6 month check up ...And Shots

Today was a busy morning so far Lil worm had his 6 month check up and vaccines. I vaccinate my kids, but I always separate the shots. Today he was suppose to have 3 shots 1 was a combo vaccine and 2 other ones. So today We just did 1 combo vaccine. I will go back at 7 months to do the other 2. I think that getting all three shots in one day is to much on there little body's to handle. Monkey boy was a trooper at his brother's appointment. He put on the latex gloves and pretended he was the Dr. After the Dr. apt we went to Mac Donald's play land. Later tonight I have Monkey boys preschool orientation. So very busy day What are your feelings on Vaccination Debate ?

Sometimes You Just Have To

Anyone who knows me knows that if I ever have any extra money I like to spend it on my kids or save it for my kids. We recently received a 75 dollar visa check card for switching to Dish Network. My husband told me to take this card and spend it on myself. What a sweetie. Well I could have bought some new diapers, or the kids some new clothes, but I took his advice and spent the money on myself. My MIL came over and watched the kids so I could have a whole like 6 hours by myself. 1st I got a much needed haircut. (at a salon...Not Super cuts... LOL). Then I went and got my toes done. Love to get a pedicure. So peaceful. So relaxing. Finally I walked around Boarders enjoying a cup of coffee and reading ANYTHING I wanted to.. I wasn't in a hurry and I actually could read whole paragraphs not just half of a title. The evening was a complete success and it recharged my mommy batteries. I highly recommend taking time for yourself if you can because sometimes you just have to!!

Baby wearing

I love to wear Lil worm. I have a Baby Hawk its a Mai Tie style carrier. I Love this baby carrier. I wore Monkey man in a Baby Bjorn when he was little and that did the trick but seeing how the same girlfriend who lent me the baby bjorn had her 3rd baby 10 days before mine I needed to purchase a carrier of my own. A real good friend recommend the baby hawk. Thank goodness I listened to her because Lil worm likes to be worn so much. I really got my moneys worth. He is six months old now and I wear him at least 1 a day. I feel that wearing my baby sends him the message that he is safe secure and loved.

Boys Will Be Boys

For some of you that don't have boys you may not understand this post. I will never understand why a little boy can turn anything into a gun. Monkey boy has turned his fingers into guns. He has turned light sabers into guns. He has even turned dinner forks into guns.( The pictures are tree branches that became a gun ) Why ? I don't know what the fascination with guns is all about. When I was pregnant with Monkey boy I never wanted him to play with a toy gun. I believed this was a unnecessary toy. Then When Monkey boy was 2 my Aunt was watching him while I was at work and to my surprise gave Monkey man his 1st toy gun. I was so shocked that she did this because this was a woman who watched me when I was little and would not let us watch Tom and Jerry because it was too violent,let alone play with toy guns. Well I decided it was one of those things that you just let go of after you have the baby. We have rules for our toy guns. Rule #1 you cannot point the gun at a person only make believe things. #2 We only play with the toy guns at our house #3 If another mommy doesn't let her child play with guns on a play date I put them away. This has worked well for us. Whats your take on the whole toy gun issue?

Wordless Wednesday

Lets get crafty

Well I'm kinda a crafty person but kinda is where is stands. I wanted to make Lil worm some cute shirts for the fall. Ive seen people do this on etsy. I love etsy. Addicted to etsy. Well that's another post all together. I went to Jo-Annes craft store and picked up some cut iron-on patches. There are so many styles of of patches to choose from. I dug out some plain long sleeve onesies all you have to do is iron them on. Its that easy. Look how cute they turned out. I'm going to give the pig one to my girlfriend who's baby is 10 days older than Lil worm. This would work awesome on old hand- me- down shirts with stains on them. Just cover up the stain with a patch.

How Do You Wash Them?

