Last night.

James is getting more mobile, as well as grabbing items off the kitchen counter or from bathroom drawers. This means various household items are moved from their normal locations. They are generally discovered later. In obscure, unusual locations.

Last night, 9:45 p.m.

"Dan, have you seen my toothbrush?"

"No."

"Weird. I think James was playing with it earlier, but it's not in the bathroom."

"Oh...yeah... I think he threw it down the laundry chute."

"What??"

Sure enough, the rogue brush landed on top of the dirty clothes. So did the toothpaste and my contacts container.

Caught in the act.

Is that a Thanksgiving turkey I smell? No, just my child.

James has not one, but two cupboards in the kitchen that he can play in. One is the Tupperware cabinet. Second is the spice cabinet.

Now most people would think the Tupperware cabinet is enough. Both of the grandmas understand this. They let him go wild when he visits their kitchens.

But this momma takes it one step further. The spice cabinet has become a favorite over Tupperware. He first started the obsession by just opening and closing the door.

Then he pulled one or two bottles out to examine. (His favorite was whole peppercorns.)

Next, he pulled the entire drawer out for his inspection.

Now he pulls out as many bottles as possible.

This means he's found those cheap, little 99 cent spices I've hidden in the back. The kind you buy when you only need a teaspoon of something obscure. They have the circular tops with 3 options: closed, sprinkle or pour.

Last week, he sprinkled and poured tumeric all over himself and the kitchen. Last night, it was the poultry seasoning.

I thought I had cleaned him up. The floor was wiped up and it was bath time. As he was sitting on my lap, waiting for me to check the water temperature, I smelled it. Poultry seasoning.

But how? He was buck naked. And then I realized it was all over his hair from shaking the bottle above his head.

"All right, you turkey! Time to get in the tub!"

I'm back. Maybe.

I thought I wanted this little blog to die a quiet death. But maybe, now with more sleep and a more independent kiddo, it might be time to post occasionally.

I'll kick this off with the following photo.

And the note, from my mom, that came with it:

Great Grandma thought James could use a plastic plate for meals and thought you wouldn't mind if it was pink. Because it was sale.

Happy Halloween!

It's been years since I've really celebrated Halloween. However, Toys R Us had a 50% off sale on costumes, so I couldn't resist. Watch out for James the Dinosaur!

Ok, enough with this costume! Where's the Milky Way?
(Ha! Get it? Milky Way? No? Ok, lame humor...)

A is for Apple

The Ryan family took a trip to the apple orchard this month to pick apples and meet up with friends Sean, Sarah and their new little guy Owen (2 months younger that James). Sarah and Megan handled the kiddos while the guys climbed trees to grab apples. Most of the trees were well picked, but each family managed to fill a half bushel in about 2 hours of wandering around. More importantly, both children were able to witness their fathers providing a history demonstration as they were knocked on the head a few times with apples falling from the tree (or, from the person above them in the tree) above them.

(Gotta love the hat and James' facial expression!)

It was kind of tricky to use all those apples. I made a no-sugar-added batch of crockpot cinnamon applesauce and some apple crisp. Some apples were delivered to my parents.... What else?
PIE!

I love pie. I love to make pie. Could I make pie for a living, or at least a side job? Maybe that's something to ponder down the road, because I really enjoy this. Anyways...

I made a pie for my parents, for Dan's new work office (which, he reported, disappeared in under 5 minutes) and pie for church... and I have one more ball of dough sitting in the fridge, waiting for me to use. But thankfully, I am out of apples and need to get more from the store before my last apple pie goes in the oven!

Pre and post photos of "Crummy" Apple Pie.

Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon

Well, Dan has completed his fourth marathon (and possibly last...or last for a long time). And since my family is fitness savvy (or fitness crazy, depending on your point of view), my mom and brother also joined him for a fun Sunday run for 26.2 miles.

