Toys for moms

When Girly Pie was a few weeks old we bought a dozen BumGenius 3.0 one size pocket diapers for her and I loved them! They were the best thing ever... until all the Velcro went crazy. So after almost a year we took advantage of their one year warranty and got a whole brand new dozen diapers, hoping the Velcro issue was fixed. Sadly the Velcro was even worse on the second batch - the fuzzy part got super pilly and worn looking WAY faster than the first set, and the Velcro tabs started curling after just a couple of months this time.

My Little Bug is three months old today!

So when Little Bug was born, I knew the BG's wouldn't last until he was potty trained (I'm not even sure they'd last to his first birthday) so we discussed some diapering options with him. I really didn't want to go back to disposables, but was a little worried about reinvesting in a whole new set of all-in-ones or pocket diapers. But after discussing it with my hubby, pricing out several options, and weighing convenience and usability (my hubby prefers a one-step diaper, so if we went with covers and prefolds or fitted he'd be less likely to take part in the whole diapering process - not a good thing) we decided to get a dozen new Fuzzibunz one-size pocket diapers.

And - the whole reason I'm writing this post this evening - my new diapers arrived today. I can't believe how ridiculously childish I feel when I get something like that on the front porch. I mean seriously. It's like opening a new Barbie doll on the way home from Toys R Us (of course I don't plan to let my baby girl play with Barbie, but I sure liked her when I was little ;o) ). I couldn't wait to get into my package and admire the fabulous bright colors. They are a snap closure rather than Velcro, so they should hold up much better than the BG's did. And the elastic around the waist and the leg openings are all adjustable and easily replaced should they fail at some point. Big bonus.

Playing with the new camera lens... plus I just love baby toes!

So this evening was spent moving little button-holes around (kinda like those adjustable waist bands on most kids' jeans these days) and sorting out inserts and admiring the fancy bright colors. All of Girly Pies BG's were pastels, which were nice. But I was feeling much more bold with Bug. So he'll be sporting three diapers each in a bold red, a fun bright yellow, an almost too orange and (my personal favorite) a super fun almost-apple-but-not-quite green. He's got a great complexion for a little guy, so (even though he'll rarely just be in the diaper alone) he'll look really cute in those bold colors.

Don't you love those shocked baby expressions?

OK. I know. They're diapers. They hold poop. But still, they are so stinking CUTE!!! I am very excited to see how our first days in the new diaps go as I adjust for size and whatnot. He's in the first one now at bedtime so we'll see how the night goes.


Sorry if cloth diapers are not your thing - I know they are super boring to read about when you aren't into them. But if you are - than you know how exciting it is to get that box on the front porch and to dig in and start suiting up your little man in cute puffy bottomed brightly colored duds.

Can you believe my sweet Girly Pie will be two years old on Saturday? Crazy!

Oh, and my Girly Pie managed to make it to the potty every single time today without a single accident. (Did I never mention I had put her back in diapers a bit after Bug was born due to her complete lack of interest and my needing to have one less thing to juggle in those first weeks? Well I did. But she's back in undies now for good. ) So all in all, a great day for me. Dry underwear and new diapers. Happy, happy day. ;o)

This guy has a great smile!

(I'll post some cute pics of him in his snazzy new drawers soon!)

Little Bug

Here are a few recent shots of Little Bug. He's 2 months old now and smiling a ton. Of course the pictures of his smiles are never as good as catching them in person, but they are worth posting anyway!

Little Bug loves to be on his tummy and is super strong. He lifts his head and shoulders up off the ground easily and loves to look around from that perspective. He also loves to stand, and with just a little bit of support for balance, he can hold his own weight pretty well. The look of pride and satisfaction on his face is almost comical when you stand him up in your lap. He grunts and strains with the effort of holding himself upright, but he is just so pleased with himself while he's doing it. So cute!

Little Bug has started to coo and "talk" which we all love. He loves to converse with anyone willing to get at his level and chat with him, which as you may guess around here is just about everyone all the time! He does love to be held and has a particular love for his Momma, but he's happy to chat with everyone. The kids all love to hold him and pet his silky soft hair, and though he can be a bit persnickety about being passed around too much he's a pretty good sport most of the time. ;o)

He really is such a sweetheart and we all adore our Little Bug. His brothers and sister all delight in any smile they get from him and all love to help him when he's sad. Thankfully he likes his binky, so they can always help with that!

Just because he's so stinkin' adorable...

My Goose.

Smiley Little Bug

This little man has the BEST smile.

Look at that sparkle in his eye...

He's just getting started now.

But wait, there's more!

See what I mean? Look at that perfect gummy little smile. He's just perfect.

I think I'm in love.

Silly Goose

Today while reading My Father's Dragon out loud to my three big boys I held up the book to show them all the picture of the rhinoceros throwing Elmer around by the seat of his pants using its tusk. If you've never read the book it sounds scary, but it's cute and silly in the story, and the picture is intriguing for sure.

When Goose (3 1/2) saw the picture he was captivated.

I asked him what he saw in the picture and his answer cracked me up:

"He's dangerousussin' him!"

