How Fresh Do You Smell?

My Dilema:  Having a fresh smelling home.

One thing I always notice when I am at other peoples house is the smell.  It's interesting to me how a house can have a "smell".  You don't even realize it until you are away for a while and come back into your home... and there it is... the smell.  To me, it seems that my friends houses always have a beautiful scent.

With a dog who sheds like crazy, a newborn and a small space - it's hard to keep a "fresh" smell in the house without constantly burning candles.  I am slowly fading out the candles in my house because of the health hazard they cause - do you know that some candles emit lead into the air when being burned? - scary!

The Solution:  Febreze Flameless Luminaries

These are brilliant.  They look very modern and have scented shades that give off a light fragrance throughout the day.  You can also have it "flicker" which gives the look of a real candle.   You can choose from nine fragrances but I'm loving Vanilla Frost right now.

And what kind of friend would I be without hooking you up with a coupon?  The link below will give you a $5.00 off coupon!  https://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/febreze/brandsampler-login.jsp

What do you do to keep your home smelling fresh?

My Pregnancy: 32 Weeks

So, I am in my 32nd week. I can't believe it. Time is absolutely flying by and everything is starting to come together. It's almost August already! I was reminded today of how I always wished summer would go by so slowly and now it doesn't really matter if it goes by fast or slow. When you work, all the matters is when your vacations are planned! :)

Here is my update for the week (sorry I missed 31).

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 32 weeks!

Total Weight Gain: I'm not 100% sure. I could say.... however, I don't think it's fair since my doctor told me that about 7-9 pounds of my weight is from being so swollen. So, just know that it's a lot and my feet hurt really bad!

Maternity Clothes: I received a package in the mail yesterday and opened it with anxiousness. It was a new shirt from my MIL!!!! You have no idea how exciting that is when you've been wearing the same things for 6 months!

Best Moment of the Week: Well, a lot has happened this week. We had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Eric had a meeting scheduled so he couldn't go. The meeting ended early so he was able to meet me for it. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal but there are some days that I need him to be with me. Not necessarily in regards to the baby, just to be there for me. Well, that was one of those days and it really helped having him there to talk with.

What’s Going on with Baby: She's starting to get ready for her big debut, tipping the scales at almost four pounds and topping out at just about 19 inches. In these past few weeks, it's all about practice, practice, practice as she hones the skills she'll need to thrive outside the womb — from swallowing and breathing to kicking and sucking. And speaking of sucking, your little one has been able to suck her thumb for a while now. Something else to note: As more and more fat accumulates under your baby's skin, she's becoming less transparent and more opaque.

Baby is size of: Honeydew

Movement: Her moves are getting more and more intense. She is officially upside down and she loves to put her foot at the bottom of my ribcage in a position where I can't sit down because it hurts! She's a booger.

Food Craving: This week - bologna. We had bologna sandwiches last weekend and I had a few sandwiches this week. Fried bologna, toasted wheat bread, mustard and mayonnaise. YUM!

What I miss: Sleeping on my back. I'm having trouble sleeping on my sides now and I long for the day I can be on my back again. My hips hurt so bad that I have to lay on my back some through the night just to give them relief.

Sleep: This week, the bathroom breaks don't even bother me. The hip pain has been the one keeping me up. That and for some reason the fact that my body wakes up around 3:30 and thinks its time to get up.

What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery together!

Symptoms: I officially have stretch marks and the heart burn is back.

My Pregnancy: 30 Weeks

 I haven't written about my pregnancy yet but have been meaning to.  I'm 30 weeks pregnant.  We are due on September 16th and are SO excited.  We've had such a great time talking about the future and our plans.  I can't wait to meet our little baby.

Pregnancy has been the hardest thing I've ever gone through and the biggest blessing at the same time.  The idea of "pregnancy glow" doesn't exist and there are so many things that happen to a woman's body that can't be explained.  Eric and I have had a great time laughing at some of the silly things that are happening.  We've grown so close through this experience and I feel so blessed for that.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: Caroline is 30 weeks.

Total Weight Gain: 32 pounds, ouch!! I can't get use to how different I look.  Not just my belly, all over.

Maternity Clothes: I'm now at the point where I don't feel comfortable in anything.  My staples are my black dress and my Old Navy jeans.  Can't. Live. Without. Them.

Best Moment of the Week: We had our showers this weekend in Greenville.  It was so nice seeing everyone and Caroline is so blessed that so many people love her!  When we got home, Eric asked if we could go through all of the gifts.  He was so excited and looked at everything - then put them in piles.  Clothes, diapers/wipes, blankets/bedding, bath, novelty.  Novelty is apparently where he thinks books, toys, picture frames, etc go.  Don't ask!

Gender: It’s a precious little girl!  Caroline Ann.

What’s Going on with Baby: Your baby's about 15.7 inches long now, and she weighs almost 3 pounds. A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that volume will decrease as she gets bigger and takes up more room in your uterus. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not very keen; even after she's born, she'll keep her eyes closed for a good part of the day. When she does open them, she'll respond to changes in light but will have 20/400 vision — which means she can only make out objects a few inches from her face.

Baby is size of: A head of cabbage!

Movement: Caroline is kicking less and moving more.  Sounds weird, right?  Well, she likes to roll around.  I will feel her move from one side to another.  It is an amazing feeling.

Food Craving: Everything except fish.  Specifically, anything sweet.  That's about as specific as I can get!

What I miss: My pretty long, lean feet.  I don't like fat rolls on my ankles!  And they hurt!

Sleep: Between the bathroom breaks and dry mouth from the prenatal vitamins, I only sleep about an hour at a time!

