new blog!

I don't want to make this blog more public than it already is, because much of the information here is pretty personal. I did however want to make my posts about cloth diapers more public. So I started a new blog.

http://thebuttofit.blogspot.com/

check it out!

Paper plates

***After writing this and before I hit post I reread and realized I might sound a little preachy. Whatever choice you make in how you live your life is yours to make and I try not to judge.



Have any of you ever felt guilty using paper or plastic plates, plastic utensils, styrofoam cups and paper napkins? I always cringe a little when I am at a fast food restaurant and after eating I go and dump so much stuff into the waste containers. I am very happy that many places have implemented recycling and green bins, it makes throwing away all that stuff a little easier on my conscience. I have also eaten off of these disposable dishes at people's houses when they are having large gatherings. I even admit to buying some to use when I had 30 people coming to the twins birthday party. I try, if only having a smallish gathering, to use my real dishes. I use real dishes pretty much ever day of my life, even when I am working.

Now imagine someone telling you that they chose not to use real dishes. They preferred the ease of disposable ones. Yes it costs more money, but to them it is worth it. Yes we really have no idea what chemicals the plastics and papers they are made of contain. Yes they go into the landfill and take ages to break down. Yes there are a few greener options, some of these disposable dishes are even compostable. They may even argue that they are saving water by not having to wash dishes, forgetting that water is used in the fabricating process. They may tell you that they don't wash their dishes as they don't want wear and tear on their kitchen sink or their dishwasher. They may claim that it is a choice they made because they felt it was better for their family. They may insist that they are better parents because instead of spending time washing dishes, they are spending time with their kids. They may tell you that they made this choice because they get grossed out by leftover food and scraping that food and rinsing it off is just not something they want to deal with. They may tell you that they don't like the smell of food traces left to sit on real dishes, with disposable ones it is put in the garbage immediately, out of sight and out of mind. They might come up with all sorts of excuses to justify their choice. They also might tell you that they are too poor to afford a kitchen to wash their dishes in or to store them when when not in use. They might explain how they have to reuse their disposable dishes, allowing the less dirty ones to dry out before reusing them. They might have some good excuses.

There are times and places to use disposable dishes, but I am sure the majority of us choose not to use them on a regular basis. They are easier for sure, but using real dishes has been ingrained in us. I am sure some of my friends reading this have been tempted to use disposable dishes full time, especially in our lazy university days. I even was. Hopefully none of you have ever done so for very long. Our Grandparents used real dishes, our parents did too and hopefully our kids will continue on that tradition. I am sure there are disposable dish companies who hoped, back in the day they were invented, that they would catch on and that our lovely silver wear and china would become obsolete. Fortunately their marketing wasn't good enough, and it hasn't.

Sadly, with diapers, the marketing worked.

What to buy for a 1 1/2 year old for Christmas

I have had a few people ask me what Anna and Alex need for Christmas. Really the answer is nothing. They have pretty much everything a 1 1/2 year old needs. But, I know there are some of you out there who will insist on buying them some presents, so I figured I would write down some ideas here.

Toys. They LOVE little people toys right now, they already have the airport, the schoolhouse and the vegetable stand (and I hear Santa is bringing them a parking garage), but any of the other sets or people/animals/objects would be a big hit. Wooden toys, knit toys, handmade (but safe) toys are always wonderful to get as well. They both love to "help" and love kitchen things, brooms, etc. Stirring stuff is a favorite game these days as is dressing up and putting clothes on/taking clothes off of each other. Alex is a big fan of musical instruments.

Books. They have quite a few books already, and love to spend time reading them every day. They also love to rip paper and pull things apart. Books made of solid cardboard without pop up pieces or things to pull off are really the only ones they play with these days as they quickly destroy the others. They love books that have things to touch though and will read them for hours. They are big fans of animals, and short rhyming words.