This is what I hear as soon as I tell someone I Cloth Diaper. Remember I never Cloth Diapered my 1st son. Many people were shocked to find out that I'm cloth diapering Lil worm. Its easier then you would think to wash them . About every 2 to 3 days I need to wash my diapers. I grab the entire wet bag that is inside my diaper pail and carry it to the washing machine. I open it up and start throwing all the diapers into the washer I have to remove the inserts from the pocket diapers. I fold over all the tabs that keep the Velcro from sticking together. I wash the wet bag with the cloth diapers so I throw that in . I do a wash on cold 1st with 1/4 a cup of Purax Free and Clear. I add a tiny amount of Bleach every once in a wile to keep everything fresh. The bleach doesn't hurt the colored covers. ( I use this soap because it has low enzymes & soap that has a lot of enzymes will eat threw your cloth). I also wanted a soap that I could pick up at my local grocery store and not have to order on the Internet. Next I do one wash in hot with another 1/4 cup of soap fallowed with 1/2 cup of Borax . Borax is my favorite laundry booster . It helps the soap work better. I have hard water so Borax is my best friend. Next a extra cold rinse. To make sure that there is no soap residue on the diaper. Then off to the Dryer they go on low. After about 10 min in the dryer I take out the diaper covers and let them finish drying on a dryer rack either outside or in if the weather will not allow . So the elastic will hold up better if they are air dried . Then When the inserts are all dry I put together my diapers and I am ready to go. Their are many ways to wash your diapers and you kinda have to figure out whats best for you and your style of machine. But because I have hard water this works great for me.

It's Not Cool

It was morning time and since school has not started for us I was turning on some morning cartoons. I turned on channel 11. I love channel 11. Sid the Science Kid was on. "Mom I do not want to watch Sid he's not cool" What Sid's not cool? Well is Clifford cool? "No" Is Dora cool? Is Elmo cool ? "No" Well what's cool? You know Ben 10, Sponge Bob, Phinneas and Ferb, Yu-gi-oh. I swear Sid was cool yesterday. They really grow up so fast.

Darth Vader Is ready for Halloween

Monkey Man is ready for Halloween. Yes I know school didn't start yet but you can never be to early to figure out what you are going to be for Halloween. Thanks goes out to Grandma who purchased this Costume for a obsessed Star Wars boy. He has worn it every single day since it came in the mail 7 days ago. I hope it lasts till Halloween with all the playing he is doing in it . What are your kids going to be this year ?

Wordless Wednesday

Prefolds are easier than they look

I ordered some Indian cotton Prefolds they look like super absorbent burp cloths. The reason I decided to try prefolds is the fact that they are a super affordable way to cloth diaper. I Love Bum Genius and Happy Hineys, but even with 15 pocket style diapers in my stash right now I would have to wash diapers everyday! Who wants to do that? So now that I have some prefolds in my Cloth Diaper Stash I only have to wash about every 2 days. Surprisingly they are so easy to use I thought that I would never be able to figure out how to fold them right, but once I tried it it was easier than i thought. I use a fastener called a Snappi (NO PINS) This thing is awesome! I use Bummis Super Brites, and ProWraps as covers these work great. There are many ways to use a prefold diaper but the fold that use is called the bikini twist.

1st you lay your baby on the prefold

2 nd take the baby's right corner and twist it to the left

3 rd pull it up ward ( I have 2 boys so extra absorbency in the front is a necessary )

4th Add your Snappi

5th Add your cover of your choice and your done

The benefits Ive found with prefolds are:

They are super cost efficient

They wash super easy

They dry super fast

THEY MAKE IT SO I ONLY HAVE TO DO LAUNDRY 3 TIMES A WEEK!!!

Make Your Own Cute Diaper Pail

Well as all of you know I cloth diaper Lil worm. And I wanted to make my Diaper Pail look cute in his Nursery so all I did was add some Clings on to the Garbage can I bought at Target. I use a wet bag liner to catch all the cloth diapers and I add simple stick on deodorizers to the lid to keep stinkers away. All this probably cost me a total of 20 dollars including the wet bag.

Kids Say the funniest things

Monkey Boy : Mama is Daddy allergic to Bunny's?

Me: I don't think so

Monkey Boy : Are You allergic to Bunny's?

