It's been a terribly long time since I have updated my blog. I promise, I'll be getting back into the swing of things shortly.
My beautiful daughter was born on October 2nd and she'll be two months old Tuesday!
Here are a few photos:
I've been such a horrible slacker lately about my blog. Part of it is because my camera is on loan and I have no way to take any photos. My updating skills need work.
Recently, I purchased a Cozy Comfort Pregnancy Pillow. I'm still testing it out, but for the most part, I like it. It does take some getting used to. I have a feeling most pregnancy pillows do. My tossing, turning, and sleeping with 5 pillows was not working well for me. I'm a back and stomach sleeper, but this pillow is helping me sleep on my side without my arm killing me or falling asleep. This is a big, poofy pillow, but it doesn't hog our entire queen size bed. I can lie on my side comfortably or lean against the pillow and be lying kind of on my back and side with great support all around me. I'm pretty happy with this purchase. This is one of the more affordable pillows. Some of them cost $70-120!!
Today I picked the first of my potato crop! We have more, but I am waiting on them to get bigger. Bad me because I forgot to take a photo of them before I cut them up to start cooking. Next time I dig some up, I'll be sure to include a photo.
There is a doe eating my field pea plants and I have to do something to stop her. I've heard of different methods, but need to find something tried and true that won't harm her. She can have some veggies AFTER they start producing!
I have learned of a new concept called Lasagna Gardening. Yes, dad, I know you can't actually grow lasagna. ;) It's more organic and less weedy than what I am doing now. I plan on looking into this a bit more and maybe start working on a spot for next year's garden. Weeding is such a bear on my hands and back, but it must be done. If I can avoid it, I will!
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My belly photo at 16 weeks. Still no weight gain. This morning I'm still at -5.5 pounds from when I started. I thought I had gained 2 pounds at one point, but it must have been my lunch or something. Everything is still going smoothly and I am eating like a horse!
She's a girl!! We're now very excited to know the sex and have been looking at names. My husband and I have a list that we are keeping. It's difficult to make a decision. The ultrasound above is from my amniocentesis that was performed on April 21 which came back normal. I think she has my nose. ;)
And now, my other baby. The spoiled kitty who wakes me up every morning just so she can hop in the bed and sleep herself. She's such a bed hog!!
Ok, I've been a busy little bee this weekend. First, the soap above is ready for sale. This is a salt spa bar called Beachy and that's exactly what it smells like: clean, salty ocean waves and sand between your toes! To me, this is the perfect scent for a salt spa bar.
Now, my best friend's son loves to come hang out while I make soap, but cold process is not for children because of the dangers associated with sodium hydroxide. He stays out of the kitchen when I'm working with it. So, I decided to give him another option for soapmaking. He made the above soap using a great melt and pour base. This is Champagne & Honey and smells so bubbly and good. I think he did a fabulous job! Don't you?
I made two batches of new salt bars along with a batch of my Spa Rocks salt bars as well. The above bar is Pomegranate and smells delicious! It has notes of dark pomegranate, juicy apple slices, and slights hints of vanilla and musk. A perfect summer soap!
This final soap is also a great summertime fragrance. I call it Sorbet. A stimulating blend of Citrus, including Grapefruit, Lemon and Lime, with hints of fresh Cucumber and Jasmine, and a touch of Pineapple, Blackberry and Champagne. Very fresh!
Sorbet and Pomegranate will be available for sale on May 10th!
Michael Pollan, the author of Omnivore's Dilemma, now has a new book out called In Defense of Food. I'm borrowing a copy from a pathologist I work with, but I believe I'll be purchasing a copy of each of these books for myself. I really enjoy how he takes a deeper look into the food industry in the United States and how it could be affecting our choices and (in the long run) our health. After reading Omnivore's Dilemma, I have worked to eat less refined food, but it can be difficult. Relearning how and what I eat is important to me and I believe his books will give me some more insight.
This past Saturday was the opening day for my best friend's son's baseball season. It was cold, rainy and muddy. See how happy I look below? I was wearing capris and sandals and we had to finally make a clothing trip to my friend's house for socks, jackets, and dry clothes for some.
The arrow is for those who wanted to see my pregnant belly. Unfortunately, no one got a full body shot of me (thank goodness!) so this is all you get for now. Take my word for it... At 15ish weeks, it's much bigger than I expected it to be! I don't feel bad though because my weight is stable and I have yet to gain anything. This just means the baby is growing, growing, growing!
The team didn't seem to mind the weather. The boy in the back cheesing it up is my best friend's son. He's a total ham and has played t-ball/baseball for about 5 years now. They had him pitching on this day. They didn't win the game, but no one cared. We had muddy, wet children running all over the place!
You see the end result below. Pure exhaustion and probably a restful evening for my friend. ;)
Here is a new online payment system similar to Paypal called Revolution Money Exchange. They have no fees for accepting payments. It looks very promising. This basically appears to be a bank account of sorts and the bank is First Bank and Trust in Brookings, South Dakota. It's FDIC insured as well. Since you are opening an account with them, they do request your Social Security number.
