Lurking in the water

With summer upon us and visiting area lakes and waterways many of us will undoubtly find things lurking in those waters. One of the most common lurkers that often hitch a ride out of the water with you are leeches. I get all girly at the thought of touching one but what must be done must be done when a child comes to you with an uninvited friend tagging along on their leg. I have found through my own experience that what I was taught was the correct way to remove a leech is actually not the safest way! So leave the salt in the cupboard and read on to find out the safest way to send the uninvited friend home.

 Here is what the experts from PBS NOVA have to say. It can be found here.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/siddall-leeches.html

Q: What is the best way to remove a leech (not being used medically) from the body? Chris Bonneu, Snohomish, Washington Siddall: Dear Chris, I get this question a lot. In fact, I described this in some detail for the "Worst-Case Scenarios: Travel Edition" pocket guide! The problem is not the leech, it's the bacteria in the leech's gut. Leaving aside the fact that salting a leech puts salt in the wound (generally considered a bad idea), or that burning a leech risks burning yourself (also suboptimal), salting, burning, or just plain pulling on a leech risks causing the leech to regurgitate into the wound it is feeding from. Leeches have bacteria growing in their gut. We're not sure why, but Professor Joerg Graf at the University of Connecticut has an incredible research program investigating this symbiosis. What's unusual is not that they have culturable bacteria—even you have bacteria in your gut—but that they have only one! Dr. Graf showed more than a decade ago that the bacterium Aeromonas veronii forms a nearly exclusive relationship with European medicinal leeches, apparently killing or excluding other bacteria. Our collaborative work has since shown that different medicinal leeches from Europe, North America, and Africa harbor just-as-specific symbionts, but of different species. For example, Aeromonas jandei is in Macrobdella decora, the leech you saw in the NOVA scienceNOW segment. So why does this matter? Well, various Aeromonas species are awfully good at living in blood—as you might expect given that's what they're doing in the leech gut—and if they get spit up into the wound, they'll live just fine in your blood. In fact, they have a huge temperature tolerance, growing just fine from fridge temperature to body temperature. Typically, in cases of leech therapy for venous congestion, it's important to give the patient the right antibiotic to prevent accidental infection. Knowing what bacterium is in which species could be critical in knowing what antibiotic is useful, so we're now frantically trying to understand how the diversity of leeches relates to the diversity of microbes. Most infections are local, but there's at least one case of extremely serious meningitis from leech therapy. The same risk comes from removing a leech improperly. Thankfully, there are two proven ways to remove a leech without risk of infection. The first is to relax, watch the leech, and admire its color patterns, and its biology while it finishes its meal. This should take less than half an hour. Thirty minutes well spent contemplating the complexities of life! If you're in a hurry, though, the other method is simply finding the head end and pushing it sideways until it releases the suction. Careful, though: The head end is the smaller end. Most people think the business end of the leech is the fat end, but that sucker is just used for holding on (even Dr. Tyson made this mistake in the NOVA scienceNOW segment). Find the skinny end and use your finger or fingernail to push it sideways off the bite point. Once it's released, you will bleed from the wound. That's okay. The bleeding is normal and is caused by the anticoagulants the leech puts in the wound. Then, just get it to release from the fat end the same way. And for Pete's sake, put it back in the water so it can lead a normal happy leech life!

HANDS

Photo a Day
Day #3
Hands

Here are two of the most precious little hands God has given to me to guide and cherish throughout thier lives. It melts my heart we I turn around to see them standing holding hands all on their own accord. The twin bond certainly is real.

Hoar Frost in the Northland

Again today we awoke to the trees painted with Hoar Frost. It was not a day where we were pleasently surprised with this beautiful display of God's handy work, as yesterday we awoke to dense fog and hoar frost that never lifted. Yes we had dense fog for well over 24 hours yesterday. But even if it had been foggy for a week I would not tire of the beauty achieved on bare, sleepy branches by a cloud that chooses to touch the ground on a cold day.

Our back yard looking toward the highway and a field of Poplar trees on the other side of the road.

The Spruce trees out back. I really enjoyed the beauty of these evergreens painted white. They look like they had been turned to stone by the Mouse King in the Nutcracker.

