A Couple Laughs

I can always guarantee that Eden will amuse me throughout the day...even if things aren't laughing matters.

Yesterday at the park...
Eden:  "Salem, come here now!" (he didn't)
           "Ok Salem, that's one spankin'!"  (wonder where she hears that?)

Me: "Eden, the way you are talking right now is not loving. Fix it."

Eden: Looking at me with sweet, pleading eyes... "Mommy, may I please hit Salem, please?"

Where does she get this?!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Then this morning was fabulous. I walked in to the living room to see her eyeing something on the tip of her finger.
Me: "Eden come here please."

Eden: "Ok. Just a second." Then she runs behind the chair to do something with the substance on the tip of her finger."

Me: "Eden, are you hiding so that you can eat a booger on your finger?!"

Eden: "No. It's leftover lunch."

Me: "Where did you find the leftover lunch?"

She sheepishly points to her nose.

Times like this I'd like to say that I'm certain she doesn't get that from me.        

What Happens in Vegas isn't Just in Vegas

Brandon and I needed a vacation. Time away from the kids. Just us.
And a place where we could go but wouldn't feel guilty about leaving the kids at home.

First we looked into a cruise. But a friend talked us out of that.
Next we considered the beach. But comparatively, it's pretty pricey if you actually want to stay at the beach.
Then we thought about camping. Or Brandon did really. But I can go three days without showering in my own home. I don't need to go out to the woods to do that.
After getting some of those pesky airline emails though with insanely low flight prices, we settled on Vegas!

I know. Reeeaaaalllllllyyyyy weird, maybe.
People that don't gamble. drink alcohol. go to strip bars. or engage in extramarital affairs. Vegas? Really?


But it's a surprisingly cheap place to visit! So we booked it a couple months ago and made our parents reserve the weekend for babysitting.

And then the waiting game and guilt set in.

By guilt I mean that we probably should have just gone camping. Camping, comparatively, would have been A LOT cheaper. We could have packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and probably had a good time out in the wilderness.
As our Vegas Vacation loomed in the future, I began to see poverty stricken Haitians in the back of my mind. The fact that we were spending so much money on ourselves while others are barely surviving made me cringe. The weight of our "getaway" vacation began to make me sink into a guilt-ridden-I'm-such-a-spoiled-American mini-depression about needing time away from my kids.

Was it enough to make us cancel our trip to "Sin City?"
No.
Not that it's terrible to do something for yourself every now and then...this is just what kept replaying in my mind as I thought of us dining on crab leg buffets in Vegas.

So to the Luxor hotel we went.


3 days of childless bliss. (I did tear up as we were leaving the kids...this was the first time I've ever been away from them, with the exception of Salem's birth and leaving Eden at home for that!)

We walked around The Strip. The architecture of Vegas is incredible! The lights are seriously mesmerizing. We ate incredible buffets. Crepes topped with whipped cream to my heart's content. We people watched. We sat by the pool and didn't have to worry about any children drowning. I'm almost certain that Brandon was the only person out by the pool reading "Spirit-filled Preaching."


And the best part of The Strip is by far the Bellagio fountains. I could have watched those all day.
And so could all the people there with kids in tow.
It's hard to make fountains perverted. You can't put lingerie on fountains or strip them down to nearly nothing. Yes, the Bellagio fountains...the only family friendly area of The Las Vegas Strip.


I guess we were naive going in to Vegas. I guess we assumed the nickname of "Sin City" was a cute pet name.

It became very clear to us that it was indeed no joke. The most blatantly obvious "sin" was the intrusion of sex every.single.place.you.turned.  It was nearly unavoidable. Thus, the Bellagio fountains, became our favorite place.

Let me stand on my soapbox for a second. Men, if you are single, you should never. EVER. go there. Parents, don't let your sons go there. For that matter, your daughters either.
The parents that were walking around with 12 year old sons tagging along...I wanted to shake the ever loving googly out of them and give them a bandana for their son's eyes.

Again, I guess we were naive. But we were literally astounded by how the "Sin City" nickname and the "sins" of the city were flaunted about like they were proud of them.

Sunday morning we woke up and searched the sbc.org website for a church in the area that was affiliated with our "sending organization" (when we head back to the Big Chicken.) We wanted to be involved with the body of Christ in Vegas and get a glimpse of the ministries going on there.

We chose FBC of the Lakes. I'm going to be bold and say that I really feel that this church is the reason we went to Vegas. The moment we stepped out of the taxi and were greeted by the door greeter, who turns out was the pastor, we felt welcome. We felt a part of the body. We met people who I'm certain I could be bff with if I lived there.

