Vacation!

We're at the beach this week with my side of the family!  If you're curious as to the lack of blogging over the next few days it's because we're busy doing this...

and this...

and a whole lot of swimming, eating, playing, laughing and vacationing!

You Are My Sunshine...

My friend, Amy gave me this Sunshine blog award:

For the blogs that add a little sunshine to your day!

Amy and I met at Focus on the Family Institute back in the summer of 2005. We've recently reconnected through the wonderful world of blogging and she has the cutest blog: One Hat, Two Hat, Wife Hat, Mom Hat. Make sure you stop by and say hello!

I'm so flattered she chose my blog. I'm glad that days that aren't so sunshiny around here can give others a laugh and brighten their days. (Plus it helps me find the humor in all the poop when I write about it!)

I'd like to pass this award along to 3 friends whose blogs brighten my days.

Amanda- She has two cuties of her own and I love reading about the life of a family with 2 kids that are about the same age as mine. Amanda and I went to college together and believe it or not she's the one who got me started with blogging!

Amber- She has one little cutie and one on the way! We met a few years a go at church and our boys love to play together. (Code for: we make playdates for them so we can hang out.) :)

Jess- New Mommy. new blogger, old friend! We went to college together and married bandmates (Jake and Dave were in BDA together). When I moved to Nashville she was my only friend for a loong time. We worked together during the week (I mean...we were the only employees at that PR firm!) and we hung out on the weekends. Insperable until she moved to Texas. I'm SO glad she's started blogging now that Evan is here. Makes me feel a little closer to my friend I so dearly miss!

Be sure to stop by and say hello to these lovey ladies, I'm sure they'll make your day a little sunnier too!

Ladies Man

Last night we went to our Sunday school class pool party and I'm not sure who had more fun...Javen in the pool, or Liam with the ladies!

(I know he made his rounds with a few others while I was swimming with Javen. I wish I could have snapped those photos too!)

Pay Attention!

Actual conversation with a Barnes and Noble store clerk today:

Me: Hi, I'm looking for a book called "Greening Your Cleaning" by Deirdre Imus

Store Clerk: Ok, let me look that up. "Green the Cleaning?"

Me: No, "Greening Your Cleaning"

Store Clerk: Hmm...I can't find it. What was the name again?

Me: "Greening Your Cleaning" by Imus

Store Clerk: Oh! "Greening by Cleaning". You know, yesterday I dumped baking soda and vinegar down my drain and it volcanoed up! I'm glad my kids didn't see me or they would have thought I was crazy!
 Ok, I still can't find it. What is the name of the author?

Me: Deirdre Imus.

Store Clerk: How do you spell that last name?

Me: I-M-U-S

Store Clerk: Oh, like the old radio host?

Me: Yes. She's his wife.

Store Clerk: Oh, maybe you're looking for "Greening YOUR Cleaning"?

Me: Yes. That's the one.

Store Clerk: Sorry, we don't have it.

There went 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

Happy Saturday!

Place Mat Pillow

A few weeks ago I was blog hopping and came across a blog that was talking about making a pillow out of a place mat. (I wish I had saved the site to give credit, but I didn't. Sorry!) I got really excited because I always see cute place mats and try to come up with cool ways to use them  in other areas of my home. Who doesn't love a good pillow with a pop of color? So I headed to Target and brought home two of these beauties:

I got out my seam ripper and ripped out enough of the seam so there was a hole big enough for my hand to fit through.

Stuff, stuff, stuff and sew up the hole and you're done! (I don't have a sewing machine so I stitched it up by hand. Easy peasy.)

The big problem is: where do I use my cute new pillows?

The love seat?

Or how about the couch?

What about the entryway?

(Please excuse the clutter...I wasn't expecting..umm...company?)

Here's a list of supplies you need to make this pillow:

Double lined place mat

Seam ripper

Poly-fill or some sort of stuffing

Thread, needle and scissors

Happy pillow making!

The Diaper Debate

A couple of days ago I posted a status on facebook about never buying the cheap diapers again. (I think that's the reason why Liam's blowout was SO bad this last time. The diaper was a cheapie.) Can I just say I know the coolest Mamas? So many friends commented to tell me about what brands they've had success with.

