He got a few new duds (his shirt and shoes) to wear, and he looked SO sharp (says the biased mama)!  He was also such a sweet big boy, and we had a great time together, just the two of us.  It definitely made me look forward to more mama + Enoch dates in the future, and it made my heart burst with gratefulness to the Lord for such a sweet little boy to spend time with!   :)

Here are some pictures:

such an independent man!

checking out the speed bump

attempting to walk over the speed bump

looking so grown up & handsome!

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Tips for: Homemade Laundry Detergent

We've been making our own laundry detergent for almost 2 years now, and I love it!  It saves us money, cleans our clothes well, and is one less thing for me to be continually buying at the supermarket!  In the past 2 years, I've only had to make 3 batches of detergent (I just made the 3rd, so it seems to last for quite a long time, though that may be changing as I add another baby to the mix soon!).

The first batch of detergent I made was a liquid, and I followed the Duggars' recipe.  It worked well, but I didn't like having to store 10 gallons of liquid detergent.  So the past 2 batches I've made have been a powder detergent.  It's much easier to store and even a bit easier to measure, if you ask me.  The recipe for powder detergent that I've settled on (for the most part) is from the How Does She? blog.  Below is my slightly revised recipe (because I'm soo bad at following recipes fully!).

See the note if you plan to use the detergent on baby clothes and/or cloth diapers.  I've had good success with the revised recipe on both of those delicate items, but Enoch doesn't have super sensitive skin, so I'm not sure if it'd work well for babies who do or not.  And I'll admit that it's probably not as good for cloth diapers as Charlie's soap or Rockin' Green soap, but it has worked well for us and gets out the stink (I wash once on cold, regular and then again on hot, super wash for each diaper load.)

finished product

Ingredients:

• 1 (4 lb 12 oz) box Borax (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 1 (3 lb 7 oz) box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 1 (3 lb) container OxiClean (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 3 (15 oz total) bars Fels Naptha (Found in the detergent aisle)  
• 1 (4 lb) box Baking Soda (Found in the cooking aisle or detergent aisle)
• 1 (55 oz) bottle of Purex Crystals Fabric Softener (Found in the detergent aisle)
• 5 gallon bucket with lid (empty & clean; can use aluminum foil for lid)
• Large paint stirring stick or spatula (for stirring)

Directions:

• Grate up the Fels Naptha soap bars until it's in little pieces, like couscous.  (I use my food processor and shred it like cheese, then process it with the chopping accessory.)
• Layer all ingredients into 5 gallon bucket (doing thirds worked well for me).***
• Stir between each layer and then again when you have it all in the bucket.
• Store in a cool, dry place.  
• Use 1-3 Tbsp per load of laundry.  (I typically use 2-3 T, which happens to correspond well to the fabric softener's measuring cap.)

baby/diaper detergent set aside
-I store it in my empty OxiClean containers-

Notes:

***If you plan to use this soap for babies or cloth diapers, leave out the fabric softener until all of the other ingredients are combined.  Then remove about 1/2 of the detergent into a separate container to set aside as your baby/diaper detergent.  After that, you can pretty easily add in as much of the fabric softener as you'd like to into your 5 gallon bucket.  I usually use 1/2 bottle of fabric softener for the remaining 1/2 of the recipe that needs it.

If you've never tried to make your own laundry detergent, I'd recommend giving it a go!  It only takes about 20 minutes from beginning to end, and this recipe lasts such a long time!   {And did I mention that it'll stretch your laundry dollars?!?!}

Happy Washing!

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FFF: Enoch's New Ride

We went to visit some friends last weekend who have 3 little boys (the youngest is almost 4, so they're not so incredibly little but they also don't seem 'big' either...).  After dinner we all played outside for a while, and the grandmother dug this car out of the garage for Enoch to play in.  He thought it was pretty great getting pushed around in it, and the littlest boy told his mama that he wanted Enoch to take it home since he was too big for it now.  {Sweet, huh??}

So we loaded it into the minivan, and Enoch has either rode in it or pushed it around everyday this week.  :)   It works great on our front driveway, and Hugh enjoys pushing it around the yard (he has cleared out a really good path around our yard's perimeter and has been keeping it mowed really well too!).  So it's kind of a win-win for both my boys (and for me too since I just love hand-me-downs)!   :)

He can even pop the hood while in the car!!  ;)

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4 Years of Marriage to My Love

This past week Hugh and I celebrated four years of marriage!  {I feel like it was just yesterday when I wrote this post about our 3rd Anniversary!}  We had a date night out, reminisced over the past, and dreamed a little about the future.  It was sweet and we were thankful for the time together.

