Eco friendly laundry soap

Being earth conscious is something that started for me back in elementary school. I don't recall who they were affiliated with but I know this man came to our school and talked to us about the three R's... reduce.. reuse.. recycle. And believe you me, I took every word he said to heart. My parents were vigilant about having a garden, no matter how small the space was in whatever home we rented (they eventually bought a place with sufficient garden and child raising space), my mother canned and one of my father's favorite gripes was who was wasting what, whether is be the light left on in a room or throwing out products that were still usable. In the last few years, Chris and I have delved deeper in honoring our responsibility as beings on this beautiful planet in hopes of finding just one more thing we can do to make this world a better place. In previous blogs I've divulged about my slightly unhealthy relationship with laundry. In my younger days I was really into whatever Tide and Downy came out with. I couldn't believe that laundry could smell that good. I was perpetually amazed that something could go into a machine and in 30 minutes or so would be completely renewed and smell THAT amazing... ah. Then I started learning about drinking water. Much to my surprise there isn't an endless supply of it, in fact, it's quite the treasure. If you haven't researched much about the state of drinking water on this planet I highly recommend you do so. I learned that all that stuff you wash your dishes, clothes and body with washes down the drain and then recycles back into drinking water. Another thing you learn in elementary school is the water cycle. Even with a rudimentary understanding of the process we know that whatever goes back into the water ends up in rivers, streams, the clouds and the rain. So what's really in your soap? Check that list out. An old bottle of shampoo I have says things like Laureth-16 and Lauramidopropylbetane. Uh? What? If anyone has layman's terms for those I'd be much obliged. I also read at the beginning of my pregnancy that they have found parabens (the preservatives found in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) in breast milk. Oh joy. That was the last day I used my bath and body works lotion. Luckily Nature's Gate makes a paraben free body wash and lotion. I know I can't undue all the paraben using I've done but no better time than now for any kind of self improvement. I've been buying Seventh Generation products for many years now but I kept looking at the big ugly plastic bottle I was 'recycling' and thought to myself ~there's got to be a better way. Chris and I watched 'No Impact Man' (I recommend seeing it if you haven't) and one of the many things he did was make his own laundry soap!!!! http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/2008/05/lv-grn-make-you.html Granted, he didn't use his washing machine, I'm still using mine. I wash full, large loads and use cold water 99% of the time~none the less, I know I'm using electricity to do this, but I am making my own laundry detergent. Yes, the point. I looked up the recipe on his blog and had a great time making it! I've also switched over to using Dr. Bronner's castile soap for anything I would need soap for. I can refill my ONE plastic bottle  at the local grocery store which also cuts down on my plastic consumption. The recipe for the laundry soap is so easy, I tweaked it a bit from the recipe given on the 'No Impact Man' blog... here's how it went.

My ingredients! The Arm & Hammer cost $3.19 and it goes a LONG way. It can also be used for all sorts of cleaning around the house. The Borax was around $5 and the Bronner's Soap was $3.00. My satisfaction and peace of mind: priceless. The soap has to be grated down as to make 'soap flakes'. I used my cheese grater.

After the first time using the detergent I realized that this size is too big. I put it through my zyliss (a fine grater for things like parmesan) and it was more of a powder. The dissolving issue I had with the bigger flakes was solved!

I mixed the 1 cup of soap flakes with 1/2 cup of Borax and 1/2 cup Washing Soda. 

Then I put in into an old glass jar I had sitting around and viola! The recipe says use 1 tbsp for normal loads and 2 tbsp for heavy soil. I didn't feel like my clothes smelled very clean so I've gone to a more 1:1:1 ratio. I do a tbsp of each per load. Ah, now I know what I'm washing my clothes in and feel a little more secure about the cleaning agents that I'm returning to the water supply. Oh yeah, I got a clothes line too (thanks honey).

Chris took this pic

Baby Shower 6/26/10

Apparently your brain volume decreases in your last trimester. I tried to think of something catchy and clever to title this entry.... and got nothing. I'm willing to admit that the pregnancy is an easy scape goat.. my lack of creativity may have nothing to do with my small wonder :)

I've always LOVED baby showers. I love the games, the comradery, the prizes, oohing and awing over all the little baby things and participating in the tradition of welcoming and preparing for another beautiful soul. Now it was my turn.