We've always been a Pampers family. You can't beat the softness or the absorbency. The thing I hate about them is the price. Yes, there are coupons. You better believe I always use them! Sometimes I run out of coupons, and when that happens I try the cheaper brands. (And then my carpet pays the price!)

My kids blow out their diapers so often that I was beginning to doubt my diapering capabilities. Consensus is that I'm doing it correctly. So I'm putting up a poll on the sidebar to find out what brand I should try next.

Here's what we've tried in this house so far:

Pampers: LOVE the softness and absorbency. Works best for us. Over-priced.

Huggies: Found them to be a bit stiff, and Javen would leak through them. Have yet to try them on Liam.

Luvs: I honestly can't remember what I didn't like about them. Tried them on Javen and didn't like them. Haven't tried them out on Liam.

7th Generation: A bit on the stiff side, but they absorb well and are chlorine free. Middle of the road on price. Second favorite choice.

Target: A little stiff (compared to Pampers) and Javen leaked through about every one he wore. Have yet to try them on Liam. Fair price.

Kroger off brand: Great price. FAIL on all other accounts.

Cloth: Tried BumGenius and Javen would try (and usually succeed) at taking it off. He would sweat like crazy in those things. I know there are other brands, but the hot factor kind of turned me off to cloth diapering.

If I don't list the brand you like on the side, leave me a comment. I'm ready to try something new!!

The Standoff

We had our first "test of the wills" last weekend. Ugh. Here's how it went down...

Javen was in the middle of eating dinner, when he decided it would be more fun to get down and play. I told him he needed to finish eating because once he got down from his chair he would not get any more food until breakfast. He picked up his plate and tried to hand it off to me. I told him to put his plate back on his tray and keep eating. (He had only taken about 3 bites of food, I knew he wasn't full.) He then took his plate and threw it on the floor.

I gave him the stank eye and handed Liam to Jake. After reprimanding Javen, I took him out of the high chair and placed him on the floor next to the mess. I told him that he needed to pick up the food and put it in the trash can. He refused. I told him he needed to listen to Mommy the first time I ask. He refused and tears ensued. He begged me to play, color, run, watch a movie...anything. I stood my ground and told him he needed to pick up the food. We sat on that kitchen floor for about half an hour before I got out my camera to document the standoff...

Have you ever seen a cuter pouty face?

After an hour of pouting and tears Javen stood up and said, "Oh no! It's a mess!" and proceeded to clean up as if nothing had ever happened.

 

Anyone have a copy of "The Strong Willed Child" I can borrow? :)

Dear Tuesday, I'd Like A Refund

This morning started out amazing. Javen slept in till 7:45! He came into our room and proclaimed "Mama! I good nigh night! I good sleep!" As happy as we were to sleep in, Jake was in a little bit of a hurry as it left him only 5 min to get ready for work. I just love that Javen knew he had a good night's sleep. I thought to myself, "this is going to be such a good day!"

Silly, silly girl.

We headed downstairs for breakfast. Liam woke up at 8 and I changed and fed him. My happy little camper started to bounce in my lap and I knew he was ready for some jump time in his Jumperoo. He's jumping and laughing and singing and having the time of his life and I'm helping Javen with his yogurt. Every few minutes I'd look over to Liam and he'd flash me a big ole grin. Why I didn't think to look at his feet is beyond me, but he'd been jumping in poop for who knows how long before I noticed.

We've been down this (stinky) road a few times before. But this time? Oh, this time he's outdone himself. It's everywhere. I mean, I gave this child a wipe bath and then a real bath. I had to clean the yellow poop out of his toenails. This stuff is SMASHED into the carpet. Big time. And the Jumperoo? Clean as a whistle.

Honestly, I don't know if my carpet is going to survive this pooptastrify. I'm thinking of getting a part time job just so we can afford to put hard wood floors down. Clean up would be so much easier!

Note to self: Kroger brand diapers FAIL. Can you blame me for trying? Kroger's diapers were $6.99. The usual Pampers are $11.99.

