Homemade Baby Wipes

When Hadley was a couple of months old, Abi and I went to a few garage sales, 
and for some reason didn't have any wipes with us, and of course Hadley decided 
that was an awesome time to fill her diaper. Fortunately we stopped at a house 
that had small kids, so we sheepishly asked if they had baby wipes we could use. 
The guy said that wasn't a problem, so he went and got some, but they weren't 
what we were expecting or used to using. They were homemade. That was weird to 
us, because we were totally not used to that, and it seemed very hippy and 
"earthy" to me to make your own wipes. Didn't they know we were not in the 
1900's anymore? They probably use cloth diapers and make their own clothes, too. 
Freaks!!!

Open mouth, insert foot. Just about a year later, we are making our own wipes, 
and now I understand why people do it. It is a very simple process, and saves a 
TON of money. Store bought wipes cost $.02/wipe for the cheapest ones, and go up 
in price from there, depending on if you want "all natural" or "sensitive skin" 
or other things like that. I just did the figuring (because I'm weird like 
that), and homemade wipes are approximately $.0013/wipe. Of course this figure 
will vary based on what materials you purchase to make the wipes, but they are 
obviously a LOT cheaper.
We have two girls in diapers right now, and anticipate more in the future (no, 
this is not an announcement), so making our own wipes is such a simple way to 
save money that it would be foolish to not make them.
Ok, here's how we do it, so you don't have to look elsewhere for a "recipe."

What you'll need:
1-Plastic Container
(We use a round "Click-Clack" container available at Target, but any canister 
that's the right size will work.)
1-Roll of Paper Towels
(Don't get the cheap, sandpaper style ones...you wouldn't want your bottom 
cleaned with that.)
Water
Baby shampoo or soap
Baby oil
Vinegar
(Yes, I said vinegar.)

So, like I said, you have options with this. You can make it suit your baby if 
your baby has sensitive skin. You can actually use chips of bar soap if that 
suits your preference.

Take your paper towels and cut them in half. Or cut them to whatever height they 
need to be to fit in your container. (We have two different size containers so 
one is just under half, and the other is just over half a roll, but this is your 
project.)

Heat up 1 1/2 cups of water in the microwave. Doesn't have to be boiling, but 
needs to be hot!!!

While this is heating in the microwave, use scissors and cut out the cardboard 
tube from the center of the paper towels. This is probably the hardest part of 
the whole process. After you get the cardboard tube out, put the paper towels in 
your container. 

Add 1 tablespoon of baby shampoo or baby soap and 1/2 tablespoon of baby oil to 
the hot water. Mix this up. If using bar or granule soap, ensure it fully melts 
and mixes with the water. 

Add 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to the mixture. (The vinegar keeps the wipes from 
molding if you don't use them fast enough.)

Once you have this all mixed together, pour it evenly over your paper towels, 
and give it time to soak into them all. You now have simple wipes that you can 
be proud of, because you made them yourself.

Gardening Failure

A few years ago, we moved into a new house and I was excited, because I finally had a yard big enough to do some gardening. Unfortunately, I also live in Colorado, where neither the dirt nor the rainfall is conducive to having a garden. Yes, it can be done successfully, but it takes a lot of hours. I did not put in those required hours, and thus was left with a patch in my yard things growing like weeds...mostly weeds.
Then, just a couple of days ago, after having neglected gardening for a full summer, and now into the middle of the next summer, I was walking out back to water some new trees I put in, and looked down and there was a strawberry plant growing in my yard. Now, I had planted strawberries, but they hadn't taken, because I didn't take care of them well enough, I guess. This plant was nowhere near my where my garden had been either. It was on the opposite side of my yard, about 50-60 feet away. That isn't an area that gets any water from me, either, so any water that it has gotten has been strictly rainfall...which has not been much at all. So now I'm wondering if I should just leave it and see what happens, or try to transplant it to somewhere I could better take care of it (i.e. kill it faster).

Simple chicken and fruit salad.

I love trying new recipes, unfortunately, too many times when I try to find a new recipe to try, I find recipes that take all sorts of weird ingredients. So, instead of trying to find a store that sells out of the way ingredients, I come up with my own "recipes" using ingredients that I have on hand. I decided to start writing them down and sharing them so that other people can benefit from my simpleness. As I said, these are going to be pretty simple recipes, and will be common ingredients. Oh...and I won't be posting them daily...only when I'm inspired. So now that I said all of that, here's the first one:

Chicken and fruit salad. 