After a short chat with the pastor, who concluded we were the most unusual Vegas vacationers he'd ever met, he found out we're affiliated with that cool organization who his church supports and he asked Brandon to share during his sermon time.
"WHA?!" I think that's what I said.  I felt weird. Unworthy.

And then about 2 minutes before Brandon was supposed to get up, the british pastor asked me to share my testimony.
even bigger "WHAT?!?!?!"
I think I cried a little. Some guy brought be some kleenex. So I guess I did.
Sharing with the body of Christ what God is doing in my life is humbling. It's scary. But it's needed. And it almost always makes me cry.

It went well though. Brandon spoke for about 20 minutes and he was very eloquent, humble, and I hope encouraging to the members of FBC of the Lakes. Their heart and vision for reaching their city is so apparent that it shines on their faces. Their task is daunting, to say the VERY least. But their determination and drive, fueled by Christ their Savior, was SO.INCREDIBLY.ENCOURAGING to us. They truly were the epitome of being light in a dark place.
Neon lights.

It was awesome to see Las Vegas from a "normal" person's perspective. To see that there are moms, dads, kids, grandparents, college students, etc...living in a place where us outsiders only normally envision The Strip when we think of their city. I admire them. I want to pray for them. Living in Las Vegas, in my opinion, would be by FAR harder than living in Chiner.

Because of our visit with them, and the incredibly generous lunch we shared with the Associate Pastor and his family, our eyes were opened a bit more to "Sin City."


The reality is that every city is Sin City.

              They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.  Psalm 14:3


Every city, town, neighborhood, and person is full of sin and in need of The Savior.
The difference is that for some reason, in Las Vegas it's more "obvious sins." (and for some reason, thought of as "acceptable sins" to commit in Vegas)

The sins of Vegas are Adultery. Pornography. Lust. Drunkenness.  To name a few.
And they are right. in. your. face. in Vegas.

But the sins of my city, your city, and every other city are the exact same. We just hide those sins better. The more obvious ones around here are greed. coveting.
Living in excess is what we're pros at. Having 3 tvs in our home. Buying new clothes when our "old" ones would do just fine. Making sure our kids have the best of toys. Or all of our rooms have a piece of furniture on every wall.

Please don't think I'm being all Judge Judy on you. Trust me, I'm guilty of all of this. Today. Now. I'm guilty of this.
      
             And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body, and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph. 2: 1-3

Praise the Lord that my sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ!
      
            But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. Eph. 2: 4-5



So we came home from Vegas being very encouraged.


Desiring to be filled with the Spirit every day.


Wanting to break the mold of our Gotta-Get-More selves.


Hoping to honor God with our finances.

We were able to be bold in sharing our faith like we haven't been able to in months. It's amazing how much conversation can take place with someone when there are no kids to distract. (and a captive audience of a taxi driver!)

We're glad to be home again. After a few days away, we have a renewed patience with Eden and Salem.

And maybe next time we need a vacation, we'll camp. Surely a camping blog post wouldn't be quite so long.

Friday Night Lights

We're from Texas.
So that means that just about every football stadium 'round these parts is lit up on Fall Friday nights.

This Fall, our living room lights will be lit up on Friday nights.

This opportunity just fell into our laps, but we're beyond excited about what's going on in our home on Friday nights.



Our living room has become the new meeting place for an International Church!

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that one of the big reasons we're excited about this is the food.



Everyone brings something they cooked at home, usually something native to their country, and for a big buffet/family style dinner. I'm the cool Texan that contributed homemade salsa and chips. It wasn't a huge hit...though not because they were afraid to try it, but because everyone else's stuff was WAY better. I might not add anything to the table this week for fear of rejection! :)

Then we move to the living room and worship Christ, our Savior!



Because Hilary (above) is too cool for school, she can play the guitar AND sing in Chinese. Which was really awesome this past week because everyone that came was from The Big Chicken.

We're hoping for some more diversity because the local university is off the charts when it comes to the Nations that are represented.

But for now, Chinese it is! Which is cool because it's essentially a room full of language tutors for us.

Join us! You don't have to have a cool accent or another skin color to attend.

Really, is there anything cooler than the body of Christ meeting in your living room?

Following in Daddy's Footsteps

Not for Weenies

We got bit by the Triathlon bug this summer. Seems like once you get it, you just can't stop. It becomes this little mini-crush on becoming athletically challenged in crazy ways.

