Trick-or-Treat!

Well I dropped the ball this year on picking a costume for Matthew. I just couldn't justify spending a bunch of money on a costume this year, our budget is just too tight. So I just never decided on anything. So last night around 5:00 I wanted to take Matthew to the mall in Moscow, ID to trick or treat. One of my idea's had been to make him a scarecrow, so I pulled out my yellow felt and attached it to some overalls and a flannel shirt and called it good. He actually looked really cute and everyone knew what he was dressed up as, so I am calling my 30 minute costume a success!

Here are some pictures of my sweet little boy!

All ready to go!

He thought the "straw" was fun to play with!

Looking at all his candy from the night.

He is one happy boy! It was a great night and he had lots of fun :)

Pumpkin Painting 2011

Here is our little guy and his pumpkin! I like to let him paint his pumpkin and when he is big enough to draw a face we will carve his pumpkin for him (with his help of course).

Here is Matthew with his pumpkin last year at 3 months

This year at 16 months

What a big difference a year makes!

So happy!

He did great and made a nice big mess doing it!

No Title Here

Okay so sometimes I don't want to deal with a title for the posts.. it always feels like so much pressure, so today I am not going to do worry about it :)

I just wanted to post a little update. We are all feeling much better this week and even made it to church on Sunday! Chris is doing good in school, it has been a very hard busy semester and I think he is just ready to be done. He is also working hard on getting his Optometry school applications done and ready to turn in. Hopefully he will be able to complete those soon, so we can figure out where we will be going summer of 2012. Matthew is the cutest little boy and he is learning so much. Right now every animal says Baaa, it is cute. He is still doing great in his toddler bed, every once in awhile we find him asleep in random places around the house, silly kid :) Makes me glad the house is safe and I don't need to worry about him wandering at night if I don't hear him get up. I am just focusing on getting through the day most of the time. Trying to juggle everything that needs to be done can sometimes seem overwhelming, oh well at the end of the day if it has not gotten done then it must not have been that important right? Oh and I am 16 weeks pregnant tomorrow! Time sure is flying by lately.

One LONG October

This has been a very sad month for us... We have all (daycare kids included) been fighting the cold that won't give up, so everyone has been tired and grouchy for 3 weeks, Grrrr. I have finally been starting to feel a little better, and now my throat feels like I swallowed a cup of broken glass last night :(
I'm hoping that it will start to feel better as the day goes on. It could be related to lack of sleep since Matthew decided that he was ready to be awake at 3:45 this morning.. I get very grumpy lately when I don't sleep well. On the up side at least it is finally Friday!

A Name Obsession

I seriously am addicted to looking at baby names. It is something that I could do for hours at a time... I keep asking Chris to tell me his favorites again, he won't talk about names until after we have had our ultrasound though :( He has been so busy with school that I totally understand why... It is silly because if it works like it did with Matthew we will go through and make a list of names and then narrow it down towards the end of the pregnancy and choose after the baby comes. So making a list of boy names and of girl names is kinda silly when if we wait another 5 WEEKS we will only need to make one list. However silly it is, you will still find me looking at baby names :)

Oh and I'm 15 weeks, and I have a little baby belly forming already! Crazy!

Rainy Day Water Play

It has been getting colder and starting to rain more, I guess fall is really here. The kids were extra bored and I was trying to figure out how to keep them busy and happy for a good amount of time. What is better than a bucket of water and measuring cups, bowls, and spoons? I think when you have little ones running around sometimes you just have to let them make a mess. They had so much fun playing in the water, splashing on each other, and just plain exploring it was worth the 10 minutes it took to mop up the pool in my kitchen. The moral of the story- messes happen, but they are so much fun to create :) If you don't believe me, just look at the smile on that little boys face again!

Baby #2 Update

I was excited all day today because I got to go to the doctor!

This is usually not how I feel about seeing a doctor, however, like I said after the last appointment - I LOVE to hear the heartbeat!

