favorite baby items... 6-9mos.

i cannot believe that my little guy is 9 months old! it's crazy how this first year keeps trekking along. it won't be long now and we will be having a first birthday party!

i have to say, i think this 6-9 month stage has been my favorite so far! :) malachi has been developing so quickly and every week we have some new big accomplishment. it's been so fun to watch him figure things out and seem to understand more of what is going on around him. and with that understanding has come a BIG personality! he is such a ham and will let you know just what he does or does not like. so when he likes something he really likes it but when he doesn't like something he really doesn't like it. he is hot or cold. sometimes this is amusing to jeff and i but sometimes it is beyond frustrating to try and figure out what it is he doesn't like.

so all that to say, these are some of malachi's favorites for the 6-9 month stage. and of course, some of my favorites as well ;)

- MAM pacis

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malachi still loves his pacis and i love them for comforting him at times when i can't. we have moved up to the biggest size and so we'll see how long this paci thing lasts. these pacis are malachi's favorite!

 -  a good sippy cup

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as we started to feed baby food to malachi we also started working on using a sippy cup. this cup made it so nice for us because it has a soft spout, which a lot of babies prefer as they learn to use a cup. and the handles make it easy for malachi to hold himself. he can't quite get his hands around a cup and hold it, so the handles really help with this. this particular cup is the nuby brand, but really you just need to find one that your child prefers and stick with that.

 - a good highchair or booster seat

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we decided when we were putting together our baby registry that we were not going to get a highchair, at least not until we thought that we needed one. and honestly, we haven't missed it. we fed malachi in the bumbo for a few months and then when he started to get bigger and more active and was able to sit up on his own well i felt like it was time for something with buckles. so we have been using this for the last 2 months and have loved it! it straps right to a regular chair, it's compact and super easy to clean. and the tray has been really nice as we have been working on self-feeding. really, you just need someplace to put your baby as you feed them. but might i convince you that you really don't need a big bulky highchair taking up space and looking ugly in your kitchen? we haven't missed one at all!

- baby food grinder

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this is probably my all-time favorite baby item (at least so far)! i absolutely love it! i take it everywhere with me, use it multiple times a day and it is so easy to clean. once we moved past the "puree everything" stage of eating i have been using this little thing like crazy. it has been the best $10 i ever spent :) and now that malachi is pretty much eating everything we eat it makes it so easy to feed him. i just take what we are eating and run it through the grinder really quickly and voila! it's baby food! i can take it with me if we are going out, it's super compact, and then malachi can eat off my plate or whatever. no need to carry jars of baby food around anymore, just my grinder. i LOVE this thing!

- robeez shoes

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yet again the robeez shoes make my list. i love these shoes! my MIL bought these for malachi for christmas and there have not been too many days when he has not worn them since christmas. they are the easiest shoes to get on and off of a baby and they are so soft, so malachi doesn't even act like he has anything on his feet. i'm pretty sure he will be in robeez-type shoes until he is old enough to help me get his shoes on!

- sophie the giraffe

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you might remember from my christmas posts that we bought malachi Sophie for christmas and he has loved her ever since. he loves the squeaky noises and chewing on her. whenever he hears her squeak he gets a huge grin on his face and starts to laugh - it's so cute! i highly recommend this fun toy for all babies!

- baltic amber teething necklace

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this little thing has been so helpful during the teething process. i get asked all the time - "do you really think it works?" and my answer - "who knows?!? but it doesn't hurt anything for him to wear it!" so honestly, i have no idea if it makes any difference for his comfort level but i figure it doesn't hurt anything, so why not! we haven't had to use any tylenol or orajel while malachi has teethed and so i am very pleased with that. if this necklace has had any part in not using medication then it has paid for itself!  the basic idea is that the baby wears it around his neck and the amber is supposed to release little bits of oil when heated by the body heat that are then absorbed into the skin and act as a natural pain reliever. the closer to the source of pain the better it is supposed to work, so that's why the neck is best - closest to the mouth. the baby DOES NOT chew on the necklace, he just wears it. i think it has been a great thing to try and we'll keep letting him wear it while he is teething.

this 6-9 month stage has been so fun! these are some of my (and malachi's) favorite items that have made this stage so fun and so memorable!

until next time,

love from the mixon house!

make your own butter...

recently i made my own butter for the first time and it was SO easy, i don't know why it took me so long to try!

