Friday, August 27, 2010

First Tooth

First tooth broke through today! It is her bottom front left one. It has been raised and white for the past couple of days, and she has been drooling and drooling.

She also has had a terrible runny nose, something she's never had before and because Monkey Man and I both had colds over the weekend, I assumed it was that. She also had a small diaper rash...and Monkey Man also had one (he has super sensative skin and many foods he eats besides gluten can give him a diaper rash pretty quick, just not as severe/long lasting).
Thinking she and he might be sharing some kind of a bacterial infection, I stripped all of my diapers. If you want to know about that, click here. It is quite a bit of work to do an entire stash for two kids.
How wrong I was. She was simply getting a tooth! Yeah for Rosebud!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Bits And Pieces

Ah what a busy time it has been. Draycare is back in full swing. We need to pick up a couple more kids, but I can't take more than our seven passenger van can hold, and that being five in the backseat. I may be open to taking a baby or two overnight, but we'll see what the Lord has planned for us. So far everything has been great. The two full time kids I have I have had since they were 5 months and less than 2 years old. We quickly fell into our routine.

The kids and I had the privilege of meeting Jenilee and her girls at a local park for a morning of playing and a picnic lunch. It was so much fun to meet up with them. She and I met through Mama Bear's blog...such a small world.

She made it into this park picture! The playground has a sprayground and a large sand pit with a water feature.

Neither of our kids were very interested in getting their photo taken just then...they wanted to play!



Last Saturday Rosebud and I were very busy with the Greene County Parks and Cultural Art's Doggie Dash n' Splash. I have been on the steering committee for this even since its birth in 2006. This was my last year, however. It takes up quite a bit of my time and that isn't something I have too much of anymore. That and my husband thinks it is the dumbest thing on the whole earth. I made him volunteer with me the first year. He was McGruff The Crime Dog...in a full fur costume. The heat index was 100 that day. We still don't speak of that event in our house.

Sooo...I recruited another family member. Rosebud spent nearly nine hours in a sling. She spent a little bit of time in her stroller covered while it rained, but other than that, it was a long babywearing day. She did fantastic, and I only heard one little squawk out of her when she wanted to eat.

I didn't take many pictures because I was VERY busybeing that there were thousands of people and dogs through. I'll find out at our September meeting just how many. We were anticipating 10,000 people, but the weather dampened that number.

I was too shy to ask him for a picture, but this is Tony Hoard, one of the finalists on America's Got Talent last year. He and his dog Rory and some other rescue dogs were there doing shows and talking about rescue animals.

This is Rosebud minutes before we left to go home. Being outside in the rain and dogs for nine hours didn't bother her in the least!


Kelly's Closet and The Cloth Diaper Whisperer have a monthly contest "Baby of the Cloth". This month's theme was "Mama's Helper". The task was to get a picture of your little one, wearing cloth diapers of course, helping out.

My kids have several "chores" if you will, one of which is helping hang diapers on the line. I got some pictures of Monkey Man helping. He wasn't sure why this activity was turning into a photo shoot.

He kept pointing to the diapers on the line..."hey mom, that is what you normally take a picture of when they are hung" (yea...I do. I love the way they look up there)

But he was the star of the show, not the brightly colored clothesline.

And after getting tons of pictures I wasn't going to use...

I picked this one. Because he is handing me both the clips and the diaper. You can see that he is wearing a cloth diaper. And he has a very sweet expression on his face! I hope he wins!

Friday, August 20, 2010

One Week Ago...

...we spent our weekend on the ball field. For those of you who don't know, we spend many many nights/weekends on the ball field. From April through September. #1 plays league night on a team made up of local law eforcement officers. These same guys travel and play police league tournaments (VA Beach, Dayton Ohio, Sterling Heights Michigan, Cincinnati Ohio, and Las Vegas. He also plays on our church's team.
The kids have team shirts, although Snug grew out of his this season and it already fits Monkey Man! Next summer I'll have to get them the same size.
Snug has an entourage of player's wives who feed, play with, and carry him at his whim. #1 has been with this team since Snug was seven months old, so he thinks he is the team mascot.

This past weekend's tournament is to honor fallen police officers. The tournament starts off with a flag ceremony and they read the names of fallen officers tied to teams present. They either are related to someone playing or from a state represented by a team (example we are from Ohio so any Ohio officers).

It is a pretty emotional time for some of these guys, and for us, the wives. You never want to be the family that is out there throwing the first pitch to start the tournament. But there is always the chance that next year, you will be.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Have You Had "The Talk" WIth Your Kids?

No, not that talk. My kids are only 4, 2, and 4 months! I mean the talk about money. This is also a BIG one. And one that needs to be repeated.

Let me tell you about how this all came about.

