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Sunday, October 31, 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I never thought about it before, but I can only recall 2 years when I didn't go trick-or-treating. I have always found a kid to go with, be it my sister, my cousins, my brother-in-law, or my kids :P It's really depressing how trick-or-treating has become a lost practice here in DFW. More and more people are just going to their church for "Trunk or Treat" or a "Fall Festival" on Halloween Night. It makes me kind of sad. What can I say, I'm my father's daughter! Here are some pictures of my parents' house the past two years...I can't wait to see what this year has in store:




Thursday, October 28, 2010

Spooky Stories Under the Stars

Another playdate this evening. We headed back to Euless Public Library for Spooky Stories Under the Stars. We heard some silly and spooky stories and then ate Oreos and drank "blood" (Hawaiian Punch) while decorating monsters. A great time was had by all!





Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fall Frame Playdate

While Jacob was in school, Joshua and I went down to Lucy's house for a craft playdate. We got to hang out with Lucy and Jacelyn (Joel took Kacen to the zoo), Candace, Sawyer, and Sawyer's birth father, Jason, plus Tamara (my friend I'm donating milk to) and her kids, Joey, Jenna, and Jessica (Joshua's milk buddy). We had so much fun! Joshua and Jessica were nursing pretty much the whole time, but they are only 4 weeks old, so what do you expect? Luckily for me, Joel got back right at 2:30 which reminded me that I needed to pick Jacob up from school at 3. I got there right in time ;) Thanks for having us over, Lucy!





Monday, October 25, 2010

Birth Announcements

I got Joshua's birth announcements in the mail today! Now to get the addresses for all my relatives so I can mail them out!

Here's what they look like:

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Spooky Kooky Keller Kastle

We went up to Keller's annual park Halloween event, Spooky Kooky Keller Kastle, for the third year in a row. Yep, that's us with some friends on the event page (Jacob is the Texas Ranger on the left and I'm the Rangers fan on the right).  This event gets more and more packed every year! We still had so much fun. They had Trick-or-Treating in the castle playground and a huge bounce house. New this year, and a great idea, was having people get stamps from visiting each of the vendors and turning in the cards full of stamps to get a prize. You should have seen the lines to check out the vendors!! They also had face painting and a craft table where you could make a ghost out of a paper plate, some construction paper, and streamers. There were a bunch of carnival games, as well. Afterwards, they had a "Mad Science" presentation, where the kids got to learn all about dry ice! Did you know that dry ice can turn sodium hydroxide (a base) into carbonic acid? She also showed the kids Sodium Polyacrylate, which is the absorbent chemical in disposable diapers.












Saturday, October 23, 2010

Boo at the Zoo FAIL

We went to Boo at the Zoo today. We were having a great time, they had tons of fun stuff to do. Jacob was having a blast playing the games and chatting with the clowns when there was a monsoon! We were doing fine since we were in these giant tents. Then, apparently one of the higher ups made the decision that the tents weren't safe and everyone had to evacuate...into the torrential downpour! So I tell Jacob to get in the wagon (it has a canopy) and I have Joshua in the Ergo Sport with the hood up and we head out into the rain. While I'm in the midst of the crowd leaving, my flip flop decides to break. We start heading towards the entrance and notice that everyone seems to be going inside the MOLA. I get in the line that's going up the ramp since I've got the wagon. Joshua is SCREAMING at this point, because the rain has soaked through the polyester blend carrier. We finally get to the doors and people are coming up the stairs and CUTTING ME OFF. Hello! I have a screaming baby and you think YOU'RE more important? We finally get inside and I find a place to park the wagon. I took Joshua out of the Ergo and stripped his ghost gown off. Only the top portion seemed to be wet, thank goodness. I wrapped him up in a blanket and he calmed down right away. When the rain cleared up, we headed out. Basically, I had spent $32 for two hours at the zoo and we only saw 4 animals. What a great first trip to the zoo for Joshua, huh?





Friday, October 22, 2010

When can Joshua have a bottle, Mommy?

 Jacob got to feed Joshua for the first time today. He has been asking me to do it, so I pumped a bottle just for him.




*Face palm* of the day

So, as much as I love my five year old, sometimes he says the most ridiculous things. Here is the *face palm* I got today:


Jacob: "Mommy, what are we doing today?"
Me: "We're going to listen to stories around a fire."
Jacob: "What's that?"
Me: "It's where we sit around a campfire and listen to stories."
Jacob: "Are we doing that today?"

