Interested in Cloth Diapers?

I recently became a cloth diaper parties consultant for www.everythingbirth.com because I enjoy cloth diapering and wanted to share it with others. Unlike other consultant party businesses, this one will actually save you money. Besides being good for your wallet, cloth diapers are good for your baby's bum and for the environment. So let me know if you're interested and I'll give you the info.

Why have a cloth diaper party?

Cloth diapering has changed so much in the past 10 years. Now there is a cloth diapering solution for almost any type of family out there! Whether you are looking for the least expensive, easiest, the hippest, the most practical, or the quick on the go solution, you have options. But, many moms don’t figure out a system that works best for them until they spend their cloth diaper budget on 5 different systems. So what’s the best way to start deciding what cloth diaper is right for you? Take a look at them, feel them, get to actually see what they are before you purchase them.

Perks for hosting a cloth diaper party:

Aside from the getting to actually see/feel the different cloth diapers, we have added a few incentives to get cloth diapers out there.

First, as the hostess, you will receive a 10% credit on the total purchase from your party! So if the ladies order $500 worth of diapers from the party- then you receive $50 in store credit, $1000 sold, you receive $100 credit!

Plus, everyone who orders at the party gets free shipping. - That includes ANY items you purchase(organic toys, breast pads, slings, birth supplies and much more in the catalog!)


Check out everything this website offers

Lucy 6 Months and Organizing my Scattered Brain

Lucy turned 6 months on October 30th. At her 6 month checkup she weighed 15 pounds, 25 inches long. She averages in the 10-25 percentile, although her head is in the 5th percentile. It is such a joy to us to watch her develop. After her visit to the pediatrician, it was like she said "ok Mom and Dad, I'm older now!" because it was like she suddenly acted older and started rolling over all the time and showing her personality. She started jabbering more and she definitely knows who her Mommy and Daddy are now. My favorite thing is when I get home from work and see her she yells out in glee...she's just so happy to see me! I love it! On monday her she began cutting teeth. I could feel them and see them coming in on the bottom. She even bled a little bit. poor thing! But now they are all the way through. They are going to be so cute! Also a few days ago she started getting up on her hands and knees. It wont be long before she's crawling and getting into everything. She had peas for the first time this week and is just starting to get the hang of eating from a spoon. Yesterday, Scott fed her sweet potatoes and she likes those too! She's a petite chubby little thing! So that's what's new in Lucy's world.

As to my overall life, I feel quite scatterbrained and really am feeling the need to organize my life to be more disciplined. Honestly, I watch too much tv. It's no wonder I don't have time to get organized. I'm not making the time to think through my desires and goals in life. So i asked my good friend Jessalyn Hutto for some advice. She has an inspiring blog at desiringvirtue.com.
So I wondered if she had ever done a post on keeping a schedule as a mom so as to accomplish your goals. She gave me some very helpful resources to look at for guidance. This first one offers helpful downloads for a home management book.
The second one talks about a home management book and how to use it.
It is overwhelming right now to look at, but I'm going to try my best to focus on one thing at a time.
"If you aim at nothing you'll hit it every time."