Team "Baby Carlson" which consisted of 5 of my dearest gal pals (including my mother) created the most amazing baby shower I've ever been to (yes, I realize there is a bias but if you were there you'd agree it was a really great shower). They divided up the responsibilities so that no one person was left footing the largest portion of the bill or overwhelmed with the biggest responsibilities. It went off with out a hitch. The games were fun, the food was delicious, the weather (thought little on the warm side) was delightful and it seemed that a good time was had by all.... 

No shower would be complete with out...

photo by Chris Carlson

photo by Laura Osen

photo by Laura Osen

photo by Laura Osen

photo by Laura Osen

photo by Chris Carlson

Thank you to all those who put their time and energy into making my shower so wonderful. It's a day I'll never forget.

It All Comes Out In the Wash

It's sad to say, but I have a very personal relationship with my washing machine. This contraption is one of my favorite advances with in the last century- along with electricity and indoor plumbing. I love washing clothes. It is the one thing in life that you can always count on fixing a stinky situation. Clothes smell bad and get tarnished by food and dirt, you simply drop them in the washer and out they come, good as new. If only everything in life could be so simple. My KitchenAid washer and dryer set came as an inheritance from my grandmother (Lord rest her soul) and I believe she used it a whopping 3 times to wash about 4 pieces of clothing. As these are some of the only things I have to my name I am not only very thankful for them but I am vigilant in keeping them in working order. As of late, it's gone a little overboard... I'll explain

I've realized these past few weeks that "nesting" as they call it, is the universe's way of showing you that the world is a filthy, germ infested place and you alone have been chosen as the savior of all mankind ~ well savior of your home at the very least (although I'm noticing it everywhere: stores, parks, you name it, it's filthy). So next time you think that "nesting" means "making a Martha Stewart-esque home" think again. It has nothing to do with making a home and everything to do with ridding the world of your archenemy~ filth.

Many items have been ravaged by this "nesting" phase. I tend to lean towards the use of bleach (don't worry, I use those ultra trendy purple gloves that you can pull up to your armpits and I have face masks that block the smell. Plus, I know how to dilute) and have used it on everything in the house. The washing machine came under siege a few weeks ago when I noticed that the fabric softener dispenser seemed to have a build up of some sort. I couldn't clean it thoroughly with it intact so I proceeded to pull the middle "thingy" apart in order to do the job properly. While I started pulling my beloved washer apart I had a fleeting thought of 'what if I can't put it back together?' but this was quickly overpowered by my biological super-need to save my unborn baby from the germs that are awaiting on the outside. It was DISGUSTING. The waxy junk we call softener had been caked on and never cleaned away. Simple Green was my very best friend that day. If you haven't cleaned your fabric softener dispenser it is my duty to tell you to clean that thing out... as is it vile and there is no way the clothes can actually get clean in a machine that dirty. YUCK. I won't be using the dispenser any more due to the fact that it grossed me out so bad. And yes, I got each piece back together (miraculously) and found that I enjoyed taking my appliances apart and cleaning them... this could be bad... I know

A few weeks after my battle against the evil fabric softener dispenser I had started a load of clothes when it happened... my beautiful machine made the most horrifying noise. I ran out of the bathroom shouting "TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF!!!!!" It was making a horrible noise and not agitating. I opened the lid and looked in with dismay... no... this cannot be happening. The wash cycle hadn't finished yet and the tub was full of dirty water... What was a girl to do? I called the repair man that I had used a few years back and told him what was going on, I even held the phone up to the machine and turned it back on. "Sounds like your motor coupler is broken" he says.
"Well great, when can you come fix it" I reply.
"Tomorrow, around 1"
"Okay thanks, how much is that going to run us?"
"$80"
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
Two things. 1) I was horrified that the clothes were going to sit in that water for another day 2) I had to tell my husband the quote.
My husband about lost it. He couldn't believe it was going to cost him that much to fix and started looking on craigslist for a washer. My husband was certain he could find a whole washer for less than the one part that was causing all the turmoil. What he underestimated was my dedication and attachment to my washer. I couldn't believe he would even entertain the idea of getting rid of my washer. I mean come on, it matched the dryer, they were a set, they go together, and we were in no shape to go drop the kind of money it would have taken for me to trade my beloved set for another.

