a charming read

If a book sticks with you from childhood and still charms you as an adult, you know you've got a keeper on your hands.  The book The Milly-Molly-Mandy Storybook by Joyce Lankester Brisley is one such book!  It was first published in 1928.

I can still picture this book sitting on my bookshelf in my room when I was a girl of 8 or 9 with the exact same cover pictured below.  The illustrations in the book are irresistable and the story is even better.  If you've never read it, head down to your local library's children's section and snatch it up!  Even if you don't have kids and you're a woman, you need to read this.  It oozes simplicity, lovliness, and a charm that is seldom captured in a story. 

Can you tell I love this book?

I bought a copy last year to read to my girls, and have picked it back up this fall to add to Morgan's homeschooling line-up.  If I could cover the walls of one of my rooms with it's illustrations, I would.  They are the cutest ever.  And then I'd paint the walls red and white striped, just like Millicent Margaret Amanda's "frock." 

The illustrations in the book are strewn throughout and fill a whole page. 

They all are so adorable, really, I can't get enough of them.  And these scans (thank you, Google) don't do them any justice.

I love the map of the village too, in the front of the book...

Do any books evoke this type of nostalgia for you??  Which ones? 

gasp

My hands have not touched knitting needles or a crochet hook since last May.  My projects tend to drop off in the summer months, but this year has been the worst!  I don't have time for it right now anyways, juggling my life... but I have a few projects up my sleeve for baby gifts and one project for a friend I just couldn't finish last spring when our baby girl was on the horizon and I was SO ill, so I'd better get going with my late-night-kids-are-in-bed craftiness. 

funny kids this week..

For my memory... 

Annika
(sorry in advance)
...as we flushed her potty down the toilet today... "Bye pee pee, I lub you!"

...as we flushed her sister's #2 down, "Bye-bye poo poo, see you tomorrow!"

...after I found LOTS of chocolate candy wrappers on her floor:
ME:  "Oh no, how many did you eat???"
ANNIE:  "Ummmmmm, two sow-sun?"  (two thousand)

She is so crazy-silly, this 2 year old of mine.  Here she is at 4 months old....  the same age as Gabrielle... but look at those cheeks!  I wanna kiss them. 

Gavin

The other day in school we were talking about homophones and the difference between we and wee.  Gavin piped in with, "And don't forget Wii, and what's a wee wee anyways, I've heard kids talk about it, I think it's Scottish!"

first week of cloth diapering

This post is dedicated to Natasha I. and my other friends

who are thinking about giving cloth diapering a try. 

We're on Day 6 of our cloth diapering experiment and we think they're

FANTASTIC!  There isn't one part of the whole process I don't like. 

Actually, I can't believe I used disposables for 10 years and never gave cloth diapering a second glance. 

The day we got them in the mail last weekend, I was home with just the little girls.  Annika was SOoooOOOoo excited about getting new "pretty diapers" in the mail.  She instantly started gathering them into a pile and hugging them saying, 

"I love my diapuhs, my pretty diapuhs.. Ohhhhhhhhhhh."

Seriously.  She was hooked.  I had no idea my 2 year old had it in her to care about diapers. 

Here she is hugging. 

Here she is rocking back and forth and telling her new "diapuhs" how much she loves them!  ha ha

I ordered 4 of these cute ones in 4 different colors.  I love them so much!  They snap instead of velcro closed, and they work for Gabrielle actually better than Annika.  I thought it would be the other way around. 

I have it snapped on the second to last smallest setting for the waist, and the largest in length just so you could see. 

All the diapers I ordered are by Kawaii Baby. 

They are considered One-Size, Pocket Diapers, with Micro-Fleece lining.

And did I mention they were CHEAP!  $7 for the velcro, $7.50 for the flower print each. 

I call that a GOOD deal... especially when you figure we'll be paid off and not be buying diapers anymore in just 2-3 short months! 

We have 16 of this style.  They are SO great.  The one on the left is how I use it for Annika.  And the one of the right is set for Gabi.  This style of diaper can be used for babies from 8-36 pounds.  And truly, they work so well.  In disposables, my girls usually wake up with their jammies soaked from diaper leakage each morning, because they both sleep 12 hours or more a night.  The are incredible!  And they don't feel wet like our disposables did, I really can't tell if they are wet until I check the liner in the inside.