Last night after church we stopped by our old neighbor's house to chat for a couple of minutes on our way home from church. We miss them terribly and haven't connected in awhile. Our old yard looks...awful. Seriously, the place looks like it has been foreclosed on and that no one lives there. That bad. The lawn is not mowed, the flower garden has not been weeded (think several feet tall weeds), there are weeds growing up between all the cracks in the sidewalk/driveway. The gate to the privacy fence is never closed, and there are some vertical blinds missing in the big front window...that they have hung a princess themed sheet over the gap. My little ornamental weeping cherry tree that I always trimmed so carefully...a mess. A complete mess. (We had bought the house from someone I used to work with and the tree had been a gift when her grandfather passed...I always remembered that and tried to honor his memory.)

Some yard work has been done. The new owner had two HUGE beautiful maple trees removed. But didn't plant grass over where they were. It is just so sick.

Upon returning home, I remembered that some of the bushes in our new front yard needed to be trimmed. I was going to wait for fall and cooler weather...but I took vengeance for my old yard upon my new one today.

I (stupidly) got out my pruning sheers and pruned the daylights out of the first overgrown bush. Then when I noticed that the woody stems were really hard to cut through and that I had given myself no less than five large blisters, I went for the lopping sheers and finished the job. There was a TON of debris left in my wake.

Snug was running around outside and I made him a deal. If he'd load all of the debris into his wagon and dispose of it (some to the mulch pile, some to the yard waste bag) I'd pay him. He agreed. It is in the nineties today, and the work took him close to forty minutes (filled the wagon two times). I paid him four quarters.

Ever since we did Financial Peace University we have been trying to instill the same money values in our kids. One of the first things we do with them is to give them three banks. One is labeled "Give" one "Save" and one "Spend". Monkey Man will be getting his "give" and "save" banks here soon. We use empty Parmesan cheese jars for this, we keep it simple people.

When they earn money (pennies for little jobs, dimes for medium jobs, quarters for hour-long-hot-in-the-sun jobs) we have taught Snug to put the money in the three banks and say "Give to someone who needs it" "Save for something you need" "Spend on something I want". I'm not sure why we never divvy out nickles...I never have nickels hanging around. Why is that? They don't get paid for everything they help out with around the house, many jobs are done because we are a family and families work together.

Today we went a step further. Although Snug has spent some of his money in the past (saved up birthday money for a toy, given money to Operation Christmas Child and missions) he has never just went to his "spend" jar and spent it because he has it. I asked Snug if he'd like an ice cream cone, and he decided that he would. Before he put the two remaining quarters into his "spend" bank I told him that an ice cream at McDonald's cost fifty cents, and that is what two quarters is.

When Monkey Man and Rosebud went down for a nap, daddy stayed home and mommy and Snug went on a "date". He ordered, payed for, and ate his hard earned treat. As we sat at the table I decided to talk to him more about money. He has wanted to do some things this summer that we didn't have money to do, and we have simply told him "we don't have the money". Don't feel too bad for the little guy, he's had a fun-filled summer.


As we sat there enjoying each other's company we talked about where money comes from he showed me he already knows that God gave daddy his job and that is how we have a house to live in and food to eat. Today's topic was more specific about how he likes to turn on the light in his bedroom or that we get to have gas in the van. I told him that we have money we give, save, and spend also. But spending money isn't just for things you want like ice cream. First of all you have to pay bills and such like.

He noted that I had recently gotten a new rug for the living room, and I told him that indeed I had, but that I had saved for literally months to be able to buy it. Oh, I will SOOO have to post pictures of the rug too, I L O V E it. That is totally not part of the story, sorry.

Anyway, then he asked where our money was. Did I have a penny bank (that is what he calls his piggy banks, and in all fairness when some of the banks look like pigs and some like empty recycled food containers...penny bank is a better word) and where was it? I then explained that we use a bank building to put our money in. Next month when I go and fill envelopes (another Financial Peace thing) I'll have to make sure he is included in the process.

One thing that he said that cracked me up was he asked why we put our money in a bank. I told him because some people would sin against us and steal money if we just had it all sitting around. He said "like litterbugs! They'd steal our money and THEN put their trash on the ground!" I have to remember that he is only four.

Litterbugs aside, I really feel that our "date" and fifty cent ice cream made an impact on him. I think that the money talk needs to be made with all kids, and made whenever the opportunity arises. Our society is a "give it to me now and I'll spend even what I don't have" mess. Being smart with money, not buying what you can't afford, and finding ways to save money/be frugal are Biblical values to teach your children.

Go ahead, have the talk!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Wednesday's Walk

My Wednesday Walk (Down Memory Lane) is about our trip to VA Beach last spring for #1's softball tournament.
This is my favorite tournament. The water is always way too cold to swim in, but the beach is perfect to play on.
Monkey Man got to enjoy his first taste of sand.

Snug loved to watch the waves and made sandcastles.

Daddy showed off his muscles.

And mommy was hoping that someday this picture would be put in a baby album. Guess what....it will be!



