Thursday, May 26, 2011

Month Two


Out little guy is two months! How did the time go by so quickly?

I realized today that I have settled into quite a nice routine, and somehow appear to have it all together. I guess that is half the battle, right? Today at the doctor for Champ's two month shots, I ran into another mom who was in awe that I had three kids under the age of 5, and had somehow gotten them to the office all by myself.

She and her husband had her 6 month old and her 4 year old little girl, and admitted they couldn't imagine taking both kids alone anywhere.

And while I completely understand the sense of being overwhelmed and wanting help, I have to say, a little part of me wanted to be smug about how well behaved the boys were (they even held the doors to the doctor's office for all of us ladies), but I know that being smug about their behavior is the quickest way to get them to show me that I truly have little control over how they decide to act.

In any case, it was fun to talk to the couple and their little girl, who seemed pretty chill, to me. According to mom and dad, she is impossible to take anywhere-I wanted to laugh and tell them to wait til their boy got older and started playing super heroes, then they would see wild, but I didn't.

I just nodded sympathetically and listened, because, really, isn't that what we all need? Just and ear now and then to let us know we are doing a good job and raising our kids OK? Reassurance that it's OK for our kids to not be perfectly behaved every second, and to hear other battlefield tales from other parents in similar situations?

I think it is important to let other parents know that we can't really compare ourselves to each other-we and our children are all different. All we can do is offer support when it is needed.

On that note, here is cuteness:
Two months, just crazy how quickly that went by.



Monday, May 23, 2011

Cloth Diapering and Cloth Wipes

I've been cloth diapering for a few years now; we started with Little Dude was a year old, right after we found out JR was on his way! At the time, I didn't know anyone that cloth diapered, but had seen a lady in TN (where we lived for Little Dude's first 9 months) doing it, and I was a bit intrigued, since she had all these cute covers.

Anyways, after realizing we were soon going to be doing double diaper duty with two under the age of two, I started adding up the cost and figured out pretty quickly that even with increased water, electricity, and detergent usage to do the extra loads of laundry, by FAR we would save a TON with cloth diapers. Especially since I got a lot of mine as "pre loved" ones from http://www.momforlife.com and ebay. Germ-a-phob that I am, I of course washed them with bleach a few times before ever using them on the kiddos.

So, now four years later, I am still super happy with all my cloth diapers and wet bags. LOVE doing it.

But as much as I love doing the cloth diapers, using cloth wipes never crossed my mind, for some reason. Now though, that the cost of the baby wipes I normally get have jumped up a bunch and the fact that I only have one diaper wearer now as apposed to two (yay, JR is out of diapers at night too now, YAYAYAY!)I am really considering the cost, and trying to figure how I can make it as cheap as possible.

So here are my thoughts:

One, I am going to use baby wash cloths (I have a ton for some reason, though I only use his mickey mouse one at bath time) and the "newborn inserts" that came with my cloth diapers. Now that Champ is bigger and peeing more, he is using just the regular insert folded to the small size setting, so what to do with all the newborn inserts? I am thinking they will be perfect baby wipes.

Two, I am so tired of pulling out the baby wipes from my wet bag before washing diapers, or worse, pulling them out of the diaper Velcro after being washed (the Velcro won't stick when the wipe is all stuck in it, so you have to pull every.little.bit.out. ugh.)

Three, I want to cut our costs more and as a bonus reduce the amount of trash I am creating for landfills.

I am also going to use a solution of baby wash with water in a recycled regular wipe container (I will test its water holding power in the sink before putting it on Champ's dresser, hopefully it will be water tight)and then just place the newborn inserts/wash cloths in there as needed.

When done? I'll just throw them in with my diapers in the wet bag as normal, but instead of pulling them out of the wash or bag later, I can just wash everything with no worries about my Velcro getting messed up. Yippie!

I did go ahead and order a travel wipes spray for the diaper bag, though I am fine with using regular wipes just for travel if needed.

So, off on the adventure of cloth wipes I go. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Thor, Flash Storm, Ant Man and Wasp

The only non-blurry photo I have of the elusive Iron Man

Apparently, I missed out on a lot of fun growing up without any boys or male playmates. Even in school I always had girl friends and never really felt comfortable around boys; thus I missed out on some of the coolest stuff ever.

