No 'Poo

Have you heard of the "no 'poo method"?  It's a haircare routine that uses NO shampoo or conditioner. Various words may pop into your head.  Probably along the lines of: what, gross, dirty, stinky, etc.  But guess what?  Turns out it's pretty awesome.

I used the same measurements and method found here.  She has links and some great information on the how and the why of cleaning your hair without shampoo.  I use vinegar every single time, and I use more of that because my hair tends to be drier and the vinegar is an amazing smoother and detangler.  I can tell you that my hair does not smell dirty, it definitely does not smell like vinegar.  It has no smell at all!

I'm 2 weeks in, my hair is happy and healthy and manageable.  I used to have to use mousse or hairspray constantly to control flyaways, but now a little water on the tips of my fingers smooths it down just fine.  I haven't gotten to that point yet, but if I get desperate I think a TINY amount of coconut oil would fix everything.  So my recommendation is: give it a try!!  It can't hurt anything, and it's very cheap (or, if you're like me and have baking soda and apple cider vinegar on hand, it's free!!).  What do you have to lose?  Except for the expensive products.

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M is a walker!!

I can proudly say my little girl is walking :)  She's not zooming across the room on her two legs quite yet, but she is getting very close and taking more and more steps every day.  10 months and 5 days old (C was 10 1/2 months, she had to show him up). I'm so proud of her, she is so cute on her chubby little legs!  Here's a video!

I love how proud she is at the end and she claps for herself.  

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Family Changes

Our family has been going through a lot of changes lately.  Everything has been confusing and up in the air, and still is a little bit, but we have a few answers.  Maybe. 

At the end of August, C was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  He's tested as very age-appropriate or advanced in the areas of fine and gross motor skills, physical development, etc., but his communication was behind.  At the age of 2 he was almost silent most of the time.  Very few words, no babbling, no repeating, and he didn't seem to understand much of what we were saying.  We've been doing speech and behavior therapy, and he has been on a gluten free diet for about a month now.  He has made HUGE strides with both talking and understanding.  We're constantly amazed at how quickly he's progressing.  He's babbling like crazy, talking much more, putting together 2-word sentences, and repeating everything like a little parrot.  It's so exciting and awesome! 

We're trying to get ABA therapy, which is a more intense behavior therapy program (10-20 hours a week), but of course insurance is a hurdle so we're working on that issue at the moment.  Soon we will be getting him evaluated through the school district, their special needs program starts at age 3, so we're preparing for the possibility of C starting school next year (eeek!!). 

M is getting so big!!  She is cruising all over the place and has taken a couple steps by herself, but is still afraid to let go of the couch or wall or toy that she's holding onto to try and walk on her own..  She is so sweet and happy and friendly, and will be 10 months old tomorrow!!  I can't believe it. 

Some days I go a little crazy with both of them getting into everything and constantly under my feet, but they also make me smile every single day.  They are so funny and sweet and awesome, it balances out the frustration.  You can see pics to the right in my Instagram feed :)



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S'Mores Cupcakes... kinda

I've felt like baking lately.  I thought the idea of a s'mores cupcake sounded amazing, so I mixed and matched a few different ideas I found on Pinterest.  Verdict?  Semi-fail.  I thought I'd use this chocolate cupcake recipe, add marshmallows like this for a marshmallow center, and use this stablilized whipped cream recipe (with graham cracker crumbs added) for the frosting.

I didn't take any pictures right out of the oven, but it wasn't pretty.  I overfilled the liners so there was cupcake everywhere and then the marshmallow centers that had puffed up so nicely during baking collapsed so they were all sunken in and complete disasters.  It was ugly.  But, also yummy!  The graham cracker whipped cream frosting was amazingly delicious.  AMAZING, I tell you!  I wanted to just lick it out of the bowl.  Then... I tried to pipe it on the cupcakes to camouflage the ugly, but apparently my piping tips were too small and that didn't work out too well either.  So, they're ugly.  Really ugly.  But also so, so yummy!  I guess I'll just need to keep practicing until I can get them right :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I used the whipped cream recipe and once it was whipped I added a cup of graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full crackers run through my food processor) and mixed until it was just combined.  YUM!  I'm not a fan of cream cheese frostings, so I'm excited to try all different variations of this recipe.

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August is Busy

I've totally been slacking on exercises (surprise, surprise, right?).  But, M is pulling up on everything and I'm sure will be cruising any day now, she has TWO teeth (came in just a few days apart), and is just getting super mobile and active, which is keeping me on my toes constantly.

C loves loves LOVES swimming and is completely fearless.  We have to make sure he has floaties or a vest on any time we're at a pool because he will just jump into the deep end no problem.  He's doing really well, kicking and can almost swim on his own, but not quite.  He doesn't care if he goes underwater or anything, he just loves the water.  It's gotten to the point where he spends most of the day wearing a floatie (usually just one, lol) because he finds it and brings it to me to put on him.  It's pretty hilarious.

I've added a way to share pictures with my blog more easily.  If you look to the right ---> on the sidebar, I have a slideshow feed of my Instagram pictures.  So I can upload pictures of the kids on my phone, and it shows up here!  How convenient!

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August Ab Challenge

Ok, I'll admit, I'm not doing too well with this ab challenge.  BUT, I am being more active, which is good, right?  We've gone swimming 3 times this week, which has been a ton of fun (not to mention a great way to burn a ton of calories!).  C is fearless, jumping into the water and trying to swim on his own even though he can't yet.  We have to keep floaties on him at all times at the pool because he will go in without us!  Of course we're working very hard on safety and making him wait until an adult is in the water, but he is just so excited!

I plan on swimming at least once these next few days, maybe twice (unfortunately I'm confined to my husband's days off since I'm not willing to brave the pool with 2 littles by myself).  The good news is, I've lost 2 more pounds, and am down 16 pounds total!  It's so encouraging to see the numbers going down, and it really helps me make better choices every day.

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August Ab Challenge; day 16

Ok so yesterday (the 16th) I didn't do the specific ab-targeted exercises I've been working on, but we did go to the pool with the kids for 4 hours, so I'd say I got my exercise in, lol.  And today my shoulder and ribs are sore on one side because M spent the entire 45 min drive home from book club crying because she was overtired and refusing to sleep.  So I was reaching around to the seat directly behind me to try and stroke her face to calm her down, while keeping my eyes on the road and still driving carefully.  Bodies aren't supposed to bend that way, FYI.  Overall it was an ok day; hot sun and lots of swimming, while fun, led to some overtired, exhausted, cranky children, but in the end everyone fell asleep at a decent time and all was well.

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