Holy Crap, It Worked!

All those who love cleaning their shower, raise your hand!  I'm assuming none of you shot your hand enthusiastically into the air which means you're like me.  Cleaning the shower is not a task you enjoy.  And when I don't enjoy something, guess what?  I don't do it that often (big surprise).  Therefore, our shower does not get cleaned all that often which leads to this:

I know...so gross.  And believe me, I have tried everything to get rid of that nasty ring around the shower.  The scrubbing bubbles I had clearly did not actually scrub like their animated counterparts on TV.  Ka-boom was more like a Ka-blah.  Tilex, Pinesol, Comet...nothing worked! 
Then last week I saw this pin that claimed with some vingar and some Dawn, your soap scum would be gone! (haha I totally rhymed and I didn't mean to).  Yes the blogger had before and after pictures but I still was kinda skeptical.  I've had other pins disappoint me.  But today I thought I'd give it a try.  Now the blogger wasn't very specific in her directions so I just kinda eyeballed how much to use of each.  I liberally  sprayed it on all the gunky spots  in the shower, set the timer and waited.  I was so excited to see if this worked that I actually cleaned other parts of my house while I was waiting (did I just say I was excited about cleaning?  what is wrong with me?!?)
While I was waiting I did look at the post again and realized she did link to the original blog post she had gotten the idea from (you do see what we're doing here.....creating a blog post link chain of the same idea) so I went to that blog that had more specific directions.  The girl on there heated her vinegar first.  Well, crap I didn't do that.  She also left it on for 2 hours, not one.  Well I wasn't going to do that either.  So when the timer went off, I was quite worried that maybe it wouldn't work after all since I had not followed the original directions.  Well here is the after:

Oh yes, I supersized that picture so you could see that all the nastiness is gone!  There are a few specks that are still kinda stuck and a spot on one of the shelves that needs some tougher elbow grease but for the most part, all of the grime wiped away easily with a wet rag.  Then I ran the shower on super hot for a few minutes to wash down all of the vinegar/Dawn solution. 
So how can you make this magic happen in your house?

What you'll need:
one spray bottle
vinegar (apparently there is cleaning vinegar at Wal-mart near the multipurpose cleaners, I just used regular distilled white vinegar)
Dawn (original blue bottle)

What you do:
You'll want to mix equal parts vinegar and Dawn, so that's a 1 to 1 ratio.  If you're bad with ratios, that means if you use 1 cup of Dawn, use 1 cup of vinegar.  But, before you mix them heat the vinegar first. I honestly don't know if you absolutely have to do this (as it worked for me when I didn't heat it) but it might be more powerful if you do (again, I don't know.  I'm not a chemistry person).  Put your vinegar and Dawn in a spray bottle and shake gently to mix them.
Spray whatever you want to get clean.  I used a LOT (as in almost the whole spray bottle) to do the shower but mine was pretty grimy (remember?  Scroll up if you don't). Set your timer for an hour.  If you think your tub/shower is worse than mine then maybe set your timer for 2 hours.
When the timer goes off, use a wet rag to wipe (and scrub a bit) the grime away.  Rinse area with hot water.  Stand back and admire your clean tub! (and then vow to never let it get that dirty again)
I will warn you that you will probably want to stay out of the bathroom while you're letting the solution soak because it stinks to high heaven.  But once you rinse all of the solution away, the smell will disappear too.

Father's Day

So I totally meant to post this on Sunday and now it's Wednesday.  Better late than never, I suppose.  I just wanted to share what the girls and I made for Walker for Father's Day.
Of course my idea came from Pinterest. 






This is the picture I pinned about 1 month ago (so cute right?) and unfortunately, about 2 weeks ago when I actually clicked on the pin itself it took me to a different pin on Pinterest by some girl that I don't even know and I'm pretty sure was not the original pinner of this.  Clearly there are people out there who still don't understand how to correctly pin things on Pinterest.  So I was pretty bummed because I didn't know where to find the original site.  I figured I could make something in photoshop but I wasn't sure how it would turn out.
Then, about a week before Father's Day, I was randomly looking through pins (not of people I follow) and I found it again!  And it linked to the correct site!  Eureka!  This is the blog that has not only the "how-to" but also ALL sorts of free files to customize your own Father's Day collage (seriously, any name you have for a male father-figure in your life, this lady has it). 
So I had the correct site, now I needed the pictures.  This was interesting.  Taylor was a challenge because when I put the chalkboard next to her she just wanted to name all the letters on it.  I actually managed to get a few good ones of her though.  I quickly checked the photos on my camera and realized that stupidly I had paid so much attention to Taylor through the lens that I forgot to look at the chalkboard.  And there was a nice ray of sunlight hitting the chalkboard that obscured part of a few words.  D'oh!  So I repositioned Taylor (checked the chalkboard through the lens) and tried to get a few more but by this point, Taylor was done.  So I stupidly thought "well I can somehow merge the good chalkboard image onto one with a bad chalkboard image."  I continued on with Lucy's pictures; she did great of course (and no random sunlight glares either!). 
So I opened the images in Lightroom and fixed some basic things and then I sent them over to Photoshop to try and place the "good" chalkboard over the "bad chalkboard.  Ummmmm yeah that didn't happen.  ::sigh::  So I hauled Taylor outside and sat her on the porch and thankfully she hammed it up and I got some good shots to choose from.  The anal side of me was irritated that the background of the pictures wouldn't be the same but oh well. 

