Baby Bookworm

Happy THREE months to baby Henry Sebastian today!!! 

Henry goes EVERYWHERE with me which means that he gets to hear just about every story I read to the other kids.  I noticed today that he was paying close attention during story time, not to me, but to the book.  He was more interested that everyone else!  I got a phone call halfway through Pinocchio so I stopped and put the book down.  Boy, did he get MAD!!  He calmed down immediately when I started again.  I really hope to instill a love of reading in all of my kids.  Dad hates to read but I love it and do it all the time.  Fortunately, he can't say no when his little princess asks for a bedtime story (and Jonas always cuddles up with them) so they still get to hear and see daddy reading too.          

I haven't been talking much about baby Henry anywhere because I've been keeping a written journal with all of his milestones.  Lately he has become such a wiggle worm!  He's rolling over, tries to move around but ends up going in circles (literally), and flips over in my lap all the time.  He tries to sit up whenever he's reclined and if he isn't strapped in he could very well propel himself right out of his seat because he's so strong!!  He has been learning to comfort himself successfully (two fingers and/or a blankie), interacting with his siblings- I've been through it a few times before but it just seems so new and exciting all over again!  He met his car seat buddies today and made instant friends with the cute critters, cooing and batting at them.  We hadn't used it before because the hospital advised against toys in the car.  Now we just use it when we use the seat as a carrier and he adores them.  His favorite position is lying with his belly on the ground and his shoulders and head sideways (see photo below).  It's so strange but really cute.  He loves his long afternoon nap and sleeps so well at night.  He doesn't like to be bothered when he sleeps!  We love to sing, dance and chat together!!  I think that he is going to look up to his big brothers but he will adore his big sister, who is like a mini-mama to him.  ♥   

So that's a little of what's going on with my family!

Bzz: A Review of Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean

 

















I recently received 2 bottles of Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean from Bzz Agent.  Extend-A-Clean features a continuous sprayer so you don't have to keep pressing on the trigger, making for an easier-to-use and better coverage cleaner.  Another feature is that they claim you can go up to 4 days longer without having to clean by providing an invisible barrier on the surfaces that are being cleaned.  

The first thing I did was explore the Scrubbing Bubbles website to learn more.  
 Useful information from the website (http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com): 
         "Works on most bathroom surfaces, including tubs, showers, glazed ceramic tile, stainless steel, chrome fixtures, fiberglass, vinyl and glazed porcelain. Avoid prolonged contact with wood, aluminum and painted, lacquered or soft surfaces. DO NOT USE on gold plated fittings, semi-glazed and resurfaced enamel baths, natural marble, travertine or brass."

1. Squeeze and hold trigger for continuous spray. Spray 8-12 inches from surface to clean. Cover surface evenly. Allow foam to penetrate dirt and soap scum (for tough jobs, let stand several minutes).
2. Wipe clean with a damp cloth or sponge, then rinse.
3. Good ventilation during use is recommended. 

 Where to use it?  Everywhere in the bathtub (except the inside of the toilet)- shower, tub, tile, shower doors, sinks, faucets and fixtures.
 What's the difference between this and other cleaners?  The invisible barrier cleans every time the surface gets wet, up to 4 days. 
Anything else?  No visible residue is left behind, according to the site.  The triggers are designed to last 2 years and the batteries are expected to last through approximately 8 refills (that relieves my "OMG- more batteries?" feeling).  The product is citrus-scented.



My initial thoughts on this product:  
*Easy to set up and use.  I like the safety lock feature.
*What does an invisible barrier mean when it's time to bathe the kids?  With four kids I'm giving baths usually at least once a day.  And what about if their toothbrushes or toys that they might put in their mouth or in the tub touch a wet surface that was sprayed?  Will they be "cleaned"?  A little concerning!  The site says that, if used properly, the product can be used around kids.  It doesn't say "safely used".
*I was curious about how the continuous sprayer would compare to a regular spray bottle- is it really necessary to have ANOTHER product that requires batteries to function?  
*Would having a different type of sprayer ensure that the entire product would be used (or would some be wasted)?  
*People clean their tubs more than every 4 days?  I'm content with giving it a quick wipe after each bath or shower if it looks like it needs it, then a more thorough cleaning once a week (again, if it needs it).  I'm not a fan of cleaning so anything that makes it quicker and/or easier is a plus but I don't really need to spend much time cleaning the tub in the first place with this routine.
*$10 for a cleaner??  Yikes!  $7 for a refill?  Double yikes!          
*"use with good ventilation" is never a good phrase to use with a cleaner, especially with kids and the lack of a bathroom ventilation fan.


