soap!

duggar family soap recipe
1/2 c borax
1 c washing soda
1 bar fels napth soap

grate the felsnapth soap and melt it in 4 cups of water over low heat.

this step takes a while. The smell is pretty strong.
Then add the borax and washing soda to 2 1/2 gallons warm water . Then add the felsnapth soap and stir.

Then add 2 1/2 more gallons of warm water and let it sit over night. the soap solution will gel, and next day I added another 5 gallons of water.

now I have 10 gallons of liquid laundry soap.

5/8 cups does a load of laundry!!

Crane Foundation

We went to the International Crane foundation saturday June 20th. It was free admission day!! There was also a new african crane exhibit opening that day.

We walked and the kids ran along some nature trails.

The ICF has atleast one of every type of crane in the world. It is also a refuge for the extremely rare whooping crane. A flock lives in the Necedah wildlife refuge and migrates to Florida every year.

there is a viewing area to see the Whooping Crane. We sat on benches and watched the whooping crane.

There was an african themed exhibit, it included a backdrop for pictures. We had fun there.

Reed was nearly eaten by this Hippo.

A lady from the ICF was taking pictures, and she saw our lovely children playing in this boat, and asked to take pictures of them. Perhaps she really was just testing out her camera, but I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up in a brochure.

I think they are cute enough.

Ben was also nearly eaten by a Hippo.

The International Crane Foundation was pretty fun. We will definately return to the ICF!!

secret beach

We went walking along the

Pheasant Branch Conservancy trail recently.

Our kids followed a side trail and found a 'secret beach'.

Caleb loved throwing rocks in the water. I love all of the trails around here.

Whale Baby

Reed's 2 week appointment was today!
his measurements are;
8lbs 6oz
21.5 inches
37 cm head circumference

He is only 16 days old. he started at 6 lb 14 oz and 18.5 inches,
So he has grown 3 inches and gained 1lb 8oz (1.5 oz per day).

I think this kid is getting enough to eat.

Reed's first pictures

A friend took these great pictures of Reed today.

He really is a cute little baby.

reality tv

So I spent a day and a half in a hospital recently.
I had a baby! wich meant that I spent a lot of time feeding the baby and watching TV. I haven't watched cable TV in a long time.

Here are some reviews of daytime cable television shows

"I didn't know I was pregnant"
It features dramatizations of women who only found out that they were pregnant when they were in active labor. These women supposedly gained little or no weight, and had other medical conditions to explain the usual symptoms of pregnancy. The stories are plausible, but the really great part are the dramatizations. They are way over the top and totally implausible.

Some of these stories are probably mostly true, however I think most of their case stories come from people who have some pre-existing 'psych issues'. Very dramatic.

"bringing home baby"
Reality show which shows the first few days of a family adjusting to a new baby at home. the classic conflict is mom and new mom have different ideas about taking care of the baby. This is a tired theme, but I really like it. I never tire of seeing mom and new mom passively aggressively fighting over how to take care of kids.
I also love how there is a staged neighborhood "welcome baby" party in nearly every episode. Maybe we will have a "welcome baby" party for our new kid.

"A baby story"
Chronicles the pregnancy and birth of a baby.
Freak factor; often features crazy people who want to use tai chi and power meditation to facilitate childbirth. (no offense to those tai chi childbirth instructors out there)
Why I like it: I like baby stories. Everyone likes baby stories.
I am always shocked by how many people are invited to the birth, what interesting things people try e.g. water birth, home birth in a wading pool, etc. What I need to remember is that the personality type that wants to be on a reality TV show is unconventional in other ways, and is by definition going to have an interesting story.
They don't feature my birth story because I am normal. No one wants normal. The interesting people make the great TV.

"adoption story"
I love that this was given a show. Adoption is a complicated and can be a beautiful process. I was touched by the story of the adoptive couple. Also, the heartache of the birth parents is addressed. The few episodes I saw were pretty good.
I would like to see more of this show, and I really don't have any criticism.

the little couple
looks like a spinoff of the popularity of little people big world . a young couple, 4ft and 3'2", shows that they are like everyone else. they go to the gym, make friends, shop for a house, etc. they really are normal they are just short. my favorite part: the wife shops for shows in the little girls' section (size 11). why do I like this show? I don't know but it is fun.

cake boss
Some tough italian family runs a bakery. Think a cross between the sopranoes, hells kitchen and Martha stewart. I like it when the guy in charge gets mad at everyone for not working fast enough and throws a fit. I think that baking and decorating cakes is not so manly, so he has to yell a lot to assert himself as the alpha male. It also makes a TV show out of what would otherwise be a silly show. It is a setup, but I liked it anyways.

Random sidenote:
There was some sort of cattle auction on TV for an entire morning. Do people call in and bid?! why was this on TV? I didn't get it but eventually I got bored enough that I would check in on the price of the herd. Maybe this is to appeal to old farmers. I think that they would enjoy a reality cattle auction show.

so now I am back home with my broadcast tv. If I ever have to be bedridden I will just get cable. it is very addicting.

Reed Robert Van Horn

Reed Robert Van Horn was born June 2nd at 4:20 am. He was 18.5 inches long, and 6 lbs 14 oz.

The labor story.....

So The due date was may 31, and I reall yhtought that I would have him by that date. The Doctor said "wow, you should have this kid any day now"

I had contractions everyday, but they went away when I rested, and they didn't progress.

So June 1st, We needed to go buy some groceries. And I was having light contractions that could easily be confused with simple back pain due to laundry, sitting in an uncomfortable chair, or carrying children, or my morning walks. However I really wanted to bein labor, but I really didn't want to go to the hospital and be sent home so I told Ben,

10pm

"Let's go shopping, if the contractions do not go away I will go to the hospital"

I had one set on 5 minute apart contractions, so we went straight to the hospital.

11pm I reluctantly enter the hospital thinking that my light contractions are probably a false alarm and that I will be sent home.

12am

The hospital said probably I wasn't really in labor just yet, the contractions were 8-10 minutes apart and not painful. Also, the baby was really high. So they had me walk around the hospital for 2 hours then get rechecked.

1am

Ben and I walk around the hospital for a while when contractions are suddenly 3 minutes apart, lasting one minute, and were so painful I couldn't walk. We barely made it back to the materrnity floor, when my water broke and I got admitted.

1:15am

I had initially said something about maybe wanting an epidural, but since the real contractions started I quickly made sure everyone knew that I really really wanted an epidural as quickly as possible.

1:45am epidurals are great. I have had 3 other kids, and these contractions hurt more than anything I remember.

4:00am

My contractions are somehow uneven, they are strong but not consistent. I can't really tell, but I get some extra monitors. Then they figure out that I am just progressing really fast.

4:20am

Reed Robert Van Horn is born!!!

The cord is wrapped twice around his neck, also his lungs are wet. He gets suctioned out right away and is fine.

6lbs 14 oz

18.5 inches long

light brown hair

For some reason I recovered from this delivery really fast. Probably because I had Benjamin at the hospital with me, and my inlaws taking care of my kids at home so I could sit around and rest. Reed is a great little baby