Our Newest Adventure.....

Cloth diapering. I know, that's a shock isn't it.:) I'm pretty sure somewhere along the line I probably said that I would never cloth diaper my kids. A good, case in point of never say never. :) Well I did it for two reasons: to save money--I spend almost 200.00 in diapers pull-ups every month as I essentially have four kids still in diapers! (Yes, Reese is still in pull-ups due to a long-time issue with pooping--another post altogether.) Anyway, I am only cloth diapering the twins and hopefully sometime in the next year both Reese and Gage will be fully potty-trained. My second reason: it is better for them. Disposable diapers contain dioxins and chlorine, both of which are not good for a baby.

My husband has been rather reluctant through the whole process so I keep disposables on hand for when he wants to use them and for when we are gone.

We just started last week and at first it was a little overwhelming. I have to do laundry every other day and still sometimes don't have quite enough. Now I am in a little bit more of a routine and I don't mind washing the diapers.

So far, my favorite diapers are one size Bum Genius pocket diapers and the one size Happy Heinys pocket diapers. I am coming into this a little late considering that I waited until babies 3 and 4 to start but I decided that it's never too late to try something different especially when it's better for them.

They are pretty cute actually! I'm still getting used to how much bulk it adds to their clothes. I bought some onesie extenders which help a lot.
I love their chubby little legs!!
Life is a journey and we are just trying to make the right choices with God's help and to the best of our knowledge. Hope you are all having a good and blessed day. (And more productive than what mine has been so far:)

Apples, Doctors & Mice...

....these three things have nothing in common, but all played a part in my day. My day started at 6:30 this morning with Gage crying and not being able to breathe very well. He has had a cold for about a week now but just today started wheezing and running a temp. I held him for a while but alas, today was applesauce day!! 125 quarts of applesauce to be exact. Most of which I didn't help with. :( I did help (in between taking care of sick Gage and feeding Hadyn) until about 1:30 and then decided that Gage should indeed go to the doctor!

Thanks to my mom, Karla, Grandma Ruth, Martha and Barbie the apples got done! I have two WONDERFUL families. And did I mention that they kept my other three kids here while doing applesauce. (And even got Hadyn to take a bottle--an accomplishment let me tell ya!) Thank-you Lord for family!!

Well, back to the doctor story........Gage was in bad sorts when we got there. He cried the whole time we were in the waiting room and everyone just looked at us--some looked sorry for us and others looked plain annoyed. I decided I didn't care what they thought, I knew that he was in pain and not feeling well at all and if he needed to cry then I would let him cry! So there!:) Anyway, I finally got him calmed down enough (sleeping actually) to let the doctor listen to him and he decided to send us over to Mercy Hospital to do a chest x-ray to make sure it wasn't pneumonia--it wasn't thank the Lord!! That was an experience I don't want to repeat ever again!! They put him in this thing called the piggy. I know doesn't the sound of that just create warm and fuzzy feelings all inside of you--NOT!!! The tech warned me over and over that it would be very tight and that he would cry a lot but I was still in tears. He had to straddle this small hard piece with his legs dangling below and then his arms had to be raise straight up and then this see-through cage of sorts was strapped around him so he could not move a muscle. His shirt was off and the plastic thing was digging into him and he was hanging by his crotch--it was awful and he cried and yelled for mommy!! Mommy was crying!! It looked close to abuse. But she said that it keeps him from moving and she got two good quick pictures and didn't expose him to too much radiation, which was a good thing. Anyway, we both recovered quickly once I got him out. He gave me a big hug right away and said I love you mommy. I wanted to cry all over again. He is the sweetest little boy! He even told the tech thank-you when we left.:) I don't think I would have, if it was me in the piggy.

Well now that I have gone on in great detail, the doctor said that sometimes with colds and other allergens in the air, kids will get really tight in the chest..........so we did a nebulizer treatment in the doctor's office and then they sent me home with one to do it at home. He hates it but it helps a lot. Oh and did I forget to mention that he also has an ear infection! We went to Wal-Mart after we left the doctor and spent an hour and 20 minutes waiting on his prescriptions to get filled! It wasn't their fault but I was getting annoyed and Gage and I were both very hungry. Enough with the complaining though, I am very thankful that he doesn't have pneumonia and I am continuing to pray that he gets better. It is very hard to watch my 2-year-old not be able to breathe without a lot of effort, so we would much appreciate your prayers as well.

Oh yeah, about the mice, they weren't even that big of a part in my day but enough to make me annoyed. At around 7:45 this morning I was standing at my kitchen sink when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a mouse scurry across my bathroom floor and disappear underneath the basement door. Then later in the morning I was in the basement taking some stuff out of my freezer and bent down to pick up something and I smelled an all too familiar and horrific smell coming from underneath my freezer--a dead mouse. We found one underneath the freezer several years ago and it smelled awful, still had maggots on it and my husband MADE me sweep it up with the sweeper, in efforts to toughen me up I guess. Then I MADE him empty out the sweeper (it was a canister), I think I probably got the bettter end of the deal.:) Anyway, back to today, I didn't even try to look, I am going to most kindly and graciously ask my husband to take care of the matter and I will most likely not be around when he does. Since his married "job" description includes killing spiders and taking out dead mice. :) I love him!!

