Monkey boy's Costume's Of Halloween's Past!

On the Eve of Halloween I thought I would share with you Monkey Boy's costumes through the years. Monkey boy was born Oct 11 2004 . I wanted to take him to the mall to have a professional picture done for his 1st Halloween. My husband on the other hand was scared to take this little Colicky baby anywhere. Thus prompted the home photograph of baby Monkey boy in a velour Lil Pumpkin sleeper and hat.

For Monkey Boy's first Halloween where he could kinda go Trick or Treating we decided to be a Baby Darth Vader. He was so cute walking around asking for Candy that he had never tasted in his life thus far.

When Monkey boy was 2 he wanted to be Spider Man. I do not think he ever saw the show, but somehow he knew this is what he wanted to be! I still remember the sound of his little baby voice saying Spider Mammm!

When we were 3 we were going to be a Firefighter,but at the last minute decided to be a Cowboy. I sent my Cousin Danyel out to pick up Cow boy boots day of from Walmart. We could not be a proper Cowboy with out Cow boy boots.

Last Year When Monkey boy was 4 he decided it was Transformer Time! Here he is standing next to his favorite girlfriend who he calls Princess. He tells me he is going to marry her. LOL

This year he has lots of Costumes in his dress up box to choose from. Grandma bought him a big boy Darth Vader costume. He sometimes changes his mind at the last minute now that he is older. I hope he decides to be Darth Vader because the costume is so cute. We find out on Halloween what this newly 5 year boy will be !

I Need Your Help !

So we are all feeling better . Thank Goodness! I now need to get packing soon. We will be moving around the middle of November. The problem is that I have never moved with 2 kids. I'm nervous about packing. When do I pack up the toys?(do I pack them all or leave some out to be played with day of) How much of their clothes should I leave out? How can I cloth diaper the entire day of the move ? Do I pack up some of my Diapers? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure some of you out there have some tips on Moving with kids . Also how do I explain the move to my 5 year old? he knows that we have a new house,but will he understand that we will never live in this house again? I know this might seam like a lot of random thoughts, but I am a plan ahead kind of person and I want everything to go smoothly.

Wordless Wednesday

How did I first learn about Cloth Diapers????

I am participating in a Cloth Diaper Carnival Hosted by Dirty Diaper Laundry. Her blog is a awesome resource for anyone who is looking about information on Cloth Diapering. The topic is who got you started on your Cloth Diaper Journey?

Cloth Diapers have been around forever, but I never Cloth Diapered my 1st son Monkey boy. He is 5 now. My Girlfriend Melissa did not Cloth diaper her 1st son either her son is 5 now too. Melissa did however have baby #2 before my baby #2 and she decided to cloth Diaper her Little girl. Having this awesome friend show me all her adorable cloth diapers I was curious about them. I had only heard of the Cloth Diapers our parents used and all the horror stories that go with them. The dunking of poop,the wet pail method. Uggg ! Who would want to do that? When Melissa showed me how easy it was to Cloth Diaper her daughter. I wanted to Cloth diaper my baby. She gave me 3 Bum Genius Pocket Diapers as a welcome gift for little worm. What a great gift. Well Lil Worm was born 4 weeks early and I was so preoccupied with his premature birth that I just brought him home in a disposable and used the ones the Hospital gave me. He was 5 lbs 15 oz at his lowest weight and the Bum Genius were swimming on him. One day when I was standing at Babies R Us getting ready to fork over 40 bucks for a big box of Diapers that you just throw away I remembered the Cloth Diapers my friend bought me. I did buy that big box of Diapers, but went online and ordered 3 more Bum Genius. I knew I needed at least 6 in order to give it a good try. When my three Diapers came in I prepped them and then the next day I gave it a try. I remember calling my Husband and work and saying I cloth diapered our son all day. He replied "Daddy doesn't do Cloth" . When he got home I showed him how easy they were and told him how much money we will save and he was on board too. So Thanks to one Dear Friend showing me the Modern way to Cloth Diaper I am saving the Earth and I now an Obsessed with Looking up Cloth Diaper brands and Purchasing some of them.

