Being a Better Sibling

Something happened this weekend and it has stuck with me like a bad splinter. Someone was very rude to my sister during an outing and I let it happen. Now my sister will tell you it only bothered her a little and it doesn't matter. But it DOES matter. Let me tell you why.

A long time ago I was desperate for the love of a boy and I never saw how flawed he was. In order to please him and his family I let his siblings treat my siblings very poorly. 

It went against the sibling code:

"You mess with one of us you mess with all of us."

To this day I regret that. If you want to really know someone watch how they treat your family and how let their family treat your family.

I will not say that my brother and sister are perfect. Oh, they drive me NUTS! And I will tell you all about it if you let me. The thing is they are mine. You say nasty stuff about them and we are gonna have an issue. You treat them poorly then you better not intend to be my friend for long.

My sis has lived through shit that no one should have to deal with. The bullying she was subjected to in school was stuff that would bring assault charges in today's climate. It has left scars and so, maybe, she feels slights a bit keener than others might; add that she is pregnant to that and you could say she is a bit tender hearted these days. Understandable.

As my kids get older I want them to have an even better relationship than my siblings and I. How can I expect that if they are allowed to see me sit by while someone treats their aunt like she is an outsider not to be included in the group? So, just know that if you treat anyone in my family like crap without very good cause (and some personal issue you have going on is not good enough) than I am going to call you on it and make sure that it doesn't continue.

Today

Today.

Today I am not having good day.

I hate my hair, my body, my wardrobe.

I hate that it is cold outside.

I hate that I am tired.

I hate poopy diapers.

I hate dirty dishes & never ending loads of laundry.

I hate that I don't feel grounded right now.

Today.

Today I must remember.

I love my amazing husband.

I love my beautiful children.

I love my friends and family.

Today.

Today will soon just be yesterday and tomorrow will be better.

Holding it Together

People tell me all the time how amazed they are at all I do. Kids, crafts, meals, etc. I appreciate the complement but the truth is I am just holding it together. I wake up in the morning wondering how I am gonna make it through the day. I go to bed at night grateful that I did make it through the day. Everything in between is a blessing.

Don't get me wrong. I have amazing kids and an awesome hubby. We spend our time making memories that will be treasured.

That said. Right now, I am just holding it together. And that is ok because my kids are happy, my marriage is secure and we, as a family, are ROCKING IT!

She Did What?!?

FLUFFY BUTT!!!

Huh?  We took a leap of faith and switched to cloth diapers today. :-)

I have long adored all of my friends' cute diaper stashes but was wary of the idea of twins in cloth diapers. Then I did the math:

4 diapers a day per kid at $.25 a diaper (I'm rounding for easy math!) is $1.00 a day.
At least 1.5 more years/548 days of diapers/pull-ups times 2 is $1096.  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

I found out that I could purchase 20 re-usable cloth diapers with microfiber inserts for $96.00 from Alva Baby. I figured that I needed 28 diapers in total to CD both boys for 2 days (with some leftover for laundry day.)  Completely doable for only $137.  Wow! That sounds a LOT better than $1096!  Plus, if I take good care of my diapers I should be able to re-sell them for about 1/2 of what I paid.  Nice!  So I took the leap and ordered everything that I needed to CD. 

Now, I did spend a little more than $137 because there are different supplies that you need.  For example, you need CD friendly diaper cream.  I recommend CJ's BUTTer for any number of reasons; the 2 biggest being the yummy scents and the amazing BUTTer PLUS that is great for yeast rashes (I got it in a spray which is nice because it is so easy to apply!)  I am experimenting with different liners.  I recommend liners for first timers because they make cleaning up poopy diapers so much easier. You also need a couple of wet bags to keep dirty diapers in in the diaper bag and a pail liner for your diaper pail. Oh & you need cloth diaper friendly detergent (for some good info check here.)  There are lots of optional things you can get, too.  Sounds intimidating but once you've read a bit you realize that it isn't that hard to CD anymore.

I got my fluff (as CD's are affectionately called) mail on Saturday and was so excited it was funny! I spent the rest of the day getting it all ready to be worn.  Our first diaper Sunday morning was a cloth one.  There's no going back now.

FLUFF MAIL!!!

So pretty!

Washed and ready to be prestuffed for wearing

Ready to go, so many cute patterns & colors

FLUFFY BUTTS!!!!

I am such a geek.  I know.  :-)  And you guys know you love me for it!

Splashing. It's what puddles are made for!

I will not lie. I suffer from a mild (ok, semi mild) case of OCD.  One of my issues is that I do not like getting my clothes wet while I am wearing them (lest you think I have some kind of phobia about getting them wet to wash them!)  This means that bath time is generally torture for me so you can imagine what the idea of letting my kids splash around in the big puddle in the backyard does to me.  O_o

In my effort to let my kids have awesome memories, this evening I let them splash to their little hearts' content.

And splash they did!

Mini spin drying her dress:

They thought it was the coolest thing and Hubby & I earned major brownie points, at least we better have!  Sometimes it is the littlest things that make for the best memories.  And, hey, their sandals got washed , too, so that's a plus, right.

Barefoot Kind of Momma

I've started a new blog. :-)

Barefoot Kind of Momma

I have high hopes of being able to transfer my posts from here to there. ;-) Thank you for all of your support and I hope you continue to follow me on my journey through parenting.

Color Runner

If you do not know what a Color Runner is you really must find out! I'll help you: Color Runner

Today my sweet hubby and I took our oldest, Mini, to run her first Color Run. IT WAS AWESOME! It was not without it's difficulties though. Apparently, Mini had outgrown her tennis shoes, which we did not fully realize until after the first mile. By "we" I mean "me & Mini" as hubby was actually running while we were....moseying? It was a joy to watch Mini do Color Angels in the powder (a nontoxic color powder that is various colors) and, of course, everyone thought she was adorable and were eager to dump more color on her. :-)

At 4 years old, Mini barely made it over the finish line but she did it. And she wants to do it again. I think we will because this race that is not a race at all is all about happiness and joy. I din't run barefoot (I'm not crazy!) but I might as well have judging by the color of my toes. :-D