Officially done pumping

As of about a week ago I am officially done pumping. No more pumping, no more washing bottles and pump pieces. Phoebe's been getting just one bottle every morning from Corey since about 3 months old and she now sleep ALL night and doesn't need to eat until I get up.

Plus awhile back I finally got the kids completely off of sippy cups (took long enough I know.) So with that and no more bottles I was able to get rid of the two bottle baskets in the dishwasher, it's crazy how much space we have on the top rack now.

For about 3 seconds

She sat on her own. It's a start.

I'm cheap and that's a lot of clothes

So I've been in a spring cleaning kind of mood lately. I had Corey pick up some new storage buckets and today I went through the kids old clothes. As I've mentioned I'm cheap and hate spending money on clothing so I try to get things on sale and then pass them down between kids. It's nice because they go straight from Bella to John with no wait time in between. And since I've planned to have several kids I've pretty much kept all their clothes after they outgrow them. It was nice to not have to buy any new stuff for Phoebe.

Anyway I had no idea how much we really had. I had stuff in boxes, buckets, old laundry baskets and suitcases. So I sorted through it, kept what I really liked and got rid of the rest. We had a trash bag, a storage bucket and a huge box full of clothes that we took to the thrift store tonight. Plus I have a bucket full of jeans (all in great shape too) saved, we may never have to buy jeans for Phoebe. A bucket full of pajamas/sleepers and a bucket full of baby clothes. Plus in December I gave a bag full of boys clothes to our neighbor that was having a baby.

I also cleaned out the linen closet in the bathroom and found prescriptions from when Bella was 6 months old and I was pregnant with John. Along with several cold medicines that were long past expired. I'm really not the type to keep everything I promise. I've learned my life is happier and cleaner when I learn to get rid of stuff (I learned that in college while living in a tiny dorm room.)

New Earrings

Bella's been wanting some green turtle earrings and we finally found some at the mall this past weekend. They came with pink and blue turtles too.

More Diapers

So my wonderful husband let me get some more Goodmama diapers. I'm very excited about them, they really are the best diapers I've used. I'm a little sad though because I honestly don't need anymore now. I have more than enough diapers and with the exception of the prefolds Phoebe likely won't outgrow any of them before she potty trains.

Our first ear infection

So the kids passed their cold onto Phoebe and she got it pretty bad. So we made a last minute doctor appointment for her yesterday just to get it checked out. Her lungs are clear but she has an ear infection. Believe it or not this is our first ear infection in any of the kids, John and Bella have never had one. And she's the breastfed one so I find it kind of ironic. Anyway her cough is sounding better today and she's on an antibiotic for the ear infection.

Phoebe's on the Goodmama site

We didn't win the photo contest but her picture did make it onto the site.

Shaving Cream

I was messing around under the kitchen sink the other day (fixing the garbage disposal after John stuck a glass baby food jar in it which of course broke) and found a can of shaving cream. So I let the kids have some fun with it. I remember doing this in elementary school when I was little. They had fun and clean up is a one step process.





A car

Tie Dye

The other night Bella and I tie dyed some pillowcases. Well I did the pillowcases and she did some socks. The socks didn't turn out quite as good though, but she loves them.

7 Months

Phoebe is 7 months old today. I finally got her new room cleaned up and put all the baby toys in there. Of course after the last room moving she's in John's old room with Cars on the wall and we're in the painted Winnie the Pooh nursery but that's another story. At least now there's a better place for her to play.

I love Old Navy

I love sales at Old Navy. I'm a cheap person and really hate spending money on clothes. I only shop there when they have sales and they're usually pretty good. We went and got each of the kids a new pair of jammies, Bella got four new shirts and John got a pair of jeans all for $22. Those are my kind of prices.

Nice Weather

We finally got some nice weather here. It's 50 degrees right now and our backyard has been sunny and warm. Yesterday Bella went outside and yelled "it's summer now because the snow is all gone!" It's been so nice to let the kids play in the backyard.



Zeus wanted a snack too. It's a good thing he knows better than to do this on the kitchen table.

Sick

Bella started getting sick about a week ago and just as she's almost over it John got it. He's been so sick today and looks miserable. Even Phoebe's started coughing.