Brandon started AND completed his very first Sprint Triathlon this past Saturday!
Unlike my Triathlon for Weenies, this was a full Sprint Triathlon... 400 yd swim, 12 mile bike, 3.1 mile run. He did FANTASTIC for a newbie!



It was an open water swim, meaning they swam in a lake. It's way harder than swimming in lanes at your local pool because all the swimmers get in the water, they say go, and it's a fend for yourself type of thing. Meaning you can get kicked, pummeled, shoved under water, etc...  So Brandon was a little nervous about this part. But he finished it without needing a floaty noodle, unlike a few others!



Finishing up the bike leg:


It was held on September 11th, so they passed out mini American flags.  Eden looked like she was celebrating July 4th as she cheered on her daddy.



Almost to the finish line:


The Triathletes themselves...my brother, Matt, and Brandon. (Matt is the one I'm blaming for giving us the Triathlon disease. His small obsession with them, has rubbed off on us a tad!)

Way to go, Brandon and Matt!

So Far this Week...

• I've washed men's Axe gel deodorant out of Salem's hair. Brandon and I were off being awesome parents watching the first game of the season while the kids were obviously behaving themselves.  Eden thought it was lotion and rubbed it all over her naked body. (why was she naked? ... that's another bullet point.) And she decided to play hairdresser as well.
• Spent 4 hours in the ER. Though that's nothing compared to Brandon's tally of 7 hours spent there. Glad to say that Salem's 105.8 fever is down now and his tonsillitis has been correctly diagnosed. (missed it the first time, blast those unruly doctors!). He's on the mend. The ER is a great place to do some people watching...though maybe a tad puke-a-rrific as well.
• Cleaned up a pee puddle. Not normally bloggable, but this time around it was right in front of the toilet because Eden "thought her booty was far enough over the potty."  I'm not entirely sure how that happens...thinking you're sitting on the right part of the potty, but really you're not. Leave it to an almost 3 year old.
• Got asked yet again if I'm planning on taking my children with me to The Big Chicken. I tried to answer without rolling my eyes this time. But then the question was followed with, "Well, with you and the kids gone, Brandon will be able to fill a lot of his time with work so he can support you overseas."   ummmm? I do plan on taking my husband with me as well. thankyouverymuch.
• Managed to contract my own little virus completely unrelated to Salem's raspy phlegm. Luckily, mine hasn't warranted any trips to the ER. My medicine of choice is a large, orange, pulpy glass of Minute Maid.
• Got caught in the rain while taking my sick son out for some fresh air. I'll be accepting Mother of the Year nominations now.
• Tried Hormel's new version of pepperoni, "Turkey Pepperoni."  eww.  I mean, sure, it's healthier, my kids ate it still, there weren't puddles of grease on my pizza, whatever.  But I'll be sticking with my greasy who-knows-what-it-is pepperoni from now on. In my world, Turkey and Pepperoni shall never be mixed again.
• Found a sippy cup of nastified apple juice in my ziploc bags drawer in the kitchen. A testimony of how often I use ziploc bags. :)  I'd been wondering where Salem's renegade sippy cup went. 

                            

                                        Here's to Friday!

What's all the Stink about Cloth Diapers?!

This is it. My official answers to the FAQs about the way we do cloth diapers.
Apparently there are more pregnant women in my life than non-pregnant women, so that's where this blog post comes in handy! Rather than answering any more emails about diaper stuff...I'm going to forward this link out like a mad woman. :)  It's long, and probably incredibly uninteresting to the non-mommy/preggie woman, but hopefully applicable to a lot of you out there!

Remember, as always in my posts about cloth diapers, I'm not trying to be offensive toward anyone that chooses to diaper their baby with disposables. Cloth is what we've chosen for our family. We think it's better, of course. Otherwise why would we do it? So these are my opinions and not meant to belittle your choices, but to convince those soon to be / new mommies that cloth really isn't what you think and to educate those who don't know of the world of cloth diapers!

It's been no secret on our blog that we've used cloth diapers for awhile now. Our diapers are on their second rear-end and still doing just as good of a job on that heiny as they did on their first heiny.
We started when Eden was around 5 months old and I wish we would have dove into it earlier!

