A few new things...

#1:  Feeling the baby move lots during the day and always when I lay down to go to sleep and when I wake up in the morning!  I love these first little kicks and nudges...  

Sort of a strange upside view huh!  Well, that is what I see when I look down! :)  I'm just about 16 weeks, going on 7 months!  I've gained 15 pounds so far (MORE-refusing to get on the scale in recent weeks)!  Oh well, I'm also ferociously hungry at nearly all times, even right after I eat.  It is crazy!  I'm not nice (short, snappy and miserable to be around) when I'm hungry so I believe the kindest thing I can do for anyone, especially my family, is EAT, EAT, and EAT.  Just call me "big mama", I'm okay with it.   

#2:  Crispy cold weather just right for sweat pants!  I love the look of my little toddlers in sweats!  (Yes, it was cold enough to be wearing shoes, I just put him outside for a minute to take his picture!)

#3:  My latest find from a thrift store in Alabama on the way back from the George Washington Carver Museum at Tuskegee University!  The Salvation Army just happened to have their books on sale for .25 cents a piece the day that I was there!  Woo-hoo!  Much to my kids dismay we stayed for 2 hours (or was it three?)  

(Ginny, I thought of you when I found the forest and shade tree entomology book!)

("Capitan, The Story of an Army Mule" looks so neat!  The war is written from the mule's perspective!)

#4:  Rigging walls to keep Benjamin out of the kitchen and off the kitchen table.  We have a tall kitchen table and it is a high fall when he falls out of the chairs from the standing position (he doesn't sit on the chairs-we are working on that).  He squeezes his little hand into the kitchen drawers, despite the fact we have child safety latches on them.  That little 2 inches of room is enough for him to pull out things like right on/wipe off markers, which he recently painted his face with.  We don't keep him out of the kitchen all the time.  I just need the option sometimes, like when I'm trying to homeschool the kids and I don't want to be interrupted to go get Benjamin out of trouble every 90 seconds.

#5:  Oh!  I was so excited to find this for 6.00 dollars at the thrift store last week!  I've always wanted a wooden kitchen set for my kids but I've never been willing to spend hundreds of dollars on one.  Well, this is just a stove, but its a good start!  Since Benjamin has to be banned from the kitchen at times, this seems to be making him quite happy. He has cabinets without latches he can open to his delight and his own pots and pans.  (Well, a few right now of mine that I'm sharing, until I find some at the thrift)

#6:  Cloth diapers!  I've been on the edge of cloth diapering for years now.  A video that my husband sent me about all the chemicals and carcinogens in disposable diapers finally sent me over the edge.  So I'm slowly getting ready and preparing to make this, what feels like, major life change!  I know it will be a big adjustment!  I've ordered three (or is it four?) different ones to try.  The last thing I want to do is order 15 of one kind and not end up liking them!  

So here is what I've ordered so far:

The motherease diaper and cover in the picture.

A SposoEasy All-in-One that I found on Green Mountain Diapers website but had to order from Nicki's diapers because Green Mountain didn't have the size I needed in stock.

A Snug-to-fit diaper from Green Mountain diapers with a Mommy's Touch one-size diaper cover.

I ordered one prefold and one diaper doubler from Green Mountain diapers as well to try out a more economical option.  

For a diaper cover I think I'll end up buying or crocheting some wool covers but in the meantime I bought a cheap nylon pull-on cover from Green Mountain diapers as well.  

I threw in the cart some of these diaper liners (the Imse Vimse Flushable Diaper Liners) as well, since Benjamin has very loose stools (not the kind you can just plop in the toilet).

I'll keep you posted as things come in and I start experimenting!