More Crafts

We got some more fleece and I made Phoebe 4 more pairs of fleece pants (to use as diaper covers.) I got the sizing a little better this time and decided to use elastic for the waistband instead of the "yoga pant" style. Turned out pretty good considering I didn't have a pattern.







I got some iron on things too to add a little character to some of her shirts.

Fluffy Mail

We got more fluffy mail yesterday. New prefolds for Phoebe and some new covers.





I love watching new prefolds get all fluffy in the wash




Phoebe seems to like the tags from the covers the most

Fun With Snaps

I got a pair of snap pliers today, not sure why just felt like playing around with them. So as I searched the house looking for things that might need some snaps I thought of the the dolls. The kids love to steal my prefolds for their dolls but since they can't use pins they have no way to keep them on. So I took some of the preemie and newborn prefolds and added snaps. Now the kids can use them. They both have trouble doing them so I figure it's good practice for them. John's old physical therapist would be so proud of him ;)

Here's Buga-Buga and Bee

Jeff and Ricky

I think it's about time I blog about Jeff and Ricky. For Christmas John got a Little People toy airplane. This has turned into Bella's favorite toy and she named him Jeff. She loves Jeff and treats this airplane like a real person. He sits in chairs at the table and at night sleeps in bed with her. She puts him on his "back" with a pillow under his "head" and covers him with a blanket, then sleeps with her arm around him.

Bella got a toy van for Christmas which John has claimed and since he has to copy all Bella does he named the van Ricky. Tonight Jeff and Ricky had to join us for Monday pizza night and the kids made Corey strap them in with a seatbelt in the van. Then after we ate dinner Bella proceeded to lift her shirt and try to breastfeed Jeff. Corey of course freaked out and put a stop to that, lol.

Anyway tonight before bed Bella says out of nowhere...

"Ricky works at Subway, he got me a free sandwhich."

I have no idea where that came from. We haven't even eaten at Subway in the last 6 months.

Monday

Corey was off today so we went to Thanksgiving Point. We haven't been in a long time so it was fun but very crowded. And since we were all the way down that way we continued on a little more to Krispy Kreme's. So yummy. It's a good thing that place is so far away or we'd probably eat them way too much.



Zeus is always ready and waiting when the kids are eating.

She looks too grown up

We have teeth!

Phoebe woke up this morning with two teeth! Her gums were never swollen or red at all but looks like the fussiness was in fact teething. They are super cute of course. You can barely see them in the picture but if you look really close they're there. It's the bottom two middle ones of course.

I was able to catch a picture of Phoebe petting Zeus last night. And after screaming all day she was totally content last night to sit in Corey's lap, even better when Zeus sat next to her.

We'll see how today goes. Currently she in the swing mad because she wants to roll onto her stomach to sleep and she can't. I guess I'll have to go put her in her crib. She's officially a stomach sleeper now. I'm glad she waited till 6 months to do that so I can at least worry a little less about it.

Teeth

I've been saying that I'm in no rush for Phoebe to get teeth. The longer she goes without the better. However, if the last several days of non-stop screaming she's been doing are due to teething then by all means bring on the teeth already! She's driving me crazy. Her gums aren't even the slightest bit swollen though so I'm not sure it's teething pain. Might be worsening reflux. I could barely get any kind of smile out of her for pictures yesterday and that's very unlike her.

This is what I've been seeing constantly lately. This is what happens when I make her stop breastfeeding. My boobs are getting tired of working overtime and are almost ready to go on strike! She's so pitiful huh? She would literally breastfeed all day if I let her.

6 Month Pictures

Common Sense

AN OBITUARY PRINTED IN THE LONDON TIMES.

'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, 'Common Sense', who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassm ent for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouth wash after lunch; and a teacher fir ed for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement ...

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust. His wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility, his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights; I Want It Now; Someone Else Is To Blame; I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on.

My Boy

None of my children drive me crazy more than my boy. He sure knows how to push my buttons and make me mad. But he also makes me laugh so much, he's such a funny boy. I threaten to sell him on Ebay or mail him to Nana all the time but I think we'll keep him.



He really likes the changing table








I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he falls off of it.

more curls

Sorry Corey, I couldn't help myself. I just love the curls. Though they did turn out a little too curly this time. She looks like a poodle or Alice from the Brady Bunch.