Biggest Fan

THE OLYMPICS ARE STARTING!!!!!!!

I absolutely love the Olympics and have been anxiously awaiting this day since the closing ceremonies of the last one.  I really can't even explain how ridiculous my excitement is.  Happy viewing and cheering everyone.

Flashback

I just found this post Mitch had that never got published from four years ago.  It's Drew as a baby and I think he looks a lot like Mace.  I forgot how crazy Drew's hair was before we cut it.  His hair is just like Mitch's and gets fluffy when it gets long.  Enjoy....

OK I finally got the pictures off the camera. Here are some before and after pictures from Drew's haircut.

Mace May Be Cured

Over the last month or two we have been trying to give Mace little bits of dairy or soy every few days.
Sadly, he continued to get sick with every attempt.  That is, until this week.  He tried a small amount of goldfish crackers for lunch Tuesday which had previously made him sick.  Then for supper that day he had maidrites seasoned with multiple things containing milk and soy and seemed to be OK  Last night I fed Mace a little homemade mac and cheese and he never got sick.  We felt pretty confident that he's doing better and fed him a whole grilled cheese sandwich for dinner tonight.  Then Mitch decided to give him some frozen yogurt for dessert since the other two were having it.  If he doesn't get sick tomorrow I think we'll know for sure that he's all better.  That will be so exciting.  It'll be great if we can feed him real cake for his party on Saturday.

So Much Sadness

On Saturday I went to a funeral and watched as they buried a 44 year old mother of 4 who died in a car accident. Now on Friday I have to go and watch as they bury a 33 year old father to 4 small children.  In exactly a weeks time these 8 children each lost a parent.  I just can't imagine that kind of pain.  Thank you Lord that I still have both of my parents.


How would I explain to our children that their daddy wasn't ever coming home?  How do you make small kids understand that Daddy is happy with Jesus now when all they want is Daddy to read them a story and tuck them in?  How do you keep the memories alive for them as their young memories begin to fade?  I hope I never have to figure out the answers to these questions.


All of this sadness happening to people that I know is really putting into perspective my stresses with my children.  Even though our kids often make us want to pull our hair out we know we are so very blessed just to have these boys and it's a gift that we are both here to love them.  I am so thankful that I can kiss them and tell them that I love them and pray that God will allow me to stay here and do so for a very long time.

Cade - 3 Month Therapy Update

Cade has had a big week.  His vocabulary has increased so much and we are so excited with his progress.  This morning at therapy his therapist wanted to talk with me before they started.  It has been three months since he started therapy so we had to look back at his previous goals and set new ones.  She was very happy with the progress he has made lately and he had met all of his goals.

In the last week he has learned boat, me, blue, Dew (Drew), barn, and bowl.  He has also added the two word phrases Mommy eat and Bob on.  We are just tickled with how much he has started saying and how many signs he is using.  It just makes it so much easier for him to communicate with us.  Keep up the good work Cader!

Things That Make Me Smile

• Baby smiles
• Hearing Mace saying "hi" in his sweet voice
• Fall
• Seeing excitement on my child's face
• A good meal
• A clean kitchen
• When my husband holds my hand
• Spring
• The ocean
• Watching my children explore the world
• Laughter from my kids
• A kiss from the man who stole my heart
• Ice cream
• Vegetables ready to harvest in my garden
• Brownies
• Time to read a good book
• Catching up with girlfriends

Bad Ideas for Today

• A trip to a fabric store I've never been to before thinking it would be quick and easy to find things I found on the internet this morning.  Mind you, I didn't write anything down either before leaving the house so I couldn't even ask for help when I got there.
• Taking 3 boys to a fabric store where only the little one fits in the cart
• Thinking the boys wouldn't touch stuff in a store full of goodies
• Telling Drew the truth when he asked if the ham at lunch was from a pig.  Apparently he's a vegetarian now.  
• A painting project in the driveway with Drew involving 15 year old foam paintbrushes and a jello paint mix that I apparently did very wrong.  

