Some days you have it...

And some you don't...

Typical afternoon in T Rex Family Household:

Kids playing...

Laundry (yes, almost on a daily basis)...

And just one this mama thinks she is the groove and in line for mother of the year...

Her toddler grabs the iron she is holding and burns his hand...

We all shed tears over this event - T Rex (for obvious reasons), me (because I was so sad for his pain and that I felt I was to blame), and T Rex Princess (because the rest of us were crying).

Indeed, some days you have it and some you don't. Evidence that I am not perfect.

But tomorrow is always another day!

(P.S. This was my 250th posting - how am I doing?)

Brother & Sister...

They absolutely adore each other - it's overwhelming to a mother's heart!

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My Latest Addiction...

I have to confess, my latest obsession is cloth diapers. I've read that it can become addictive and indeed, I'm totally hooked. There are some pros and cons but so far the pros out-number the cons.

Pros:

- Cute, Cute, Cute - seriously, a sweet little baby bottom covered with fluffy, bright colored diapers - serious cuteness!!!

- No diaper rash - truly, since starting cloth diapers with T Rex Princess at around age 1 month, not a stitch of diaper rash except for the one day we were out running errands and I opted to have her wear disposables. By the end of the day, she had horrible diaper rash - the skin was actually broken after only 8 hours of disposables.

- Economical - even if we purchase the highest end cloth diapers at $25/diaper - we'll still only paying half what we would pay in disposables. Some are one size so they fit newborn through toddlerhood - one time purchase. Being a graduate student, funds are limited. Saving money was probably one of our biggest reasons for going cloth.

- Depending on the kind of diaper you get, some are unbelievable soft. T Rex has been asking to wear his baby sister's diapers. I actually purchased a couple for him for night time wear as he occasionally has accidents.

- Decreasing landfill burden - I have to be honest, this was not my main reason for choosing cloth but once I read that one baby will produce a ton - literally - of disposables in his/her lifetime, I was blown away. And it takes 450-500 years for them to decompose in landfills. Yes, the diapers I wore as a baby are still in the landfill.

- Cloth diaper babies potty train about 5-6 months earlier than those in disposables. And there are some cloth diapers that convert right into training pants.

Cons:

- Cute, Cute, Cute!!! It makes me want to buy more than I really need or to have to accessorize accordingly.

- Cost - there is an initial start up cost. We were fortunate to have our first sets given to us. There is also the added energy/water costs. However, we have purchased a drying rack to avoid running the dryer. And T Rex Dad says our water usage has increased only slightly since we have a high efficiency washing machine. (He tracks our utility usage.)

- More laundry - I do an extra 3 loads of laundry per week.

- Extra time - there is a little extra time involved with having to do laundry and rinsing #2 diapers. I would say it adds maybe an extra hour per week to my schedule.

- Sitters can be adverse to the idea but once I've demonstrated how easy they are to use, most are more than willing to comply.

- Dealing with #2 diapers - yes, I do have to get a little more involved with handling #2 diapers as I rinse them, but it really doesn't bother me, especially since Little Girl is still exclusively breastfed and those #2s really don't smell.

Seriously, if you have never considered cloth, now is the time. It is easier and more economical than ever. I warn you, if you go cloth, you'll never go back. Yes, this is the voice of temptation - once you start you won't be able to stop - addictive...

Here are some of my favorite cloth diapering websites:

Cloth Diaper Whisperer - this was my first real introduction to opinions about cloth diapering - and this is where I get most of my diapers from (Kelly's Closet).

Dirty Diaper Laundry - some excellent reviews of the different diapers as well as "how to" videos.

Bummis - I totally have a soft spot for this company - they are awesome and make high quality products. She is wearing a Bummis wrap in the photo above. Love these.

Cotton Babies - I've purchased some of my diapers from here and have been very impressed with their shipping policy (free) and the timely arrival and condition of my items.

If you've ever had any experience with cloth diapering, leave me a comment and let me know what it was like or if you ever considered it, why you did or did not try it.

It's the Simple Things...

Fresh homemade tortillas and Veggie Tales...