Trees in the horse pasture. It looked like a tunnel to walk down.

Again the back of our horse pasture looking towards the highway. It has been a very white scene the last few days.

I just LOVE the blue of the sky in these pictures. The contrast is completely untouch by editting. It was just that blue. I kept taking pictures of it because it just seemed so pure.

These pictures are of the Christmas lights hanging on the house still. I just wanted a couple pictures to show how much frost there is on everything.

WORDS

Photo a Day #2
WORDS

From the time I was 14 years old and read these words from Revelation 21:4
I have been comforted by them.
They have brought me peace knowing that this world is not all there is or will be.
One day all our troubles, pains, sorrows, and even death will be removed from our lives!

February Photo a Day Challenge

I have never atempted a Photo a Day Challenge before but I am going to this month. It is the shortest month of the year, I figure I have the best chance at finishing it with fewer days, right?

 So here is a list for the days of February.

And now today February 1st's photo.

I had intentions of getting my nice camera out to reshoot this picture when I took it on my ipod touch to send to a friend in Canada but, when I had a chance to go out and do it the sun had come out and the hoar frost had dropped from the trees. So today's photo will have to come off the ipod. It was such a beautiful morning and the view out the front door was beautiful with wide open spaces colored white and stretching before me.



Being the Invisible Mom

Yesterday I came across an article that hit home on many levels. I am going to post it here and then share my Invisible Mom Moment of the day.

Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, “Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this?

Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, “What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, “Right around 5:30, please.”

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, “I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, “Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, no one will ever see it.” And the workman replied, “Because God sees.”

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, “I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.”

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, '”My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You're gonna love it there.”

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

My Invisible Mom Moment

 

Earlier this morning Eli and Ellie started playing peek-a-boo. Man, they were giggling and laughing at each other it was fun to watch, but do you want to guess what my roll was in this fun? I was the not the mom, I was the wall or object that they were hiding behind and inbetween. My legs seem to be a great thing to hid behind and pop out of. As they played I just stood there and watched looking down on them. They clearly had no clue I was watching nor did they care, at that moment I was the object, The Invisible Mom. You know what? I was happy to be invisible to them at that moment because I got to witness the awesomeness of the twin bond that they share.

Our World Today



Our momma cat had her kittens almost 2 weeks ago. She had 5 one died, so there are 4 left. I cannot believe how fat these kittens are! The twins are in love with them and think they are the coolest thing since chocolate milk! I just thought I would share a bit of our day with the world.

Isn't this a beautiful image of innocent love?

Blazing Rhodes

Blazing Rhodes is a Morgan horse.
He was born July 29, 2010.

I love our colt. He was born last July and as a yearling we finally gelded him. Boy did that calm him down! He really wanted to be a Stallion before and now he is much calmer and not so high strung. He doesn't seem to like my husband much and just walks away from him, but he seems to really like me. Tonight I brought him a carrot from the garden and he let me rub him down and even allowed me to kiss his nose twice. That is a new thing. The first time sort of spooked him but when he realized nothing happened and it was like a "nuzzling" and he enjoyed the second one moments later.

While at the chiropractor today I was reading an article in a horse magazine on having a playground for your horses to play on with you, such as tires filled with sand or gravel for them to climb on, logs to walk over, things high up for them to walk under, and water to walk through. So as I was petting him I was thinking about how he probably really wanted to play. How do colts play in a heard? Running and bucking of course with other colts and fillies. So I looked at him and said want to go for a run? I was already warmed up because I had already taken a run before I came out to him. So off I went running around the outside of the fence line and he followed me. What, was the best part of playing with him? He would get ahead of me a ways and stop waiting for me to catch up and then take off again. There is an area where I have to run in front of the shed and he has to go behind it, I told him to meet me up front and he did! He ran right up to the gate and met me there. His ears where up and he was ready for another rub down. I am sure he would have run around the pasture with me a few more times but it was getting dark so I had to say good night.

My after run ritual is going to be a run with Blazing Rhodes, whom we call Blaze.