i first saw instructions here involving your stand mixer but my friend recently told me about a much easier way to do it if you're not making a lot. so all you need is -

heavy cream (i prefer raw cream off the top of my raw milk. read all about the benefits of raw milk here. but you could easily do this with any milk!)
a jar with a tight fitting lid
salt (optional)
about 15 minutes of time

all you have to do is pour the amount of heavy cream you want to use into your jar and seal the lid tightly (i used about a cup and a half of cream for my first time). make sure you have a big enough jar as your cream will expand significantly during this process. this amount of milk filled my quart jar halfway originally and if i did more cream than this i would move up to a larger jar for sure. the milk needed all of this room to do it's thing!
shake the jar for about 10 minutes. you will see the cream go from regular cream to thick, frothy cream, to a whipped cream and then finally "break" and some little clumps of white appear. then i kept shaking it for a minute or two more and the clumps formed into one big clump.
at this point i poured off the buttermilk into another container, this is now perfectly good, raw buttermilk. then i put some really cold water into my original jar with the butter and shook to "rinse" the butter. i poured off the water after a minute or so of shaking and repeated this step 3-4 times, until the water was mostly clear.
then i pressed the butter between two paper towels to squeeze out as much of the water as i could. this left me with a nice chunk of raw butter and a half of a pint of buttermilk.
at this point you can add salt to taste, which also acts as a preservative to slow down the spoiling process. just knead the salt into the clump of butter. homemade butter will spoil faster than store-bought because you can't get out all of the butterfat. but freezing it in small sections will also help to keep it fresh longer.

what a frugal and healthy new way to make one of our favorite foods! and read here why we think butter is better!

cloth diapers... my favorite accessory!

ok, apparently i can't get enough of these cloth diaper posts! ha! :)  but really, i just realized there was one more thing i wanted to talk about before putting the cloth diaper subject to rest for a while. and that is my favorite cloth diaper "accessory."

our cloth diaper stash does not contain many bells and whistles. it started as a low budget affair and it pretty much continues that way. i don't have many non-essential items like cloth wipes, a diaper sprayer (although seriously considering one! anyone have any advice on that?!), liners, fancy wet bags, etc. etc. but one thing i do have and i LOVE are hemp inserts!

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i got them after battling with nighttime leaking for about a week. i tried everything i could when it started. i added an extra insert, only to find the diaper was HUGE and made his pajamas tight. i changed his diaper right before putting him to bed. i made the diaper as tight as i could around the belly, since malachi is a belly sleeper this is mainly where it was leaking out. but nothing was working. he would still wake up with a wet belly pretty much every morning. i guess this is the curse of a baby sleeping 12-13 hours a night. but i was NOT going to wake him in the night to change his diaper! no thank you!

so i decided to try the hemp inserts because i had read so many good things about them and how well they absorb. i started with a few to see if they worked and lo and behold - no more nighttime leaks! wahoo!

i have now invested in a few more so that i have enough for all of his nighttime diapers and they are the one item i would suggest trying if you haven't already, especially for nighttime diapering. they are so thin that they don't add extra bulk to the diaper but they absorb SO much! i just put one hemp insert behind one microfiber insert in malachi's nighttime pocket diaper and they are seriously leakproof! in the morning each insert is completely soaked but nothing has leaked out, it is seriously wonderful! :)

these diapers with the hemp are even more absorbent than disposables - believe it! when we went away for a week in january i bought disposables to use while gone because we were staying in a friend's house and i didn't want to mess with laundry. and malachi woke up atleast 3 mornings with a wet belly. i mean, really, that was so surprising to me!

so, anyway, if you are looking for a heavy-wetter or nighttime solution, try hemp inserts. i swear by them now! thin and absorbent - couldn't get any better!