(My mom helped this week while I finished my nursing research paper and honored us with her tortillas. Note T Rex is holding a tomato - it's actually one of my pin cushions minus the pins but he likes to pretend it's Bob the Tomato from Veggie Tales.)

Healthy and loving kids...

A kind stranger allowing our child to fly her kite...

(Yes, it's attached to a fish pole - cleaver idea!)

Viruses that do not linger long...

My new diaper drying rack (and knowing the diapers I've been wanting to order are in the mail)...

Beautiful spring days at the Saturday Farmers Market...

(T Rex and Aunt Shell)

Chance encounters with friends downtown...

Knowing my giant nursing research project is near completion...

(no photo - but insert happy, smiling T Rex Mom!)

Yes, it's the simple things that make life wonderful!

What simple things make your life wonderful???

Our Morning Visitors are Back...

Last year about this time of the year, we had some morning visitors. This year it would appear last year's baby is now this year's full grown rock chuck. T Rex loved them last year and was just as excited to see them again this year.

The only exception this year, aside that baby is all grown up, is that T Rex can talk about it. And not just talk about it but go on and on and on endlessly about it - "Rock chuck go bye bye. Rock chuck go over the rocks" - you get the idea. I find sometimes that I totally tune him out to the detriment of T Rex Dad. He will ask me a question and I don't reply simply because I'm used to a toddler jabbering endlessly during the day.

In fact, today we instituted a new "game" - quiet time. It consists of quiet activities and little or no talking. This is for my sanity plus, T Rex needs to learn how to be quiet as there are times when it is necessary.

We live against a nature preserve so we get some interesting visitors both on land and via air. These are by far some of the cutest.

Today at the neighborhood park we stood amidst a colony of chipmunk-like creatures. I had T Rex Princess in the chest pack so I could not get down at their level to take photos but I think these illustrate what it was like.

We're certainly enjoying the small creatures!

Freezing Time...

Do you ever just want to freeze time? I feel like that all the time. These little kiddos are just so sweet and cute. We're trying to savor every wonderful moment we have with them. Someday they'll be grown and gone and we're just going to look back at these times as the pinnacle of our lives. It's true. Life is hard with two small kids, don't get me wrong, but it's also wonderfully fabulous. (And it helps that they are both sleeping through the night now!)

There is not much to report - we've been busy but just doing normal stuff. I have a giant school paper/project due in two weeks. It's a group project and you know how fond I am of those! But at least my vitamin/mineral/herb presentation yielded 100% - yes, that was cause for sushi dinner celebration! Thanks to my mom we went kid free on our first solo date in months.

T Rex Dad's work project finally went off successfully after three tries. That's a load of his shoulders and it will be nice to see him during daylight hours. (Especially since here it gets light at 6:00 am and dark at 8:00 pm.)

The weather has been typical Idaho in spring. Here's the view from my back window right now - raining but it will green up those foothills.

And with the rain and cold it means bundling up (an excuse for some kid cuteness):

This past weekend was the first in a long while where we did not have company in town or other things going on so I took advantage of the time to make a couple more pairs of pants for T Rex:

The ones on the left are suitable for pajamas as they are made with flame-resistant material. The ones on the right are for everyday wear. I still have 4 more pairs to make but this was a good start. I also completed a couple pairs for the little princess - I'll post some of her wearing them on her blog later this week as well as T Rex wearing some of his newest pants on his blog later in the week.

Lastly, my cousin is getting married next month and it's an ecofriendly wedding. I consider us to be decently ecofriendly or at least not crazy over the top. Yesterday I was shopping at our local co-op and saw these disposable plates made from fallen leaves. Now that's what I consider over the top. But we cloth diaper our baby, drive fairly fuel efficient cars, and most of our lights are fluorescent. I even recently started hanging my clothes on a rack for drying. We try. But am I going to pay $10 for a two person setting of disposable plates made from fallen leaves?!? No. But interesting concept. Anyways, I digress. We decided to make most of the elements to the gift. I'll post the finished product when we're totally done but here is a beginning:

Knitted - with bamboo needles and made from ecofriendly yarn - a dish cloth.