Ingredients:

-4 cups baby spinach

 (May substitute any lettuce here)

-1 cup diced strawberries

-1 cup chicken breast cooked and chopped

-1/3 cup chopped raspberries

-1/4 cup chopped olives

-1/4 cup cheddar cheese

(May substitute favorite cheese)

-2 Tablespoons Raspberry Vinaigrette

(May substitute favorite dressing)

Directions:

Remove stems from spinach and wash. Combine in large bowl with strawberries, raspberries, olives, and chicken. Sprinkle cheese on top. Drizzle dressing on salad. Serve chilled. Serves 2-4. 

Nutrition facts:

(Ok...sorry, I'm not super crazy, so I just figured out the calories and fat content for the entire salad. As for each serving...well, depends on how much you eat. And if you'd like to figure out the vitamins and minerals and everything, you can. :-) )

Total Calories: 474.15

Total Grams of Fat: 28.38

Note: Because this is such a simple recipe, it can be modified different ways, depending on what you like, what you have on hand, or what you find to work for you. Also...cutting out the dressing and using just black pepper cuts out 90 calories and 8 grams of fat. Enjoy!!!

Plexus Slim Progress Pictures and Weight Loss Motivation

I decided to share one of my wife's blog's, because she just recently started a new weight loss supplement, and it is working amazing for her. It does not promise that you will lose 50 pounds in a week or any other ridiculous claims, only that the weight will come off. It may be slowly, but it WILL come off. And what you lose is fat, not muscle, so you end up looking amazing. There are thousands of success stories with this product, and I cannot believe how much it has helped my wife already, just in the month and a half that she has been taking it. This post is from a couple of weeks ago, but I am going to share it now. If you'd like to follow her blog, I'll post a link to that as well, so you can follow her weight loss journey. She has also started selling this product, and, while it is starting slow, I feel like it will grow with time, and become a very substantial income. Ok...enough intro. Here's her post, and then I'll post a link to her blog at the end:

Weight loss journey continues. An update on how Plexus is going. I've started out just taking the drink to see what my results would be and I've actually been pretty discouraged to not see the numbers just falling off the scale like so many other people have experienced. I have however noticed that my clothes are fitting a little looser and was even able to fit into a pair of skinny jeans in a size smaller than I have been wearing. But of course like so many others I obsess over the numbers. So I decided to take a picture to see if I can SEE any difference and to my surprise I can see a huge difference. This has definitely re-motivated me. I've been able to come down to 170 and even dropped below one day and I never go back above 172 but I was really hoping to get below 170 and stay there. I really need to work on my water intake because they recommend drinking half your body weight in ounces and I'm TERRIBLE at drinking water. I've never been a big water drinker except when I play sports and exercise, so that has been a challenge. I truly believe that if I can up my water intake I'll see more weight lost. Plexus has definitely helped me cut my cravings and eat less which has been helpful. I'm thinking about adding the accelerator pill in with the drink to give me a little boost, but I won't have that for awhile so I will update about that in a few months. Thanks for following my story, and let me know if anyone is interested in trying out Plexus. There is a 3 day decision pack that comes with an informational DVD, a 7 day trial, or you can get the 30 day pack, and just get going!!! Everything comes with a FULL 60 day money back guarantee. 

Before Plexus

3 weeks into Plexus

And here's a link to her blog.

History...everyone's favorite.

I'd like to take this opportunity to share my story. I want to tell you how I got where I am now from where I started. Don't worry, I won't include all the nitty gritty, but will try to include pertinent details along the way to show that living a life with seizures does not have to be dull and boring.

From the time I was born, until I was 15 years old, I lived in Cicero, Illinois, a "small" town which borders the west side of Chicago, and has a population of about 80,000 people.

My first seizure happened when I was 13 or 14 years old. You can read about it on my seizure stories page. At that point, I had a friend who had Epilepsy, and had been having petit mal seizures for several years. I knew what they were, but I never thought I would have a seizure. We always gave him a hard time about his "staring episodes." Looking back, I wish I knew then what I know now about seizures, because I would know that even the little bit of teasing that we did could cause a lot of pain.

Several months later, I had my first tonic clonic, or grand mal, seizure. That story is also told on my seizure stories page. Again, even though this was a full blown tonic clonic seizure, and I took my first ambulance ride because of it, it was all surreal to me. I had seen my brother have a tonic clonic seizure before, and as with the petit mal seizure, I assumed it would never happen to me. I would never have to live with seizures, because I figured it was probably a one time thing. I would never have to suffer through the pain they brought. I was not going to be "that poor kid." This was some sort of freak thing, and wouldn't happen again. I didn't think that years later I would be dealing with the effects of seizures still. I never imagined how it would alter my life. 