So...I gave it a try.  I opened a window and turned on the bathroom's ceiling fan (we only have 1 bathroom).  I set it up (easy to do) and started spraying.  Then I immediately dropped the bottle and ran from the room!  The smell!!  It would be a good smell if there wasn't so much of it.  I don't have asthma but thought this might trigger an attack anyway.  It was very overwhelming.  

The sprayer was kind of fun to use- you squeeze the trigger and it makes a whirring sound as it sprays the desired surface.  It comes out sort of foamy, so you know where it's going.  I sprayed the whole bathtub and let it sit for a few minutes (you sort of have to wait- away from the bathroom- because of the smell).  After a few minutes I took a washcloth and started wiping.  I was impressed with how well it cleaned.  It got off some of the stains that I thought were permanent in the tub.  Nothing else has ever gotten them off (though I haven't tried baking soda yet).  I was a little afraid to let the kids take a bath after using it though, so after I was done cleaning I ran the shower and then wiped the tub down again with a new wet washcloth because the barrier made me uncomfortable.  

The verdict: I give this product a 10 for cleaning power, a 10 for ease of use, a 1 for "green" power, a 1 for price and a 2 for safety around kids after cleaning, during regular bathroom use (I wouldn't consider allowing my children in the area during or for 5-10 minutes after spraying).  

I would not buy this product to regularly clean my bathroom, especially at the retail price.  I'm just not comfortable enough using it around my kids and it's one of the most costly bathroom cleaners I've ever seen.  The scent is good but far too strong and I do not have any respiratory issues.  While it was fun to use, I think having a battery-operated sprayer is totally unnecessary and wasteful.  If I wasn't as environmentally aware of what I use to in my house as I am, and if I didn't have kids I would consider it as my regular bathroom cleaner. 

I have to add that I did a comparison against another product (stay tuned!) and Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean totally beat the other product in the cleaning competition.  It really does work well, but for our family it is not a good fit. 

Poor Party of 5 is Now a Party of SIX and Needs a CHANGE!

I know I don't have many (or any, maybe) readers but if there are any out there I ask for forgiveness. I am being a terrible blogger right now!
Over the past few months I've become a fan of micro-blogging and have fallen off the big blog horse. I have so much running through my mind, so many things I could write about for days. But when I sit down at the computer I can't seem to write the words. So I slide over to Facebook and post my lazy, shortened thoughts over there instead of writing a thoughtful and detailed blog over here. And it makes me angry! For months I had no good excuse- I was just tired and lazy and not in the mood. Now I have the perfect excuse- the newest addition to our family! But I really want to keep it up and I'm going to try really hard. Sometimes I need a push or a hand to hold and this is one of those times.

Anyway, welcome our newest addition:
Henry Sebastian born on March 30, 2010 at 6:15pm (same time I was born!). 9lbs 7.9 oz. and 19.5 inches long. He was my biggest baby by far!! Zachary was 7lb 13.5oz, Amara was 7lb 15.8oz and Jonas was 8lb 6oz.


When he was born he did not have a name. Everyone was asking and I had to keep telling them all that we hadn't decided yet. This wasn't entirely my fault. I was searching names for months but hubby wouldn't give me ANY input. NONE! He said we had plenty of time to decide and all I could get out of him was a "No way!" if he hated a name. So, on my own I researched and thought and talked to other people (mostly to hear what NOT to name my babe). I knew I didn't want a common name (top 10? No thanks.) and I wanted to be sure that no one could obviously make fun of any name I picked (Jason said NO to Oliver). But right around my due date (March 20th) I was writing and combining names that I liked and I said them aloud. When I said, "Henry Sebastian" something clicked. I think Jason might have made a negative comment but I didn't hear him. His mom was over and she agreed that it sounded really good. I actually like Sebastian better but Sebastian Henry doesn't sound right to me.
My due date came and passed and I was stressing out. I was huge and tired and ready to have a baby! My first 2 spoiled me by being 6 days early. My 3rd was 6 days late. So I was convinced that he would follow suit or surprise us with a due date arrival. But of course he had to be difficult and 10 days after he was due the hospital forced him out. That's a whole other story though :) (if I ever get around to it!).

