Museum

Here is Naoh pointing to the dinasaurs that move. Noah loves the museum. He and his mother volunteer there. (Noah is my nephew.)

This T-rex would move his head and roar when you walked up (motion sensor). It wa pretty neat. Obviously, it scared Jacob (see next photo).

Jacob looking at the big 'ole T-rex as he roared and moved his head.

The following are from the museum's Discovery Room.

Jacob on the big spider.

Samuel on the big spider.

The spider eating Noah.

Super Croc

Jacob

Samuel & Jacob

Rebekah

Baby Paul

Yep, he is still here, all cute and such. As of 2 months he weighs over 16lbs! He is growing nicely. He is really quite a good baby. He goes to sleep somewhere between 8 and 9pm every night and sleeps between 6 and 8 hours. I bring him to bed with me usually about 3am and he stays with us until I wake him a little after 5am, change his diaper, and then nurse him again and put him in his crib so I can exercise at 5:45 (ok, that is the goal, it is usally more like 6am by the time I get him settled again). He generally stays in his crib then until the other kids get up around 7:30am.

He has started taking his binky pretty well. I would rather not give him one, but I live in reality and since I cannot be everywhere at once, I figure the least I can do is offer him something to keep him somewhat happy until I can get to him. Rebekah is very helpful on giving it to him and helping him keep it in until he gets a good suck going on. This is useful mostly in the car and when I'm trying to get meals ready.

I should start putting him in his crib for his afternoon nap. . . and some days I do, but he is still my baby and he will only be a baby for a while, so holding him while he naps is one of those ways I indulge myself. There really is nothing like holding a sleeping baby.

Life Giving Love

Ok, so I am reading this book (or trying to - in tiny snip-its as I am able) and LOVING IT!! I just read this line:

Hope is the God-given ability to look at our ragtag collection of little ones and see part of the army of God. It is the sense that God knows what he is doing in calling us to this incredible task of changing the world one diaper at a time. And hope is what God produces in us through trials that are met with endurance.

Ahhh, soothing to my soul. Kimberly Hahn is my hero. She speaks the truth that I need to hear after being bombarded by so many lies. Basically the truth from this book is that KIDS ARE GOOD - actually, not just good, GREAT (but not in the way Frosted Flakes are). They are blessings beyond our understanding - everything about them. I would not be the person I am today if I had not had my children and it seems as though each new one teaches me something the others have not.

Recently my husband and I sat down and took a serious look at our finances (again - yes, we do this quite often) and came to the conclusion that we are not just poor, we are incredibly poor. But you know what? I honestly don't envy the rich anymore. I really used to. I used to think of how nice it would be to be able to buy everything I want. But now I realize. . . if I could buy everything I want, what use would I have for God? Where would I find time for Him if I didn't need Him so desperately?

Blessed are the poor. He is not kidding! We are so incredibly blessed. Through our poverty I am able to fully trust that God will provide for us. Through our poverty I am able to see just how little earthly wealth matters. Shelter and food and clothing are good, don't get me wrong, but in the end, what endures? The eternal souls of His children - His children that He lets us bear for Him. What an honor.

How often have I heard "I'm done having children. We dont' want anymore." How sad. How sad that we miss the blessings God has for us. How sad that we say no to the sacrifices we have to make in order to care for children -the very sacrifices that make us better people and turn us toward Him!

Night-time diapers

So recently I was singing the praises of cloth diapers and told someone I had it all on my blog - what I use and the links and all. Well, as I came back to my blog to tell where I realized that was not quite true. It is all here - in various places (comments sometimes) but kinda difficult to find, so here is it all compiled together with specific emphasis on the night-time part.

Cloth diapers are wonderful and have many many perks. Hmmm. . .while I'm on the topic I might as well first share a list of why I like cloth diapers so much (in no particular order).

1. less waste
2. less money
3. cute covers
4. fewer leaks
a. I have only had one wet leak in cloth diapers and that was because the cover was cracked on the inside and I did not realize it - this is in all my time so far with cloth - going on the fourth kid.
b. I have had a few poop explosions, but far less than when we used paper full-time.
5. they make me feel good - who knows, they just do :)

So, with that said, on to the main point of this post, to talk about using cloth diapers at night. The trouble I have run into is that I cannot fit enough cloth on the child for them not to be TOTALLY soaked by morning. (as many kids sleep 10-12 hours a night - yep, mine do too!) I struggled from one option to the next for a long time, but now I have found a solution that works pretty well for us. I fell on it somewhat by accident and somewhat by being creative.

I use an all-in-one starbunz and cover it with Nikky all-night-pants. Then I cover that with either a fleece cover or an ecco fleece cover. In place of the all-in-one starbunze I sometimes use
a sustainablebabyish fitted diaper or a Baby BeeHinds fitted diaper. (But the sustainableabyish does not keep baby as dry as starbunz - the baby beehinds is a little better but starbunz is really the best - and it is soo cute! - too bad I have to cover it up.) I use a fitted diaper at night because trying to put more than two prefolds on a baby gets really tough to cover - too much bulk.

I had originally bought all these components either on-sale or one at a time thinking the individual one might be the solution I was looking for. As it ended up I just needed to combine them. Creativity is worth so much.

*Warning, this combination does give baby quite a nice-sized behind (although I think it is cute) but my kids don't seem to mind so much - hopefully yours won't either!

[btw - in case you were curious, we usually use prefolds (toddler size) during the day with a basic cover like thirsties or bummis or kissaluvs.]

So that's the story - Stacy - this is just for you - but I expect you to comment and share what

Rebekah's party at Grandma & Grandpa's house

(Grandpa with Paul and Anthony)