Diapers for sale

UPDATE: All but the two bG AIO's (first pic) have sold.  Let me know if you'd like the bG's!!!

With the addition of little Clem to our family I have revisited our cloth diaper tubs and decided that maybe I sort of overbought.  It's the boyscout (?) in me...or maybe just an inborn (disproportional) need to be prepared for every possible scenario.  Who knows?!  ;-D  But as I age, I am beginning to find that less is more.  SO, I've been thinning out, and thought before I consigned these items I'd try to sell them on my blog.  I've done this before with pretty good success.  Let me know in the comments or via Facebook if you're interested, and feel free to pass the word!

Two bumGenius 3.0 size large all-in-ones.  They actually don't make these dipes anymore, so I'd don't have a direct link.  These are in rougher condition (namely the elastic) but I'll sell the repair kits with them, they're pretty easy to use. Colors are ribbit and grasshopper.

$3 each

One Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter one-size cloth diaper with one insert.  Snap fastener and adjustable rise.  Very gently used (only a handful of times)

$4

Seven Green Mountain size small (yellow edge) unbleached prefolds.  These were used quite a bit with Kolbe but really don't show much wear.  These prefolds are incredibly durable, they are by far my favorite.

$1.50 a piece or $10 for all of them

Four Green Mountain premie (white edge) prefolds (work well as inserts/doublers).  Gently used.

$3 for all

Five premium size unbleached Indian prefolds.  Very gently used.  

$1 each

One Thirsties duo size 2 cover.  Color is storm cloud.  Elastic in double gusset fairly worn, otherwise pretty good condition.

$2

One Thirsties size large cover in white.  Good condition.

$5

Eight bumGenius infant inserts.  These are similar to the ones I linked, but do not have a fleece top, they're just microfiber.  Never used.

$6 for all

 

Six Kissaluvs size NB/small unbleached contour diapers.  Very minimal use with Kolbe.  Picture is of back (left) and front (right).

$3 each 

Let me know if you're interested in any of this!!!

Fishy fun!

We had a fish theme at our house last week, and did several fun activities I wanted to share.  

Colored goldfish made a great math activity, we did sorting, counting and patterns.

We had fun with this fish craft from DLTK.

Some of our favorite fish books:

• Ten Little Fish (this was a fave of Kolbe's last spring, he was excited to see it again)
• The Biggest Fish in the Lake
• Swimmy
• various Rainbow Fish books

We also had a handful of fish coloring pages and activities to work on throughout the week, and enjoyed baked salmon (a regular fave around here, especially with Aaron and me) for dinner one evening.

Small successes L

1.  Delivered our third baby!!  It was a quick, uneventful labor and delivery (well, as uneventful as labor and delivery can be anyways;-D).  God is so good, and our precious Clement is just sooooo wonderful.

2.  Had said baby Baptized.  

3.  Got birth announcements done and in the mail (this is the pic I used).

 

4.  We're surviving and doing well!!!

5.  Oh, and in between all that we celebrated six years of marriage as well.  God is sooo good!!

Head on over to CatholicMom.com to join other moms in Small Successes each Thursday!!

Life with three

Now that it's been [almost] two weeks (and I have ever so much experience, HA!), I thought I'd take a few minutes to blog some thoughts on this transition from two to three.  Not that anyone out there really cares, but I figured it would make for interesting reading material down the road when I'm yearning for "the simple days when we only had three and they were young."  Hmmmmm....