Clothes. Although some of their 12 month clothes still fit around them, they are all much too short. They are wearing 18 month, 18 to 24 month, 24 month and 2T clothes now. Some 24 month and 2T stuff is still too big, but every few weeks something new fits them. 18 month onesies and sleepers are getting too short for them. We love hand made things and they could really use knit socks, hats, mittens, sweaters, pants etc. They both are starting to fit in size 5 shoes/boots.

Treats. They love treats, especially mum mums, toddler corn puffs, toddler cookies, cereal bars, animal crackers, fruit leather, dried fruit etc. We go through a ton of treats every week.

Care products. They use very little, really only Aveeno baby soap/shampoo. Because we cloth diaper/use cloth wipes they don't use any of the typical baby products.

Their 2nd Halloween

The trio is back together again

I look after another little girl during the week. Sadly she missed a few weeks earlier this month as she was sick, REALLY sick (spent 4 days in hospital due to dehydration), and then my two were sick as well. The all had Adenovirus. This virus caused much havoc in our babies intestinal tracts causing many days of throwing up and diarrhea. This was our first time dealing with something like this and it is very scary as a parent to not be able to do anything to make them feel better. My two managed to keep down enough liquid (gatorade and water mixed half and half) between throwing up, that they never reach the point of needing medical intervention. It was still a very scary (and messy) few days. Then to top it off my Mother had a kidney stone blasted, and came to stay. After a week of playing nurse I was more than ready to just be "mommy" again. This week the third member of our trio came back to play . They all had fun getting reacquainted after a few weeks away from each other. The pictures are from a few months ago. All 3 of them have grown up a lot since then. I need to remember to snap some more recent photos.

10 reasons why I love cloth diapers

1. Less goes to the dump. There is way less garbage to haul out to the end of the driveway on garbage day every two weeks. The amount of waste twins produce when using disposable diapers is disgusting. We used enough diapers to fill 2 garbage bags full at the end of 2 weeks. Using diapers, no matter what kind, affects the environment. We don't live in a time or a climate where allowing my kids to run around naked all the time and to poop in the grass is really an option, so we have to use diapers. Cloth diapers are made of various fabrics, all of them have their good and bad points: cotton is hard to produce, PUL and microfibre are synthetic, hemp isn't allowed in some countries, wool can cause allergies. There is really no perfect fabric. My cloth diapers all fit in one garbage bag. So over the 2 years+ and possibly more if we have another child, I will have one garbage bag of waste. Instead of one a week. Also many of the diapers are reusable. There is a decent market for 2nd hand diapers or they can be repurposed into cleaning cloths etc. Cloth diapers use water to wash. I have heard people use this as an argument to use disposables. What they are forgetting is that water is used to make paper as well, which disposables are made of. I have read studies that showed that the amount of water used to make new disposables is similar to the amount of water used to wash cloth diapers. Most brands of disposables use bleach and chemicals to make the paper white, which makes the water unusable afterwards. There are better brands of disposables available, but they cost a lot more. Most people use as little chemicals to wash their diapers as possible (I do use Tide though which isn't the best for the environment, but kicks butt for washing diapers) and the water from their wash goes into a septic system or a sewage system and hopefully eventually back into the water cycle.

2. The cuteness factor. Cloth diapers come in so many cute colors, patterns and styles. I love looking at them on my kids. Prefolds look so cute and "old fashioned", covers can be PUL or even knit out of wool, pockets come in minky fabrics which makes their bums feel like hugging stuffed animals. I can plan what diapers to wear depending on their outfits (or what outfits to pick out depending on what diapers are clean). Trim velcro pockets (like the Bumgeniius 3.0) under pants, Fluffy Minky Blueberry diapers under dresses, ones with strong baby proof snaps when just going with a diaper and a T shirt. Matching babylegs to coordinate with their diaper or shirt.

3. Fluffy mail. It is a little like Christmas morning when a package arrives at the post office. I get to enjoy checking out the cute new diaper and then the twins love playing with them, rubbing the soft fabrics on their cheeks and trying them on as hats. I love finding sales online, or entering contests for free diapers. Although I have many diapers that work wonderfully already, I love trying out something new, to see how it works.