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Everyone's Sick

So we will be moving soon. We got the house that we wanted. I'm real excited about the neighborhood and School. The crazy part is that both my both my boys are sick. I have no time to pack or organize anything because both the boys are so needy. My poor little dudes. We went to the Pediatrician and she said that its just a real bad cold for both of them. It could turn into something worse, but for right now we just have to take it easy and baby them. Lil worm had a temp of 102.7 and Monkey boy had a temp of 103.1 We are keeping the temps down with Tylenol and Motrin. It' s been a couple of exhausting days because I have been up a lot with Lil worm and Monkey boy, just trying to keep the house functioning with laundry , dishes , you know everyday mommy stuff. My husband came home early from work last night after a run to Walgreen's for some necessary items to keep the kids happy like goldfish crackers, Motrin, apple juice, and a rented movie for Monkey boy. Then he did the dishes that I didn't get a chance to do. Great Daddy!! Hopefully they will get better soon. I do not want them to miss out on all the Halloween fun this year. I just prey that we do not get sick after them.

Sculley Eyeball

Halloween is drawing near and my Monkey boy Loves Spooky Halloween Decorations. I am always looking for fun easy crafts that we can do when the baby goes down for his 1st nap. I found this Wooden Skeleton at Michael's craft store. They had other decorations, a witch, a ghost,and a vampire. We picked the skeleton. I put newspaper down on my Kitchen Table and secured it with painters tape. Painters tape will not hurt the finish on my table. I gave Monkey boy some kids pant and watched him create his own Scary Halloween Decoration. Monkey boy named him Sculley Eyeball. I wrote the date on the back, and we will now have him forever.

Carrot and Cauliflower Puree

Making your own baby food is so simple. It's sad that we live in a world so based on convenience that many people just buy baby food because the Gerber people tell you to. I fell into this trap with my 1st son and bought baby food. I thought that making your own food was too time consuming and to hard to do. Organic baby food can cost up to $0.77 a jar. When your older baby eats 6 2 oz jars a day that's close to 5 Dollars a day on baby food. I make my own baby food to save money, and I know exactly whats in my son's food. I have made all kinds of baby food purees. The picture above is Carrots and Cauliflower. I use a metal steamer basket underneath steam it with about a cup of water until mushy. Then I blend the mixture in the Blender until its a good texture. I store my food in Baby Cubes that I bought at Babies R Us. These cubes are great . They are B.P.A Free, reusable and dishwasher safe. The prepared food lasts in the freezer for up to 8 weeks, but we eat it much faster than that. All you have to do is thaw it out, warm it up and serve. The Carrots cost me $ 2.00 , and the Cauliflower was $ 1.80 So for a grand total of $3.80 I made a total of 20 2oz containers. That comes out to about $0.19 a jar. You cannot beat the savings, and Its really so Simple to do.

How to get your Cloth wipes to pop up

I make my own cloth wipes solution. I store my cloth wipes in a old Huggies Wipe Container. I use baby washcloths for wipes. I use to use the dry wipe method and spray wipe solution on a wipe when ever I needed one, but as Lil worm is now way more active when he is getting his diaper changed I needed my wipes to pop up rather quickly so I can get the diaper change done fast. I lay one washcloth down and another one on top of it halfway. I the fold the bottom washcloth halfway on top of the 2nd washcloth. I keep doing this until I have enough wipes to fill my container. I cover the wipes with 2 cups of boiled water mixed with 1 squirt on baby soap and 1 squirt of baby oil. Now when ever I need a wipe the can pop up out of my container just like disposable ones do!

Getting Sooo Big!

Look at my little worm. He's practicing sitting up in his playpen with his favorite pal Bert. Sometimes I wish I could just freeze time and keep my baby this little, but it's so much fun to watch them grow. Happy Friday Everyone!

It Happened ... Its Hard To Believe...My Monkey Boy turned 5

Monkey boy was born on Oct 11 2004

He was born at 8lbs. 12 oz. He was the most beautiful baby I ever saw. My due date was Oct 6. My water broke Oct 10 at 7:30 am. I went to the Hospital and was in labor until 4:33 am when he came out by c-section on Oct 11. I tried to push him out for nearly 4 hours. I could feel him move downward, but then when I rested between pushes I felt him suck back upward. I never wanted a c- section but I was so happy to have this boy out! We came home from the hospital and my life really changed. I no longer slept, and I cared about a little someone more than myself. Everything we did revolved around this new little boy. Monkey boy was a real cute baby. I did baby sign language with him and he could communicate with me before he could talk. I took this little boy to Mommy and me Music class, Mom and me swimming classes and Gymboree classes when he was a crawler . He was my little buddy going everywhere with me and I enjoyed every Elmo song we listened to and tried to sing along with in the car. Monkey boy was a independent walker-no -climber at 11 months. I could never leave him alone not even for 1 min. This boy climbed on everything. My kitchen table, the couch, the fireplace. The best is when I was doing the dishes and I turned around to find him climbing on the outside of of the railing leading upstairs. We had a gate at the bottom so he could not climb on the stairs, but the outside if the banister is what he wanted. Now you know why his nickname is Monkey boy.

