A beautiful day in the Ozarks!

Yesterday we spent some time working around the house but decided to get out and have some fun in the afternoon. It was such a beautiful day! We first headed out toward Garfield, AR to see the view of the Ozarks and Beaver Lake from Whitney Mountain Lodge.






After our visit to the lodge we drove around the area a little bit. Then headed toward a pick-your-own raspberry farm. The kids had a great time picking raspberries. I think they ate more than they picked!






Once we got home and got everyone bathed and in bed, I made some raspberry sauce which Jaime and I enjoyed over some vanilla ice cream. Then this morning we all had french toast topped with raspberries and raspberry sauce and vanilla yogurt topped with raspberries. Yum!

Cloth Diapers

So, some of you already know that I have been using cloth diapers with Sofia. Those of you who didn't know this are probably going...WHAT!!! Yes. It's true. I use cloth diapers and I love it! I did a lot of research on the internet to learn as much as I could about this whole concept and, in the process, fell in love with the idea. After doing some reading and more reading and more reading about the different types of diapers I decided this is what I was willing to try. The bumGenius 3.0. It's a one-size diaper, which means that you can adjust the size as your baby grows, so there's no need to buy more diapers over the 3 years or so your child is in diapers.



I found a store in Fayetteville that sold these diapers and bought one. At almost $20 a piece I didn't want to buy more than one until I was sure I would really stick with it. I eventually ordered 6 more from this website, with plans to buy about 5 more, for a total of 12. I think that should be a good amount to have for Sofia. Unfortunately, Joshua is too big. I can get them on him but he gets so mad. He is a big boy and the diaper is too tight around his chubby thighs.

Maybe now you're wondering what I liked about it so much. There are several reasons. (1) Disposable diapers are so expensive! Research shows that over the coarse of a childs lifetime in diapers a family will spend between $1500 - 2000 in diapers compared to about $300 or so (depending on the type of diaper you purchase) in cloth diapers. (2) Environmental reasons. Disposable diapers take years and years to decompose. I like knowing I can do my part, albeit small, to help the environment. (3) Health reasons. There are so many chemicals used in disposable diapers to make them so absorbant. I feel it's better to have cloth around such a sensitive area of my baby's body instead of all the chemicals that are in disposable diapers.



Here are a few pictures of Sofia in her bumGenius diapers! What a cutie!!!

If you have ever considered using cloth diapers I would encourage you to give it a try. If you want to go super cheap, it can be as hard as it's reputation says but it doesn't have to be! Cloth diapers have come a LONG way from when our mom's and grandma's used them. If you are interested here is some more information about cloth diapers. Give it a read. I'm so glad I did!

I am thankful for...

...Big Momma shopping carts at Wal-mart!!!

Patient and Productive

I did not have the greatest start to this day. Sofia woke up hungry at 4:45. I drug myself out of bed and nursed her. She nursed well for about 30 minutes or so. Afterward, she was sleeping in my arms (or so I thought) so I put her back in her crib. Then the trouble began! I was already back in bed with the blankets pulled up over me. And just in the moment I was able to get into that comfortable "ahhhh!!!" position... Sofia started fussing. I let her fuss for a minute or two because I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed again, but I finally got up. I didn't want her to wake up Joshua. I went into her room and she had her eyes wide open. Immediately I thought, "Great! There goes the rest of my sleep." I changed her diaper. She doesn't like being poopy. I rocked her. Burped her. Tried nursing her a little more. Held her in every position possible. But she just was not happy. So I figured, if I'm going to be awake with her I might as well be comfortable. So, we climbed in my bed, which made her MAD!!! By this point she is crying pretty hard. Jaime tried holding her, bouncing her, giving her gas drops, etc. Nothing worked!

At 6:15 she was still crying and now Joshua was up. So I went to the kitchen to make coffee. This was definately a lets-make-twice-as-much-coffee-as-normal kind of morning. By this time I needed to get Megan up to start getting ready for kindergarten. So, I put Sofia in her bouncy chair, which she generally hates being in, but I had to help Megan and take care of Joshua too. Now she is all out screaming! But, while Megan and Joshua were eating breakfast, she FINALLY fell asleep. From the pure, total exhaustion of the previous 2 hours she fell asleep. Ahhhh! The house was more or less quiet!

