Twice the Speed of Life

Ever feel like life is happening all around you and you are just struggling to hang on and keep up?  That's how I feel right now.  More often than not I am feeling like I am knees buckled, white knuckled, holdin' on tight, traveling at twice the speed of life (Yea, yea, yeah, yeah....)
And to be quite honest, I don't like it.  We've always said we want to be committed to simplicity in our family.  And in one sense our move to Rock Hill has emboidied this goal well.  Our church is less than 1/4 mile from our house (also where Chris has an office), campus is a mile from our house, and my new job is 2 miles from the house.  We work and play primarily within 5 miles of our home- it is wonderful.  However, on the other hand we are learning that in order to protect "family time" we are going to have to be better about saying no as well as give some things up.  We can't do it all.  A lot of things are fun and good, but we have to evaluate each opportunity in relation to our priorities- which are first of all God, second of all our marriage, and third our family and children.

Notice what is not in that list (that easily become priorites for me)- having a clean house, having my cloth diapers washed and stuffed, meal planning, cooking a fresh-from sctrach meal each night (of course with organic vegetables), oh and the blog.  Yep, all things I've had to take a step back from and realize how they are in and of themselves good and fun, but I'm not super mom and I can't do it all.

Last week I found myself getting frustrated with Chris because I was wanting to write a blog post (which by the way I feel like I have tons of good ideas for but just not enough time to execute) after I got the kids down and dinner cleaned up.  He was out with students for the evening, but ended up geting home earlier than anticipated.  I should have been happy to see and spend time with my husband.  Yet, I found myself frustrated (at him) because I was wanting to finish said blog post which I had no chance to do earlier in the day, or the day before, or the day before that- and he was wanting to hangout.  That's when I realized I needed to take a break. Life is busy- probably twice the speed it should be.  I have a 25 month old and a 6 month old- they require A LOT of time and attention.  People say that it gets easier, but honestly right now I feel like we are in the trenches.  AND I am starting a new job this week- so schedules are about to get even crazier.
I'm having to learn to let some things go.  I can't have it all and do it all.  I just can't.  So we are stepping back from several things in order re-prioritize each other and our kids.  That means I won't be blogging as much and I won't be co-hosting this hop.  (Which by the way has some exciting changes coming up!!!)  I would love to when I can, but I feel like it has become more of a burden lately and taking away from my actual relationships that I have made covenantal commitments to.

Do you struggle with time management and finding quality time to spend with your spouse and children?  How do you juggle it all?  Is it just me or does blogging as an outlet sometimes become more of a burden at times?

<div align="center"> <a href="http://goteambowen.blogspot.com" title="Mommy Mondays" target="_blank"><img src="http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz178/rachelblate/mommymondayshopbuttonnew_zpsbabc0819.png" alt="Mommy Mondays" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

BIG NEWS!!

Due to the recent increase in other blogs having Mommy Mondays Hops, we have decided to make a few changes around here!  First of all, we are changing the hop's name to "Time for Mom" with the tag line "Share and Connect Every Tuesday."  We also have a fabulous, awesome new button, which we will share with you guys next week! (If you're on our email list or like us on Facebook you will get a sneak peek at the new button!)

As you can see, the other big change is that we are moving the hop to Tuesdays!

The idea of the hop is staying the same, share anything you want about being a mom, parenting, family, your kids, crafts for kids, recipes for kids etc!

New name, new day, same great hop!

Homemade Baby Wipes

There's nothing wrong with commercial baby wipes, but sometimes I just like to make my own.  I like to know exactly what ingredients are in them AND they're cheap!  Can't beat that!

All you need are: Roll of Bounty Paper Towels * (we prefer the regular roll- not select a size) Baby Wash Baby Oil Water Container to store them in  (I just happened upon this OXO container at Target a year and a half ago or so)

1. Cut your roll of paper towels in half.  (This takes some sawing and a little bit of muscle)

2. Mix 2 cups of water, 1 1/2 Tbls baby wash and 1 Tbls of baby oil in storage container

3. Add paper towels

4. Cover and turn upside down to allow water mixture to soak paper towels

5. Leave upside down until thoroughly soaked.  (I have no idea how long this takes.  I normally make my in the evening and leave them overnight.  Although I am sure it doesn't really take this long)

6. Turn over and pull out paper towel roll  (It easily comes right out)

7.  Begin pulling your new wipes from the middle of the roll.  

Voila!  Homemade baby wipes!

I've been making these wipes for over a year now- probably close to two years, and we love them!  That's not to say I never use commercial wipes- I do.  Costco brand wipes are always at our disposable, but I prefer these if I have them made.

*We started out using the select-a-size paper towels and my husband just thought that they weren't big enough to get some of the dirty jobs done, so now we use standard size paper towel rolls.