I remembered my sons 1st Birthday. My husband was just finishing putting carpet in the basement the day of his party. We invited everyone to celebrate his 1st Birthday. It was so much fun watching him eat his Birthday Dinner Spagetti for the 1st time ever. We had a Elmo themed Birthday because at 1 he really liked Sesame Street. I remember crying when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. I could not believe that my little baby was already 1. It felt like the first year flew bye. It's crazy that at one moment you can be listening to a tiny baby scream for 2 hours strait , and you wish that they would just grow -up and all the sleepless nights would be over. Then in a Bink of a eye your baby is 5. It really goes by so fast!

Monkey boy wanted a Halloween themed birthday party. So we did just that! I invited all his friends to come to the Rec Center that I rented out. We had pizza and a Ghost Birthday cake. I had 2 kids tables set up for independent play. I set up Playdoh with Halloween themed Cookie cutters. I had coloring table with Halloween themed coloring sheets. We also had a Ghost Pinata. The part was a huge success. I of coarse teared up when every one sang Happy Birthday. Birthday party's are so emotional for me I remember all the details of my labor and how at 4:33 am my life changed completely. I was given the greatest gift of all My Monkey Boy!

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY TO MY MONKEY BOY!!!!!

Ugggg!!!

We are planing to move real soon. We are trying to move in a better neighborhood with better Schools since Monkey boy will be in Kindergarten next year. Where we live now the schools are not that good. They are not bad, but not good. When we moved here we fell in love with the house and Monkey boy was 2 mo. old we didn't even think about schools. I would love to send my son to a private Catholic based school, but we cannot afford that right now, and affording 2 in a private school is out of the question for us at this time in our lives. Maybe some day , but not now. So lately we have been looking at houses, and we definitely have to give up some things in order to get other things. One house we like is a independent house, but is in a subdivision that does your lawn and shoveling, so you do not really have a back yard. With in the complex there is a park like 5 houses down. So the sad thing will be that we will have to give up our swing set. If we cannot take the swing set with us we will give it to some dear friends. I will miss my boys wooden swing set and the time we spend in the backyard, but with a park that I can see out my back door maybe this will not be so bad. Also the house does not have a finished basement, I'm use to our nice finished basement. Moving is hard for me. I moved a lot as a child, and I really like the idea of staying in one house forever. Staying in this house is not a option. We have to move. I know this is going to be hard for me . I will miss this house and all the memories I have off it. I know I need to move forward with this, but its so hard. We are not sure if we are getting this house yet. We put in a offer ,but are not sure. So a lot is on my mind lately, I wish I could just blog about diapers that I love, but my mind is so preoccupied with this move.

My little Monkeys!

I'm a total dork, but I have so much fun putting my boys in matching clothes whenever I can. I do not do this all the time, but if I happen to see something cute and affordable in both their sizes I'm totally sold. Monkey boy loves dressing the same as his baby brother. (I gotta get my fix before its not cool to him anymore!) I cannot wait for matching Christmas pajamas and Christmas outfits. I love these T-Shirts I found them at Gymboree when they were on sale and the Monkey is so cute! Tell me do you enjoy putting your kids in complementary or matching clothing sometimes?

Family Traditions

Do you remember doing family traditions with your family when you were little? As a mom I want to create many family traditions with my children. Many traditions I do with my family I'm sure you do with your family. Carving Pumpkins, Making Christmas Cookies, Thanksgiving Dinner, Home made Easter baskets and so on. But do you have any out of the ordinary things that you do that you want to make a tradition in your family? I Always make my son a goodie bag on Valentine's Morning and Halloween . When he wakes up on those days there is a special bag filled with little gifts where he sits at the Kitchen table. I have been doing this for him since he was 2 and he still is surprised to get the special present when he wakes up. Every Christmas I take Monkey boy Shopping to the Dollar Store to pick out gifts for his Grandparents, ,Aunt's Uncle's and Cousin's. I give him his own money, and let him pick out what ever he wants to give them. Sometimes he pick 's out real funny gifts like a pink snorkel for PaPa, or Tums for Daddy because he knows he eats them. I occasionally make homemade pizza with my son. My husband tosses the dough in the air like a real Pizza man and Monkey boys laughs so hard when he does this. Monkey boy also loves putting the toppings on his own pizza. I remember going to get donuts with my Dad every Sunday Morning. We would walk there because we lived so close to the doughnut store. Then I would pretend to read the newspaper with my Mom. So I was wondering what Traditions you do with your family in hopes that they will always remember?