Anyways, things have been good overall.  The first few days after Clem was born were horrific.  I had just given birth and while hands-down the hardest thing I've ever done (three times) it is also so rewarding and amazing it just makes me want to capture the moment and savor that first meeting with my babe forever.  Basically I would like to be able to stop time for awhile.  Especially since the more times we do this, and the older we get, the less times we potentially (God be willing) have left to do this.  Does that makes sense?  Anyways, I haven't figured out the stopping time thing yet, so instead I was just overly hormonal and emotional.  THEN, I remembered what it was like bringing Gemma and even Kolbe home for the first time...cozy, snuggly, quiet, peaceful, serene.  Yeaaaahhhhhh, not so this go around.  We got home about 10pm the day Clem was born, and the kids were at respective grandparents' houses and I felt guilty they weren't home with us and sad I couldn't kiss them goodnight.  But then we picked them up the next morning and they were hung. over. from time with grandma and grandpa.  And this doesn't irritate me, they were loved and well taken care of and had a great time...I can't complain a bit about that.  If they were going to be away from us, I can't imagine anyone I'd rather them be with.  But they were quite hungover none-the-less...kind of like after they've been sick and gotten to watch TV all day and drink gatorade and eat toast on the couch.  While watching TV.  Only this was worse.  Instead of cuddling with my sweet, sleepy newborn and doing nothing but gaze at his wonderfulness, I got to keep Kolbe from pulling Gemma's ponytail clean off her head, and make sure Gemma didn't bite Kolbe's leg off among other things.  Oh, and endure some naaaaastsyhorribleawfulohmygoodnessgetmeoutofhere tantrums from a certain four-and-a-half-year-old whose name will not be mentioned.  Oh yeah, and get ready for a Baptism on Saturday.  I am a huge proponent of Baptizing as soon after birth as possible but wowza that made for a crazy weekend on top of an already crazy week (our other two were born on weekends, so we Baptized the following weekend thus having a little more time).  I wouldn't do it any differently (although I think I remember my husband saying something about, "can't we just get some holy water and do this ourselves?") and my family and inlaws were an immense help with the food and hosting the reception and everything (I don't even want to think about hosting that many people at our house, especially so soon after having a baby) but still...

So we survived the weekend and emerged into Monday with our sanity mostly intact (although that is probably debatable).  And then we really began the process of settling in to life with three.  And honestly since then things have been fairly mellow.  Good even.  Oh I am ever-so-glad to be my not-pregnant self again.  I really do enjoy being pregnant (especially the second and early-third trimesters), but I do not particularly like the person I am when I'm pregnant if that makes sense.  My hormones make me totally nuts.  With my husband, and kids, and random strangers.  It's bad, I wish I could get a better handle on it but I just honestly don't know how.  ACK!  But anyways, back to settling in with three... I have tried to readjust my expectations a bit and that has helped immensely.  Things just aren't like they were with the first two, and they never will be no matter how hard I yearn for it.  Life moves on and changes and I can either embrace that or run screaming.  And I'm finding that embracing things and trying to make the best of them really does wonders when it comes to the happiness and general well-being of the rest of my dear precious family.  And that's where we are now.  Be sure to check back for more riveting glimpses into my nutty brain.  But not too many, I promise.  ;-D  And for enduring all that, here is a sweet pic of our three little crazies!  Oh, how I love them.

"Learning time"...what's been working

We've finally settled into a nice groove with our learning time since finishing our Letters of the Week back in May.  Since baby Clem has come, I've gotten really lazy loosened up a bit on the amount of TV time I let the kids have. Good, bad or otherwise, I let them watch an hour or more after we finish lunch.  They have recently started to really enjoy Max and Ruby (which I think is a bit over the top, but definitely nothing objectionable) and/or some DVD's from home or the library.  Kolbe is no longer napping (which I still can't believe, but oh it makes bedtime infinitely easier and earlier), and Gemma doesn't nap either, so this gives them a nice chance to rest a bit and kind of hit the reset button on the day.  After that we read stories that go along with our weekly theme (I've just been choosing a loose theme and then getting a stack of books from the library that goes along with it...IE: farm animals, bugs, colors, flowers, certain holidays or seasons, etc.).  Then we turn on the classical music (we're doing a different composer each month) and sit at the table and work on projects for around an hour or so.  For Kolbe this is either colors, markers or watercolors and a stack of paper or coloring sheets that go along with the weekly theme.  He also participates in the occasional craft.  For Gemma we are rotating each day between a handful of Kumon workbooks, some handwriting worksheets, faith formation as it ties to current saints and/or feasts, a craft that goes along with our weekly theme on Friday and Mass prep on Saturday.  She also enjoys coloring or painting on the coloring sheets I print each week.  Sunday is "quiet time" (IE entertain yourself quietly), and that is starting to work out OK although it was definitely a little rough at first.  ;-D  The kids can look at books, work on puzzles, have some "free art" time, or work on another quiet activity that doesn't require adult help.  Works better some weeks than others.  They're learning.  And that's what's been working for us!!  We'll see what the coming year holds...I can't believe a year from now we will be gearing up for Kindergarten, WOW!