4. The cost factor. Disposable diapers are expensive. Most cost between 15 to 35 cents each. Cloth diapers cost from a few dollars up to 30+ depending on the style. Most pocket/AIO diapers (the easiest and most like disposables to use) are around the 25 dollar mark (or less). You could use about 100 disposables for the cost of 1 diaper. That means if you use a diaper 100 times it has payed for itself and after that it is being used for free. Even if you only used cloth diapers on weekends for 1 year, that is 100 days and your diaper has been payed for. I use cloth full time, but for those parents who feel they are too busy to make the commitment to full time, even just using them at home during the day, or on weekends, evenings and holidays will still result in a cost savings. Because cloth diapers mean we no longer have to use disposables I feel like I can use the money we would have spent on disposables to buy cute cloth. We aren't saving very much money using cloth, but we could have. It is possible to diaper a baby for very little money if needed. The cheapest option is to use prefolds (or flats) in a cover. I recommend to people using this option to have at least 4 covers (running from about $8 to $20 each), but if needed you could do it with 2. One to wear, one to wash out and hang to dry between changes. Covers can also be knitted out of wool (naturally water repellent) or sewn out of recycled wool sweaters. Flats can be made out of things such as receiving blankets (often 25 cents each second hand) or old cotton T shirts. Prefolds are cheap to buy as well and often come in packages with a few covers and 18 to 24 prefolds. For some cloth is not an option as they don't have a washing machine (or even running water to hand wash with) at their disposable, but for those that do, and who really need to save money cloth is a great way to go.

5. Makes a repetitive job more fun. I have 2 babies in diapers full time. I also have a third to change when I am looking after her during the week. I change a lot of diapers. I try to make diaper changing time a time to spend some one on one time with each of them. I play little games with them and we "chat". But, changing diapers is boring. Especially changing disposable diapers. Using cloth allows me to have some fun. I have different options. Every change I get to decide what I would like to put on next (soon I can see I won't be the one deciding as I am sure they will have opinions too). I can challenge myself to do a new fold or to use a snappi. I can make laundry easier on myself by only using prefolds for the day (don't need to stuff them to put away once they are clean again, just fold in thirds and put in their drawer). I can use a rainbow of pocket diapers. I can smile at the cute prints. I can hug my babies close and enjoy the softness of their Minky diapers. I can take a very boring job and make it fun. I can look forward to the next diaper change.

6. My babies bums are very happy to be in cloth. Disposable diapers may or may not (as always there are conflicting opinions) be bad for your babies bum. For example some studies show that disposable diapers can lead to infertility, but then a counter study refutes that (who is paying for the studies?) Diapers contain chemical gels designed to make the diaper basically leak proof. I have seen babies with huge puffy disposables on, and you know that they have peed 3 or 4 times in their diapers, and still there are no leaks. Disposables cost money, so to save money we are all tempted to leave babies sitting in them "until we get our monies worth". Would you like to sit in your own urine? With cloth there is no temptation to leave them on. Once I know there is pee in there, even if only slightly damp, I can change them. No need to leave them sitting in their own waste, as it doesn't cost me anything extra to throw on a clean one. That being said, there are times you want a bullet proof diaper so you don't have to change as often. I have diapers that will make it through a 12 hour night (I don't like babies sitting in pee, but am not crazy enough to wake them up to change them if they are happily sleeping) I have diapers that I use when out of the house or going for a ride in the car, ones I know will last just as well as a disposable. Cloth diapers have come a long way and with fabrics like microfibre, hemp and bamboo they are way more absorbant than the ones our grandparents used. I still love to use a cotton prefold, that needs to be changed more often, during the day at home, but I have the option to use a more thirsty diaper, with stay dry fabric on the inside when I need to. My kids had horrible rashes from Pampers and were often red enough to need cream when using other brands. In cloth we have occasionally had a red bum (after trying a new diaper laundry soap and when they have been sick and having diarrhea) , but it has been rare and was easily fixed. Usually if I see a little pinkness I make an effort to change their diapers more frequently and in a few hours it is totally gone.

