Pumpkin Carving

We didn't carve pumpkins last year because we were in the middle of a move, but the year before, I remember it being so stressful. This year was nothing but enjoyable for me. Its great when things like this turn from doing them out of guilt/obligation and being stressed out the whole time, to doing them and the whole family to have fun. A welcomed change to be sure. Amelia was pretty excited to dig out her pumpkin. We finally carved our pumpkins Saturday night. She was so happy and excited to get her Halloween on.

Miles, bravely cleaning out the inside of his pumpkin.

Getting ready to carve. Right after this shot, we decided to have Amelia draw on her pumpkin, what she wanted it to look like.

Brodrick was a happy observer. It helped to have someone hold him on a lap so he could get a good look at the action.

So dramatic exclaiming something along the lines of pumpkin carving.

Daddy hard at work carving Miles pumpkin free style.

Miles was so pleased with him pumpkin. A few minutes after this picture, his jack-o-lantern was given a nose.

Amelia's scary face and final product- she was very proud of her jack-o-lantern. She drew out the face all herself with a marker and then I carved it for her. She wanted to be sure her jack-o-lantern was a female. Notice the eyelashes, squished hear shaped mouth, and rosie cheeks.

Miles followed suite and did a scary face too.

Bike crash...

With all this bike riding, a crash was bound to happen. Miles bit the dust on Friday and landed on his face...

Check out his crooked smile. The top right of his lip got pretty beat up. You have to see his lips apart to get the full effect.

When blood happens, I am always so grateful for when it stops, especially if it stops quickly. After a quick recovery he was back on his bike. He is now sporting matching scabs on his nose and chin.

Ballot Prejudice

While Brodrick was in the OR on Wednesday for his tube replacement, I was waiting in the lobby and was watching some news coverage of a recent Republican debate. I was impressed by what I saw of Herman Cain. I nonchalantly commented to myself how I liked Herman Cain's 9-9-9 tax plan, and how at this point, Cain would get my vote. The man next to me turned to me and said, "Oh, I wouldn't vote for him cause he's black. We had our first black president ever and look where it got us, in more debt then any other president before him."

Pure. shock. I was so taken back! And he could tell by the look on my face. I turned to him and said, "You're right, we are in more debt because of Obama, but that has nothing to do with the color of his skin." This man was not convinced. I then commented on how many LDS people are going to vote for Mitt Romney because he is LDS with not knowing any other information about his policies or plan for the nation.

It was hard to hear people declare that they were going to vote for Obama when he was running, because he was black. That is just as prejudice as not voting for someone because they are black, or voting for someone just because of their religion. Wikipedia says "Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy..." Guaranteed. Accuracy.

This post is not intended to be an endorsement for Herman Cain, nor is it meant to get into a political debate.  It is meant simply to encourage people to avoid prejudice come voting time. Don't let your vote be swayed because of the candidate's religion or the color of their skin. Make it be about more than that. Do your home work before you vote.

Tubes- Round Two

Waiting for his first surgery back in July.

Brodrick had ear tubes placed in July. At his first post-op, his left ear tube was blocked and not functioning. After extra drops it opened up. Sadly, every time it has been checked since August it has been blocked. Its not very common, but does happen when the person/child has chronic ear drainage like Brodrick. The blockage caused some nasty ear infections. We tried and tried to get it unblocked but the only real solution would be to have it replaced.
So on Wednesday we went back in to have just the left ear tube replaced. Thankfully everything went well. Brodkrick was a champ coming out of the anesthesia both times. No real crying, just like he woke up from a nap. Everyone was commenting on how sweet and clam he was. I also think it helped that he finally had relief from his ear pressure.

I like to ride my Bi-Cycle!!

I can't get enough of this great weather. Last week we went on a bike ride- technically I'm walking and pushing Brodrick in the stroller- at least once a day. Amelia and Miles LOVE to go on bike rides. These were from our ride to the park on Friday I would be lying if I said I was excited or even ready for winter. Oh how I dread the cold, snow, being stuck in the house with the kids all day, sicknesses being passed around the family, I could go on but it will just make it worse.. I'd much rather it stay like this with perfect weather all the time. So lets focus on the perfection that is my family enjoying low to mid 70's in October in the Beehive state.

