Crawling, and teeth, and cloth diapers, Oh My!

 Well, as usual, it's been awhile since i've written, so I'll try to make this quick!  Well, as quick as I can, because as most of you know, I have a daily word count that I must get in (and that doesn't matter if it's spoken, or written.  Sorry, Jared.).

Morgan has recently gotten her first tooth, one of her bottom ones.  I'm totally going to miss that sweet, innocent, gummy smile.  She has the most precious smile.  It makes my heart melt.  I know it did with Austin, but it's easy to forget as our children get older those small simple moments in life that make you realize what it is all about.  That smile is one of them to me.  And next month it will probably be something else.  I really wish we could just freeze time sometimes, but I know that's not possible.  But they really are growing up too fast.  It's hard to believe that she will be 8 months old in a few short weeks.  These two make our family and life complete.

Morgan at 6 months- just learning how to sit up on her own

How sweet and innocent can she possibly be?

Here are a few pictures of Morgan from her six month photo shoot with daddy.  As you can see, she's starting to come into her own, and looking slightly less like Austin at this point.  Granted, she still resembles daddy and big brother more so than me, but I think the bottom of these two pictures, in particular, she's starting to look like her own being.  And my, she is gorgeous, if I don't mind saying so myself.

Morgan getting into a stack of bills I'm working on organizing.  

Morgan is officially a crawler at this point.  She's very slow and timid with her movements, but she gets around.  It's adorable to watch.  She's up on all fours, unlike her brother who did the army crawl for months.  She's very curious and into everything at this point, and nothing is safe around her.  Austin is still trying to figure out how to keep her away from his toys, but he's very patient with her, and doesn't get upset with her (yet).  He's such a wonderful big brother though, and lets me know when she's got something that's too small that she shouldn't have.  Morgan is starting to want to eat adult table food and is getting upset when I try to feed her purees.  She typically blows raspberries at me, usually resulting in me needing a change of clothes almost immediately after meals.  I know it's a phase, like most things are with kids, but hopefully she grows out of this one soon.  It's cute, and frustrating all at the same time.  She's starting to self feed herself Gerber Graduate Puffs (she would eat the whole can in one sitting if I let her), bananas (i'm now up to buying around 12 lbs per a week for the family, ugh!), and i've given her really ripe pears and green beans.  She is still a good eater, and has quite the "tum-belly" on her as Austin would say.

Hanging out and watching basketball as a family

As some people know, I've recently gotten into the crazy, confusing world of cloth diapering.  There are so many options out there now, and it was honestly overwhelming and cumbersome at first.  I'm getting there with it though!  In all honesty, with Austin, I thought there was only one way to do things.  You buy everything-disposable diapers, food, whatever.  I'm not as timid with Morgan as I was with him.  I've made all of her baby food, started her on cloth diapers, have let her have bites of my food and drink from my cup.  These are all things I was terrified to do with Austin and I'm just a bit braver with her.   I almost tried cloth diapering with Austin, but it was when he was starting to potty train and I didn't want to invest the money in it at the time (and, we couldn't afford it, to be honest.  The initial cost was too much for us.).  So, Target started carrying a cloth diapering system (Charlie Banana) that I have been wanting to try, and I broke down and purchased them about two weeks ago.  So far, I love it.  I wish I would have done it sooner, but I sort of got wrapped up in making purees......and life.  Since she was an infant, Morgan hasn't really minded sitting in her own filth, which sort of concerned me with potty training (even though I know that's a bit down the road).  Austin hated it and I had him in cloth training pants before his 2nd birthday, and he was pretty well potty trained shortly after that (at least with the going number 1, number 2 was a totally different story!).  Morgan, not so much.  She blows out of every disposable diaper I've tried, and has always been red in the downstairs area.  Since i've switched to cloth; no blow outs, no redness....yet.  She still doesn't seem to be bothered with being wet, but she gets changed more frequently now that she's in the cloth as they don't absorb much.  It's a bit more work, but I like that she's not red, and I'm not wasting a bunch of money throwing diapers in the garbage anymore.  I feel like I'm doing something good for her, good for our budget, and good for the environment by doing so.  Not to mention that unlike the disposables, I can sell these once I'm done with them :)

Austin and Jared recently went to the Monster Truck show.  Austin was a huge fan, and Jared naturally tried to compare the Fort Wayne show to a much larger one he saw in MI growing up.  Not quite the same, but they had a blast.  Austin is changing so fast, and it's hard to keep up.  He's been in a more playful mood lately and not so literal and serious, which has been really fun.  It seems like at this point, he's more like our "buddy" than our son, if that makes any sense.  I hope that doesn't become a problem at some point, but it's what works for us right now, and it's part of the reason why he's such a great kid.  He really doesn't give us many problems and is a very sweet, kind, compassionate little boy.  Apparently we are doing something right. :)

We've all been sick lately.  Over, and over, and over again.  It's really getting old, and hopefully with the nice weather approaching (finally), we will get over some of it.  Here Austin is relaxing with Jackson, most likely watching a show, sick.  He's bringing home all of those lovely preschool germs, sharing them well with the family.  He's starting to do chores around the house again, and was just able to save up enough money to put $5 in the bank for savings, and buy himself his first toy.  He was so proud of himself when the Amazon package arrived today.  It was priceless to see his face and how excited he was.  I hope he enjoys this toy as much as he thinks he will, especially since he worked so hard to buy it.  it's interesting trying to teach a 4 year old responsibility and about money, but I guess we can't start to early with those sort of things.