Here are a few things we're looking forward to in the year to come:

• welcoming Karis Grace into the world
• visiting much of our family (or having them visit us, I should say, as many of them will be coming to MS to meet Karis and play with Enoch)
• joining a church in Starkville
• integrating an international student into our home 
• finishing up a few remodeling projects around our house

Happy Anniversary, Hugh!!  I'm so thankful that the Lord made us for one another and brought us together as one in marriage.  You've been such a faithful husband, and I look forward to what the year ahead holds with you as my loving leader.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  (Ephesians 5:31)

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Enoch & Babies

Enoch is in the cutest phase right now with babies - he just loves them!!  Anytime he sees a carseat he points and wants to see {and touch} the baby inside.  When we go down the diaper aisle at Wal Mart, he wants to show me every single baby on every box of diapers.  ;)  And if I show him a picture of a baby (we have lots of friends having them right now!) he is mesmerized by the little tikes.

Last week a friend brought us some diapers for Karis, and they sat in the dining room for a few days before Enoch noticed them.  When he did finally see them though, he brought the package over to me pointing and grunting at the baby's picture.  I got a quick video of him giving some kisses and hugs to the baby.



Obviously we still have some work to do on being gentle for when Karis arrives, but I just had to post this because I think it is just too sweet!

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FFF: Daddy Tipping (video fixed)

Enoch just learned how to "daddy tip" (similar to cow tipping), and he l.o.v.e.s. it!!  He usually thinks it's just so much fun to pull such a big daddy to the ground.  :)  Here's a quick video of his new skill:


Thankfully, he hasn't tried mommy tipping yet because I don't think it'd be quite as easy for me to get back up off the floor!  ;)

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My Walking Buddy

As most of you probably know, walking is one of the best cardio exercises for pregnant women (aside from water exercises) because it keeps you in shape with low impact movements, encourages the baby to move down, and builds your stamina.  In fact, it's also great practice for childbirth since walking during labor can actually shorten your labor time, and who doesn't want that!??!!  I've also found that walking, especially during my third trimester, brings on lots of Braxton Hicks contractions - even painful ones - which has helped me begin thinking through {and practicing} how I will cope with actual labor.  Although one never knows how labor will go or how coping will be until labor sets in, I do think that walking may be involved in my upcoming labor - maybe even walking with the jogging stroller (the handle on it is the perfect height!)!

pointing

Anyway, as you may recall, I have been trying to get in 4-5 good walks per week during the past few months, and having a good walking buddy has really helped me meet that goal most weeks!  I'm so thankful that Enoch enjoys hopping in the stroller and going for rides!!!  I usually give him a toy or two to hold while I walk, but once we start going, he's too busy looking and pointing to play with the toy.  In the past few weeks, his pointing has increased so that now he points to {and grunts at} almost every one of the following that he sees:

• garage doors (these are his favorite, and he doesn't miss many!)
• flags (we usually pass 4-6 per walk and he points to just about each one, especially on windy days when they blow)
• animals (from dogs and cats to squirrels and birds, he points to most animals that catch his eye - and he loves for me to tell him what each animal does or says)
• mailboxes (he points to these only sometimes)
• basketball goals (there are only a few on our route, but he doesn't usually miss them)

What I find most comical about all of Little Man's pointing is that if I guess wrong (maybe I guess "mailbox" but really he's pointing to the garage door behind the mailbox), he continues pointing & grunting until I say the correct word.  :-D  

deep in thought about OUR garage door!

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FFF: Hair

I just wanted to share a few cute pictures of Enoch's hair from the past few weeks.  {We haven't had to cut it yet (he's 17-18 mos in the photos below), probably because only the top part seems to grow, and his hair is so thin and fine all over.}

~The Baby Curl~

- -The Mohawk- -

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Karis' Baby Shower

A few of the ladies from Hugh's office threw us a baby shower last week to celebrate baby Karis.  They invited all of the women from the department as well as the wives of the men who work with them.  It was a beautiful shower, and the ladies were all so encouraging and sweet.  Many of them even wrote out a short paragraph with tips on bringing home baby #2.  :)  

Here are some photos (taken by one of the hostesses) of the shower:

tasty treats

cute decor

getting ready to open presents

the two hostesses 

(one hosted in her home, decorated, and provided snacks; the other sent out invites, organized games, and led the flow of the evening)

Hugh and I were so thankful for these ladies' thoughtfulness and generosity!!

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