Wordless Wednesday

Joseph... And his coat of many colors

I love my sons Preschool. Its a Co-op Preschool. This means that there is a lot of parental involvement. About once every month you get to be parent helper in the classroom. I love the fact that besides the Teacher and the assistant Teacher there is ALWAYS a Parent in the room. When you are in the classroom you assist the Teachers, purchase and prepare snack, and get to spend some quality time with your child in a classroom setting. Its real neat to see the interaction between your child and all his classmates. The school he goes to is a Christian based school. They pray before snack and at group rug time . They learn and recite Bible verses. They teach this is such a way that the Children really learn about our Lord. On this particular day they were told all about Joseph, and they made their version of Josephs coat of many colors. I took pictures of Monkey Boys coat when we got home from school. He was so excited about it!

Great America In The Rain !

We recently got a real good deal at tickets to a private day out at Great America. We have been wanting to take Monkey boy all Summer but couldn't justify the pricey tickets. Well my girlfriend Judy got us tickets at just 35 dollars per person and Lil worm was free. The awesome part of this deal is that it was a private party so hardly no lines. We purchased our tickets about a week in advance and were real excited to go. Then the day came . The weather called for rain and lots of it. The tickets were non refundable. We could not find a sitter for Lil worm so off we went. I have 2 strollers. A Zooper and a Britax. We took the Zooper because it has a rain cover and a foot muff so we could keep Lil worm warm and dry. I also brought my baby Hawk baby carrier. Just in case Lil worm wanted to be worn. At Great America there is a Mothers room that is quiet and has 3 rocking chairs in there so you can take care off your Lil one. This room was a life saver. Over all we had a great time and Lil worm was a trooper.

Disappointment

I just received a issue to the November Parents magazine. I was so surprised to see that on page 92 there is a small article on saving "Dollars On Diapers" They go on to tell you that it costs a average of 2,000 dollars to diaper 1 child. Their tips on saving money on diapering includes the fallowing:



Collect Coupons

Be Open to the Bargain Brands

Buy in Bulk

Find the right fit (so you don't waste money on leaks)





I enjoy this magazine I often read very useful articles, But this article just disappointed me ! It amazes me that they never mention saving money by using cloth diapers. Many people do not even know that cloth diapers are a option. I wish cloth diapers companies were able to spend more money on advertising by having ads in these popular magazines,maybe even commercials. When you are at the grocery store of if you have a subscription check out page 92 of Parents magazine. I for one am going to write to them this time on this article.

Ready for Bed !

I just love Lil Worms smile in this picture! It really shows his personality! I have a picture somewhere of Monkey boy wearing the same Jammie's, but I cannot find it. (ugg). I really enjoy putting Lil worm in Monkey boys old baby clothes. It's amazing how certain baby clothes bring back such great memories! Do you have a favorite piece of baby clothing? He's has a Bum genius on under the Jammie's. We add a extra insert and we stay dry all through the night !

And then there were Pirate's

I worked last night, and when I got home I checked on Monkey boy to make sure his blankets were on him. He has a Bunk bed. So in order to check on him I have to climb up a ladder. To my surprise he had underwear on his head and his stuffed dog's head. I tried so hard to hold my laugh in so I wouldn't wake him. I ran down stairs and grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. In the morning I asked him why he slept with underwear on his head and his dog's head. He replied " We were pretending we were pirate's. My goodness this little boy just amazes me with his imagination.

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

The cutest picture from Monkey boy's 1st Sleepover

But I Want To Turn 5 !

