Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Sibling Giggles

Giggles would be a little bit of an underestimate here. This was an all out laugh fest. You might want your volume turned down a little bit...it's quite L.O.U.D! Don't say I didn't warn you. ;-)

A MUST during the fall season!

Fall + Raking the thousands of leaves that have fallen from your trees = a perfect opportunity for jumping in big piles of leaves.

I've been workin' on my diaper all the live long day....

I had a rough time last night. I usually work for quite some time on my diapers, but this was about 10 minutes of this.




And of course my mom thought it'd be funny to take pictures of my struggles.

What!! Like you've never been there before!?!?!?

Ten on the Tenth

This one's going to be a bit different. I'll have ten things, but in two different lists. Since I now have a 6 month old who's outgrown the little baby things, I have found myself (now after two children) never having used these things much if at all..and on the same page, I find myself putting things away that I don't want to think about having lived without. Now granted, a lot of the stuff was bought at the biannual consignment shop, so not much was full price, but still.

Five baby things we spent money on and found we really didn't need.

1. A baby bathtub. Having the kind of baby tub that we do, it's almost impossible to bathe an infant in it without the help of two people...one to hold the baby and one to wash. They go slipping and sliding. We did use it, but if I had my choice again, I wouldn't pay for it. The bumbo sitter has proved to be more effective once they were a couple of months old and could hold their head up. It fits in the sink or bathtub.

2. A swing. Honestly...neither kid used it much. Zoe, maybe a handful of times. Ethan used it in the first two weeks during his colicky bouts, but after that, not much at all. Not worth $80.

3. Diaper Genie. Good invention...but for our house, a waste of $$. We use Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers. We use one disposable a day and that's for the long 12 hour sleep at night. We just do a trashcan. Now a diaper champ, that's a different story. We would use that just because it didn't require buying extra bags.

4. Baby shoes. Seriously...they don't even keep them on. They're ADORABLE. I'll admit that, but they kick them off and really just don't need them.

5. Bassinetts. Really...how long do they stay in these before they outgrow it? We never bought one of these. We were handed down one which was nice for the first few weeks and sleeping in our room..but after that, you don't use it. I'm not sure I'd spend tons of money on one. I think a pack'n'play with a bassinette on top would do just fine.

Five baby things we spent money on and found we couldn't live without!

1. A bumbo sitter. Ever seen these? WONDERFUL inventions. Great bathseats. Great restaurant table top seats. Great high chairs for on the go. Just all around great. They can sit in it from the time they can hold their head up until ???? . Our two and a half year old still likes to sit in it.

2. A jumperoo. Like an exersaucer in the fact that it has an activity center surrounding it. And like a Johnny Jump Up in the fact that it is a free jumper in the middle. LOVE IT.

3. Johnny Jump Up. Again...both my kids LOVE to jump. This is a free jumper that hangs from a doorframe. It's a great travel thing and doesn't take up much space.

4. Shopping Cart Cover. I love this invention. I never was a germophobe until I had kids. Now with the H1N1 out there, I'm a super germophobe. And after watching snotty nosed people in walmart wipe their boogery noses and then put their hands all over the shopping cart again, I'll never put my kids in a cart without one of these. They work great for restaurant highchairs too.

5. The Miracle Blanket. This thing was perhaps the best $26 we ever spent. It's a swaddle that you can use for up to 16 weeks that helps keep the baby's arms tightly wrapped to prevent the startle reflex. Very cool and not overly heavy and aided in both of our kids sleeping 8+ hours by the time they were 6 weeks old.

Fall Family Fotos

Yes, I know I spelled the word photos wrong. I'm just all about symmetry, you know, and I wanted to have three F's instead of two F's and a P. Anyway, we went out and tried to beat the clock yesterday afternoon to get some fall family pics. I think they turned out pretty good despite the fact that there may have only been one picture where both kids were looking into the camera and no pictures where they were both smiling. If you have a trick about how to get them both to look and smile, let me know!

These were done on OBU's campus, a place where beautiful fall foliage is notorious. If we'd have waited just a few more days, we wouldn't have been able to get some of these shots. Timing is everything in the fall.