Click above to see other people's memories, or participate yourself!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Milestones

It was a big day. Not only did mommy make the first batch of Rosebud's baby food (I'll post on that another day), but she also made her first homemade baby wipes. Go here to find out what I did (Thanks Liz). They look fantastic, and I will let you know how they work. Again, for another post. Today is about them.

These three kiddos really have my number. There are some HARD HARD days at this house. Days where people wet their pants, have tantrums, hit, bite, yell, and are generally quite sinful. And this includes mommy. Although I don't generally bite :o) But today was not one of those days.
This little girl hit a milestone that took Snug till near 7 months (he was a preemie) and Monkey Man was around 10 months to master. Rolling over from back to belly. In all fairness Monkey Man did roll one time around 6 months, but it was only once.
Yesterday and today she spent quite a bit of time in this position grunting and kicking.

And then finally she achieved her goal. Rolling to her belly!

But all things considered...being on her belly is not her favorite. Not by a long shot. Snug and I took turns "rescuing" her today. Finally I told him to let her go and see what she would do. After 20 minutes of wailing...she fell asleep. Exhausted. She is currently sleeping on her belly in her crib. I think we will all know when she wakes up!


In other news...Snug hit a milestone too!
Instead of just sitting on the swing sweetly asking for a push whining about mommy hanging laundry and not constantly pushing him...he learned to pump. After a push he can keep going all by himself!!!!!

And boy is he proud!

Last, but certainly not least, Monkey Man is really really really talking up a storm. He is even singing with us. PLEASE excuse my voice. I am sooo proud of him.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Sucking My Thumb

I have a serious thumb sucker. Serious. She found her thumb at one week, and has never looked back. It is her source of comfort. Self-soothing I do believe they call it.

I will admit (and I know many people will NOT be happy to know) that Rosebud and I co-sleep a bit. I never co-slept with the boys, and I don't do it all the time, but sometimes in the middle of the night I pull her into bed to nurse and then I fall asleep. I am a light sleeper most of the time, and we have a king size bed...she has plenty of room away from daddy who is not a light sleeper. If I don't fall asleep I do put her back into her bed, and right now she is sleeping in a pack n play really close to our bed.

This is not a co-sleeping post. I really could care less about it. I just had to share that bit of information to lay the groundwork for the post.

The last couple of nights when Rosebud wakes up and wants to eat (she used to sleep 10 hours a night...what happened???) she is fussy fussy but she won't latch. Want to know why? She is sucking her thumb. She is so busy trying to self-soothe she won't get her thumb out of her mouth to make way for what she really needs. Or, she tries to nurse and suck her thumb at the same time. Which also is impossible. I lay there and look at her and think "will you give up and let me take over?"

Sometimes I feel like I am sucking my thumb with God. I am so busy self-soothing and trying to do things on my own that I miss what He really has for me. Something better. Something I need. But no, I am too busy doing things for myself. I wonder if God looks at me and says "will you give up and let me take over?"

I Heart Faces Sunglasses


Yep, I know that there is some stuff in the foreground that should be edited out. Nope, I don't have fancy editing software...or any editing software. Yep, he is a great little guy! Thanks for stopping by :o)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Summer 500

Although I'd love to, I cannot take credit for this picture. I am pretty sure my brother took it for me while we were at the farm. If I am wrong, he can just tell me and then I'll take credit!
I took over 500 pictures this summer. Many were deleted, but probably not enough. I just can't. There are so many things I try to capture. I'll share a few my favorites, in no particular order or time sequence.
Time with daddy...

And brotherly love.

God's beautiful creation...

And first smiles.

First meetings...

And trying desperately to capture who they are now, for when they are older.

Re-connecting with cousins...

And old friends.

Having fun with my baby...

And enjoying incredible bonding time.

Having goofy moments...

That just kept coming and coming!

Enjoying a first ever ice cream cone (they sell gluten free ones!)...
And trying new ice cream flavors.


Taking Rosebud to where her parents were engaged...


And simply enjoying the view.

Playing hard...

Sleeping hard.


Taking my children to a place that has meant so much...
While re-living my childhood joy through them there.

Loving that I have water babies...

Who can't get enough.

Blowing out candles...

And opening presents.
Sneaking kisses...

And hugs.

Teaching them about patriotism...

And about disappointment.

I took some pictures of funny moments I never want to forget...

And of the kids enjoying the simple pleasures (Thanks so much to my friend Liz for hosting us this particular afternoon...your family is such a joy).


I was able to capture the afternoon light... Unless Liz you took this picture...because I have NEVER gotten one like it.

And newly budding friendships.

I got to see the thrill of a new experience...
And feel the anticipation of discovering new things.

We had rare quiet moments one-on-one...
Reading and singing.

Enjoyed visits from out of state family...

Who like to frequent our neck of the woods.

Took pictures of fingers...

And toes...

And everything in between.

We have had a great summer...
That is not technically over. Keep an eye out. I'll bet there will be more.
I took tons of pictures, and had some great ones I didn't share here because I didn't have permission from people in the pictures to publish them to the web...I try to be careful about that.