Kehan is 5!

I can't believe how fast these years are going by! My little boy is now 5! He was a little bit of difficult delivery for a few moments but he was a healthy 9 lbs 11.9 ounces! So my big baby boy is now just a big boy getting ready for Kindergarten in the Fall. He has such a sweet nature about him too. Give him a hug and tell him how much you love him and he melts into you and will linger there enjoying the moment. He is the BEST at making his little brother Eli laugh and sweet enough to push his little sister Ashlyn on the swing for minutes on end. I love our little man. He does have a naughty side but don't all children? Mostly he is pretty darn sweet! I am a little sad to see him grow up so fast but also so excited to see what comes next. 5 is going to be a pretty exciting year!

6 Months and Counting

Yes, they really are 6 months old! I can't believe how far we have come in 6 months. We have gone from the NICU to smiles, giggles, and rolling! As you can see Eli is by far the more laid back one of the two and Ellie is a bit more serious. Sometimes no matter how hard you try you just can't get her to smile. Eli is a little ham and a flirt to boot. At their 6 month check up Eli was 13 lbs 11 ounces and 25.25 inches. Ellie was 11 lbs 6 ounces and 24.25 inches. The doctor would like to see Ellie gain more weight but her growth curve looks great, she is just little. He was impressed that they were growing so well on only breastmilk and gaining the .5 ounce a day like they should. He was even impressed with their cloth diapers and went so far as to say they were "cute." I love that!

Both babies are FINALLY taking to eating cereal. I am them on oatmeal because they really seemed to reject the rice cereal. Not many new developments. They are still working on sitting. Ellie though has figured out how to push up on her hands and look around better.

I hope the next 6 months don't go by in a blur like these first 6 months have. Happy 1st Half Birthday Eli and Ellie!

Sibling Love

My kids are great. I really mean that. Does that mean I don't have days I want to just scream, um, no. I do but really I have pretty great kids. I probably don't tell them that enough. I say I love you all the time but actually telling them that they are GREAT is different. When I tell them that they are GREAT I see this really special twinkle in their eyes I know that seems to mean more to them than just I love you. Here are a couple pictures showing you how much they love each other. Eli and Kehan have a great bond. It melts my heart to watch them together. Kehan is the one to make Eli laugh anyone else has a hard time but not Kehan. Ashlyn loves her baby sister. Often times telling Kjerstin and Kehan that, "She's MY baby sister."

Eli has teeth!

I am behind on getting out the news on a new milestone we have reached in our house. On May 1, 2010 on our first morning in Wisconsin for a quick weekend visit Eli popped through his bottom two teeth. Yes two teeth at the same time! Here is a quick picture of him with his pearly whites. Now isn't he happy? Ellie we are still waiting on you to catch up but being "baby B" you can follow behind Eli for now. One day though you will want to be first!

Thirsties Duo Wrap Review

Oh, how I love my Duo Wraps! I wish I would have gotten a couple of these to start with as Eli is on the biggest setting on the size 1 already but, I am sure it will still fit him for a few more months he is only about 13-14 lbs and it states size one goes up to 18 lbs or about 9 months old. Ellie is on the middle setting so she certainly has more room to grow. I just love these diaper covers!

Duo Wraps have built in leg gussetts that keep EVERYTHING in! I really like that feature. With these there is no having to check and readjust to be sure the cover is fitting well around the leg and over the hip but the gussetts fit so nice around the bottom of the leg that you just don't have to worry about it! Another plus is that the baby has a bit more moveability because the gussetts allow more give or wiggle room with out any constriction on movement.

I believe that the Duo Wrap in size 1 would most definitely fit a newborn and that is saying something for an adjustable sized diaper. Duo wraps are not One Sized but rather two sized that give you 6 different sizes over just 3 different sizes. I have used my Duo Wraps over prefolds, stay dry liners similar to the Flip Stay Dry liners, and over a Thirsties Fab Fitted. The only things to note are with my stay dry liners they are so think because they are made of microfiber topped with microfleece are that you may be able to go down a size because of the thinness of the insert. Then with the Fab Fitted you may have to go up a size depending on the size of your fitted. I have a small fitted and need to go up a size on Ellie. Thirsties is coming out with a new duo sized fitted so look for those in the near future. With the prefold I find they fit right where they should.

The only thing I don't like is that the white  trim all around the diaper stains easily. But my solution is to just put them in the sun to dry on the line and the stain comes right out. Not so sure what I will do in the winter. Maybe a little OxiClean spot remover or just wait until Spring comes again. 

I like these covers so much I have already order two in the size two so I will have a couple Duo Wraps to use until they potty train. They are very affordable at $12.25 - 13.25 per cover.

Here are a couple pictures of Eli and Ellie sporting their Duo Wraps. Eli is in a "Storm" with aplix and Ellie is in a "Melon" with aplix closure.

Look who is learning to sit up

Eli is such a little ham! He smiles all the time. These was taken this morning so he is 5.5 months old and I thought to myself he should be getting ready to sit up by himself. So, I tried it and he can sit for 5 secs or so by himself. Pretty good for his first real go at it. Ellie surprisingly doesn't do as well. She has much better head and upper body control than Eli does when on your lap and such but doesn't do as well balancing herself on the floor. Although she can sit on your lap. Kids are so different and no one child does anything the same as the one before. So it is always new every time you help your child grow. Love that part of being a mom. Certainly makes it so it is not boring.