What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery together and my work baby shower!

Symptoms: Wow, I'm tired a lot again.  Also, I'm swollen.  Very very swollen.

A New Website and Peanut Butter Cookies

I've heard about these websites that generate recipes based on what you have in your kitchen at that very second.  What a great idea!  I never know what to cook and it always bums me out when I find a good recipe, then realize it will cost $20.00 to make because we have absolutely nothing that is in the recipe.

After a quick google search, I found one that I thought looked good.  RecipeMatcher.com  I was craving dessert so I went in the kitchen and put in the most random ingredients I had.  Peanut Butter, oats, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder (which I was sure was expired but it doesn't until Dec 2010, woohoo!), walnuts, sugar, etc.  I also included some fruit I had (peaches, bananas, apples).  Then I hit the magic button.  Generate recipe.  In seconds, there was 112 pages of recipes I could make using those ingredients.  The cool thing, is that the best matches are first and then they will list out what other ingredients you need to make the recipes that aren't exact matches.  One of the options was peach cobbler!!  But let's be honest here, I'm not that ambitious, especially at 9PM.  I am more of an instant gratification girl.  So, when I saw peanut butter cookies ready in 12 minutes, I went to work.

Impossibly Good Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar - white
1 egg
Sugar - white, Optional (for rolling)

Directions:
1 - Mix together until smooth.
2 - Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet two inches apart.  If desired, roll in extra sugar before placing on cookie sheet.
3 - Press with fork and press again in opposite direction.
4 - Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

*I added chocolate chips to mine.  If you want to do this, mix them in with the ingredients in #1.

I found that the ten minutes while I waited for the cookies was just enough time to clean the kitchen, and with only three ingredients, it was so easy!

After this, I put EVERYTHING in my freezer, refrigerator and cabinets into the generator to see what it would come up with.  I will post asap the next thing I make and it will be something for dinner!

My New Favorite Product

I have been trying to slowly change the way I clean my house.  Instead of doing a massive cleaning once a week, I've been trying to clean daily.  That includes laundry, dishwasher, wiping the sink in the bathrooms down each day, etc.  These are small items but it really makes a big difference.  I think that this is part of "nesting" but I'm not sure.  Like yesterday, I was in the shower and when I was done with my wash cloth I wiped off the top ledge of the shower.  We've lived in this house for four years and I have never noticed (or had the urge to clean) that ledge.  I know you are in suspense so I will tell you, it was disgusting!  Small thing completed but it all adds up.

In my effort to change the way I clean, I am updating my cleaning products.  I have been doing research about different products and asking friends for their recommendations on the products they can't live without.  It is a slow process but I'm phasing out the old cleaners and replacing with better, fun ones.  My thought is that if I like the cleaner, I will clean more.  I'm not sure the validity behind that statement but I will keep you posted.  And just an FYI, one of my goals is to vacuum daily and to do this I think it is necessary to have a Dyson, so I'm taking donations for this.

Through my research, I realized that Method has introduced laundry detergent.  I use a few Method products and love how they clean and smell (and the bottles are always cool) so I wanted to give it a try.  I had a coupon for $2.00 off so I bought the 25 load bottle of peony blossom. You can get your coupon here.

The coolest thing about this product is that it comes in a squirt bottle, similar to hand soap.  I love this because the previous bottle of detergent had streaks of liquid coming down the sides of the bottle and it was a mess.  The instructions are on the small bottle made for single hand use.  It is simply, 2 squirts for a small load and 4 for a medium load.  The detergent is standard machine and HE machine compatible.  The best part, it smells perfect.  It doesn't have an overbearing fragrance and is just sweet enough to get hints of throughout the day.

This is the best product I've found in a long time!  If you try it, let me know!

The end of my sewing machine... almost

As most of you know, I love all things about crafting.  Specifically, crocheting, knitting and sewing are my favorites.  I don't consider myself an expert at ANY of these crafts and they are listed in order of my experience above.  Well, I play around with selling items on Etsy and Artfire and received an order over the weekend.  To my dismay, it was an item I had already given to someone but forgot to take off my site.  A make-up bag.  This make-up bag is precious.  I loved it so much when I made it that I had to make one of myself too.  It is black with white polka dots and a teal silky lining.  Instead of returning the order, I decided that I would just make another one.  "How hard could it be?", I thought, since I've made two already.  I started the project off by cutting my finger with my rotary blade, ouch.  After a few more pricks from pins and no sympathy from my husband, it was time to start sewing.  At least, that's what should have happened.

The first sections go fine.  Everything is as it should be.  The machine running smoothly, the fabric and thread working seamlessly together.  The bag was looking beautiful.  Then, I decided to try something different.  I don't even understand what happened.  I just turned the knob that drops my needle one way instead of the other and my entire machine collapsed before my eyes.  I ended up having to take it apart four times trying to figure out how to fix it.  (Funny mental picture, I'm still learning how to work the basics of the sewing machine, yet I think I can fix a mechanical error!)  My heart is pounding.  I love my sewing machine.  It isn't the best out there but I love it.  In fact, it's a project runway model which, I have to confess, I bought with the intentions of mastering so I could go on the show.  I knew that the machine was done. Anyway, after about 2 hours of randomly blowing on important looking mechanisms, I have the machine up and running again.  I finished the sewing and turned it right side out to find a few spots that the machine missed.  That means I have to go in by hand and sew them.  I don't mind doing it, but it takes away the professional look from the bag. 

So, to keep an extremely long story relatively short, I should have just returned the purchase and saved myself a stressful night.

Here is a picture of the finished product.