Why I Wash w/ Shaving Cream...

Okay, first let me start off by saying, NO...it isn't the kind you buy at the store!  Now, why do I wash with my Homemade Shaving Cream?  Because it smells freaking awesome!  And...why not?  I mean it's only four ingredients, the first of which is shampoo.  As mentioned in my last post, I make my Shaving Cream/Lotion with Shampoo, conditioner, Lotion, and Coconut Oil...that's it!  Some have said that they get a lovely lather from the recipe I follow (and passed on to you all in my last post), but I do not...I get a white, sorta thick fluid that quickly disappears into my skin!  But, oh...it makes my skin feel so good!

This is more information regarding my breasts than the "average" reader needs, but here it is anyway.  Since becoming regnant, my boobs have drastically changed...I'm talking, shape, size, color...the works!  So, one day after making a fresh batch of the shaving cream I was taking a shower (and shaving my legs for no good reason other than to be able to use my shaving cream again) and I got to thinking about the ingredients in it...I use a Vitamin E Lotion and at the time, was using Organic Coconut Oil, sounded good enough to me to help ease some of the "tightness" I was feeling in my chest...if nothing else, it smelled good and gave me a slippery/smooth feeling while I rubbed the tender areas!

I still don't get a lather (at all), but I now enjoy the scent of my homemade shaving cream/lotion nearly every shower by also using it as a body wash as well!  It doesn't take a lot either, I use about 2 teaspoons worth to wash with (I use double or triple that to shave each leg)!  My little 3-ounce shower bottle lasts me well over a week, in fact, I have about half of it left as of today's shower!  Somehow in the making of the last batch, I made 8-ounces of shampoo and another 8-ounces of conditioner, plus 2-ounces each of lotion and coconut oil turn into about 30-ounces of shaving cream too...so it isn't like I'm going to run out any time soon!  Even if I manage to work it up to using 3-ounces a week, I still have about 2.5 months worth of yummy smelling cream to go!

But, in other news around the house...

Look at my belly!  But, please...don't look into my messy office or the super bright bathroom...just check me out! I got the dress I'm wearing there before our trip to Las Vegas last January (that feels like a lifetime ago now), it fit a little big at the time, but it hung really well and was long enough I didn't feel like I was going to be flashing anyone.  The floral part is sheer with a black "slip" lining under it, the lining is fitting me very snugly these days though...the legging are to keep my big 'ol thighs from rubbing together and causing other "issues", but I think they look okay.

Recently, since my birthday is coming up and I sign up for every freebie I possibly can, I have gotten a slew of emails offering me "free stuff" since I'm turning old(er).  Last night I enjoyed a free dinner at IHOP, not the "best" option for my Diabetes, but I don't kill my diet too often.  I got a free "Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity", basically it's 2 eggs, 2 bacon, 2 sausage, and 2 pancakes topped with your choice of Strawberries, Blueberries, or Apples.  Each fruit is really just pie filling dumped on top, I get mine with the fruit on the side, so I can indulge in the Butter Pecan syrup (mostly) and then eat just a little of the sweet fruit.  We had to pay for drinks and Garrick's meal (of course), but we did save the $6.99 that my meal cost.

Also on the "meal plan" this week is a stop into an old favorite (that isn't a favorite anymore since they closed down the location nearest our home), Perkins.  I have a free meal coupon for there too...2 eggs, 2 bacon or sausage links, and 3 pancakes.  I also have (but will most likely not use) coupons for a free shake at Arby's, a BOGO deal at Aunt Annie's Pretzels, and a free cone at Ben & Jerry's.  These ones don't get used often (or ever for some) because they just aren't "worth" it to us.  Aunt Annie's is in the mall, but we've never tried them, B&J is across town and is a free ice cream cone really worth the $3-4 it would cost to park downtown?

What is always worth the free coupon (and a special trip out to get it) is the BOGO deal I get from Coldstone Creamery on my birthday!  Yes, we got the huge sized cups...but for the extra $0.40 it costs to go from a medium to the large size, each cup makes 3 or so treat servings for us...worth the extra change I think, especially since this beauty on the right was absolutely free!  What did I get though?  Well...I got a Cheesecake Fantasy, but instead of Blueberries, I got fresh Raspberries, and instead of Strawberries, I got Whipped Cream!  So, what I ended up with was Cheesecake flavored ice cream, graham cracker pie crust crumbles, raspberries, and whipped topping...can we say "yummy raspberry cheesecake with a load of whipped cream all tossed in the blender to make a tasty baby" in unison now?  I ate the cup almost level with the top, popped a lid on it and it is now chilling in the chest freezer downstairs!  That was not dinner though....oh, no! 

Dinner was a new "experiment" for us.  We tried out Five Guys for dinner!  If you have one of these near you...you must go try them out!  It's like Subway...but with burgers!  I got a "little cheeseburger" (one meat patty) with Mayo, Lettuce, Grilled Onions, Grilled Mushrooms, and BBQ Sauce...it was the best burger I have had in quite some time!  Garrick got his cheeseburger (2 meat patties) with just Mayo and BBQ Sauce, he doesn't like any "veggies".  We also got sodas...they have those new "fancy" Coke dispensers that have all the flavors you can add and a bazillion choices to start with (okay, the thingy says it makes over 200 flavor combos), including at least SIX diet choices!  Gone are the days of not having any choice if you had to drink diet soda! 

