A Little Bit of Nesting.

First off, I must say THANK YOU for the wonderful response to the Looms for Love project!

The girls are so excited to see so many other children want to get involved! We have stocked up on the elastic bands needed and nearly every afternoon, the three older girls are creating new bracelets for the orphans of Mozambique … it’s just wonderful to know so many people have a heart to help others!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

If anyone has questions regarding Looms for Love, just add them in the comments or email me and I will respond with answers. Can’t wait to see this all come together!

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While at my midwife appointment last week, she asked if I was getting ready for the baby …. you know, nesting stage and all that fun stuff. It’s incredible how things change from the first baby to the … well, the sixth baby, in our family’s case … I feel so relaxed in many ways, knowing all this baby needs will be his or her momma (and daddy), loving arms to hold the baby, warm blankets and lots of time for nursing … I feel no huge rush to get anything overly ‘ready’ – I’ve not purchased anything (if it is a boy, I will need to purchase some clothes, that is for sure) except for a few more cloth diapers  …

{The pink is from the last few newborns, but we have added yellow and green to our collection. It will work either way, whether a boy or girl.}

Who doesn’t love a good stash of fantastic, bright and clean cloth diapers, ready for your baby? Ahhh, I just love it!

I guess I’m nesting in some other ways – like stashing up our homemade wipes …

I haven’t bought wipes in years – we just use wash cloths now. I used to use paper towel until I cut those out from our shopping lists, as well. I feel the wash cloths are much more resourceful, healthy and thrifty on a budget. And really, you just use and wash and restock your diaper wipes case with the clean wash cloths. It’s very simple.

{To make your wipes, fill a glass bowl with about 1/2 cup of warm water and add in a squirt of Baby-Mild Organic Castile Soap along with a just a few drops of teatree oil and that’s it. Mix and dip your wash cloths into the mixture to dampen them. Store in your wipes case or another container. I find I use up our stash weekly so the wipes do not sit and mold. The teataree oil is antifungal as well as antiseptic and will slow the growth of mold. I personally love the smell of it, as well!}

Another way I’ve been preparing for baby is making sure the freezer is stocked up with things like ready-to-go cookies … because with five children, a little afternoon snack is always needed, not to mention when friends visit, it’s nice to have a quick easy way to please the children.

So, to ensure I have a stacked freezer of cookies, I’ve been doubling or tripling my cookie batches, preparing them on Saturday when I have more chunks of time  in the morning for baking.  Simply roll out the dough as you would for individual cookies, place them on the cookie sheet and pop them into the freezer for a few minutes.

This will harden your cookies quickly. After about eight minutes, pull out your cookie sheet and pop your frozen, ready-to-bake cookies into a ziploc baggie. Store in the freezer and there you go! Ready to bake at a moment’s notice …!

We have done gingersnaps, chocolate chip and this week, we made up a big, tasty batch of Redneck Cookies.

This, to me, is nesting, I guess. It’s quite satisfying and wonderful to know that a newborn baby needs way less than commercials or any baby magazine or blog may have to suggest … all this baby needs is love, love love! And it will receive it, trust me! We are all looking forward to having a new baby in the house again.

P.S. I have blogged this recipe before but I am going to put it up again – because we love it that much!

Redneck Cookies

2 cups of oats

2 cups  of flour

1 tsp  of baking powder

1 tsp -baking soda

1/2 tsp -salt

1/2 cup – shredded coconut

Mix all dry ingredients together and set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix with electric mixer until fluffy:

1 cup of butter at room temp.

1 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup  of white sugar

2 Tbsp of honey

2 tsp vanilla

Beat In:

2 eggs

Mix the wet ingredients with the dry.

Fold In:

1 cup of chocolate chips
and optional:

1 cup – White Chocolate Chips

1 cup – Chopped Pecans or Walnuts

 Bake at 350  for 10 minutes.
Enjoy!