Little Stinker

Landon calls Benton his "little stinker," so B's costume was an easy choice...

Happy Halloween from our baby skunk!

Cloth Diaper Update

We have now been using cloth diapers for about 3 1/2 months, and we still LOVE them! In fact, Landon pretty much refuses to use disposables. Benton has only had one blowout ever in cloth diapers (sorry Courtney), and he rarely leaks out of them. They are easy to wash, stuff (Landon stuffs them while we watch TV), store, and use. Seriously, we love them.

Right now, we have a mix of snap and aplix (velcro) BumGenius and Flip diapers. Although we have heard horror stories about the aplix having to be replaced, we still prefer them over snaps. I think we have about 25 diapers total, which works out well for us.

Now that we have started feeding Ben solids, we are using a liner (Kushies) that can simply be placed in the cloth diaper and then flushed. Easy peasy.

I do have a few questions for other cloth diapering moms:
1) What is your washing routine?
2) What kind of detergent do you use?
3) What brands of diapers do you use? Do you like them?
4) Any tips for me?!?!

Benton Update: 5 Months

It's time for another monthly update! It feels like we just sat down to write Benton's 4 month update. Sweet boy is growing so fast!!!

Some facts from Benton's fifth month of life:

-Wearing 6-12 month clothes. He is also starting to fit into some 12 month clothes (mainly t-shirts and pants/jeans).

-Mainly wearing cloth diapers on the middle snap. In disposables, he is wearing a size 3 diaper.

-Eating 5 times per day for about 15 minutes. When it is more convenient, he has a bottle with 6 ounces. We also recently added 1 tablespoon of solids to one meal per day. We do think it is about time to move to eating 4 times per day though!!!

-Still sleeping great! We put him down between 8-8:30pm and we wake him up at 7am. He is still taking a nap after every feeding.

-Loving the eat/play/sleep routine. Some of his favorite awake time activities are jumping in the jumper, chewing on everything (especially his hands), and giggling. :)

Random things we don't want to forget:

-He has been rolling over multiple times a night. He wakes up mad and ready to be flipped back over. We joke that we are "baby spatulas."

-We haven't actually seen Benton roll over (other than a time or two on the video monitor). When he is having tummy time or laying on his back during wake time, he just lays and makes no attempt to roll over. The minute we put him in his crib, he starts trying to roll over. Silly guy.

-Sickness hit our house again. This time, Benton was sick enough that we had to go the Pediatrician. He started Amoxicillin, which quickly cleared up his URI and gave him a raging diaper rash in return. Thank you very much.

-We started feeding him solids at the beginning of the month. The first thing we tried was oatmeal. Now, we are feeding him 1 tablespoon of vegetables once a day. He has tried peas, green beans, and butternut squash...of course, he loves all of them!

-He enjoys walks and sniffing the wind. Yes, sniffing the wind. :) No wonder he has horrible allergies.

-He LOVES his jumperoo!

-We think that he will be sitting up unassisted soon. We'll see...

-Benton is smiling, giggling, and "talking" up a storm. We do think he is somewhat shy though, as he really only does it for us or others he is very comfortable with.

-Watch out ladies, Ben is a kissing machine. Plant a few on him and he will turn right back to you and give you an open mouth kiss. Awesome.

Umm, how beautiful are his eyes?! We can't believe that his next update will be his 6 month update...he's almost been with us a year! Wow!

Pumpkin Patch!

A couple of weeks ago, Landon, Benton, and I headed to Chester's Party Barn with the Whites, Cartwrights, Galeys, and JP. :) We had so much fun at the petting zoo, riding on the hayride, going through the corn maze, and picking out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

It ended up being really warm, so B spent most of his time in the stroller. We were afraid that he was going to get sunburnt. Poor little guy got Landon's pale skin...ha! We could tell he had fun though!

Enjoy some pictures from our day...

Also, as the reigning mom of the year, I took Benton down the HUGE slide. You can tell from the picture below that we barely survived.

Three Good Years :)

Three years ago, we commited to love each other forever. To stand by each other no matter the circumstance. And, we couldn't be more grateful for each other and the decision we made. What a fabulous 3 years this has been!!!

Benton Update: 4 Months Continued

Benton had his well child appointment with the Pediatrician today. He is doing well and growing fast.

Stats from 4 month Pediatrician appointment:
-Weight: 18 pounds, 10 ounces (95th percentile)
-Height: 26 inches (75th percentile)
-Head Circumference: 17 inches

Genius

I'm a genius. Links in a necklace around Ben's neck + toy attached = not having to pick the toy up off the counter 40 times while I'm cooking. He seemed pretty happy about it too. :)

After Taste

I have always been a picky eater. Always. I could never really pinpoint why... usually it was reflux or a mildly upset stomach. Since I don't like either of those things (who would?!), I have been an excellent avoider of certain foods. Those certain foods are usually spicy or have some other strong taste. Thus, I have always eaten bland and boring foods in order to keep the peace in my body.

I haven't had reflux AT ALL since Benton was born, and I was so famished during pregnancy that I no longer care about a mildy upset stomach, so I have been eating a lot of foods that I would not normally eat. Did I mention that I have been eating a lot?!? One thing I have noticed is that more than reflux or an upset stomach, I hate any strange after taste. Specifically garlic. I had a fish dish (haha) for lunch at a nice restaurant last week, and it pretty much made me miserable all day long. Garlic.all.day.long. Gross.

That's all. :)