I have yet to upload the more recent pictures from my camera, but here are a few pictures of Little Bug and the others from the past weeks.


He's 4 weeks and change now, and is doing great. He has some good nights and some great nights, and some really, really not so great nights. ;o) Days are always great though - Little Bug is an amazing napper (much to my own irritation the days following those not so great nights as I go through my days in a fog watching him sleep the day away!) and our days (at least the days when no one is sick!) are going really well.

He love to be held but is happy when people other than Momma hold him too, which is so great for the rest of the family. Little Bug will sleep off of my body as well, which is also a blessing when I want to do something with the other kids.

We've already seen a couple of early smiles, but we're still waiting for the big baby grins to start. We all love watching him when he wakes up and talking to him. He's so alert and focused when he's awake (which is rare, I think this guy sleeps more than any baby I've met in my life!) and we all love to have little "conversations" with him. He also loves the blanket I made for him which of course makes me feel so good. He sleeps really well in it, and has started to pet it with his hand now and then, which is so sweet.

Our Little Bug really is so very sweet. And of course we all just LOVE his full head of silky dark hair. He's just such a blessing and I am enjoying each moment with my little man. I just love him so much! I'm always amazed at how much you can love someone you just met - and how hard it is to remember or imagine life without them after such a short time.

Well, my Little Man is here in my lap awake and wanting to look at me, so off I go to enjoy him. Enjoy the pics I scrounged up!

Afternoon nap time

Not sure if you can see the baby in between Girly Pie and Goose there. They sure do love him!

Goose and Little Bug

Cute little guy - he likes pacifiers, too, which is nice. ;o)


About two weeks old

Crossed eyes are so cute!

Sweet baby boy

Holding in the binky - nine days old here. Look at the chubby fingers starting already!

Sickness is for the birds.

I need to go to bed more than I need to post right now, but I wanted to quickly mention that things had been going really well with Little Bug in the mix, until the whole family got a Big Nasty Bug and we had vomiting and diarrhea for the past week. Everyone but Punky and (thank you Lord for answering prayers on this one) Little Bug got the nasty mini-flu and it was no fun. It was a short virus - one night each of being sick, one extra day of feeling rotten, and we were over it. From Monday to Sunday we fought the battle of illness.

And even though I was only two weeks into keeping up with everything as a Momma of five, I did alright all week. Even when I got hit with it (and with my low weight and my tendency to have trouble keeping up on calories to nurse well it's a bad thing for me to catch such a thing at this stage of the game) things still felt OK. I could do it all and it didn't feel too bad at all.

But it all caught up to me the other night and I was left in tears as I looked back on my week - and entire third of Little Bug's life - and realized I had walked through the whole thing on autopilot. I barely remembered a thing, and was sure I had lived very little of it in the moment. I hardly made eye contact with any of my kids, and had very little time to spare to actually enjoy the company of any of them. There were extra sheets and towels to wash, sick people to tend to, healthy people to keep away from the quarantined, a baby to tend to and basic needs to be met. I held my baby, sure, but I hardly got to enjoy him at all.

And that made me so sad. I so very much do not want to live this life on autopilot. And that night that I broke down was because it felt like maybe that was what life was really going to be like.

But I know it was just the illness on top of it all. Sleeplessness I can handle for months. A messier house than usual is no big deal to me. A little extra chaos, guilt over not doing enough stuff for school with the big kids, busy days and constant activity around me - all part of my life. But throw in that flu and I was down. It was a really bad week for that to happen, since it was the week I really felt back on my feet and ready to just be Mom again with my Hubby back at work.

But the Lord is good. My Hubby was able to be home for all our sick days (including one of his own!). What a blessing that was! Little Bug did not get sick, for which I cannot even tell you how grateful I am! The sickness was short lived, so those who did get sick got well quickly. Even my sickness was milder than the rest and I didn't even lose any weight. And even though I've already had some worries over nursing and low calorie intake I feel like God has answered my prayers and I already feel back on track with food and my milk supply.

So all this to say - I've not been writing because we've been sick and I have really just been working hard to be present when and where I can at home. And to say that even when things get hard, God always manages to shine through the darkness.

So this week we have been healthy and I know that life with our new family of seven really is just as beautiful, and even moreso, than life was with only six of us. Our days have been good and the kids adore Little Bug. I have been able to make time to just be with him in the day, as well as enjoy the others.

Yes, things are busier. There is more to do in a day and sure I have moments where there are more things to do than hands to do them. But it's the GOOD kind of busy. The kind of busy that makes me feel like my life is full to bursting, the kind of full that makes me sad for those whose lives seems calm - and empty.

But I am enjoying the days, the moments... the flashes of my Little Bug's first smile and the sweetness of my bigger guys all fawning over him, the sparkle in my husband's eyes as he scoops Girly Pie up in a huge Daddy hug when he gets home from work or when he holds our newborn son in his arms... life again feels so very sweet and I again feel so blessed to have been given these people in my family to share life with.

And as long as we stay vomit free, I think we're gonna be OK. ;o)