Jared recently ran across the above quote.  And I don't know what's happened to us and our family in the past few years, but we've grown so much (both physically and mentally).  I don't know if it's been since the birth of our kids, since Jared switched jobs, since i've stayed at home, since or circle of friends has changed, or since we've gotten older (more likely a combination of the listed).  I'm really not sure, but we've been trying  around our house (as well as teaching the kids) to do the right things in life, knowing that eventually those things will be reciprocated and good will be done in the world.  I keep reflecting on a quote from Dr. Seuss that's in the Lorax "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not."  I long to get back to a simpler life; one where we aren't keeping up with the Jones's (although we haven't been doing that for years), where it's about helping our community and others around us, one where we live with what we need, and not so much what we want.  One that it's not just about "me". It doesn't take much to be compassionate, and it comes in all forms and can apply to most things in life.  I just hope that we can continue on this path in our lives and teach our children the same.  I apologize if some of this doesn't fit in, but I have a massive pack of Switch and Go Dino's next to me making a lot of noise from a very talkative 4 year old and have completely lost my train of thought.  So much for insightfulness :)

Winter and Introducing Solids!

Austin helping to make Christmas Cookies for Santa (Dec. 2012)

Well, the Holiday season is officially over, and it was wonderful.  Austin is finally at the age where he understands Santa, and we focused this year on him giving to others.  It's such a difficult concept for a 4 year old to get, but he did better than I expected him to this year.  I took him to Toys R Us this year and let him pick out a toy to donate, and he did great.  He started to understand that it's not all about him, and that other kids are in need as well.  He will even pick up toys around the house now and tell me that he doesn't need it anymore and we can donate it to another little boy who would like it.  It was a wonderful idea to do that from one of our friends, and it's a tradition we will continue to do with both of our kids.  He loved picking out gifts for grandparents, daddy; even his sister.  He did wonderful and actually tried to think of things that others would want, and not things that he wanted for himself.  We had a great Christmas, and felt very blessed and humbled for all of the wonderful things that have happened for our family this year.

Austin showing us what a T-Rex does.  And yes, he still thinks that he will grow up and become one someday! (Jan. 2013)

Austin is continuing to do really well in school.  He is beginning to read easy books to us (so far, we like the Brand New Reader's series).  We read the story to him once, and then he can read it back to us until we have to take it back to the library.  He's been asking about rhyming words, how to spell things, and the sounds that different letters make.  He has recently started to write his name, and is trying to draw simple objects (faces, monsters).  Most of his drawings look very similar, but his school has assured us that this is just one of the many steps in the process of drawing and writing!  It's amazing how he's able to do things this month that he couldn't do last.  He continues to develop at an amazing rate, which is pretty incredible to watch.  It's true what they say, they really do grow up too quickly.

Austin and Uncle Ben at Christmas with their Shields Protecting themselves from who knows what

Austin has got quite the imagination now.  He loves pretending to be different Super Heroes, Transformers, Zombies; you name it, he's trying to play it!  It's amazing to watch his little creative wheels going and to play with him.  I forgot how much fun it is to travel back and be a kid again.  Many times I don't understand what's going on when we are playing, but that's okay.  It's still fun!

Morgan Meeting her Nana for the first time. (Dec. 2012)

Just like Austin, Morgan is changing way too quickly!  She is quite proficient in rolling over now, and recently figured out that if she rolls more than once, she can actually get what she wants!  WOW!  She is laughing now, talking a ton, loves giving big smiles when people enter the room or start talking to her, squealing and shrieking,  and is starting to bare some weight on her legs.  She's recently trying to discover her toes; however, her favorite past time still remains chewing on her hands!  She still spits up on everything, and has good days and bad with it.  She's keeping me busy and on my toes when it comes to laundry, that's for sure!

Morgan during her 4 month Photo Shoot (Jan 2013)

Morgan has also recently been blessing us with 12+ hours of uninterrupted sleep each night (some nights).  Unfortunately, Austin keeps sharing his preschool germs very well with us, and that quickly put an end to our sleepless nights as we keep ending up sick!  The first few nights, it's nice getting to spend the extra minutes with the kids, but by night 3, the shit gets old!  :)

Morgan trying Peas (tried them in Dec. 2012  This picture is from Jan 2013)

Morgan has recently started solids and LOVES all of her food.  I made the decision this time around (and with some guidance from our good friend, Pam) to make all of our baby food at home.  I had no idea how easy this was with Austin, and am kicking myself now for never having tried it with him.  Its not only amazing how easy and cheap most foods are, but how many more things I have been able to make for her that Austin never even tried.  I've made peas, green beans, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes mango, pears, apples, prunes, pumpkin, zucchini, potatoes, apricots, papaya; just to name a few.  Next on the list for me to make and start mixing in; spinach!

Morgan playing at home (Jan. 2013)

Morgan is finally starting to enjoy her tummy time and play time on the floor.  It helps that we're at home more often now, since it's gotten cold and we aren't constantly on the run for a playdate or fun at the zoo or park!  We're having a difficult time getting Austin to understand though that he has to actually pick up his small toys so that she can't eat them!  Luckily, she's not that mobile yet, but I've got to figure something out with him before she gets there.  I know that's only a matter of time!

Morgan smiling and laughing at her big brother (Jan. 2013)

Life couldn't be better for us.  Jared and I have been teasing each other lately, especially since I turned the "Dirty 30" (thanks for that one, Chris) how much our lives have changed!  We used to spend our days going to dinner, bars, hanging out with friends, and our money and time on random crap.  Our Friday nights now consist of us going to bed by 9:30 or 10 if we're feeling crazy, having a nice meal at home (and arguing with Austin to actually try it); early play dates with friends, our bedtime routine, family time, and going to see a kids movie or buy a new toy (if it's in the budget for the month).  Our lives have changed drastically (to say the least); we for sure aren't the same people we were 5 years ago.  We're parents now; and if you ask either one of us, it's the most difficult, rewarding job there is around (as any parent would say), and we wouldn't change a thing.