Shakin' It Up
Now that I spend most of my time at home I have found a few items that have drastically changed my life. I have been scared to get back on and blog about something because I feel like I have nothing interesting to write about. But hey the simplest of things can really shake up a stay at home mom's life. Go ahead and read on...

We moved into a new house this summer and with that were able to purchase a washer and dryer. This is perhaps the best purchase we have ever made. We decided to spring for the front loading set, and while they were more pricey they have saved us money on our energy and water bill. We also got rebates from the electric and water companies in our area for purchasing them. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have a huge washer! In our last apartment it took me two days to do laundry because I could only wash about two pairs of pants at a time with the stacked models. Adding a spitty baby to the mix only doubled my laundry needs. Now I do half the amount of loads and can set the washer on delay so it starts up to 14 hours after I set it, so nice for when I am going to bed and the clothes are ready to throw in the dryer in the morning. Which brings me to my next point, the dryer...It dries the clothes so fast and doesn't get super hot like my other dryers which I believe is easier on the clothes. Both the washer and dryer have a about a million settings for any type of item, including a hand-wash cycle which I use all the time. I never knew how much this could change my life, and believe me I know how pathetic I must sound. I just get giddy sometimes when I think of how much laundry I don't have to do. There's even a drying rack I can place in the dryer so that my items don't fly around, I was able to wash some running shoes and dry them and they looked brand new even though they are five years old. My favorite part has to be knowing that my towels get dry because of course they have their own setting. Before it would take me 3 tries to get those things dry and then they would stink. I once had a house guest that I noticed was wearing a lot of cologne, turns out he wanted to cover up the moldy smell the towel had given him. I was mortified and discovered that all of my towels smelled bad. If anything the washer and dryer were worth it to save me from being the moldy towel lady.

My next item is the new stroller that I recently bought for my son. Ethan had kind of out grown needing the big Graco stroller and it was a beast to get around the mall. It was nice when he was an infant and I could snap his carrier into it, and then as he got older he could lie down in the stroller itself comfortably. Now he is a big guy and I needed a more compact stroller. Getting Travis convinced was difficult, after all it would be our fourth stroller. We had an umbrella and a jogger plus the Graco. But the umbrella didn't recline or have a basket or sun shade. This new stroller has it all plus it folds up like an umbrella stroller so it is perfect for travel. It is made by Britax which makes the best car seats out there. They just came out with a stroller line and I was lucky to find it online. It was only $99 while the Maclarens I had been looking at were 150-200. I am so glad we bought it, and I love having it on all of my outings. Ethan can sleep in it and it has plenty of storage. I also recently traveled with it and it was a breeze to have in the airport. It is a sporty red color that makes me feel like a hip mom, and believe me I need all the help I can get.

My final item is the long camisole and t-shirt. My friend sells them for one of those companies out of Utah and I went to a party and decided to try one out. It has been great to have something to cover up the garments and make up for the jeans that are constantly slipping below my non-existent hips and making a plumber out of me. I have been able to bust out some shirts that I had all together given up on. I went on to buy a few more cami's and t's. Thank you Utah multi-level marketing schemers, you have made a modest woman out of me.