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oh! and while i'm on the subject of "accessories," if you're looking for a "cloth diaper safe" diaper rash cream check out CJ's BUTTer. it's true that rashes are significantly less in cloth diapered babies, but they still happen sometimes. and recently we had a little rash pop up on malachi. i had ordered a few samples of this cream a little while ago mainly to try in malachi's hair (yes! this is a suggested use of this cream!) but when his little rash showed up i used it as a diaper rash cream. it worked wonderfully! i am so pleased i will be ordering a full-size tub soon! it was so nice not having to worry with liners to protect the diapers. i have not noticed any issues of repelling on the diapers and we have been using the cream for a week. plus, this cream comes in several different scents that look really nice :)

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what is your favorite nighttime solution? have you found a "cloth diaper safe" cream you love?

cloth diapers... how we wash them

this is another major question i get related to cloth diapering - how do you wash them? is it a ton of extra work? what do you do with the "stuff" in the diaper? ;) well, i'll tell you! and you might be surprised to know that it is really not hard at all!

when i first started cloth diapering i was gung-ho - i would wash every other day and use the special "cloth diaper approved" detergent and always pull the inserts out of the covers and on and on and on. and then after about 2 months i realized that it is not that complicated and i was making it harder (and more expensive) than it needed to be! so i have chilled out a bit and now i have a routine that is most simple and convenient for me. maybe it wouldn't work for everyone but for me it works great.

i make my own laundry detergent. i have been for over 2 years and when i first started CD'ing i thought i would have to buy a special detergent. so at first i did and it was ok. but then i just thought i would give my regular stuff a try and it has worked beautifully! in my experience i feel like my regular detergent has done just as good as the special stuff, and it's cheaper and more convenient to use what i already have on hand!

whatever detergent you decide to use, i have found that simple is better when it comes to your wash routine. so i wash once on cold with a cold rinse with a scoop of washing soda to get out all the stinkies. then i wash on hot with a warm rinse, and this is where i add my detergent and another scoop of washing soda. finally, another hot wash/warm rinse with nothing to make sure and get all the detergent out. i know it sounds like a lot but i always want to be sure to get all the detergent out. and my washing machine doesn't have an extra rinse option, so in order to get another rinse i have to do another wash. to me it's not that big of a deal. it takes me less than 2 hours to do all three washes if i stay on top of it and start the loads as soon as the previous one ends. then all of the inserts and prefolds go into the dryer and the covers and pockets hang to dry. i usually do this at the end of the night so that they can hang dry overnight and then in the morning i have a bunch of clean diapers ready to be stuffed and put away! then they are ready on the changing table for diaper changes, so i can just grab and go - doesn't get much easier than this people!

i want to note here, make sure your water setting is on high when you wash. this is where high efficiency washers can be hard for cloth diapers. you need lots of water slushing around in that washer to make sure that your diapers are getting good and clean and then good and rinsed out. if you set the water level to low or medium because you don't have that big of a load it is not going to have enough water to really rinse your diapers well and you might deal with buildup issues. this has been an issue for me in the past and i wanted to make sure to note it because it was something i didn't even think about and probably others haven't considered it either.

i usually only wash twice a week, i have enough diapers to get me through 3-4 days. and i usually pick evenings when i know i will be home so that i can stay on top of it and get it done. that's it! it's pretty easy and simple to be honest. when it came down to it i just didn't really want to spend the extra money on a special detergent when i felt like my regular detergent worked perfectly fine. and i didn't want to spend the extra time doing diaper laundry every other day when i could go for three days without any issue.

one more thing i have found to be SUPER helpful for absorbency and stink is bleach! i know bleach has a bad rap with cloth diapers but i am talking about bleaching your microfiber inserts, not your covers or anything with PUL. bleach will ruin the PUL but for microfiber bleach is recommended to strip the inserts every once in a while. i have found this to help strip anything off the inserts that can lead to repelling issues. also, it helps get rid of stink when that starts to build up after a few months. i have been CD'ing full time for about six months and i think i have bleached maybe three times, so it doesn't have to be often, maybe every two or three months, but i think it helps a ton. 

another thing that is wonderful to deal with stains and stink is the SUN! one of the most recommended methods of getting out stains on diapers in to sun them for a few hours. i am so excited for the weather to warm up so that i can hang my diapers out on the clothesline again! i was able to take advantage of the line for a little bit in the fall but then the weather turned too cold and i haven't been able to for a few months. i am excited for the sun to work it's magic on some stains that have built up over the winter months! :)

that's it! i feel like my wash routine is pretty basic and easy but it works well for us. plus, it allows me the freedom to only wash every few days, which makes cloth diapering less of a burden and more of a joy!

what is your wash routine? how have you made it work for your family?


and in case anyone is interested, the detergent i make is the recipe listed first in this post -
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2009/05/homemade-laundry-detergent-charlies-soap-nuts.html
but i have tweaked it a bit over the years and if you would like more specific information on how i make it i would be happy to tell you! leave me a comment and i'll get back to you :)

cloth diapers... what we use and where to look

ok... so sorry on the slacking with this cloth diaper mini-series! life has been crazy but i am still motivated to share my experience with cloth!

we currently use a variety of pocket diapers. my favorite being my kawaii diapers. they are a great price and they fit malachi so well. plus, once i got the hang of it i have not had any leaks with these dipes. when i first started i thought for sure i would love the velcro closures best but i have gotten snaps too and i really do love them! the velcro are handy but they show wear and tear so much faster. and since we are hoping to use these diapers for a few more kiddos we want to keep them looking good!

