We're ready for winter

Diapers

We've been using cloth diapers for almost a year now. I have tried all sorts--prefolds, contour diapers, fitted, home-made (as seen above), and my favorite, pocket diapers. We have several Fuzzibunz diapers, but with our new addition a few months ago, I've been needed double the diapers. Fuzzibunz are great, but really expensive. After doing some research, I found sunbabydiapers.com. They have great deals ($5 a diaper!!!) and some really cute patterns. I made a purchase yesterday. The new diapers should be here in a couple of weeks. I can't wait!

Moving

We recently moved a few states over (no more California sun for us). As the move was drawing near, I started to really worry about my daughter. A few months ago we moved a desk from one room to the other and it really bothered her. I thought, 'If moving a desk troubles her, how is she going to feel about moving everything in the entire house?' My first reaction was to do as much as I could during her naps and after she went to bed. I would frantically pack box after box while she was sleeping. Soon I realized I was never going to get everything done in that limited time. I started talking to her about what was happening. I wasn't sure how much she would understand, but I would tell her "We're putting it in the box so that we can take it to our new house. Our new house has stairs (she really likes stairs), and a pool." She liked putting things in boxes, as long as her toys weren't involved in the boxing process. When my husband pulled up at the house in the moving truck, she was pretty leery at first. I asked her if she wanted to touch the truck and she said, "No!!". I remembered I needed to talk to her about what was happening. I told her, "We're going to put everything in the truck so that we can take it to our new house. Remember, new house has stairs and a pool!" I took her to the cab of the truck. She loved playing in the drivers seat. After playing for a while and talking about the truck, she was very excited about it. I took her to the bed of the truck and showed her where all the stuff was going to go. After a few boxes got put in she got the concept. She started grabbing all of her own stuff and putting it in the truck. I think it really helped her to feel more secure seeing her belongings in the truck. The whole thing went down without any tears. I was really amazed what a difference talking can make. She understood so much of what was going on.

On the other end, she really liked unpacking boxes. Each day it was a little like Christmas, finding more fun things to play with. She is quickly making new friends. We've been looking at pictures and writing letters to old friends. We've made a good effort to find fun things in our new city. What I've discovered is that moving with two kids under two really wasn't as bad as I expected!!

Mamma Mia!

As I was sitting at storytime at the library with my kids this week, trying to guess what was going to happen next in the book, I thought to myself, "I sure hope my kids have as much fun with me as I have with them." I used to think that you only get one childhood, but recently I realized that as a parent you get to do all the fun stuff all over again. I love playing with my kids. I love watching them learn about and discover the world around them. I love watching them take risks and I love being there for them when they make mistakes. I really feel like motherhood is the best job there is. I am so grateful that I get to play endless rounds of 'Duck, Duck, Goose', read the same book over and over and over (without even looking at the words any more), fingerpaint in the bathtub, play dress-up (as seen above!), and kiss my sweet children every night before bed. Here's to being a mom!

Playing Babies

It's fun to play babies if the baby is a doll.....

but it's especially fun when the baby is real!

Aren't Pipe Cleaners Great?

Dining Out

Today we went out to dinner at a local burger joint. My daughter is pretty patient for an 18-month-old. That being said, she still doesn't have a real long attention span. Tonight at dinner she lined up four empty ketchup cups. I remember I had packed grapes in the diaper bag. I put one grape in each of her four cups. Every time she'd eat one, I'd replace it. She thought it was hilarious and she ended up in her little wooden highchair long past the time both my husband and I licked our fingers clean from the last french fry. It turned out to be a pretty successful dinner out!

Prevent Button Mashing

Button mashing: basically this is my term for that thing your kid does on your computer when you're not looking. Maybe mine's the only one who does it, I'm not sure. All I know is she's very good at it. I look one way and then look back and there are multiple new windows open on my screen because my daughter has been playing with the mouse and keyboard. The other day I found the solution! I simply found an old keyboard and old mouse, placed them on the pull out part of the desk (and put my keyboard on the top), tucked the cords in behind the computer desk, and VOILA! She can now play for hours mashing as many buttons as she wants and I don't have to worry any more about her accidentally purchasing anything on Ebay.

Fact!

There's just nothing like a hallway fort, is there?