And then we were four

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.Romans 6:8-11

From our family to yours, may you have a blessed Resurrection Sunday!

Happy Easter! Today we went to our church Easter Egg Hunt. Jackson had a blast! The weather was too poor to have it outdoors. It was actually snowing a little this morning... So a hallway was dedicated to the 2-4 year olds and numerous eggs were strewn on the floor from one end to the other. There wasn't much hunting per say that needed to be done! Jackson filled his basket quickly and quit before getting to the end, proclaiming he had enough eggs. He has quite the stash of candy now. Hmmm, now where to hide it?







Last night was dedicated to Easter Egg dying at our own home. Jackson really gets into it. Thing is, so do I. I confess I've dyed them all by myself before having kids. Having kids just kind of justified it a little more. Heehee! So I have some competition now Jackson is a speed dyer. Eggs quickly get plopped into cups all at once, while I'm more of the one-at-at-time-type. In the end all the eggs are colorful and fun was had. I always feel tempted to boil some more eggs up to do once he's gone to bed. But what would we ever do with 2 dozen eggs?! Oh, and note, Jackson is not turning into the Incredible Hulk... He just put his entire hand in the green egg dye.

My knitting classes have finally paid off! I'm really enjoying knitting and have FINALLY finished the "longies" for Liam. They're wool and I kid you not, they are the squishiest, softest pants you'd ever feel. OK, I know, most of you who read this are like, OK, those are weird. Well... They're awesome for using with cloth diapers. Wool is magic, don'tcha' know? I can put them on Liam for pants and they act as a diaper cover AND pants.

You might think wool is scratchy and uncomfy. Well not this wool. It's sheered from the body of the sheep. Scratchy wool comes from the legs. Liam's skin is so sensitive I trust him to complain if he was uncomfortable in the slightest.

He looks comfy and happy to me!


Here's the benefits of wool, just in case you ever need to know for Trivial Pursuit. Heehee!
-Wool provides comfort in both hot and cold weather since it is so breathable.
-Wool can absorb up to 30 percent of its own weight in moisture before it becomes really damp. While wool can absorb moisture, it repels liquids.
-Wool is so comfortable to wear because its elasticity means garments fit so well and yield to body movement.
-Wool does not need to be washed very often. When the lanolin in the wool reacts with the urea (basic pH) in urine, a chemical reaction occurs. Acids + Bases react to create the end products of water and salt. So the urine is no longer urine - it has been neutralized thanks to this wonderful chemical reaction! Wool really is “self-cleaning,” with no residual smell of urine, until all the lanolin is exhausted. Then you just need to wash and re-lanolize your wool- a very easy process.

So basically, yeah, wool is magic!





I don't want to leave out Jackson... I made him a Rocker Wrist Band from some left over yarn. He'd been asking for me to make him something. He specifically asked for red pants... Those would take me for.ever. I'll consider it! But for now, this was quick and easy!

I thought it would be fun to post what we're having for dinner for the week, and hopefully some of my blogging friends can do the same so we can get some new ideas for meals! (hint hint!) I get so bored with the same things and just spent 30min's going through my recipes I've collected from various places to come up with some new things this week. Most recipes I get from Real Simple or The Food Network, both are online...

We're having:
African Peanut Soup
Chicken with Balsamic Peaches
Meatballs and pasta - if you're lucky I'll share my own recipe with you. ;)
Ginger Aled Ham
Pizza Night - homemade

So what are you cooking up?

OK. So on Monday we were out with no jackets and the boys were playing in the water table, splashing and laughing like it was a warm spring day. Today we were wearing hats, snowpants and shoveling, throwing snow balls and sledding. What gives?! Hello Global Warming?! I was happy to have one last hurrah in the snow. Of course we can't really say the last since we have all of unpredictable March to make it through, but I was thankful for this gift of snow today. Jackson loved playing in it and I loved watching him.

Jackson was excited to go out and took it upon himself to get ready without my assistance. *snicker!*


We snuck out while Liam was taking his morning nap and played until I was hearing, "My chin is cold, can we go in!?" Jackson was happy to warm up with a nice mug of hot cocoa and marshmallows and took a very restful nap. Justin came home a little earlier from work to avoid the crazies on the road who can't drive in snow, so it was nice to all go out together for a little while.





Jackson must have been feeling in the mood for comfort food tonight because after dinner he asked if we could make blueberry muffins. I was happy to oblige! Jackson is a great cooking helper (most of the time!) Though, he wants to rush the whole process and asked about 63 times if he could add the blueberries yet. He also wants to "snitch" every ingredient as we go along. He tasted the batter and thought it was the best thing ever. (ick!) How fun - strike that - how funny would it be to do a cooking show with Jackson?! Justin and I were talking about it and played along with Jackson prompting him to tell his "viewers" what we were doing each step of the way. I asked him what was important to remember to stay safe while cooking and he told us, "You always have to stay in bed!" Well... We will work on that... He must have been thinking about our latest *issue* of his getting out of bed after we put him down... That's another story... Until then. Enjoy some muffins!

Liam knew something good was cookin'!

Why does time have to go by so fast? When I was pregnant with Jackson, the time couldn't go by fast enough. Now that Liam has joined our family, slowly but surely, time has gone to hyper-drive mode. I wish it would slow down sometimes! While I'm in a the moment, the days feel long, but the weeks are short. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway look back at the past three February's. Four years ago right about this time I got pregnant with Jackson!

February 2005 Jackson was 3 months old...


February 2006 Jackson was 15 months...


February 2007 Liam is 1 month and Jackson is 2 and 3 months...



February 2008 Liam is 13 months and Jackson 3 years and 3 months...

I just came across this really great article about the benefits and how-to's of cloth diapering. Check it out! You all know we cloth diaper Liam and we did for Jackson for a couple months before he potty-trained. I really think he trained so quick because of the switch to cloth for him. It's been wonderful for Liam because he has very sensitive skin, and I feel good about having fewer chemicals in contact with his baby bits and pieces. And I promise, it's not hard work! Maybe I'm odd, but I enjoy seeing his cute little bum covered in cloth.

Oh, and if you didn't know, some Hollywood stars use cloth for their babies, which is extremely cool. Come one, if the stars are doing it! Of the ones I read about, Dave Matthews does and says, "diapers are the number 3 peice of garbage," in landfills. Brad Paisely, Madonna, Mariska Hargitay (Law and Order) and Maggie Gyllenhaal also use cloth.

So here's my little guy wearing various cloth diapers. When we're at home, sometimes I just put him in these. These types of diapers, called "fitteds" do require a cover to protect clothing from getting wet, but since we're just home, I can see as soon as he's wet so I change him then. That allows for the most breathability for his sensitive skin.









When we go out, or if he's wearing more clothes (lol!) I'll put him in a "pocket diaper." Those allow for an absorbent insert to be placed in the pocket and the layer that touches the baby is either fleece or suede cloth, and that gives him a "stay dry" feeling, while the wetness passes right through to the insert. The outer layer is lined in PUL (polyurathane laminate) and keeps everything wet inside. Here's a techy picture of the kind we use, called BumGenius.