Category Archives: Uncategorized

Photo Shoot

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Woohoo!  It’s picture taking time outside!

 Just call me Stud muffin.
 <in best John Wayne voice> Well, hello little lady…need a little drink?
 Oh, you’d like a close up?  Happy to oblige.
 Okay, seriously now, enough pictures.
Well, alright, just one more.
Nutty photographers!
You’d never know that he was sick sick this day.  He started running a fever and ran one for three days.  I took him in and he had an ear infection.  The day after his fever ended he broke out in a mysterious rash, and even though I’ve had several children with roseola, I freaked out and took him back to the doctor, only to be told…it’s roseola!  In all fairness, Ceili Rain needed to be seen for an ongoing sinus infection.

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REVIEW VLOG: Pirose Nursing Cover

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My first ever video blog post…well, this cover needed a little more interactivity.  But, please keep in mind that we have been out of town for the weekend with at least two wee ones who were coughing so much they couldn’t sleep well.  So, needless to say, I look a little rough.  Focus on the product though…focus…focus…(pay no attention to that handsome man in the background.  He’s in black so you might not be able to see it…he’s the awesome tech dude…I think I like him!)


Review: Pirose Nursing Cover by Reno Rose from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

Here’s the “professional” video put out by Reno Rose. 

You can check out ways to wear the nursing cover here.

To purchase a Pirose for Nursing cover, click here.  They retail for $35.  You can find Reno Rose on Facebook and Twitter (which I still haven’t figured out).

So, how did that go for my first ever video review?

This is a Mama Buzz review. The product was provided by: Reno Rose for this review.

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Overheard

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Proud Mommy Moment:  The kids are outside playing while I get some things done in the kitchen (aka my office).  I have the window open should a need arise and I can hear them singing at the top of their lungs:

“The joy of the Lord, is my strength.  The joy of the Lord, is my strength.”

They make it through two verses and then pause and seem to have some kind of discussion.  During that pause my heart swelled.  I was so proud.  My children are remembering and singing the hymns we sing each night during worship.  Wow!  Look how “holy” they are!  I’m just the best mother in the…wait, what are they singing now…

They belt out with, “He tells me funny jokes and I laugh Ha Ha.  He tells me funny jokes and I laugh, ha ha.” 

Proud mommy moment deflated.

Now, this verse is not in our hymnal and, after sharing with Mark, learned it is a variation from a verse Mark taught them, “He fills my heart with laughter and I say haha.”  Yep, I’m proud again…

***
Josiah can be particular about certain things.  Shoes and socks are one of those things.    He’s been learning to put on his socks by himself and his shoes too.  However, it’s been quite distressing for him.  One day he came up to Mark looking all perplexed with his socks in his hands.

“Daddy, I don’t know which sock goes on which foot.”  He announced.  And he was serious.

We tried to tell him it didn’t matter, but to him it does.  So, now, when he asks us which sock goes on which foot, we examine the socks, and then declare which one goes on which foot.

And one day that backfired, because he forgot what I told him.  And then when I told him it was the opposite foot from my previous statement he got all confused.  So, then I had to go back and “reexamine” the socks and change my answer again.

***

Speaking of socks.  Mark was giving the announcement to get socks and shoes on to go to church one evening.  Josiah was running around searching and searching.  He finally came to Mark and announced, “Daddy, I don’t know where my socks are!”

Mark looked down and informed Josiah, “They’re on your feet dude.”

Josiah smiled, and said, “Oh!”  and then went and found his shoes.

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One Leg At a Time

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Little Miss is learning to dress herself.  She chose this lovely ensemble of pj pants with her dress that was already on.  We are quite proud.

She’s also very interested in using the potty (yep, all mom talk eventually leads to this topic).  She’s not in full “training” yet but she is going quite frequently and loves the reward of chocolate!

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Ta Da!

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Kristina, sent us a gift certificate to Timberdoodle.  I spent several weeks drooling over everything and studying and trying to pick just the right gifts of entertainment and education.  We finally settled on some books for our miniLUK, smencils (pencils that smell yummy), Creativity Express software (which I had been eyeing for some time), and a small box of Wedgits (which I had also been eyeing).  They ALL love the Wedgits!  Zoe had to get her picture made with one of her creations…so here ya go Kristina and gang!  Thanks so much.

I also want to add that when we got our Creativity Express software it wouldn’t work.  I contacted the software company who didn’t seem too excited to help me and told me to contact Timberdoodle.  I did, and they were super great to work with and replaced the CD with no problems!  They didn’t even need me to send back the broken one.  I really love working with this company and highly recommend them!

Zoe got an EZ Bake oven for her birthday.  I went back and forth about getting one, because she’s already learning how to use a big oven.  In the end, I knew she really wanted one, would use it, and would have a blast with it.  So we made the plunge (and bought it used and cheaply).  Here’s her first creation, s’mores cookies.  We bought a couple of the mixes but I’ve heard tell you can find recipes for it online.

