Ewww gooey ducks!

Ha ha.. Anyways I am very excited because my Dad and Brother thought they were going to be out of work for the fall tracts (they already have been without work most of the summer). But today they got a tract!! I am so excited for them and relieved that my family will not have to struggle through the fall :) Here are the pretty little geoducks that we love so much... okay love is a relative term... they did provide a home/food/clothes for me through most of my childhood so I am pretty fond of them... just don't ask me to eat one!

A Cloth Update

Well.... we had one good day and then it took me a few days to wash them. It has taken me even longer to start using them again. Mostly because Matthew has been creating some really GROSS diapers, and I cannot imagine having to smell that mess for longer, or having to rinse it out. My tummy is already queasy, it doesn't need any extra help...

Oh and my computer is driving me crazy... I think I need to steal Chris's nice new one... 

Some Tidbits...

I have many posts I have been meaning to make... and I have not gotten around to it, so I am going to take a minute and cover them, maybe I will add pictures later...

First: Matthew loves his shoes and I have to hide them from him or he would want to sleep in them!

Second: Chris has a super busy semester and I love him for working so hard for us, but I am going to miss having him around! He has Anatomy this semester along with 15 other credits in science courses, so he will be gone 3 evenings a week, in addition to most days all day... This makes for very long hard day for me, and during my selfish moments, well lets just say I'm not happy. He is a very patient, loving, and understanding husband, I am very thankful for that!

Third: I am pregnant. This is exciting but super stressful for me. I am so worried all the time that we will lose this pregnancy too. In addition to that I am exhausted and super busy (see above). We had our first ultrasound yesterday, I had it done at Pullman Regional, the tech scared me. He went through both ultrasounds, and went from chatting and being friendly to being sad and glum and super quiet. He didn't tell me anything, or let me hear the heart beat. I was sure that meant that something was wrong! He had the radiologist come in because I also had a follow up breast ultrasound (checking up on a cyst that contributed to me having to quit breastfeeding), the radiologist came and spoke to me about that (we can have them poke it and take a sample, or just check again in a year, he is positive it is nothing to worry about). Then he was about to leave and I finally was like wait i need to know about the other ultrasound, he turned to the tech and asked what else I had done and if there were any concerns and the tech told him it was an early pregnancy ultrasound and everything looked fine, baby was just measuring a different age than we were estimating. Oh my goodness I almost broke down then because I was so relieved.

Fourth: Matthew is the greatest kid ever! We love him and he makes us smile and laugh all the time. He loves music, dancing, going on walks, playing in the sand box, and playing with all his friends. He also has recently taken to kissing us and pretty much anything with a face. He will kiss the animals and people in stories we read. He kisses the bear at the indoor play area (cute and gross at the same time when I think about all the germs). We love our sweet Matthew kisses though :)

Fifth: I guess I should say I am about 7.5 weeks and due April 11th as long as all goes well.

4 Years Ago...

4 years ago today I married an amazing man, and we began our new life together. It has been a wonderful, busy, crazy, and exciting 4 years. I love you Chris, happy anniversary!

Day One of Cloth

Well we have officially made it through our first 24 hours of cloth diapers. So here are my thoughts so far:

Overall
1. It is completely possible to cloth diaper
2. I am not a fan of poopy cloth diapers (disposable gloves are a must for me at this point)
3. Even Chris seems to be okay with the process
4. After we get used to using them I think diaper changes will be quicker

Flips
cons:
1. They are hard to get put together on a wiggly baby and still get the insert in the right spot, I wish they had snaps to hold the inserts in place.
2. Well so far that is my only complaint I guess.

pros:
1. It is really nice to be able to reuse the cover when the diapers are just wet.
2. After one day we have not had any leaks
3. Fairly inexpensive as far as cloth diapers go

An August Wedding!