 As a side note here, I can remember as a kid not wanting to eat at McDonald's because the only drink option I had was Diet Coke (which I hated then, but prefer now) or water.  I swore when I was younger that "someday" I was going to open a restaurant that served only diet drinks with Coke (or Pepsi or RC for all I cared) as the only sugared soda.

So, I happily filled my cup with Diet Barq's Root Beer and Garrick got Diet Coke.  We've found that we really do not like the extra flavorings they offer, though it was nice to try Sprite Zero (otherwise known as Diet Sprite) with Grape and Orange Flavorings (separately)...and a few other combos, I just wasn't feeling that adventurous with my beverage choice this evening.  Then, it was off to sit at a table and await our fresh cooked burgers while enjoying a pile of in-the-shell peanuts!  I don't know why, but places that offer these are always some of our favorite places to eat...there used to be a lpace in Bend Oregon that we loved...they gave you a giant bucket of peanuts and just swept the shells onto the floor (which they swept nightly), it was always so much fun to go there and eat peanuts and dump the shells right on the floor...taking kids there was even fun because you didn't have to worry about them making a huge mess...it was part of the "charm" of the place!  They also served super strong "adult" beverages in mason jars.  But, back to tonight's story...Five Guys is most definitely going to be a place we go again...they don't serve a lot of "choices" as far as the food goes, but it was perfect for dinner!

My tomato plants are nearly as tall as me...I may or may not have mentioned this before.  I even had to go out and by longer plant stakes to help support them!  Each plant now sports a 60-inch bamboo stake along with the cages and shorter stakes.  Well, all of the ones I bought and planted are...the one Garrick bought me (that was much large and more established when I got it) is only as tall as the tomato cage, but it is loaded with small tomatoes!  Some are almost ready to be picked and eaten too!  They aren't very big...about the size of a golf ball maybe, but they look so good, I cannot wait to eat them!

We really haven't been "using" our garden (as it were) much this year...heck, the BBQ is still in the process of being cleaned and we haven't used it yet this year!  But, we do plan on getting that finished up (tomorrow hopefully), as we have hot dogs and our favorite Summer recipe, Fiery "skewered" Shrimp on the menu!  For the Shrimp, I use our Pineapple Sage (a lot of it) and then barbeque them in a grill basket, way easier than soaking skewers, threading the shrimp, carefully turning the skewers, prying you don't lose any of those yummy shrimps to the bowels of hell (otherwise known as "where good food goes to waste") if it falls through the BBQ...much easier to give the basket a few good shakes and wait for all those shrimps to be ready to be inhaled by us!  Even our nephews like this one (the oldest one or two anyway)!  They like shrimp though...  We buy the smaller shrimp because we don't have to thread them on skewers...saved us about $5 for an equal sized bag at Costco...we got 31-40's (shrimps per pound) instead of (18-24's or something like that)!  All it really means is more tails to give the chickens!  Get them raw though if you plan to BBQ them...don't want pre-cooked ones here!  Also, get them peeled...it saves you a lot of hassle and the meat gets more of the flavor from the marinade!  (I have posted this recipe before, but will likely do so again later this week after I cook up this batch.)

In all things "baby related"...

I think I've settled on a "look" for our nursery!  I've been struggling to find an affordable set, I know it isn't something we "need", but an overall theme/look is something I "want"!  Way back before we knew we were having a boy, I had settled on the idea of Sage and Brown as a color scheme, whether our little one was a girl or a boy, and I really haven't let that go...too much!  We did buy a "nursery in a box on Friday night that only came in Cherry colored wood (not so hot next to brown room decor in my opinion), so I have spent the weekend looking for bedding sets that compliment the wood color.  To my surprise, a lot of the brown themed sets were displayed with cherry wood and they don't look too bad!  But, the set I currently like the most is less brown and more green anyway.  The set is a 13-piece set, but does not come with the bumper...and costs $82.  The bumper (that's in the photo) is another $20, but I can easily just add the "breathable mesh" kind for $21 (all prices reflect walmart.com prices as of last night when I was looking)...it's a safer choice and I can get it in Sage green as well.  It isn't the "cutest" option, but safety wins I think!

I have "graduated" into nursing bras....darned under-wires were causing all sorts of issues that no one ever tells you about before you get pregnant (or after for that matter)!  Giving up my under-wire was hard to do....mostly because I've grown so big (I am now too large to fit my G-cups) that I cannot find anything locally!  I did manage to find Bravado Nursing Bras in their Double Plus style at Diapers.com though!  What a life saver those are!  Sadly, they only carry them in a sports bra style (hello to a few years of nothing but uni-boob), but at least I'm not in pain anymore!  The XL size in the Double Plus fits 42-46 E-G...they don't tell you that on the website, that's what the packaging says.  I would not have thought to try them if it hadn't been for a lovely woman who wrote a review on the website and stated that she was in an F-cup prior to becoming pregnant!  The bra really offers zero support and pretty much just barely keeps my boobs from going wherever they please, but it is better than nothing!

Lastly, we may have a name for our little man!  Of course, that changes on a weekly basis, but this one just feels "right", so we shall see...  We aren't going to be sharing our final name choice with anyone though...until he's born.