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Winners!

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Since I only had two options for the caption contest (thanks for stepping up everybody!), I’ll give you each your own bag of HopeSuds.

Here’s the captions for this picture

Sabrina82 said:  “Just smile and act like nothing happened”

Dana said:  “Oh boy! It’s a girl; get me out of here!!”

So, Dana, email me your address and I’ll order your HopeSuds this week.  Sabrina, I know how to find you 🙂

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Family Ministry

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I posted a link to this article on Facebook.  It concerns mostly Southern Baptists, but I’m sure it’s relevant to all churches.  It was very interesting in how it presented each of the family-driven ministries.  Here’s a quote:

Why, then, does this new emphasis on family ministry also present a potential problem? Simply this: In many cases, churches are focusing on family ministry as a reaction to dismal retention statistics. It has been repeatedly reported over the past few years that somewhere between 65% and 94% of churched youth drop out of church before their sophomore year of college.[3] As a result, many congregations are shifting their ministry models not because of convictions that have grown from a seedbed of sustained scriptural and theological reflection. Instead, what motivates them is the supposed crisis of abysmal retention rates-a crisis that they plan to solve by launching a series of family ministry programs. Their focus on family ministry is a pragmatic reaction rooted in a desire for numbers with no standard by which to judge the results other than an increasing number of warm bodies.[4]

Want to read more???  Go here.  The article really explains what some churches are doing…not to try and increase numbers, but to actually worship in more of a Biblical model.

And, if you’re curious, our church seems to be more family-based.  We have age-segregated activities but parents are never (ever) discouraged from participating.  In fact, it’s a given that they will participate and help out (as will most of the adults in the church).  It’s also expected that the children will sit through worship and actively participate in it (even singing “Only a Boy Named David” in the middle of the sermon).  It’s also a given that the children will participate in adult activities, such as care group and visitation and, of course, worship.

Anyway, it’s a very well written article and might help some people (who are still scratching their heads) to understand the kind of church we’re attending (and why).

(Did I use the parenthesis enough?  It’s either that or the…)

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Bryant’s Six Months Old…almost seven

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Yeah, I know I’m late.  Sorry about that.  We’ve just finished an extremely busy wekeend and are looking forward to a little quietness around her (when the kids are sleeping).

Bryant continues to grow.  He’s got several nicknames.

The Weird One:  Getting teeth at two months will earn that right off the bat.  But he wasn’t satisfied with a little weirdness…nope, commando crawling at five months.  He’s also sitting up now.  Last week, I realized he was getting close to sitting up from laying down, so I asked Mark to lower the crib so he didn’t pull up on the crib and fall over.  The day after Mark did that he figured out how to sit up from laying down.  Oh, and pulling up, he’s learned to pull up on things and showed off this morning by pulling up to a stand on the toilet while I brushed his sister’s teeth (yes, the lid was down…girls’ bathroom).  I know he’s not the only child to do all these things so quickly but he’s the only one of our children to do it and it’s just plain weird.

Add to that, that he didn’t cut anymore teeth.  Until last week.  When he cut FOUR at one time.  We could tell that his top teeth were getting close for several weeks.  One day, his gums started bleeding and we noticed one of the front teeth was finally in.  Fast forward, to Friday night and he would not go to sleep and was extremely fussy.  Thirty minutes after tylenol and he was out like a light for a few hours.  He still woke up early.  After all the activity quieted down in the morning, I sat down by him and checked out his mouth.  Sure enough another tooth had broken through.  Then I checked to see if he was close to getting anymore, but then noticed two more on the bottom had come in.  Weird kid.

He’s pushing up on all fours but can’t figure out how to go that way and is content to go really fast commando style!

Velcro Baby:  He will grab on and stay attached and will not let go.  He also enjoys doing this to any food we may be trying to consume if he is in our laps.  And toys and hair.  It’s all easily attachable to the velcro baby.

The Snuggler:  He can cuddle up next to you and just not move and make you melt.  This is especially true at naptimes and right when he first wakes up.  Ahhh, cuddles from the Snuggler are super good!

Not sure how much longer Ceili Rain is going to be in diapers so one day when they each happened to be wearing their respective gender color, I grabbed some shots.  Aren’t they adorable???

(Oh, the necklace is a teething necklace made of amber.  It’s supposed to help ease the teething pain.)

And he did go to the doctor in January after he turned 6 months.  Here’s his stats:

15 lbs 13 oz (45%)
28 3/4 inches tall (97%)
17 1/2 inches in the head (80%)

As typical for my babies, they slim up about this time.  At least he’s not weird in that respect.  He’s eating about three times a day and nursing about three times.  Once those teeth get fully in we’ll work on just blending foods with the hand blender and feeding him.  He definitely loves to eat…especially mango and avocado!  And most of this information on here is to remind me when I update his baby book so  you can ignore it if you choose.

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