Problem solved...

We go a set of front loaders earlier this year. By front loaders, I mean a washer and dryer that load in the front versus on the top... Anyway, I was beyond thrilled to receive them. They made me enjoy doing laundry. Strange, I know. I have a thing for new gadgets!

Things were running beautifully until I noticed a problem with my towels. They started to smell. I was warned of this "front loader phenomenon" from several people prior to getting ours. I knew to leave the door open to let the inside of the machine dry after a load was finished. I did just that 99% of the time. So why were my towels stinky? I washed them on hot with fabric softener AND dried them with a dryer sheet. Still, they smelled like mildew. Uggghhhh. I mean, do towels expire? Do you need to dispose of them after so many uses and replace them?

A friend mentioned she had the same problem. She washed her towels on the sanitation cycle, which seemed to do the trick. I didn't "see" a sanitation cycle on our washer. So, I drove the towels to Columbia and used the Malone's sanitation cycle. Sure enough, it did the trick! No more mildew, smelling towels!

THEN, a few days later, as I was putting a load in our washer, I noticed the washer itself smelled like mildew. I was ready to scream. I finally called the company they were purchased from. They told me about these tablets. It was recommended that I use them once a month to help clean the washer. Call me crazy, but my top loader from 1912 never required some $10 pack of tablets to keep it from smelling!!! I was none to pleased with that answer so I call the manufacturer. They were great and sent someone to the house to check out or stinking problem!


And problems he did find!!! The door hinges were bent and the door lock was messed up...who even knew?!?! As for the smell, there was a HUGE problem...me!!! What? According to the repairman, I was using 100 times too much detergent. Well, he didn't exactly say that but close enough. I have been using the "he" or high efficiency detergent (as recommended) and filling it according to the lines on the cap. "Oh, nooooooo," he said. "That is way too much. All you need to use is an amount the size of a quarter." Me: "The size of a quarter??? Like the silver coin???" Him: "Yep!" Me: "Even on large loads????" Him: "Yep!" Apparently all that extra detergent causes a buildup in the machine and can leave a lovely mildew smell! Go figure!! Then he told me I need to run the washer once a month with one cup of white vinegar. Pour it in the detergent slot and let 'er go! That will clean the machine and keep it from smelling. I showed him my little tablets and he just laughed. "Vinegar is much better. And cheaper!" I like that! Too bad I don't have the receipt for the tablets. I would march them right back to the store if I could...which I probably could at Walmart but I didn't get them there and I would feel guilty for doing so...

AND, the repairman informed me that, indeed, we have a sanitation cycle. It is called the "Kids Care" cycle on our machine. The water temp gets up to 150 degrees in an attempt to kill all the germs that collect on children's clothes. It also functions as my sanitation cycle. Had I read the manual thoroughly, I would have learned that a while back! Instead, I just overlooked that cycle because it takes 2 hours to complete and I wash all of his clothes in cold water anyway. Now I worry a bit about germs?!?! But how to you keep from shrinking his entire wardrobe when washing it at 150 degrees? I guess I should have asked the repairman that question!

Morals of this story: 1.) Run your sanitation cycle once a month with 1 cup of vinegar. 2.) Keep your door open after you run a load to let the inside dry out. 3.) If your towels mildew, the sanitation cycle seems to fix that problem, preventing you from having to replace them! 4.) ONLY use liquid detergent equivalent to the size of a US quarter!

Yes, this is another random post. It is just that I have talked to several people about this lately and am happy to have a solution. Maybe you are a closet mildew towel smelling user and you needed to know this valuable information. Or maybe you are considering the purchase of a front loader and I am just saving you a little trouble! And saving you a little cash!

Be prepared

He scared you, didn't he??? :)

Thanks for the hint Kristen! Can you tell I have been playing? I can rotate too!

And in case you didn't know, you can mute the music that goes along with the video at the bottom of the page. That will make it easier to hear the video!

Confined

There you have it! I finally did it. I bought a gate. The little one has been outsmarted...for now! I am sure one of these days he will realize it has not been installed properly and rip it down. But for now, sweet Crosby has been stopped! I actually dropped it one more step so he has even less playing room than it appears. There are 2 stairs I can't manage to block. At least it is not that far of a fall!! :)

As for the camera...good news. It appears it is just the lens. And it just so happens the lens from my old Canon (you know, the kind that uses film) fits my newer one. There are a few limitations but it should do the job for now. In the meantime, I am trying to decide if I should replace the broken lens with another one of the same OR if I should make do with the one I've got and get a fun lens. Maybe a 50mm!! That could exciting!! Hmmm...

Are you sure you can put up with a whole month of this?

Always on the move...