Like super heroes. Who knew there were so many? With so many skills? There is even a girl named WASP who seems infinitely cooler than Super Girl (or even Bat Girl...remember the Alicia Sliverstone movie? *shudder*)

Anyways, super heroes are ALL the rage at our house right now. On a minute to minute breakdown through the day I take on a slew of super hero identities to match whatever theme the boys are on-they are Batman and Robin? I'm obviously Bat Mom (with the ever present Champ playing the part of Bat Baby). The boys are Thor and Ant Man? I am obviously Wasp, who, with the help of Baby Wasp, stings bad guys to death, flies around and can shrink to fit in tiny places-no bad guys can escape the wrath of Wasp and baby Wasp.

And yes, there actually is an ANT MAN-I too had thought the boys made him up until we saw the Avengers cartoon. I'm telling you, I lived a sheltered life of tea parties and My Little Pony.

I have to say, I am a little sad to see JR skipping the Thomas the Train and Sesame Street stage-he is up to whatever Little Dude is up to, so now that Little Dude is "waaaaaaay to oooooooollllllddddd for Elmooooooo" (direct quote, by the way, given exclusively to me when I asked if they would like to watch said show...) it seems that all kinds of bad guy hunting must take place.

Luckily, firefighters are still a huge hit here, since they are "life like super hereos" (again, direct quote from my eldest....) So, when whatever I try to entertain with bombs, an impromptu trip to visit our favorite living super hereos can get even the worst rainy day blues to go away.

It is super cool to see all the pretend play and super hero stuff. And now that Disney bought Marvel (or has the license rights for awhile)I have been having fun pricing super hero gear for the boys' birthdays! Yay! I am also super excited to see what costumes Disney has for super hereos around Halloween-score!

I, of course, will be a princess again, since I am, after all, the princess of all my men.

And now, back to being Iron Man Mom, as I can hear two Iron Man-s (Men?) still running around upstairs with Iron Man Dad and Iron Man Baby just started to cry for food. The secret life of a super hero. Now you know.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Fleeting Newborn Stage

I tried to get this onezie on Champ today and couldn't get it over his big head. A head that has grown by leaps and bounds already-along with the rest of him. I picked another favorite outfit of mine and couldn't get it pulled down enough to snap.


This was taken a few weeks ago; a few weeks is all it takes for that sweet newborn stage to swiftly disappear. I have to admit, I'm having a tough time with it. I know Champ is *most likely* our last one. Can't say for certain, but as I get more and more exhausted at the end of the day, even though I want nothing more than to cuddle babies all the time, I also want sleep. And a break in the constant motion of the older boys would be nice.

And to somehow have answers to the billizillion and counting questions the other two ask me *just about super heros*. Good grief, I am in huge trouble when they start asking questions I can't just make up answers to.

I had a huge stand off fight with Little Dude today over a *crack* in his sandwich bread. He didn't want to eat a non-perfect piece of bread. I wanted to clobber him for throwing such a whiny, screaming, kicking infested, "YOU'RE AN AWFUL LUNCH MAKER, THERE IS PEANUT BUTTER EVERYWHERE ON MY BREAD" yelling tantrum.

I actually found myself lecturing about children starving in Africa, Japan and Hatti. Yes, I went there.

Lucky for Little Dude, I am literally too tired today to deal, so I sent him to bed *without lunch*, to more screams of "I'M HUNGRY I WANT----".

I shut the door to the room. And snuggled with Champ while JR finished his lunch and then asked to eat his brother's. I talked JR into an orange, since hopefully soon Little Dude will decide he is hungry and can manage to eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich with one crack in the bread.

So, I want more babies, and I really would love to have a fourth, but to be honest, I don't know that I would be that sane of a parent with 4 headstrong kids. I have 2 to contend with already and I know that Champ will not be far behind.

I just really wish I could freeze these baby days a little longer. The thought of packing up the newborn clothes for the last time makes me want to cry. Even the no sleeping at night; I will greatly miss it when the time comes for him to shout about some injustice served in the form of a sandwich.

Sigh. Good thing it is Friday.



Sunday, May 1, 2011

ABC Easy As 123

Somehow an entire month has gone by since Champ made his debut. It has gone by very quickly and at the same time, has felt pretty normal.

Some things are crazy still. Like the fact it takes me 2 hours to get everyone dressed and out the door somewhere.....or the fact that laundry has somehow grown by a factor of 20 to the 10th power. Literally.

But, I am getting everyone to preschool on time, and getting dinner done, and grocery shopping done. And let us not forget just simply keeping everyone alive. That really is a feat in and of itself with two boys that are rough and tough and want nothing more than to hug their baby bro a LITTLE too tightly.


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