Another day, another month gone by

And another well-baby checkup at the doctor's office. And one big baby boy who keeps growing! David now weighs in at a whopping 16 lbs 7 oz, and he is 25 and a half inches long. I guess we're doing something right in the feeding department. And I'm very grateful for that this time with David. It was right around when Anna was 4 months old that I wasn't able to nurse her at all anymore after having to supplement the whole way since she was first born. It's amazing to me how different things can go the second time around after getting it in my head that it's just "the way things are" for me. Here's our happy little guy, looking pretty proud of himself sitting up in his toy seat.

There were 4 in the bed

and the little ones said, "Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and Daddy fell out.

There were 3 in the bed and the little ones said, "Roll over! Roll over!"
So they all rolled over and Mommy fell out.

There were 2 in the bed and the little ones said, "Good night!"

I miss the slow-to-wake-up mornings without kids climbing/crying their way into bed with us at 6 in the morning. But they're pretty sweet, so we forgive them. For now.

Diapers

Thankfully, the water came on earlier than was originally forecasted yesterday, so I was able to get laundry moving again. But I'm starting to rethink our diaper situation for David.

So either he is dangerously pushing the edge of needing the next size up in diapers, or I need to shop around for a better brand. The White Cloud brand diapers that worked fine for Anna are just not cutting it lately for David, as evidenced by my ever-growing baby-boy-laundry piles. I think I may have to stop being a cheapskate on diapers for a little while until he grows out of the newborn exploding diaper age to save my sanity. Pampers worked well when we had one bag of them a couple months ago. I wonder if it's worth the money though, since they cost almost double what the generic and White Cloud diapers do. What do you use? And did you need to change brands for different kids as they came along?
Help me! We're getting dangerously close to just skipping the clothes altogether to prevent the inevitable outfit-changing (do boys even wear "outfits", or is that too girly a term?) at least once or twice a day. Poor little innocent guy...

No H2O

2 blow-out diapers from David.

No running water today because of some plumbing issue somewhere in our apartment complex causing all water to the whole property to be turned off. From 7am until 7pm.

Not a good combination.

I'm so tired of renting!

At least I have an excuse for not doing the laundry or dishes today!

The Zoo

Can you believe that I've never been to the zoo before? Well, I guess I technically did go way back when we had a Kansas City family reunion with all the Dalton cousins, but I was only 3 or 4 at the time and have next to no memory of the trip. I think the one thing that left an impression on me as a young child was looking at the giraffes and standing outside the glassed area where you can see the giraffes legs up close. Kind of an odd but fleeting memory.
So we finally went to the zoo last week! I have officially lived. My brother and sister-in-law Jon and Carrie came with us (I love having family near! Even if it is only for four short months...), and Jon joined me in my giddiness of an almost-first-time at the zoo. His only zoo experience was that same family reunion he was too young to recall, and then a trip to the San Diego Zoo last year on his honeymoon with Carrie. So because we're sort of silly, zoos are a bit of a novelty still.

We got to see the fun sea lions


Anna loved watching the animals, but didn't quite know what to think of being prompted to hug the statue

so Jon and Carrie showed her how it's done.

Watching the monkeys with Dad



Anna and Uncle Jonny?

Wait, Anna and Uncle Jonny--Closer...

Anna and Uncle Jonny!


Tasty pole

Not the greatest picture because of the flash glare, but this is the only memory I have of the zoo when I was younger like I mentioned before, so I had to have a picture.


And for proof that David made it to the zoo and we didn't leave him home all alone

He got passed between Jon and Carrie a lot, and then he hid out in his stroller for little naps here and there.
Fun day!

A Pajama-ish Day

With a cold coming on, 46 degrees outside and threatening rain for most of the day, we're having a pajama-ish sort of day. Looks oh-so-cozy, doesn't it?

I think I'll start some bread baking to create the right aromas for the atmosphere.

Castles

On our way downtown to the zoo yesterday, Anna saw castles! Can you see it? I love seeing how her little mind makes associations. I now completely think that the skyline looks like castles.

Thrifting

Is that a term? I've rediscovered how much I love shopping in thrift stores. I am a spend-thrift and can't bring myself to spend the $15 + for those baskets at Target or Garden Ridge that would be the perfect storage bin in the corner. I think it runs in my blood to be a penny-pincher and have to justify every purchase before I make it. Through talking to my wonderful sister-in-laws, I find they agree for the most part that their husbands, aka my brothers Jim, Mike and Jon, are pretty similar. I guess it's a Laudie thing.

But the local Salvation Army and Goodwill here are great for my penny-pinching self. I love that I can walk out of the store with a big pile of loot for only $10. It does my heart good. I love finding things to help me organize and beautify our little place. Or our (hopefully soon!) new home. These were last week's finds.

A basket for Anna's room to store her books in a readily-available location instead of chucking them all over the floor. All it needs is some spray paint to make it match the room.

The other basket for storage in the bathroom. Ramekins because at 50 cents a pop I couldn't pass them up, and I've wanted some for a while to try to make individual quiches. And other pretty decorations.

I had so much fun that I went back today to see what else I could rummage up. The trip was not unrewarded... I think I'm in love.


Can't beat this adorable little table for $8! I think Anna's in love too. I'm a little jealous that I don't "fit" little tables anymore either. Oh well, I'll have to enjoy her playing with it. Just needs a fresh coat of paint and it'll be perfect for a little table to go with her play kitchen in a little playroom.
Speaking of play kitchens, I wasn't even going to buy one yet for Anna, but I got this cute little one from freecycle. I love freecycle!

Anna is loving using her own kitchen to cook while I cook dinner everyday. I love watching her want to be like Mommy. I found another basket (apparantly I've needed baskets lately!) for 50 cents.

It's the perfect size to hold her little spices, aka discarded empties from Mommy's kitchen.


Oh, and I guess I'll show why I have so many new empty spice bottles. I decided to organize the ever-impossible black-hole that is my cupboard which has been housing all of my spices. They just get so lost in there, fall over all the time, and I have a hard time remembering what exactly I even have. So I ended up condensing a couple duplicates and handed over the empty bottles to a delighted Anna. I saw this idea on a friend's blog a month or 2 ago, and now I have an official spice drawer. Works great for me, and I can actually see what I own now when I cook.


My last find at the thrift store...

Ok, ok, I've already got one of these. So I took this one home for free. Despite the fact that she tried to sell herself for $8.99 with price tags.