The Chornicles of Little B

Sterling's Birth Story

2011-04-15T14:08:00.000-05:00

Warning: this is a birth story. I will be talking about anything and everything that happens during a birth. It will be embarassing (for me) at times and probably gross (to you) so don't read it if you don't want to know. (Also, I wrote this in 2 parts while very tired. I hope it makes sense.)

Sterling Elizabeth Helen was born on Sunday April 10th at 3:08 am. She weighed 8lbs 13oz and was 20 inches long. She currently has blue eyes and brown hair.

Saturday was a normal day. I hadn't been having any contractions at all the whole day. I'd had some through out the week though. At my 39 week appointment with Dr. Webb my cervix was still closed, high and thick. We scheduled an induction starting Monday night and she'd probably be born on Tuesday the 12th sometime.
I wasn't really doing much to induce labor at that point. Brighton was 8 days late so I figured she would too.
We did do some yard work and I raked and helped bag 8 huge bags of leaves. Then I was wiped out for the rest of the day and pretty much laid around doing nothing.
At 9pm I was tired of watching tv so I headed to bed, mess around on the computer trying to find a free download for some relaxation type music. I didn't find one so I rolled over and just tried to relax myself by listening to the wind outside.
Then, I felt this pop/rip/crack in my lower pelvis. I was a little worried, but the baby was still moving around A LOT, so I got up and closed the windows in the living room (i was going to turn the a/c on), then went to the bathroom. I wiped and there was some mucus so I figured I'd lost my mucus plug. I stood up then felt a small gush and sat back down, there was a small amount of liquid in my liner. I was sure my water had broken. So I went back tot he bedroom and called the hospital. I had put a huge pad in, just in case. I told the nurse that I think my water had broken, she told me to come in to see. As I was wrapping up the phone call, a huge gush of water came out. Yeah, my water had broken.
I walked to the top of the stairs and called to Mitchel. When I told him my water had broken he wasn't sure what to do at first. He'd been sleeping and wasn't completely awake. Brighton said "my sister broke your water? She need to fix it". Haha, we both laughed. Mitchel called his mom and she was going to meet us at the hospital. I grabbed my hospital bag, my purse, and a towel to lay on the seat of the car.
Along the way I had 3 more huge gushes of water. And one more while waiting for Mitchel to park the car.
I wasn't really having contractions. Not painful ones anyway.

I was wheeled (yeah, my pants were soaked, there was no way, I was walking) into L&D into the triage room. I told the nurse that I could have walked but that my pants were soaked. She's was like, "oh, yeah, lets just get you to a labor room".
Kendall came and got Brighton and I was all strapped with monitors. They'd checked my cervix and I was already at 4cm. Iw as starting to have more contractions now, but they still weren't very painful. I was hoping they'd stay that way, but I knew better.

My water had broken at about 9:45 and by midnight they were getting more intense and more frequent. I was feeling them in my hips more than anything and I couldn't lay on my side like they wanted me to. I guess the baby was in minor distress (there was meconium in the fluid) and they needed me to be in a postion that was good for her. Well, those positions weren't good for me! I eventually tried the birthing ball, which gave little relief. I was still having intense pains in my hips along with the contrations.
I think at that point I asked for the epidural. I was trying not to get one, but they pain was way more intense than I imagined (no comments on that please!). It seemed like it too the anesthesiologist forever to get there. I kept saying that I couldn't make it through one more contration. I was seriously in agony. I was half way yelling, but I didn't want to. I was trying to breathe through them, but it was so hard, I could barely concentrate. I was having three contrations in a row, then I'd have about a minute break, then three more contractions in a row. I was crying my eyes out in pain. Mitchel didn't even know what to do. I felt bad for him (then another set of contractions would come and I'd forget about him).
Finally Josh came (the anesthesiologist) and we started the epidural. I seriously just wanted him to get it in instead of reading to me all of the side effects and whatnot that he probably HAS to read me. I had a break in contractions while he was prepping my back, but as soon as he started to instert the catheter I had another one. I was so hard to keep still, but I did. I momentarily thought that maybe I could get through the rest of labor with out the epidural, but it was too late, it was in. I think at that point I was like at 5.5cm. I was kind of disappointed that I wasn't farther along.
I had about 45 minutes of no pain, then I started feeling them again. I had a panic button that would give me another dose of the epidural, but for some reason it wasn't working. I got checked again and I was at 7 cm.
I have no clue what time this all was happening. After the epidural started wearing off I lost track of everything. It must have been close to 3am (she was born at 3:08) and I was back to feeling all of the contractions. The panic button wasn't working even though I was repeatedly pushing it. I turned to the nurse and told her that I needed to push and that I was feeling pressure. She said don't because I was only 7 cm and if I pushed too soon my cervix would swell and I'd need a c-section. So I tried not to push. But then I felt like I needed to poop (and I did, I pooped with out even trying right there on the table). I screamed at one point that I needed to push and that I was. I couldn't help it.

3 am was when the nurse's shift changed, a new nurse was there, but the first nurse (jennifer) stayed. I was glad. They went and got the doctor, put my feet (not my legs) on the stirrups and told me to wait for a contraction and push. I was in such terrible pain, that I could barely think to recognize a contration. I was crying because I'd pooped on the table, I was crying because the new nurse (kayla) was in the way and Mitchel couldn't reach my hand, I was crying because I could feel the baby's head crowning. The doctor (not my ob Dr. Webb) was telling me to grab my thighs and pull back and I physically couldn't do that. I was pressing my feet into the stirrups and pushing that way. I could not grab my thighs. I think I pushed about 3-4 times while her head was crowning (worst pain ever). Then, when her head came out, I pushed 2 more times and she was out. It was instant relief. They weren't able to put her on my belly because of the meconium in the amniotic fluid, but she was right next to me in the crib. They had gotten her all cleaned up and seemed to be standing around. I really wanted to hold her and was reaching my hand out and touching her. I guess I had a 2nd degree tear and the doctor was stitching that up. I said "can I have my baby please?", and no one seemed to hear me. Finally the doctor was like, "umm, can we get her the baby?" I guess they were waiting on orders to be put in the computer for the hep b shot. The doctor was like, no, just give her the baby. So i finally got to hold her. She was beautiful and I cried and I couldn't wait to sit up and see her better.

Everything after that was kind of a blur. The doctor got done with me and the nurses were talking to each other and to me (no clue what they were saying). I got the huge maxi pad and the ice pack (that was nice).
Sterling was amazing. She latched on right away and nursed for a few minutes. But we were both exhausted.

I don't think I slept at all the rest of the morning. The nurse had to come in every so often and she checked my stomache and pushed on it really hard (ouch!). I guess she was trying to get all the fluid (not going into too much detail) out. I think Mitchel fell asleep at some point which was good, he didn't need to see all that.

So that was the story of Sterling's birth. I didn't want an epidural, but I'm glad I got one even though it didn't work because it allowed me to rest for a bit and make it through to the end. I'm halfway glad I was able to feel the last part of labor and delivery. Even though it was excruciatingly painful, it was all worth it in the end.

I didn't have any of the side effects from the epidural that I had last time. I was able to walk to the bathroom and pee about 5 hours later (i probably could have done it sooner, but they wouldn't let me).

That's the end. We had a good stay at the hospital. Sterling was born at 3:08am on Sunday and we left about 2pm on Monday afternoon. Breastfeeding has been a bit of a challenge. She needed to have the underside of her tongue clipped at 2 days old because she couldn't extend her tongue out enough to get a good latch. I haven't been able to use the cloth diapers yet. They were catching on her belly button. Hopefully next week we can get going with those.

More to come later maybe if I ever remember to keep up with this blog.

35 days

2011-03-09T18:49:00.000-06:00

Actually today is 34 days left. But yesterday I turned 35 weeks pregnant and I had 35 days left or 5 weeks left. I like saying the days I have left now better than weeks. it seems shorter.

Brighton and I have been trying to get outside and play, but it's been too cold. Nice blue sunny skies, but stinkin' cold wind and air.
I think we've gotten everything ready for little girl's arrival. We decided to skip the crib this time and go with the bassinet I got for *FREE*. We're going to put our house back on the market next week and one thing our realtor said was to make the rooms feel bigger than they are. And since she will be staying in our room for awhile, the crib just seemed too big to set up again.
Her clothing is all put away, diapers are mostly clean (brighton still needs one at night sometimes). I have more coming soon that will be used only on her. When she comes I'll be doing diaper laundry regularly again and I'll keep Brighton in 2-3 diapers only as not to get them all confused with who's using which diaper.

Well, Mitchel's been doing well, but Brighton and I seem to be in some kind of sickness cycle. He had croup, then it turned into a cold, which he then gave to me. I ended up with a sinus infection and now he's not feeling well again. I'm praying everything will clear out of hear in the next few weeks! I hate being sick, and I hate seeing my little man sick.
Otherwise Brighton's doing great. I think he's getting excited to see his little sister. He talks about her alot and is even talking to my belly sometimes. I don't think he quite gets the concept yet, but I'm hoping he'll adapt well (which he usually does)

This picture thing still isn't working for me. I'll try to do pictures again soon

less than 50 days to go

2011-02-25T13:48:00.000-06:00

I think I say this in every blog, but I'm so bad at remembering to blog.
I have like 6 weeks to go and it can't go by any slower. I'm so ready to just have the baby already. I want to hold her and love her, I even want to change her diaper!!! I know weird. But I just ordered some super cute cloth diapers and I can't wait to use them.
That's right Mitchel and I cloth diaper. We started out cloth diapering Brighton, but the daycare he went to didn't allow them so we used disposables, but when I lost my job and put ourselves on a strict budget, it was either food or diapers, so we went back to only cloth diapers. I think Brighton was about 19 months. Let me tell you, it saved us soooo much money. There were some weeks that we had no money left over after bills. This may have potty trained Brighton sooner, but having the cloth diapers just made everything easier. I also hit a lucky break when a cloth diaper retailer was running a promotion for store credit and I was able to get 6 more cloth diapers for free!
Cloth diapering will also save us money for the new baby too because I won't need to buy diapers. Yes, Yes, I did buy diapers for her, but all of Brighton's diapers were blue and green and I wanted a few girly looking ones. One of my favorite diaper makers Nifty Nappy went out of business at the begining of February so I hurried up and bought some from her. Plus, I didn't start full time diapering Brighton until he was 19 months and he didn't go through as many diapers as a newborn will. So I did need to add to my stash. But, spending $100 for some diapers is nothing compared to spending $2000+ on disposables.

I also loved wearing Brighton around in a sling and I'm looking forward to carrying this little one around too. I think it will be essential seeing as I'll have a busy 3 year old running around. I have 2 ring slings, a pouch sling, I made a moby style wrap, and I just got a mei tai wrap on ebay! I know, that's alot of slings for jsut one baby, but I only had the ring slings with Brighton and I wanted to try other slings to see which was more comforable.

Anyway. I can't wait for baby girl to get here.
Brighton's moving right along. He's regonizing most of his colors. He counts (not always in order), he can say his ABC's and he's getting more imaginative with his playing. Today he was giving his cars voices. He mainly just repeats things he's heard Mitchel or me say, or something he's heard on tv. Today one car apologized to the other for knocking him off the table. It was too cute. He loves to pretend he's an animal. Usually it's a dog or a T-rex.
We've been thinking of sending him to preschool or headstart this fall. Mainly just for some social interaction. I think he gets tired of me sometimes and could use some peer to peer playtime. He is a super social child and thrives on personal interactions.