Cloth Diapering for Two

Cloth Diapering for two = Double the laundry.  We had a great stash of cloth diapers for Phoebe (that were given as a shower gift), but only received one more diaper at a shower for Haddie Grace.  So we've been cloth diapering two with a cloth diaper stash for one.  But you know what, we are making it work.  We have 18 diapers, so in order to exclusively cloth diaper it means that I have to wash them every day.  Phoebe goes through about six in a day and Haddie Grace goes through maybe 8-10.
There are lots of different brands and types of diapers out there.  After doing some research, we choose to  use bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diapers.  The snaps allow you to change the size of the diaper to fit babies from 7-35lbs.  So I use the same diapers for both babies and just adjust the size by the snaps for each child.

Go back here to read more about our decision to cloth diaper and how we handled it with just one baby. What does all this mean with two children in diapers?  It means I don't exclusively cloth diaper anymore.  I am normally pretty good about getting the diapers washed and stuffed every day or every other day, but if I miss a day and have to put them in disposables, I don't worry about.  Let's face it, having two kids under two is busy and you don't always have time to wash and stuff diapers.  We choose to cloth diaper mainly to save money on diapers, but also to reduce landfill waste. So I figure whenever we can use the cloth we are saving money, and when we use disposables, I don't feel bad about it.

With one baby I did exclusively cloth diaper.  I had no problems using the cloth diapers when we were out and about.  I would just toss the dirty diapers in a wet bag and we were good to go.  I had no problems with Phoebe's diapers leaking.  When she started sleeping through the night and drinking more, I used hemp inserts to absorb the extra urine.  In fact at two years old she still sleeps overnight in a cloth diaper.  Haddie Grace, however, is another story.  She started rolling over and sleeping on her belly when she was three months old and I started having problems with leaking overnight and during naps that the hemp liners did not solve.  I guess she just pees more?  I have no idea, but I do put her in disposables for naps and overnight now.
We recently were given this bumGenius poop sprayer as a gift and let me tell you- it is AWESOME. (Thanks Lesley!)  It has transformed the way we handle diaper doodie.  It is certainly not a necessity to cloth diaper, but it does make life a little easier when those messy doodies explode beyond the confines of the diaper liner...

So what does cloth diapering for two look like?  More laundry and more dirty diapers.  It certainly is more work, but it is do-able.  Don't be discouraged!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://goteambowen.blogspot.com" title="Mommy Mondays" target="_blank"><img src="http://i825.photobucket.com/albums/zz178/rachelblate/mommymondayshopbuttonnew_zpsbabc0819.png" alt="Mommy Mondays" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

{WIWW} Job Interview

I've been looking and applying for jobs since before we moved.  (I know who looks for jobs when they have a 6 week old?)  After multiple frustrations and just not hearing anything back, I was starting to get a little anxious.  But in God's perfect timing (as all things are) I heard back from the director of women's services at the local hospital last Friday and went in yesterday for an interview.
By trade, I'm a hospital nurse- we typically don't dress professionally on a daily basis.  And more than that I've been a SAHM for almost 6 months.  I don't dress professionally for that at all.  With a 25 month old and a 5 month old, I typically am doing well to get a shower and feed myself.
Anyhow, here's what I wore...

Shirt- Anthropoligie (very old)

Skirt- Loft (old)

Belt- Loft (old)

Shoes- BCGC (old courtesy of DSW)

(Yep, everything is old.  How do you shop with a 25 month old and 5 month old? And how do you find money to spend on clothes when you don't have a job?) 

Would you hire me?

Seriously, just give me the offer already...

Linking up with The Pleaded Poppy, Random Wednesdays, and I Feel Pretty

Mommy Monday- A Day in the Life

<div align="center"> <a <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">href</span>="http://<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">goteambowen</span>.<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">blogspot</span>.com" title="Mommy Mondays" target="_blank"><<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">img</span> <span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">src</span>="http://i825.<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">photobucket</span>.com/albums/zz178/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">rachelblate</span>/<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">mommymondayshopbuttonnew</span>_zpsbabc0819.<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">png</span>" alt="Mommy Mondays" style="border:none;" /></a></div>



Or really I should say Mommy Monday Fail.  
A day in my life looks like an incomplete "to-do" list.  Take this blog post for example... Rachel, Krystal and I were excited to host the first ever themed Mommy Monday post!  And I had intentions of gathering my photos to show you "a day in the life" of our house.  But it is now Monday afternoon and that did not happen.  
So thanks for linking up.  I will enjoy reading your posts, just know that most of my days end with me not completing something that I was hoping to accomplish- like this blog post. Come back next week and link up any mommy post!  I promise that I will drop the ball on something next Monday, but it won't be my blog post.