7. The grossness factor. Poop is yucky! I am not horrified by poop, but I don't think even those seasoned nurses (hats off to them) ever truly get over the grossness factor of feces. Poop that is contained in a diaper is way less gross than poop that is spilling out the back, legs, front etc. of a diaper or being smeared around. One of the things I love about cloth is the huge reduction of escaping feces we have had since we switched. I have had people tell me that they could never switch to cloth, because they couldn't deal with the poop. Guess what? You have kids, you will be dealing with poop. No ifs ands or buts about it. They are little poop machines. It will come out with all sorts of colors. textures and smells. Read the packaging on a disposable diaper box and you will see that you are supposed to "empty soil into the toilet". Yep that means you are supposed to dump/scrape the poop into the toilet and flush it away. Are you doing that? Do you know anyone using disposables who does that? The reason we are supposed to do that is because putting human waste into a landfill is a biohazard. Toilets go to septic systems or sewage systems and the poop is (hopefully) treated in such a way that it doesn't harm the environment or other humans. When you have a breast fed newborn and are using cloth, you have to do nothing. The poop is basically digested milk, and is water soluble. You throw your dirty diapers in the washing machine, do a cold rinse, and the poop is gone down the drain into the sewage, then you wash on hot to clean the diapers. Once they are getting formula or solids, the poop changes and needs to be dealt with. There are all kinds of methods for dealing with this including scraping, dunking, using liners etc. I have found the easiest was to buy a diaper sprayer. This is a simple gadget hooked into the water line on the toilet that allows you to spray the diapers off into the toilet bowl. It took my husband about 10 minutes to hook it up, and I am sure I could have done it myself. If the poop is solid, a shake over the toilet and it is gone, if it isn't, I use the sprayer (aiming carefully) and blast the diaper clean. This means THERE IS NO POOP SITTING AROUND waiting for garbage day to be disposed of. I find this to be much more hygienic. Poop is rinsed away immediately and wet diapers are washed ever 2nd day, so there is no storing of gross diapers and way less smell.

8. The laziness factor. I am lazy. If I can put off doing something unpleasant to another day I am going to do so. Doing diaper laundry forces me to have a laundry routine. I need to keep on top of washing clothes, to promptly move things from the washer to the dryer, to fold stuff and (sometimes) put it away. I have to stay on top of diaper laundry, if there are no clean diapers, well... that just can't happen, so I have to keep the laundry line moving along. I am lucky I get to stay at home with the kids, but I rarely get a chance to do much laundry through the day (my machines aren't on the same floor, so I hate to leave them alone for the time it takes to switch a load over). I have a routine. I put on a load in the morning before my husband leaves for work. If everyone naps at the same time, I continue doing laundry then (switch to dryer, bring a load up to fold etc.) and then once the babies are in bed for the night I finish up my loads from the day or do another load. I use weekends, when my husband is home or days Grammy comes to visit and I have someone to keep an eye on things, as catch up times and try to do a few extra loads. We have lots of laundry to do, cloth diapers or not, an extra load every 2nd day for diapers really doesn't make a huge difference, BUT it does make me keep on top of laundry.

9. My clothes are cleaner. I had never given too much thought about how I washed my families clothes. I used what ever detergent was on hand. Usually a "free and pure" brand or one that was on super sale. I occasionally bleached whites. Washed mostly with cold water, except for sheets and towels which I would do on hot if I remembered to adjust the machine. I would occasionally rub on a little stain remover. Learning how to wash cloth diapers properly (for my water type, temperature, and machine) also taught me how to get clothes clean. If I have something that is still stained after washing, I will throw it back in with a load of diapers and usually it will come out stain free.

10. A sense of pride. I feel good about using cloth diapers. I made the decision for my family to switch to cloth and we have stuck with it. I have used them when travelling, I have used them during times when the babies were sick and I had 15 poopy diapers to spray off in one day. I love showing off their cute fluffy bums. I love chatting to people (anyone who cares to listen) about my diapers. I get to be a consumer and buy cute stuff, all the while doing something that is better for the environment and saving us (a little) money. I don't judge people who choose to use disposables, but I do try to introduce people to "modern cloth". If even one person decides to give it a try, that is a good thing.