Why did we start using cloth diapers?
Turns out that baby poo was wayyyyy more runny than the poo we were accustomed to! And no matter what disposable (here on referred to as a sposie) diaper we strapped on Eden, I ended up washing yellow-y baby egg-ish poop out of clothes. So, I figured if I was washing poo out of baby clothes, I might as well be washing it out of diapers instead.
That's why we started.
Now, we do it more so because it's "green." We're saving the planet one poopy diaper at a time. And we just feel like it's being good stewards of what God has given us, our money and our planet. When you think about how LONG it takes for a sposie to breakdown in a landfill, it's sickening. Not to mention that you're putting poop in a landfill instead of in a toilet where it belongs. So now we do it because we're weird hippies and we love God's creation!

How did you start?
I have a super awesome crunchy friend (Thanks Amanda!) who is way ahead of the learning curve when it comes to baby stuff. She was the only person I knew that did this stuff so I picked her brain until she was entirely sick of me, and then made the plunge, ordered our own stuff, and had my mom ship it to us overseas.

Anything I should read before starting?
Take a peek around www.diaperswappers.com   There's a WEALTH of information on there about more FAQs, tips, brands, sales, you name it. There's even a forum for buying and selling cloth diapers. (more to come on that!)

What brand do you use?
We use almost exclusively www.cottonbabies.com BumGenius 3.0 One-Size cloth diapers.  They've come out with a newer product, the 4.0, and it looks great...even coming in snaps!  We also have one FuzziBunz One-Size (mainly because I wanted an orange one) that I like fairly well, though to me it just doesn't fit as snug around the thighs. And we have a few Blueberry  one-size minky diapers. (this is our famous camo one) which I totally adore because of the minky, fit, and snaps!...but they are more pricey!

edited to add: I'm selling our FBOS. The orange is fun. It's a slim fit. But the adjustable elastic strap thing just drives me bonkers. I can't seem to figure it out right. Plus, the insert for it is way too short. Which again is just more confirmation to me that BumGenius (cottonbabies.com has got it all figure out in the cloth diaper world.) For the record, I still like our medium sized FB.




Tell me about the diapers and inserts...
We use pocket diapers. There are fitted diapers and prefolds that both require covers. There are all-in-one diapers that work just like a disposable...it's all in one piece. But pocket diapers have an absorbent insert that sticks into this pocket-type opening. To me, pocket diapers still have the ease of the all-in-one (which means they are daddy friendly!) but get cleaner than an all-in-one because you can take out the absorbent part for washing.

Where do you buy them?
Click on my links above. :) Or check out the diaperswappers link for a forum for buying gently used ones. (truly not as gross as you're imagining.) Or check out www.hyenacart.com for a jillion other brands that are made by mommies around the world! Other links:
www.kellyscloset.com   www.jilliansdrawers.com


Ummm....are you sure you're really saving money?
HA! Despite our addiction to the cute ones...Yep! Even taking into consideration electricity and water for washing and drying. All of that depends on what brand you buy, how many you buy, how often you wash...etc. Us personally? We broke even A LONG time ago (back before Eden was even out of diapers) with our initial investment. Since we're using (mostly) the same diapers with Salem that we did with Eden (the same bumGenius 3.0) we've had little additional cost. This is a good read for those that are financially concerned.
That's not to say that we don't spend money on diapers. I've still splurged on the fuzzy cute ones for him. And we do still buy disposables occasionally...which brings me to...

Are you all neo-nazi about disposables?
I used to be. I was hard-core cloth diapering with Eden. Even when we'd go on vacations I'd use them. I'm not that way with Salem. He sleeps in a disposable at night because being completely honest, I can't get our cloth diapers to hold enough pee to last him 12 hours at night. I'd rather him sleep 12 hours at night without waking up from having pee-jammies than to fuss with ultra-stuffing a pocket diaper. Plus when we go out for a whole day or vacations, etc...we do sposies.
That being said, I try to use them as little as possible. They're scientifically reported to be bad for your baby (what's in that diaper to make it hold so much pee?!?!?) and take hundreds of years to decompose.

Do cloth diapers leak?
Yes. Just like any diaper, they can. But cloth diapers aren't meant to be left on your baby for more than 2-3 hours. Sposies can hold like 7 lbs of pee. gross...so technically your baby could wear 1-2 diapers during one day. But lets face it, that's nasty. Please don't do that to your child. The great thing about cloth diapers is if you are washing one, you might as well wash seven. So I don't care how many Salem goes through in one day. Unlike sposies, I'm not spending any MORE money with each diaper that he wears. Salem can stay in one for about 2-3 hours.
Only twice, even after diapering 2 babies, have I had a cloth diaper leak poo. Before Eden wore cloth, she was leaking poo at least once a day. That newborn poo is near impossible...but newborn poo and cloth diapers are best friends. :)



What do you do with the poopy ones?
A diaper sprayer, my friends.  It's a cloth diapering mom's best friend. Hooks right to the toilet. You spray the nasty down the potty, and flush away.