So, as I said, a lot of normal stuff happening around here. We love our lives and spending time with our kids. I just wish we could freeze time or at least put it on slow motion just so we can savor these moments just a little longer. If you figure out a way to do this, please pass it along. In the mean time, I'll continue to contemplate Einstein's theory of relativity in hopes that when I am old and gray sitting in my senior center and missing these days I can get into my time machine and go back to experience holding my little ones, touching their soft, soft skin, hearing their melodic voices, and reading them the same caterpillar story over and over and over...

Living Doll...

I loved playing with dolls when I was a little girl. It was a big deal any time I got a new doll and I was obsessed with finding the most realistic one. Once I had one that I could feed and then it would "wet" its diapers. That was fun. Then I went through the whole Cabbage Patch Kids phase - those had birth certificates.

Then I had T Rex - rude awakening. He was not easy-going like my baby-dolls had been. He demanded constant attention and did not like to be held or cuddled and was very easily over-stimulated.

Enter T Rex Princess - here's my living doll experience I've been waiting for. She likes to play dress up and is most agreeable to all my crazy whims and jags. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely adore T Rex. He's my special little guy and my first born - the first baby I ever loved and called mine. But it's very refreshing to have this newest little one who humors her mom and let's her "play dolly".

So I mentioned one of those crazy whims I'm putting her through. Well, I've started having her "sit" on the potty when I find her diaper to be dry. I know it sounds crazy but holding her over the toilet is not too dissimilar to what people in non-industrialized countries do. They just hold the baby up and it does its thing. We've been doing this for the past 4-5 weeks and thus far I have about six #1's and three #2's. I've mentioned previously how much I don't enjoy changing diapers so that's nine less I'll ever have to change.

This technique is referred to as infant potty training. Babies put through this technique potty train about 5-6 months earlier than normal. We started full on potty training with T Rex at 14 months and he was pretty much there by 18 months and totally there by his second birthday. So, we'll see what transpires with this little girl. I always thought my mom was crazy when she said all her babies were potty trained by 14 months but I guess she really was telling the truth.

When T Rex Princess is not potty training she is sporting some pretty charming diapers. You've seen the Bummis previously. Here are some of the "newer" styles she has:

These are Bumkins and I found a barely used set at the children's consignment store for a great deal.

These are the homemade ones that a blog follower mitchsmom sent me - they are pretty good and all unique in their own ways. I put my Bummis waterproof covers over them and they rock.

I'm not sure what my "living doll" will say to all this when she is grown or even a mother herself, but at least I can say I got my full doll experience!

Easter Egg-stravaganza...

A very full Easter weekend...

First, my dad came to town and we had an Easter gathering at my sister's place Friday night. He came to meet his newest grandchild - T Rex Princess.

In classic form, my sister had a full evening of activities planned for all of us. T Rex dyed a few eggs (see his blog for a full report of his Easter activities) while the rest of the family either helped or watched.

Saturday brought the play group Easter gathering. That was a bit stressful as T Rex Dad worked all day so it was a little hectic getting everything pulled together but in the end I think it was a success.

Caitlin and Colleen (the two other founding member moms) and their newest babies.

T Rex hunting eggs - every photo is blurry because he was going a million miles a hour in every direction.

Easter morning...

Photos with the kids - I've been wanting a photo of me with the kids.

Attempt #1

Attempt #? - finally a decent photo - guess this is realistic, huh? They are never smiling at the same time.

Later in the morning my family came over for Easter brunch. We took this opportunity to have T Rex Dad take family photos of us. Here are some of the results. My sister and her family do not like having their faces published for privacy purposes so that is why their photos are missing but theirs turned out really good, too.

T Rex Princess and me with my Dad - T Rex was "all done" with photos.

With my mom.

T Rex Family minus T Rex - once again, he was SO "all done" with photos. I think at this point he might have been in time out but in his defense, it was WAY past his nap time.

Yes, even Anya got in on the Easter fun action. T Rex put his Easter stuffed animals in her bed and she took the opportunity to snuggle up with them.

Here's the highlights of a very busy but very nice Easter weekend. How was your Easter holiday?