A while later Jaime and Megan were out the door on their way to work and school. Joshua was playing with cars and I was drinking some coffee. Sofia was still sleeping. Around 9:00 Joshua went down for his morning nap and Sofia was still sleeping! Now, the house was really quiet.

While all of this was going on I kept thinking, I'm tired and frustrated. I just want to be lazy and do nothing today. Normally on a day like today that's what I would do... nothing but the minimal to survive! But that still small voice in my head told me that's not the best use of my time. So, my prayer for this day is to be patient and productive. "Lord, help me make this day the best it can be. Despite the fact that I'm as tired and frustrate as can be, I have a job to do. Help me do it well!"

Cars

Apparently, Joshua thought Sofia needed to play with some cars while she was taking a nap in the swing this morning.

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Megan's first day of Kindergarten. We loaded the whole family up in the minivan to take her this morning. She was a little nervous but also very excited.

We helped her find her classroom and when she saw her teacher, Mrs. Conner, Megan gave her a big hug. (Megan met her teacher at a "meet and greet" event the previous Thursday.)

She found her name on the table and sat down to play with blocks. She seemed completely comfortable being there and hardly noticed when we left.

When I picked her up in the afternoon, I was excited to hear what she did all day. She told me she learned how to walk in a straight line and drink out of the water fountain. Exciting stuff!!! My prayer for her as she begins this new part of her life is that she will develope a lifelong love of learning that never goes away.

Demolition Derby

Jaime and Joshua went to a demolition derby on Saturday with our friends David and Ryan. It looks like they all had a great time!

Megan is Five!!!

It's hard to image that Megan is 5! How has that many years gone by already? Jaime and I were talking about our first moments and days with her. Wasn't that just yesterday? It sure feels like it!

She has been a joy to have in our lives. She is a sweet little girl. She loves her little brother and sister so much. She's really into dance and music. I'm hoping to enroll her in ballet this fall. She loves playing with friends too! Her first day of kindergarten is on Monday, August 18th.

We had her birthday party at JumpZone in Bentonville, AR on August 8th. She invited several friends to celebrate with her. Lita (Jaime's mom) and Chichi (my sister Lisa) were able to make it from out of town. Here are some pictures from her special day!

Bye-bye Lita

Some of you may not have known that my mother-in-law was here visiting and helping out with the kids after Sofia was born. She was here for a whole month!!! It was wonderful to have her here with us. I can't thank her enough for all her hard work with the kids and house. I was definately spoiled!

It was such a sacrifice by so many people for her to make the trip from Siguatepeque, Honduras to Rogers, AR. She left many responsibilities in the hands of others to come help me with my three kids. What a blessing she was to me during that time. Thank you everyone who made this possible. We love you all!!!

It was also great for her and the kids to have some time together. It had been over a year since we last went down to Honduras. Megan remembers Lita and all the family. Joshua was only 6 months old, though. It took him a little bit to warm up to having her around, but he came around. I'm so glad she got to see Joshua at this time. He's at such a cute age.

What great memories we all have from this past month!

Oh, How time flies!

Here are some pictures of Sofia at one month old. She is 5 weeks old today and I hate that I'm just getting around to posting these pictures. Oh well. Such is life with three kids. We are all enjoying Sofia. She is a sweet and beautiful baby. God has blessed us abundantly through the lives of each of our three kids.






This quilt was made for Sofia by Mary Gatto (my sister's mother-in-law).
Thank you, Mary. We love it!

Living the Vida Loca

Life is pretty crazy around our house right now. There's not much of a schedule to anything. We eat when we can. We get showers/baths when we can. We attempt to get as much sleep as we can. We try to stay on top of making sure Joshua gets a consistent nap each day. Etc, etc, etc... Some days we are successful. Some days not so much...




This day I was in the kitchen doing something. Megan was playing on the computer and Joshua was near her playing with his cars. After a while I noticed it was really quiet in the other room. So I asked Megan, "What is Joshua doing?" She replied, "He's sleeping on the floor!" So I ran to get the camera. He's never done this before. He must have been so exhausted! Poor little boy! He never even woke up while I picked him up from the floor and carried him to his bed.

Cousins!!!

I know it's been a month since Sofia was born and I haven't yet shared with many of you an interesting piece of info. My cousin, who lives in Siloam Springs, AR, was pregnant the same time as I was. Our due dates were three days apart. It was fun to share this pregnancy experience with her. When the end was drawing near we were continuously talking and guessing as to who would go into labor first. Officially I was in labor first but it's irrelavant now because our babies were born the SAME DAY!!!