As soon as the doc put the doppler on my tummy we heard the heartbeat. I have to say I love this doc's reaction because as soon as the heartbeat is found he gets this happy grin on his face. So we were sitting there listening to the heartbeat and the baby is moving all over, and all of a sudden the doc says "Hey its running away from me!"
Then he added that he was very happy about that because it means the baby's brain and body is developing as it should be.
I don't know any Mom that doesn't want to hear that!
So all seems well so far!


I was able to schedule my next two appointments before I left. I always schedule early because we have to fit appointments in around Chris's school schedule. Anyways, the next appointment is a routine pregnancy check up like this one was, but after that is the mid-pregnancy ultrasound! I can't believe that we are already getting close to the halfway mark! The appointment isn't until the end of November (really I think it's the 30th?) but still it seems so close, especially with how fast time has been flying by.


On a Matthew note: He is amazing, and we love him!
Yup he has switched to the toddler bed with only one bad night so far and that was because he didn't feel well so it would have been a bad night in the crib also. He loves to read books, his favorite are counting books and his shape book. He loves the animal puzzles we have, and all his stuffed animals.
Another thing he has gotten down are prayer arms. The other day Matthew and I had already sat down and started eating and Chris came to join us. Chris folded his arms to bless his food and I look at Matthew and he had folded his arms just like his Daddy. 
I love my boys!

What to do?

So I wanted to learn to knit and that didn't stick. Not sure why I just didn't get into it, and then everything that I wanted to make was a crochet pattern not a knitting pattern... So now I have a few baby projects that I would love to do but it would involve learning to crochet... I am just not sure if I should try another hobby when I don't even do the ones I have stuff for now? I liked the idea of knitting because it didn't take up much space, and was quiet and seemed like a good thing to do in my down time (instead of stalking blogs, Pinterest, and Facebook - imagine I could actually accomplish something). Crocheting has the same properties from what I can tell and doesn't seem too difficult, is it worth buying some hooks and trying another hobby??

I really need a craft room or something because there are so many projects I would love to do, but trying to pull everything out each time is just not feasible in our current situation. Between Matthew, the Daycare, and this little house I can't start and finish a project without taking it out and putting it away a million times (I am just too lazy/busy for that) That is why I thought to go to knitting, now crocheting, because it is small, quiet, easy to do during nap time since I can't make much noise because of all the light sleepers...  What to do.. maybe I should find someone with some extra hooks I could borrow to learn with? That might be a good compromise for me... any thoughts?

What a Kid :)

I keep forgetting that my "baby" is tall enough to reach the kitchen counters now, so if he sees something on the edge of the counter and he wants it, or thinks it looks interesting he will grab it and play with it. So about 15 minutes ago I had went in the kitchen and gave him his snack and 2 minutes later I hear plastic and then a thud... hmmm. I knew there was nothing dangerous that he could grab so I finished what I was doing and went in to see what he was doing. He had pulled the bag of grapes off the counter and was sitting on the floor eating them. Fruit is truly his favorite treat!

First Night in the Big Boy Bed!

Well we bought the toddler bed I talked about and I brought it home yesterday at about 8:15 right before Matthew normally goes to bed. I figured we would just put it in his room for a few months and move him into it around 18 months because that was our plan. Well Matthew thought it was the coolest thing ever. We had it in the living room and he crawled onto it with no mattress, so Chris went and got his mattress from his crib and put it on the bed. That made Matthew even more excited, he even climbed down went into his room and found his pillow pet that was given to him by the Lee's from my baby shower and then put that on the bed with him! We were shocked and talked about the plan, we decided to see how he would do in the bed, so I rearranged his room quickly to make room for it, planning on him falling out of course :) and then we did our normal bedtime routine and put him in his toddler bed hoping for the best. I was excited because I only had to put him back in bed twice and he was asleep on his bed all night long! The next test is nap time of course but I think we may be taking down the crib this week!