Here's a super cute picture from our family photo shoot back in June 2010. My friend Beki's a photographer. If you are in Kansas or Missouri, give her a call. Her website is http://www.therustedchain.com/

What I've been thinking about lately

2011-01-31T11:53:00.000-06:00

So I have like 70 days to go. yay! I can't wait to have this little baby in my arms and for Brighton to meet her. He knows there is a baby in my tummy and we've started talking about the baby coming out but I still don't think he quite gets it. He's been around babies and seems to like them and loves to give them hugs and kisses. I do worry a bit because h hugs them around the neck (sometimes a little too hard), but not in an aggressive way at all. He just loves them. I think Brighton will be really curious about the baby and I think keeping him involved in the new baby like helping get the diapers and clothing and such will help him adjust to her. I plan on keeping the same routine at home and doing all the same activities (when I'm able). He loves the zoo and the park and playing outside. April is an iffy month sometimes, but by May the weather will be nice enough to be outside most of the days. I've also been thinking of enrolling him in a preschool like program or a summer program at the library or something. He'll be 3 in May and I know he will benefit from the social interactions with other children as well as the learning aspect.

I've also beening thinking about the actual birth of this new baby. With Brighton, I was induced and ended up deciding to get an epidural which in retrospect I don't think I really needed. I had some complications after that I really want to avoid this time around. I want a shorter hospital stay too. With Brighton, I checked in Tuesday night, and left Friday night. This time I'd like to leave 24-36 hours after birth.
I'm planning on a natural birth with no medical intervention. I'm praying this baby decides to come on her own before 41 weeks. I want to labor at home as long as possible. The hospital is less than 10 minutes away. I know I can do it. And Mitchel is on board with it too. We've talked about it and we both know my limitations and concerns and desires. He's very supportive of whatever I choose to do.

We've also finalized her name. But, sorry I can't tell. We've decided to keep it a secret. We both love the name though and she has 2 middle names!

So that's all for now!

Let's see if I can get a few pictures on here.

halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, snow

2011-01-16T17:23:00.000-06:00

I told you i'd do a picture blog soon. Here are a bunch of pictures from the past few months.
This one is of Brighton at our local botanical gardens in his halloween costume. He was a super hero!

I threw a bunch of leaves at him after he'd been throwing them at me. I had good timing on this one!

See, he threw them too!

Here's one at christmas in front of our tree. He was into taking pictures that night for some reason. they turned out really good!

2 seconds after the flash he threw santa at me. Oh well, I got the shot

We got our first snow fall in January. He had so much fun playing in it

This is our neighbor Tyson. He's about a year younger than Brighton. They were actually sitting in the street.

This is from thanksgiving. We went to Arizona and this was at a replica of an abandoned mining town.

So, What's Up?

2011-01-13T10:47:00.000-06:00

So....What's up? Not much here. Still pregnant. I have like 89 days to go. I'm pretty excited. All I can think about is having the baby in my arms and for Brighton see her. I have some new cloth diapers I can't wait to try out, I made a sling wrap and got a new one I want to use. I just can't wait to have this little girl and dress her up. I also can't wait to breastfeed again. I loved nursing Brighton and I was sad when he decided to stop (but glad too).
Not much as changed in the last few weeks since I last blogged. I've grown bigger obviously. I did have to spend a few hours in the hospital (in L&D) but only to get some fluids. I was really dehydrated. I'd spent the previous night throwing up to the point where I couldn't even keep water down. They ended up putting 2 bags of 1000cc's each through an IV and I only peed out 200 cc's, so only 10%. The doctor said I was really dehydrated and that my body was just sucking up the extra fluid. Since then I've been drinking water, juice, anything. And I've been trying to eat a little better too. It's not always easy. I did break down and have a huge Wendy's double cheeseburger last weekend. It was soooo yummy.

I have my next appointment on tuesday and i'll have my glucose testing done. What fun. Drink a nasty sugary drink and get my blood drawn. I passed with no problems last time and I don't think I'll have a problem this time either. I also get to have the rhogam shot. My blood is negative and Mitchel's is positive. That equals a potential problem if this baby has positive blood like Mitchel. Shots don't bother me so it's all good.

One of my New Year's resolutions (or goals) is to do more sewing projects. I'm almost finished with Brighton's quilt. I just have to get the backing on it. I've made a few purses, and I made a wrap for the baby. I think I'm going to try to make a few small size diapers for her too. The diapers I have will be a bit big for a like a month and I don't want to spend a bunch of money on newborn diapers so I thought I'd make some to save money! I do need to pick up some flannel though.

Well that's all for now. I'll try to post some pictures soon. I'll do a christmas post maybe.

Wow, It's been awile

2010-12-09T11:06:00.000-06:00

Man, I'm so bad at blogging. I'm glad it's not my job!
Well, I'm 22 weeks pregnant! Yay! Half way there. We found out we're having a girl and I can't wait to meet her. Mitchel is also very excited this time around. Not that he wasn't last time but I think it's more about that he knows what to expect and also 3 of his coworkers had babies this year. Who knows.

I always have really good blog posts that roll around in my head, but when I sit down to write them, they vanish.

Basically we are all doing great. Brighton is growing and learning at an amazing rate. He's learing his shapes and colors and can recognize a few by himself. He can also count and lines up his toys and counts them out, although he skips one for some reason.

I'm still hanging out at home with Brighton. I go to Beki's twice a week to help her out with her jewelry. It's pretty fun. I just wish Brighton and her four year old, Jackson got along better. But we think it's just an age thing. Jackson wants to play a certian way and Brighton just doesn't understand yet. Plus Brighton likes Jackson's trains which doesn't always go well....lol.

Mitchel is working at the bank but has recently been applying to churches. He even got a second call back to one in Colorado, but they went with someone else in the end. That's ok though, he was happy jsut to get an interview. We continue to pray for the right position to come along.

That's all for now folks. I'll try to post something better later.

179 days to go

2010-10-15T10:12:00.000-05:00

I think I like count up the weeks rather than counting down the days. It doesn't seem as long...

So i'm starting to feel much much better. My morning sickness is now mainly when I dont eat. I mean I eat all the time, but like if i wait to long in the morning or too long in between meals.

I heard little blueberry's heartbeat again last tuesday and I have my ultrasound on November 11ths, and yes we are going to find out what we are having and will let everyone know soon after that.

Since I have more energy now I've been able to do more around the house and get things done that i've been putting off. I finally went through all Brighton's winter clothing and separated out what fits and what doesn't. I'll probably get rid of what I don't need after we figure out if Blueberry is a boy or girl.

I finally finished Brighton's Halloween costume after realizing last night that I needed it for this Saturday. He's a Super Hero.

The cape I won from Cutie Patutus (www.cutiepatutus.com), and the leggings I got from Baby Legs (http://www.babylegs.com/).

And I got the rest at walmart and I made the t-shirt by printing off an image from the computer and cutting it out of felt, and I outlined it with glow in the dark fabric paint.

We also decorated pumpkins! We decided to carve them closer to Halloween so they wouldn't get rotten and saggy.

But I got a sharpie marker and some glow in the dark paint and Brighton and I colored our "poh-kins" as he calls them. They look pretty cool.

This weekend we are going to Bootanica at the local public gardens called Botanica. I'm pretty excited and my dad or "hampa" is coming too!

That's the end for now. These posts post to facebook too, so if you'd like to visit my actual blog go to
http://www.chroniclesoflittleb.blogspot.com/
I worked hard to make it look nice!

Blueberry update

2010-09-25T12:24:00.000-05:00

Wow, I'm way over due on these posts! I have just been knocked out. I'm so tired and I have some bad morning sickness. It's starting to get better though. Compared to some people it's probably not that bad, but compared to Brighton's pregnancy, it's rough.
So I'm 11 weeks, almost 12. Little Blueberry is growing! About the size of a fig or and inch and a half long.
In the picture i'm 10 wks 3 days. And measured right on time. The heartbeat was 170.
I can't wait to start feeling better. I know Brighton is feeling about but cabin feverish. We haven't gone out much. But hopefully next week we'll get out and do some walking and go to the park.
He has recently mastered the big twisty slide and he is such a climber. He climbs all over that place. It makes me nervous, but it's a pro at it. I wish we had one in our backyard so we didn't have to go so far. Maybe someday!
Anyway. So we are all doing great. Hopefully when I start feeling better these posts will get better too.

8 weeks/kidney bean

2010-08-31T11:51:00.007-05:00

Today I am 8 weeks pregnant and our little blueberry is the size of a kidney bean.

Blueberry has webbed fingers and toes and can move it's elbows and knees.

I can't feel it though....lol. I loved feeling Brighton move and I can't wait to feel this one move

I am convinced this one is a girl. So far this pregnancy is completely different than Brighton's and I did a funny little old wives tale trick to determine the gender. I used a necklace with a pendent (my hyperlink isn't working so here's the link to the necklace I used: http://therustedchain.bigcartel.com/product/plant-seeds-necklace) and held it over my belly and it moved around in a circle denoting that it was a girl (it would move back a forth if it was a boy).
So I think it's a girl

So I've been feeling pretty sick these last few weeks. I can hardly do anything. But I do because Brighton has to eat, and so do I. My house is a disaster though. I don't care. It's not that bad, I just haven't picked up Brighton's toys.

So Brighton is doing well too. No progress on the potty training front. I've put it on the back burner for now. I don't think he's ready yet.

It's been alot cooler here lately so we've been able to play outside. We go to the spray park alot and just play in the front yard.
We also just recently got netflix and we can live stream stuff through the play station! So I've got Blue's Clues, Backyardigans, Wonder Pets and Thomas the Train lined up and ready to go. I don't like him to watch too much TV but it's essential some days when I'm too sick to function in the mornings.

Ok that's if for now.

potty blunder

2010-08-26T11:22:00.000-05:00

Man, I wish Brighton would be potty trained already. He totally knows when he was to pee or poop but he just won't do it. It's kinda frustrating.
This morning I stripped him naked and when he was ready to pee (after holding it extremely long) he cried and I dragged him to the bathroom and stood him on the bench and he dribbled and peed in the toilet! I praised him so much. He was really excited and we called Daddy and he was exctied too.
Then like 10 minutes later he peed on the floor. Blah. I was mad! I didn't scold him. I didn't think it was necessary. He knew what he'd done and he was already upset about it. So I put a diaper on him. He's already peed again.

I know it's a process, its just that he knows what to do, but he's just being stubborn.

blueberry/7 weeks

2010-08-24T15:09:00.000-05:00

(I'm going to try to post pregnancy updates when I get the baby center emails. lol)

This is how big the baby is now.
A blueberry
I was going to take a picture of a real one but I must have eaten them all...

So even though little blueberry isn't so big, i definatly know he/she is there. (I don't like to say "it"). I have been feeling nauseated 24/7. I go to bed sick and I wake up at 4am sick and I wake up at a sane hour like 9am, sick. Blah. This is not cool. I was not this sick with Brighton. Maybe once or twice I felt a little nauseated if I thought I could make it to work before I ate. But not this one, I have to always have a full stomache. I have no food aversions yet, so pretty much what ever is in my reach I eat, and I've stocked the fridge with fruits and veggies galour. I have actually lost 10lbs. I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but I could use to loose a few pounds anyway so I think I'm good.

The other thing that is really bugging me is that I pee like 20 times a day. I'm not exaggerating. In fact I think I'm under estimating. Again, I don't remember peeing this much this early with Brighton. Maybe it's because I was working full time and I was distracted by that. I know I need to drink alot of water, but if I drink too much, i'll spend all day in the bathroom! Yesterday I waled to the park with my neighbor, I peed right before we left, 10 minute walk there and I already had to pee. But I didn't. We let the kids play for like 45 minutes. I still didn't pee. Finally we got ready to leave and I peed. I should have gone like 5 times in that time period but I didn't want my neighbor to think I was weird. lol

Ok so that's all I have to update. We've told Brighton there's a baby in mommy's tummy. So know he likes to see my belly and say "baby in there" although now he says "mommy in there", "daddy in there", Brighton in there" "dinosaur in there". Yeah, I'd like to see that happen!