Me: no

Monkey Boy : Yahhh We can get a Bunny and put him in a cage and I will feed him and I will pet him

Me : I don't think so

Monkey Boy : Why

Me : because Bunny's poop a lot and the poop smells worse than your brothers poop ( what else could change his mind )

Silly Monkey

Sleep Training

Well Ive started putting Lil worm in his crib. He's doing good so far . Up until now he as slept in a bassinet in our room, or in my arms in our bed. He is almost 6 months old, and getting a little big for the bassinet so I thought I would give it a try. Last night I put him in there at around 9 he fussed a little cried a little. So what I do is go in there rub his head so gently and then leave the room. I do this as many times as I have to until he falls asleep. I try real hard NOT to pick him up. I just rub rub rub till he falls asleep. He also has this crib projector that displays images on the ceiling and plays calming songs so I turn that on and he kinda gets distracted watching the scene on the ceiling then he falls asleep. Last night I went up there about 3 times to re -give the Binky and rub his head and each time he went back to sleep .There was no middle of the night feeding and even though I was a Nervous Nellie checking on him a few times some pretty good sleep was had by all.

**************************************Cloth Napkins

I recently switched to cloth napkins. I'm doing laundry every day anyway adding a few napkins in every load is easy. I bought my napkins at Target. I got 12 all white cloth napkins for 9.99 I bought 2 packs. I keep them in a metal basket on the counter below the microwave . We have never ran out of clean napkins so I think 24 is a good number for this family of 4. Now I'm not polluting the Earth and saving about 5 dollars a month on Napkins. I know that's not a lot of money, but I don't use paper plates either. So I probably save a total of 12 dollars a month off my grocery bill by not buying these paper products. (that's 144 dollars a year ) Now If I could only stop using paper towels!! That's a real hard one for me because I have 2 kids and paper towels are my friend , but who knows maybe Ill ditch them soon ?

Little Man .....Sooo Big

Lets go strolling

So Lil Worm is the fussiest baby on the block. He makes it hard for me to get anything done. I love him to death but that baby drives me crazy. From about 5 pm till 12 am he is crabby. He is a awful sleeper. And just wants to be worn and walked outside. Well as you know Ive have been recovering from a sore back so wearing him i still do every day,but around midnight my back hurt so bad, I got out the stroller and walked him in my driveway for about 30 min. He fell asleep in the stroller so then I brought it inside wheeled it in my bedroom and went to sleep. He slept till 2 am in that stroller. Then we were up for another feeding. I cant wait till this guy sleeps through the night. He's 5 mo right now. 4 weeks early. So maybe that's why hes still not sleeping through the night.

Make your own cloth wipes

Ever wonder why all disposable baby wipes claim to be most like cloth? Why not use cloth? I know this might be a little Crunchy for some but its real easy to make your own cloth wipes. All you need is a spray bottle, baby soap, and baby oil. First I heat up some filtered water in the microwave then I add a little squirt of baby soap and baby oil. (I use the lavender sent it smells so good) I spray it on a baby washcloth when I need to use it, but you can just poor it over the cloth wipes that you would keep in a wipe container. After you use it just wash it with your cloth diapers. Save the earth one wipe at a time!

Mommys a girl

So I was feeding Lil worm when Monkey boy came up to me and asked me if i could load his bullets into his Nerf gun. Since Lil worm was on the verge of passing out I of coarse told him as soon as I was done with your brother. " Are you done yet? " Is what I heard about 10 times until I was done. When I tried to load the gun I somehow jammed all the bullets in wrong. So now the stupid thing will not even work. Monkey boy cried and I told him Mommy's a girl and as soon as daddy gets home he will fix it. I NEVER thought I would have boys not in a million years. This stuff always happens to me with boy toys. I cannot load Nerf guns. I cant build Hot Wheels Contraptions, and I cant play Video games. But I sure could have a nice tea party to bad Monkey boy does not like tea!