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Jacob got a new karate belt!






Hard Night

I should have known that the wonderful sleep Joshua granted me on Sunday (two 4 hour stretches!) was too good to be true! Joshua has kept me up most of the night eating then spitting up and peeing on me. I had to leave the bed because it was all wet and found out that Jacob had an accident on our recliner when he fell asleep there Sunday night. Now I get to spend today cleaning various bodily fluids out of both. Ahhh...the joys of motherhood.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

The Breastfeeding Diet

So I have this theory that babies have a sixth sense when Mommy is eating. It doesn't matter if he has just been fed, changed, and is passed out stone cold, the second I get two bites in my mouth, Joshua is awake and hungry. Forget the whole 500 calories breastfeeding is supposed to burn, BFing moms really lose more weight because they can't EAT!

It can't hurt Joshua to cry for a little bit while I refuel my body, right?

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Ok, so I finally caved...

Yes, I now have a blog. I can't believe I've finally succumbed to society's pressures!

Ok, you have a blog, but who are you?
I'm a 26 year old mom of two: Jacob, my crazy 5 year old, and Joshua, my 2 week old  little chunk. I'm married to my high school sweetheart and we all live in DFW. Jacob attends Montessori school while I'm Joshua's moo cow all day. I organize an awesome playgroup: DFW Fantastic Families and bus Jacob to and from soccer and karate. I'm never at home for more than 18 hours at a time and I think I might explode if I were! Seriously, those 2 1/2 days in the hospital when Joshua was born were absolute torture!

WTF is a Puffy Mommy?
"Puffy" is a term a friend of mine and I came up with for parents who do crunchy things for non-crunchy reasons; specifically, because they are cheap and lazy. Kind of how there are Crunchy Cheetos and Puffy Cheetos. It's not that I don't care about the environment or bonding with my children, but if the things on the list below were a PITA and/or expensive, I probably wouldn't be doing them.

My personal list is:

Cloth Diapering - If you take the time to do the math, you'll see how much money you can save on cloth diapering. If you factor in extra trips to the store if you run out, it's also easier to do it! We use GroBaby diapers (now called GroVia Hybrid). These diapers are one-size, and fit Joshua from birth and Jacob at 4 1/2 (I was still pregnant and needed a model).

Baby Wearing - We chose to get a $45 convertible car seat for Joshua rather than a much more expensive infant car seat. This left us with a problem...how do you carry the baby around when you're out and about without straining your arms? Hello ERGObaby Sport! We had to get a Heart2Heart infant insert in order to use this from the beginning, but since Jacob can fit into it, I figure it's a good deal.

Intact - Yes, my baby boys have their foreskin. I'm not paying for a medically unnecessary surgery. Luckily, the trend is heading in my boys' favor as fewer people are choosing to circumcise, so the whole "locker room" issue will no longer be one. Plus, who wants to deal with Vaseline and crap if you don't have to?

Vaginal Birth - Same as above...I don't care that I have big babies; God made a hole for them to come out of, I'm not paying for a surgery if I don't have to.

Breastfeeding - This one is a one-two punch. Cheaper; you can't beat free, AND easier; no mixing bottles and carrying around extra crap, no trips to the store when you run out, and no getting out of bed in the middle of the night, which segues to:

Co-Sleeping - GASP, her baby sleeps IN HER BED?!?! Yes. I learned with Jacob that I don't like having to leave my bed multiple times in the middle of the night. Since I'm breastfeeding, I just plug Joshua in and fall asleep. He can latch on and off as necessary and I only really have to wake up for an occasional flip to switch sides. He gets more sleep since he's not being totally woken up by hunger and I get more sleep because I don't have to get out of bed. Win/Win. I seriously don't move in my sleep with a baby in the bed (just ask my back). We also saved money by not buying a crib. We purchased a Baby Trend Playard with Close N Cozy bassinet so when I want to have some space, I can. Bonus: I have a place to store Joshua's diapers so it's easy to change him when he's in our room.


Hand-me-downs - Probably 98% of Joshua and Jacob's clothes are previously worn thanks to the generosity of family and friends. I have never "needed" to buy the boys clothes. It's a good feeling to be so loved!




I guess that's about it from me today. Thanks for taking the time to read ;)