There is a forum post on Etsy showing all of the sellers who now accept RME.
From their website:
Collect online payments for free when your customers use MoneyExchange.
I've been slacking the past few weeks on the soapmaking (and blogging) front so I wanted to give you all a bit of soap porn. This is a soap I recently purchased from a fellow Soaper Stars Team member, ajscountrycottage. She also has a website at www.ajscountrycottage.com. This is her Garden Mosaic Soap which is fragranced with a lovely blend of ylang ylang, patchouli, sweet orange, basil, clary sage, and black pepper essential oils. I just stepped out of the shower after using this bar and it is heavenly and sensuous. All in all, a beautiful soap!
This gal also makes some awesome candles and lip balms!
We had a very important ultrasound today! Since I am of "advanced" years and have had problems with a previous pregnancy, I have been to see a perinatalist to make sure everything looks good at this point. And, it does! Baby is uncooperative, moving around like a little maniac at times, and growing like a weed! The baby has grown from 33 mm to 78 mm in about 2 weeks!
This looks like a view of the back, but it's difficult to tell. The sonographer just printed the photos for us. I think that is a little ear up at the top of the head on the top right.
I'm pretty sure this is a side view. There appears to be a little nose and what might be a foot, leg, or knee at the top left. Mostly, you see a big ole belly and head. ;)
I have been doing a bit of shopping and window shopping on Etsy lately. My most recent purchase was from a fellow Soaper Stars Street Team member cleanbright. She is having a 50% off moving sale which means you'll get a fabulous deal on some beautiful products!
I purchased her Georgia Natural Perfume Oil.
Just listen to the heavenly scents in the perfume oil:
"The main notes are Kewda Attar, Jasmine Grandiflorum, Ylang Ylang and Tree Moss. These are supported by Ambrette Seed, Lime and Benzoin, with just a hint of Black Pepper, Vetiver and Neroli."
Yes, I will be in heaven once this arrives!
I also added the Mommy-in-Waiting Massage Oil to my cart. Yes, I will be hitting up my dear hubby for a massage very soon.
I cannot wait to receive these items! The members of our street team have so much talent and knowledge and I just love their products.
My blurry 10 week ultrasound photo. The baby has gone from 14 mm to 33 mm in about 2.5 weeks. It was dancing like crazy so it made it difficult for my doctor to get a good shot. I'm glad to see it moving around! You can click the photo to see a larger one. The head is on the left and that may be a little arm at the bottom, but it's too difficult to tell.
To my family in other places: First, I love you all! Second, the test results for my blood sugar came out OK. I will have to be careful about eating certain foods, but things look good for now. I'll be tested again at 24 weeks.
I've added 3 more soaps to my Etsy Shop! I have a few more items coming, including a new salt bar, some lip balms, and other great goodies.
Spun Sugar - A very yummy blend of cotton candy, caramel and vanilla!! All gently combined with berries, bergamot, and hints of spices and citrus.
Patchouli Soap - Earthy and true, patchouli lovers out there will be delighted with this soap made with patchouli essential oil.
Absinthe Soap - Our March "Green" challenge from The Etsy Soap Dish. Star anise, grapefruit, and lemongrass essential oils combined to create this delightful scent!
For those who might not be able to tell, that little bitty peanut between the plus signs is our baby. I am now 8 weeks pregnant, due in October. We're very excited about this!
So far, I have had very little morning sickness, mostly nausea with no vomiting. I did have one bad day a few weeks ago, but that was pretty much it. I also feel a lot more tired than usual and have to get up constantly to pee. The nighttime bathroom trips are what tipped me off. As of last Monday, I have only gained 1.8 pounds and everything looks good so far.
Wow! I get home today and have been featured on a blog as well as being featured on Talent Database!
The blog that featured me is Aria Images.
This week has been really crazy and therefore my blog has not been updated. I'll be getting a break soon and will then take some photos of my newest soaps for you all to see.
This is just me playing around with making a small batch of soap. My oils are in the pot and I just need to get my goggles and gloves on so I can pour the lye solution with soy milk into the oils. Then I mix away.
Goggles are sexy, eh? They are definitely required though when making soap. You never want to splash raw soap in your eyes. It will burn like the dickens! Fortunately, I have not had any accidents yet. *knocks on wood*
And below, you'll find the end product:
I'm going to be making a TON of soap today! Rosemary Mint, White Musk, and quite a few others. I'll be sure to post pics of my soap making spree soon.
My newest lip balm creation can be found in my Etsy shop.
Pamper yourself with this delicious lip balm in Passionfruit Rose flavor. It's an exotic fruity rose that is both cool and tropical. This is a unique and delicious fragrance!
I have carefully formulated this balm to have a nice glide while protecting and nourishing your lips. Castor oil and fractionated coconut oils help make this a non-sticky, non-waxy lip treat! Shea butter and high oleic sunflower oil offer high emollient and skin soothing properties.