Our Family of Three

Well, life is busy in our family of three. Scott started classes at the University of Louisville this semester after graduating at the seminary. We've taken advantage of our UPS benefits, as they pay complete tuition for the U of L. Scott's enjoying his classes in accounting which has confirmed the decision to pursue that area of education. And we'll see where the Lord takes us with this. He continues to work UPS third shift, and I'm thankful for his hard work. It's not an easy job especially when your schedule is completely different than everyone else. We definitely look forward to the day when we go to bed together and wake up together. I continue to work afternoons at the MultiCare Centre as the office manager. I'm thankful it's working out to be able to help Scott get done with school faster. Scott watches Lucy while I'm at work and definitely enjoys that Daddy time. He really is a good daddy. He's smitten with her.
Maybe some of you working mothers who still breast feed know the struggle of pumping enough milk for while you're gone. It's like a constant struggle to pump enough and it sure is a pain. Let me just say I hate pumping, but I wouldn't do it if it wasn't worth it for Lucy's sake. On a plus side, it's definitely helped me lose some of the baby weight. In fact, just in the past week, I've noticed that Lucy must be eating more because I will be starving all the time. After just eating 1-2 hours ago, my stomach will be growling. And I think I just lost 2 pounds in a week or 2 without exercising. Exercising is always something on my mind. I'm always trying to get back to Jillian Michael workouts on video which have helped me a lot, but I'm not very consistent. It i nice, however, to continually see progress in fitting into my clothes again. Pants I thought I would never get over my thighs again, finally fit me well again without even having to do the trick of looping the rubberband through the button hole to extend the waste line. ha. I still can't believe how much weight I gained in that pregnancy.
Anyway, Lucy is doing very well. She is now 5.5 months old! Her favorite thing for the last month and a half has been the exersaucer. She could play in that thing for forever until she gets tired of course. at 4.5 months she rolled over, but has only done it one more time since then. She's strong enough to do it, but never figures out she needs to move her arm to be able to roll over. She pushes herself way up while lying on her belly now. so that's a new thing. She just started learning more about the noises she can make. She started screaching and squealing and seems to like hearing it. About a week and a half ago I started putting rice cereal into her bottle while I'm at work. She eats that fine. She's a healthy little chickpea and hasn't been sick yet (knock on wood). She likes wearing all the crocheted items mommy makes her and I have fun making them. I finally got back that desire and motivation to be creative again. ha. I probably need to give Lucy a trim really soon because she kind of has a mullet, but I keep putting that off. She is just the sweetest and cutest thing! And I'm so thankful to be her Mommy. I'm so thankful for our family of three!

Lucy's 4 Months Old!

Well, I thought I'd just blog a bit on how Lucy's changing before I forget all the details. She's already four months old and still the sweetest thing ever! One of her favorite things to do is slide down Scott's legs or be smothered in raspberry kisses! She just giggles so much more than at 3 months. Her favorite toys besides the playgym is the tv-radio that Aunt Jodi and Uncle Ryan gave her. Whenever she's a little cranky, she cheers up when I wind it up and it plays the Farmer in the Dell. She hasn't rolled over yet, but she's acquired quite the stomach muscles. Sometimes I'll have her sitting up in a kind of reclined fashion and she'll pull herself forward and if I don't watch her she'll end up on her forehead. :) She loves baths even more now and enjoys splashing Momma. She kicks her legs and pounds her arms in the water. She loves relaxing in the pool. She likes to go to sleep to her seahorse Patti. She always has liked that toy because it lights up and plays lullabies. She's recently gone through a growth spurt and is almost too small for her current prefolds, so i had to buy the next size already. She loves her times with Daddy when I'm at work in the afternoons. He tells me that they often lay under the playgym together. He said he puts a jacket on top of it and makes it like a tent and she loves it. Lucy is still a really good baby. She always goes down for her naps really good. I don't even need to rock her. She's starting sucking her thumb once in a while and it's so adorable! She also still tries to put all of her fingers in her mouth. She still spits up A LOT, but it doesn't bother. Anyway, we're still so grateful for this amazing miracle God has blessed us with. We love you Lucy and pray for you to love Jesus!