Here are a few pictures to document the occasion

 

Update:

****** So this kid continues to amaze me. I laid him down in his new bed for nap, and didn't have to go back in to lay him down. He just went right to sleep! *********

Toddler Bed

Some people may think it is crazy to be already planning the toddler bed move, and I still go back and forth. However, I have been watching Craigslist for a good deal on a wood toddler bed and I found it today! I get to pick it up tonight, now the real question is, what are we going to do with it for a few more months till we were planning on moving him to the bed? Maybe we will try it early? Oh well we found it, so soon Matthew will say bye bye to the Crib.. I think he will not mind loosing the crib... I think it will be Chris and I who will miss the containing properties of the crib :)

October Really??

Okay so I may be the only one who feels this way, but where in the world did September go? I can't believe it is already October! I love fall and all the holidays, so I am excited it just seems to be coming so quickly, I'm not sure if I can keep up :)

We have been good here, spent the weekend watching General Conference, napping, and just enjoying each other. Now it is back to school, back to work, back to life :)

Chris told me this weekend he thinks we need to start going on dates again... I guess 2 dates in oh about 15 months is not enough for him :) I guess that means I need to find a babysitter. I had a hard time with the idea of leaving Matthew with someone as an infant, there were a few people I knew well and trusted, but I couldn't leave him with someone I didn't know... Now he is a toddler and lots of fun and I think it is about time that Mommy deals with her separation anxiety. Hopefully we can find someone who we trust and can afford :)

Yup... Happy Monday everyone!

12 WEEKS!!!

We are officially at the 12 week mark and that makes me happy!

A Little Reminder (Warning- Long and kind of whiny at points)

So Chris and I have been in sort of a slump, life has just seemed extra hard this semester. The kids I have in daycare are great but we are not full and then we found out one of our full time kids is going part time on us, so we have been a little worried about money, Chris has a load of tough science courses this semester (he is gone a lot), I have just been exhausted (growing a baby will do that), I could keep going but I honestly don't want to think about it all right now. This has really made life sad and killed our motivation for anything church related, it just seems to push our to do list up and over the top. Don't get me wrong, we know we have so much to be thankful for, and we are not pouting all day about this stuff, it just builds up and every once in a while we have ourselves a little pity party. I have been trying to figure out how all these other families survive while going through school... I just don't get it, if you are in school or your husband and you have kids how do you make it? What do you live off of?
So Chris and I were talking about all these things and more and just kinda having a tough week last week. Well I think Heavenly Father saw our needs and met as many of them as he could, because last week we had a package from each of our Mom's containing some needed items, our home teachers and visiting teachers come, and well Matthew was in extra high spirits and it is hard to stay sad with him around!
Then Saturday I went to the Stake Service project and Women's Broadcast. Let me tell you that was exactly what I needed. President Dieter F. Uchdorf who is the second counselor in the first presidency gave a talk on exactly what I needed to hear, it was amazing, it really was because he managed to address every worry and concern that I currently had. I left feeling a whole lot better about myself, my struggles, and my life. Here is a little snippet, if you did not hear this amazing and inspiring talk please go to lds.org and listen to it, he talks about the five petals of the forget me not flower and what they can represent to us. Truly five things I need to remember each and every day!

The Power of Knowing “Why”

My dear sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ is not an obligation; it is a pathway, marked by our loving Father in Heaven, leading to happiness and peace in this life and glory and inexpressible fulfillment in the life to come. The gospel is a light that penetrates mortality and illuminates the way before us.
While understanding the “what” and the “how” of the gospel is necessary, the eternal fire and majesty of the gospel springs from the “why.” When we understand why our Heavenly Father has given us this pattern for living, when we remember why we committed to making it a foundational part of our lives, the gospel ceases to become a burden and, instead, becomes a joy and a delight. It becomes precious and sweet.
Let us not walk the path of discipleship with our eyes on the ground, thinking only of the tasks and obligations before us. Let us not walk unaware of the beauty of the glorious earthly and spiritual landscapes that surround us.
My dear sisters, seek out the majesty, the beauty, and the exhilarating joy of the “why” of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The “what” and “how” of obedience marks the way, yes, and it keeps us on the right path. But the “why” of obedience sanctifies our actions, transforming the mundane into the majestic. It magnifies our small acts of obedience into holy acts of consecration.
—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Noises I Hear

