Thinking

I really should be reading the book I have from the library since it's due back soon. . .or sleeping. . .or cleaning. . . or something else, but I just had a few thoughts I wanted to jot down.

First of all tomorrow Bean will be 7 months old. Whoa. Just. Whoa.

He's sitting, he's a rolling master, he babbles, he will stand if you prop him up, he belly laughs, he makes my day 100 million billion times better with his gummy smiles.

I've been telling people at work now I know why people have multiple children because this age is so. freaking. adorable!!!! Uh! I just can't get enough.

Sometimes I get sad when I think about how fast this is all going. I worry that I haven't blogged enough, or taken enough pictures. There are so many small things I want to cherish and remember. . . But then I think a little more and I get excited; for all the things that are still to come: crawling, walking, talking. . . .having conversations, playing games as a family. . . just. . .everything.

Here's to everything! I can't wait to experience it all with my beautiful family of three.

Catch Up

Well I'm still behind but I just wanted to tell everybody I updated 3 weeks of my 365 Project. . .FINALLY! :-D

Check it out!

Neglected

Yeah. . . .my blog and 365 project have been greatly neglected lately. I think I'm a month behind in posting 365 photos. I want to say I've kept up with a photo a day, but honestly I may have missed one or two in there. I have to check and see.

The reason for blog neglect is life stuff. We've been so insanely busy. The past 3 weekends have been filled with visits from family from out of town, or going to visit family out of town. I also picked up a few extra days of work, which has brought my schedule to almost full time again. So yeah, working almost full time + baby + house work + visitors = no blog time.

Honestly the weekends have been so fun. . . .but I'm longing for a weekend to just relax and spend with only Hubs and Bean.

I'm not kidding when I say we have something scheduled every day until August!

Phew I'm sleepy just thinking about it.

6 Months

It seems like Bean has grown more in the past month then he has in his first five. Is that possible?

Stats:

15lbs 11oz

27inches long

Here is what he's up to:

-Sleeping - In terms of length of sleep time Bean is hit or miss, but he always wakes up at least once. We put him to bed at 7 and he will always way up around 5:45 at the latest. Usually he will go back to sleep till 6:45ish, but it's still rough waking up. He is also starting to nap a little better. He's been coming close to the 2 hour mark again. On average though I'd say his naps are an hour to and half and a half long.

-Eating - We started solid foods 2 weeks ago! So far he's had sweet potatoes (which he loved) and green beans (which he hated). Both times I've made the baby food myself. It's pretty easy, and SOOOO much cheaper then store bought stuff. . .at least the organic kind, which is what I'd buy if I did buy store bought. Oh man, I'm turning into a hippie. We really have no idea how to feed him solids. Right now he gets oatmeal for breakfast, bottles all day, and then some more oatmeal with a little veggies for dinner. Seems to be working well enough. I want him to eat veggies first, then maybe next month we will try some fruit.

-Motor/Strength - Little guy is turning into a rolling machine. He can roll tummy to back, and back to tummy now. He's also pretty content playing on his stomach. He reaches for toys (on his tummy), and rolls to reach them. We are currently working on sitting independently.

-Play - Oh my goodness how he loves to chuck toys and shake them. He flings toys left and right off his high chair until he gets to the one he wants. He also shakes things. He whips his rattle up and down with such force; I'm just waiting for him to clock himself in the face.

Let's see what else. . .

- He loves to pull my hair and touch my face. When he sees me he reaches both hands out to grab my cheeks (he does this to Hubs too). He always pulls my glasses off my face. . .that's a little annoying. I might have to start wearing contacts again. :-)

- He is becoming more independent. He will lay and play with toys, chuck stuff of his high chair, or sit in his jumperoo and jump for 10-15 minutes before he cries for attention.

- He did really well at his 6 month check up, and only cried a little bit for his shots. The rough part came in the middle of the night after his check up. He spiked a 101.7 fever and was miserable. I figured it was the vaccines since he didn't have any symptoms but the fever, but we still called the pediatrician the next day to make sure we were doing the right things to take care of him. The fever stayed through the following day (Saturday, the check up was Friday) but by Sunday it was gone and he started going back to his usual jovial self.

He is just so insanely fun right now. I wish I was one of those mommy bloggers that can write those eloquent posts about the love for their child. He is the center of my world. I just love thinking of all the fun experiences that we will have in the future. When my mind wanders, it always wanders to him and my family and how lucky I am. It's truly amazing how such a little person can have such a big impact on your life.

First Reactions

So we've been having fun the past few days cloth diapering. I think with all first time parents there is a learning curve, but we are slowly getting it.

Here are some thoughts. . .

1. Buying them is pretty addicting. All the cute patterns and types. So while we are in this to save cash, it's SO hard to rein myself in on buying more then what we need.

2. Hubs had some fun installing the diaper sprayer. He said the kiss of death in home projects by saying, "This will be easy, it should only take 10 minutes." Two trips to the hardware store, puddles on the bathroom floor, and new toilet parts later. . .we finally have a diaper sprayer that works.

3. Diaper sprayers are awesome!!! I did learn however that when you spray pocket diapers; make sure the open end of the pocket is at the bottom. The first one I did had icky toilet water pooling in the diaper at the bottom, it was gross. Also lift the toilet seat up when you spray. . .I don't know why I didn't think of this the first time, it's kind of common sense, but hey, I'm a girl, I don't lift the toilet seat ever (minus cleaning it).

4. Stainless trash cans with a plain pail liner is the way to go. I bought a hanging wet bag for the bathroom, but it's kind of annoying putting the dirty diapers into it. Maybe it's the type I bought (it's a Bummis zipper top bag) but it's hard to keep the bag open and get the diaper into it. After we spray the diaper I bring the bag next to the toilet so I don't drip gross water all over. . .but it's hard to keep the bag open and get the diaper in it w/out touching the outside of the bag or dripping all over. Somebody who cloth diapers leave me a comment and tell me the best way to do this. Because I haven't figured it out yet.

5. And finally. . . .They are WAY cuter then disposables. Makes me want to keep Bean naked all day. I'm glad it's summer and we can get away with that.

Don't you think?

Easy Canvas Prints

Just a quick little note!

Easy Canvas Prints is giving away a free 8x10 canvas on Kelli's blog! Her review is pretty stellar, check it out!

Taking the Plunge

Well. . . .I've been mulling over this for quite some time now, but I've decided I'm going to cloth diaper Bean. For the longest time the idea of washing poop in the same machine I wash my clothes in really grossed me out. . . .but. . .

With finances being so tight lately I've been searching for ways to reduce our monthly bills. Right now we spend around 80-100 dollars a month on diapers. That's a lot of money! Granted I can find sales/coupons, or specials on diapers.com to save money (right now I got a great temporary deal online, we are only paying 19 cents a diaper), but that requires time and effort both of which are on short supply these days.

Last weekend I borrowed a couple of different kinds to try out on Bean. There are so many different kinds it can get pretty over whelming. But I liked the pocket diapers the best.

True pocket diapers are pricey, but I think prefolds are just too much work and I wouldn't use them.

Plus there is the advantage if we do eventually have another baby, we won't have to buy diapers for that baby. Or if we don't have another baby, cloth diapers have a pretty decent resale, so we can get some money back.

So while I know how great cloth diapers are for the environment, yadda yadda yadda, this mama is doing it for her pocket book. Selfish, but true. Oh well.