Darling Isabelle is 3! (Update from May 2013)

My sweet darling girl turned three this spring, and she gracefully made the transition. I still have heart pangs when I see a glimmer of that baby face peeking out from her now more child like face.  She is 100% girl, loves everything pink, cute, and cuddly.

For her 3rd birthday she settled on  a Dora theme.  Sticking to our backyard birthday style we decided to have a Dora extravaganza!

Happy birthday my darling!!!

Prepare for the updates!!!

I've been away for quite a while but I still want to log memories here.  While I've been away we've still carried on life as normal and managed to capture a bit of it on camera.  I will warn my followers and subscribers that I may fill up your in-boxes for a while!

Happy reading, bear with me please!

We're Home!!

We've done it finally!  We are moved in! Hallelujah!

After extensive renovations on our previous house and our now current home, we are finally settling in!  There is still plenty of unpacking to do but it's starting to feel homey again.

I had all but forgotten my laptop, using only my phone to do Facebook updates and such during all of this hustle and bustle.  To be honest my hands are feeling a little unfamiliar with the keyboard still.

In the time I've been away from my blog we have:
Renovated our old home and found renters.

Renovated our new home and moved all of our belongings into it.

Went on vacation less than a week after we moved in. (Crazy right?  I must admit, it was nice to be able to leave our mess behind and block out all of the work that lay ahead. )  We needed the break to spend every moment just being a family.

Isabelle wants to take a class for everything. "Ballet class" "Singing class"... gymnastics has started a snowball effect for recreational learning.

Fiona has a tooth!!  7 months old and has her first tooth. *sniffle* I feel like it's an end of an era.  Tooth number 2 is just under the surface. *sniffle*

Corey and I are soon to celebrate 5 years married!  So far we've had a large lobster boil to celebrate and when the actual day arrives maybe we can steal away for a date... who knows?

None of what we accomplished would be possible without family.  We are truly blessed with so many loved ones caring for us and giving us their time and energy.

Big Changes

Well big news for our little family:

We're moving!  

We have a lot of work ahead of us moving to our new home and preparing our current home to be rented out.
I'll try to stop by here when I have a chance but in the meantime, please pray for us during the chaos of renovating, packing, and finding a responsible renter.

God bless y'all.

Soaking It All In

Maintaining a home, food schedules,  nap routines, play dates, potty breaks, cake orders, and more can all turn into a day to day battle to stay on top of it all.  I'm not sure if it's a second time Mommy thing or an "older is wiser" phenomena but I've found that I'm able to now, more than ever, just sit, relax, and soak in these moments that I know are only here for a short while.

Photography by the wonderful Jessica Faith Photogaphy.  You can find her blog here.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering: Part Two

I had started our diapering journey during Isabelle's infancy.  Being a babe with extremely sensitive skin we had so many issues with disposable diapers("sposies"). Some brands would make her poor bottom break out in acne almost instantly.  We finally settled on Huggies diapers, pre-fold cloth diapers with diaper pins, and the occasional homemade cloth diaper.

Isabelle in her homemade cloth diaper made by her Mimi (my Mom).

I used the pre-folds for as long as I could bear it, my fear of diaper pins never lessened.  Always so terrified I would actually prick that sweet baby skin I was very hesitant to use pre-folds whenever we left the house.

Isabelle is potty trained now but since Fiona's arrival I had made a commitment to cloth diaper full time and I did so for many reasons:

1. Fiona is allergic to ALL disposables.
2. In trying to raise a family as healthy as possible I find it better to stay away from artificial products.
3. It's better for the environment.  I've read that disposable diapers can last up to 300-500 years in landfills. No thank you.
4. Saving money.  It's a one time purchase and although it may seem like a lot up front, if you're changing diapers as regularly as you should it's estimated that you can save up to $4800 per child.
5. They can be used on more than one child.
6. Cloth diapers are very often sold in gently used condition.  I've joined some cloth diaper swap sites and it's incredible what you can recoup out of diapers once you're done with them.

Fiona had some gastrointestinal issues that required some medicine that would ruin cloth diapers so we had to make due until then.  But, now that we have those issues cleared up we have been in cloth full time!

They are of course more maintenance that sposies, they have very specific methods for care and washing but that's a whole separate post.  I'm fully enjoying all the money we're saving and the idea of never buying another diaper.  But most of all, I love Fiona's perfect, happy, baby bottom.  

Sweet baby Fi, 3 months.

Fiona being super cheesy, 4 months old!

Oh Yeah...

Life has carried me away, far far away from my blog.  I feel like a stranger on my own site now.

• Isabelle is now three.  Fiercely independent.  Incredible.
• Fiona is smiling, giggling, squealing, blowing bubbles, weighs a hefty 20 pounds, and can wear 12 month clothing... she's 4 months old.
• Corey is done with classes for the summer.  This Mama is thrilled to have him home every night after work!
• I turned 25, joined a gym, and am in the process of starting my own business. More on that later.