I am man, hear me roar!

Hi! Remember me? I'm Ethan...they call me "little bug". I'm 6 months old today! That's half a year, people! In other words, 26 weeks....183 days....4392 hours....263,520 minutes...15,811,200 seconds...should I keep going? Sheesh...I'm getting old, people! So let's see if I can recap this last month. It's been a busy one for this little bug, so I'm not sure if I'll remember it all. But I'll try. Here goes.

I like to stand up now. I can't pull myself up, but if my mom or dad put me there, I can stand for a long time. But then I don't know how to get down once I'm up there.



I'm working on my two bottom teeth. My mommy says she can feel them coming up, but they just won't break through. Whatever that means. All I know is that they hurt and I get really unhappy...sometimes in the middle of the night. Mom gets kind of grossed out when my face and shirts gets all wet because of slobber. She hopes they break through soon. She's tired of being a make-shift teething ring when I nurse. Right now, I'm still just a toothless grin.



I'm sitting up really tall now. I have been able to sit for a couple of months, but this month, my back muscles allow me to sit straight up for a really long time without falling. I sat for 30 minutes one day without falling and played with all sorts of toys.



The last week or so, I've been in the beginning stages of learning how to crawl. I know I can get anywhere I want to, I just don't know how to. It makes me mad sometimes. If I try really hard, I can get on my knees, but then I lunge forward and land on my tummy again. I scoot a little bit and can turn in circles, but I just can't quite get to where I want to go. Here's a video of me attempting to crawl.



I graduated from my infant seat to a big boy carseat yesterday. I still have to look at the back of the seat, but I can see my sister better now and like to talk to her. My mom cried when we put my baby seat up. She said I was growing up so fast. Aw mom...come on!

I still nurse, though my mommy's talked a few times of quitting because I keep biting her really hard. I can't help it...my gums hurt from these so called teeth that are coming in. I don't think she'll quit though..she's too determined to feed me for a full year. I eat all kinds of solid foods 3-4 times a day. I eat all veggies and fruits that can puree easily. My favorites are sweet potatoes, and really any kind of fruit. I've started blowing my food all over my mommy when she feeds me. I'm just practicing my raspberries, but I don't think it makes her very happy when she gets food all over her shirts. Oops.

I've started saying lots of consonants. My mommy was sad because my "first word" was dada. I told her it's not really my first word because I don't really know what I'm saying, but still, she hoped it would be mama. I like to say dadadadadada over and over and over. I also like to say bababa and nananana. Right now, those are the only ones I say. I still take three naps a day, although my mommy's trying to drop my late afternoon nap. I sleep from about 8:00 or 8:30 until between 7:30 or 8:00AM, unless my teeth hurt. Then I wake my mommy up really early in the morning. I like to sleep with my lamb blankie. Tonight, though, I decided to use it for a pillow.



My mommy says if I grin any bigger, I won't have a face. I'm just a happy baby and love life.



Well, that's it for now. You'll have to wait a few days for updates on height and weight. I don't go to the doctor until Wednesday. Until next month.......

I'm Ready!

I told Zoe we were going for a walk this morning. She took it upon herself to get herself ready. So she comes to tell me, "I got shoes, let's go go." She's got her stick horse and shoes on...what more do you need?



Yes, you saw right..footie PJ's with crock sandles on over them. Need a closer look? And even on the right feet!

Chopped

Ok, no, I'm not talking about the food network show "chopped", though that's a great show. I'm talking about chopping the hair. Little Diva's hair is still so thin and uneven in terms of initial growth, so I chopped it...like 2 inches of it. I thought maybe it would give the rest of her hair a chance to catch up in growth before I let it grow long.

Anyone that says cutting a toddlers head is easy must be cutting the head of a cabbage patch doll. The constant movement and looking from side to side make you think you're about to chop off every bit of it. But I didn't...thankfully. Here's the finished product. I gave her a simple bob style, and one that will still allow me to pull it up into a ponytail or pigtails if I so choose.