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these are one-sized diapers, which means that they will grow with your baby from newborn through potty training. you simply use the snaps in the front to get the correct rise for how big your baby is and then pull the tabs tight across the belly and snap to fit your baby around the waist. i love the one-size option. it makes me feel like i am saving even more money when i can use the same diaper throughout the entire diapering stage!

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pocket diapers are my favorite type of diaper. they are so easy to use and when they are already stuffed they go on just as fast and easily as a disposable. basically a pocket diaper is a waterproof shell with a fleece lining to stay dry against the baby's skin. pockets have an opening in the back of the diaper where you stuff inserts in to make it absorbent. you can add as much or as little padding as your child needs, which makes it super customized! and if you get them ready after they are washed and dried they are so easy! you just pick one up and wrap it around the baby and you're good to go!

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pockets are the majority of my stash and my favorites. when i order new diapers i mostly order pockets. i do, however, have some prefolds and covers that i am starting to use as well. i was given these by a friend and have just started using them in the past month or so. i like them. there is definitely a learning curve with the prefolds, so i am so glad i didn't try to start with this when i started cloth diapering. i probably would have been overwhelmed and frustrated and given up. but now that i am getting the hang of it it's not so bad. plus, it's an inexpensive way to increase the amount of diapers you have because prefolds are pretty inexpensive and you only need a few covers. the covers can be wiped out and reused from one diaper change to the next. i think they will be nice to have when we will be home all day, as they do make less laundry since the covers can be reused. it's nice to have less laundry ;)

there are SO many options out there when it comes to cloth diapers, it can be really overwhelming at times. but there are some really great resources i have found over the year or so i have been researching. one fabulous site with lots of helpful info is kellyscloset.com. they have a big selection of different brands and styles of diapers. and they have a rewards program where you acquire points with each purchase. and my favorite, they are always running a promo code for discounts or free diapers! gotta love free stuff!  two other great sites are nickisdiapers.com and sweetbottomsbaby.com. they both have a great selection of diapers as well but they have a bigger selection of non-diaper items (like nursing tanks, baby carriers, skin care items, etc.) sweetbottombaby.com even has free shipping all of the time - score! and all of these sites have facebook pages where you can ask questions and get advice from other cloth diapering mommas - i have found this to be so helpful at times!

one of the overwhelming things about cloth diapers and a question i get a lot is - "how do you know what type of diaper to choose?" and that's a hard question because one of the main differences between disposables and cloth is that you have to figure out what will work for your baby. some diapers work better for chunkier babies and some work better for thinner babies. the main thing i have learned is do what works for your baby. one great piece of advice i was given was not to invest in one diaper until you are sure you love it. a lot of people do that, they buy those packages of 25 diapers and that's their entire stash. but what if you end up not liking those diapers or they leak or they don't fit your baby well? then you have a problem! so one thing i have done that has been so helpful is whenever i try out a new diaper i buy only one of that kind until i know if i like it. so when i bought kawaii diapers for the first time i bought 3 different styles to try them all out and see which i liked best. and i am so glad i did that because the one i thought i would like best is not the one i now like best - funny how that works! :) then once you figure out which diaper you like best you can invest in more of those to build your stash.

so my advice? try a few different diapers (depending on what your budget allows) to find what will work best for you and your baby. it's really hard to decide on one diaper that you love until you are able to use it and live with it for a few weeks. there are just so many factors to consider.

another great option? buy used! most cloth diapers still have a lot of life left in them even when your child is done with them. and the beauty of used? they are cheaper! :) (i love a bargain!) i found some great deals on craigslist when i was looking for diapers. so don't be scared of used diapers. i know some people are hesitant to buy used because they don't know how they were washed and handled. but the reality is that you will be washing them and prepping them when you get them, so it's almost like starting fresh. and if they are a really good deal you haven't lost much money if they don't work out! so you can try more styles or brands buying used because they will be significantly less than buying new. i have bought used a few times and have yet to be disappointed!

