Half Way to Hippie...

(This is Owen modeling his cloth diaper and his new favorite trick - sucking on his hand)

So, we figured since we had gotten into the natural child birth thing, we should go ahead and take the next hippie step to cloth diapering. Actually, it was mostly motivated by the thought of saving money, and some curiosity b/c everyone that does cloth diapering claims to LOVE IT. Weird, I know.

We made an investment of about $200 to get all the cloth stuff we would need (8 all-in-ones, 18 prefolds, 3 covers and 2 Snappis), and we figured that I would need to stick to it for at least 4 months to break even. We've got a month under our belt, and while I feel like we've got the hang of it, I am no where near LOVING IT. It really hasn't been too big of an adjustment. The extra load of laundry every third day is easy, but the smell of the diapers grosses me out. (and we're not even to the serious stuff yet!) It bothers me that some of the diapers are already stained...if I use them on our next kid, will they feel abused for wearing used diapers?! I see the bills for the shrink adding up... (any suggestions on stain removal other cloth diapering moms?)

On the positive side, I think the all-in-ones are really cute. It does feel good to not have to buy diapers, and our trash can is a lot lighter too. Like I said, though, I don't love it yet. So we'll see how things progress.

Big Top

My new nick name for Owen is "Big Top". The poor kid's head is huge, but he's doing a pretty good job of holding it up considering. We finally found our Bumbo (thanks, Papa!), and Owen really seemed to like sitting in it. He gets so frustrated when he's laying on the floor...I think he knows he's missing out on all the action.

I couldn't help myself...

Ethan is going to kill me for posting this picture when he's older, but I just couldn't help it! We're no where near being ready to potty train, but every once and awhile he'll ask to go potty. He's getting a little more particular in how he wants it all to work - he has to have a book and the door must be closed all the way with no one else in there. (He "scolded" me for opening the door to take this picture.)

My Guys

Ethan really has a way of making Owen laugh that no one else does. We've been trying to keep Ethan off of Owen, and then we realized that (for the most part) Owen really seems to like Ethan all up in his face! He laughs and starts kicking like crazy. Of course that just encourages Ethan more. I hope this little duo continues to enjoy each others company as they get older!

Owen is 3 Months Old

(Owen was intently watching his big brother perform for him. He was mesmerized! And just ignore the drool spot on his shirt. :) )

I can't believe my sweet little guy has been here for three months now. I am constantly amazed at how much he's changed. He's become obsessed with trying to get his hands in his mouth - his poor little face has the marks to show it as he's punched himself repeatedly. He's got the greatest little grin with two dimples that shows up more and more now. And he's survived his first "war wound" from his big brother. (a nice scratch on the face from Ethan getting a little too excited to see him.) I have a feeling Owen is going to be my dramatic child. He can be completely fine and then out of the blue he can let out the worst cry to let you know he's suddenly unhappy. He also has perfected the bottom lip turned down that is the most pitiful thing. One of these days I will get it on camera...

The ABCs

We've been working on our ABCs for awhile now. Ethan had it down but then regressed making up his own alphabet for awhile. It was pretty entertaining - lots of "elemenopies". But this past week week he decided to go back to the standard alphabet, and I was able to get it on camera.

The Wright Family

When we were in Oklahoma a few weekends ago, I was able to see my dear friend, LeAnne, and her family. She and I were kindred spirits in college. We spent many hours in the art studio together, survived being roommates, walked through life's many ups and downs, and shared all comedy that the male species in our lives brought. We're still sharing comedy in our lives - the males are just smaller (and waaaay cuter). Between the two of us, we have four boys. It was so fun watching Ethan and her son Titus play together. They jumped on the trampoline, fought with swords, played basketball, drew, played with trains, and ate popsicles...and that was just in an hour. I can't wait to see the boys grow up together...and what trouble they'll get in together!

1st Farmer's Market of '09

We made it to our first Farmer's Market this season this past weekend. The weather couldn't have been better! We had a nice walk there, saw several friends, played at the park, and had a moment of silence for the closed coffee shop. Apart from the missing scones and coffee, it was a pretty perfect Saturday morning!

All Boy

We had play group at the park this past week. It was the one nice day in a week full of rain...a week full of rain that produced a lot of mud puddles. The majority of boys could have cared less about the slides and swings. They were all surrounding the mud puddle throwing rocks and sticks in it. Of course Ethan was in the mix. My first instinct was to try and distract him in hopes that he'd stay clean. But I kept hearing my dad's voice in my head telling me to "let boys be boys". So I said nothing. And Ethan proceeded to walk back and forth through the mud for about 30 minutes. The rest of the kids stayed at the edge of the puddle, but Ethan seemed to prefer standing in it. When it was time to go, I didn't even know where to start the cleaning up. Wipes did nothing. So I stripped him down, let the mud dry and we threw him the car in just a diaper. Apparently I need a summer "mud kit" in my car for next time b/c I know this won't be our last mud adventure!

Update on Owen: he's off the medication. It was nasty stuff that made him miserable. He cried more during the five days he was on it than he has in his entire life. I got him into the doctor that does OMT in Tulsa this past Friday, and she couldn't believe our other doc had him on meds. She did some manipulation on him, that should help, and gave me some other instructions (that I won't write about due to the embarrassment it might provide Owen when he's older). He's back to his happy self that has slept all night for the past 4 nights. Happy Mother's Day to me!

My Squatty Body Boy has Reflux!

We took Owen in for his 2 month check-up last week. Overall, he was very healthy and has doubled his birth weight! The nurse told me that he was in the 90th percentile in head size (not a huge surprise since he has Dodson in him...our heads run large...let the jokes begin), 75th in the weight, and 25th in height. Short and round. :) I'm sure his height will catch up eventually...right?! We also found out that he has reflux pretty badly. It wasn't a huge surprise with the way he was spitting up and eating was becoming uncomfortable. She has put him on medication for two months now, which makes me cringe. I just pray that he won't have any bad side affects and that the medication will help his tummy. It's pretty remarkable how happy he's been in spite of being in pain. He's pretty wonderful!

Hero

Every night when Chris gets home from work, he and Ethan go upstairs so Chris can change out of his work clothes. And so they can shoot a few hoops in Ethan's room. This particular night, Ethan decided Chris needed help picking out what to wear. He chose Chris' basketball jersey, a pair of basketball shorts and then he told Chris that he needed a jersey too. When they came downstairs, you could tell Ethan was thrilled to be dressed in his dad's clothes. It was pretty sweet...