Anyway,
I found mmy camera so hopefully I'll get somemore pictures up here.
later

What are "die-sores"

2010-08-17T21:45:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we went to the Museum of World Treasures to vote for the name of the new Dinosaur they have on exhibit.
Brighton loves dinosaurs right now. We have a Dragon Tales video and he calls them dinosaurs, or as he says it "die-sores"
So we picked up some new friends in the gift shop and he carries them every where now.
The grocery store, Beki's house, to bed.

He's such a sweetheart. I love him so much. He was handing them to me and wanting me to play too so I did.
He also tried counting them. "one....two...free...one....five" yep he only has four of them, and I guess four and one sound similar.

He also loves to run so he was running the length of the front yard. Sometimes he would hand me the "die-sores" and sometimes he want to take them running too.
I think it's safe to say it was the best collective $4 his Grandpa Woody and I spent.

Adventures in Potty Training

2010-08-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

Funny and true story: One day, while in the bathtub, I stepped out of the bathroom for a second and while in the hallway I heard a *plop* and a giggle, then another *plop* and more giggles. I ran back in the bathroom thinking he was pooping in the bathtub. Nope, he wasn't acutally pooping, he was standing up holding his bath toys at his butt cracking and letting them fall in the water! He does this alot now. He stuck a dime between his butt cheeks and when he bent over it fell out and he said "look mommy! I pooped!" If only my child really pooped money.

So Brighton is 2 (27 months) and we are working on potty training. We cloth diaper so he can feel exactly when he pees. He also knows when he needs to pee or poop because when he's naked he freaks out about it. We just can't get him to pee and poop on the potty. He asks for his diaper to be put on if he's naked or he'll tell me as soon as he goes that he needs changed. I think it's going to be a longer process than I originally thought. I've tried bribery, and he doesn't really get it yet. Does anyone have some good potty training tips. I've been doing positive reinforcement lately. Brighton seems to respond better to that than to being put in timeout and yelled out. So when we're on the potty I just try to praise him and tell him he's a good boy for sitting on the potty, and that he needs to pee on the potty.

Back to School WINNER!

2010-08-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

Congrats to Lindsey! The winner of our back to school giveaway! I'll try to post another giveaway soon!
Thanks for playing!

5 weeks

2010-08-10T20:06:00.000-05:00

Today I am 5 weeks pregnant! I can't wait until April to hold our new little bundle. Mitchel is also excited. He's been telling everyone so we went ahead and announced it this last weekend. I'm going to try really hard to keep this blog updated with how things are going!

So far I've felt ok until Monday night when I started getting super bad pains in my stomache and lower abdomen along with some queasiness. I've had no spotting so I think it's just normal pregnancy pains. I've consulted some friends and family and they don't seem worried. I haven't made my first OB appointment yet, but I'm calling this week to set it up. If the pains continue I'll ask to be seen sooner.

I'll be pregnant pretty much the same time period as I was with Brighton. He was born in May and this one will come in April.

I'm not working full time this time around which I am very greatful for. I do work part time for my friend Beki (http://www.therustedchain.com/) helping her with her jewelry business. And I also started a job over the weekend taking care of an elderly woman (she's 101!) She's super sweet. I get to her house around 7:30 and sit with her until she's ready to sleep, I fix her a bed time snack (she likes to tell me to eat too), then she takes her meds and goes to sleep. She usually gets up about 4 times a night to pee so I help her with that. I don't get the best sleep, but it's only 2 nights a week on Friday and Saturday. I think I can handle it.

Please stay tuned for more fun updates. I'll try to post weekly and include stuff about Brighton too. We haven't really done much lately because it's been sooo hot here, like 110 some days, but hopefully it'll start cooling down and we can get outside and play. I'll also include pictures now that i've found my camera!

back to school shopping/giveaway

2010-08-02T10:24:00.001-05:00

I love back to school time. Everything seems fresh and new, kids walking to school in new jeans that are a bit too long (thanks mom), colorful backpacks stuffed with new pencils and notebooks.

I love school supplies too! I don't really know why, but I love shopping for pens and pencils and notebooks. We, of course, don't need any of that yet seeing as Brighton is only 2, but it's still fun to browse the aisles at Wal-Mart and Target.

I know that it can be stressful and expensive for parents, but I really can't wait to start back to school shopping for B. We will have so much fun!

Ok that's it! Maybe since I love school shopping so much I'll do a back to school giveaway.

Follow my blog and you could win a $20 gift card to Wal-Mart or Target. Make sure you suggest me to your friends please!

You can also follow me on Facebook And Twitter for an extra entry each if you'd like.

*leave a commet stating that you follow my blog, facebook, and/or Twitter. Leave one comment for each follow*

I will draw the winner on August 15th!
Good Luck

I am not my own

2010-06-22T19:35:00.001-05:00

I am not my own
For I have been made new
Please don't let me go
I desperately need you
-Meteor Shower by Owl City

I often forget how much God has moved in my life and how he is moving now. I know that I have free will and my choices are my own, but I have made the choice for God and have given my life to him and he has made me new. I has completely changed my life for the better.
I'm not saying I had a terrible life before, but I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't made that choice.
I am so happy in life right now. I have an amazing husband who loves me, all of me. Yeah we have our moments, but I couldn't ask for anyone better than him. He constantly amazes me. He's my own personal cheer leader and supports what ever I do.
And I have the sweetest, kindest, happiest 2 year old ever. Even though right now he is very "2", he still is more than I ever expected. He is our love personified. I can't believe how smart he is. He knows where we are on the highway and says "church" and we aren't even there yet. Or when we drive to Beki's house way out in the country, once we turn on the road he says "Beki's house".

I am so unbelievably blessed in my life. And I must remember to give Him my praise, always. I'm glad I have amazing friends and a husband to remind me.

My New Job

2010-06-07T15:28:00.001-05:00

I started a new job recently.
It's not full time
Or high paying. *giggle*

Here is my work station

This is when it's clean...

I do get to bring Brighton
She provides free child care to keep Brighton in line

She does pay me....

...in Taco Bell
jk, she really is generously paying me to help her out with her jewelry business.
Here are a few things she creates
Capture Life
Dream Teach Inspire
...Gives Me Hope

So that's what I've been up to lately. You wouldn't think it by looking, but it's a long involved process to put these together. They are truly hand made.
Check out her online store: The Rusted Chain

Long time, no post, really busy

2010-05-20T12:32:00.000-05:00

Wow. So I have been super busy lately and haven't blogged on my own blog for a long time. This one will be short because I'm not at my own computer to post pictures.
Brighton had his second birthday party! Yay. He's growing up so fast! It rained the whole time, but we were under a little gazebo in the park with lots of trees around so we stayed dry.
I've started working again. Very very part time. I manage a blog, facebook, and twitter account for a local baby boutique here in Newton.
www.naturemonster.com is the new blog
www.healthybabyboutique.com is the website for the store (they have a store in Manhattan too!). It's been a fun adventure so far.

And I've also started working with my friend Beki and her jewelry business. She has been getting alot of orders lately and was a little overwhelmed for mother's day so I popped over and helped her out and she pays me a little to help.

www.therustedchain.com to check out her shop and photography business.

I love her jewelry and want it all to wear! And she has taken some amazing pictures of Brighton. They are my favorites. If you follow me on facebook the album is Pumpkin Patch and Friday and Beki's. and I think my profile picture on this blog is also one she took.

We are also still trying to sell our house. We've had 3 showings in the last few weeks so hopefully something will happen soon!

That's all for now. More to come with pictures

God Provides

2010-05-09T19:34:00.000-05:00

I am living this lesson everyday and I am so amazed how blessed I am lately.
We recently moved back to Newton after trying unsuccessfully to sell our house and living with my father in law. Our budget has been super tight lately. I was let go from my job at the clinic but I do collect unemployment. Mitchel is taking on another job because he agrees that it's important for me to stay home with Brighton. But it has been taking forever to get everything going so he can start. It just seems like if it's not one hang up it's another. But he'll get there eventually.

So it was kind of a bummer for us to move back because of expenses, but also because I'd just started to make some friends at church and I'd joined a mother's group bible study. I thought I'd still be able to go, but it just never worked out right for me to go. So I was just sitting at home doing nothing. Then my friend Beki posted that she needed help with something (i can't remember) so I offered to come over and help. And I've gone over to her house a couple times a week to help her clean and with her jewelry business. She has generously offered to pay me so I've gained a friend and a little extra income to hold us over until Mitchel starts his job.

I also have been back in touch with my friend Trenna and randomly mentioned one day at the park that I forgot to get milk and had no more money in our budget for it. So she took me to the store and bought me some milk. And about a week later, she paid for my groceries. She is so unbelievably generous and kind. She reminds me everyday about the love of God and how he provides.

And I can't forget Amie. She invited me to her son's school field day and I spent 3 hours out there. They even bought me a hotdog! lol. We went to a city wide yard sale and offered to buy me what ever I wanted (with in reason...) when I told her I'd left my wallet in the other car. She did buy Brighton a shirt and some shoes and lunch! Amie also invited me to the park for a play date with Trenna and a few other friends and made me cupcakes as a suprise for my birthday. It was really special.

I have felt the love of God through these ladies. I have truely found some amazing friends.
I count them among the blessing the Lord has given me in the last few weeks and I hope to recipricate their generosity in every way I can.

I send up a prayer that these ladies will also be blessed and thank for the love they have so graciously bestowed on me.

amen.

finally!

2010-04-28T21:59:00.000-05:00

wow, yeah, we finally have internet at our house! We moved back to our house in Newton and haven't had internet. I've been facebooking, twittering, and emailing from my phone! that's not easy! I did two twitter parties that way! yikes.
Anyway. I got a part time job. And it's from home, and I dont get paid enough per week to have to claim it was income! I created a blog/facebook/twitter page for the local baby boutique. I'm pretty excited about it. you can go to www.naturemonster.blogspot.com to check it out. it's a brand new blog, so please join with the anticipation of reviews and giveaways and learning about natural parenting, cloth diapers, breastfeeding, organic clothing and toys. you can also email littlenaturemonster@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Brighton is doing well. He's hit the terrible two's! It's not so bad. he likes to hit and stomp and take things away from people. Pretty normal i guess, but we are trying o deter him from the hitting. We are experimenting with "time out". it's working pretty good so far. He doesn't quite get it yet, but he knows he's been bad when we put him there. We need to get a bench or chair of some kind.

2010-04-14T14:17:00.001-05:00

so I have these really awesome blog ideas and have no time to write them. So here's a quick update.

I do have a giveaway coming up. I have in written I just have to email it to the company who's hosting it....

I don't have internet at the moment, but i'm making it work.

I was going to post a picture but the picture button disappeared on me...someone help please.

i got a happy heiny diaper in the mail from franklin goose. It was the first cloth diaper I ever heard of. The owner was on a podcast i listened to call Pregtastic and she inspired me to try cloth. This was back in 2007...3 years later i finally have one! It's a pocket style, which i've never used before, but i like it. It is really good for night time and it's cute. I got the chocolate color and the snaps are white. I wish the snaps were chocolate too. But that's my only complaint.

I should be getting two katydid diapers today. I can't wait to use them. I do have diaper laundry to do today so maybe i'll get that done too.

I love my life right now. B and I get to play and read and eat all day and I love it.

giveaway coming up

2010-04-11T13:16:00.000-05:00

I have a giveaway coming up this week on my blog. You MUST be a follower on blogspot (this posts to my FB page too) to participate. It's super easy to follow, just click on follow blog on my homepage.
Love you all
Heather

does your baby really care...