Only A Kiss

Last Thursday Eli and Ellie caught the bug being passed amongst our children. The bug caused a high fever and sores in their throat, which was not strep throat, it lasts 2-3 days. After their naps on Thursday both babies were running fevers, Eli 104.2 and Ellie 102.3, they were miserable. I gave both of them some Advil and waited for the temps to come down. Ellie managed much better than Eli. I could not get his fever to go much below 102 so he sat on the couch and litterally did not move. His eyes would move but he would not. No hand movement or legs just sat there looking really, really sad. At one point I layed him down and Ellie came over and laid next to him. I thought it was so cute that she went to comfort him I got out the camera and started recording. What you will see is the ONLY time he smiled from 4pm until 9pm when he finally fell asleep on my lap. Keep in mind also that just before this video Ellie started holding his hand only to take his finger and then bite it! That is why he has a few tears in his eyes, but she made up for it later.

 I hope you enjoy witnessing the twin bond. It is a wonderful thing to watch grow and deepen.

We are very blessed to be raising twins.



How Kehan See's Mom: Age 6

1. What is something your mom always says to you?  Be good.


2. What makes your mom happy? Don't be Naughty


3. What makes your mom sad? Doing something very, very, very, naughty.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickling me.

5. What was your mom like as a child? I don't know.


6. How old is your mom? 15

7. How tall is your mom? 14 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Cook


9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Go to the grocery store.


10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? A famous "cooker". (I guess I should be on Hell's Kitchen next, huh?)

11. What is your mom good at? Cooking


12. What is your mom not very good at? Driving a pick up. (He is right about that! I don't like driving the pick up!)


13. What does your mom do for a job? Umm, cook.


14.What is your moms favorite food? Spinach


15.What makes you proud of your mom? Because she is a great cooker.


16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Super Man


17. What do you and your mom do together? Pick up my room.


18. How are you and your mom the same? We have the same jeans. (color)
19. How are you and your mom different? We have different shirts on.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because sheh says I love you to me.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Because he works to get money.

How Ashlyn sees Mom: Age 4

1. What is something your mom always says to you? Don't play with her stuff.



2. What makes your mom happy? Don't be Naughty





3. What makes your mom sad? Playing with her stuff






4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickle me






5. What was your mom like as a child? Helped her mom with the dishes






6. How old is your mom? 16






7. How tall is your mom? 8919 feet






8. What is her favorite thing to do? Do the dishes. (Umm, not true)






9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Work doing dishes and stuff






10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?doing laundry and stuff






11. What is your mom good at? Dishes and stuff






12. What is your mom not very good at? Yoyos







13. What does your mom do for a job? The dishes





14.What is your moms favorite food? Tomatoes






15.What makes you proud of your mom? She is proud of me.






16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Dora






17. What do you and your mom do together?play puzzles and just doing stuff.






18. How are you and your mom the same? because we are just the same






19. How are you and your mom different? Mom doesn't suck her thumb






20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because  I give her kisses and hugs






21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Because she hugs and kisses him

Mom through the eyes of Kjerstin 5.5 years old and at 7.5 years old

I realized the other day I had not posted much about my children lately except the twins. That seems a bit biased so over the next few days I am going to post about my older children. Here is a set of 21 questions I asked Kjerstin when she was 5.5 years old. It is amazing how some answers are pretty much the same as they were 2 years ago. At least I must be consistent with my parenting style! Enjoy, some of these are pretty funny.

KJERSTIN 5.5 YEARS OLD
1. What is something your mom always says to you? “No, you can’t eat Daddy’s treats.” (She had just been told that)


2. What makes your mom happy? “Always be good”



3. What makes your mom sad? “when I am not good”



4. How does your mom make you laugh? Silly faces



5. What was your mom like as a child? Loved to watch tv



6. How old is your mom? “15”



7. How tall is your mom? 8 feet



8. What is her favorite thing to do? Be by herself



9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Clean and watch tv (we don’t have tv anymore)



10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Because you have children



11. What is your mom good at? Cleaning ( you’d imagine my house being spotless, but it is usually a disaster! I wish I was as good as she keeps saying!)



