Happy 3rd Birthday Jack!

On this Father's day, we're also celebrating the very person who made my husband a father.  Jack turns 3 today!

June 17, 2009

With Mommy & Daddy at his 1st birthday party!

Jack's first day of school!  (September 15, 2011)

Dear Jack,

My sweet baby boy, I can not believe how big you have gotten this past year!  I don't mean big in the physical sense but you have become such a big boy in your personality this year.  This year you became a big brother and oh, you are the BEST big brother I could ask for your little brother.  You were so sweet to your baby brother from the moment he was born.  I love to see how good you are to him, encouraging him to do new things (like crawl) by cheering "you can do it Chrisfer!"

You finished up your first year of school going to Seton Preschool at Grandma's church this past year.  You cried on your first day and it broke my heart, but ever since that first day you LOVED going to school to see Miss Anna and Miss Kathy.  You made some adorable new friends and learned so much in class.  It makes me so proud to think of how much you have accomplished this year!  A year ago you were in diapers 24/7, now you use the "big potty".  You now love to sing the ABC's over and over again instead of Mommy or Daddy singing songs to you.  We had to get you a new bike helmet this year because your head grew so much!

You [still] love to be outside all.the.time.  Now you're riding your bike by yourself, playing lacrosse in the back yard with Daddy and catching bugs.  You really are all boy!  We want to have a backyard campout this summer because I think you will love sleeping outside!

You are so very full of personality as evident in your 3 year old pictures!  You're funny and crazy, but stubborn just like your mommy.  I love continuing to watch you grow up in to such an amazing big boy!

Love you little man!

Mommy

You were cracking up so hard at something silly Daddy said that you covered your face!  So dramatic!

Looking like such a big boy!

Opening a present at your birthday party yesterday (June 16, 2012)

My Almost 3 Year Old

Jack: I don't want to be 3 on my birthday!

Me: What do you want to be? Jack?

Jack: I want to be 4!

Oh baby boy, don't try to grow up too fast!

Family Circus!

I've been pretty terrible about doing family updates lately, so here's one to try cover the month of May!

Matt and Jack on the see-saw at our parish elementary school (where we hope to one day send Jack).

Jack eating ice cream at Dairy Queen with Bapie and DzaDza (Matt's parents)!

We got to go to the circus on my birthday and it was awesome!  I hadn't been to the circus in years, but when the opportunity came up through my work to get discounted tickets I knew Jack would love it!  Matt had to work that day, but luckily got a couple of hours off to come with us.  Our seats were probably about 15-20 rows back from the floor of the arena and our section was configured strange so that we ended up with only 3 seats on our side of the aisle and we got them all.  Could not have been a more perfect excursion!

Matt and Jack checking everything out!

Trying to take pictures with my phone

Daddy snuggles!  Jack was definitely getting tired by the end!

Me and baby boy, who did enjoy it, but had to take a nap in the middle!

The elephants were my favorite and I'm pretty sure Jack loved them the most too!

This next week I'm going to a conference and I'm bringing the whole family so they can enjoy the town where the conference!  Hopefully I'll be able to have a bit of fun with them!

Baby Boy is 7 Months!

We had Christopher's "6 month" check-up the Friday before he turned 7 months.  He was 18 pounds 8.5 ounces, 27 inches long and had a 43 centimeters head circumference.  That puts him in the 50th percentile for height and weight and between the 25th-50th percentile for head size.

He's easily sitting up unassisted and trying to climb and even starting to get on all fours to try crawling.  He goes from sitting to try and get on his hands and knees but usually gets a foot stuck and can't quite get there.  It won't be long I'm sure!

Here is my adorable little man!

His favorite band is O.A.R. and he loves to listen to it on Mommy's iPhone.  (Seriously, it calms him right down when he's fussy... must be that concert he went to when I was pregnant with him.)

On his chair... getting so big!

Thinking about lunging for Mommy's camera.

Playing with his bear!