ALAS! Behold the wonders of google. Since that unsuspecting repair guy told me what the problem was I searched the wonderful web in hopes of finding instructions on how to fix the motor coupler myself. And wouldn't you believe, I found them. I thumbed through the phone book for the nearest appliance repair/parts shop and found one right down the road. Turns out the piece I needed was only $12... go figure.

With instructions and part in hand I set out to unleash the Rosie Riveter in me.
Then I started pulling my washer apart.
And found that the liquid softener dispenser was a warning for how putrid the hidden parts of my machine were. It was so bad I had to use the flat head screw driver to scrape it clean.

See that gunk smeared onto the side of my garbage? Yeah, that's only a fraction of what I scraped out of my machine... I wasn't sure I'd share this part, but here goes... I found a cigarette filter in the liquid bleach dispenser.. yeah, repulsive.

I was very pleased with the fruits of my labor.

It was now possible for me to press forward in my quest to fix my beloved machine. This is the water pump. It is in front of the motor... which I had to get to.

This is what lies right behind the water pump. See you just have to pop those silver clips off and the pump pulls right off the motor! This part looked scary to me. There were wires... and more screws than I knew what to do with. Unfortunately there were no pictures or diagrams in my instructions so some of it was anyones guess. I had spent a few hours on hold with KitchenAid attempting to get a parts diagram but they said they don't have those... I know, shocking. And, oh hey, looks like dirt even finds its way into the motor. See the cobwebs and hair? Ack!

      

After careful inspection I decided I would try and remove the screws that looked to me like they were holding the motor together... and it turned out I was right. Whew.

And there you have it my friends. That three pronged plastic piece right there is what was just about to cost us $80... I replaced the part and put the motor back together. Okay, so I had to have help on one part. I tried and tried and tried and realized that the straining might not be the best idea as I am carrying the most precious of cargo. Lucky for me I have an ultra strong husband.

Lucky for him, his wife just saved him $68. Moral of the story? I'll let her say it....

The Daily Crave

There has been so much on my mind as of late- what colors should her bedding be, what should her name be- or 'name hunting' as my friend so succinctly put it, what clothes won't make me want to freak out as well as what shoes will keep my feet from aching? The biggest item on the brain these days though far surpasses all of the other thoughts that may float through my mind through out the day combined... and I bet you can guess it-FOOD!!!!!!!!!!! So, as it is on the brain a majority of the time, I figure I'll indulge you as to what exactly these cravings consist of. Not to mention it's one of the things on people's 'things I must ask when I see a pregnant woman' list. I will try and do better at taking the pic of the food myself, (I didn't take the one of the Yumm Bowl) but for today google helped me out...


1) Yumm Bowls. I've had them two days in a row now as my main meal. I haven't been as hungry for breakfast these past few days but I've made up for it with a late lunch. These delicious concoctions consist of brown rice, black beans, yumm sauce, cheese, cilantro, (and since I get deluxe toppings-minus the olives) avocado, tomato, sour cream and salsa. I also get a side of their SUPER hot jalapeno sesame salsa. I REALLY REALLY like spicy food lately (no, it doesn't help with the heart burn) and seem to have a much higher tolerance than before I was pregnant.














2) Milk. I actually don't recall the last time I bought milk to drink. For some reason I became very disgusted by not only the taste but by the fact that we are the only specie to feed our young (and ourselves) the milk of another specie. Gross. Somehow cheese and ice cream were never included in this disgust. Why don't we just keep drinking breast milk? That's a rhetorical question, it's not an opportunity for a discussion about veganism vs. non veganism. Back to my point. I don't recall exactly when I first had an urge for a cold glass of milk, I think it was around week 18 possibly, but the craving comes and goes. Today, I drank more than a few glasses (it's really good with the muffins).

 
3) Banana mini muffins. They were so easy to make it should be a crime. I jammed down three of them already... and the night is young my friends.

   

Here's to being pregnant and loving food.

Baby in my Belly

22 weeks tomorrow and wouldn't you believe that this belly of mine has come a long way. Chris has taken a picture of me almost every week since we found out we were expecting and for the sake of time and possible boredom I picked out the ones that showed progression. I just looked at another girl's pictures from her pregnancy and it's left me feeling... uh... well... rather big large. I'm chalking it up to my baby having a big brain. As I blame all weirdness on that.