My cousin Bryan was married this weekend and we were lucky enough to be able to make the trip over to be there. Bryan is my closest cousin in age and we spent a lot of time together as children, so this was a very exciting and happy day to be able to celebrate. He married a beautiful girl named Jackie who I have heard nothing but good about from everyone who knows her, and I look forward to getting to know her better as the years go by. Anyways here are a few pictures from the big day!

Cutting the cake

Bryan sang "crazy girl" to her as she walked down the aisle. It was so sweet and a perfect way to start the beautiful ceremony.

They released a bunch of butterfly's, it was beautiful.

The new Mr. and Mrs!

Grandpa and his River

My Dad has been working hard on his yard and is getting ready for his train set to go out there. He has his river and lake almost done and while we were visiting Matthew got to help him by putting rocks in the riverbed. I think he especially enjoyed being able to soak his feet in the water while doing it. Rocks, water, and Grandpa it doesn't get much better than this!

Swimming in the River

Here are a few pictures from our trip down to Lewiston to swim in the river. It was a really nice day and the river was refreshing. Matthew liked swimming in the water and picking up the rocks from the shore.

One of THOSE days..

I know everyone has probably at least had one day in their life where one thing after another has gone wrong. That is my day today. It started last night when Matthew started Teething again and was up constantly, I even was dreaming about him being awake all night, so in my crazy head I feel like I was up all night with him.
Then this morning I was letting the cute little 2 year old I watch go potty on the big boy potty, he said he was all done and the phone rang. I cleaned him up and told him to wait in the bathroom so I could go grab the phone real quick. He comes out not two minutes later and says Matthew is playing in it... uh oh I figure it is the toilet but I had flushed it so it was bad but not that bad right? Oh so far from the truth, this cute little two year old had pooped on the bathroom floor walked in it (tracking it around the house) and then Matthew was poking at it.... ewwww.... So I gave two boys a bath and cleaned that disaster up. All it took was 2 minutes or less, I was not gone long at all, but it took me half an hour to get everything all cleaned up (now it is definitely time for a carpet cleaning).
That same sweet two year old has kept me hopping all morning, every time I turn around there is another mess, another disaster, another source of frustration... Now mind you this two year old usually is very sweet and a very good listener, it is just a very rough day. Needless to say I am ready for today to be done and my weekend to begin!

What Was I Thinking?

Well we got our first stash of cloth diapers, then I had to wait for the soap to get here. I guess we will start trying them next week. Now that they are actually here, I am wondering if I am truly crazy... not sure that I really want to deal with the mess. Oh well if I never try I will never know... Good thing I have disposable gloves... maybe I should buy a mask too :)
Have a great weekend everyone! We sure will, because my cousin Bryan is getting married! I sure do love a good wedding :)

Going Cloth!

I am embarking on a new path. The path of the cloth diaper. This is a rather intimidating task, and there are so many choices and opinions about cloth diapers out there. I love that anyone who uses cloth diapers love to share their information and their wisdom which has made me feel more confident about the switch. I also love that it is possible to try different brands and sell them if they don't work for us. I also love that in the long run it will save us money. As long as we can get it all figured out. I may be blogging about this switch a bit. With Chris in school and us living off the small income I can make, I am just looking for a more economical way to live. 

Pro's of the cloth diaper (in my opinion):


1. When I was talking to one of my good friends about her cloth diapers, she brought up a good point. If there is ever a disaster (family or natural, money or otherwise) she will not have to worry about where to get diapers ect. They are covered no matter what. I thought that was also a good point and a good reason that every parent should at least have a stash of cloth (even cheap pre-folds and pins).
2. Initial upfront investment (however they last through multiple children so the savings will keep adding up).
3. Less garbage!
4. Do not have to worry about buying diapers all the time. If your short of cash, you can buy food instead of diapers.
5. I am simply a fan of buying reusable items, making money stretch and last. I guess the financial aspect is the biggest pull for me, however there does seem to be a nice social aspect with lots of support. It is nice to be part of a group with young children to talk about everything to do with children from cloth diapers and beyond.