Baptized in Christ

Welcome to the Church, Clement Paul!

Baby is here!

Our sweet baby boy arrived this past Wednesday!  Clement Paul was born on July 11 at 1:58 AM, weighing 8lbs 6.5oz and 19 inches long.  I had an inkling I might be in labor that evening, but honestly still wasn't sure.  I even painted my toenails around 9pm!  We called my mom to come over with our sleeping children around 11pm, and I still wasn't even sure if they'd keep me if we went in.  I need to learn that when I'm in denial, that's a sure sign it's the real thing.  We got to the BirthCare Center at midnight, and he was born just two hours later.  It was intense but good, I am so blest.  We were able to go home that evening and are slowly but surely settling into life as a family of five.  Here are some pics of our sweet little guy...we love him sooooo much!!

Our family of FIVE!

Meeting brother and sis for the first time!

She is captivated by him!

Brand new baby boy

Dressed and ready to head home

First day at home

Sis and bro

BROTHERS!!!!

Cute cloth diapers . . . and a sleepy little smile!!

Two days old, awake and alert

Children's book review: Adele and Simon in America

I checked out a pile of patriotic (America, the flag, fireworks, etc.) books from the library for the kids and I to read during Fourth of July week.  One of our favorites was Adele and Simon in America by Barbara McClintock.  What a great little historical fiction story about a young brother and sister who come to the states from their home in Paris in the early 20th century to visit their aunt in New York City.  She proceeds to take them on a trip all around the US (which is outlined on a detailed, easy-to-follow map in the front of the book).  The story itself isn't terribly exciting (little Simon loses something everywhere they go, but due to his aunt's foresightedness in labeling everything with her address, stumbles upon a pile of packages from everywhere he visited upon their return), but the details about the places they visit are quite historical and interesting, and the illustrations on each page are beautifully done with their intricate attention to detail.  Gemma really had a lot of fun flipping back and forth to the map in the front of the book with each new location to track their progress, as well.  We read and enjoyed this book numerous times, and I think it would go quite well with an early grade school US History/Geography curriculum.

Meal planning: Week of July 9

We'll see if these actually pan out with a baby due anytime, but for the time being, the plan is:

• Tortilla Casserole
• Pizza - I bounce between homemade crust recipes but always use my breadmaker for dough prep.  This week I think I'll use a red sauce and top it with chicken, pepperoni, fresh mushrooms and green peppers.
• Salmon and Noodles - that's my general guideline anyways, I usually use broccoli and cauliflower, no peas, less noodles than it calls for and Chedddar cheese.  And canned salmon instead of tuna.  A mixture of Matzo Meal and Cheerios works well for the crumb topping.

CHEERS!!

Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

I would so like to make the saints a more regular part of our activities around here.  I am still finding it hard to strike a balance though, at least with young children...most of the saint books we have are just a bit above Gemma (and Kolbe obviously).  I wish there were something more comprehensive (think Saint of the Day) out there geared specifically toward preschoolers.  At any rate, I've been trying to at least find a saint or feast or two a month and focus on them for several days with various books, pictures, activities, prayers and projects.  I decided Sts. Peter and Paul would be a great feast to celebrate (June 29), especially since Gemma learned (and has remembered!) a lot about St. Peter in Bible School.