Week 6. I had actually lost some weight at this point due to my severe nausea (no barfing yet). It started on Christmas day and lasted through December. Joy. Just look at my face, I'm totally stoked (those jeans are Levis 501 with a 30" waist). And skinny. Skoked if you will.

Week 12. Most of you were still in the dark at this point, but my little secret was just starting to make it's appearance. By this point I was at the end of barf fest 2010. I felt bloated most of the time which left me wondering if my little bump was really baby or just gas. My husband likes to spray paint the walls in the shop.

Week 14. This is my 'coming out of the closet' week. The beginning of the second trimester marked a pivotal point in my pregnancy. No more barfy barf. And, the cat was out of the bag. That might be the last picture of what use to be stomach muscle and as you can see I've made up for any weight I didn't put on in the first trimester. Welcome puffy face. It is at this point that I admit to myself that I use to have a flat stomach, as I never knew that till I didn't have one anymore. We went on a business trip to Vegas this week and all my cute and sexy clothes were no longer an option as I wasn't willing to risk looking like a girl who wished she was that size. A friend of mine gave me some dress-like tops. They were flattering and comfy ~ two things that don't usually occur at the same time in women's clothes... well... not cute ones.

                            

Week 18. I was introduced to these amazing things called maternity pants. OMG. They are like wearing sweatpants that LOOK like jeans. If everybody else knew what they felt like we'd all be wearing them. Trust me here. What a relief! I was so proud to be done wondering 'is that gas' and knowing 'oh yeah, that's a baby'. I started thinking that everyone would know I was pregnant at this point. My husband informed me that to an average onlooker who had never met me it looked like a fat belly. My friends in college and I use to joke about the front gut. I coined it a 'joey' as it looked like a kanga with a roo... I officially had a 'joey'. 

                             

Week 21. We took this picture last night. Last week we found out that we are having a baby girl. Shortly after she started her karate lessons inside my womb. She is so active I can barely believe it every time it happens. It's crazy to watch as your stomach tries to jump off your body. I love her. 

Diapers and Strollers and Cribs OH MY!

"Are you registered yet???" This was a question I hadn't anticipated would come so early in my 40 week adventure. As soon as we found out that "it" was actually a "her" it seemed to be the quickest question to fly out of people's mouths. And then I realized. I gotta get a bunch of stuff for this baby. Well, I suppose 'bunch' is relative but seeing as Chris and I aren't exactly what you would call 'big spenders' shopping for many new items is a bit out of our repertoire. Don't get me wrong here, I know all about the joys of second hand but there are a few items that just shouldn't be reused. As I started perusing the baby isle on the wide, wonderful world of the internet I found that there is a lot too many options out there. It left my head spinning! A frenzy of text messages and e-mails ensued. This overwhelming, primal surge came over me. I became consumed by the 'things' that my baby would need upon her arrival. Like which ones were most cost effective, longest lasting, highest quality and most of all SAFEST (hormonal nesting anyone?). I was asking every mommy I knew what she bought and why, not to mention 'honey come look at this' (he handled this phenomenally and was a lot of help in researching the bigger items). After a few weeks of looking, searching, calling, analyzing and looking some more I feel confident that I have chosen items that I REALLY want. 


While talking with a brand-new-mommy friend of mine it was brought to my attention that most people want to buy you clothes. I factored in that my first born is also of the female gender which equals boat loads of cute clothes that are just screaming to be bought and worn... However. There are enough new baby friends right now that we shouldn't have a problem getting enough hand-me-downs to clothe her twice over. Another possible hazard is that each person has their own distinct taste in clothing and it is a lot easier to let the momma do the picking. I was also recalling a few of the baby showers I went to when I was younger where I didn't have the cash to get an expensive item or know enough of the other attendees to go in on a gift yet felt it was only proper to show up with a nicely wrapped gift. As I'm writing this I am praying that I am not the only one who has found myself in this position. Unfortunately, I also didn't realize that by buying something I 'thought' she might like I was possibly creating a situation where little momma-to-be would have to exchange/take back the 'gift'. This requires one to expend more time and energy, which seem to be two of the things you lack during pregnancy.  I should have given a thoughtful card or a $5 gift certificate to the store she was registered at... but hey... you live, you learn and then you have a baby (not always in that order). 