Flats and Handwashing Challenge: The Conclusion

Well, I/we did it for a whole week... Matt asked "are we doing it again next year?"  Well, the jury is still out on that one.  It was a bit crazy because I had an "extracurricular" activity that week so the hand washing was rough that night.  Here are some of my final thoughts on the challenge:

Handwashing was definitely not as hard as I thought it would be, but I did get frustrated with trying to get poo off of diapers.  I had stains on ever poo diaper and that just worried me that I wasn't getting them clean enough.  I know that's silly because even my washing machine doesn't always get the poo stains off of diapers (or onesies from the days of Jack's newborn poo explosions).  I could do it if I had to... but I don't think it is right for my family.  We're lucky enough to have a washer and dryer and I will continue to use them for our diapers.  I did enjoy the one day (Saturday) I was able to wash diapers first thing in the morning and put them outside to dry.  The flats were dry in less than 2 hours and the covers and pockets were dry in less than 6 (but more than 2).

Using flats, I think I will absolutely use flats more often.  They were less bulky than any prefold I had tried using before and I was able to make sure they fit Christopher really well!  I was always impressed with how trim they were.  I used both pins and Snappis with the flats and using a pin through a flat was way easier than the other diapers with which I had tried to use pins.  I am currently debating on whether or not to use them while traveling in the future.  They dry so quickly and are trim enough to be packed.  Maybe I'll get (and use) newborn sized flats if and when we're ever blessed with another baby.

Flats and Handwashing Challenge: Day 4 - Musings on Handwashing

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For a week I will be using only flat cloth diapers (in covers or stuffed in pocket diapers) and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 450 participants internationally!  


Today's topic hosted by Kim at DDL is: Thoughts on Handwashing (so far)


Handwashing overall has not been too bad.  In fact, the routine takes less time than our usual wash routine but I attribute that to the fact that I'm doing smaller loads of diapers and apply the caveat that I'm not entirely sure how well I'm actually getting them rinsed.  At this point I am just feeling extremely grateful to have a washer and dryer to use the rest of the time.  My arms and back are getting a bit tired, but maybe that's the fact that I just finished a load of diapers that's making me say that.... Maybe this post should've been titled "Dear W/D, I miss you."


Matt helped me make a camp style washer to use, but in all reality I just use the plunger and the bucket.  The lid seemed to be more hassle then it was worth to me.

My 5 gallon bucket with diapers being washed... "Soap cycle"

Last night I had to do 2 loads of diapers because Christopher went through so many... tonight it was one small load.  I think what gave me more of a benefit on tonight's wash is that I got into a good routine of letting covers air dry and rotating throughout the day because I was home from work this afternoon and doing all of the diaper changes. 

Flats and Handwashing: Day 3 - Favorite Uses

I am taking part in the Second Annual Flats and Handwashing Challenge hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry.  For a week I will be using only flat cloth diapers (in covers or stuffed in pocket diapers) and handwashing them in an effort to prove that cloth diapering can be affordable and accessible to all.  You can learn more about the rules and why this challenge was started by visiting the announcement post.  This year there are over 450 participants internationally!  


Today's topic hosted by Kim at DDL is: Favorite Way to Use Flats

If you would've asked me what my favorite use for flat cloth diapers a month ago, I would've immediately imagined the tiny things you can buy made by Gerber and would've answered "burp cloths."

At this point I know, I am not crazy about using them as pad folded in a cover or in a pocket so far.  They are REALLY bulky this way at least on Christopher (almost 7 months old and ~19 lbs.).  On a bigger baby or toddler maybe they wouldn't look so bulky.

So far, my favorite fold is the Happy Anteater.  It is very trim and easy to do... in fact I can actually use a pin to secure it, but in all reality I do not need to secure the flat I could just as easily put the cover on top.

The Happy Anteater, before it goes on baby's bum!

For those of you who have used flat cloth diapers, what is your favorite use?