Happy Birthday Lulu

Our sweety peety is two and we couldn't love her more!

She is feisty and girly. She shares because she knows it is the right thing to do. She gives the sweetest little kisses and throws tantrums that push her daddy to his limit. She loves food, eats a lot, but is still as petite and light as a pixie.

She says "ummm..." before she answers you. And, ever since she could manage to lift them she has LOVED books. That is why she got a bunch of Dr. Seuss for her birthday.

This was our first time at Pirate Island. More fun than I thought but the food was not my favorite. Great for kids though.

Five Months

We've discovered so much in the past five months, like...

how to use our hands...




that we are not a huge fan of rice cereal...










and that the Easter Bunny is one generous guy!








Can't wait to see what the next five months bring!

Sentimental

You know you are sentimental when...

two of you siblings get engaged...



(brother Tim with Megan)




(sister Amy with Jeremiah)



...and all of a sudden this video makes you cry.



This was more than just shedding two tears. It was a serious cry, people! Can you believe it?

Peter Pan and Pinker Bell

Here are my favorite things about this video; how Lu emphasizes the last syllable of both names, how they really think they are flying, how Baylub points to himself with his thumb at about navel level, and how coordinated Baylub is and not coordinated Lu is.





This is for those who are far away and want to see updates.

Our stride...

I think we have finally hit our rhythm! (have you ever noticed how weird the word "rhythm" is? The only vowel is "y", no vowel in the second syllable, and that crazy "h" thrown in at the beginning. what?!?)

Today we had an outing, just me and the kids. We went to two different places and EVERYONE had such a good time. No melt downs, no yelling, no frustrating thoughts like "oh, why did I think I could do this?".

Three is officially doable everybody! Now it's time to celebrate with shopping tomorrow.

Slowly...

I am finding that I need to constantly adjust to my circumstances. Watching that video two posts earlier, I realized with Elder Busche's words, "Avoid rush and haste and uncontrolled words" that this is what I was needing in my own life. With Jo in our family almost three months now, I have had to adjust to the time it takes me to do things. It is when I am rushed and anxious to get something done that I lose my patience and control of my words.



Since I am most definitely outnumbered during the day while Adam is gone, I have to rely on Baylub and Lulu to do many things on their own. And those things they can't do on their own, I now have to do times three almost. I don't know if you have been around toddlers, but it takes them a LONG time to do things. They are easily distracted by every possible thing and so need constant reminding or a helping hand to get them to where they need to be.


At first, I felt frustrated by everything taking a long time. I was running late quite a bit because of it, which I don't like. Now, I have just realized that I have to adjust my time and give myself and the kids the time they need to do things on their own. And for the things that they still need my help to accomplish (ie putting on and zipping up coats) I just can't be rushed. And so, we have become a family of turtles. Slow and steady and I sure hope we win the race we are running.

It is funny to compare past habits with current ones. For example, here are some time constraints I absolutely require for the following activities:

Getting in the car- Before kids: 2 min, With kids: 20 min.
Getting ready for the day- Before kids: 30 min. With kids: they're dressed in 30 min, with me, it's another hour because of interruptions.
Getting ready for church- Before kids- 45 min., With kids: 2 hours.
Cooking dinner- Before kids- 30-45 min., With kids: add another 30 min for interruptions.





The interruptions are precious I now realize. I plan all that extra time and keep reminding myself to move at a slower pace, put projects on hold for a half hour so I can focus on more important things like my babies. Being a turtle has made my life a lot better.

(Except when I have an extra pair of hands to watch the kids or when they are asleep, then I'm a rabbit hurrying to accomplish as much as I can with the uninterrupted time that I have. That feels good too!)

Our bunz are nice and fuzzi...

I have taken what I consider to be a big plunge, and invested in cloth diapers. Lulu is potty training currently, and so the cozy diapers are for Baby Jo.

I tell you what fellow mothers out there, the world of cloth diapering is FULL of passionate, opinionated, and disagreeing women as well as dozens of different brands and options making researching cloth diapers quite difficult. After feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of paying $17 for a diaper that won't do the job, I resorted to the process of elimination. (WARNING: there is a lot of information following that might not make a lot of sense if you are not familiar with the on-line cloth diapering jargon. I just want to put what I learned out there to help anyone else on the search for what they want in cloth diapering)

I decided quickly that I wanted snaps over velcro because I knew I would eventually be frustrated by the velcro fraying over the inevitably frequent washing cloth diapers require. I want this investment to last me through more than one baby. This is an effort to save money as well as the environment.



I chose pocket diapers



over the pre-fold (old fashioned big cloth you fold around your baby's bum),



the fitted diapers (diaper shaped cloth that you have to buy a separate cover for), and the the all-in-one diaper (a waterproof cover and inner cloth soaker all in one, no assembly required but lots of drying required). With pocket, I can really put anything in there to soak up the pee. I read somewhere where people have sewn together old t-shirts, towels, etc. However, the diapers come with plenty of inserts so I don't think it will be necessary. I hang dry the outer shell and they dry in about two hours, SUPER fast, and the inserts I tumble dry so they aren't damp forever and have musty smells etc.

I knew I wanted a one-size diaper that adjusts to fit the baby at all ages. I saw lots of comments saying that it really won't fit a new born. Jo is already a pretty big girl and they fit her fine. I loved how Fuzzi Bunz one-size diapers adjust in the elastics around the legs and the waist as opposed to snaps up the front. They have snaps and are pocket diapers. So, they fit my criteria.



Thankfully, this website offers a thirty trial on various brands of diapers so you can take a few for a test drive and return them for your money back. I tried a few both inexpensive and more expensive. All the comments I heard is that the cheaper ones are good, but you get what you pay for. They probably would not last me more than one baby. I did invest in a few flip diapers. I really liked them and they were having a sale on the disposable inserts which is awesome for church and travel etc.

We have been at it for a couple of weeks now, and so far so good. Not one blowout! I'm impressed. I do have to change her wet diapers much more frequently than with the disposable or else she leaks around the leg, but I don't mind. The extra laundry is surprisingly not a big deal at all. I store the diapers in a dray pail with a lid and end up doing a small laundry load every other day. I ordered 18 fuzzi bunz and that has proven to be plenty.

An extra bonus is that they come in lots of cute colors. I like to think it makes her feel extra cute, kind of like wearing colored underwear feels more fashionable and fun than just plain whitey tighties.

So, that is my latest and greatest adventure. I'll let you know if I run into problems in the future as Jo grows bigger. Here is how the kids feel about the new diapers!