What do you do with them until washing time and how do you wash them?
Dirty diapers go in a 13 gallon plastic trash bin in Salem's room. They don't smell up his room or anything. No diaper genie for us! Then when I wash (about every 2 days) I pull out the inserts, toss inserts, and pockets into the wash and then do:
-a cold rinse with no detergent
-then a hot wash with detergent and set the rinse cycle to rinse TWO times
-then machine dry the inserts and wipes (we use cloth wipes too...it's just easier)
-I hang dry the pockets inside on a folding rack because it helps preserve the elastic and velcro. not everyone does this. but I think this is what has helped our diapers last through 2 kiddos.
With cloth diapers it's important to use detergents that have no additives, softeners, or dyes. There's a massive amount of detergents out there that are cloth diaper friendly. We use TIDE Free and Clear. It's worked for us, so I stick with it.  Also, get rid of dryer sheets completely. Really? Do you really need those?! I've never really understood them. Plus they build up film on the inside of your dryer and stick to your diapers during drying time. That essentially repels liquid and cloth diapers and repelling should never be in the same sentence.

How many do I need?
Again, that depends on what kind you go with and how often you wash and how old your baby is. My opinion is that a newborn needs about 8-10 a day. Say you wash every two days, take into consideration laundry time...I think about 24 minimum for a newborn - 6 month old. We started with 18 bumGenius (which we still have) with Eden at 5 months old and I wished we'd gotten a few more. We've since upped it to 28 bumGenius, 1 FuzziBunz OneSize, 1 FuzziBunz size Medium, 2 Blueberry One-Size, 1 Swaddlebees. I like our stash. It's a bit excessive probably, but cloth diapering can become a little addicting! :)
I've tried a few others if you care to know my opinion on them...Happy Heiny, Butterfly Bunz, Drybees,  Kissaluvs, Thirsties, Muttaqins.  We tried these brands because my curiosity got the better of me. I ended up selling them all (diaperswappers!) and have always come back to the tried and true, good ole, bumGenius. They are fool proof!

More info on our brand choices:
bumGenius 3.0 (and 4.0) diapers (in my opinion) don't start fitting great until around 12 pounds. So if you are gung-ho about cloth diapering from the VERY beginning, they would work, but would be pretty big under those teeny clothes. We tried kissaluvs fitteds with Salem for awhile up to 2 months, but they seemed to make him rashy. Fitteds don't wick away moisture like pocket diapers do. bumGenius pockets are lined with suede cloth (FuzziBunz are lined with fleece) which even after being peed in feels dry to the touch. It's always been perfect for my baby's butts. :) But fitteds (and prefolds) keep the moisture right up against the skin and that never has mixed well for me or my babies. Again, our choice to use pockets has had a LOT to do with the wicking action! Plus suede cloth washes up SUPER clean. Even after 2 kiddos with super pooper action, ALL of our diapers are stain-free!
(in a few months cottonbabies is supposed to come out with the new colors of their bumGenius4.0 one-size diaper....if you are concerned about colors. :) And cottonbabies has a TON of diapering choices on their site other than just the 3.0 or 4.0.  From the reviews I've seen, any would be a great decision. Can you tell I like cottonbabies?!
Our diaper area:


Like I said above, we also do cloth wipes. I found a site on hyenacart for a woman that makes awesome cloth wipes. You could just use wash rags, but these are more fun. :) I use a spray bottle filled with water and a squirt of baby bath soap, spray it on a wipe or two, squirt Salem's heiny, and wipe away. The cloth wipes go right in with the diapers in the diaper pail for washing. It's an easier system for me than having a trash can for sposie wipes and a trash can for dirty diapers. Plus, when I'm washing diapers, I might as well be washing wipes too! :)



If I've left out something you are curious about please shoot me an email or leave a comment so I can help you out. Or search diaperswappers.com and you're sure to find a wealth of information (and opinions!)
As you can tell, there are a TON of choices out there when it comes to something that collects pee and poo! So don't think you have to just go with the majority and put your baby in a chemical laden disposable! Try some others, experiment with different brands, and you'll find some stuff that works great for you, your baby, your bank account, and the planet as well!