So, with pictures edited and ready, it was time to make a collage with the file I got from the site.  Now I had another problem....the file says "Daddy, we love you because...." and on the chalkboard I wrote "he" instead of "you."  UGH!  I was not about to reshoot the pictures!  So I opened Photoshop again and luckily was able to copy and paste and make my own file (and yes I totally color-coordinated it with the girls' outfits).  Phew!  So after all that (are you bored yet?  Sorry...) here is the final product:

I actually like my version better because it uses hot pink ;)

Happy (late) Father's Day to all the dads out there! 

15 Months for Lucy

I guess being 15 months old isn't as major as turning 1 but I feel the need to write a post because she did have a doctor's appointment (I guess in my mind well check=blog post).

Weight: 19 lbs, 6.5 oz (she's only gained 5.5 oz in 3 months??)
Height: 29.25 inches (ah but she grew almost 2 inches)

As the pediatrician said today "well someone has to be at the bottom of the charts."  And it's not like Lucy is at the very bottom, 6th percentile for weight and 17th for height.  We're not really worried because she is pretty steady in her growth curve (although I have noticed her thighs have lost a bit of their chunk...::sniff sniff::)

As for physical milestones, well she obviously is walking now and like I predicted she's getting quite good at it.  It's funny to watch her try and actually go faster.  I think she's trying to run like Taylor does.  That's just what I need...another kid running away from me.
Lucy has been experimenting with using a spoon to eat.  She definitely gets the concept; it's just getting her hands to do the right thing in a coordinated way that doesn't end with mash potato in the hair (and on the face, highchair, clothes, dog, etc.)
Coloring is another activity that has sparked her interest lately that also requires a little refinement on the coordination.  Again, Lucy understands what she is supposed to do with the crayon (other than nibble on it), she just needs to adjust her pencil grip.

Language-wise I am not worried about this girl at all!  I'm not sure I could even list all of the words she says on her own in context.  And then there's all the words she repeats!  We definitely have to watch what we say around her.  I'm so relieved that Lucy is not having the same speech delays that Taylor has.
And let me tell you, this little one is a smart cookie.  Lucy sings the ABC's (minus a few letters), she can count (again, minus a few numbers- she's better at providing the next number if someone else is counting) and she is starting to recognize and name some letters, colors, and shapes.  And she'll say words sometimes and I just look at her and think "where in the world did you pick up on that?"  I tell you, Lucy is a little sponge- she just soaks it all in.  And I couldn't be prouder.
Not to say Taylor isn't smart; clearly she is a genius as well but this post is all about Lucy.....

Normally I end these posts with some pictures....but I haven't taken any "good" pictures of her lately.  I do have some black and white ones posted on Facebook from last week.  Hopefully this weekend I can get her outside to do more 'formal' pictures

Keep it in the Bathroom, Please!

*WARNING* This post might offend, annoy, hurt, etc. some people but I have just GOT to say this!
We all know it's a magical time when your toddler is potty training. However, posting Facebook statuses (statii?) about how many times your little angel peed or pooped in the potty that day is completely unnecessary.  Yes, I understand it is terribly exciting and how proud you are (believe me, when Taylor decides to go in the potty I will probably cry tears of joy, but I think that has more to do with the fact that diapers will be vacating our house) but simply said, I don't care.  I really don't!  And I don't care to read about it either.  I certainly don't have a problem with posts like "_____ can now use the potty!" or "____ spent all day in big girl undies!"  or even "no accidents today!" but posts like "5 pees and 2 poops in the potty today!" are just too much.  And yes I will admit, I have even removed certain people from my news feed because of their need to provide such detailed and constant updates.  Do you post updates on how much you've gone to the bathroom?  Hopefully, not.  So don't put your kid through that.  Yay for potty training, but please, keep it in the bathroom.  :)

PS- don't worry- when Taylor (and eventually Lucy) are potty trained, the most you will hear from me is that they are potty trained.  I promise no details will be shared (not even on here).  :)

Sing, Sing, Sing!

I think most of you saw the video of  Taylor singing along to "We Are Young" by Fun on Facebook (I'll post it below in case you didn't) but that is not the only song in Taylor's repertoire.  Apparently, Taylor pays much more attention to the radio than I thought.  And it's just random parts too.  For example, Rihanna's "We Fell in Love" (or whatever it's called) was playing and after the main chorus, the music picks up and has a repetitive beat that builds and builds (and makes me want to lace up my running shoes).  Well all of a sudden from the backseat, I hear a "dah, dah, dah, dah, dah" in perfect time to the music. I thought I was the only one who sang along to the instrumental parts!  And then last week, Christina Perry's "One Thousand Years" came on and Taylor started singing "one step cloooser."  The best was last night when "Moves like Jagger" came on and Taylor, while not able to nail the words of the chorus down, was able to provide the background "uh" at the exact right moments.  I see many Willis sing-a-longs in the future!!