This is Miles saying that he wanted me to take a picture of him being a pirate.

Tim came with us this time. We were so happy to have Daddy along for the fun.

Miles on his Strider Running Bike. The idea behind the bike is that children will learn balance first- mastering the most difficult part of riding a bike- then be able to easily transfer to a regular two wheeler and learn to pedal. Miles LOVES this bike, and so do I. It is just great and he is SOOOO fast on it!

 I think its so important to get out and be active as a family, to instill a love of the outdoors in my children. It has been so easy for us where we are now. Where ever we end up after graduate school I hope we live close to a great area for the children to ride bikes and have great access to other outdoor activities.

(Random fact about me and the Queen song "Bicycle Race"- While back-packing Europe with my friend Heathyr we saw so many bike racks filled with bicycles and people riding them everywhere. I sang and sang "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike, I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like!....." and Heathyr had never heard the song before. And while I sang Bicycle, she sang Bike by Pink Floyd to me, "I've go a bike you can ride it if you'd like. Its got a basket a bell that rings and things to make it look good. I'd give it to you if I could but I borrowed it...." which I had never heard before.)

Name them one by one

The weather today was perfect. I love the weather autumn weather. When it was raining and nasty last week, I was worried we were not going to be able to enjoy autumn this year. Thankfully, things warmed up and dried off. This evening the kids and I went on a walk to a nearby park. It was wonderful to enjoy time together.

I love this girl's pose.

Miles loves the swing

Swinging on mom's lap, makes everything right in the world. PS, Amelia took this picture while we were swinging back and forth. Not bad.

It doesn't get any better than digging in the dirt for this kid.

I've spent hours over the last week, up in the night with Brodrick. He is working on getting 4 molars at once (I feel like he's been cutting them since the end of August). Its been a long painful process for both of us, but more so for him than me. Mixed in with the vomiting over conference and the molars coming in, he also was bleeding around his left ear tube. It then became blocked, which caused an infection. Now that he is over the stomach bug (which made him loose more than 8 lbs) he is constantly eating. It is a challenge to keep him full. He is now a full time walker and loves to be play chased by anyone in the family. He babbles more than I remember any other child babbling at his age. He tries very hard to imitate words he hears and does a very good job getting them out.

This girl is such a joy. Amelia is growing and maturing like crazy. We still have our occasional disputes but for the most part she is so helpful and loving. Like all big sisters, she can be bossy but has a good heart. She is always eager to help me with things like dishes, cooking, laundry and cleaning. She is enjoying home school and loves reading and violin. When we are leaving the house I don't have to help her with things anymore as she can get herself ready and even help with the boys if I need it. She is a great mix of girly girl and Tom boy. She loves pink and feeling pretty but is not afraid to get dirty and is great at catching insects and finding worms. She now brushes her hair herself and will hold pretty still while I style it in the morning.

Love his helmet hair.

Miles is such a boy. He loves cars, bugs, super heroes, and playing with other boys. His favorite thing to do at home is puzzles and he's quite good at them. He wants juice all the time and I feel like I'm constantly refilling his cup for him. He is getting used to eating a wider variety of foods, and often hears that he needs food, not just juice to grow big and strong. Now that there are new people serving in the nursery, he enjoys going. After a get together with friends this week, Miles declared, "Mom, I was kind!" And he was. He played so well with Amelia and the other kids. That is something we have been working on together. Oh how grateful I am to see him succeed in an area where he wants to improve. Miles is also talking like crazy. I am so grateful that his communication ability is finally up to speed with what he has to say. He is not shy and loves to express himself and talk to anyone who is interested and willing to listen.

Today was a great day, with minimal fighting and correction. I am feeling extra blessed. It is such a joy being the mom to these sweet children. What a privilege it is to get to raise spirit children of our Heavenly Father. I find myself able to relax more now that they are all getting older (than they were...) and are gaining independence. I can't believe the three of them are getting so big. Its bitter sweet.

Pumpkin Land

Today we were able to go to Pumpkin Land with a play group we attend. We had a fabulous time strengthening friendships and enjoying a cool morning. Before we left, Amelia and Miles both picked out a pumpkin to bring home.

Brodrick observed happily from the stroller for most part. It became a necessity once we reached the play area, to keep track of the other two kids running around.