The first item that consumed my mind was what every baby needs. and needs a lot of (no not love, that's a given) DIAPERS. Yep, the big D. I will be using disposables while her umbilical chord is still attached and for ease while traveling but cloth is our diaper of choice. A friend of mine had introduced me to the bumGenius brand a few years ago and I just couldn't believe that those were cloth diapers. I remember my mom using the white cloth diapers with the safety pins and those completely unfashionable (and bulky) clear plastic covers (bleh). These cloth diapers were less bulky, snugger fit and cute to boot! Naturally I looked into them. After talking to Chris, other mommies, a baby store and non stop internet investigation I decided that I want to get the organic bumGenius one size diapers. They are somewhat steep in price ($24.95) but Chris and I felt that the organic cloth is very important to us and they are only $7 more than the non-organic ones. Rumor has it that the snaps aren't as effortless to put on a squirmy babe as the non-organic velcro ones but they've gotta be an improvement from the safety pin right? There are lots of adorable colors to chose from and if anyone is planning on buying them as a gift I am requesting that we stick to gender neutral colors as we would like to use them for more kids later down the road (all colors are great minus pink and blue). These are not included in my registry, as they did not offer the organic ones on that site but here's a link for them http://www.cottonbabies.com/product_info.php?cPath=98&products_id=1825. 

After I had the diaper situation under control I moved onto cribs and found that I had an affinity for the modern style. The first one I fell in love with was the Argington Sahara. Much to my dismay this crib is $685... boo. So I started searching for modern style cribs with friendlier price tags. I found the Babyletto Mercer 3-in-1 for $399 which was a more manageable price to justify.  The versatility that is afforded by purchasing a convertible crib ensures that our little girl will get her use out of the furniture and the quality will allow us to hand it down to future children . This crib is offered via the site I used for my registry but they are currently out of the espresso color that I want. I will be anxiously waiting for them to have more in stock so I can register for it. 


Then I was on my way to car seats, strollers, swings, playpens and all the other 'stuff' I could imagine I needed for our little girl. And to tell you the truth, I feel a little bit of relief having this whole registry thing under way. OH! I am registered at http://www.diapers.com/. These very same items may be out there in some far off corner of the galaxy that I left undiscovered so just let me know if you find better deals!!!!!

Drum roll please.....

And here my friends, is your very first look at our lil' baby GIRL! We couldn't be more excited. She is measuring a few days ahead of the expected due date which means she is growing healthy and strong! She's just a few days past 20 weeks which means half cooked! Not to my surprise she was busy doing gymnastics while the technician was trying to get the appropriate footage of her, looks like this one is going to keep us on our toes! I couldn't have asked for a better technician but she was killing me with the suspense. I wanted to be polite and allow her to do her job. I let her know at the beginning of the appointment that we wanted to know the gender and she definitely savored the power of suspense. Right before we ended she said "oh yeah, you were interested in the gender" as if it had slipped her mind... We weren't hoping for one over the other but we are so glad to know that we are going to be the proud parents of a perfect little girl.

I barely slept last night, the anticipation was killing me. The appointment was at 8:30 and I was up by 6:45. I followed the 'pre ultrasound instructions' and then took a shower and got ready to go to the doctor. I thought I'd be ready to go with time to spare (as is usually the case for me) but found that it was a quarter after 8 by the time I was ready. ACK! I believe this 'where did the time go' phenomena has only just begun. My first glimpse of her was indescribable. This was the first, and most likely the only, ultra sound of the pregnancy and it was such a joy to see our little baby in there. When I finally stopped crying I was able to just lay back and take in the moment.

I had a feeling from the get-go that it was a girl, but that was prior to the barrage of stories as to how "I was sure I was having this or that and ended up with the opposite every time". My earliest dreams were of a baby girl but recently I had a dream of a little boy so I threw dreams out as a reliable source. I thought I was carrying low so that also tipped the scale towards boy. In fact, I always thought I would have sons... I think this was due in part to the fact that girls were always a challenge for me growing up. I never really understood them and consistently ended up in situations where I just felt like I could never get it right. I had three brothers... I knew boys. But this. This is going to be the best thing I ever did (and will do) in my entire little existence. I can't wait to meet her. I can't even put into words the excitement, joy and hope I feel about her future... our future.