Books by color

I spent a couple of hours the other night in our dining room after everyone had gone to bed organizing our books by color and pushing them up close to the edge of our deep shelves so you can really see them. It was very satisfying. I love projects that don't cost any money but end up changing the look of your room a bit. How I would enjoy wallpapering the back of these shelves next...

(And, speaking of books, I am reading a fascinating parenting one right now - Nurture Shock. It has changed my thinking in a couple of areas (one chapter in particular called "The Science of Teenage Rebellion" as well as "Sleep." Thank you for the recommendation, Stephanie and Audrey).

bring on the poo

After talking at length with a couple of my friends who cloth-diaper and much, much thought, I have decided to make the switch from disposable diapers. Gasp! I'm actually really excited to save some cash, do my part for the environment, and - who am I kidding - mainly see how sporty my baby looks in those diapers. Cloth diapers are seriously cute these days. We'll see if my enthusiasm remains after I've used our DIAPER RINSER (which, in case you don't know, is a hose you attach to the back of your toilet to power-wash out the solid variety of baby waste from the diaper... and which I am praying that the three-year old (or six year old, for that matter) doesn't discover).

I've purchased a mix of one size bum genius all-in-ones and the 4.0 version, which should carry us all the way into potty training. Two days into it, my favorites are the 4.0's because the fabric inside does a great job wicking away moisture from the bum (the night before I started, I woke up in a panic worrying about this very thing. Not an issue at all.)

(sorry for the bum shot, but in case you wanted a closer look at the diaper. there are about a billion snaps you can choose from to get a custom fit.)

Any tips would be most welcome (like, what do you overnight? I'm a little scared to use them all night - and, what happens if the little ones do discover the fun of the DIAPER RINSER? I'm hoping there is some kind of locking mechanism.) I totally get that this adventure is not for everyone, but so far, I really love it. The softness of the diapers and how comfortable they seem on the baby - the way they smell off the clothing line outside - I'm enjoying the entire process so much, and since I do laundry at least every other day already, it hasn't seemed to add much extra work to my daily routine.

Other details:

-oddly enough, all of the cloth diaper-ers I know are named Jennifer.

-I bought mine here (free shipping, plus they threw in a dozen cloth wipes, which are incredibly soft.) You can choose your diaper colors.

-I'm using Crunchy Clean to wash them, which I bought here (again, free shipping. Such an incentive for me). It smells so good. Has anyone used the laundry detergent they sell for clothing?

-My friends tell me that to start, you should get a minimum of 12 diapers, a diaper rinser, cloth wipes, a spray bottle (for moistening the cloth wipes during diaper changes) and a wet bag (for the dirty diapers - it contains the odor until you are able to wash). All of this will probably set you back around $275, which seems like a lot until you calculate how much you spend on disposable diapers each year.

-my favorite color of diaper is noodle. So cute.

Grandparents

We are fortunate to live close(-ish) to my husband's parents, who, as grandparents do, love their grandkids. This past year I was trying to come up with birthday presents for them and decided that instead of more things, the most meaningful gift we could get them would be memories - specifically, memories of time spent talking and bonding with the grandkids. So I made a little book with 12 pages, and bought a gift card for each month of the next year with the idea that it could be used for a special outing with one of the kids. Like, for example,

June's gift card was for Jamba Juice with the three year old...

and May's was for a burger with the nine year old.

Other gift cards were for manicures at a local nail salon and Starbucks, for hot chocolate. Nothing was too expensive or complicated - just meant to provide some simple and sweet moments together; and hopefully conversations that might be treasured down the road.

supplies

What says fall more than new school supplies? These are my grown-up versions of Mr. Sketch smelly markers. Aren't they pretty?

meals for the Queen

I don't know why it's taken me FOUR babies to figure out that making baby food is not rocket science. Before Wren was born, my friend Liz brought me a big bag of empty baby food jars and instructed me to to tuck them away until the baby was ready to eat.

I foolishly thought one needed a fancy food mill and special recipe book and blah blah blah lots of other things. Nope. Liz told me that all you need is some kind of blender, a steamer, an oven, and the glorious internet (this site has any and all information you need to know should you too want to make baby food).

The best part is that Liz was totally right. It's super easy and I am now a baby-food-making-maniac. I can't stop and my husband will thank you for listening to me because I think he might possibly be getting tired of me calling him at work to tell him about my latest blend. Speaking of which, my most successful batch so far consisted of 4 pears, cut open and baked at 325 for 25 minutes on a cookie sheet with about half an inch of water on it. Then I scooped out the middles from the skin and blended them up with a bit of cinnamon, some water to thin, and the tiniest little drop of vanilla. So delicious! And the smell... fall in a jar. (FYI, the four organic pears cost me about $2 and made 10 one-ounce servings, which I froze. To buy 10 jars of organic baby food would cost me about $7. And, as the site I previously linked to says, you can easily freeze baby food in ice cube trays.)

See? No one can resist the charms of the cinnamon vanilla pears.

Eyes Lips Eyes - Pretty

My cousins Tony and Spencer are in this band - Eyes Lips Eyes (formerly The Elizabethan Report) - that is so awesome. This is my favorite song and the hilarious video has joyfully accomplished a feat my husband and I thought was impossible - supplanted Alvin and the Chipmunks as my children's favorite music. Thank you, Tony Hello.

more pictures from the wedding

(all by Monika Elena)

sneak peek from Ann's wedding...

My sister was married on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day in Virginia (amazingly the rain waited until after we were all tucked into bed that night) and the ceremony (they were married in the Washington D.C. LDS temple) was intimate and beautiful. These polaroid shots are by the amazing Monika Elena and they totally capture the feeling of the day - Ann and Dan are so, so happy to be married. I am so excited for my little sister to start this next part of her life. Isn't she such a gorgeous bride?

More pictures to come!