12. What is your mom not very good at? Yoyos



13. What does your mom do for a job? Clean the kitchen and shovel the snow (can you tell we just had a blizzard?)



14.What is your moms favorite food? Meat and rice and mashed potatoes with gravy on top.



15.What makes you proud of your mom? Staying home with me and Kehan and Ashlyn



16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Silver mist fairy



17. What do you and your mom do together? Clean the floor



18. How are you and your mom the same? Our mouths are the same



19. How are you and your mom different? Our hair is different



20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because my heart tells me



21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Sleeping in bed with him (LOL)
 
 
 
  KJERSTIN 7.5 YEARS OLD
 
1. What is something your mom always says to you?
"Listen to Mom."

2. What makes your mom happy? When I be good.


3. What makes your mom sad? Not listening


4. How does your mom make you laugh? Tickling me


5. What was your mom like as a child? Liked to pick wild honeysuckle


6. How old is your mom? “30”



7. How tall is your mom? 10 feet


8. What is her favorite thing to do? help us pick strawberries


9. What does your mom do when you're not around? works around the house


10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? For taking good care of your children


11. What is your mom good at? Good at cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at? art


13. What does your mom do for a job? Do the church bulletin


14.What is your moms favorite food? Lasagna


15.What makes you proud of your mom? Raising me good.


16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Jasmine


17. What do you and your mom do together?Read books


18. How are you and your mom the same? We both have straight hair.


19. How are you and your mom different? She has brown eyes and I have blue.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because she tells me she loves me. Helping me out with my chores.


21. What does your mom like most about your dad? That he is nice.

AppleCheeks Diaper Liners VS. Bummis BioSoft Diaper Liners

The diaper liner is a well known tool for most cloth diapering families. It is though one that is often forgotten in my house because at 19 months Eli and Ellie are wiggly and just want to run and play so the diaper has to go on quick and the liner is sometimes an after thought. But when remembered it is GREATLY appreciated!

For those of you reading this and wondering, "What the heck is a diaper liner?" It is a piece of fleece cloth or other flushable material that you lay on top of the diaper to catch the messy diapers so you can just pick up the liner and either rinse it in the toilet (fleece cloth) or just flush it down the toilet with the flushable ones. The liners help keep stains off cloth diapers and make cleaning up those really messy diapers SO much easier!

Bummis flushable liners are 100% viscose rayon, a cellulosic fibre derived from natural sources, and are made to their specifications in England.


AppleCheeks flushable liners are also 100% Viscose but, made in China.
Here is what I found comparing both of the liners:
BioSoft liners come in two sizes.
      Size 1 is 5" x 12"
      Size 2 is 7.5" x 12"
AppleCheeksliners come in one size and are 6.5" x 11"
The BioSoft liners are not quite as soft as AppleCheeks liners but still soft.
Both liners come in rolls of 100.
Both liners do exactly what they say and catch the mess so you can just pick it up and flush.

For me I prefer the AppleCheeks because of my petite babies. The Size 2 BioSoft liners are just too wide and I end up folding them in a little and the Size 1s are too narrow now, but as infants they sure worked well! So AppleCheeks fits the gap for us coming in a little wider than the Size 1s but narrower than the size 2s.

You can purchase BioSoft liners here at My Baby Pumpkin.
You can purchase AppleCheek Liners here at Sweetbottoms Baby Boutique.

Both AppleCheeks 2 Sized Washable Diaper System and the Bummis line of cloth diapers are Canadian companies that proudly manufacture all their diapers in Canada.

I have had personal contact from each company. Ilana and Amy at AppleCheeks are two of the funnest people I have "met." I say "met" as I have only corresponded through email and watching their live Ustream chat during the release of their two prints. I can say they are quite a pair and I am sad I may never know them in person because they seem so fun! Definately people who would brighten a dark day! 

I have been in email contact with Shirley at Bummis in the past also by doing testing of new products for them. I have had the honor of participating in two different testing rounds for different products. While I cannot discuss the items I have tested besides their news cover the SuperLite, which you can see here, I can say that they are really out to find the newest cloth diaper hit. It is a long process getting through testing so I have been patiently waiting to see what or when they bring some of the products I have tested to the market.