So I've got this stain in the carpet that I'm fighting this morning. I head to the kitchen to rinse out Liam's clothes in the sink and refill Javen's cup. I notice blood all over the floor. What? And why is my foot hurting? (Fishes out glass from heel of left foot). Oh, that butter dish that shattered all over the floor yesterday...must have missed a piece during clean up. At least it was my foot and not Javen's.

Poop on living room carpet.
Blood on kitchen floor.
Glass in foot.
Pain in the neck.

Dear Tuesday, I'd like a refund on today. And it's only 10am. I'm afraid to see what you have in store for me this afternoon. Please be nice.

Sincerely,
Diane

"Summer Camp" II

Last week Javen's friend Will came over for our second "summer camp" play date. We let the boys play in shaving cream on the picnic table. Javen would "kish" (squish) the shaving cream in his hands, then run over to me saying "Mama, wash my hands!" I brought out a little bucket of water so the boys could rinse off.

The shaving cream didn't stay just on their hands long and they both ended up in their diapers. (Amber, how did we not see this coming?!)

I think they were looking for the baby pool from last week...

After we cleaned up the mess in the back yard, we headed inside for a spider craft. You can find the instructions here. We changed it up a bit by using card board boxes from the recycle pile and letting the boys color their circles first. We also omitted the google eyes and opted to draw them in ourselves. Hang him on a door knob, pull the strings, and he climbs up the door!

 Who knows what we'll get into next??

Weekend Goodness

After dinner on Saturday we headed outside for some ice cream.

Javen was happy to share. Want some, Mama? No thanks, bud.

Dad? Yeah, I knew you would!

Umm...what about me? They never give me the good stuff.

Javen spilled a little, but not to worry...clean up is easy when you're out doors.

Hehehe...saggy wet diaper butt!

I think these people are nuts.

You're right, Liam. We are.

Happy Father's Day!

How Could I Refuse?

Javen: Mama, I wash hands and help me cook!

Me: You would like to wash your hands so you can help Mama cook?

Javen: Shhhes! (Yes)

Me: What are we going to cook?

Javen: Muff! (Muffins)

How could I refuse that request?

I asked Liam to help, but he was a little busy talking to his bird. World changing ideas are being exchanged right here, I'm almost sure of it.

BTW, the muffins were not homemade, but actually weren't that bad considering they were from a box! (Cranberry orange muffins, Krusteze brand.)

5 AM...Ummm...Help?

We're a tired bunch around here lately. Javen's been waking up at 5AM this week. Not like groggy, lazy morning type waking up...but more like "Mama! I wanna EAT! EAT!" I'm chalking it up to a growth spurt. (That's me hoping that he'll get back to normal schedule like...tomorrow!) Yesterday his early mornings finally caught up with him and he fell asleep before lunch. (Those of you who know my child know how NOT normal this is!)

Jake and I figure that if he's waking up because he's hungry, then we need to do try 2 things:

1. Make sure he's full before bed. Extra cup of milk? Sure, buddy!

2. Leave a breakfasty snack (fruit bar) on his nightstand next to his water so when he wakes up "starving" at 5AM, he can eat a little and go back to sleep until a normal waking hour.

Guess what? IT WORKED. (kind of- he didn't go back to sleep after eating, but he didn't start yelling for me to come get him until around 6am). Not great, but we'll take the progress...fingers crossed for tomorrow morning going even better!

If anyone out there has some suggestions on how to get this boy back to normal sleeping, I'm all ears!

(Going to bed later or earlier doesn't make a difference with him.)

He'll Probably Hate Me For Posting This...

One day I may get a look resembling something like this...

BUTT I think this is adorable!

Muffin Tin "Munch"

Javen doesn't always want to eat what I serve up for lunch. Unfortunately for him, my kitchen is not a restaurant. Unfortunately for me, when he doesn't eat his lunch at lunch time, he's at my knee the rest of the day begging asking for a snack. The solution? Muffin tin "munch" (Javenspeak for "lunch"). Let me be upfront right off the bat: this idea is not my brain child. I'd like to give credit where credit is due, but I honestly can't remember where I originally found it. Nevertheless, it works for us!