Here's where we store our diaper changing supplies in Gabrielle's new room.  It works best to have both girl's diapers all in one place, since Annie's new room is downstairs and we spend most of our day upstairs.  The stack on the lower right is Annika, then the rest are set for Gabrielle.  The bottom shelf  with the bag of wipes sitting on it is also full of the absorbent inserts that come with the diapers.  2 of each comes with each diaper I ordered.  The only time I use 2, is for Annika at nighttime and you just stick both in the pocket of the diaper together.  Gabi does fine with 1. 

And here's my fancy diaper pail.  It's a 5 gallon bucket, with a garbage bag, and a gamma lid screwed on top.  It works great.  And it was free since we already had several of these buckets to store rice/dry beans/flour.

The thing that has really saved me in all this is the flushable liner.  They look just like big dryer sheets and are biodegradable and fully disolve in the septic.  So no poo is handled in the changing of my girls.  They are worth it!!  (and cheap too)  I think around $5 - $6 for 100. 

Here are the absorbent inserts...

Here's the pocket you stick the insert.  Easy!  As you can see, the velcro

tabs are stuck down on the laundry tabs while the diaper is not in use, that way when you wash them

all the diapers don't get stuck together. 

This is Charlie's Soap.... a highly recommended detergent for cloth diapers.  It's great so far...  And you only have to use very little in each load.  First I do a hot rinse.  Then a full load on Heavy Duty cycle with the detergent.  Then dry in the dryer on med. heat.  Easy.  Really.

I have 21 diapers, and with both girls wearing them, I'm washing about every 2 days. 

I hope you give it a second glance if you're considering it at all!!!

I'm no expert, but if you have a question, write it in the comments.

And by no means is the way I'm trying it the best way or the most efficient... it's a learning experience for me and I'm taking the advice of seasoned cloth diapering mamas who've gone before me.

Look at this little cutie... I also think cloth diapers are just adorable!!!

38 year old Gabrielle...

I came across a picture of this beautiful actress Thandie Newton a couple months ago,

and I couldn't help but imagine that Gabrielle would look like her when she grows up!

(I can't tell you what movies she was in other than The Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith.)

It kinda freaked me out the first time I saw her picture after bringing Gabi home,

her face shape is even similar... just a little random fun for today, do you think they have

a similar look?  I read (when I found this picture) that she is bi-racial too.  She was born in Zambia to a British father and a Zimbabwean mother, interesting, huh?  . 

not large enough.

This post has been brewing in my brain for quite some time.  I'm sure if you're a Mom and you've been out with your child(ren), you've heard these statements:

"Wow, you have your hands full!"
"Don't you know how those are made by now?"
"I don't know how you do it!"
"You're brave for bringing them all with you..."

You get the idea.  You give them a weak smile while thinking, that's all you could think of to say? 

If you've ever said anything like this to a harried Mom (or perfectly peaceful Mom), no worries... I'm just trying to get us to look deeper.  Why are children not valued?  Why do we choose to look at the seemingly negative side of a circumstance rather than the positives?  Can we see children as a joyful addition to life (and shopping trips)?  And by the way, a Mom always knows she has her hands full!  And I for one, LOVE taking all 5 kids to the store.  I really do.  It's a challenge and such fun all at the same time. 

I can think of plenty of positive things to say when I see a fellow Mom out and about with her kid(s).  How about:   (these are real things that people have said to me,  THANK YOU!)

"Cute kiddos."
"How old are they?"
You are incredibly blessed."
"You're doing a good job, Mom."
"Can I help you with anything?"
"You kids are so well behaved."
"How fun to be shopping with your Mom!"

This is just a springboard to get to the topic I want to address.  I have 5 children.  Honestly, I don't see that as a large family.  It's our family.  And I adore our family.  It's not a burden, it's an absolute joy.  I can understand why a family with more than 2-3 kids is considered "large" in our culture where reaching the "American Dream" is something to be strived for, and many view children as little beings that get in the way.  Well, I for one am living my dream.  No American Dream needed here, I have a God-given dream.  There is nothing that could entice me to live in a bigger house, have a nicer (and smaller) car, enjoy more throw around cash, have designer clothes, and a career that is taking off.  NOTHING.  I laugh at the thought.  I love my life.  Our children are a heritage.  They (and ourselves) are the only things that are lasting in this life in light of eternity.  So why should I invest in anything else? 

There are WAY, WAY, WAY too many children (try over 150 million) that need the love of a family for us to be selfish with our lives.  (I am in no way saying that all should adopt, or become foster parents, or that you yourself are being selfish... I'm talking about our family specifically.)  God has placed his heart for the fatherless and the lonely in ours, and we are never looking back.  Sometimes I lay in bed at night and ache at the thought of a child somewhere (right now) being abused, neglected, and with no hope.  Sometimes it is more than I can bear.  Sometimes I look at the photo galleries of waiting children here in the United States and other countries to see if any of them seem like they are ours.  I did that today.  I do it often. 