The child never sits these days! Not only can he climb the stairs, he has perfected this skill. He can get up the first flight in 15 seconds. I let him get out of my sight for 30 seconds and find him sitting on the landing flashing a big, cheesy grin. He was soooo, proud of himself. Me, I was beating myself up, once again. Get a stinkin' gate for crying out loud! I know, I said was was "getting one tomorrow" last week. Stuff just keeps coming up. Meanwhile, Crosby is becoming more mobile and the need for the gate has tripled. Maybe we can go get one or 3 tonight...


For now, here is a sideways video of the little man in action! I rotated the video on my camera and thought I had it figured out! It appears I do not. Feel free to share if you know how to rotate videos from the Canon PowerShot...

I just love all of the sounds he makes! He is working so hard to make the climb! And I love how his right leg is lost somewhere in his britches!! That happens all the time...

You might be seeing a lot more videos in the near future. Or blurry pictures of my moving target! Yea, shutter speed is important these days. A digital SLR is pretty much a must have. Why don't we just throw our digital SLR on the garage floor and see what happens to the shutter speed then? That sounds like a lovely idea...

To cry or to throw up...

I know. That's gross. But I am on the verge of doing one or the other. "Why," you ask? I dropped my camera. You know, the one I use to take 95% of my pictures. My Canon. My digital SLR.
I was holding it in my right hand, while carrying Crosby, my checkbook, my phone, the diaper bag and my purse. Yes, all at the same time. HUGE mistake. Totally forgot the camera was even in my hand and just let it go!!!! Right onto the garage floor, which is made of cement. NOT camera friendly. It landed right on the lens. It won't zoom in and out now. There is no such thing a focus any more. On the bright side, I had my UV filter on, so the lens itself didn't get scratched!!! You can't get the filter off and it is shattered but at least the lens didn't get scratched...
I was taking the little one to Dr. P's office because he broke out with a splotchy, red rash on his head and chest this afternoon. We took pictures just in case it faded before we made it in. Sure enough, it faded. SOOOO, I was taking the camera with me to the doctor's office when it happened. Oh, I can still hear the sound of the camera hitting the ground...chills... At least the LCD worked and Dr. P was able to see the rash at it's worst. Sounds like the little fella has a case of Roseola and there is nothing to do for it. Lovely! I am grateful the rash was no big deal. And I am also grateful we were in and out in 10 minutes. It was still the most expensive doctor's appointment we have ever had!!!!
I guess I will be taking a trip to the camera shop tomorrow. I am hoping it is JUST the lens and not the camera body. Please, let it just be the lens... I mean, I would love, love, love to get a new lens and camera body. However, that is NOT in the stay-at-home mom's budget, if you know what I mean!!! Especially with the stay-at-home child's Christmas and birthday just around the corner!!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed!!!

And, I hear it is National Bloggers Month, or something like that. I was indirectly challenged to post a blog every day by Sarah. I thought I would try to take her up on it, despite having missed the first day. This was NOT how I intended my second post of the month to go!!! Here's to happy post for the rest of the month!!!

Mondays With Crosby

At 11:24 am, Crosby fox turned 44 weeks old!!! Is he an adorable 44 week old little baby or what???? I know, I know. Every mama says that about her baby. But my goodness, I could just eat this little boy UP!!

For weeks, we have been referring to he costume as a "baby chick". However, about half of the people that saw him in his costume refer to him as a "baby duck". The more I look at it, I think he may have been a baby duck all along! Webbed feet. A flat, bill as opposed to a pointed beak. Hmmm, seems more duck like to me! Call it what you will, the child looked precious! I don't know that he would agree.

We had big plans for the day. We wanted to carve a pumpkin, go to Pumpkinfest in Franklin and finally round out the night with a little trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Oh, and there was a certain football game that we needed to watch! Sounds like a perfect day! I should have known things wouldn't go as planned...

It was Blake's Saturday off. In the back of my mind, I thought there was a chance we could sleep in. Sure enough, Crosby slept until 8:15. Blake slept until 8:30. And me...I woke up at 6:15! Seriously??? I tried my best to fall back asleep but it never happened. So frustrating!

Crosby's morning nap was pushed back a bit, which meant he woke up later than we had planned. Then the Auburn game went longer than we thought. That meant Crosby was ready for his second nap just about the time we needed to leave for Franklin!! So, we scratched Franklin.

When Crosby woke up from his second nap, we got ready to carve the pumpkin. I had the camera ready to video him playing in all the pumpkin slime. Not so much. Apparently, he is his father's son and doesn't like to get dirty! I, on the other hand, could play in that stuff all day long. Strange, I know...

0 for 2! I was very doubtful for the trick-or-treating part. The little guy started to grump a bit as we got him dressed. We got him to pose for a few family pictures and he was none to thrilled! We finally got him to smile when he saw a few of the neighborhood kids come walking up the driveway. We REALLY got him to smile when we gave him a sucker!

