Water & What-not

We went to the mall to play in the splash pad last week. Both the boys had SO MUCH FUN! Kleven keeps asking to go back and I'm sure if he could talk, Ezra would too! I was surprised at how easily Ezra took a liking to the water. It was a tad bit chilly, but I think the rash guard helped against the breeze.
He had no fear and would crawl as fast as he could from one hole to another plowing through the spurts of water head first and mouth wide open. Every time he got through he would sit up and turn around to make sure I saw just how much fun he was having.

Kleven, Ezra and Slade all had the most fun trying to catch the water as it went up and down. I am convinced we need one of these in the backyard. I even researched how to build them last summer- they're not hard to do. We will most definitely be making our way back very soon!

Some friends of ours-who shall remain UN-named- were packing to move and gave Kleven some packets of Kool-aid(something not normally found at our house) and he thought he was so awesome. He and I were watching a movie late the next night when he suddenly jumps off the Luvsac and heads for the kitchen. After about 10 seconds I asked him to come back to the family room and I was answered by the sound of the garbage can lid slamming and then Kleven screaming. I jumped up and found him bleeding from his mouth, all over hands, and down the front of his shirt. As soon as he could get the words out, "My tongue is HOT!" I knew exactly what had happened. He had sneaked into the Kool-aid stash and tried eating the powder. It wasn't blood he was covered in, just a mixture of powder and saliva. This picture was taken after we tried cleaning him up.

On to another topic... look here! I found some time to complete my two+ year project of re-finishing the dining room table. That was the hard part, now all I have to do is re-cover the chair seats. If only I could find the dang staple gun...
AND- I scored this totally sweet card stand on Craigslist for FREE, and it was only a two mile drive to pick it up. Two weeks later and I am still giddy about it!
Here are some photos from Ezra's First B-day photo shoot at the park. I have the cutest boys!

Can you tell the wind is blowing? I must have told him "No".

Happy Birthday EZRA!

I can't believe how quickly this past year has flown by! My little squish of a boy is already a year old! Oh Boo-boo butt! You are the cutest little thing ever! You are adored by your mom and dad and your big brother is starting to think you're pretty neat too! As of today, you have four teeth on top and four teeth on the bottom. You have had five haircuts in 12 months and I saved your first in a ziploc bag because I couldn't believe how dark it was! It is a constant reminder of how quickly my babies grow up. Right now you're devouring an entire banana, two fig newtons, a graham cracker, and a sippy cup of whole milk. You love to feed yourself, but you also like mom and dad to share their food with you and you love it when Kleven sneaks you a taste of his treats. You love to dance. You can bark like a dog. Every now and then you'll actually call me mama. You are a VERY good pointer and can lead us to whatever it is that's on your mind. We love you E-baby! Thank you for the decent pregnancy, the most awesome delivery and the love and sweet innocence that you grace our home with every day! Happy Birthday!

Some of My Favorites!

I am a list maker... and I'm starting to think it has become somewhat of a disease. I caught myself making a list of all the things I use on a regular basis and LOVE, while I was supposed to be making a grocery list. It's fairly random and kind of insightful, and I thought maybe I'd post it and see if any of these things would make YOUR list or perhaps you'll find something new to try at your house.

