It's 2016 everybody!
This is the part where I say some obligatory/somewhat apologetic joke about how I'm going to blog more often in the new year.
I've decided to be nicer to myself about that. I tend to get down on myself when a few days weeks months have gone by and my blog has suffered further neglect.
Sometimes it doesn't happen.
And that's okay. :)
As long as my baby is clean, fed, and alive (I won't say happy, because that's not always in the cards, let's be real!) my job has been done. Blog post or no blog post.
But anyway, while we're here why don't I do a little bit of housekeeping and do a quick catch up?
A lot has happened since September, so let's just jump right in!
Well at the end of October we drove home for three days to celebrate Halloween and OLIVIA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY with everybody!
Yes.. Olivia's. FIRST. BIRTHDAY.
Ugh, I can NOT believe my baby is a toddler! Her birthday was just so dang fun. It was super simple, we had both families come over and eat cake and open presents. That poor baby was so hopped up on sugar that weekend with Halloween AND her birthday... I'm sensing a terrible, terrible pattern that's about to become a part of our family.
We got creative this year and dressed up as the cat up the tree (Taylor being the firefighter rescuer). I think it turned out adorable!!! Though... I will admit the tree costume looked a lot cooler in my head. ;) I think with more time I could have made it look cooler. But Olivia looked darling, and that's really all that matters, isn't it? ;)
Credit for the ADORABLE cake goes to my sister Sydnee. Isn't it so sweet? (pun slightly intended...)
Gosh I just love her... ;)
Thanksgiving was a little bit different for us this year. We weren't able to go home this year with Taylor's work schedules and so instead we put together what we called "Friendsgiving" with two of our friends who also couldn't go home for the holiday. At first we were a little dissapointed that we wouldn't be able to make it home for the holiday, but honestly...? It was kind of nice being able to just be home. Especially after having already made a quick trip home for Olivia's birthday and ESPECIALLY knowing that we would be driving right back in a few weeks for Christmas. It was relaxed and fun and we honestly had the best time. We are really blessed to have such good friends down here in Claremont. :)
Oh and Christmas...there is honestly so much that happens around Christmas! We were blessed enough to be able to come down for nearly two and a half weeks for the holidays and let me tell you... it was soooo nice! We just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves and spent time with family and friends. It was so much fun getting to watch Olivia experience Christmas for basically the first time. She was so tiny last year that that can't really count, and while she's still too young to get Santa and really just the whole Christmas concept in general, she was excited about opening presents and that counts for something! :) I have a feeling that next Christmas will be the start of really fun Christmases as far as kids go.
As far as school and life in Claremont go, things have been great! Taylor just started his second semester and has been doing so well. The course load is obviously heavy, but it helps when you are really passionate about what you're studying...I tease him, but he genuinely gets excited about his homework! ;) We had the opportunity to go up to Santa Barbara last semester to meet other scholars/network/other things that I don't fully understand because I'm not a grad student... but it was an incredibly neat opportunity to see other campuses and to give Taylor and chance to meet and network with other scholars (and for me and Olivia to get some beach time). Honestly, I don't know what the future holds for us, but I keep being reassured that we are where we are supposed to be and doing the things we are supposed to be doing. It can get a little bit lonely, and sometimes I feel somewhat isolated being so far from home and home alone with the baby all day... and lets be real, I will never take having a washer/dryer and dishwasher for granted EVER again...but there really is something quite special about Claremont. The weather is to DIE for so me and Liv go out for walks all the time (which she loves because we're getting out of the apartment, and I love because it keeps me active), it has a really genuine small-town feel, so everybody here is so friendly and kind, and in all actuality, it isn't a far drive from home at all. So really, I can't complain. Life is honestly pretty good. Hard sometimes, but still very good.
As far as all of my goals go... here's the rapid fire update:
NO POO
I loved it honestly, I really did. The two reasons I stopped doing it (as of last week) were: money, because of shipping prices it makes more sense to buy your bars in bulk and have them all ship together, but we could really only afford to buy one or two at a time...adding all of that up started to not make that much sense, PLUS it wasn't helping my hair to grow faster like I hoped it would. My hair definitely seemed healthy, and I loved that I knew exactly what I was putting onto my hair, but it just didn't make financial sense right now. And the second reason was our water. Our water here in SoCal is so SO hard!!! Like, our tap water is so minerally it comes out basically white. :( The natural shampoo really doesn't wash out well in hard water because of all of the mineral deposits and after months of trying to make it work, my hair just felt nasty when it was wet. So I've decided to shelve my No Poo journey until we are in a little better place financially and have less hard water... so basically once we're done with school. ;)
AND SPEAKING OF HAIR...
Yes I'm still growing it out.
I don't like to talk about it.
It's so bad.
My hair literally grows at the slowest place known to human kind. I swear it has been at my ears for three months. I'm trying to keep the faith though! With my No Poo journey coming to a close, I've decided to try out the "Not Your Mothers Way To Grow" shampoo brand a try. It's pretty cheap at Wal Mart and I have heard wonderful things about it so here's to hoping!
CLOTH DIAPERS:
This one breaks my heart, it really breaks my heart. Along with my No Poo, I'm also shelving my diapers for the time being.
It's been a journey getting here... but to make a long journey just a little bit shorter, here's the gist of it.
I couldn't keep up emotionally or energetically with what cloth diapering without a washer and dryer was demanding of me. Cloth diapers are work, but for me when I had a laundry machine it was 100% manageable work! And it was work that I loved doing. I was happy to do it! I looked forward to my diaper loads, and I loved folding and stuffing them. They're adorable, and it made me feel like I was really accomplishing something sustainable and frugal and great. Without a washer and dryer...? Cloth diapering became a very different journey for me. I went through so many options...
-Washing like normal every 2-3 days at the laundromat
-Washing once a week at the laundromat
-Hand rinsing before using the laundromat
-Hand washing and drying in the laundromat
-Hand washing and air drying
-Laundromat washing and air drying
No matter what it was either too expensive, too exhausting, or too ineffective. Once a week was just too long to wait to clean them well and they'd end up not smelling fresh, but every 2-3 days was so expensive! Plus sometimes other people's detergents and softeners would still be in the machine and then I'd have repelling and rash issues...you can see how this would start to become a head ache. So after lots of crying and lots of trying, cloth diapers and I have decided to take a small break. I feel peaceful about it, and I know it's the right decision... I still absolutely love cloth diapering and will 100% do it with mt future kids, and I still recommend it to anybody who is thinking about doing it... but for now, we're taking a small break.
I haven't packed them all up yet.
I'm still in mourning.
So that's really us in a nutshell!
Nothing overly exciting, just living the life, taking it one day at a time. :)
Be nice to people!
Love y'all!
Peace out!
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