The course starts at Grafton High School and runs all along Lake Drive down to the Art Museum area of the Milwaukee lakefront.

Being the awesome supportive wife I am, I drove the runners up to the start line. James & I cheered at the sound of the gunshot. Then what better way to support your runners than by eating a really big breakfast? :) Eggs Benedict from Trocaderos, to be precise.

With a full stomach, James, my dad and I headed to the finish line to cheer. Joel came flying in under 4 hours. My mom (who's competing in the Madison Ironman next September!) was just over 4:30 and Dan was under 5 hours with a strained hamstring. The worst part? Driving the runners back to our house for showers---it smelled like a sweaty football team in the car!

BumGenius is genius!

As I mentioned we have been using BumGenius cloth diapers for James and (strangely enough) kind of enjoying it. Here's my most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) for your learning pleasure.

James in his stylish BumGenius diaper


Q: Ummm, are you crazy?
A: Nope.

Q: Ok. So are you doing cloth diapers to help save the environment?
A: Not really. Yes, it's a perk, but we got into this to save money. Most websites say you'll spend $1,500 to $2,000 on diapers for one child. We spend about $700 for diapers, pail and a few other accessories. We will continue to spend money for wipes (I just wasn't interested in doing the cloth wipes.) and an additional $2 per month for laundry water use in the newborn months. The bonus: This is a one-time investment because our next child can also use these diapers. Sweet!

Q: That's nice for you, but won't your kid be laughed at because he has to wear those loud plastic pants?
A: There are no plastic pants and no pins! The diapers look and function similar to disposables but there's Velcro to fasten the tabs in the front. There's really 2 pieces to these diapers: the colorful shell and the microfiber insert. There's a "pocket" at the rear of the diaper that we stuff the insert into. Voila! Ready to wear! Here's a picture---click to enlarge and read more.

Also, our diapers can be adjusted so as James gets bigger, the diapers "grow" with him. There's 3 different sizes and the diaper snaps make it easy to go from one size to the next.

Q: Ok, let's talk dirty. Do you have to rinse dirty diapers in the toilet? Do they sit in a pail of water? Is it smelly?
A: Well, since James is still exclusively nursing, the smell is nonexistent. We're not complaining, but that will probably change once he starts eating solids.
We don't rinse his diapers in the toilet. It's not necessary. And the dirty diapers sit in the pail without water (dry pail method). Seriously, there's no smell.

Q: How do you wash them?
A: Washing is easy. Dump the diapers from the pail into the machine (no need to touch dirty diapers---they just slide right in because we have a top loading machine) and do a cold wash. We use Trader Joe's powder detergent and you only use 1/4 of the recommended amount. Then wash again on hot, again with 1/4 of the detergent. Do an additional rinse to get any detergent residue out. Then we hang the outer shell and machine dry the microfiber insert.

Q: And then you wash your regular clothes in the same machine?
A: Yep. I intend to get a new machine once all children are done with diapers, but until then, we're sticking with this washing machine unless it dies prematurely.

Q: This all sounds kinda complicated.
A: It's not that bad. I like to think of the money we're saving. :)

Q: Any other perks you want to share besides the cost savings?
A: First, my diapers are colorful! Second, many families that use cloth report that their child begins potty training faster because they feel wet more so than disposable-diapered babies. I'm crossing my fingers that we experience this too.

Q: Any last thoughts to share?
A: Two things: Some people might be irritated when they change a diaper and baby immediately fills it within 30 seconds. What a waste of a good diaper, right? For us it's no big deal, because it just goes in the wash to be used again!
Second, if any of my readers want more info, here's a few links:
http://www.bumgenius.com/one-size.php (Info about the BumGenuis diapers)
http://www.fill-your-pants.com/pdf/bumgenius (British PDF with great info!)

If you are kind of considering cloth or know someone else who might be open to this, I'm happy to talk more.

Do you have more questions that I didn't answer? Just post a comment and I'll respond.