2010-04-08T17:14:00.001-05:00

...what you put on his butt? I got this question the other day from a lady (mom) who saw that B had on a cloth diaper.

You know what, he probably doesn't care if he's in cloth or not (or maybe he does), but I do care.
I care because the pros of cloth diapering far out way what little pros disposables have. What pros do disposables have? They are easier????? Not really. Did you know that you are not allowed to throw human waste away. That's right. I heard it was against the law in some states. So you HAVE to shake out that poopy disposable diaper, just like you swish the cloth poopy diaper in the toilet. Did you know that breastmilk poop is water soluble? Which means you can just toss the diaper in the wash, no swishing. How easy is that.
I care because I don't want dirty disopsables on the side of the road. I don't want there to be no room for trash on earth so they have to live in space (have you seen wall-e?).
I want my son to grow up on a clean earth. I want him to have children who grow up on a clean earth.
I care because I want to save money. I have about $300 dollars worth of cloth diapers if that. I have something tangible for my money, that I use daily. I'm not throwing my money in the trash.
I lost my job at the begining of this year. I now am able to cloth diaper B full time and I love it. I don't have to waste my gas to go buy diapers. I made my own cloth wipes so i don't buy those anymore. I make my own wipe solution out of stuff i already had. I did have to buy baby oil, so i spent 3 dollars on diapers in 3 months.

So no, B probably doesn't care that he has cloth on his bum, but maybe someday he will.

finally moved

2010-03-31T12:47:00.000-05:00

We've finally made the move back to our house in Newton. I'm glad to be there in my own space. It's clean and healthy for B and we hang out outside everyday. We've even made friends with the neighbors who have a one year old boy! B calls him "baby" but i'm trying to get him to call him by his name. We are planning a trip to the zoo tomorrow! Yay! I friend to go to the zoo with!

The weather is finally nice. I'm so excited. I've been hanging my diapers out on the clothes line. Well all my clothes get hung out now. Our dryer door doesn't stay closed so it's a pain to dry clothes in it.

B was moved to a new toddler bed this past weekend. The first night didn't go so well but he slept in it 3 days in a row but last night he got scared maybe and got hystarical so we brought him to bed with us and he slept the whole night. Poor guy. We understand it's a process and it'll take a bit to get used to a new bed and a new room.

We don't have internet or cable at our house, it's kind of nice, but internet would be nice to have. But a local bookstore/coffee shop called Pages has free wifi so I walked there yesterday. It was a really nice but windy walk and took me about 20 minutes. I think i'm going to continue to go there atleast 3 times a week. it's good to walk and be out in the community. Although I have to time it better so B will maybe take a nap.

Anyway, that's what's new with me and B! If there's anything you'd like me to write about or any questions let me know. I can check my blog from my phone, but i haven't figured out how to post from it yet! Maybe someday...

Heather

home made vs store bought

2010-03-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

This debate has been in my head for quite some time now. Since I've been getting more and more into the cloth diapering world I see that there are alot of cloth diapers and diaper products made by SAHM (stay at home moms). At first I was thinking, "oh i probably don't want those because they aren't as well made as a more manufactured (or branded) cloth diaper such as fuzzibunz or bumgenious (if these are SAHM too sorry!). But it made me think, why is manufactured better than home made? Why do I want to buy gerber baby food instead of make my own? Why does a chemical cleaner clean better than vinegar and water? Why can't I make my clothing, cleaning supplies, diapers, wipes, anything? Why is it better to just buy it.

Here is my opinion, it's not fact or backed by any statistics, it's just my thought.

I think there are two main reasons.

1. America is lazy. It's true. We would rather someone else do the work and we just go buy it. Heck we have other people buy stuff for us! everything is neatly packaged and ready for us to go buy. There is almost no real thought to what we buy. We just go and buy. We assume it is safe and healthy and a trust worthy product. But really we know nothing about the product. I don't know where gerber baby food is made. I don't know what the facility looks like. Does it look like my kitchen? if so i wouldn't buy their food...lol jk

2. Commercials are in our face 24/7. Companies pay advertisers big bucks to sell their products. maybe even too much. Why do you buy pepsi? is it because Britney Spears endorses it? Or did you buy that sling because Angelina Joli has it? Do we really know anything about these companies? Where does our food come from (i have not watched food inc but i want to). we buy it because we see it and it's convienent. I mean it's all in one store. OUr cloths, food, automotive, sporting goods, toys, all in one place.

So I've come around lately. I currently make my own laundry soap, its cheaper and it works really well! I did notice that when i ran out of my soap (it takes 24 hours to set the soap) i used some store bought soap and it made my clothes smell strong and my throat was burning. I think B was uncomfortable too.
I'm looking into making my own dishwasher soap and household cleaners. They really work just as well and store bought ones and they are more eco friendly because they use natural products that don't pollute the water. YOu also aren't throwing away so many bottles and boxes.

I encourage you to do the math, do the research. If you cloth diaper, look for SAHM's to support. I'm not endorsing any here but if you want some websites, email me.

These are my thoughts. I'm not a writer, i just write what I think.

testing some new skills

2010-03-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

click here

i hope this worked Please tell me where the link takes you
email me or facebook me or leave a comment. thanks

wow!!

2010-03-20T19:11:00.000-05:00

I have 18 followers!! this morning I had 14. Yay! Maybe when I hit 20 I'll do something specail...or not since i don't know what to do...

Thank you everyone who follows me. I do have so exciting blogs coming up. I'm reading an amazing book called CrazyLove by Francis Chan and everyone should read it.
I have a couple cloth diaper blogs on hold until i can sit down and finish them. And I'm really behind on my recipes.

This isn't a blog dedicated to any one topic. It's a blog about me and my little B (who's not so little anymore) with alittle of my husband thrown in for good measure. I try to write about what I love and what i know. I'm honest in everything.
If you'd like me to write about something or research something for you I will. I love getting feed back. Send me an email anytime

heatherd0584 at yahoo dot com <- i guess you do it this way so you don't get spam...

Thank you all!

Heather and B

Bravado Designs Give Away

2010-03-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

Are you a nursing mother? (if not stop reading now) Are you happy with the way your nusing bra holds up? Do you wish it was a little sexier? Lol. I did! White and ugly isn't the only option. I bought a red Bravado nursing bra and a LLL conferene and I felt a little sexier in it lol. But it was a sports bra style. Bravado has just introduced a new style called Sublime and my friend Kim is giving one away on her blog. She gives a wonderful review of it. Check it out here!
http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/bravado-sublime-review-and-giveaway/comment-page-2/#comment-19088

Good Luck

applecheeks swim diaper...

2010-03-19T15:48:00.000-05:00

...coming soon

go here to see an amazing reusable swim diaper!

http://diaperingrevolutionary.typepad.com/a_reusable_diaper_revolut/2010/03/splish-splash-just-in-time-for-spring.html#comments

win a Britax Advocate carseat

2010-03-19T08:42:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Britax has a new carseat out. It's call the Advocate. It's easier to use than the old style from what I can see because I have an older britax it's it pretty cumbersome! you can go here: http://www.britaxusa.com/car-seats/advocate-cs to check out the new seat. Wow pretty expensive right. but it's worth it. OR you acn go here: http://myweeview.com/2010/03/britax-car-seat-arv-369/#respond to try to win one from My Wee View. That's right she's giving one away! She gives a first had review of the seat too!
God Luck

Hershey Basket for Children's Miracle Network

2010-03-18T20:38:00.000-05:00

My very good friend Annie www.mamadweeb.com is participating in the Better Baskets Blog Hop. For every blog post written today and linked up Hersheys will donate $10 to the Chilldren’s Miracel Network! My local television station does a telethon once a year to raise funds and this year I just can’t find the money – but this is my donation. I am really hoping that I can raise at least another $50 for them – are there at least 4 other bloggers that will participate with me?

I am giving this basket to 10 other bloggers and I really hope at least half of you can do a short post for Children’s Miracle Network.
So I'm doing my part to help out this charity!

If you'd like to participate here's how: (i hope i do it right!)

Take some time to browse these great blogs if you have a chance! They are all sweet mama bloggers and I love reading what they right, but I treasure their friendship more!

So, how can you get involved?

“HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES

* Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.

* Create a blog post of giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you
can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want – from just one other blogger to an unlimited number

* Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.

* Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them
a Basket.

* Leave your link at http://betterbasket.info/bloghop/
where you can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop and more
information about Better Basket with Hershey’s.

* Hershey’s is donating 10$ per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog
Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written
by April 4th, 2010).

* Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the
donation. ”

30 days of thirsties giveaway

2010-03-18T10:26:00.000-05:00

So who wouldn't want to try a thirsties cloth diaper. The name says it all. Night time is the worse time for little B and diapers. I over stuff and layer so he'll stay dry. He also goes through drinking spurt where he'll drink gallons of milk and water a day so I need extra thirsty diapers to soak all that up!
I have heard some may grea things about thirsty diapers. They have fitted diapers and a new diaper called the duo which has two sizes with adjustable rises. I love all in one diapers and if they fit little B for a long time that's great. I'm totally signing up to win one here

http://www.hormonal-imbalances.com/search/label/Giveaways%2FReviews

actaully this is what you win!
FIVE Duo Diapers in your choice of size (which offer the same ease of use as disposables. Dads love them; great for everyday, overnights and travel)
- two packs of Fab Wipes in your choice of colors (to wipe away the mess)
- the Thirsties Prewash and Super Wash (for washing the diapers)
- a 4oz and a 8 oz Booty Luster (for tiny bottoms)

5 diapers! man! how generous are they. I hope I win. I really want to try these diapers!

rumparooz G2 giveaway

2010-03-15T10:52:00.000-05:00

Rumparooz G2 Giveaway Sponsored by Diapers Etc!

I really really want a rumparooz diaper! They look awesome and i've read so many amazing reviews about them. I just wish i could afford to buy one myself. So I sign up for giveaways! you can win one too if you want. go here

http://dirtydiaperlaundry.com/rumparooz-g2-giveaway-sponsored-by-diapers-etc/comment-page-1/#comment-18402

but if you win, you have to give it to me because i told you about it!
lol

good luck
heather

saving money/live greener

2010-03-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

I recently lost my job and have now been forced to find ways to save money. Forced my be a strong word, but I've always known i need to save money, I just never had a good enough reason to. Now I do. And I know alot of people have been effected by the economy and any way to save a penny is good advice in my book. I actually enjoy finding ways to save, or use less, and even be greener in the process. This is a list in my head that i've created. it's not a top 5 or 10 list. just some tips i've picked up in the last few months (or longer).

1. Cloth diaper! I got cloth diapers for my baby shower (i wanted them) and was able to cloth diaper B for the first 2 months then our daycare wouldn't do it so I CD'ed part time. Now that I'm home, I cloth diaper full time. Green too because you are creating less waste

2. Cloth wipe. Makes sence when you cloth wipe. who wants to pick out poopy wipes from the poopy diaper. Make your own out of flannel or fleece. i made about 35 out of a yard. but i doubled mine. Green too because you are creating less waste

3. cloth wipe solution-go here for a ton of recipes-its i use water, baby wash and baby oil. stuff i already had http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml
Green too because you are creating less waste

4. make your own laundry soap-i make mine...does it work...i wash my cloth diapers and wipes in it. they are definatly clean. if it can clean poop off a diaper then it works. go here for the recipe. you can also google the Duggers. they have one too
It was probably like 7 dollars for all the ingrediants but the ivory soap came in a three pack so i was able to make 3 buckets of laundry soap for 7 dollars. how much do you spend on laundry soap. I've made three buckets, one per month. it can do about 64 loads.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thefamilyhomestead.com%2Flaundrysoap.htm&h=d9cb53dd9a55a80935f093b140ba35ac
Green too because you are creating less waste

5. Thank you Margaret for this tip. Put olive oil in your hair before you shampoo then you won't need conditioner. and it's all natural so it's ok to wash down the sink. She also uses it as lotion. she mixes it with tea tree oil.
Green too because you are creating less waste

6.I get recipes in my email from parentsmag.com. it is great because they are usually fairly simple to make and don't take alot of time to make either. And alot of them use items you may already have, or are inexpensive to make. I've printed out about 20 so far that i keep in rotation and some of them call for the same ingrediants so it's easy to shop too. I spend less money at the store too, because I know exactly what i need. I can spend $50-$80 a week on groceries!