1. Mr. Clean Eraser- Saved me from having to repaint an entire wall in the hallway and the upper half of Kleven's room. Like the email chain letter says: don't let your kids bathe themselves with it.
2. Bountiful Baskets: a produce co-op that is SO fun and SO healthy! $50 worth of fruit and veggies for $15. Now that's a DEAL! http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/ Not always the same exact contents but it makes planning meals so much easier, plus they email recipes to try using the items you picked up.
3. Hatch Patch Creations: Family Night Lessons that ROCK! I've been collecting them for a couple years now and will continue to do so for years to come! http://www.hatchpatchcreations.com/
4. Bed Risers- a set of four for under $10. You put the hard plastic "stilts" under each corner of your bed frame and gain an extra 6 inches of vertical storage space. Great for kids rooms if your kids don't fall out of bed. You can hide out-of -season clothing or in my case, all my gift wrapping supplies. Kleven uses this space as a fort.
5. Shoe Organizers- I'm talking about the clear pocket style that hangs from the back of a door. Use one on the inside of your pantry door to store all the little things that would normally get lost in the chaos on the shelves. Other uses: bathroom- for products in bottles and to store extras of toothpaste, soap, feminine products... you get the idea.
6. Organic Eggs- I've become an egg snob! There's something so refreshing about scrambled eggs that come from chickens who are fed organically and free range and lay the way nature intended.
7. Simply Orange OJ w/calcium- a bit pricey, but so worth the nutrients. I have been drinking it DAILY since October and swear by its ability to prevent illness. This is the first season in YEARS that I have not had a three month long sinus infection. Everyone else has gotten sick except ME!
8. The First Year's brand Take and Toss line of kid's sippy cups and utensils. NO stupid valve to clean, just put the lid on and go. When the lid gets chewed up by your toddler, just toss it in the recycling box. You can even order replacement lids online: www.shop.learningcurve.com
9. Dawn liquid dish soap with Bleach Alternative. Gets the red sauce stain off the white highchair tray effortlessly and SMELLS SO GOOD... like clean dishes should smell, not like flowers.
10. RE-Usable grocery bags. I found some really cool ones at Wal Mart for $1. They're made from recycled 2-liters, can be recycled themselves, replace 50 shopping bags, and carry the same weight as 2-3 plastic shopping bags.
11. Equate brand or Target's generic brand of diaper rash cream. Forget the pricier stuff, this stuff is WAY easier to apply and works better. It doesn't come out of the tube like a thick paste, but more like the name says and you don't have to spread it around and get it on your hands.

Now, tell me what your list consists of!

A New Do!

This is what the back of my head looked like about fifteen minutes after I got out of bed this morning:

This is what it looks like now!

Here's the front view since so many of you requested it! I am not very good at taking photos of myself in the mirror- I think you have to be like 14 to be good at that! It took me FOREVER to get a halfway decent shot! Thanks for your patience. And please try to ignore the spots on the mirror.

So Long Antibiotics!

I was recently turned on to the idea of using natural remedies to treat certain common ailments. Let me give you a brief history... I have partial hearing loss from the number of times my eardrum ruptured due to middle ear infections when I was younger. I had chronic infections... which had nothing to do with my surroundings or my care, just the way my ear canal was shaped. It's something most people grow out of. My last ear infection was at the age of 15, I believe. Most of the six of us kids had the same issue. I can still remember how nasty the medicine tasted and how awful the pain was. Fast forward to the last couple years: My first born had a horrible first year and a half of life due to inheriting the curvy ear canals. He was on a new antibiotic every other month. If you have ever administered medicines such as Augmentin or Omnicef or the generics of either, you know what I am talking about when I mention the side affects like diarrhea that result in diaper rash. It becomes a ten-day long, three times a day, nightmare!
I was not at all surprised when Ezra came along and we started the whole process again. The poor thing! In his first year he has been on some sort of antibiotic on and off for the last six months, at least! He is very uncooperative too. I have ended up with medicine spit back in my face on numerous occasions and as bad as it sounds, I've even let him choke it down just so he takes it.
After too many sleepless nights I googled natural remedies for our situation. One particular method consisted of using warm extra virgin olive oil to ease the pain. I tried it, but it didn't clear the infection, because there was still a fever. After complaining to my mom about the validity of what I read online she turned to a friend who uses a different method and swears by it: equal parts 100 proof vodka and apple cider vinegar, mixed in a dropper. You lay the child (or adult)on their side and fill the ear canal with this solution and let it sit for a full minute. Then as that side drains onto a towel in your lap, you do the other side. You still have to be consistent and treat them a couple times a day for a little more than a week. And, your child will smell like an alcoholic spoiled apple but I'm telling you, TRY IT! This woman said that she treats all 10 of her children this way and in 10 or 15 years she has never seen it not work. Some of these kids have never even had to feel the pain of an ear infection. If her kids cough for more than two day she starts treating their ears and it subsides. Even children who were weeks from having dangerous tube surgery have been treated successfully and not had to have surgery.
I wish I had known about this sooner! Once I started mentioning it to family and friends I was amazed at how many people had heard of it or knew someone that used it. Why didn't I know about it?!? It would have saved me lots of money for one, and a whole lot of sleepless nights, not to mention my sanity and the stress it caused for my children. My little Ezra will be one next week and he has not slept through the night until I started this treatment for his latest ear episode. He has even been taking consistent naps and I can just lay him down, awake, and he'll just fall asleep. His personality has changed too! He's SO HAPPY! He's always been a good baby, but I can seriously see a dramatic change in him.
So there's to my new found treatment and a better way of life for our family! And if you're curious about it and would like to try it for yourself, we've got plenty of vodka and would love to share! LOL!