what about you? what diapers do you use? and why do you love them?

february in our home and malachi - 9th month

wow! i can't believe March is already upon us! it seems like the first of the year was just yesterday!

this month has been an interesting one in the Mixon house. we have battled some sickness off and on between all of us. i think this has been related to the extremely mild winter we have been having. just yesterday it was in the low 60's during the day! on the last day of february! in ohio! can you believe?!?! i think that has contributed to a lot of the sickness going around. our bodies have a hard time adjusting to extreme jumps in temperature. 

at the church, ministry has been hard this month. we have been extremely busy and situations have popped up one after the other that demand immediate attention. it's tough walking through people's sin with them and it is draining. but i am consistently reminded of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4 (one of my all-time favorite chapters in scripture) and i wanted to share the entire thing because it is so rich.

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. ² But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life in you.¹³ Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, ¹⁴ knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵ For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

i have been encouraged again and again this month by this passage. the purpose for which we live and work is so that the grace of God will extend to more and more people to increase thanksgiving, which is to the glory of God! and on the basis of this truth, we do not lose heart! what an encouragement to me when i feel like situations are hopeless - this is all for HIS glory, whatever may come! i know this is sort of a detour from my normal update but this has been on my heart all month and so i felt like it was as much a part of my month as things that we did or experienced. we covet your prayers as we seek to serve and minister here in west liberty. the need for the hope of the gospel is great in this place but our God and his redeeming work through Jesus is so much greater - it is in this reality we stand!

on a lighter note, we did reach some milestones with malachi this month and it has been such a joy to watch him develop and grow. i can't believe he will be 9 months old in about a week! these 9 months have gone so much faster than the 9 months he was in me, but i guess that's the way it is right? :)

- he started using a sippy cup and has kind of figured out finger foods

i have been working with him on these 2 things for a month or two and it's been slow going but i think this month it has clicked. i think it was partially due to the new sippy cups my mom sent him. now he can grasp he handles and pick it up himself. before he wouldn't be able to hold the cup because he couldn't get his hands around it. he still can't quite figure out how to tip back the cup to get liquid all of the time but he can get some - progress!
and his pincher grasp hasn't quite developed yet but there is definite progress in the finger foods department! he can get peices of banana from his tray to his mouth! before he would pick them up and just squish them in his fist then open his fist to inspect then shake out the banana on the floor. it was kind of funny to watch but i didn't particularly like cleaning it up all the time. so it's fun to watch now as he gets excited when the banana goes on the tray and he digs in! there is still plenty that doesn't make it in the mouth but some does, which is fun!

- he can sign "more" - he does it inconsistently and usually when i ask him to he won't but he will do it on his own sometimes. this is another thing i have been working on with him since he was about 6 months old and this month seemed to click. he is a stubborn little guy and i think we have already seen that he doesn't like to "perform" so it's interesting that he most times won't do things when you want him to. but when he wants to he will do it. this will be interesting to see how this plays out as he gets older!

- he has started to scoot around on his belly

the first steps toward crawling from what i have heard. it's not quite an army crawl yet but he is definetly starting to get himself around. it's been super fun to watch and see his excitement when he knows he has accomplished something :) (i know the picture is on linoleum but he can also do this on carpet)

- he pulled himself up for the first time this month!

he has been pulling himself up by holding onto our hands for a while but this month was the first time he pulled himself up on something other than our hands. it's fun and he looked so accomplished when he did it! :) maybe walking isn't far off! (although, truthfully i am in NO hurry! because i know when he starts to go he is not going to stop and i will be the one having to keep up with him all day. so i can wait! ha!) and because of this developing skill we have also had to move his crib down from the highest level to the lowest level. we don't want any accidents when he figures out how to pull himself up in his crib! ;)

- everything still goes in the mouth but no more teeth yet, still just the bottom two.

we are so blessed by this little boy and we thank the Lord for him daily. he has such a sweet and happy demeanor and we are constantly blessed with smiles and laughs. we get comments from people at church all the time about how happy he is and how much he smiles. both of these things are true and we are so thankful! we pray daily that the Lord will use him mightly for his Kingdom and he will truly be what his name means - "God's messenger."

Malachi and his bff - Remi

first Valentines day!

until next time,
love from the Mixon House!