Up this week: Teething Baby, Baltic Amber Necklaces, Summer Showers, Mysterious Rashes, Dead Batteries, New Batteries, Photo Shoot and Pioneer Hippies!
 – 1 –

 
I’m in love!  Not just with the baby.  Although I am quite smitten with her!  Her big blue eyes, big squishy cheeks, how she scrunches her nose when she laughs, how she knows who she wants at any given moment and makes it well known.  Sorry, back on track – I’m talking about the Baltic Amber Necklace!  


BabyGirl is one of the fussiest teethers I have had yet.  Bad yall.  Like wake up every hour of the night to nurse, must be held… constantly.  Fussy, fussy, fussy.  Teething tablets have been a huge help most of the time, but at night, or when they are not around, I just have to suck it up and do my best to help her deal with it.  


Until now.


A really good friend of mine makes these gorgeous necklaces (and bracelets or anklets!) for babies, children, men and woman.  Saturday night she set me up – and let me tell you.  No joke – total honestly – it was like magic!  BabyGirl went to sleep around her usual time and slept.  All.  Night.  Long.  And did it the next 4 nights!  Never, I tell you, has this EVER happened while she was teething!  Ever!  For a week before she was even waking Mr. up with her hourly fussing – and he’s the hardest sleeper ever in the history of sleepers.  Who has to get up before the roosters.  Not a good combo.  

Lifesaver!  


And Baltic amber is useful for more than just teething – migraines, joint pain, arthritis, the list goes on and on.  Seriously – try it out – I am amazed at how quickly and how well it worked for a fussy teething baby – I’m getting one because of migraines and am already thinking Christmas presents for the children. Seriously – go check out her site Beautiful Baltic Designs.com or her Face Book!  You will absolutely love them!  

– 2 –

  
I think I can speak for the entire family when I say just how thankful we have become for summer showers?  Used to hate them.  “Really – raining again?! UGH!”  Especially when we were in the Big House with the pool.  Summer showers meant more maintenance, chemicals and filtering to make it blue again.  Children had to run inside (because we don’t get ‘em without thunder and lightning).  Now we are “OH Thank You Lord for the wonderful rain that somehow takes the sweltering upper 90’s down to pleasant low 80’s within 20 minutes and makes the evenings and bedtime so much more comfortable!”  We have been blessed with a shower almost every day for the last few weeks.  I know He’s not doing it for us specifically but I will take the blessing as if it were! 

Our local weatherman posted this and I found it amazing:

This Year:
25th 86
26th 77
27th 88
28th 88
29th 88
30th 84 (as of 4pm )

 Last Year:
Same days a year ago:
25th 102
26th 103
27th 99
28th 108
29th 100
30th 111

100 degree days so far this summer: 2 days
Last summer thru Aug. 1st…………… 22 days

90 degree days so far this summer: 38 days
Last summer thru Aug. 1st…………: 65 days

Last summer was B-R-U-T-A-L yall!  This year, while an adjustment for sure, has been much more doable!  We are so thankful!

Then he had to go and drop the bomb – this winter is expected to be substantially colder than normal.  Yes, you just heard panic set in.

 – 3 –

A downside of summer is the bugs.  At night they have become the music we fall asleep to.  But something has taken up shelter inside the house.  We are not sure what it is and that is a big issue for mama when they start biting the children during the night.  Whatever it is, bit BabyGirl a few nights ago and caused a rash to spread all over her back and booty.  I’m assuming it’s the same bug that bit Mr. Littlest and caused this nastiness.

 It’s been two days and since I am out of Lavender, I have been using coconut oil and Purification.  It makes it go away for a couple of hours only to reappear and spread to new spots – all over his face, down his neck and back, arms and legs.  Thankfully, its just been splotchy like his face and not full coverage.  Next plan is to stop everything for 12 hours or so, see what happens.  And also pray Mr. can get the generator to run long enough that I can thoroughly vacuum every nook and cranny of the house!

– 4 –
Being a blogger… dead phone and laptop battery… off grid… not a good combo.  I have managed it for a year and a half.  Barely at times, but doable.  You know the usual – bribing the children with the generator and TV so I could run the laptop.  Stealing away to the truck with the inverter, where inevitably, 6 children would come running quickly.  Even if they were asleep 5 minutes before.  Blogging on the phone with its tiny and oh-so-annoying keyboard worked decent enough… until Blogger updated… twice.  Shockingly (or not), it doesn’t work now either.  A couple of weeks ago, my phone decided it was going to start fritzing.  Not holding a signal, turning off randomly – you know, doing things that make your lovely phone an expensive paperweight.  Praying a new laptop battery is in our near future.  We had two warranty batteries sent to the Country House in the City but the people there say they never came. Who knows.  Just need to suck it up and purchase one I suppose.  On the positive side – I can’t play on my phone and stay up way to late anymore!
– 5 –
While the laptop may not have a battery – we were able to score this beauty!!  

 To say we are a little excited is an understatement!  The problem with having electric power tools and no generator is no building gets done.  For 6 weeks we have basically been at a standstill unless it could be done with a handsaw and hammer and nails.  Not anymore!! 

I was excited to try them out.  The circular saw was so light I tried it out.  My first time ever using one!!  So I built the upstairs wall by the stairs.   

Glee!  Also built a frame for the futon.  Just need to do one more frame and everyone’s beds will be upstairs again.  Yay!!

– 6 –
For the first time – I publically stated we are an off grid family.  It was kind of strange.  And then it hit me.  With all the home centered stuff – homebirth, homeschooling, breastfeeding, natural treatments, homemade.  And now off grid.  And future gardens and small livestock… 
Either I am Ma Ingles or a Hippy. 
I’m not sure how I feel about that.  But I am pretty sure I’d rather be Ma Ingles.  ‘Cause when I think of Hippies I think of dreads and mud and bra burning and communes.  All of which are great in their own ways I’m sure.  But that’s not really me.  Maybe I am more like Ma.  Then I think of how strong she was, never complaining, always trudging along doing her chores that are more than I could ever imagine.  And realize I am not like her either. 
If given the two options though, she is who I wish to emulate.  Or maybe I can just be a cross – a 21st century Pioneer Hippy woman!
– 7 – 
To end this on a lighter note – photo shoot in the truck while waiting for Bou to get out of Teen Church!  In case you are wondering, yes, occasionally the baby does have clothes on.  Just not often.  It pretty much requires us to be going to church.  Hey, it’s hot and she’s a baby.  It’s like the only time in her life it is socially acceptable for her and for me.

2 thoughts on “7 Quick Takes – 8/2/2013”

  1. Love seeing your upstairs coming together! Sorry about the mystery bug. We have been riddled with wasps, spiders(big spiders), and scorpions this summer already! I started spraying spiders with wasp spray. That is how done I was with chasing them down and killing them…

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    1. I'm so excited! A couple more bed frames and everyone will be upstairs and mostly properly set up 😀 We have been fighting spiders and scorpions as well – how in the world, with all that wall and floor space, do they find the tiniest hole to squeeze in?! LOL

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