A crappy day!

I wrote this e-mail yesterday to the Mom of the baby I look after and to Ian. They both told me it was hilarious, so I decided to post a copy of the e-mail here:

Just had to share this with you guys as you are both dealing with "crap" at work... I have had a very poopy morning. Literally.

Fortunately the poopiness hasn't come from the behaviour of our three, they have all be quite cute and surprisingly not too cranky this morning (after both Amelia and Alex being up in the night). Nope, the poopiness comes from all the pooping!

Last count Anna hit number 9 for the day so far. Making them all at an even 3 each, above average for all of them. It is in the quantity that Amelia wins hands down. (edited to add that Amelia hit 5 by the days end bringing the total up to 11)

After delivering 2 very average sized and well contained specimens, one this morning and one after eating lunch, Amelia was happily playing with the Bumbo when I noticed that the back of her pants looked wet. I had changed her about 20 minutes before that, so wondered what was going on. I figured something had spilled in the bumbo and she had managed to sit in it. Nope. I could tell by the smell as I approached this wasn't the case. I grabbed some dry clothes and Amelia, and headed to the changing table. Covered the table with a prefold diaper to prevent her wet pants from getting the cover wet, laid her down, grabbed a clean diaper and her package of wipes. All set...

Well when I took her pants off I saw that she had poop running down her legs as far as her knees. It had escaped from both legs of the diaper. Next as I carefully peeled back her onesie, rolling it up each stage of the way the poop kept appearing, her onesie was soaked, her sweater was damp and her back was slimy. I carefully folded fabric over to make sure nothing would touch her and pulled the shirts off over her head. Now we were just down to the diaper.

Looking at the diaper I figured I must have done something wrong to allow for this to happen, but nope, it was firmly closed with the tabs almost overlapping, it hadn't slipped down or off to the side or anything. So I turned my head, took a deep breath and released the tabs. It was completely totally brimming over full. The little leg elastics on diapers ment to keep stuff contained were working just fine, but they had overflowed. And yes, I swear, there were a few bubbles even.

I have never ever seen this much poop come out of a baby!

So the cleanup began. Wipe after wipe I attacked the mess. And kept finding more. The backs of the knees even. Almost half a pack of wipes later I gave up. The smell just wasn't going away. I looked at poor naked Amelia, grabbed her under the armpits, grabbed a towel and some bath soap and into the bath she went. She was not happy about this. But after tears, towels, a new diaper, clean clothes and cuddles, she fell sound asleep. She is now snoozing away happily tucked into her bed. Her clothes are sprayed out and packaged for you to take home.

And then when I went to put Anna and Alex to bed... what did I find? Poopy diapers from BOTH of them!

15 month update

I realized I hadn't updated for a while, but life has been busy.

As the leaves are turing colors and falling off the trees the end of another summer is here. Fall always felt like a new beginning for me, as from the time I was 5 until 34 every fall marked the return to school, either as a student or as a teacher. It is strange to mark this change in season without a drastic change in routine.

I am being a SAHM again this year with Anna and Alex. I feel very fortunate that it makes sense for our family to do this. I love that I get to see all their milestones and that I get to be their main caregiver. I know not all parents are as fortunate as us, and not all would make this choice even if they could. I love this time I get to spend with them and wouldn't change being with them for the world.

Anna is our little monkey, she loves to climb up ,over, onto and under everything. She is on the go from the time she wakes up until she crashes in her crib. She has been walking for months now and is balanced on all sorts of terrain from long grass, to rocks to carpet. She has mastered going up stairs and will walk down them if she has a hand to hold. She has a lovely toothy grin now, with 12 teeth (including 4 molars). She loves to give kisses, to ask "whas dat?" and to chase the cats.