Here are some of the resources I found for celebrating the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul:

• Here and here are some posts from Catholic Icing on St. Peter activities, and here is the recipe for the Keys of the Kingdom pretzels (I only used a tsp of salt in the dough, and I used 3 cups WW one cup white flour...they were quite tasty I thought and the kids enjoyed the whole process)

• Click here for a brief (geared towards children) biography on Sts. Peter and Paul
• Click here for a St. Peter coloring page and here for St. Paul
• Art print of Sts. Peter and Paul
• We checked out this St. Peter and St. Paul book from the library...definitely above Gemma but it worked
• And this great book of pictures entitled The Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, both kids really enjoyed all the pictures of art and architecture (even though it isn't actually a "Catholic" church, it was still really cool, and a great part of our US history as well)
  
• Of course, there's always a good St. Joseph picture book for about any occasion, we found Peter and Paul in Great Men of the New Testament
• I added our St. Peter and Paul prayer card to our table/liturgical centerpiece
• Click here for some prayers for Sts. Peter and Paul

Meal planning: inaugural post

My friend Sarah posts her meal plans on her blog each Monday, and I always enjoy seeing what's cooking at her house.  It's fun to get new ideas and see what others are eating, so I decided I'm going to give this a try on my blog as well.  Yes, within a week or so of having a new baby I probably won't be super-consistent with this right off, but I think it's a fun idea long-term, so I thought I'd go ahead and jump on the bandwagon.  I typically do our meal planning a month or 6wks at a time IN PENCIL (read: subject to change due to whim or food availability) on my daily calendar. My hubby grocery shops every Saturday, plus he can stop at the store on the way home each night if need be (yes, he is amazing) so I'm able to look ahead and let him know if there are any specific ingredients we need.  I only plan/cook three meals a week at our house, as my husband cooks on his two days off (typically grilling or one of "his" dishes...we each have specific things that one of us will cook so the other one doesn't ;-D) and we typically have meals with my family and the in-laws on the other two days.  So unless my hubby is planning ahead (which he usually doesn't do), I'll probably just post three meals/recipes a week.  For breakfasts we go in phases...pancakes, cinnamon toast, banana bread, some sort of eggs, French toast, etc., and lunches are leftovers, sandwiches, quesadillas or something equally easy, so I don't bother planning them either.  But without further ado, our dinners this week:

• Beef and Veggie Stew in the crock pot...I typically use a good roast-type meat (1.5-2 lbs), assorted fresh and frozen veggies (including cabbage, which we really like in our stews), a can of tomatoes, and then seasoned with some Montreal Steak Seasoning and Better than Bouillon (beef base).  Sometimes I cook barley to go along with it, and often (especially in Fall or Winter) I will bake a fresh loaf of bread. 
• Chicken, Tomato and Basil Linguine...you can serve this hot with a white-sauce, or cold with olive oil and vinegar.  Canned tomatoes work, but fresh grape tomatoes really rock this dish!  We use whole wheat pasta.  Top with some fresh Romano.

• Fish Crisp - I'll probably use swai this go around, as I believe we have quite a bit in our freezer.
  

Sunflowers III

And now, for the final post in our sunflower saga.  In mid-June -- when the sunflowers were going to seed -- there were several days we saw a beautiful goldfinch perched atop one of the flowers and nibbling seeds.  Gemma was actually the first to spot it, so that was very exciting.  Try as I might though, I wasn't able to capture a picture.  After a few hundred-degree (ugh) days, Gemma harvested some seeds to save and plant next year, and alas this is the end of our sunflower story.  For this year anyways.  ;-D  We capped everything off by reviewing the plant-cycle in the book Sunflowers from the library, and the sunflower pot is now housing my long-awaited lantana.