Here is a picture of me with both Sofia and Bekah.

Fun in the Sun

This morning we decided to get outside, before it was 100 degrees, and play for a while. Our friend Ryan came over to play with us. All the kids had a great time, especially Ryan. Sometimes he isn't crazy about playing in the pool, but today he was all about it!



This picture was too cute, I just had to put it on here as well. Joshua is 20 months old and loves to show us where all the different parts of his face are. His newest thing is showing us his teeth. Here he is showing off his pearly whites. (Note: Please disregard daddy's feet and hairy legs in the background.)

Kidz Kamp 2008

This was Megan's first year to participate in Kidz Kamp at our church. This is the group of Kindergarten through 2nd graders. They sang three songs. Megan had quite a crowd watching her. Besides Jaime, myself, Joshua and Sofia, Jaime's mom was with us as well as my sister Andrea, her husband Brian, and their son, Benjamin. We all had a wonderful time watching her perform. She did great!!!

Sofia - Three Weeks Old

Yesterday Sofia was three weeks old. I had great intentions of writing a new post yesterday but it didn't happen. I'm sure most of you will forgive me! :-)



Here is a picture of her from yesterday. It isn't great but it's all I have. We can definately tell she has grown over these past three weeks. She is fitting into her clothes so much better, from her first days, at less than 6 lbs, until now.

One of our favorite things to do is hold her. She is such a sweet baby. There is no lack of attention for her in our household. Here are some pictures of us with Sofia.

Extended Family

This is a picture from a brunch we were invited to. The group pictured here are all relatives of Jaime, most of whom live in the Rogers/Bentonville area. It has been fun to get to know more and more of his family over the years. He has a wonderful extended family, so full of life and great stories. I am so blessed to be a part of it!

When I grow up...

...I want to be just like my daddy!

One Week Old

It's hard to believe our Sofia is one week old already! She has been such a joy to add to our household. Both Megan and Joshua are doing great with her. Joshua is learning to be more and more gentle with her each day.

On Monday I needed to take her in to see the pediatrician. They wanted to check her and make sure her jaundice was not coming back. We were so happy to learn that not only was she doing great with the jaundice but that she had gained 6oz. in only 4 days! She had gained her birth weight back plus 2oz. more!


Here are the three of them together.
So Sweet!!!

Snoopy?

After only a few days of life, Sofia has already been granted a few nicknames. In our house we sometimes call her Sofie. Her uncle Brian calls her Sopapilla. The funniest nicknames, though, have come from our 2 year old friend Ryan. He refers to Sofia as "Snoopy" or "Soapy". It's a good thing she's too young to care yet!


Here is a picture of Ryan with his mom, Sara, and "Snoopy".

It's a Girl!!

God has blessed us with a third child... a beautiful little girl. Sofia Isabelle was born at 1:08 am on July 3, 08 (4 short days after our trek in the back woods of Arkansas...scary. look at our previous posting). She realized how much fun she had missed while in the belly and decided to come out. Not really, she was induced a couple weeks before her due date, to her Momma's relief and answer to prayers. She was not growing as much as they would have liked in the belly and thought she would do better out here in the real world.

Here I am! I put up a fight but I'm happy with the outcome.


This is my Mommy. I think she looks great even after pushing me out.


This is my Daddy! I think he's alright.


These are my siblings, Megan and Joshua. I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on them cuz they are trouble. Megan is so excited that she has a little sister. Joshua could care less about me. He ran right past me to the window and just sat there looking at the cars below and making car sounds, Boys! I think he's going to be a lot of fun though. I here he is a little crazy. I'll make sure he stays out of trouble.


And here is all of us. Mommy and Daddy have their hands full. Daddy says they are trying to catch up with the Duggers (I don't know what that means). Mommy says she's closing shop (I don't know what that means either).


Testing my peepers. Doing some recon.


The Doc said I had to sit in a tanning bed for a few hours to get some kind of levels down. My Daddy was checking out the LED technology of the lamp. What a nerd!


These jammies are so comfy!


And here we are all lined up in a minivan on our way home. I think this is the beginning of a whole lot of fun! I'll keep you updated on my discoveries. Thanks for reading.