Homemade Lotion for Eczema

This is my favorite lotion for treating eczema. I have tried most over the counter lotions for Silas, and this DIY recipe has worked the best!

The ingredients are simple. Two parts raw shea butter to 1 part coconut oil. For this batch, I used 2 T of shea butter and 1 T of coconut oil. I got the shea butter from World Market and the coconut oil can be found at most grocery stores.

 Fill a pot half way with water. Double broil over medium heat until its melted.

 Once it's melted, remove the bowl and put it in the fridge for 30 min-1 hour until it starts to solidify...

 ...like this.

Then with a hand mixer, use the whisk attachment to whip into lotion consistency. 

Lastly, put it in an empty container. Baby food jars work great for this, but I just didn't have any! Enjoy!

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Asa Matthew.

When Silas was born, we literally took thousands of pictures of him! Someone told me, "Wait until you have your third, you will have a couple lines written in a journal somewhere and that will be it!" And how true those words are. But here is my attempt to document at least a little something about this pregnancy. 

I am delivering in Franklin, but after 2 ultrasounds the doctor sent me to Asheville to get a better picture of Asa's heart. We made it a family trip and brought the kids. Silas thought it was awesome seeing Asa on the screen. Lois was just concerned about what the tech was doing to me, and so she stood by the bed and held my hand most of the time, which was totally precious. The best news was that Asa's heart looked perfect! Praise the Lord!

The ultrasound tech surprised us, and gave us a 3d ultrasound, and we got to see Asa's little face!

This has been the fastest pregnancy, most likely due to Silas and Lois keeping me busy. I was nauseous the longest though, probably until about 16 weeks, and mostly at night. Have I had any cravings? Jack has made frequent trips to a local thai restaurant this pregnancy. :)

What really has made this pregnancy so special though, is how excited Silas and Lois are to have a brother. They tell Asa goodnight and give him hugs and kisses, and Silas is always very careful when he sits on my lap so that he doesn't squish Asa. It feels like Asa is already a part of our family. Only 8 more weeks until he makes his debut!

Lois turns 2.

We celebrated Lois' birthday for what felt like the whole month of May. But what two year old doesn't love weeks on end of extra attention and presents? So needless to say, Lois had a great 2nd birthday! 

Her birthday celebration started with Gram and Poppy and Aunt Nee coming to visit.

We continued the celebration at playgroup that week with some Minnie Mouse cupcakes! 

On her actual birthday, we had breakfast cupcakes, opened presents, drove to Clayton, GA to go to Chick-fila where Lois got her own ice-cream cone, and ended the day at the Fun Factory with numerous rides on the carousel.

Oh the cupcake! I took Silas to the Dollar Store so he could get Lois a birthday present. I tried to encourage him to think about things that Lois likes...like Minnie Mouse, puzzles, ect. We strolled through every aisle and there was nothing that was really sticking out to Silas....and then he locked eyes with this cupcake! And I'm sure he was thinking, "Lois loves cupcakes!" But yep, it's totally a dog toy, AND she totally loved it! :)

We ended Lois' birthday month with a trip to Amelia Island, FL to celebrate Nana's 60th birthday, and Nana and Papa couldn't help but make it a joint party!

Lois' favorites:

Color: pink

Accessory: shoes, necklaces

Song: "bom bom"... Veggie Tales Theme Song

Food: Cheese & chocolate

Pastimes: reading, playing with Silas

Sweet Boy.

Me: Silas, I love being your mom.
Silas: I love being your son.

Heart melted.

Bumgenius vs. Fuzzibunz vs. Sunbaby: Cloth Diapering Revisited.

My cloth diapering experience started out with trying 3 different brands: Sunbaby, Bumgenius, and Fuzzibunz one- size insert diapers. It's been over a year and half since I've started cloth diapering, and my thoughts have changed a little. Here's what I originally thought. And so here's the good, the bad, and the ugly dirty....in my opinion anyways. :)

Fuzzibunz One Size Elite didn't even make it a month in our home. I like how trim they were, but adjusting elastic + a squirmy baby = lots of wardrobe changes (both baby and me).

The Sunbabys are gone. Goodbye. I got rid of them months ago. Those cute fabrics just suckered me in, and $5 sounded like such a steal! It started as a few snaps here and a couple threads here, but some of them quickly started coming apart. But it was the months in and months out of changing lots of baby clothes because of diaper leaks that Sunbaby and I had to part ways.

And so, that leaves Bumgenius 4.0 (with snaps), and they are fantastic! Absorbent, yes. Easy to change, yes. Easy to clean, yes. Durable, yes. They are a bit more expensive, but when it comes to cloth diapering, I have found you get what you pay for.

It's Christmas time, oh Christmas time.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6