While enjoying our baby (and sharing him with our family-packed delivery room!) we kept on discussing names. Thankfully my sister brought along a notebook and wrote everything down before, during and after delivery. I was in too much pain/concentrating/pushing/enjoying to do much writing. It was late then so we held off the discussion until the next day. We had a new group of people to talk it over with. My dad was VERY opinionated about the subject and made me angry enough to want to kick him out (I didn't). He was basically telling me that my other son had a dumb name and that I should change it and was shooting down every name I liked for Henry. Then he insisted I use the name HE liked and said he was going to call him that anyway (very childish...). I should mention now that he has Schizophrenia and I can blame a lot of what was going on on that...and I shouldn't have been so bothered but I was. After everyone was gone for the day Jason and I had more chance to talk about it (it seemed it was the only thing we were talking about) but he was STILL not making a decision or giving me any input. At that point I decided I was going to push for the name I wrote it large letters on my due date. Finally, on our departure date I was waiting to finish the paperwork that required his name and he caved. I won! I won! I got my name :D

Welcome to the world, Henry Sebastian! I LOVE your name and it fits you perfectly!!




And since Party of FIVE just doesn't seem appropriate, I am changing my blog name to Weavers Wobble.  Grandma K. Weaver has always joked that "Weavers wobble but they don't fall down!" and I thought it totally appropriate for the new blog name.  So head on over to http://weaverswobble.blogspot.com/ for the lastest updates and the best of Poor Party of 5!! 

My Sony Digital Camera is Broken :(

And I'm heartbroken! This camera has been with me since 2003- SEVEN YEARS! I got it for my birthday in January, 2003 and it's been my pal ever since. It was a $200 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P32 3.2 mega pixel camera. Now you can get 3 times more mega pixels for less money, but back then it was a big deal! This baby even took video and came with smart zoom, which means that instead of zooming before you take the picture you zoom after you snap. I'm not sure it was a feature I loved but it worked for us. The memory stick it came with was 12MB...Really! It held 10 pictures taken at the 3.2 mega pixels. If we lowered the picture quality we could get up to 50 maybe. Those pictures looked awful though- very blurry. But it was mine and it was fabulous! A few years later I found a 256MB memory stick on Ebay for less than $10 and since then I've never filled the memory. I'm pretty good about getting them off the stick and onto the computer.

My wonderful Sony has seen the good and the bad- lots of love and care but it's also stood up to sand on the beach, drool and sticky fingers from kids, and plenty of drops. I seriously thought this camera could survive anything! So I didn't think much of the day a few weeks ago when I was toting the camera in my purse and my stupid water bottle leaked. The camera didn't even get that wet and definitely wasn't completely submerged like some of the items in my bag. It was damp and I was able to dry it off in seconds. I immediately took out the batteries and the memory stick and left everything open so the inside could dry out. I never thought this would be the death of my Sony camera.

I'm really sad about my loss and with our 4th baby due in 4 weeks I am frantically searching for something in our price range (zero!) that will also work well for my subjects- fast-moving children and our lifestyle. I'm not sure that I could ever find something as reliable or sturdy as my wonderful Sony but I'm hoping for something that comes close. But I need SOMETHING! When my third, Jonas, was born Jason forgot to charge the batteries in the camera (I was more concerned with other matters, like delivering a baby) so we have no functional pictures of him in the hospital. We declined the hospital photos because of the price. My friend used her cell phone (and I was SOOO grateful that she was there and took pictures) but the quality is so poor that I wouldn't even be able to print up a wallet of him. It made me really sad and I don't want to experience that again. Based on history, I won't ask to borrow anyone's camera or for them to send me pictures because it's likely that neither would happen. In other words, I will not rely on anyone else to help because it probably won't happen!

I sort of want another Sony because I had such a fantastic experience with it the first time around. But I have to keep much in mind, like cost, while shopping for my next camera. If I end my Sony relationship I end it by saying that we had a great history together and I don't regret a moment!