All the kids, minus the babies.

Amelia was loving the pumpkin patch.

Brodrick LOVED all of the animals there. Especially the chickens and peacocks.

I love Miles checking out the little girl next to him.

We had a fantastic time! I had never taken the kids to a pumpkin patch before. We enjoyed it so much, and hope to go again next year.

Royalty

I had plenty of felt left over from the fall leaf garland so I decided to make some crowns for the kids. I went online and searched for an Aurora crown craft and found a free one. I clicked on the template and used the shape form Amelia's and extended the circumference to make it fit around her head. Then made one for Miles without the little notches. We had some glitter glue and the kids chose for me to decorate the crowns for them.

For Miles, a robot, M, star and football.

And for Amelia a rainbow, A, and some hearts.

Home School Co-op

My good friend M contacted me over the summer and said that she was going to start home schooling her daughter this year. It was welcomed news since were also starting home school for Amelia this year. We decided that we would get together once a week to do a lesson on the natural world and take turns teaching the lesson. One more home schooling family joins us so we have a nice little group and we mom's teach every third week.

This week we went to Thanksgiving Point's Discovery Garden (when the weather was still nice.) We mostly had the place to ourselves, which made it much easier to watch after the kids.

Amelia LOVEs all the things at Thanksgiving Point. Being with friends made it even better. And Miles? He can hold his own in a group of girl!

Miles enjoying himself.

Making some music.

Brodrick enjoyed being pushed around.

The big girls a-top a caterpillar.

We have had such a great time doing these lessons and strengthening friendships while we teach and learn together. I get to teach next weeks lesson.

Repost: Ever Consider Going Cloth?

This was first posted on my private family blog, January 2011. I am happy to report that I am still using cloth diapers and still love it! I should also mention that the more you use the hemp inserts the better they absorbe. That being the case we rarely have leaking issues with the Sunbaby diapers.

When Amelia was a baby, I met my sister's friend who used fuzzi bunz cloth diapers. I thought, "Wow, those aren't like the kind my mother used on her babies. How great!" Then she told me how much she spent on them and I almost had an aneurysm.

Fast forward to a few months ago. My friend Kristyn who I met while in college blogged about how she had made the switch to BumGenius cloth diapers from disposables. I decided to email her to get some of my questions answered. Once they were answered and I felt comfortable enough with the process and how it all works, I looked into prices of diapers. Lets just say, they were expensive. Since I have two in diapers, I would need double what they recommend. Double whammy with the cost. So I did what any penny pinching mother would do. I went onto ebay and looked for a comparable diaper for less than BumGenius or Fuzzi Bunz.

I emailed Kristyn and had her look at the listing to see what the differences were between what I was considering and what she was using. From the description the only minor difference were the direction of the snaps. So I bought some "buy it now" Sunbaby cloth diapers from China.
They came beginning of November and we have been loving them! One of my favorite thing about the cloth is how cute the little bums look in them!
Take a look:

-Taken back in November-

Adorable, right?!

Here are some pictures of Miles and Brodrick wearing the same All In One (AIO) cloth diaper that fits 7lbs to 35lbs. Notice the difference in the size is in the snaps.

-Taken in December-

So I am a super cloth diaper advocate now. Many people have asked me about it, and even friends of friends have come to me for information. So, here is the latest message that I sent to a friend of a friend who came to me with concerns about it being too messy and wanting to know what kind of diapers I use.

"Its really is not a lot of work, nor is it messy. I have a diaper pail in my bathroom by the kids' room. When the diaper is wet, I take it right to the diaper pail, in goes the diaper and flannel wipe. If it is poopy, and its really smeared in the diaper I use my diaper sprayer and it makes it easier to get the poop off, and if its not I just dump out the poop into the toilet (my two year old) and put the diaper and wipe in the pail. My almost 6 month old who is strictly breast fed I don't always rinse out, if its not a big poopy diaper it goes right into the pail. If it IS a big one, (would have been a blowout with disposables) then I take my diaper sprayer and spray anything that looks like it can be sprayed off. I know many people who don't rinse their breast fed baby's diapers and just do an extra rinse in the washing machine which you can do, and I do, since I don't rinse all of mine.
-- on a diaper sprayer, I got my off of ebay for like $25 dollars. I didn't think it was worth it in the beginning, but now having it, it was totally worth it! No swishing the diaper in the toilet and you can use those tank cleaners for your toilet bowl still cause the water from the sprayer comes right from the water line not the toilet.