Our Garden

yummy basil

Mitch and I have enjoyed having a vegetable garden since we first got married.  In the last few years we have been unable to grow anything between building our house and waiting to get a yard.  So this year we were super excited to be able to get a garden in and went all out.  This year we are growing garlic, lettuce, carrots, corn, garden peas, snow peas, onions, dill, basil, cilantro, cucumbers, two varieties of potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus and different varieties of peppers.  We have also planted a strawberry patch and have blueberries, blackberries and grapes. 

Our corn and eaten lettuce & carrots

 In the beginning we had some problems with rabbits so we put up a short fence and that has helped.  Then in the last week, a baby deer has been getting in and has eaten my lettuce and the tops of all of my carrots.  Hopefully we don't get too much more damage.  We don't want to have to take out Bambi.   

Our mass of potato plants

Last weekend we were able to harvest some potatoes and used them for mashed potatoes to go with our steak for dinner.  Oh my goodness.  They were the yummiest potatoes I've had.  The skins came right off  when I cleaned them so I didn't have to peel them and they were so buttery and creamy.  Delicious!!  We have never grown potatoes before so we are very pleased with them and I can't imagine ever wanting to buy potatoes from the store again.  We have also been using lots of our herbs lately.  I just love having an herb garden because they are so expensive at the store and you never use all of them before they go bad.  It's great to go out and pick just what I need for dinner that evening. 

Do you see all those?

My tomato plants this year are unlike any I've ever had before.  I have some that are almost as tall as me.  I know I'm not very tall but come on.  They are huge!!  And loaded with tomatoes.  I'm so excited to stock my storage room with goodies for the winter.  It'll be so nice not to have to buy so much at the grocery store because these three little boys eat a LOT.  

What a Difference

In five minutes last night Mace went from looking like a baby to a big boy.

My Cloth Diaper Journey

I had looked into cloth diapers before having both Cade & Mace but because of their food intolerances felt it would have been a disaster.  Then with having two little boys in diapers I started to get really stressed out about buying diapers all the time.  In March, I was changing Cade and realized I was about out of diapers even though I had just bought some.  In my frustration, I went downstairs, got on the computer and purchased the cloth diapers I had looked at so many times over the last couple years.  I then anxiously waited for my shipment to arrive.  

It was a bit of a mess in the beginning.  The shipment was all screwed up when it arrived and I had to call them 3 different times before it was all figured out and I had the right things.  Then the diapers didn't fit Mace right.  They were so tight on him even though he was 18 pounds and they were supposed to go to 25 pounds.  The snaps were digging into his skin leaving marks every time and about rubbing him raw.  Plus they leaked CONSTANTLY.  I was so disappointed but didn't want to give up using cloth.  

After the disappointing start with the gDiapers, I started researching again like a crazy person.  I became completely obsessed with cloth diapers and read everything I could find.  I finally decided to make another order with a small variety of diapers so I wasn't tied down to one brand again like last time in case it didn't work out.  Within the next couple months I made a few more purchases watching my stash grow.  In the beginning I was having to wash every day because I only had five diapers.  Now I can go 2-3 days between loads which is nice.  I've also moved Cade into cloth.  He's too big for most of the pocket diapers so I've got him wearing a Thirsties cover with flour sack towels.  He seems to like them and will reach for them when we go to change his diaper.

I now love my cloth; even though my mom still thinks I'm crazy for doing this.  The best part about cloth is how stinking cute the diapers are.  There are so many cute designs you can get.  They really aren't that much work and I haven't had any blowouts since switching.  With disposables I was having a heck of a time containing Mace's messes.  There were a few diaper changes before that required both of us to change our clothes afterwards.  It was honestly so disgusting.  Now that's no longer a problem.  We do however have a few potty leaks but I'll take potty over poo getting on everything any day.