But my life did change. This first seizure was merely a beginning to what would become a very long road of many seizures, more doctor visits than any kid should have to endure, seemingly endless tests and trial and error with countless seizure medications. I had seizures all the time it seemed. Every week or two (which may seem very infrequent to some people, and very frequent to others, depending on your situation) I would wake up completely confused, not knowing what happened. Once I was told that I had a seizure, I would just break down crying, because it was too much for me to handle. Sometimes at night, I would lay there crying, asking God, "Why me?" I hated myself, and what I had become. I hated other people because they couldn't understand the pain it caused and what I was going through. I hated God for allowing me to have seizures. I hated my teachers because they couldn't understand why I couldn't just get it when everyone else understood a concept. They never knew why I had such a hard time in school, why I couldn't remember anything for tests, why my grades were suffering. I had no respect for myself, and began thinking of ways to commit suicide. How would I do it to make sure it worked and I was never heard from again. I did not want to live my life suffering through the seizures, having to deal with the pain they brought me, causing my family pain and trying to explain why I couldn't do certain things, or remember anything. I hated myself and I wanted to die.

I sorted through ways in my brain, thinking about what others had done that had worked and not worked. I did not want to fail at it when I finally did it. I wanted to make sure that the plan I came up with was fool proof, and would leave no room for error. I took months planning it out in my head, and somehow during that time I saw things through a new light. I saw that, even though I was having seizures frequently, I was costing my parents money I'm sure they didn't have, I was a huge burden (that's how I saw myself), and I was completely worthless as far as school went, for some reason my family still loved me. I saw in them a love that cut through my hatred...my selfishness...my disrespect for myself. That love kept me alive...quite literally.

From the time I was a baby, my parents had me in church. Every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night and any other time the doors of the church were open. I was taught about God's love and how it is not based on us or what we do. Somehow though, that is easy to know, and not very easy to actually believe. Once I started having seizures, I thought there was no way God could love me. I was some sort of mistake, and would be better off dead. However, as I said, my family showed me the love of God, and because of their love and God's grace, I am alive today.

So, what about the seizures...? Did they quit once I decided not to commit suicide...? Was that just God's test to see if I would...? No, the seizures did not stop. They continued heavy for several years after that, as did the endless doctor visits, tests, medicine switches, etc. Never again did I reach a point where I wanted to end my life, though. The seizures continued through high school, and while everyone else was getting their driver's license, I was getting a state ID card, because I was not allowed to drive. My grades in high school suffered because of the seizures. My short term memory was erased every time I had a seizure, and as far as long term memory (events from my childhood, etc.), there are a few VERY fuzzy things that somehow snuck through, but other than that, there is nothing there.

Because my short term memory was erased every time I had a seizure, I had a VERY hard time in school, and was given extra time on tests, even though it didn't help. I would sit and puzzle over answers forever, knowing that I should know it, and not being able to come up with anything. I would frustrate myself so much I would break down crying because the answers were just not there, and I never remembered even learning that material. It was as if I was a freshman, and someone handed me the final exam that the senior class was taking. I looked at the tests completely dumbfounded. My teachers did not understand how I could learn something one day, and the next day have zero knowledge that I had ever even learned that before. Not just forgetting how to do a math problem, but looking at something as if I had never seen it. Somehow, I made it through high school, but to brag about my GPA would be foolish.

For some reason, after high school, I thought that going to college was a good idea. I'm not sure where I came up with that plan, or why I thought it would work when I barely made it through high school, but I went for it, and let's just say...it didn't work. College professors have better things to do than help out "forgetful" students. Yeah, I got extra time on my tests in college too, but like I said, that didn't help, because there was no information there in my brain when I went to take a test. So, I lasted one semester at college, then decided against that, and moved to Colorado where I've been since then.

Several years after I moved away, one of my college professors had a stroke, followed by a series of seizures. He talked to my parents and apologized because he said he thought I was trying to get sympathy for having seizures. He said he couldn't understand how you could forget everything you learned...until he experienced having a seizure and forgetting everything. I would NEVER, EVER wish a seizure on ANYONE, but for him to say that made me feel a little better, because while I knew I wasn't faking, it's nice to have my statements backed up. 