Make your Own Baby Apple Puree

Baby food is so simple to make and way more cost efficient then buying the packaged stuff. the prepared baby food is filled with tons of preservatives that make it have a long shelf life. Now don't get me wrong I used jar baby food with my 1st son monkey boy and he turned out OK (crazy but OK). But this time around I realized that its so simple to make your own. You live and you learn. What you will need is about 12 small apples Organic is best , but since you are peeling them regular ones are fine too. Peel and chop all the apples Put into a big pot with a steamer basket on the bottom add 1 cup of water and steam until soft about 35 min on my stove on med high heat. Next add all the apples into the blender I added 6 0z of fresh Breast Milk (I added fresh not frozen stored up milk because you don't want to refreeze thawed milk) then Puree until the right consistency. Next I stored all the baby food in Baby Cubes that are BPA Free. Put in your freezer for up to 8 weeks. When ready to use just heat one up in the microwave and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

ENJOY THE SILANCE

Its late at night I should be in bed, but do you ever enjoy the silence of the night ? Sometimes even though I'm soooooo Tired I cant go to bed because I just enjoy Listening to NOTHING !! I know Ill regret it in the morning when I can hardly lift my head off the Pillow, but its just so sweet to enjoy the silence of a day passed.

Kickin It Old School

So last week my back went out and I had to go to the E.R. I'm doing much better. Thank Goodness! Anyway Lil worm needed a bath and daddy was at work and I just couldn't bare the thought of having to bend over the bathtub to get my baby clean. So I decided to give him a bath in the Kitchen Sink . I sanitized it and then put a towel inside it so he would have something soft to sit on. He had so much fun and I saved my back from a lot of pain. Who needs baby bathtubs ? Isn't this the way our Parents and Grandparents use to do it ?

Happy Hineys .... they make a hiney happy

Ive Been cloth diapering Lil Worm since he was about 2 months old. There are so many brands out there and I have only dabbled into some of them. At first I thought that I should only use 1 brand, but I have more fun trying all the brands. I recently tried Happy Hineys one size cloth diapers. They are similar to the Bum genius except they have a extra row of snaps for the rise. Honestly I purchased these diapers because they have some cute prints. (Bum Genius only has colors) Lil Worm sports the cow print and the silly monkey print. He has slept in these diapers overnight and I have had no leaking. I LOVE Pocket style diapers! If you have a baby that is a heavy wetter then all you have to do is add another insert for more absorbency. Look at My Lil Worm. These diaper are so nice in the summer all you have to do is add a T-Shirt and you got a cute little Fluffy Bottom Man.

Monkey Boy

I always knew I wanted to become a mom. My husband and I have been toghther for a total of 15 years. When I was dating my husband back in the teenage years we talked about getting married and having kids and living that happy ever after life. Well we got married after 9 years of dating. Had kids. And Happy Ever after.... well we are trying . Lifes so much harder then what you fanatize about in your 20's. Raising kids is the hardest thing Ive ever done. As soon as you think you figure them out they go and do a 360 on you. Monkey boy is my 1st son. He has blessed me with the most important job of my life MOOTHERHOOD. It's hard to belive that in just 2 months my 1st baby will be 5. This kid has a amazing immagination. He has many imaginary friends who he has full conversations with and blames things that he does on them. Where he came up with their names I will never know. The very 1st imaginary friend he ever had was a mouse when he was 3 years old. He would walk around holding his hand out flat as if the mouse was sitting upon his hand. Mousie did everything with him . I once forgot mousie on the way to preschool and he wanted me to turn around and go get him. I convinced him that mousie can run very fast and if we rolled down the windows he would run and jump into the car because he was already fallowing the car. Well now that hes almost 5 we have added 2 more friend to the list. Dash and Morsha (at least these ones are people). He tells me that dash has green hair and wears a army shirt and is 4 years old. Morsha is 5 has pink hair and wears a skull shirt. Monkey boy plays with these friends every day. Its kinda nice that he can entertain himself!

I wonder If he will remember them when hes in his 30's that it was mousie that made him use a whole can of shaving cream when he was taking a bath.

It was Dash and Morsha who made me get chocolete pudding all over myself.