My father's wife brought back some goodies for me from the Philippines. It's a mixture of rice and roasted peanuts and is vaguely similar to a Rice Crispy Treat. Instead of marshmallow to put it together, it may be put together with caramelized sugar. I really like these little goodies and I always get a package of them when she returns from visiting her family.
There are some physically painful things we easily forget; labor pains and tilling ground are two of them. I forgot how backbreaking using a tiller is. Seriously. There were three of us and we all took turns. 6-7 hours of this yesterday and let me tell you, there are also muscles that I forgot about too.
My father was the one that did the most work. He's a tough fellow; I didn't realize his knee was bothering him this entire time. I would offer to take over after he mentioned it, but he was having none of that. He really helped me out a lot yesterday. Thanks, Dad!
There are no photos of me on the tiller, but I promise, I did my share. I just had the camera in my hand on occasion to memorialize this event. The day was very nice.
My father's wife is to tiny, but she also got in on it. She's so cute! After a while, she'd turn it off and say, "It's done!" with a big grin. We could only hope. Using the tiller was pretty painful on the hands because there is a lever that we constantly had to hold down while pushing the tiller through the tough dirt.
"J" saying, "Are you nuts?!!" when we mentioned her taking her turn at tilling the garden. She was having none of that! I'm telling you, this is one happy child. She was so good all day and outside with us the entire time. I even have some photos of her playing with the Spoon Fudge box.
At one point, we found this little guy trying to get away from us. We moved him to another area of the yard so he could enjoy himself away from the turmoil we were causing. He's a Ringneck Snake which is a pretty common snake throughout the United States. Unless they are poisonous, we pretty much leave the snakes around here alone. I haven't seen a moccasin in a very long time in our yard, but I have seen an occasional Southern Hognose snake, a Scarlet Kingsnake, and the Black Racer (who I see all of the time). We have quite the collection of snakes in our area.
All in all, we had quite a day. Afterwards, my husband and I went to get our hair cut, have chinese food, then we came home and enjoyed some movie time together. The day was very rewarding after everything is said and done. I can't wait to show off more photos of my garden in progress!
Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification
This year, we are planning to have a large garden. There's only three of us to eat, but I'm sure I'll find other people who will be wanting some fresh vegetables. I haven't had a garden in years, so I'm very excited!
What I'll be planting this year:
Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans
Sunshine Corn
Boston Pickling Cucumbers
Golden California Wonder Bell Peppers
Jalapeno Peppers
Early Scarlet Globe Radishes
Pink Eye Purple Hull Cowpeas (YUM!)
Early Prolific Squash
Brandywine Red Tomatoes
White Seeded Watson Watermelon
White Sweet Spanish Onions
Danvers 126 Carrots
Potatoes
Garlic
Part of my wanting to do this is reading Omnivore's Dilemma and learning a lot about our industrial (and what appears to be cruel & unhealthy) food system. I highly recommend this book.
This year, I'm going to start making changes by buying more locally and growing what I can. I've found some organic fertilizer recipes and will be working at doing this without chemical pesticides or fertilizers. I believe this will also lead to a healthier me (and family).
Some sites to visit that tell you more about buying locally and grass fed animals are Eat Wild and Local Harvest.
Today, I posted a special deal for my soaps on Etsy. You can purchase 5 soaps for $22! If you purchased them separately, you'd pay a bit more. I hope this little package deal will be to everyone's liking. I thought of doing 3 soaps, but I can fit more in a USPS Priority Mail envelope and want to give my customers as much bang for their buck as I can.
Visit my Etsy Store to check it out!
This morning, I discovered Treasury West on Etsy. I haven't learned what the difference is between Treasury West and a regular Treasury, but I'm working on finding it out right now.
My treasury is called Herbal Obsession and features B&B products that have a herbal scent or based on herbs. I hope you all will check it out and let me know what you think! There are some great products in it.
Update! Treasury West appears to be a "test treasury" so it's not advertised like the main treasury. I do like it because I can get my treasury fix, even if it's not a main treasury. ;)
Messy mold, but a good smelling soap. I poured it pretty thick so the top had to be textured again. I haven't thought of a name for the soap yet, but the scent is a fruity floral with notes of Bartlett pear, apricot, white peach, plum blossom, and mimosa. Under the mica colored top is a soap colored with rose kaolin clay. I'm hoping for a nice mauve color. We'll see once it's revealed and cut tomorrow.
This is one of the bars I make that I could just sniff and sniff. It's lemon with a wonderful twist. Other fragrance notes in this bar are honey, a light woodsiness, and sweet fresh tea. In the end, it turns out to be a refreshing scent that's fabulous in the shower!
Let me tell you, Etsy is about the best thing in my mind. There is an abundance of talent in all areas of things that can be made by hand. Recently, I received 5 ceramic pendants from RedCrowArts.
Teardrop Pottery (I love the simplicity of this piece)
Stoneware Clay Tree of Life
Handformed Stoneware Clay 
Stoneware Clay Leaf Design
Aren't they fabulous? The last two are my favorites. When I get some jewelry making practice in, I plan on putting these beauties on some necklaces.