LIfe with Lucy

Life without Lucy seems so long ago, and a little hazy. Life with Lucy is a gift from God and I'm so thankful for the bundle of joy she is in our lives. A normal day with Lucy looks like this:
wake up when Lucy wakes up (around 7am normally) and feed her, burp her, change her, play with her, set her under her play gym until she gets fussy, then rock her for a couple minutes singing the Birds upon the Treetop and Jesus Loves Me, then lay her down. This repeats every 3 hours throughout the day, except from 2-6 I go to work and Scott feeds her, burps her, changes her, plays with her, and puts her to sleep. Every other night she gets a bath and she loves those. She almost always needs a bath due to spit up all in her hair etc.
She really is a good baby I realize. She's been sleeping through the night since 8/9 weeks and she sleeps a lot during the day giving me time to get things done or catch up on my sleep. She also stays content playing on her own under her play gym and doesn't have to be held all the time. Yes, she spits up on everything and everybody all the time, but you get used to that. She went to the church nursery for the first time last Sunday and was very good. She isn't picky about who's holding her. The only time it's hard is when her routine is thrown off by church or going out a lot. THen she doesn't know if she's hungry or tired. So the routine has worked best for me - that is eat/wake/sleep routine from BabyWise.[Image]
We've done cloth diapers since she was 2 weeks, and we love them. I would encourage anybody to use cloth for more than one reason. I thought I was just doing them to save money (which I save a lot of money) but I also like using them because I rarely have a blowout and they don't have any dioxins or chemicals. Plus they are so cute!! I don't mind that she has a big diaper butt. I think they're adorable on her. So if anyone wants more info on cloth diapers I'd love to answer any questions. Oh, and they make cloth diapering so easy these days compared to when we were babies. It's not what you think. :)
Anyway, I count myself blessed to be a mommy and thank God for the opportunity though it's a great responsibility. I've wanted to be a mommy every since I can remember. My mom told me I used to be content playing house with dolls in my room all day by myself. Though my desire is/was to be a stay at home mommy, I am working part time right now. Though it's a struggle sometimes, God's showing me his grace in my life. God know our days, even when they were yet to be.
I'm so thankful to be able to pass down the truths of Scripture to my children. There's nothing so valuable to be able to pass down than the Word of God and His Love. I'm trying to view the small moments of my life as important moments because each little moment makes up our lives. Each day is a teaching day to Lucy of the way to live and the way to be. What a tremendous responsibility I feel.
Titus 2 says "teach the older women to be reverent in the way they life, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

Lucy Ellen's Birth Story (finally)

Well, now that Lucy is 2 months old it's about time I post something on her birth story. I'll start with our plans to induce. I had always thought it was silly to induce unless there was a really good reason so that the doctor recommended it, but I changed my mind as her due date was nearing (funny thing). And let me tell you, if you haven't seen my pictures before she came out at the hospital, I was huge. I started to get a little self conscious of being seen in public since my clothes weren't fitting as well and I was huge. It also gets a little tiring hearing "you're huge!" all the time. So anyway, I also wanted my mom to be able to be here for the delivery and for the week after to help me adjust. So Friday, April 30th was the day we decided to induce. April 30th happened to be Scott's mom's birthday as well as Oaks Day here in Louisville which is a holiday (a day before the Kentucky Derby) so I had to make sure the doctor on call would be alright with that day. And it so happened that the doctor on call was the same doctor that delivered my nephew Luke when Katie and Chris lived here six years ago, Dr. Kelly Miller.

So, at 6:00am we arrived at Baptist Hospital East to have our munchkin. It felt so strange to think that we were finally going to meet the little person inside. By about 7:30 they had me all hooked up with the IV and pitocin. It was not comfortable I remember well and I was hungry. They told me not to eat anything after midnight the night before. By about 9:30 the doctor came and checked on me. And I hadn't progressed much, I was about 2 cm. She said she would come back around noon to break my water. In the meantime I had still not progressed except for feeling slight contractions that didn't even hurt yet. Finally around 12:30-1:00, the doctor came to break my water. That was a weird sensation! They told me to let them know when the pain level got to about 4 because then they could give me an epidural. After 5 minutes or so, I asked for the epidural through tears and shivers. I couldn't believe how painful it got so fast. So while it was about a 20 minute wait for the epidural, they gave me statol(sp?) which makes you really loopy so that you don't care as much about the pain. Ha, it definitely made me loopy and i could hardly answer anyone's questions. But at least I was able to relax a bit more. Then the Chinese guy with the needle came in! I am not all sure of what they did back there, but it definitely took the pain away. My mom didn't realize that it would completely numb my legs and feet, and I sensed it made her a bit nervous. So an hour later they checked me and i had progressed a couple more centimeters. Then they switched nurses and the new nurse didn't realize how fast i had progressed since the water broke, so she didn't check on me till about 5:00. When she did, she informed us that I was ready to push. But we had to call the doctor. The doctor needed us to wait a few minutes before i started pushing. At about 5:15 I started pushing. Right away we knew this baby had dark curly long hair. When the doctor came in I did much better because she was a really good coach. I realized I could push much harder. So with Scott and Mom by my side Lucy Ellen was born at 5:48pm with just 30 minutes of pushing. She was 7 pounds even and they said she was 18 3/4 inches (but two days later the pediatrician said 20.5 inches). She looked at me with the cutest expression when they laid her on me and I was filled with emotions I had never felt before. They asked me if I was crying because I was sick or emotional. It was definitely the later. The whole experience was so amazing and impossible to describe the feelings. I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for this amazing miracle! Several hours later I got to see my baby again all cleaned up. They had put the cutest yellow ribbon in her hair. I thought for sure she must have been the cutest baby there. And that's the story of Lucy Ellen's birth!