Well I am off to bed since I am now writing about "today" and it's actually "tomorrow." Are you confused yet?:) Thanks again to all of the wonderful women who did my applesauce for me, while I took Gage to the doctor. That meant a lot to me! I love you all!! I hope you all have a good night/day!!

Sleeping Update

Well we have lived to fight another day.:) Everett gave up quite quickly last night, I think he thought his sister was crying loud enough for both of them. :) Hadyn is just like her momma--she is VERY STUBBORN!!!! It was exactly one hour and five minutes until she finally gave up!! This morning when she woke up she gave me a big smile and Mommy's heart melted with a huge sigh of relief that yes, she still loves me! :) Here are some updated pictures and to show you that they really are happy babies (when they aren't crying themselves to sleep:).

PLEASE GO TO SLEEP...

... my dear little ones. Somehow we got all the way to six months and the twins will not go to sleep by themselves. So, Mommy is on the verge of a meltdown because it can be 11 or 12 o'clock when one or both of them finally settle down for the night. So tonight, we are doing the 'cry yourself to sleep, while mommy cries downstairs waiting for you to go sleep' thing. It is so hard!!! We are going on 20 minutes now with no letting up. God, please hold them and tell them it is okay to go to sleep. I hate this but I also hate not having any time to myself so I hope this works. If anyone has bright ideas to get them to go to sleep, let me know. Otherwise, there is going to be lots of crying by babies and mom over the next few days.

Everett and Hadyn, Mommy really does love you and I hate to say it but this does really hurt me more than you!

SO MUCH TO WRITE...SO LITTLE TIME...

I am way behind in posting. I promise I will catch up this coming week. Just to catch you up a little about what has been happening in our lives... The twins are now 6 MONTHS OLD!!! I can hardly believe they are that old already but it's true. I will have a post about that coming soon as well as a post on our trip to Indiana and other random things I might like to post about and bore you all with.:)

As for right now, it is 2:10 in the morning and I should be in bed but I finally (2 hours ago) got to sit down and be completely by myself for the first time in several days. Tim is in Kentucky right now, so it's just me and the kids and whoever else I con into helping me, like my mom, Karla, Barbie, Kristi, Jodi, and anybody else who would like to stop by.:) Well, I am feeling less than creative in my writing at this moment in time so I think I will drag my tired body up to bed and leave you to look forward to all of the upcoming posts (with pictures). :) Hope you all have a good day tomorrow, oops I mean today. I'm sure I will be tired.:) A price I will pay for a couple of SWEET, QUIET hours to myself!! Now that I have rambled on and on, I am going to bed!!!!

5 months old!!!

I can't believe the twins are already 5 months old!!! Time flies when you are crazy busy and having fun (most of the time:)! I am way behind in posting pics of my precious little ones. So here they are!Of course I couldn't get them both to smile at the same time.:)

YOU BOTH . . .
love to chew on everything
roll both ways
smile at everybody
giggle
love your brothers
think your dad is the best
are healthy
very active
sleep 8- 10 hours a night
are happy babies.

HADYN, YOU. . .
rolled over first
exclusively breastfed
have brown eyes (Daddy wins:)
weigh 15 1/2 pounds
are 26 1/4 inches long
have an adorable smile that lights up the room
love to eat paper :)
are the most precious little girl ever!!!

EVERETT, YOU. . .
giggle like crazy
eat like crazy
still have blue eyes (Mommy is crossing her fingers)
weigh 16 1/2 pounds
are 27 1/4 inches long
are half bottle and half breastfed
have smile that makes me melt
are a solid little boy
just discovered you like to suck your thumb
are one of the three most precious boys ever!!!

New Deck, New Recipe ...

I apologize for being so sporadic with my posting. Life just gets very crazy around here! I have many pictures and stories to post and hopefully I will be able to catch up in the coming week. I will start with last Saturday.

Tim and his Dad started work on our new deck by the back door. It is pretty small but very wonderful. Getting in the back door before was always a production. I don't know how many times I have fallen or almost fallen down the steps trying to get in the back door with something in my hands. So this was a very exciting day to be sure!! They started around nine in the morning and quit around nine at night. It isn't "finished" yet but it is usable and we love it!! My husband is so amazing, I love watching him make things with his hands! He is so smart, I wouldn't even know where to start! Speaking of the handsome man, here he is!!In this picture you can get a better idea of the deck, I will post more pictures when the project is completely done. Bryan and David are giving moral support apparently. :)
For supper, Karla, Christina, and I decided to make something new and yummy that Karla and I saw on a blog, Real Mom Kitchen--Grilled Pizza. I have never done this before but it looked so yummy, I had to try it. It was very yummy!! We made 20 personal size pizzas. Everyone loved them, the grill gave them a very nice flavor.

And then after the kids were in bed a few of us had dessert--frappuccinos! Yum!!
What fun you can have being creative with friends!!