I have enjoyed both companies and can say they both strive to help their customers be happy and succeed with their cloth diapering choices. I highly recommend both companies to those searching around for the right cloth diaper.

Family Wedding Weekend

This past weekend my husband's brother married a wonderful girl. Our oldest two daughters were asked to be flower girls and our oldest son was a ringbearer. It was a beautiful wedding and we are very happy to have a new member in the family. Our kids really enjoy calling her Auntie too!

Our family. This was the best shot of our family quickly taken after the ceremony on Saturday. Hey at least everyone is looking at the camera and no one is crying right? I would have liked a few more smiles but over all it is a pretty good picture. I love my family!

Family Life Triage {How moms of many, multiples, or both do it}

For many months,well, let's be honest since the twins were born nearly 18 months ago I have been asked several times "How do you do it?" I could never quite figure out how to answer other than, "By the Grace of God." or "Honestly I don't really know, you just do." Tonight as I was carrying the first of the twins ready for bed up the stairs to her crib it came to me! I finally know how to explain how it is done!

FAMILY LIFE TRIAGE is what I thought of as I was climbing those stairs with Ellie. What a catching name too! Here is how a seniro just might play out.

After a full day of activity, well who am I kidding, it could happen any day or at any time, you find yourself with 2-5 kids crying all at the same time. So, what do you do except sit down and cry with them? TRIAGE! Here is the way I like to run down the cryers as well as the rest of the gang.
In order of who gets moms help or attention first.

1. Youngest child or if hurt the child with the greatest injury.
2. After #1 is taken care of it goes up to the next oldest child in need. Again according to age and or injury.  Example: Our 7 year old may trump one of our 17 month olds if she is injured badly enough.

This continues until all crying stops. If, I am lucky enough a few stop crying on their own and realize they can cope with life without needing Mom they way they thought they did. Somtimes though more join in on the crying and the number in TRIAGE goes up. Then I just stop and cry! Haha. Oh, one more important thing to remember, enlist the help of older non crying children! My older children can often comfort a smaller sibling or help them while I tend to those in the most dire need. Side note: I can't say how many times my "big" kids help me with the twins or even Ashlyn! They are probably the reason I have not gone insane yet! haha "big" kids ROCK!

Some out there may think I am ignoring my other children who need me, but in reality I believe I am teaching them good life skills on how to handle their emotions, conflicts with siblings, or "small" hurts on their own knowing help is comming if they still need it in a few minutes. In the end every child gets checked on, tucked in bed, hugged, kissed, and told they are loved. But, TRIAGE is the way we handle multiple meltdowns that occur at the same time.

I also TRIAGE house work. Most important first and so on. There are times when an item on the list sits at the bottom of the list for days.

I want to state that I am NO supermom. I regularly have days when nothing gets done because I don't want to do anything, my kids go to sleep in their clothes and have not brushed their teeth, the twins eat food off the floor and not single dish gets washed or put away, this is just how I make it through each day.

Now you have an answer to "I just don't know how you do it!"

Took a Time Out Today

This morning after I had put our 3 older children on the bus and the Twins woke up for the morning and had their breakfast I sat back and just enjoyed the hours of the morning with them. I am very thankful that I did. I was able to witness some pretty special moments of twin bonding between Eli and Ellie.

To start off the morning they showed me just  how much they love each other. There we were just sitting and playing on floor and I was just enjoying the moment and drinking in how special each of them are and they stood up and started hugging each other! Eli was even giving Ellie kisses! This went on for at least 2 minutes. They would hug let go look at each other a giggle a little then hug again, until finally Eli was done and pushed Ellie away. To me that was such a special moment. Through out the morning they would play often apart but one would always get and check on what the other was doing. Usually they just turned around and went back to what they were doing but, it was like they were checking up on each just to see if they were OK.

One day not that long ago I was taking another moment to take in the uniqueness of each of the twins and I asked them, "Which one of you decided you just couldn't do this on your own and asked for a partner to take on the world with?" Well Eli started the hugging and from the first ultrasound at 6 weeks he always measured a day farther along than Ellie. I have decided Eli needed a hand to hold and I am ever grateful that God saw fit to give him a hand to hold.