Alex is our sensitive little boy. He has always taken longer to warm up to strangers than Anna and that continues. He has become very accomplished at walking, but still finds rough ground and hills to be a challenge. He prefers a smooth surface. He is very quick at scurring up stairs now. Anna has a few months of practice on him though, so it is no wonder she is more stable outside. Alex has the same 12 teeth as Anna plus one of his eye teeth. He is working on the other 3. Alex loves to take things apart and to study how they work.

For the last 2 months Anna and Alex have added a 3rd baby into their "gang". Amelia spends 3 days a week with them and they just love her. I am enjoying looking after Amelia and would consider perhaps adding another toddler into the mix sometime in the future if the right one comes along.

This summer has been very busy with trips to White Point, to the Valley and to Cape Breton. Somehow we have not done all the things I wanted to do though. Ah well, there is always next year.

Inlaws

Here is a picture of most of Ian's brothers and sisters with their husbands and wives and their children. This was taken at Lori's wedding. I feel very fortunate to have married into such a great family. Anna and Alex are blessed to have cousins close in age to play with too.

Sisters and weddings

Above are a few wedding photos from the two weddings we have been to this summer. The first photo is my beautiful sister Holly and her new husband Josh, the 2nd photo is my lovely sister in law Lori and her husband James. The other photos are of Alex and Anna in their wedding dress and shirt. The last photo also includes their cousins Sadie and Jacob. Anna and Alex enjoyed seeing many many family members at both weddings.

Internet issues

We have been having issues with our internet lately, which hasn't inspired me to attempt to post much on here. I am hoping things will be more stable now so I can get a few updates up soon.

Just because they are cute! 1 year adjusted age.

Peek- a- boo

Teeth

At their first birthday (12 months) Anna had two teeth and Alex twelve. A month later, at 13 months old, Alex still has twelve, but poor Anna now has eight!

7 years

7 years ago today I was waking up to my new life as a married woman. Yesterday was our 7 year wedding anniversary. Neither of us felt like having a big celebration, but we did take some time to connect and to talk about how lucky we are to have each other. We had planned on getting takeout from Tareks, but when we got there it was closed. So we went to the grocery store and got some stuff to make one of our favorite meals instead. In the checkout line we got a call from our hay guy saying there would be a load arriving shortly, so it turned out it was a good thing we hadn't planned a big date night with babysitters and the lot. Some of our good friends came over to give Ian a hand unloading the hay as I fed and put the babies to bed. Many hands make for light work, and it was done in a flash. Once our supper was made we sat down to watch (and for Ian to poke fun at) the final episode of the Bachelorette. Not the most romantic day ever, but nice to be able to spend the whole day together.

A nightmare of a day.

Yesterday, and quite possibly today, has been a nightmare for my little corner of the world. My neighbour Hans (In the picture above with his wife Janette) was scraping the 3rd story windows on the back of his large farmhouse. He fell off the ladder, head first it looks like, onto a brick patio. He was outside alone, so when his wife noticed he hadn't come inside for a little while (maybe 1/2 an hour), she went out to look and found him. She called 911 emergency and the firetrucks and ambulances arrived. As soon as they got there, they realized they would need to medivac him (with a helicopter). We live 18 minutes to a small hospital and about an hour from the "good" hospital in the city. Bjorn, his son, came running over ( I was outside by this point after seeing an ambulance arrive at my neighbors) and yelled for me to come help catch their horse, so the helicopter could land. Well a horse who has just seen fire trucks, ambulances and all kinds of strange people arrive at her farm is in no mood to be caught quickly, so that didn't work. They quickly looked around for another place to land the helicopter debating our riding ring (too sandy) finally choosing the field right in front of our house as a safe spot. It is crazy seeing a helicopter land so close to your house! My horses were a little freaked out and galloping around their field.

