Fall Folk Festival, Friends!

Over the mountain...

 and through the woods, we took a Saturday outing with the whole fam.

 Wearing one each, we took a shuttle from our parking spot to the festival.

 Because neither one of us felt like a 1-mile hike wearing a kid.

How 2 adults and 5 kids roll with the flow:

 (Tyler is riding in the stroller in front of Dale)

Our first event of the day was the petting zoo.

This little piggy...

 ...and those little chicks...

 Tyler wasn't so sure about the chicks.

(or any of the animals for that matter)

 None of us were all that interested in the black calf in a pen.

Can't imagine why. ;)

 Goat,

sheep,

...bunnies!  See the Chicken Girl behind Dale?

Now Alan sees her, too. "Boy! You touchin' my chicken?"

"I got the chicken!"

"The chicken likes me!"

After making all our animal rounds we went on for lots more hands-on fun.  More pics to come later this week!

Going all out

We aren't super big into branding and characters around here, although we do have our fair share of it.

Alan has decided lately he is a batman and spiderman fan.

I enjoyed his resourcefulness - and the resulting delight - recently when he managed to gather up a full load of spiderman stuff from around their room:

If I remember correctly, the picture was his idea.  

Who are the characters at your house?

An incredibly long ramble about cloth diapering.

Once upon time, back in 2009 when I was pregnant with Tyler, I did a good bit of studying up on cloth diapering, and seriously considered switching.

For that matter, I think I might have also considered cloth diapers with Alan, but honestly... when liver disease entered our lives a lot of things changed... including the memories we have of Alan's baby days and the weeks leading up to his arrival.  Many of those details were overshadowed by or even replaced with Liver Disease.

But I digress... with Tyler I know I got right up to the edge, but chickened out.  Maybe it was the safety of sticking with what I knew, or maybe it was the fear of spending the money on a cloth diaper setup only to decide later I didn't like it.

So just as we had done twice before, we used disposables.  Two years later, I didn't even think twice about them with Brooklyn.

And then along comes my sister.  Kristin spent a large part of her pregnancy reading up on cloth diapers.  She learned all the types & styles, pros & cons, how-tos & how-not-tos.  Long before her bundle of joy arrived, he first orders of cloth diapering gear did.

Logan - 3 months

I've enjoyed having a front row seat to seeing how cloth diapering really works, and it seems to suit them well.  Even so, by the time we were expecting Daniel, we had been really blessed with lots and lots of disposable diapers.  Lots.  No really... we have a lot of diapers.

So once again, I haven't considered cloth an option for us.  With being gifted so many diapers, it wouldn't make sense to spend the money on a cloth setup.  

However... just a day or two after bringing Daniel home I was reminded of the problem we've had with every newborn boy: leaky diapers.

Wet pjs, wet blankets, wet sheets... no fun.

By comparison, Kristin had very very rarely had this problem with Logan in his cloth diapers, so on her first visit to meet her new nephew she brought a stack of her smallest diapers and covers for us to try.

I put them on Daniel sporadically for a few days, mainly because I just wanted to see what it was like. It was fun to try out the 'other side' and do things my sister's way, but then I went back to disposables.  It just seemed easier for some reason.

A few days ago I noticed Daniel had a consistently red bottom.  I used our favorite diaper cream a time or two, but it didn't seem to do much for him.  It wasn't quite a rash... just... red.  Then I had another idea to try: the cloth diapers!

So all day Monday I used only cloth on my baby's little tooshie.  And what do you know... by the end of the day... no red!

So... after all the rambling, what's my final verdict?

• I love the wholesome feeling of putting a soft cotton diaper on a baby bottom.
• The covers are cute and easy to use.

• Fastening with a snappi is super easy and quick.

• No leaks = awesomeness.

• Washing and drying them was not a big deal at all.

• Like his cousin Logan, Daniel seems to have less tolerance for a wet or dirty diaper when he is in cloth, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Will we be switching?  Probably not.  We have tons of free disposables, remember?  I can't imagine spending the money on cloth at this stage in the game for us.  If I had it to do over, knowing what I know now I would have bought them for Tyler, no doubt.  Look at the use we would have gotten by now!

I don't know all the details and lingo (I'm pretty sure the diapers Kristin loaned us are prefolds), but if you are interested in cloth diapering I would encourage you to visit Kristin at her blog!

3 weeks old... venturing out

Daniel's been to church a couple of times, and visited grandparents' houses a couple of times. 

Today we went a little further and returned to Tuesday morning story time at the library.

It was our first time to use the double stroller we bought the day before he was born.

For a person who doesn't like to stand out or make a scene, having 5 kids in 9 years will definitely take you out of your comfort zone.

Nothing like coming through the door pushing a double stroller and toting 5 kiddos to make heads turn.

Surely it is understood, but I can't leave it unsaid: Of course they're worth it.  :)

Today was a much-anticipated day for us at story time.

Dale has been helping with the opening puppet show for several weeks now.  Recently he wrote his own script.  It was supposed to be performed on my birthday (not for my birthday, mind you, just on my birthday).

But Daniel had other plans and we were busy coming home from the hospital that day and didn't make it to story time.

So Dale's debut was delayed until today.

His show was a smashing success with the preschool-kindergarten crowd.

It was nice to regain a little bit more of our pre-baby routine!

Around the House Monday

In the fridge
Leftover soups, 19 eggs, 1 bunch of kale, salad fixings.  And we're out of juice. Again.

In the School Room
What school room?!?  
Just kidding. ;)  
We still aren't back to school yet, but we did get a new load of library books for the next country of the week: Greece.  So we've been doing a good bit of reading.  
We're also keeping up with our Memory Verse Box, and I have tons of Thanksgiving craft projects and worksheets bookmarked.  Now we need to just... you know... do some of them!

On the Menu
An old favorite: Crockpot Tamale Pie
And a new recipe: Japanese Pork and Ramen Soup

On my to-do list
I have quite a few thank you notes to write from Daniel's arrival.  Including a jumbo one I plan on making with our kids' hand-prints to send to Greg's band for their gift and card.

I also must, must get some basic pieces (solid onesies and tights) ordered for Brooklyn to be able to wear some of the cute cold-weather stuff currently hanging in her closet.  I can't seem to finish the job and get that done!

On my nightstand
Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from my Grandmothers

Under the Tuscan Sun

Kisses from Katie

But truthfully? I'm not actually reading any of them.  In my 'spare' time I get on the internet, read my Bible, or sleep.  Have you read any of these books?  I've started two of them, should I plow ahead and finish or just return them to the Library already?

From the camera Mimi's Camera:

Snug as a bug in a...

I've always heard it said that if you didn't have anything else for baby to sleep in, a laundry basket would do in a pinch.

Guess what? 

It's true!

Today I had just finished nursing Daniel when Brooklyn needed a little TLC from a headbump or some other 13-month-old malady.  

Getting up from our cozy seat on the couch, I snuggled Daniel down in the first place I saw:

And he slept there quite happily for an entire nap!

Maybe tomorrow I'll try a dresser drawer!

Where are some funny places your kids have slept?

Light in the Darkness