Well, It Didn't Last...

Winter came to visit for a couple of days, then left again, then came back for a teaser a couple of nights ago. Now its just rainy and balmy. Yuck. And speaking of yuck, once again we've been invaded by illness, Isaac has had a fever the past few days, which is another way of saying that Isaac has been extremely clingy the past few days. Add to that, my baby swing broke, so Elias only sleeps I'm "wearing" him in the carrier or sleeping next to him in bed, and my own struggles with a cold, it has been an incredibly trying and exhausting few days. Oh ya, and Travis has been gone most of the time too. He's been skiing, sweat-lodging, and helping our friends paint the interior of their house. So, I have not gotten much done, I'm truly amazed at the extent of filth you learn to live with under these circumstances as it piles up in my house. Top all of that off with this crazy customer I just can't make happy with diapers (why doesn't she just buy from someone else?) and I'm wondering how much longer I have before the white van with padded walls shows up for me. I'm actually looking forward to the scattering of my Dad's ashes this weekend as a vacation (Thanks, Dad) rather than dreading it as a difficult, sad time. At least I get to see family, have some brain-rest while aunts entertain the monkeys, and sleep to the sound of the ocean! Speaking of sleep, if I can shut out the sound of poor stuffed-up Isaac's snoring, that's what I'm going to do now too!

Winter Has Come Back!!!

Some back yard visitors return, along with the snow...

Just in time for WinterFest!

The Incredible Stewy Brothers...

Box O' Cuties

Sesame Street still has the power!

Bet you can't see me! (Posted by Isaac)

Readin' to myself (posted by Isaac)

What a winning smile!

Here's a few pictures of the boys, more on the way...

Long Nights...

Ok, sorry no pictures this time because I've been slacking on getting them uploaded to my computer, but I will get some pictures up soon! Elias has grown soooo much, he doesn't look like an almost two-month-old at all. A diaper customer came by and saw him the other day and was shocked, she said he's about as big as her eight-month girl! Ha.
Well, Isaac caught a cold again this past week, then Travis came home sick one day from work, and what do you know, Eli got sick too. Poor little guy, two times in two months of living. So, we had some pretty sleepless nights over the weekend with Eli screaming his displeasure at us. He gave us a reprieve last night though, and let us sleep most of the night, and no screaming. Whew! I'm hoping that the storm has passed and sleeping returns to normal because Eli is usually really awesome during the night.
We had exciting news last week, our good friends had their baby, a little boy, in a motel room! Pretty funny. They had planned on a home birth, and ended up staying in a motel room due to a fire in their garage, and of course, she went into labor and had a beautiful, healthy boy early in the morning, without too much difficulty. Yay!! Their middle daughter is Isaac's age, now their baby is Eli's age, so that's fun.
Anyhow, I'm just staying busy right now with diaper orders and two little monsters, and some meager attempts at house cleaning. (I've learned to live with disaster somewhat.) So, I've been slacking on the picture updates. One of these nights!
Oh ya, and thanks Phil, I did mean Feb of 2010 for the stupid lead law, but seriously, can you believe that next year is really 2010?!

A Temporary Stay of Execution!!

Yay, Rumpty Dumpty Diapers is safe for a year, at least!! The implementation of the lead testing and certification requirements of the new law has been postponed till Feb 09!! Hooray!

My Giants...

All My Boys.

Storytime with Daddy

A cold walk by the river

Letting the animals out!

Wow, Eli is getting HUGE!! The day before yesterday he weighed in at 11lbs, 10oz's!! He is growing so unbelievably fast, not that I should be all that shocked, Isaac was no different. Isaac surprised us all by weighing in under 40lbs at 36lbs, 8oz's. Thought he was heavier than that! He is over 36" tall though, and still has a giant wrecking ball of a head. Eli is starting to attempt smiles, and it is really cute. Its like he hasn't quite got it yet, so he almost looks like he's grimacing. I'm loving it! He doesn't seem too interested in eye contact though, which is worrisome since they always tell you that's an early warning sign of autism. So, of course, I'm constantly trying to get him to look me in the eye. I'm sure its nothing, but its hard not to worry, guess that's just being a mom.
Well, no real new news on the dumb law, but there is some hope that children's items made from fabrics will be exempt from the law since hundreds of different types of fabrics have been tested and not a single one showed a trace of lead. So, that's good. I'm still trying to just get the word out to people about this law and what its going to do in hopes that they will write to our legislators. I sent a letter into one of the local papers and they published it as the letter of the week which was great because that puts it in a big gray box where hopefully everyone will read it! It seems as though I can at least safely continue to operate until August without any changes to the law, so at least maybe I can work through and sell all of my fabrics, anyways. Thats helpful.

Bedtime Adventures...

Giddyup Bojo!

Ok, no one told me this was part of the deal!
I thought we only tortured Bojo around here.
(posted by Eli)

Nights like last night make me wonder how I will ever get through the next two years. Isaac has determined that Daddy can't put him to bed, (basically because whenever Daddy tries, he falls asleep before Isaac, so then Isaac jumps out of bed and comes running back out of his room with delight, pleased with himself for having won.) So, Eli and I have been laying down with Isaac to read him to sleep, but the past two nights, Eli has fallen asleep in Isaac's bed, and then when I move him, he wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep in our bed. (Don't want to leave him in Isaac's bed just yet, he's still a little crushable!) So, last night, just as Eli and I were making our escape from Isaac's bed, Isaac woke up, and then began the adventures. I tried to get Isaac to just go to sleep after I tucked him in and said goodnight, but he wasn't having it so I laid Eli down with Travis and sat with Isaac, but Eli started screaming and I knew Isaac wasn't going to sleep with that noise. So, I tried trading Trav places so I could get Eli back to sleep, and Isaac launched one of his King Kong sized tantrums (haven't had one of those for a LONG time) and he screamed and sobbed for a good half hour. Eli drifted into a light sleep finally, so, I traded Trav places again and tried laying down with Isaac. He wasn't in a hurry to go to sleep after all that of course, and guess what? Eli started screaming again. AAAARRRGGGH! I'm about to melt into tears at this point! So, I drag Isaac out of his bed and toss him into the crib next to our bed, and of course, everyone is asleep within ten minutes. All I can do in moments like these is think of all the attachment parenting stuff I've read and heard, its hard in the first few years but all that extra work makes it easier in the long run when your kids grow older, secure, loved, trusting, and well-adjusted. And I remind myself that most of the time its not this hard, and Thank God it really does get easier pretty quickly!