Since I've moved to Colorado, my seizures have been much more controlled by the meds I've been taking. I now live a very normal life, I am married to my beautiful wife, Abi, and I have two beautiful daughters, Hadley, who will be 20 months old on July 1st, and Brinkley, who will be 4 months old on July 4th. I work a regular job, I now have a driver's license and besides the fact that I have to take pills twice a day, the seizures no longer are a part if my life.

I am still affected by them, but I just don't have them anymore. It has been a few years now since I had one. The effects now are minimal. I still have very little memory of my childhood, but don't expect that to ever return. I have a hard time remembering certain things, and will have times where I forget things that should be easy to remember, like family member's names, or birthdays.  The other effects come in the form of having no formal education passed high school, so getting a decent job is hard. I have considered going back to school, but am very scared at that possibility, because of the fact that it has not gone well for me in the past. I may at some point go back, but I am not sure what I would want to study.

So...now that this has gotten much longer than I had intended, I'll stop, before I have to get with a publishing company and see about putting this into a hardcover.

Funny Fondue

A few posts ago, I said happy anniversary to my beautiful wife of four years. We went out for our anniversary, and came home with a funny story, so I figured I'd share that.

We went to The Melting Pot in Colorado Springs, which was the first time either of us had ever had an experience at a fondue restaurant. The waiter asked if we had ever been there before, and when we told him we hadn't, he explained everything...much to fast for my slow brain to keep up with. Haha!!! He came back to take our orders, and I was sort of fumbling my way through my order (this is only my second time at a four course meal), and everything seemed ok. Then I got to the main dish, and he asked what "cooking style" I wanted. Well, as I said, this was our first time at a fondue place, and only my second time at a four course meal, but I know how I like my meat cooked, so I said, "Medium-well." I could tell it was everything he could do to hold back his laughter.

If you're not familiar with fondue, you do your own cooking. They bring out a pan of oil with seasonings, and you do your own cooking right at the table. So, I'm sure my ignorance provided a good laugh for him and the other waiters when he got back to the kitchen. That's ok. I still like my meat medium-well, even if I have to cook it myself. 

BTW...if you haven't checked out my wife's blog, you should. Here's a link: http://ahandymanandanurse.blogspot.com/?m=0

Seizure Disorder Update

The other day I said I was going to have a doctor's appt. with my neurologist. I said I was planning to ask him about weaning off of the meds, and said I would post a follow-up to that visit. Well...here it is.

I asked him what the possibility of me weaning off of the meds would be, and how long I would have to be seizure free before trying that. He said that because I have such a prolonged history of seizures, and they were such a huge part of my life through my developing years that there is no chance that I will wean off of the meds. I am on them for life. It is not a case where weaning is an option even because of my history.

So...that settles that, and I don't have to think about that anymore...just keep taking my meds.

I also asked my doctor about having my VNS removed. In case you don't know what it is, a VNS is a Vagal Nerve Stimulator.  It is basically a pacemaker for my brain. There is a small "box" in my chest that has the battery and computer. Then there are wires that run up my neck and are attached to my Vagal Nerve. The battery is dead and has been for a few years, so I thought taking it out would just get rid of a foreign body from my body, and prevent possible problems.

When I asked about removing this, he looked at me like I was crazy. He said if its not infected, there's no reason to take it out. So after that appointment, both of the things I asked about I was told were not going to happen. But I did get my prescription refilled...so I guess it was a profitable appointment. 

Global Warming and Wildfires

While reading recently about the wildfires in Colorado, which is a topic that is very real to me right now because of being close to being evacuated, breathing smoke every day, seeing the destruction the wildfires cause, etc., I saw something that completely blew my mind. The immense destruction of the recent wildfires is blamed on global warming by some people.

When I read this, I was shocked, because when you consider the "facts" about global warming logically (if possible), the fire danger should be greatly lessened by global warming, not heightened.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, the temperature is rising, glaciers are melting, the ocean is rising, there is increased flooding due to more rain and increased drought due to lack of rain. (They claim other things too, but I am just focusing on these for now.) Everything in that "made sense," until they said there was increased drought.

Assuming the temperature is rising, the glaciers would in turn melt because ice melts the warmer it gets. That makes sense. If the ice is melting, the oceans would naturally have a higher water level, because icebergs are not totally under water (although I may not agree with this 100%, because of the science of how ice melts, floats, etc...another long blog for another time). If the temperature is getting warmer, more water would be evaporating, because water naturally evaporates faster at warmer temperatures. This would cause more rain, which continues to make sense. However, then this website claims that according to research, there are also more droughts due to climate change.