7.Sign up for giveaways on blogs. you can win free stuff or get coupons or ideas on other way to save money. The Mom Blogospere is amazing. It's mom's reaching out to mom's. it's a great way to meet new moms in the same situation you are.

8.Participate in a consignment sale. I made $80 by selling B's old clothing and toys. And I'm doing another one this week. It can be better than a yard sale because you set the price and the buyers can't ask for less.

9. shop at the dollar tree. Do you really need to spend 10 dollars on shampoo and conditioner. Like i sad before, you wash it down the drain.

10. Look for ways to mak your own of things. Invest in Dining on a Dime cook book. there are tips on how to save money on grocery bills and the back has recipes for homemade everything (margaret and I made leg wax...ouch) But seriously, you should check it out!

So I guess that's all I have for now. It was a top 10 list after all. I do all of these except use olive oil, because I seriously just bought new shampoo and conditioner (from the dollar tree).
If you do things to save money email me heatherd0584[at]yahoo[dot]com

fun giveaway...really!

2010-03-10T12:10:00.000-06:00

i have a fabulous friend who is a mom, who creates amazing custom handmade jewlery, and is having a giveaway! i do have a few of her pieces and I love them! she does amazing work and is very creative. you should check out her online store:

http://therustedchain.bigcartel.com/

AND go to her blog and check out the giveaway!

http://pamperingbeki.blogspot.com/2010/03/new-jewelry-and-giveaway.html

good luck...if you win you have to give it to me because I told you about it ;)

this was really yummy!

2010-03-09T21:20:00.000-06:00

I took a risk fixing this for dinner because Mitchel doesn't like sweet potatoes. But I did because it made 10 servings and was cheap to make. I did everything the same in the recipe but I used 15 ounce cans of beans. 1. because I'm not big on beans and 2. I could only find 15 ounce cans at the store. I also used regular ground beef. I don't know if that different that ground round steak or not. Oh, and I guess I for go the ground cloves. I just noticed that. Oh well.

I had to run off to a LLL meeting so Mitchel had to finish cooking it. It turn out really yummy. Mitchel even liked it! So I will be cooking this again.
The only items I had to buy for this meal were, chick peas, white beans (great northern beans?), and sweet potatoes. Everything else I had in my pantry. I hope you try this. It could also be vegetrian if you leave out the beef. I don't know about the cheese though. I know some who eat cheese and some who don't.

Ingredients

1 can (19 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can (19 ounces) white beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (19 ounces) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 pound ground round steak
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 sweet potatoes (about 2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 4-quart casserole with cooking spray.

2. Combine beans, ground round, sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, pepper and ground cloves in a bowl.

3. Layer one-third of sweet potato slices in casserole. Spread half of bean mixture over top. Sprinkle with third of cheese. Repeat layering again. Place remaining third of sweet potato slices on top. Cover with foil.

4. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 1 hour. Sprinkle remaining cheese over top. Bake, uncovered, another 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 10 servings.

dearforms slippers/boots

2010-03-07T20:50:00.000-06:00

Have you ever needed to run outside for just a second but it was cold or snowy, or if your not like me you need to put shoes on, but don't want to lace up tennis shoes. well check out dearfoams.com
they havea huge selection of slippers and indoor/outdoor shoes. OR you can head over to:
http://niftynappy.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-comfy-feet-dearfoams-reviewgiveaway.html and check out her review and giveaway!

Also check out her other giveways and reviews too!

craigslist...not cool people

2010-03-07T19:11:00.000-06:00

Wow, So I thought I'd sell some items of craigslist to make some extra money to get a new sewing machine. Yeah...people expect to get something for nothing. I was trying to sell two accustic guitar for $75 each. You'd think I was stealing from them! I got hounded with so many pointless questions. I didn't think it mattered so much what the make and model was. I would just be happy to be finding one for that price. I finally relisted them for $60 for the pair because I felt so bad about pricing them so high. Oh well. They sold so I have $60 dollars.

I also sold a digital camera for $30 because it was alittle banged up and i'd had it for three years. One person emailed me asking what was wrong with it and that I should sell broken things...it wasn't broken! I nice girl bought it who didn't ask me a million questions!

And, now i get spam like nothing else.

Anyway. It is kinda worth it to get a little extra money i guess

Thanks Annie!

2010-03-07T19:02:00.001-06:00

You should check out her blog too. Here's the link where she spotlighted my blog! I blushed a little when i read it...lol. She has like 300 followers and I have a humble 14. I'm just getting into blogging, but I love it. For some reason it's easier to write online that in my personl journal...maybe it's because B can't grab the pen out of my had and I can just backspace his "scribbles". Anyway. Thanks to my 14 followers for following me. It makes me happy. And thanks Annie for spotlighting me!

http://mamadweeb.com/2010/03/spotlight-saturday-betcha-dont-know-these-wonderful-mamas.html/comment-page-1#comment-9057

everyone should read this blog

2010-03-05T08:31:00.000-06:00

it's so beautiful....

http://www.kellehampton.com/

why i started cloth diapering

2010-03-02T07:39:00.000-06:00

Before I was even pregnant with Brighton I started listening to this podcast on my ipod called pregtastic and it was basically a round table of 3-5 pregnant moms at different stages of their pregnancy talking about their experiences. They would have different topics each week about pregnancy, babies, birth, after birth things and pretty much anything you would want to talk about rguarding this subject. I really enjoyed listening to them because it was realy women talking candidly. This is podcast also made me decide to breastfeed. They had a many episodes about nursing, but they also had episodes about formula too which i liked because it gave both sides.

So anyway, they had a podcast about cloth diapers and featured the founder of happy heinies cloth diapers and I became in love with the idea of cloth diapering. They talked about the enviornmental impact of disposables and the impact on baby's skin and body and how much it costs to diaper a baby using disposables vs cloth. In my mind cloth was the way to go. So i began researching cloth diapers and couldn't find anywhere that sold them near me until I moved to Newton,KS and came across the Healthy Baby Boutique. I went in there and Kendra (the owner) had a whole huge wall dedicated to cloth diapers and I felt like I was in heaven. She was so helpful and told me all about cloth diapers and helped me pick out the best ones to buy. She gave me her own personal experience with them, good and bad. I made it known to some close friends and women at church that I wanted to cloth diaper and they seemed to be on board and I received most of the stash from them. and I my loving Aunt bought me some too! I love changing Brighton's diaper knowing that I'm saving money, helping the enviornment and also and I'll save even more money when I have another baby, because I won't have to buy any diapers! Well maybe a few...lol

SO anyway. There's why i started cloth diapering. I don't know if they still have that podcast, but you should listen to it if they do!

what do you do?

2010-03-01T20:11:00.000-06:00

Brighton has not been feeling well for the past, like, 4 days. He's been extremely fussy, hasn't been sleeping well, and just a real grump. He is getting teeth in, but he has been really needy too. He always wants hugs and kisses and wants to be held. Yay! but it can be too much sometimes. I have been frustrated with him, but he doesn't really know any better. He's telling me what he needs the best way he knows how.

So I have two ring slings that go over one shoulder and they were great when he was little, like a new born, but now that he weighs 25 pounds the ring sling doesn't distribute his weight well anymore. I looked into other options for slings but they are just too expensive right now. Enter free box of fabric! I got a free box of fabric and it had this really long piece of blue polyester fabric. Kind of ugly and not the ideal fabric for a sling, but it was free and it was plenty long enough for me to make a wrap. So i did. It's close to a moby wrap.

I don't know why I didn't think to put him in the sling sooner. He loves being in the sling and he was totally quiet and content, and I wasn't breaking my back trying to hold him. I could move around easily and I was meeting his needs.

So if you have a clingy baby wrap them up in wrap or a sling. Its so much easier to hug and love on them and still get around the house or where ever you are.

Brighton's wool diaper cover adventure

2010-02-26T17:50:00.001-06:00

I have never made something out of something else...does that make sense? Today I made a wool diaper cover out of a goodwill find, a ladies wool suit jacket. it was definatly a challenge. First I had to take apart the jacket and I discovered that there was some iron on interfacing on the inside of the wool. I didn't know what to do so I moved on the ripping open the 2nd jacket i purchased, no iron on interfacing there. So I cut out the pattern. for some reason I'm not getting the measurements correct even though i trace them exactly like the pattern is. So i ended up making the cover too small. It would fit him if he didnt have to wear a diaper underneath! lol. that wouldnt be good. But I'm going to keep it because it's stinkin' cute! ok here are the pictures

since i don't know what order they are posted in; one is a picture of the taken apart jacket, one is of the finished cover, and one is of them on him.

i will be trying this again with another jacket. I will go back to goodwill to pick through some more wool soon!

2010-02-25T08:44:00.000-06:00

i made my own fleece diaper cover last night!. I've been wanting to try it out for like a month. i'm glad i made the extra large! It fits well, but is a little crooked but I think that's because I traced the pattern wrong. I only got enough fleece to make one, but i need more covers because I run out of the PUL covers quickly. I don't have enought cloth diapers to be doing it full time anyway. I have about 15 diapers and like 6 covers. But two covers and 4 diapers are the gro baby system, I can use the gro baby covers on other diapers, but i can't use the gro baby diaper part with other covers. So I'm trying to make them. this cover cost me $2. The fleece was on sale and i only bought 1/2 a yard. If it holds up to the pee pee test I will make more.
here's the pattern i used

http://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.htmld

i made my own fleece diaper cover last night!. I've been wanting to try it out for like a month. i'm glad i made the extra large! It fits well, but is a little crooked but I think that's because I traced the pattern wrong

please read, reblog from Big City Baby

2010-02-24T20:31:00.000-06:00

I am reposting this for a fellow blogger. Please read through the whole thing and help if you can. Please repost if you feel led and please pray for this girl.
heather

http://bamwallace.blogspot.com/2010/02/small-act-of-kindness.html

A Small Act of Kindness
We can do no great things, only small things with great love. ~Mother Teresa

Inspiration. I've talked a lot about it recently (or thought a lot about it anyway).

Today I feel like I've been presented an opportunity to help someone & I feel inspired to do so. If you feel the same, please let me know. I can use all the help I could get. I know I have no special powers, I don't have mass amounts of money to give to those who need it, I don't have much influence on anyone save for a few close people... What I do have is a blog with less than 100 followers, a twitter following of 300 some odd folks who may or may not care what I tweet & I have a few resources.

I want to compile all of that & ask anyone reading this for help.

I'm not normally one of those people who announces when someone close to me has gotten ill or has passed away. I'm not a person who puts on facebook "RIP Grandpa..." or someone else. I'm just not. I don't try to pretend I knew someone who was involved in an accident or someone who died, just to say I knew them. What I am though, is someone who is compassionate (at least I think so) & when someone I do know is hurting, I want to help. I need to help.