Right now I am listening to a 6 month old make a really gross noise that he loves so he does it over and over, also listening to my one year old push the kids table around the kitchen, a 2.5 year old sing quietly to her baby doll so she will go to sleep, and toddler radio on Pandora. 

Just thought everyone would like to know... :)

Baby #2 Update

So we had another checkup today, which I actually like. I look forward to pregnancy appointments, I love to hear the heartbeat! Especially early in the pregnancy before I can feel the baby, and it was especially exciting this time because I am still so hesitant to be excited, in case something goes wrong, we are almost through the first trimester though! Each week we successfully complete I get a little more excited :) 

The baby's heart rate was a strong 170 beats per minute (which doc says is completely normal). This doctor has been great so far, he listens to me, answers my questions happily, and he even let me listen to the heartbeat longer and got excited when the baby would move around. A much different experience than we had at our last OB, and I am glad for that!

Oh Facebook

I find myself on Facebook and reading blogs all too often, I think it helps to make me feel a little more connected to people. I find being a Mom, and being stuck at home running a home business can start to feel a little claustrophobic. It is hard for me to get out of the house, or out of my house beyond my fenced back yard. So I fill in that want/need for friends with the little connection I can get through the internet, kinda sad and/or pathetic I know. But, it makes life happier for me and that is what counts at this point. 

So anyways, they have all the little secret games or rather status postings that people do to confuse men. This one was to make people think you are expecting. I never really go along with these things, but I looked to see what my "status" would be. 

I thought it was hilarious because according to their setup: 

I'm 10 weeks and craving smarties. 

They are only a few days off, but I am definitely not craving smarties, a more accurate status would be:

 I'm 9.5 weeks and craving everything unhealthy

Yup that about covers it :)

Pictures Soon!

So we went camping with my parents over the last holiday weekend and we forgot our camera so I have been "patiently" waiting for a CD of the pictures from my parents. Anyways Mom told me that she will be sending them soon! 

It was a fun trip and there are some great pictures of Matthew eating dirt, ect...

Some Thoughts from a Prophet

9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild

By Thomas S. Monson

Badge from fire helmet discovered in the debris post 9/11/01. (Ira Block) The calamity of September 11th, 2001 has cast a long shadow. Ten years later, many of us are still haunted by its terrible tragedy of lost lives and broken hearts. It is an episode of anguish that has become a defining moment in the history of the American nation and the world. This week, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with Tom Brokaw, will pay its own homage to the unforgettable events of September 11, 2001.
There was, as many have noted, a remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy. People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding. Comfortable times were shattered. We felt the great unsteadiness of life and reached for the great steadiness of our Father in Heaven. And, as ever, we found it. Americans of all faiths came together in a remarkable way.
Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well.
Our Father’s commitment to us, His children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change.
But we are less faithful than He is. By nature we are vain, frail, and foolish. We sometimes neglect God. Sometimes we fail to keep the commandments that He gives us to make us happy. Sometimes we fail to commune with Him in prayer. Sometimes we forget to succor the poor and the downtrodden who are also His children. And our forgetfulness is very much to our detriment.
If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us. We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season.
The way to be with God in every season is to strive to be near Him every week and each day. We truly “need Him every hour,” not just in hours of devastation. We must speak to Him, listen to Him, and serve Him. If we wish to serve Him, we should serve our fellow men. We will mourn the lives we lose, but we should also fix the lives that can be mended and heal the hearts that may yet be healed.
It is constancy that God would have from us. Tragedies are not merely opportunities to give Him a fleeting thought, or for momentary insight to His plan for our happiness. Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us, and to become something different than we were. We can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior. We may not only find faith in God in our sorrow. We may also become faithful to Him in times of calm.
Thomas S. Monson is president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oh Teething....