In the last 2 years, God has completely thrown open the doors of our hearts and let us look through his eyes at this ginormous need.  And we began to wonder, what can we ever do?  We already have a family with 4 children.  Well, God expanded our hearts to have more love to give and changed our way of thinking.  We don't need a larger house, ours will do just fine.  We do have more room.  Our children don't need their own space.  Sharing rooms builds respect for others and their property.  And it builds relationships like nothing else can.

So in our minds, our family isn't large or too large... I just have a feeling it's not large enough.  And with God, how can anything be "too" anything?  If it's his plan and his heart, how can anything not be just right?  There are so many thoughts swirling tonight that it's all coming out as one big ramble... I hope you're still with me, and I hope God stirs your heart too. 

To do something. 

If you are a believer in Christ, God has chosen us as the people who will come to orphans and widows in their distress.  We all know what a widow is, but what is an orphan exactly?  Is it just someone who has lost both parents to death?  I believe it is that, and also there is a figurative use of the word, which puts on the same level parentless children and people who are alone, solitary; abandoned, cast-off, forsaken, lost; disregarded, ignored, neglected, and slighted. I also have heard foster children called "temporary orphans."  And I believe this to be a proper use of the term, especially with all of the added definitions of an orphan.

Children need not only food and shelter.  They need love, security, and to belong somewhere.  Somewhere safe.  And though we aren't perfect people or parents, we are willing to be used by God in the life of our children and possibly future children with our faults and all.  And we pray he will use us for his glory on this earth and not ours. 

it happened!

We are now the proud owners of signed adoption consent forms from Gabrielle's birthmom!!!

We set up a meeting today after some good conversation with her yesterday, and it happened.  It's nothing short of a miracle straight from our Heavenly Father, we know that for sure...  Thank you for praying for us in this.  In 10 days, her signature will be irrevocable and our case will be filed with the courts.  Our court date will be in a couple months! 
Since she is the custodial parent, her signature is the most important to us...  the birthdad's will soon follow, as he has expressed to us he is ready to sign and intends for us to adopt her as well.

We are on cloud nine today...  YAHOOOOOOOO!

We're getting there...

Friends, if you get this is time, would you please pray for us tomorrow?  (Sunday) We have a meeting planned with Gabrielle's birthparents for the purpose of signing the adoption consent paperwork in the afternoon.  Both have stated that they are ready to sign. 

Let your will reign tomorrow, Lord...  We are trusting you every step of the way. 

fair time!

The state fair snuck up on us this year in the midst of adding a 5th child to our family this summer and the start of our homeschooling year.  But we made it on a weeknight and met my Dad there for the fun!  (We missed you greatly, MKay!) 

We had a fantastic time, it was short... probably the shortest time we've ever spent there... but there were no crowds, the rain only lasted 30 minutes or so... and there was good food.  What's there to complain about? 

Jeremy took the girls on the ferris wheel, it was their first time!

Thank you, Dad for treating us to a memory-filled evening. 

We treasure our time with you. 

Gabrielle was super trooper.  She slept during the rainstorm, and was a happy girl

the rest of the time.  She wore her first hat made by yours truly that day too! 

She makes a neapolitan sundae hat look SO good. 

life these days...

One of my favorite tiny baby necessities is this lovely velcro straight jacket swaddle blanket. 

All of our babies have always slept so well swaddled, until they get too big and grow out of the need.

At 4 months, Gabrielle still loves it and sleeps 12 hours straight in it. (Not in this seat of course, but in her bed...) Thank you, sweet baby, for

humoring your exhausted mommy of 5 by sleeping like a little angel. 

It's a rarity to hold her asleep, since she lays down so nicely and falls asleep on her own.. these moments are my treasures!  And I try to get pictures whenever I can.

Annika is such a little mommy to Gabrielle... always patting, cooing, smiling, tickling, and comforting. 

Her most used sayings are:

Ooooooh, it's okay, Gabi-elle....

We coming, Gabi-elle...

Gabi-elle kye-ing, Mom!

Gabi-elle funny. 

This next set of pictures captures the many faces of Gabi. 

Aren't her curls just the best?

And this, is the big girl's newly painted room!  It used to be our school room, and now it's gutted and filled with girly things wall to wall.  The dresser and play table and chairs were painted the same pink as the closet... we love it!!!  It's definitely bright and cheerful, just the way we wanted it. 

I'll post pictures of the finished product once the room is totally put together.