This lunch included strawberries, peas, cottage cheese, hot dog (a big treat for him at our house) and ketchup. You should see his face light up when I break out the muffin tin. I do it about once a week so the novelty doesn't wear off. :)

Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

1 Step Forward, 10 Steps Back...

First thing's first. Liam is 5 months old today!!! What? I know, time is FLYING here. A few 5 month highlights:

-He rolls front to back and back to front. Crazy kid.
-He is starting to show interest in real food. Haven't given him any yet. Next month we'll try.
-Still NOT sleeping through the night. Goes down at 8. Wakes up at 1am-ish and 5am to eat. Is up for the day between 8am and 9am.
-He's a GREAT napper.
-Wants SO badly to walk. And by walk, I mean run around with Javen.
-He started saying "Dada" this past weekend. So smart!

Now for the latest installment of Javen...

Yesterday he woke up at 5am. Ughh...
Today? 5:30am. Progress? Yes. Still not cool. Let's go back to 8am, shall we son?

Liam went down for his morning nap so I decided to hop in the shower. (I was just giddy with joy to be able to shower this early in the day.) Javen was playing quietly with his cars on my bathroom floor and I was happily shampooing away. Little did I know he had abandoned the cars and delved into the content of my bathroom cabinets. I think from the beginning it was a search and destroy mission.

Yes folks, he headed straight for the NAIL POLISH.

Meanwhile, I'm shaving my legs and smiling to myself about this wonderful achievement in my day. It's going to be a great day. I mean, if it starts with a shower it has to be great, right?

I'm rinsing off the suds and peek around the curtain to see Javen nowhere in sight. And my nail polish bag is empty. There are 2 open bottles on the floor (still standing upright) and one of the polish brushes is missing.

I've never hopped out of the shower so quickly. I don't think I even grabbed my towel. I ran stark naked, dripping wet out of the bathroom to find Javen painting his hands with four different colors of polish. I'm standing over him scooping up the bottles and surveying the room for un-authorized shades of pink, red and black. (Yes, I said black. Don't judge. This pale skinned girl can rock the black nail polish. And no, I haven't gone goth.)

Thankfully, the worst of it was on his hands. A tiny spot on my cute decorative storage cube where he was painting and a big ole glob on his pj shirt. Furniture, carpet and bed were spared. Whew.

Then I remember I'm soaking wet and dripping on the carpet. Not to mention I have no clothes on. Back to the bathroom. Towel in my hair, bath robe on. My cabinet is empty and my bathroom floor is covered with various bottles of lotion, mousse, hair ties, make-up, blow dryer...you name it.

The shower wasn't worth it. It just created that much more work for my day.

You think I would have learned my lesson last time I was so bold as to shower with awake children roaming freely about the house.

Never again.

Smarty Pants

My little smarty pants almost five-month-old starting saying "Dada" yesterday. Figures right? I spend 24/7 with the lil guy and how does he reward me? "Dada". Jake doesn't think Liam knows what "Dada" means. I beg to differ. If I've learned one thing about kids, it's that we don't give them enough credit. They are WAY smarter than we think.

This was taken moments after Liam saying "Dada". He then started to mimic the sounds and babbles that Jake was making to him. I just love how much he loves his dada!

Oh, and today? Yeah, all I can get out of him is big wet raspberries and "dadadadadada..."

Love him!

All About Babies!

This week's theme at i heart faces is "all about babies" and I couldn't be more excited because:

a) my blog is pretty much all about my babies
b) who doesn't love a good picture of a cute baby??? (I can't wait to see all the other entries!!)
I'm entering my new favorite photo of Liam (taken yesterday). He'll be 5 months old on Tuesday and I can't believe it!

For more adorable entries, check out i heart faces!

Good Morning Liam!

We had a nice slow (and early) Saturday morning today. (Thanks to Javen waking up earlier than any other day this week...and waking the rest of us up in the process.) The light was just streaming in our bedroom windows and I had a cute lil guy playing on the bed with me...

He just melts me...

Peek-a-boo!