Four years ago or so, I met a group of wonderful ladies while I was planning my wedding. We were all planning our weddings, our dream weddings. We spoke almost daily & we confided in one another. We have still kept in touch to this day. Some more than others, but that's beside the point. One of these women needs us. She needs everyone.

I think she's a pretty private woman, so I'd like to keep this as private as I can, given what I'm about to say (and she has NO idea that I'm doing this- I wouldn't want her to know if this fails). Her husband was murdered. Murdered. Someone took his life. Someone who probably didn't even know him & for no good reason, except that there are people in the world who do things like that.

And she's 32 weeks pregnant with their first child. Their child will never get to know his or her father...

And she's been laid off from work in the past month...

And I'm imagining, she's as lost as anyone can be. As hurting as anyone can be.

My group of friends & I are planning on helping how we can.

I'm wondering if there's anyone else out there- who makes or sells baby products, that would like to help. Or if there's anyone out there with a gently used item or two... Based on her baby registry, she's planning on cloth diapering, at least part of the time. They've asked for organic items- clothing & such... & chlorine free disposable newborn diapers & wipes. They don't have a lot of family, nor a lot of money (as no one does in this economy, of course), & they weren't getting a baby shower...

ETA: They chose to be surprised about the baby's gender, so we don't know those details. Most of the items they've registered for are green. At this point, all I know that they have for sure, are the stroller, the crib & one set of bedding. I'm unsure of anything else, but, knowing, how hectic the last two months were when I was pregnant with buying & planning, I'm assuming she doesn't have a lot of items, nor will she be feeling like she wants to get any...

If you think you can help, or you know someone who would be interested in helping, please, please contact me at amandawallace526 at gmail dot com - subject line: Baby D.

And please, if you are unable to help in any other way, just say a simple prayer (if that's what you do) or send good wishes to this beautiful woman who is about to become a mama. She & her babe need happy thoughts now more than ever...

another blog about a giveaway

2010-02-22T08:40:00.000-06:00

So i'm blogging this morning about a cloth diaper giveaway! Go here to enter yourself

http://www.theecochic.com/2010/02/21/get-a-kick-out-of-babykicks-new-bumboo-pocket-diaper/#dsq-comments

I love it when i enter giveaways for a cloth diaper made by a SAHM. And I love it that this company (babykicks) makes 90% of her own products.
You should definately check out this diaper. it's trim and ultra absorbant because she uses a hemp fleece soaker pad. I love hemp fleece.

yummy enchiladas

2010-02-18T21:28:00.000-06:00

I think I spelled that wrong! oh well. (just checked and i was right) I made some supper yummy enchiladas today, but they weren't as easy to make as I'd like. They came from the cookbook Whole Food from the Whole World. I got it at a Le Leche League conference a year and a half ago and this is the first time I've opened it! I'll share the recipe with you, but I'll give an overview at the end. Let me say that I made this is kind of a hurry because we have small group on Thursdays and I needed to get dinner done before 6 but after
5:30 when Mitchel got home so we didn't have to eat out again....i really over estimated how long this took me to make. I started at like 4:15 and it was done at like 4:45. oops.
ok here it is

1 lb ground beef
16 oz of green enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillass
oil-like not very much
1/2 cup chopped onion
chedder cheese (i love cheese so i dont put an amount...lol)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 i bold this because I always forget to turn it on!

Brown beef in skillet, drain. heat enchilada sauce in sauce pan. Soften each torilla on both sides in heated oil for a few second; drain. Dip into heated sauce. Layer-tortilla, ground beef, onion, cheese another torilla. 6 should fit on a baking sheet. Bake in over for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
It also says -in New Mexico, they serve this with a fried egg or lettuce and tomato on top.

So I don't know why you have to soften the tortillas first. it was very messy and the tortillas kind of fell apart. I forgot to soften one and just put it in the heated enchilada sauce and it was the same as the others (too me). Maybe there is a reason though. Also, the next time I make it I will put the onions in with the beef like halfway through the cooking of the beef jsut because I don't like the strong crunchy onion taste. also I didn't know if Brighton would be keen on such a strong taste, plus I still worry about how it will come out the other end!

Also, this meal was very quick to prepare abd cook. I didn't read all the way that it was only going to take 5 minutes to cook in the oven! I will learn my lesson someday! I will also learn to take a picture so you can see how yummy it looks.
This is one of my favorite recipes so far. I will definatly do it again now that I know how long it takes and what all is involved. I hope you make it too someday! If you do, you have to tell me how it goes.
Tomorrow I'm not making anything because I'm going to play Bunko with some friends from church!

applecheeks diaper giveaway

2010-02-18T08:32:00.000-06:00

Have you ever heard of applecheeks cloth diapers? I have, but only because a good friend of mine just reviewed them and now another blog that i followed just reviewed them too. They are amazing (according to them). I can't wait to try them. I'm blogging about this to hopefully win one, other wise I think I'm going to order a mini sample kit myself. If you want to check them out you can go to www.applecheeks.com
I hope i win this diaper. I'm super excited about it!

if you'd like the chance to win one, go to myweeview.com

what to do...

2010-02-15T18:22:00.001-06:00

What do you feed your toddler when both parents are ill, and still make it somewhat healthy? I don't know but we had frozen chicken nuggets and one pear left so that's what he ate.

I hate being sick, but i suck it up because I have to take care of little b. It's worse when Mitchel's sick, because I have to take care of him too...lol. In his defense, he is really sick too. He can't breathe through his nose and he's been sleeping on the recliner for the past few nights so that he can be upright and so that I can get some sleep (he's snoring really bad). But i still haven't gotten much sleep because Brighton is coughing again. Oh well.

So anyway. I hope this house gets better soon. I think i'm going to brave the elements and go to the YMCA tomorrow. I haven't been for awhile and I really need to go!

my baby's on youtube!

2010-02-14T13:45:00.000-06:00

for like 2 seconds! I submitted a video of him dancing in a cloth diaper for a campaign to get Ellen Degeneres to have a cloth diaper segment on her show and Brighton made it in the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4kBN-UgHXo&feature=player_embedded

(you may have to copy and paste the link in your browser)

it's like 2 second at around the 2 minute mark. Who knows Brighton could be on TV!!

2010-02-14T09:14:00.000-06:00

So, I love cloth diapers. And I've been cloth diapering Brighton since he was born, but because my daycare wouldn't do the cloth diapers too, I had to buy disposables and i didn't cloth diaper as much as I'd like to. Basiclly just at night and on the weekends.

Well now I'm a stay at home mom and I cloth diaper full time now! yay! and I've been looking into what other cloth diapers are out there. I found Nifty Nappy's diapers through a friends and I have fallen in love with her diapers. I totally judge a book my it's cover so the fabrics she uses to make her diapers caught my eye first. They are totally cute and in style and I can't wait to get my hands on one. I love giraffes and they have a super cte giraffe print i have my eye one. I've also read amazing reviews of her diapers and I can't wait to try one myself.

There is a giveaway right now

Here http://bamwallace.blogspot.com/2010/02/this-nappy-is-so-nifty.html

and I totally want to win the giraffe print diaper. Otherwise I'll probably just buy it. Anyway. Take a look at her blog and nifty nappy's if you are interested in cloth diapers.

i totally made a cloth diaper today!

2010-02-09T17:21:00.000-06:00

YAY!! I made a cloth diaper today. it's not the best in the world because Brighton was awake through most of it and getting restless (i should have gone to the YMCA today so he could run off some energy!) Also the fabric wasnt even all the way around. I has to improvize a little.

Hopefully Hobby Lobby will have their flannel on sale next week so I can get some nicer looking flannel. I'm going to get some fleece too soon. Hancock fabrics has really cheap fleece and they have ALOT of styles to choose from.

2010-02-08T13:05:00.000-06:00

On Saturday our local botanical gardens (called Botanica)because they had a free day with crafts and all. Brighton is still a little young to do the crafts but we did get him to plant some grass seeds and i helped him make a paper flower (which he later took a huge bite out of!). I didn't get a chance to take pictures of him doing the crafts, but I got a couple cute shots of him out in the gardens (which were dead. Call me morbid, but I like taking pictures of dead plants and nature (not animals). There is something kind of beautiful about a dead flower or a domant tree. I was also playing around with the settings on my camera to get the best setting for the lighting. I know absolutly nothing about photography, but I know what the symbols mean in the menu so if i'm doing a close up of the dead flower I know to change it to the "close up" setting...lol

So here are a couple pictures we took on our outing

Isn't my husband silly.
Ok Brighton woke up from his nap so I need to go get him i guess...lol

dinner tonight!

2010-02-06T16:24:00.001-06:00

Tonight I'm making Cheesebuger Zucchini Pie for dinner. It looks so good I couldn't resist trying it. And it was inexpensive, which is what I was going for. I've been trying to find healthy inexpensive recipes that are quick to prepare and a fast cook time, or crockpot meals.
So here is the link to the recipe. This links to facebook to and I would love for some people to try it and give me feedback on what they think of it. Not just taste wise, but was it cheap to make? did you find it easy? anythingelse you want to write would be great! Also keep in mind, i look for meals that look kid friendly. Brighton is 20 months old now. he's not a picky eater, but I try to find things that would be easy for him to eat with limited teeth...lol.

http://www.parents.com/recipe/beef/cheeseburger-zucchini-pie/

I haven't tried mine yet, but I can't wait!!!

check out this blog if you cloth diaper!

2010-02-04T17:42:00.000-06:00

http://couponmommyof2.blogspot.com/2010/01/baby-bum-drops-review-and-giveaway.html

Check out this review of cloth wipe solution. It looks like a good deal especially if your baby has sensitive skin. I might look into buying some if i don't win any!

good day!

2010-02-04T15:30:00.000-06:00

I had a really great day! It started with breakfast with my dad at Village Inn. I was sad to see him leave, but it was great to spend time with him and help him get a new car!
Then I headed up to Newton to check on our house up there and to get our Finacial Peace University books because we are taking the class in a small group. I can't wait to start it. Mitchel took it his last semester at MCC so it'll be a nice refresher for him.
While I was in Newton I gave my friend Trenna a ring and we met at the local library to have a chat. It was fun to see her and her kids and her new baby (who is 5 months old already). We made some plans to get together again and to do another sewing day. I can't wait for the sewing day because I found a cloth diaper pattern to try.
I also went to the Healthy Baby Boutique and picked up a super cute new Gro Baby diaper and some Rubbabu toys for Brighton. http://www.rubbabu.com/
You should check them out. They are cute, simple and very inexpensive. I'm definatly going back for more soon!
So the day is flying by already. B is down for his nap, but needs to get up soon so he sleeps tonight. I do have to go across town and get some fabric (free!) I got hooked up with on www.freecycle.org It's a great place to get rid of items you don't use and also to get something you may need. I'm thinking we are going to get rid of alot of stuff soon and it may not be worth the hassle of a yard sale. You should sign up for it!

my dad

2010-02-02T20:33:00.000-06:00

My dad is in town for a couple days. I love it when he's in town. We have fun together doing random things and I love seeing him play with Brighton. Brighton got a huge smile on his face when he woke up from his nap and Grandpa was here. It's so funny. Brighton can say Grandpa now. It comes out more like Bumbas, but it's close enough.

Today we bought a car (for my dad) he bought me some milk and bananas at walmart.
Tomorrow we get to go grocery shopping. Probably not the funnest thing in the world, but it's time that i get to spend with my dad so it's fun for me. And Brighton loves seeing his Bumbas.

Maybe we'll find something fun to do tomorrow. If we do, there will be pictures. My dad always takes pictures.

Sledding!!!!