It took them well over an hour to move him from the position he had landed in, to a stretcher, to the ambulance, to the helicopter next door. He was unconscious the whole time. When they would move him he would stop breathing, so it would take a while to get him stabilized enough to move him slightly again. Such a scary time, with basically nothing his family and friends could do to help. Bjorn busied himself trying to find their 3 cats and get them safely into the house. I mostly sat with Janette and listened to her talk, or checked on the horses to make sure none of them freaked out too badly. The response team really knew what their jobs were and worked together well. Everyone doing their roles from directing traffic to hooking up oxygen, to cleaning up the mountain of garbage left behind once he was moved. The only signs left of the horror was a patch of blood staining the bricks from his head and the crushed grass from the stretcher being wheeled along.

Once Hans was in the hands of the medics and flying on his way to the hospital Janette and Bjorn went to pack an overnight bag and to make a few calls, then Ian drove them into the city to the hospital. Janette called last night and the news was not good. Drs had told Janette that they weren't very hopeful.

Our other Neighbors went in last night to see if they could be of some support. They are back home, so we are waiting to hear if they have any news as they said they would call us this morning. This might be one of those cases where no news is good news.

UPDATE:

Spoke with our neighbors who went in to the hospital last night. Bad news. Janette is waiting for her 2 other sons (was still trying to reach one of them) to get here from out west. The neurosurgeon said that in his 20 years experience that he has never seen someone with this degree of injury survive. Janette was apparently talking about taking him off life support and organ donation, but is waiting until her sons arrive, if he makes it that long. She and her youngest son are spending this time with him in the hospital. My heart is breaking for them all.

UPDATE #2:

Hans passed away on Friday, 6 days after the accident. The family is planning a "celebration of his life" in September. I was told his wish was to have his remains scattered in the rocky mountains. Very very sad news:(

An addict...?

Here are two pictures of my "stash". I started with the AMP(2 brown, orange, yellow, aqua, turquoise, purple, army green, hot pink and light blue) with 3 layer hemp inserts and the Bummis organic cotton prefolds used with a snappi inside the Bummis Whisper and Brights wraps. I have now added a few more into the mix. I added a light green and a red AMP, so now have 12 total with 20 hemp inserts (which can also be used in any of the other wraps). I have 4 Bummis wraps, 2 snappis and 18 Cotton prefolds which I also use in the 4 flip wraps (pink, blue and 2 green). I got 6 Bumgenius 3.0 as well (light blue, dark blue, butternut, yellow, light pink and light green) which have microfibre inserts and infant inserts (used as a doubler now) but can also be used with the hemp inserts. I also got some AMP microfibre inserts (or doublers for night) which are similar to the Bumgenius ones, but slightly thicker. Included in the top photo are my 2 XS Bumgenius infant dipes which no longer fit and the infant doublers. I think my stash is pretty much complete and should take us right through until they are finished with learning how to use the potty.

First Pony Rides

Anna and Alex got to ride a pony for the very first time last Friday. Although Anna wasn't feeling her normal chipper self, she loved it. Alex was more cautious and thought Osk was a little huge and scary. He did eventually get on and sit for a short while.

Congratulations!

A big congratulations to Holly (my little sister) and Josh for getting hitched this past weekend. They lucked out and had beautiful weather for the big event. Holly looked lovely and Josh had the biggest grin when he saw her. The wedding was held at my father's house, set amongst the beautiful flowers his wife Jean tends so lovingly. Jean catered all the food and did an amazing job, although she was so busy no one got to see too much of her. It was lovely to see my sisters Sharon, Ellie and Holly on Friday and Saturday. I would have loved to visit more with all of them, but between me being busy with cranky babies and them being busy with wedding prep there wasn't too much time for visiting. The wedding was like a big family reunion for that side of my family, it was great seeing everyone as well as a few friends I rarely get the time to see when I am at home. With my hands full of twins, I didn't get a chance to take any photos, but my friend Susi sent me a few and here is one of my sister Holly and her new husband Josh in the background with my wonderful Grammy and Grampy , Marg and Doug, sitting in front.

Reaction to MMR vaccine

Poor Anna has been feeling crappy the last couple of days and has broken out in a rash that looks like the measles. I called the Health nurse 811 line and talked with a nurse there about her rash. It seems like she is one of the lucky 5% of people who has a reaction to the MMR vaccine . The picture is of the rash all over her back. Fortunately she isn't contagious, good thing as she was around a lot of little kids and other people over the last few days.