She's on my mind

So, if you hadn't already heard the news, we are expecting a baby girl! On Tuesday, December 1 we had the ultrasound. So many fears were racing through my mind before the ultrasound. Was my baby ok? I haven't felt the baby move much lately! Were they going to find complications? And so, when Scott and I finally sat down for the ultrasound, I was so relieved to see and hear our baby's heartbeat. It was 155. Good and healthy! The ultrasound tech checked all of the anatomy and when she came across the baby's little bottom, she said "so, what do you think the baby is?" Scott didn't hesitate to say, "a boy?" Ha, and he was wrong. Right then I think we were both beaming from ear to ear looking at our precious baby girl. Scott was a little surprised since he thought it was going to be a boy and I told him that he could still play hotwheels with her.Looks like she may have Patz calves below

The ultrasound lady said everything looked good, but I do have a low lined placenta, so they want me to come back in a month for an ultrasound to make sure it goes up where it's supposed to be. Worst case scenario, I would have to have a c-section because the baby would bleed during natural birth. But usually the uterus pushes it up by that time. So they want to check on that as well as the baby's heart since the baby's position made it hard to see. It was hard to get a good profile of her face since she kept tucking in her head . She had the hiccups and it was cute to see her little lungs jump. Oh, and she has the most darling feet. I think she'll be a soccer player. I wonder if she'll be a blondie or favor Scott's dark hair. It would be a first for my parent's to have a dark haired grandbaby besides Amos, Kaylyn, Preston, Paul, and Anna of course. Either one would be fun!


Anyway, all this news has excited me and interupted my need for sleep. I called my mother and told her she better get out all the little baby girl clothes she's kept from me and my sisters. I'm definitely sentimental about things like that. My sisters are too and are pretty jealous about the baby clothes. :) Our little girl will be my parent's 14th grandbaby and Scott's parent's 10th grandbaby. Out of the 14 grandbaby's of my parents, 10 are boys, so our baby will help even out the estrogen a bit better.

All day at work, all night at home, all I can think about is my sweet little girl. I cannot believe how much more real the ultrasound made this whole pregnancy to me. And to know that it's a girl makes it feel more personal to me. I think about how I'll teach her to cook and sew (although I better start learning myself). I think about how much we're going to bond as women. I just can't even wait to see her and hold her. Although it's such a precious privilege to carry her in the womb for now. All throughout the day, I've been getting watery eyes as I look at her ultrasound pictures and think about the precious gift and miracle that she is. I tell you I cannot think about anything else for too long. And i know that I am so blessed by God to have been given such a miracle. It makes me think about God and His Son. He turned his back on his only son so that I could have life in Him. What amazing love! Isn't it?

I have so much more I could write that's on my mind, but since I've already written a book I'll save that for the next post. But I want to end by praising our Maker and Giver of all things.

Psalm 92
¹ It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to your name, O Most High,

² to proclaim your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,

³ to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.

⁴ For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD;
I sing for joy at the works of your hands.