2010-01-30T11:37:00.000-06:00

I took Brighton out sledding today. It was great! I didn't know if he'd be scared going down the hill or not. I went down with him on my lap the first couple times and then I pushed him back up the hill half way and let him go down by himself and he jsut laughed and laughed. I wish I had more energy to keep pushing him up more than 5 times though because he was sad to leave.

yummy dinner

2010-01-25T18:52:00.000-06:00

When I told Mitchel we were having mac and cheese with broccli, cauliflour, and carrots; he said "I can't do mac and cheese with veggies in it. it's gross." So I told him he could pick them out if he wanted.
I actually ended up picking out some of the broccoli because the package had way more broccoli that anything else. I would also reccommend making sure the flour is all the way mixed before dumping it into the pot.
Otherwise this was a great meal and Brighton loved eating the broccoli!

1 package (32 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 ounces small pasta shells
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot blend
1-1/2 cups low-fat milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring broth to a boil over high heat. Add pasta. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add vegetables. Cook until pasta and vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes more.

2. Combine milk and flour in a resealable container; shake well to combine. Stir in to pasta mixture. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Gradually add the cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

home made cleaning products

2010-01-25T10:35:00.000-06:00

So I recently made home made laundry soap and I love it! It workd really well! My cloths smell great and feel good too. I do have to run the cloth diapers through twice sometimes though but other wise I'm really satisfied. Sometimes I go around the house looking for clothes to wash just so I can use it.

So I'm going to try to make more home made cleaning products and let you know how they work. It kind of goes along with my new years resolution and blog resolution to live greener and on a budget. The laundry soap will definatly save us money!

I also made some cloth wipes last night and wipe solution. I haven'ts used them yet so I'll save that for the next blog.

I was thinking about cleaning with something besides like bleach or a commercial cleaning product and in my mind i think that they won't work as well, but i've done some research and we don't have to spend 3 dollars of spray bleach. I can use vinegar and lemon juice and it does the same thing. Disinfects and cleans. And it smells better than bleach and I don't have to worry if Brighton licks it. It may still be harm full if he drinks it, but not as harmful as bleach. And this coming from the girl who couldn't live with out clorox wipes. Maybe I could make clorox wipes like I do cloth baby wipes!

Hmm...i'm excited about this!

mini vent

2010-01-24T16:20:00.000-06:00

Do people actually know things or do they just say random things on a subject because they think they know.
For example: I made a comment on facebook that I was making cloth wipes to save some money, and someone commented back that I probably wouldnt be saving money because of all the laundry i'd be doing.

Hmm...how would two or three wipes going to make my laundry more? Hmmm.

I do cloth diaper my son and I love it. Now that I'm unemployed I do it full time. I finally ran out of disposable diapers so I pretty much have no choice. I do need to get a few more diapers because I'm constantly washing them (tax money comes in handy!) and now I'm making my own wipse so I don't have to buy wipes anymore. I know it's only like 5 dollars every few weeks but still and this way I won't have to separate out the wipes and the diaper and risk flushing the yucky poopy wipes down the toilet.

Anyway. Don't dog it till you try it is what I say. I'm excited to try out my cloth wipes and to possibly get some new cloth diapers in the near future. I know the healthy baby boutique has some cute ones I want to try!

romantic purses

2010-01-10T18:24:00.001-06:00

I just checked out this awesome book from the library! It's called Creating Romantic Purses. It is so cute. They use old prom and wedding dresses and a bunch ot trim and buttons and stuff. I'm so excited to try one. I do I have a couple old prom dresses that aren't worth donating that I need to get from our Newton house.
So if anyone has any old dresses they don't want, give them to me!

As far as our Fast is going. it's going well. I love my quiet time and I love working out and the YMCA and I love what I'm eating. I feel better now that I don't eat sugar and drink soda. And now that I don't work at the clinic anymore, I don't have that temptation to over eat.

Brighton is doing great. He's getting really big! I can't believe it. He looks like a little boy now instead of a baby. But he's always my little baby b.

lost and found

2010-01-09T15:45:00.000-06:00

So I lost my job this past week. It was kind of a mutual thing. There was an incident that lead to my boss asking me if this is really where I wanted to be and I said no so she let me go. But, I can claim unemployment so I am. I was approved already!

I'm really glad I'm not working there anymore. It was such a negative place. Everyone was always complaining and whining about something. I felt like I was just there for no reason. I was making money, yeah, but I was turning around and giving it to someone else to watch my kid. I really just needed to get out of there, and this was the best way.

I really feel so much better already. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. my head feels clearer. I've really been praying alot about what to do next and for now I'm going to enjoy being home with Brigton and continue to look for a part time job. I really don't think I have it in me to work full time again. Mitchel seems to be fine with this option as well. He knows how stressed i've been and how much it killed me to but Brighton in daycare for all this time.

So now I have so much time to do what I want to do. I've already started on one purse for a friend and I've got so many more ideas for future projects.
My goal is to have enough product to sell at a craft fair by 2011. Yay! We'll see how that goes. My primary priority is Brighton and taking care of him.

I'm also excited to start reading my Bible more. I always made excuses why i couldn't but now I actually want to. I feel like my relationship with God is on the mend.

I'm excited to see what this new year brings. Pray for me!

modified

2010-01-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

Mitchel and I decided to modify the Daniel fast. We weren't sure (or I wasn't) if I could keep up with the cooking. Our first few meals took alot of time preparing and chopping and cooking. And with both of us working full time, it just wouldn't have worked. I would have had to miss out on family time and totally ignore my little man. So we decided to keep with the more simple recipes and keep with our more concervative recipes that we eat all the time. We are going to try to keep out the sugars, white flour, and white rice. No more soda, candy, chips and the like. We are going to use the cloth diapers unless Brighton's heading to daycare. And we are going to buy used when we can (even though i just bought new pants, but they were way on sale...). And we are going to be reading our bible more. I've already gotten through most of Daniel. I thought I'd start there because we were doing the Daniel fast. Starting in Daniel was better than starting in Genesis...lol. You can get burnt out in Genesis soemtimes. But Daniel was great. And I really want to get through Isaiah. I've never read through the whole Bible, but I've listened to it on my ipod all the way through.

Anyway. I'm not doing so well on blogging, but we were spending time together over the long weekends. We are also trying to spend more time together as a family now that Mitchel is done with school. It's been great so far!

update

2010-01-01T15:33:00.001-06:00

We decided to start to fast tonight since we didn't get a chance to go shopping until like 10 this morning. We had no food anyway and then we had a birthday party to go to at 1 and had some pizza and cupcakes there. But now we hae food and we have no other obligations in the near future. I'm excited to cook some of these foods they look yummy!

my new topic to post about...hopefully

2009-12-30T18:56:00.000-06:00

So i've been thinking long and hard about what to post about because I feel that i should blog with a purpose, not just posting randomly. I felt that i should blog about my life and how it's changing as a grow with God, but i'm not really growing in my faith. I go to church, but that's it. i barely read my Bible (i can give you a million excuses why i don't...) I do pray but I don't feel that I'm doing it well or right. It's half hearted before I go to bed and most of the time I fall asleep.

So our church is starting a 21 day fast to help grow spiritually individually and as a church. I wasn't in the service so I didn't catch the whole reason....(i have a million excuses why I wasnt there...actually I was probably in the nursery). So I've just kind of felt lost lately and I think this fast will really help bring me closer to God. I'm excited to read the Bible and learn more about the fast. Mitchel and I decided to participate in the Daniel fast where we only fruits and veggies. I learned we can eat nuts and brown rice, so that helps with menu items. Tomorrow after work we are going shopping at Wholefoods for some organic fruits and veggies and somethings. I was totally lost on how I was to go about eating only these things and eating heathly at the same time. So i googled Daniel Fast and I found a blog

http://danielfast.wordpress.com/daniel-fast-food-list/

It's pretty interesting and alot of help along with some other websites that I can't remember at the moment.

So on the ride home I prayed about the fast and what other things I could do this year as well, because this fast is only 21 days. I believe that God wants us (me and Mitchel at least) to participate in the fast for long to really challenge ourselves. And to also live more frugally this year. To shop more at thrift store and buy used when we can. I really think this will help us save money and be able to give more to the church and also give more to others who may need it. I really think this is going to challenge us this year, and I pray it will bring us closer together as husband and wife.

I was also thinking of the 7 deadly sins and which ones apply to me. So here's a possibly funny take on my sinning....maybe

1 Extravagance-i have prime rib tastes on a hamburger budget
2 Lust-did you see the picture of the cowboy fabric on my facebook...
3 Gluttony-yes i've lost the baby weight, but it's finding me again...thank you chocolate
4 Greed-i drive past the lottery sign everyday...
5 Acedia-i don't know what this is...and i don't want to look it up...see number 7
6 Despair-yeah, things arent really that bad-YES THEY ARE...MY LIFE SUCKS!!!
7 Sloth- I am sooo lazy...that's all, i'm too lazy to think of an example
8 Wrath-I really have a hot temper. it's not funny. i get mad really mad really fast
9 Envy-i wish i had the cloth diapers Trenna has. I wish I was cool like Beki. I wish I could be a stay at home mom like them
10 (Excessive) Pride- I love my baby, he can talk and walk and dance and everything that your baby can't...
11 Vainglory-I can be pretty vain, I love my new hair cut. it's makes me look really good

ok that's it. I obviously have alot to work on. I really do struggle with all of these (as do alot of people). And I'm finally in a place where I can get down to business and get my life together.
I'm going to try to blog about it as much as I can but I'm not going to bore anyone with it. It's exciting to me and I hope it can inspire others too.

So to all 5 of my followers tell your friends about my super cool new blog!

This is really long...I hope you read it all!

following directions...

2009-12-26T21:16:00.000-06:00

...not for me. I can't follow directions. It's too hard. I can't do it. Seriously, I really tried...hard. The purse is a total bust. And I wasted really pretty vintage fabric. I think I can salvage some of it to make a blanket or something. It's really better if I just make up the pattern as I go along. My bags turn out so much better that way. I made a whole diaper bag with a divider inside all by myself. I forgot to put the handles on...and it's still handless...but aleast I made it. It would totally be functional if I put handles on it though. I will probably never be good enough to sell them in a craft fair, but I can make them for friends and family. Or maybe I need to find easie patterns. I remember my friend T had a pattern for a purse and it was super easy. I need to find those.

That's it. No pictures of my beatiful disaster of a purse. When I make the real one I'll post.

BTW I still haven't come up with a super cool blog theme for next year. I guess it'll just be boring me. I will try to post more next year. It's been a year since I started this blog and like 17 of these blogs have been in the last month I think.
Thank you to my 5 followers for reading!

Christmas Eve/Morning

2009-12-25T18:44:00.000-06:00

I shot this super cute video of Brighton waving bye to Santa while we watched The Polar Express. This has become a tradition of ours. Then we read The Night Before Christmas while we drank hot apple cider, a tradition from the Woodward side of the family that i strictly enforce. We finally went to bed at about 10:30. That's all I'm going to post for now because this video takes forever to upload. Merry Christmas all!

after bath time

2009-12-22T20:06:00.000-06:00

It's after bath time because I didn't think 'bath time' pictures would be appropriate. I didn't want the nudity police after me.

So usually Brighton chucks his towel after bath time because he hates it! But today he wanted his towel back after he was dry. So I gave it to him and he paraded around the house in it like a cape. It made me feel good because I bought that towel for him. I guess I think everything I buy for him is specail because so much was given to my by wonderful friends. It was just so cute to watch him wrap himself up in is towel that mommy bought for him.

And I decided to put his super cute dr. suess diaper on him tonight. He wouldn't stay still enough to take good pictures, but I got a few. I love that diaper. I just wish I'd gotten a medium because the large is a little big.