Wait...they just said that, "The 2007 IPCC report concludes that intense rain events have increased in frequency during the last 50 years and that human-induced global warming has been a factor." Then in the next paragraph they turn around and say, "There have also been increased periods of drought... According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the percentage of Earth's surface suffering drought has more than doubled since the 1970s. In Africa alone, the IPCC projects that between 75 and 250 million people will be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change." So which is it then? Is it going to be a drought, or is it going to be flooding rains?

Based on their other "facts", it should be rain that everyone should get. The world should be getting more humid, and rainfall should be increasing. Unfortunately the "facts" about global warming change constantly, so you can have a single article that contradicts itself, because it states two contradicting "facts" with research to back them, about global warming. Very frustrating when you live somewhere affected by wildfires.

For years, the green activists have fought to keep the Forestry service and other agencies from logging, thinning trees, and just doing forest maintenance. Then, when huge fires happen, they want to blame it on global warming and say, "See, we told you people you were going to mess these trees up."

I know this is a hard pill to swallow, but it is time to start taking care of our forests...and I don't mean by never touching them. We need to clear trees out that need to be thinned, trim trees back, allow (responsible) logging and use our forests without abusing them.

Happy anniversary!!!

Just wanted to post quick to say happy anniversary to my beautiful wife of 4 years!!! I can't believe it's been 4 years. It has been an amazing 4 year journey. There have been times that have been tough, times where we wanted to strangle each other, times where we didn't want to let go, times where we disagreed on things and times where we were not sure how we were going to pay bills. Through everything though, love holds strong. We have 2 baby girls that mean the world to us!!! We have loving family within easy driving distance, a house to call our own, stable jobs, reliable cars, a dog and a safe yard for the girls to play in. We have been blessed with so much and love each other so much more today than the day we got married. It is amazing to see the changes in our lives, and how we have grown. I can't wait to see what the next years together will bring. I love you Abi. :-)

 

Seizure Disorder

Not sure how many of you know, but I have a seizure disorder, which was diagnosed in about the 7th grade, and has frustrated me ever since. I have had seizures off and on, but for the past few years they have been under control with meds. Because of taking seizure meds, I am limited as far as what jobs I am able to do. I am not able to get a CDL, and most places will not let me drive commercially, even though the meds totally control my seizures. So...I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow for my yearly visit with the neurologist, and am going to ask him about weaning off of the meds. I don't know how long they generally want people to be seizure free before weaning off of meds, but I am hoping he will be able to give me some answers, and maybe start that process.
Even considering that is a very scary thing for me, because of the fact that I have been on these meds for a while, and they've been working well. The last time something changed with my meds, I was unable to go back to the meds I had been on, and had to go through the process of figuring out what meds would work to control the seizures.
If anyone out there has experience with weaning off of seizure meds, I'd be interested in hearing about it. Thanks for your encouragement, and I'll let you know what happens, and how it goes at the doctor's.

Tire Swing

One of the things I loved growing up was swinging on our swing set. Now...let me explain. We didn't have an ordinary, run-of-the-mill swing set that you see at any home improvement store. No, our's was MUCH "less safe", and therefore MUCH more fun than any you could buy at a store.

My dad had made our swing set from treated 4x4's. It stood approximately 15 feet high at the center beam, and there were 4 swings on chains that hung down from that beam. The swings were made of 2x6's, and were about 15-20 inches wide each. The center beam was 20 feet long, so there was space in between each swing. We definitely got a LOT of use out of that swing set, and LOVED to swing on it.

All that being said, last summer I decided to put up a tire swing at my in-laws house. They have trees tall enough to put one in, and we go up there often enough to make it worth it. I talked to a tire shop in town and got a tire for free, and then got a length of rope that has a 700 lb. test strength and very little stretch.

I had to remove one branch from the tree to hang it on the branch I wanted, which is about 30-35 feet in the air. Having that long of a rope makes for an EXCELLENT swing path.

Even though my babies are still little, Hadley, the 19 month old, already enjoys it. It has also been used by many other kids that have been at their house and hopefully will last for a long time.

Here's a video of Hadley enjoying it.

Happy Father's Day

So once again I've failed at keeping up with my blog. One of these days I'll keep up with it, but life happens and the blog takes a backseat to everything else.

I want to say Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Keep being awesome and remember you have little eyes watching you all the time and they want to be just like you...so make them proud and be someone who is worth being like.

I was not with my family this Father's Day, because of work so my wife recorded this video of my 19 1/2 month old and I figured I'd share it. Thanks for watching and reading.