Cons (in my opinion):


1. The mess and extra laundry. I am not so worried about the wet diapers, but am definitely not real excited about poopy messes (*there are creative ways to make them easier with cloth though).
2. Traveling with cloth seems difficult. (*Flip diapers have disposable inserts for when you are traveling or out and about and covers wipe clean, or you can just use disposables)
3. They are just so expensive to get started
4. They seem bulky (especially on younger babies) 
5. They can be intimidating for others to use when babysitting ect.. 


All in all I think the pros do outweigh the cons for me. I can find ways to deal with the cons that seem reasonable for me. All of my research has led me to believe it is at least worth a try, so I spent a little over $50.00 and am going to give it a shot. Wish me Luck!

First Words..

My little guy likes a challenge apparently: his first words have so far been - All Done - and he is working on Cocka-Doodle-Doo. Silly kid won't try any of the easy animal sounds but he is sure working hard of the rooster.

Doula Huh?

So let me start this off by saying "I am not announcing anything!" However, last night we had the ward relief society activity, which was a local Doula coming to speak on birthing options and information that people may not know about. Very interesting and informative.
She started off by talking about some statistics, stating that the c-section rate in Washington is currently at almost 40% which is crazy high! The World Health Organization says if the rate gets to 15% it is too high and should be addressed. So there is a real problem with how childbirth is handled. I am already a proponent of natural childbirth with only necessary interventions, so this whole night just reminded me of all the reasons why I chose not to have an epidural ect.
I wanted to write about this though because it seems as though these days "natural childbirth" is a sort of hippie notion these days. That I think is the root of the issue. There is a local doctor here in town, and before he moved here he was practicing in a larger city and following the "regular or normal" medical procedures and his c-section rate was about 27%, he moved here and began changing his methods using less interventions so quickly and his rate dropped to 15%, and currently I think they said his rate was 11%. That seems like a much more reasonable rate, and I will be asking my next doctor what his c-section rate it that is for sure! The c-section rates of that local doctor just prove to me that the fewer interventions that are done the better, also that right now the current medical practices in the United States are needing to be changed, and in addition to that attitudes about childbirth in our country need to change a little.
I am not judging anyone here, I am not pointing fingers, I am simply passing along information that I feel needs to be passed along. So please don't read this thinking I am picking on anyone, or judging anyone for their choices or decisions that were made during their childbirth. I know that everyone does their best to make a good decision with the information and situation they have. I also know that my doctor fought be tooth and nail about the epidural, at appointments, and in the delivery room. He was very sure that I should have gotten one and I was very sure I didn't want one. If I was not so stubborn (shhh.. don't tell Chris I admitted that) I think I would have listened to him. However, if I had listened to the doctor about that I would have missed a great (somewhat painful) experience that did bring me to my core and prove my strength and ability. I still feel accomplished and stronger among many other things because I was able to stick to my plan. The point of this particular story is that doctors recommend the epidural often when it is not necessary, there was no medical reason for me to have the epidural, it simply would have made me more comfortable. It also would have increased chances for more complications since I did not need it, so the risks outweighed the benefits in my case, that is not how the doctor saw it though.
So why in the world is natural childbirth seen in such a way that it is not what "normal people" choose. You must be hippie or a naturalist? I definitely do not think so, it is the way we as women were designed. Our bodies were built for childbirth, why do we insist on taking all the natural out of a natural process? I have some more research to do, I am really interested in the research has been done, pertaining to birth rates in the United Stated vs the 33 other countries with better rates than us. Also pertaining to a possible connection between Pitocin and autism, and planned c-sections/or early inductions and Asthma. I have not edited this posting yet so I apologize if it is confusing, or if I state some information wrong or just plain sound rude. I am just trying to understand what the problem is and in turn what needs to change in order to fix it.