So here are some pictures of after bath time, actually they are up top because I don't know why

cloth diapers

2009-12-20T22:02:00.000-06:00

So i'm really glad I made the decision to use cloth diapers! Even though I don't use them all the time, they have really saved us this year. Like everyone we've had some money issues and sometimes we haven't been able to buy disposable diapers (I wouldn't at all if my daycare would have done cloth). But just know that I have something to put on his but besides a towel is a life saver. Now if I'd just get my butt in gear and make some cloth wipes I wouldn't have to use paper towels when we run out of wipes!! Plus if i had cloth wipes I wouldn't have to throw away the yucky poopy wipes and get poop on my hands. Anyway. I love my cloth diapers. I don't think Brighton cares either way except when he's trying to get away and still have to get the cover on. that's why i hope to get a couple more all in ones. I know he'll be out of diapers soon, but some day we'll have another one...

Christmas Party

2009-12-19T23:12:00.000-06:00

There is supposed to be a video. if there's not...i'm sorry but it's really cute. I'll get it up on facebook.

We went to my office Christmas party tonight. It was great fun! It was just for the Urology department. We had a potluck dinner, which I forgot to bring food to and a white elephant gift exchange. I brought a two tear serving dish that was probably a wedding gift to for my inlaws, but Dennis said I could have it. And I walked away with a neat photo frame (that I probably should have taken a picture of).

Anyway. We ate and exchanged gifts and then....Santa came for the kids! It was a big suprise! Now, most kids are afraid of Santa at this age, but not Brighton. He loooves Santa. When my mother in law took him to the mall to see Santa, he cried when she had to move him so the other kids could have a turn. And he loved Santa tonight. He was in like every picture because he stood right by Santa the whole time. Although he did suck on the candy cane the whole time he was in Santa's lap...oh well. It was still really cute and special. Then we played Battle of the Sexes. It was great. It's also nice to have a phone that has the internet, that connects to google...otherwise I wouldn't have known whick ESPN guy was famous for saying BOOYA....Stuart Scott BTW. So it was a really fun night and I'm glad I went. Mitchel andI are notorious for skipping out of social events.

So if my video ever gets done uploading (if you are reading this, it did) I will post this blog and go to sleep.

That white elephant thing was fun. Maybe I'll post a give away on my blog and find stuff around my house to give you and then you can exchange it for something better on someone elses blog...it might work. I know my friend Beki has some cool stuff!

blogging

2009-12-15T14:02:00.000-06:00

So i'm new to blogging for the most part. I blogged once and a while on myspace (deleted that) and i started this blog last year and i'm just now starting to post on it. I must say that I do love blogging and want to do more with it. I look at other blogs that have give aways and they do product reviews and all kinds of stuff. I have a great friend Annie who has helped me tramendously with getting my blog started and i learn more each day. I hope my blogs will get more interesting in the next few months.

I watched Julie and Julia a few nights ago and was kind of inspired (probably alot of people were) and I want to do something similar. Do something and blog about it, but i don't know what to do! my dad bought me 365 days of cookies a few years ago, but i don't think i want to bake. I don't want that temptation! I'm trying to loose weight! I want to incorperate Brighton if I can. Maybe i could do some crafts with him and just post about it. He needs to be more crafty i think.
I enjoy making purses but it takes me along time to make them sometimes. Although i did make one in 45 minutes one time, but it was really basic and i didn't use a pattern or anything. I want to make more unique looking ones because the one i make is pretty basic. I guess i could just make a pattern up my self. But then there's the problem of Brighton. He wants to help and be in the middle of my work and i use sharp pins and rotary cutter! hmm...I have two weeks till the new year so I'll have to do somethinking.
Ok 4 followers! give me some ideas

book reviewer

2009-12-14T15:02:00.000-06:00

i'm officially a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson publishing! wooo hooo!!! I ordered my first book today and I can't wait to get it.

I actually saw the button on mamadweeb's blog and followed it and signed up myself.

that's all...

my friends blog

2009-12-11T19:24:00.001-06:00

here's me and mitchel on our second anneversary. We were at Sky's the rotating restuarant on top of the Hyatt hotell in Kansas City

i have a cool friend called Annie and she has a cool blog at http://www.mamadweeb.com/
you should check it out because she's giving away a candle that helps your skin stay soft...that's right...a candle...that helps your SKIN stay soft....check it out. she also writes about other cool stuff too that i'm totally jealous of.

2009-12-10T20:15:00.000-06:00

Ugh...I have lost my voice. And actually it's been like 2 weeks already! I'm done with it. I have to answer phones all day long and it's not helping matters. I passed my sickness along to my dad and my father in law. Brighton and Mitchel have been spared for now. So that's all i have towrite for now. Sorry its not to interesting right now. I hope this weekend will be fun. We are going to Inter Faith Ministries to serve lunch to some really interesting people. Last month there was this older man in an electric chair and he kept picking up Brighton. I was kind of nervous at first because the man was kind of shaking as he picked him up, but Brighton loved him! He played with the man's keys around his neck and pointed to his ears and mouth. It was so great to watch and i think Brighton brightened up the man's day a bit.
Honestly I am a little afraid of homeless people, but everyone we met was super nice and fun to talk with and get to know. Brighton won't be going with us this time, but I'm still looking forward to going and serving.

We are also hopefully going out to look at christmas lights too. It may be too cold though. And then on Sunday we are going to Mitchel's company christmas party.

parade

2009-12-05T14:33:00.001-06:00

Hmmm...i don't remember santa hats in the movie

Today Brighton and I went to the Christmas parade in the Delano District in Wichita. It was really really cold and he was asleep for the first part of it.

We had to park a million miles away which would have been fine if it wasn't so stinkin cold! Even the river was frozen

Safer brand is Building an Organic Community!

2009-12-05T07:53:00.000-06:00

Safer brand is Building an Organic Community!

ok still trying to figure out pictures

2009-12-04T20:45:00.001-06:00

here's a picture of crazy little B at the pumpkin patch

Little B needed a hug...and i'm totally rocking a purple coat!

Thanks Annie for helping me with my blog!

Hopefully this posts the way i want it

trying to figure out pictures and stuff

2009-12-04T19:15:00.000-06:00

ok i'm going to try to figure out how to post pictures better so here is a random picture

so i guess i can't figure out how to post pictures under the text.

i will have to ask

checking something?

2009-12-04T18:57:00.001-06:00

had to post this

2009-12-04T16:23:00.001-06:00

an anodyne makes you feel good...had to post this.

today

2009-12-04T16:20:00.001-06:00

today my boss let me have the afternoon off and i loved it! i slept and had a relaxing time. I left the little man at daycare. I've been feeling under the weather lately. I have a super sore throat with almost no voice and i've worked all week answering phone. not fun.
This weekend should be great though. Tomorrow we are going to the Christmas parade downtown and possibly another picture with Santa!

santa

2009-12-04T12:21:00.000-06:00

This week Brighton visited Santa twice!

Last friday night (the day after thanksgiving) we all went to the Illuminations at Botanica Gardens and we stopped by to see Santa. The line wasn't too long so i figured it would be ok for him and not feel rushed. The helper lady gave him a candy cane and I sat him on Santa's lap, but Brighton was more interested in the candy cane that looking at the camera or Santa so here's the picture from that...actually it posted above the text ok....

Then my mother in law took little B to see Santa at the mall. I asked her to. I was kinda worried that he'd be scared because he had no candy cane to distract him, but Kendall said he did really well. He walked right up to Santa and started "talking" to him and then was sad when Kendall took him away so the next kid could go. Aww...poor little B man...lol so I will post the picture from the mall too, but who knows where it will post to.

cupcakes

2009-11-19T11:05:00.000-06:00

Last night we gave the little man some cupcakes and he loved them but then they started falling apart and dropping all over the floor and he had a melt down. poor little guy, and mommy and daddy just kept laughing and laughing.

so it looks like we'll be having a very lean christmas this year. We are in the process of trying to sell our house. We had a contract but the buyers backed out. We have been saving money since moving in the my father in law but now it all just goes to paying credit cards and other bills. We still have an outrageous mortgage to pay. but that's ok. little man is still young enought not to care what he gets for christmas.

2009-11-09T12:33:00.001-06:00

So I never get on here to post but here is a new post about what's new in my life

Mitchel and I currently are trying to sell our house and move closer to where we work to cut down on driving time so we can see each other more often and see Brighton more because I miss him desperatly during the day.
So for now we are living with my father in law which is growing increasingly frustrating each day we are there so please pray that we sell our house soon!
Brighton was sick this last weekend so no one got much sleep. i feel bad for the little guy because he's so tired to but he's so congested and chokes on his snot and coughs. We sent him to daycare because he didn't have a fever. If he's not better tonight when i pick him up i'll call the doctor again.
ok i'm too tired to keep typing. i'm glad this weekend is over and hopefully next weekend will be better

tree time

2009-09-12T17:01:00.001-05:00

On labor day I wanted to head to the park and take some pictures of Brighton playing but my stupid car wouldn't start so instead I went to the front yard of my father in laws house (where we are staying at the moment) and took these super cute pictures. And yes I dressed him in the green striped shirt and plaid shorts

2009-09-12T16:41:00.000-05:00

I am going to post some super cute pictures of Brighton playing in a tree

2009-08-27T21:09:00.001-05:00

it's been a while.
So Brighton is now 15months old. I can not believe it! I am not very good at this chronicling of his life.
He is doing so much now that I don't even know where to begin. I'm not going to back track, thats pointless a this point.
He walks he talks he throws fits. He's turning into a little boy right before my eyes. he's not my little tiny baby anymore. I can't even think to write anything...so many funny stories are in my mind. I'll just update you on what's going on.

This weekend Mitchel, Brighton and I are moving back to Wichita. We made this decision based on the fact that we have no money. We live in a house we cant really afford at the moment. We both drive from Newton to Wichita every weekday to work and we send Brighton to a daycare we can't afford either. So we are going to go live with Dennis, Mitchel's dad for a bit and sell our house and see where it goes from there. We hope this will help up save some money and get some debt paid off and move into an apartment or rent a house until we know where we are going to be permanently.
Also we are hoping that I won't have to work full time anymore so I can stay home with the B. I miss him so much during the day. I do feel like I've missed out on alot of things by sending him to daycare but I know we have a great bond and he loves me and needs me.
On friday I am going to meet with a new daycare and hopefully we can work out a deal to send him there for now. This is a huge change on all of us and I hope we can transition with as little stress as possible. New house and new daycare all at once. At least we will have our belongings and familiar surroundings to comfort us. and we have each other

photo session

2009-01-23T17:49:00.001-06:00

go check out katherinebachphotography.blogspot.com to see some great shots of little b

Where are you goi?

2008-12-01T18:55:00.000-06:00

Where are you going little b? That is the # 1 question Mitchel and I ask nowadays. Where is Little B crawling to now? Probably somewhere to do something he's not suppose to do. Right now he is chewing on the remote. Don't worry I took the battery out so I can still watch my show...lol...
I just can not believe how far he is progressing. In like a 3 week time period he decided to sit up completely, crawl across the room and start pulling up on the couch, me, or anything taller than him. Actually it doesn't have to be taller than him. He'll get push his little booty in the air with his hands on some thing low.
He also is getting a tooth. It's barely cutting through but I can feel it so he puts everything in his mouth. anyway. This will probably get more exciting soon, I'm just getting into the blogging thing. We'll see what happens next.

first blog

2008-11-29T20:17:00.000-06:00

Hey this is my first blog, right now my very happy baby is not so happy. He's throwing a mini fit on the floor, but I feel that he needs to learn to soothe him self a little. I give him 5 minutes and if he's not better then I go get him. It's almost been five minutes. So I'll blog more later when he's sleeping.