News the Size of a Lemon (for now)

According to Baby Center our little baby is about the size of a lemon right now. We are so excited to announce this news. The ultrasound pictures you see above were taken at 6 weeks. They did an early ultrasound for us since we had a miscarriage back in January, when we lost our precious Hope. It was very reassuring and my heart melted when I saw the fast little heartbeat on the ultrasound screen. So today, we are 12 weeks along and doing well. I believe I'm starting to break free from the nausea and fatigue I was feeling for a while. It's nice to be able to brush my teeth without having the urge to throw up. Now my main issue is with my joints. Right now I really need an adjustment or something. I can't hardly bend over without having pain in my joints, and I mean pain. But I am so happy to have any of this pain and inconvenience to welcome our baby into the world. We are so blessed by God and grateful for his blessings. Every good and perfect gift is from above... James 1:17 Above is a picture of a sweater I started to make for the baby.

And here's a belly pick. Can't really see a legit bump yet. I'm just feeling awkwardly thicker. We're still debating if we should find out the gender or not. Although Scott's so sure it's a boy. He cannot wait to have someone to play hotwheels with. I say that, but I myself have my inklings. I would almost bet on a girl. :) I keep telling Scott to stop offending her when he calls the baby boy names. Anyway, i suppose you may be waiting to hear the due date. The big day is May 1st! Or I like to say April 30th!

Lots of decisions are playing in my mind: What colors to do the nursery? Cloth diapers or disposable? Finding out the gender or not? vaccines?? and many more decisions to come that I don't even know about I'm sure. So we definitely appreciate your prayers as this little "lemon" grows and as we become parents with a great responsibility.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.

An Update on Life

So I feel like it's been a while since I've really updated much on anything lately. I'll start by saying that I love summer and all that comes with it. I love that Scott isn't as busy with school, that I can soak in more sun, that I can visit family, and even get away for a little vacation. Everything is just brighter in the summer!

Well, first of all, Scott and I were able to get away last weekend. This was our first time since our honeymoon that we got away for a little vacation together. We visited Gatlinburg, TN which is only about 4 hours away from Louisville and enjoyed the scenery of the Smokey Mountains. Scott got to do some fishing, which was his main wish. I got to soak in some sun (not that I look any tanner) at the pool and read a lot. One of the highlights was the Dixie Stampede where we enjoyed dinner (eating with our hands) and a show. It was so fun. Scott really got into cheering for our side, even though we got stuck on the South side instead of the North side. I haven't seen him like that for a long time. We felt like we were dating again. It was so nice to have no responsibilites and to just have fun. We did some hiking at Smokey Mountain National Park and even got to ride up in a ski lift to enjoy the beauty of the mountains. We brought our little grill along to save some money. We grilled some hot dogs in the parking lot one day, and had Scott's fresh fish the next.

So one of the reasons we took a little vacation was to celebrate our 3rd anniversary which is coming up on August 5th. I'm aso thankful for my patient husband, and so thankful for this chance we had to get away together last weekend. Six months ago last weekend we went through the heartache of a miscarriage, yet we're grateful for what God is showing us about ourselves and about Him. His love is truly better than life, so we find "Hope" in that. Life has a new meaning. While we feel an emptiness, God is the one that fills our deepest longings. And last weekend was very refreshing spiritually as I got to read a lot and spend a lot of time thinking. One of the books I am reading is "Idols of the Heart" by Elyse Fitzpatrick. I definitely recommend it.

So we were lucky to have this mini vacation, and we still look forward to heading to Wisconsin and Minnesota in August. August 13th Scott's sister Lynae is getting married to Greg Adams. We are really happy for them, and look forward to seeing everybody back home.

I keep busy with work at the MultiCare Centre as well as with my etsy shop. Right now at least starting out my biggest sellers are these two necklace/bracelet sets:

I also have some items for sale on a website featuring artists in Louisville called the Female Art Collective. I have also had those items in a couple trunk shows around town as pictured below(the rug):

And there you have my update. :)

Always Remembered

Then children were brought to him
that he might lay his hands on them and pray.
The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said

"Let the little children come to me
and do not hinder them,
for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 19:13-14

What a comfort to know my sweet child belongs to Jesus.