Ok since I have two in diapers, I do laundry every day and a half to two days, and have 35 diapers. When I take my diaper pail liner (waterproof PUL fabric just like the pocket diaper like $10 on amazon) full of diapers down to the washing machine, and do a COLD rinse. Next, I put in a scoop (sometimes two if its a big load) of diaper safe soap and HOT water. Then, you can just dump the diapers in and walk away. The inserts should unstuff if you have a great washing machine. I choose topull the inserts out of all of the Sunbaby diapers. The Applecheeks diapers unstuff themselves- they are designed differently than the FB/BG/Sunbaby. When I don't, about two diapers every load still have the insert stuck in, wadded at the closed end of the diapers. Since I don't want to have to rewash those diapers, its just easier for me to unstuff. And, it really isn't that bad. Its just like changing a diaper, and you just wash your hands afterward, like you do with a diaper change. But you don't have to, like I said, most of them unstuff themselves, and should if you have a good washing machine.

I had get used to having just a diaper bag and not everything in one purse Its just tons easier and simplifies things. Same thing when out and about, but I keep a water bottle to wet my wipes. When I'm done with the diaper change *wet* I put it in to a PUL bag. (I sewed some myself or you can get them on amazon or etsy.) If its poopy and there is a toilet- like at church, I dump it then before I put it in the bag. If there is no toilet, I but it in the bag and dump it out when I get to a toilet.

When the washing machine stops I put all inserts and wipes into the dryer and line dry the covers, which right now is laying them out on a desk in the office. :) Then, when everything is dry, I re- stuff them so they are right at hand when I go to change a baby. The AIO diapers take longer to dry but just over night, so I can do a load before bed, lay out the liners and have them dry by the time I go to stuff them the next day.

I've heard that Bum Genius and Fuzzi Bunz are amazing. They have pocket all in one (AIO) diapers. They were too expensive for us at the time we bought ours so I went onto ebay and bought a knock off brand called Sunbaby. I did have a problem with them leaking for my older son and on my little one if I'm not on top of changing them. I asked my friend who uses bum genius about it and she said that her's have a no leak guarantee. The fact that mine leak some times would almost make the price difference worth paying out for name brand cloth diapers, but I just couldn't pay the extra at the time. To make my current diapers work for the time being, I bought some hemp inserts off Amazon, they are twice as absorbent as the microfiber inserts. I use those for at night.

That being the case, the Sunbaby diapers are great. Its nice because I already know I have broken even cost wise using cloth, even with the extra hemp inserts. I was able to get a lot of Sunbaby diapers for a reasonable price and see that I like cloth diapering. I do and as my Sunbaby diapers wear out (I'm planning on using them for quite a few babies, so it will be awhile) I'll probably invest in some "nicer" diapers.

The AIO diapers FB/BG go up to 35lbs but are a bit snug on my 38lb, 2.5 year old son who's in the 95th percentile, though they still fit him. Its nice to be able to use the same diaper on Brodrick (almost 6 months) and Miles (2.5 yrs). Since they were a bit snug on Miles I bought 5 Applecheeks diapers (they are not AIO, but have two different sizes), for him at night so I can stuff more inserts into them. They happen to be my favorite. The size two says they go up to 40 lbs and I believe they would go up even more, for my kids and how they are built.

The main difference in the name brand and knock off diapers is the quality of PUL fabric used, which you can't find out from reading a description online, it will just say PUL fabric.
Anyway, lots of information. I love it and am so glad I made the switch!!! Seriously. Hit me up with more questions! "

After I made the switch and was doing some research, I learned that you are supposed to rinse out disposable diapers before you put them in the trash, because its illegal to put fecal matter into landfills. Look on a any box of diapers, they all say the same thing in the directions of how to use them, rinse it out before putting it in the trash. So, if we are supposed to rinse out ANY diaper anyway, why now use a diaper that can be used more than once? I saves a lot of money to use cloth.

Ever thought about cloth? Now with all this information, would you consider making the switch?