I went to the Mall on Sunday to pick up my Lil worms 6 month pictures. I brought Monkey boy with me and Daddy stayed home with Lil worm. We had a very busy weekend. We went to Great America on Friday and on Saturday Monkey boy had his 1st sleepover ever. He was so over tired. We were in the mall and he threw himself on the ground and was crying over not getting a gumball. We immediately left the mall. I was kinda frustrated that I didn't get to do any window shopping. Normally Monkey boy is a great shopping partner. We were in the car on the way home and I told him I was disappointed at the way he acted. I told him he was grounded from his Nintendo D.S.. He did not like this and he proceeded to tell me the meanest things this almost 5 year old could think of. " I hate you Mommy" ya that one hurts even though I know he is just over tired and has a hard time getting out his frustration. I then replied that "Maybe I should ground him from his upcoming Birthday Party" I wanted him to stop shouting out mean things from the backseat of the car. Then he replied "But I want to turn 5! "
I thought that was such a funny concept to him. If he didn't have his Birthday Party he would stay 4. I only wish this was true then I could stay 32 . We talked about his behavior later that night when all was calm. I also need to realize that sometimes as parents we want to cram so much fun things in 1 Weekend and really these little kids cannot handle being off there schedule.

You know you are a mom when.....

You are at work and discover a Binky in your pocket.

You are never ALONE in the bathroom

The only Band-Aids you have in the house are Scooby -Doo

You can never catch up on the laundry

You find action figures in your purse when you are looking for a pen.

You sport the ever so popular ponytail hairstyle more that you want too.

You keep your make-up in the car in case of emergencies ,because you hardly ever wear any any way

You buy Apple Juice in large quantities

You say things like "Stop Putting that matchbox car on your Brothers Eyeball !"

When bringing 1 child with you to run a errand seams like a vacation


PLEASE ADD YOUR OWN****

Monkey boy's 1st Sleep Over !!

My oldest son Monkey boy is about to turn 5 on Oct 11th. His Best Friend Neil turned 5 on Oct 3rd. Neils Birthday wish was to have Monkey boy sleep over for the 1st time ever. I asked Monkey boy if he wanted to sleep over at Neils house in his sleeping bag? I told him that Mommy will pick him up in the morning. Since he has slept over at his Grandma's a few times I think he gets it. My girlfriend (Neil's Mom) and I meet at a Mommy and me swimming class when the boys were 6 mo old. Yes I've known her for about 5 years and she is a awesome Mommy. I feel real comfortable with him sleeping there. She just texted me telling me that they are having a great time and she was going to get them to lay down soon and watch a movie. Monkey boy then informed her that his bedtime is 8 o'clock. (How cute is that!) She Told him that he could stay up later because it was a sleepover. I hope the rest of the night goes well ! I will post pictures tomorrow shes taking LOTS for me .

Lil Worm 1st bath

This is one of my favorite photo's. This is before Lil worm could sit up. Now I give him a bath in Kitchen sink. Monkey boy was so excited to help me give Lil worm a bath. Lil worm on the other hand was not happy. The contrast of the 2 cracks me up evey time I look at it. Enjoy Your Friday everyone

Don't eat and drive !

Yesterday was my super crazy day. I woke up at 6:45 am . Had to wake the baby up because the night before he was awake 3 times and had a real hard time sleeping. Feed the baby, Feed the Monkey boy, Then we got Monkey boy ready for preschool. Hopped in the car dropped Monkey boy off at preschool at 9:00 am. I took Lil worm home we did another feeding. Then I folded some cloth diapers. Started another load of laundry. I made dinner (pot roast) yummy. Loaded the dishwasher. Took A Shower to get myself ready for work. I did all this wile entertaining Lil worm. I was trying to keep Lil worm awake because we and to Leave at 11:00 am to pick up Monkey boy from Preschool and I wanted him to sleep in the car. Lil worm slept in the car there and back to our house. When I got home from preschool I gave instructions to my MIL about how to put the roast in the oven and Lil worms feeding schedule. Then off to work I go. I look in my rear view mirror and see lights. I pull over . The officer ask 's me if I know why she pulled me over ....Ummm No . She said I was swerving into the other lane she asked me if I was texting.....No.... She asked me if I was drunk? ....What? Are you serious? (I most have looked crazy because my hair was wet and I had not put my make-up on yet ) No way I'm a Mommy I told her ...I was just reaching in my purse for a granola bar because I had no time to eat lunch before going to teach 8 dance classes. She said I swerved 2 times. She took my identification and came back to my car with a warning ticket. I really had no idea that I swerved getting the granola bar out of my purse. Lesson Learned though PAY MORE ATTENTION when driving. Then I went to work taught 8 dance classes and came home to a sink full of dishes. I ate dinner and went to bed until 4 am when Lil worm wanted to have a Mardi Gras Party. So far today has been a lot smoother of a day . I hope it stays that way.