Matthew has been teething since Tuesday and is driving me crazy. I love this kid with all my heart but I have dealt with more whining in the last 5 days than I can handle without loosing my mind...

Don't get me wrong I feel really bad that he is in so much pain, has had a fever for days, and doesn't even want to eat. I totally understand that he is generally miserable and I have given him cuddle time galore, let him eat almost anything he wanted (not much, usually yogurt bites), and he even got a nice new stuffed giraffe to cuddle with. 

All I am saying is that 4 teeth coming through in a week is just mean to everyone involved, especially since we have only had two completely break through which means that we still have two more to go!

So if you are at home with happy children or no children at all just remember you could have a teething child with you but you don't, so smile and enjoy it!

I Forgot...

But I remember now...

During my pregnancy with Matthew I used to get the worst sciatic nerve pain that would run down my right leg. This happened a lot in the 1st and 3rd trimester for me, and was so painful at times... Well that pain is back :( I was hoping since I was working at home, and able to relax a little more during the day that I would not have it (at least not this early) no such luck...

At least if all the kids sleep at nap time I can lay down for a little while, that is much better.

I am still excited to have another baby... I just was hoping to avoid this pain... haha :)

A Cloth Diapers Best Friend

Okay so I was having problems with the stinky messy diapers, but we have a solution!

I love these things, they make poopy diapers way less messy, and very simple and easy to clean up. We simply put a liner in with each diaper change, if he poops all we do is lift the liner out and throw it in the toilet. I let it sit in the toilet for a few minutes so it goes down easier, and the diaper is almost like a simple wet one, no toilet dunking, no spraying off, no extra mess! Love these and I think they are a cloth diaper must!

I have an addiction...

Love these, I have been eating them for desert every night.. Chris thinks I am crazy to turn down ice cream for cereal... Maybe I am?

Cloth Again..

Okay so Chris started the cloth again... I told him and my friend Liz about what was bothering me (smell and mess). Well Chris being the logical husband he is was like "that is why we have the flush-able liners!"  I think I said something like, "but what if they don't hold everything?"... Apparently he doesn't think my argument is a good one :) I must say they did hold the mess he made before nap... so maybe the flush-able liners are going to be just the trick I need. We shall see I guess.

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.

July 15th, Matthew's Second 1st Birthday Celebration

Opening his birthday present from Grandma Appel

Panda from his Daycare Friends

My sweet boy

Birthday Treats

Poking the cake again :)

He finally got the smash it to pieces idea

A Great First Year!

Born July 15th 2010 at 8:02 am 

4 Months and trying cereal for the first time

5 Months and playing in his exersaucer

7 Months and Crawling

9 Months and totally cute!!

11 Months and Walking!

12 Months and cake covered!
We love our little man :)

Steptoe Butte

We went up to Steptoe Butte yesterday after dinner with some close family friends. It was a beautiful day and there was not even any wind! Here are some pictures :)

The 4th

I was so excited to be in Pullman for fireworks! Chris and I love the Pullman fireworks and had missed them when we moved. Before the fireworks they have a band, a BBQ, and many other things. It is such a great time and so much fun to go play in the park and listen to the music while waiting for fireworks. The firework show in Pullman is really one of the best I have seen, it is not huge like some that you will see in big cities. However in Pullman you get to be right under them (they are set off on the hill in the park), you have room to lay down and be comfortable, and they are set to music. It was good fun and if you are ever looking for a great place to spend the 4th we recommend it :) I put some pictures in of Matthew and Chris dancing at the park. If anyone knows any tricks to turn these picture please let me know!