Birthday Splash

A huge thanks goes out to Stephanie Painter for giving us her summer punch card to use for a swim party!  Unfortunately, Stephanie didn't even get to enjoy it because she was at home sick.  But, a good time was had by all!  Chris and I wanted a unique way to celebrate our birthdays! What better way than to go swimming at the park!  The water temperature was great and we all enjoyed ourselves!  Elli and Josh especially got into the cupcakes.  Everyone had plenty to do!  Even playing in sand!!  It was a great first and probably last time swimming this summer.  Sheesh summer, where did you go?

Birthday surprise

My mom and sister decorated the porch to ring in my birthday!  The funny part was that when Cooper saw this representation of me he barked at it and wagged his tail!

Just hanging!

Bringing on a new adventure...

Today is the last day of my twenties.  I find myself strangely sentimental today. I just think of how every one of my goals I set for myself have come to fruition.  I am blessed beyond measure!

If you would have told me when I was 10 or heck even 20 that I'd be married to my dream man, doing jobs I love (teaching and photography), living in a nice home, driving cars that are paid off and had a fantastic baby boy- I would have never believed it.  I don't feel like 30 is old anymore so clearly that tells you my age! ;-) (I so clearly recall in the early 20s when 30 was old.) I look forward to what is to come and I think I better set some big goals for myself so that they can also come true!  I am thankful for the loving supportive family that God blessed me with by birth and for the amazing family that continues to bless me daily that I acquired through marriage.  I am thankful for my health.  I am thankful for my dog.  I am thankful for my precious son! I am oh so thankful!

#blessedbeyondmeasure

Family photo

I'm not sure when we took this one (sometime in July) but I just love it. It's a keeper!

Cloth diapering...

So I posted about this on FB but I thought I'd take a second to blog about our cloth diapering adventure.

I started cloth diapers (CDs) on July 7th because I wanted to wait until we'd made a good dent in all the disposable diapers that we had, but still have plenty if we decided to give up on cloth.  Turns out, I was surprised to find that I like cloth more than I would've expected.  With the installation of a diaper sprayer, even cleaning dirty ones aren't bad.  After 2-3 weeks of use, we bought three more than what were given at our baby shower and I bought a drying rack so I guess I'm all in.  (I'll tell you a secret, the shelf life is much nicer because of air drying. The newer ones are staying like new.  The electric dryer was really taking a toll on the diapers in just a couple of weeks.)

I really like the Bum Genius brand and would be glad to answer any questions.  I also have one TotsBots Easy Fit and I like it too but I find the BumGenius easier to get more than one use.  The microfiber inserts in BumGenius absorb all the liquid and keeps his bottom dry- better than disposable!  And, since the diaper cover stays dry, I can just change the insert and reuse it which saves on laundry too!  The only thing I don't like is that I can't use my A&D ointment because of the oil and Caleb never had diaper rash until recently. I feel like A&D was doing a great job of preventing it.  We started using California Baby diaper rash ointment (cloth diaper friendly) and I think he is allergic to an ingredient because his rash got worse. We are back to regular disposable for a day or two to get the rash to go away.  We will just plan to use disposables at night to continue apply ointment once per day!

Look how cute these diapers can be!!

Roll over, roll over

This week, Caleb learned to roll over and he is so proud of himself!  I just love watching my little man grow so!