Around The House

I've been thinking about what to do with the blog now that I'm not doing the weekly first year updates.  I mean, are there things to talk about other than my baby?  ;)  Surely, I will be able to keep this up, even if it is just once a week.

So this week I'm going to share some helpful things that I have discovered for around the house.

First, item: this Bissell Steam Mop. I mean, who likes to mop?  Oh that's right, no one.  But this makes the chore a lot more bearable.  No more going back and forth to the sink or dragging a bucket around.  With a dog in the house, a baby with a leaky sippy cup, and a lot of food from the high chair on the floor, I needed to mop the floors once a week.  It's literally plug and play, and comes with reusable/washable scrub pads.  For wood floors, I think this is the answer, so water is not sitting on the wood, getting absorbed and warping.  So yes, if one must drag out a mop, this is the way to go!

I don't know if these little buggers are regional, but it seems quite a few people have these camel crickets(don't click if bugs gross you out) in their basements.  We had been chasing them around with the shop vac, thinking we were making a dent in the population.  We couldn't figure out how to get rid of them, and I was threatening Billy with chemical spray.  Until we discovered...DUCT TAPE!  They eat the adhesive and then get stuck.  I won't tell you how many we've caught, but it is a LOT.  Easy, and cheap if you need to tackle this problem!

Hard water problems?  Our dishes and glasses were coming out so foggy from the dishwasher.  So, everyone has hard water around here, and our neighbor pointed us in the right direction.  Lemi Shine!  I didn't know we could fix the problem, but it has worked it's magic!

Instead of lugging our giant vacuum cleaner for easy jobs, this Shark cordless vacuum has been great.  I have no idea why Billy came home with this, and at first I was against it.  But I use it all the time and lightweight enough to carry it upstairs without a problem.  Will likes to chase it around while I am using it too.  Even for just catching the stray dog hair tumbleweeds, I've used it enough to justify the purchase.

Ok, this last one is baby related, but has made our walks a lot more bearable for Will as the temperature has gone down, and especially on windy days.  If you have a Bob, or any jogging stroller, don't buy the $40 Bob brand wind shield.  Hop on down to BRU and buy this generic shield.  It has been awesome, and saved me from having to go to the mall to walk on less than ideal weather days.

Obviously, I will still post weekly photos of Will, too!
He started going down the slide in our backyard this week:

 He loves looking out the back door window:

 My preppy baby...who just tries to eat the zipper on his vest.