On top of her reaction, she is having a horrible time with teething. In the last 3 weeks she has gone from 2 to 6 teeth, with # 7 and 8 almost breaking through, the skin is stretched tight as can be over them.

Poor little girl!

little monkey girl...

Just because they are too darn cute!

Switching to CDing

Yep it is true, we have made the switch over from disposable to cloth. I LOVE my cloth diapers and am pleasantly surprised how easy it has been so far. I started my stash with AMP size 2 pocket wraps with AMP 3 layer hemp inserts and with Bummis organic cotton prefolds used with Snappis and Bummis covers. So far I am loving both systems.

Teeth

This week the twins have gotten more teeth. So at 1 year of age Anna has 4 (two bottom fully in, 2 top just peeking through the gums) and Alex has 12 (top 4, bottom 4 and 4 molars -one just poking through).

First Birthday

Anna and Alex had over 30 people come and celebrate their first birthday with them. And many many other people who would have loved to have been able to come. They are very lucky little kids with so many friends and relatives in their lives that love them.

Grammy Olga came to spend the weekend to help get things ready for the party, which was a big help to Mommy and Daddy as there was food to make, tables and chairs to set up, decorations to put up and twins to keep fed and entertained. Anna and Alex enjoyed getting to spend more time with Grammy.

We were very lucky that there was beautiful weather as over 30 extra people in our smallish house would have been a tight squeeze. We had the party on our front lawn. Most of the little people at the party played together in the gazebo (except Sadie who is 3 months older than Anna and Alex and is always on the go-what we have to look forward to very soon once the twins get better at walking on uneven ground). After the food and cake Alex, Anna and Sadie had a pool party.

The playing, cake eating, pool partying and meeting so many people tired the twins out and they went down for a nap while Mommy, Daddy, Grammy and a few friends started the clean up. After their naps, Anna and Alex were ready to play and tore into opening their presents. They loved all of them! The tissue paper was a favorite and was oh so fun to chew on. They got many new outfits, new toys and books. A few favorites so far is their new wagon and blocks, stuffed animals, their balls, shape sorters, cups and CD changing radio. I am sure they will love having their new books read to them, watching their DVD and wearing their clothes as well once they stop playing with the new toys. We are also opening a bank account for both of them. Thanks everyone for the gifts.

Just so we can remember who was there, here is a list, thanks to you who took the time to come out and make their day( and ours) so great.

Mommy & Daddy

Grammy Olga

Grammy Carla & Grammy's cousin Michelle

Aunt Emily,Uncle James "Jimmy" & Cousin Sadie

Aunt Ellie & Aunt Holly

Daddy's cousin Krystal, Michael and Jacob

Great Aunt Wendy and Great Uncles Derrick and Paul

Both of Mommy's friends named Beth :)

Jamie, Ian and the twins Carter and Aidan

Neighbors Hans, Janette and Bjorn

Kenneth, Katharine and Amelia

God uncle Shaun and Deidre

And throughout the day friends Keith, Cathy, Pam and Christie dropped by to give their birthday wishes between haying.

Pool Party

Anna, Alex and their cousin Sadie all jumped into the kiddie pool at the party. I figured it was a good way to wash of their sticky hands and faces after eating cake. Ian and I got them the pool for their birthday and it was a big hit.

Husbands

I was reading a blog today and came across a post about her husband. The Author, like I, had listened to other women complain about their husbands. I loved the words she wrote to express how she felt. She writes much more poetically than I do, so I will share the link to her blog post here.

http://gentlemothering.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-husband-my-hero.html

Cake!

Anna and Alex each got their own cake for their birthday to smash. Not much smashing occurred. They both politely stuck their fingers in the icing over and over and licked the gooey sweetness off, but never got around to finding out what was under the icing. They did have a piece of the big cake afterwards along with some cold ice cream.