We walked around to see a few of our neighbor's. One even had a special bag of goldfish just for him! How sweet is that?!! Then we boarded the Halloween Hayride! This years theme was a Haunted Forrest. Crosby was pretty impressed with the neighbors handiwork! We rode around for a bit before calling it a night.

It is a good thing we stopped when we did! The little duck had a major blowout ALL OVER his cute stripped tights when we got back in the house! Lovely. To top that off, he had a fever later on in the evening!! Poor baby!! I am not sure if it was the second tooth or something else. He was feeling pretty rotten by the end of the night. So much for our plans! At least he looked cute and seemed to enjoy most of the day!

Sure beats last years Halloween, when I posted this!!! I CANNOT believe it has been a year since that post. Oh how blessed we are to be here today with this precious little boy! Praise the Lord!!!

10 Months

Well, it's official. We have hit double digits. I am not a fan of double digits!!! :) My tiny baby is getting so BIG! Either that or I managed to wash and shrink his bear and his rug. Which is possible these days...

Perspective pictures. Let's just say, Crosby is busy. He does NOT have time for these any more! He has places to go, things to do, stairs to climb. I am having to learn to take what I can get when it comes to pictures. This was the best we came up with...


Crosby and his bear...



Crosby and his bear with Nugs...



Crosby and his bear in his chair...



Mug shot...



Big feet, little feet...



Big hand, little hand...

Upside down...(and not happy about it)

Outtakes...

I think they were having a conversation...

Attacking the poor bear...

This one, well, it just cracks me up...

Is there something on my lens? Oh, wait...that would be Nugget trying to get in every shot...

Seriously adorable...

Another moment of attack...

Crosby seems to be hitting milestone after milestone these days. Of course he is crawling EVERYWHERE. He is pulling up on EVERYTHING. His favorite "toys" are the remote, our cellphones and the home phone. He is quite fond of the Leap Frog Learn and Groove Activity Table. He is using a pincer grip to feed himself most of the time. He is a great eater but quite the baby food snob! He thinks he is WAY to big for that. He loves to eat what we eat...roast, potatoes, carrots, sun dried tomatoes, chicken, ground turkey, deli turkey, salsa, guacamole, black beans, chicken quesadillas, acorn squash, sweet potatoes...you get the idea! Funny thing about potatoes...they make him gag at first. It is hilarious and he is smiling and laughing the whole. His dad has been known to gag while brushing his teeth. Hmmmm, wonder where that came from???

He is still in size 3 diapers and it seems we will be hanging out there for a little while longer. He is wearing a range of clothing sizes-6-12 in some things and 12-18 in others. Depends on the brand. Now that it is shoe season, I have realized his feet are on the small size. He is in a 0-6 month Robeez and a 2 otherwise. They are both on the snug side but the next size up looks like a clown shoe!?

He still prefers to wake up at 7:00. Maybe "falling back" can move that to 8:00 if I am lucky!! :) He takes 2 naps a day. Usually from 9-10:30 or 11 and 2-3:30 or 4. Yesterday the afternoon nap was 3 hours so you never know! He sleeps through the night for the most part. He occasionally wakes himself up and just cries because his pacifier is not in his mouth. Now, my very eyes have seen that little joker pick up a pacifier and put it in his mouth with his own 2 hands!!! He can switch it from upside down to right side up, in fact. Yet, somehow he forgets this skill during the night. Not to mention I put 2 or 4 in his bed so he can at least find one of them...if he would just try... I have been going in his room, replacing it and watching him pass right back out. I am not so fond of this pattern! Crying it out would keep Blake and I awake...unless I just turn the monitor off. That makes me nervous. I guess we'll just see what happens.

Crosby can wave "Bye Bye" and clap his hands on command! Like every other parent in the world, I think it is sooo cute and he is sooo smart. When I ask, "Where's Da Da?," that little head straightens up and he looks toward the door. We do this every time Blake come home for lunch and when he is home for the evening. If we are upstairs and he hears the garage, he stops what he is doing a stares! He loves looking for Blake and grins his little head off when he finds him!!!As for the word "no"...I am pretty sure he knows what it means. However, if he stops doing what I would prefer he not do, he turns to give me a brief look, followed by a smile, and continues doing what it is I would prefer he not do!

I posted a picture of the first tooth earlier this week. Today, I felt its neighbor! The runny nose last night gave it away. I knew something was in the works but I was shocked to actually feel it today. My tiny, infant, baby is working on his second tooth!!! He is WAY to young for teeth...I am sure of it...

Crosby Fox is an absolute joy. He keeps us smiling and laughing all the time. His cheeky grin just melts my heart in two. I am completely wrapped around this child's finger as tight as I can get! I know, I need to do something about that. I just love him so...

Happy 10 Months, sweet boy...