Goose, Goose, Goose. . . DUCK! FHE-- April 27, 2009

Toilet Training - April 27, 2009

Cade's New Outfit - April 2009

Behavior Incentive Charts

We finished our behavior charts today. It was a fun project to do with the kids (well, Brinly helped and enjoyed it). This is our final product. Our little frogs will jump from lilly pad to lilly pad (both forward and backward depending on behavior) until they all reach the ultimate prize (which currently is a trip to the pool- as represented by the beach scene at the bottom of the chart). Everything is interchangeable, the "incentive" at the bottom is just velcroed on, and so are the lilly pads. Just to change it up, we'll do different things each month or so- we have butterflies and dragonflies for later and worms/caterpillars, and lots of other fun stickers (Walmart 97cent stickers are great for this!). We'll see how this works:)

Boots & Smiles

Cade is hilarious with my boots. He honestly wears these boots more than I do. But this captures his enjoyment! Cute kid.

Home Depot Workshop

Home Depot does this great monthly workshop for kids ages 3 and up for FREE. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the hands on aspect as well as their cool aprons. We went for Brinly's preschool field trip, but Cade got to join in the fun as well. They made easels. We'll definately do it again. Each time they participate they get a pin with a picture of that day's project to put on their apron. Fun.

Cade with a hammer- ahh! He was in heaven.

To say it was a little noisey with all those preschoolers hammering is an understatement:)

Painting the assembled item.

The finished product- oh the pride!

Pregnant Privleges

I thought this was too good to pass up! I just happened to be next to a Baby's R Us and thought it would be fun to browse with the kids in anticipation of our upcoming arrival and they had upfront parking just for ME! It made my day:) There is only one other place I have seen this before and I believe it was on a military base commissary. Such thoughtfulness (or is it a retail scheme?).

And here, just for documentation purposes is my prego self. Only 8 weeks left! I deserved that parking spot, eh?!

Job and Behavior Charts

I have felt like I need to be a little more prepared for this baby's arrival, so I am trying to re-establish a job chart and a new behavior/incentive chart. I finished the job charts yesterday (well not quite- I still need to get all the jobs in order and find a pocket to store them in of some sort). I have yet to do the incentive chart, but have an idea in place- I'll post that when I have a chance. Pretty simple, but that is what we are going for! We used them this morning- it definitely helped...hopefully it will continue- we just need to make it a consistent routine to check the chart.

Cloth Diapers

So, this is what I've been spending all my extra time on the last few months (well, not entirely). Cloth diapers- I know, most of you think this is madness. I'll explain a few things. One, this is so much cheaper than disposables! Seriously, in 2 years the average child has close to $1500-$2000 spent on his/her diapers! And most kids aren't out of diapers in two years (at least mine aren't). This was an expensive project, and a time consuming one, but will have cost

a fraction of the two year disposable expense...and will be utilized for more than one child. AND it really is easier than it seems. Cade actually prefers them b/c they are cotton soft...though with the cover he does have a bubble bum:) It's pretty funny. Honestly, the reason I began this adventure is b/c of my desire to "BE PREPARED" and not rely on the commercial world as much as possible.

I made 26 one-size diapers and 6 large covers, 1 extra large, and am working on making covers for newborn, small, medium, and more extra large. This is a cover and the diaper.

This just shows the size range of these diapers. They are patterned after a commercially produced cloth diaper (http://www.motherease.com/ for anyone interested- and no, I'm not selling these) but are a little different due to my own preferences and materials. They have multiple poly-resin snaps to adjust the size by folding and snapping. They've worked well for Cade. We still use disposables at night b/c he's a heavy wetter (though he leaks though most ANY diaper at night)...we are still working on a solution for that.

My next feat is making the AIO (All-in-One) diapers that are the cover and diaper in one piece. As well as some small size diapers b/c I'm afraid these one size diapers won't fit for a few months. I'm using the http://www.verybaby.com/ pattern for both of those and the smaller covers. I'll post the results. Here is a pic of the AIO diapers- I think they are pretty cute (mine will have snaps instead of Velcro though).

PS. Thanks for the tips, Geneva!:)

Last One, I promise

I know this is a lot of one event- but Disneyland is a once in a lifetime thing for our family:) This is the last bunch of pictures for our posterity.

Disneyland Trip Continued

Disneyland Trip Continued

Disneyland Trip Continued

This was to die for! Cade was mesmorized by the fireworks, and totally made comments every second like, "Wow, Mom!", "I love it, Mom", "Look at the rockets!". Everyone around us got a kick out of it.

Disneyland Trip Continued

Fun Rides:

(No, that's not me, it's my twin sister! I wish I looked like that, but she isn't an ounce pregnant either!:))

Disneyland Trip

Our Disneyland trip started and ended happily (minus a day of pre-labor pains). Our trip was a success- two young families with 5 children under the age of 7 minus both fathers/husbands, one electric wheelchair bound grandpa, one engaged couple (who I must add are still engaged after this crazy familiy initiation), a happy Grandma, one 7month pregnant woman, one sick 21 month old, and two lively Aunties:) It was crazy non-the-less and so tiring, but we had fun. And we only lost one item- Lyndsey's camera.

Honestly, it was too crowded for the age group we were hauling around and I've decided it would be better when the kids are a bit older- but still it was fun.

We did learn a great ticket to beat the ride lines- that is- take a wheelchair bound grandpa with you and you'll jump the lines almost entirely! We had to wait still on in a few areas- but for the most part, Dad got us ALL in the wheelchair access entry almost every time. Fun memories.

First, the swimming fun:

Grandpa, Katie, and Cade enjoyed a secret swim the night we arrived in Anehiem. Cade LOVED it and once again had no reservations about jumping into the pool (which got him in a bind one time a couple days later). They had a great time.

(Dad looks like he's in pain in this picture:))

This was the last day we were able to swim, though it was really too cold to swim, but the water was warm- so they survived. They enjoyed the cousin, auntie, and uncle time.

Random

Two really cute pictures:

Cade came up to Brinly one day while watching a show and politely asked her if he could sit on her lap. She (amazingly) willingly complied. I thought it was too cute to pass up documenting:) I loved it! Cade hardly fit on her lap- it only lasted for about 15 minutes (if that), but a pretty long time for siblings to be that close:)

Next- this will be a classic. Shane convinced Cade that if he pushed a little dot on the handle of the ice cream scooper that it would make his car beep (Shane simultaneously pushed his remote lock button in his pocket). It was hilarious. Cade still tries, as does Brinly, to push the "button" on the scooper every time it is out and both are often severely disappointed when it doesn't work. Ha- oh, the classic humor of Shane Ford (ironically, it distinctly reminds me of my own childhood memories of my own father:))! Here is is faithfully trying to make the "button" magically make the car beep.

Recreation

We took advantage of the great recreation system in our area and utilized the indoor pool pre-season. It was super cheap, the kids loved it and I got a kick watching:)

Cade was like a fish- loved the water and would jump in without hesitation.

Brinly was a little more reserved. She enjoyed her freedom wearing the complimentary life-jacket.

Lots of fun!