Today showed me that in the busyness of life it is important to stop and hit pause. The world is just spinning so fast for everyone that the little things get lost. Today I found a few of those things watching our twins. I hope anyone reading this takes a moment and hits pause today to just take in the world around them and enjoy the beauty we pass by everyday without thought.

Cleaning Ballerinas

Friday the kids had a day off of school for Good Friday. Well, what is a mom to do but put them to work! So, Ashlyn had her first turn with the vaccum cleaner. Man did she have fun!


Kjerstin has been working on her broom handling skills and they are comming along nicely. If, you notice the twins were in their high chairs as is the custom when sweeping the floor in this house when they are awake. The dirt piles are like flashing beacons to them.

GroVia AIO Cloth Diaper

I have been struggling for MONTHS to find a diaper that really fits our twins well. They are smaller than average and have skinny legs and thighs. Eli is the worst offender of skinny legs and thighs! I have looke more than once at the GroVia line. The diaper shells (cover) and snap in inserts are more economical but I didn't like the way the hook and loop wears and makes the diapers look not as nice in a short period of time and there is only one row of snaps for the snap option. Then they announced their Spring Fling sale of Buy 3 Get 1 Free. I had a $75 gift certificate for Kelly's Closet and had finally found a way to get the most for my money out of it! So I ordered 4. One each of Ice, Cosmo, Mod Flower, and Owls. I was excited when they arrived. It says to prep wash them 5-6 times before first use but I threw them in the diaper wash and used them after just one diaper wash routine and dry. I did change them sooner the first a couple times around though just in case they were not up to the absorbtion power required for our 17 month olds. All I can say is that I am in LOVE with these diapers. I don't normally like All In Ones (AIO) but with the sewn in flap that dries quickly and the snap in booster if needed I LOVE these ones! I have only one other diaper that I thought I could have just a whole stash of these and I would be happy. Well, now I have two diapers I would choose if I could convert my stash. These are the first 4 diapers to be used every time they are clean. Hmmm, maybe I need to sell off some other diapers and make room for these. Just kidding I think my husband would disown me if I did! Now if you want to make donations to my diaper stash I am willing to trade you or accept outright donations!
 

Cutiepoops Cloth Diapers

I have been using Cutiepoops cloth diapers for a while now. I first started out with a small fitted and 2 One Size diapers. I will say that I LOVED the fitted! It was so absorbent and was one of my favorite night time diapers paired with a cover of any brand. I am not a big fan of her OneSize Diapers though. I think it may be due to the slender nature of our twins. To me there seemed to be a lot of extra material that made the diaper look sort of droopy and not that great. I can say I have not had her diapers leak! That is always a plus.

I now have these two diapers in Oogga Booga that are sized at a Medium. These diapers do have a great fit. And Eli and Ellie always seem happy in them. I use different inserts in them because the ones they came with seemed really bulky on them. I think the 6 layers of Microfiber after it is fold in 3rds is too much. But my two are not heavy wetters so I don't need that much absorbtion power.

Overall for a great price and lots of great prints to choose from I think having a few Cutiepoops in your stash is worth it. My suggestion would be to choose from her "Knit" collection of prints though. My 2 One Size diapers had cotton outer print and ended up with holes around the edges from washing wear where as the Knit prints are polyester and hold up much better to the heavy washing diapers take.

If you wish to know more go visit Adrian at her Cutiepoops site! 

1461 Blessed Days

It has been 1461 (yes that is right we must add in the 1 leap day she has expirenced) days since our beautiful Ashlyn was born in the middle of the night by emergency c-section and every one of them has been a blessing! Today we thank God for the 4 years he has allowed us to share Ashlyn with Him! It is really quite and amazing thing to watch how each child grows and develops differently. Ashlyn is our quietest and most reserved child, often not speaking much or at all when we are around people she doesn't really know. Even at preschool I don't think she says much of anything. Last year for her 3 year old check up she didn't say ONE word the entire appointment!

The doctor even asked, "She does talk right?"

Happy Birthday Dear Ashlyn! I pray that 4 is just as wonderful as year 3!