He Bites!

That's right, Jackson has THREE teeth. And boy, does Mom know it!!

He actually got his first tooth about two months ago, followed closely by his second a week later. I've been trying to get a shot of them, but it's hard! I thought, wow they've cut through the surface and they'll be all the way in by the end of the week. WRONG. It's taken until now to get them in far enough to show up in pictures.

So he has his two middle lowers and he's getting the next lower right tooth. No uppers yet. Those two little teeth poking out make an adorable smile even cuter!!

Hoppy Easter!!

This little guy was surrounded by Aunts (we missed Auntie Al) and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas (we missed you, G2), and cousins for his first Easter. (and bunnies and duckies!) Some hadn't seen him in months, so they were pretty impressed with what a big guy he's become. So big, he sat at the table with us for brunch! His favorite were the eggs, plastic rather than deviled ;)

After the age of about 10, Easter wasn't a holiday I looked forward to. Now that Jackson and Griffin are around, it's so fun to start traditions with them. Filling baskets, dying eggs, next year Jackson will be out there with Griff hunting the Easter eggs! It was so nice to be able to host everyone at our house this year. I had such a fun time, really getting into the spirit of Easter!

We're looking forward to the Easter Bunny's next visit.....maybe he could bring sunshine??

Mealtime = Funtime!

Jackson has definitely got this eating thing down. He LOVES mealtime, I know, shocker, right?! And he'll pretty much eat anything you put in front of him, except peas. He still won't eat peas. I have to hide them under sweet potatoes.

We've now moved into the stage of Jackson wanting to feed himself. Don't set the dish down near him, even for half a second, because he's got his hands on it! He even grabs for the spoon as it's heading toward his mouth. And then of course, if he manages to get anything on his hands he wants to rub it all over his face. Needless to say, mealtime in our household is NEVER boring!

Laundry Daze

Since having Jackson, I've realized how much I hate laundry. Before Jackson I would have about 4 loads of laundry to do and put away on Sunday, and that included washing/changing the sheets on our king size bed. My laundry load has now quadrupled, just because we added one tiny person to our family! Now, I knew that babies were messy and he might have to be changed two, maybe even three times a day. What I didn't realize was that he would spit up on me, and I would have to change my clothes two or three times in a day!

This is our pool laundry table and I find that it looks like this most of the time. I always start the week with great intentions of getting all of my laundry done and put away on Sunday, but unfortunatley, this is what usually awaits Friday evening. Sometimes it even gets so bad, we end up getting dressed in the family room because the closet is empty.

And then I see this sweet, sweet face, and realize a little extra laundry is a fair trade for having this perfect little guy!

Cloth Diapering

We've been doing it now for almost 3 months, and we LOVE it!! I mean, is that a cute little bummy or what? That's the thing, they are so cute and come in so many different colors/patterns, they're almost as easy as disposables, AND we aren't contributing to the MILLIONS of disposable diapers piling up in landfills each day.

These aren't your Mom's cloth diapers, though. There are so many different types out there, prefolds, pockets, all-in-ones. We tried a few different types and decided pocket diapers were the ones for us. A pocket diaper consists of a piece of cloth sewn to a waterproof outer layer. An opening at the front or back is left which creates the pocket. You then insert a liner(s) into the pocket to create the absorbent part of the diaper. These are really nice for anyone who isn't familiar with cloth diapering, as you can stuff the diapers ahead of time and all anyone has to do is pull out a new diaper and fasten it, just like a disposable.

The brand of pocket diapers we've chosen, Charlie Banana, is referred to as a "hybrid." That's because they come with washable inserts, but you also have the option to purchase biodegradable liners. That means when you're out and about, you don't have to worry about toting the whole soiled diaper around, you just flush the absorbent middle. How cool is that?

The other really great thing about cloth diapering is that, in the long run, it'll save us $$. We are using a one-size diaper, which means it should fit him until he's 40 pounds. It has lots of different snap combos to make it smaller or bigger and the elastic in the legs is adjustable too.

Of course there are still occasions when we use disposables. He still wears a disposable to bed each night. Otherwise, I'd have to change his diaper at least twice during the night and we're working on trying to get this kid to sleep through the night, so that just seems silly to wake him up to change him! And of course if we travel, like we did this last weekend, and we don't have access to a washer, cloth just isn't practical.