It is with great pleasure that I announce that we have a new READER in
the house!! Miss Miriam has join the ranks of the literate. She read
her very first book last night. Yes, it was one of those Bob Books for
beginning readers, but she was so incredibly proud of herself. She was
actually jumping up and down and yelling. So cute. We are so proud of
her!

Share it??

The octopus strikes again!  Katie still takes her naps in our bedroom
since Miriam usually does not nap during rest time. In there her crib is
next to Brian's dresser. Apparently today she rocked the crib over a
few inches to it and reached around and opened the top drawer. She then
helped herself to a pair of Daddy's dress socks. When I walked into the
room to get her after nap, she was sitting in the crib wearing one of
the socks pulled all the way up past her knee! She looked up at me and
smiled and said, "Daddy share sock!". Um, is that what we call it now?

Our dog Snoopy has a very bad habit of running away. He could have been Houdini dog! Seriously.
But today Miriam has found the solution to keeping him in our yard...

Miriam: Momma, I'll put up a sign to keep Snoopy in our yard.
Momma: What?
Miriam: I'll put up lots and lots of STOP signs in our yard so Snoopy will stop and not run away.
Momma: But Miriam, Snoopy can't read.
Miriam: I'll teach him.
Momma: But Miriam, dogs can't learn to read.
Miriam in her 4 going on 14 voice: Of COURSE, they can, Momma!

Well, DUH! Guess she told me!

As I talked about in this post, I've been homeschooling Miriam for
preschool. Actually, she is doing a Kindergarten curriculum from My
Father's World spaced out a bit. Well it has been going really well for
us for the most part. I don't make Miriam do school if she really
doesn't want to on a certain day. After all, she is just 4 1/2. She was on
"strike" for most of December, but then today she was asking to do
school again, so I think she is ready for the holidays to be over. :)

So far this fall we have covered 7 different letters in units. We've
done "S" Sun, "M" Moon, "L" Leaf, "A" Apple, "N" Nest, "T" Turtle, and 
"U" Us (human body/senses). Up next is "D" Dinosaur! The activities
have been fun, and for the most part the lessons have been easy for
Miriam. In the phonics lessons, she has just been started on reading
three letter words, which she loves. The handwriting part is the thing
that gets us, but I figure she is just 4 1/2 and has tons of time to
learn to make a perfect letter. :)

Here is a picture from "N" Nest. We made a "nest" out of pillows and the kids were the baby birds. LOL

As long time readers of this blog will note, I've reviewed gDiapers before here and here.

Earlier this year, gDiapers released their cloth inserts (gCloth) to use with their little gPants. I was very excited and got my hands on some ASAP. I've been using gDiapers with cloth inserts as our primary diaper for 3 months now, and I think I'm ready to report!

First, As you might remember, my biggest complaint about gDiapers in the past was that the snap-in liner would stain where poop touched it, and it would also smell unless bleached. Well, I'm happy to report gDiapers has addressed this issue. They changed something in the material of the liner. They no longer stain easily (I've had no stains with the new liners) and no longer retain smell. WOOHOO!!

Now, about the gCloth inserts.

Positives:
They are trim fit, almost as trim fit as the flushable refills or a disposable diaper. They wick moisture away from the baby's skin with the fleece side. They are easy to wash. Easy to remove poop from. Staining is limited. They are absorbent enough to last 2-3 hours during non-heavy wetting times without leaks.

Negatives: These inserts will not cut it over more then 4 hours (i.e. overnight), nor will they stand up to a heavy wetter.

Workaround related to above negative: I HAVE found a way to make the gCloth work well for us for 4-5 hours or during heavy wet times (right after breakfast here). I take two inserts and place them with the fleece side out, works wonderfully! Only down side is the increased thickness, and they still wouldn't make it overnight.

Overall, I really love them and recommend people give them a try.

(Yes, I know this post is a month late. No, I don't have a real excuse. Bad blogger!)

Our little Katie bug is two!! Wooohoo! :)  She weights in at 28.5
pounds and stands 35.5 inches tall (90th percentile; yeah, another TALL
child!)
Miss Katie is talking up a storm (50-100 words) and continues to be our
most active toddler yet. I call her my octopus because she has a way of
getting into everything like she has eight arms not two!
So in honor of Katie's 2nd birthday, two things I love about her!
1.) She has the best sense of humor for a 2 year old! Seriously, she
can make me laugh way too easy! She knows how to use it too. :)
2.) She is so sweet. If she accidentally bumps me, she will say "sor-wee" and kiss the injury! Too cute.

Love you, baby girl!

A few pictures from her party including her Elmo cake. :)

Momma: "Evan, when Momma says, 'Come here', you do NOT answer 'WHAT?!?'  You are to say 'coming Momma.'"

Evan: "Yes, Momma"

Momma: "So when Momma says, 'Come here', what do you say?"

Evan: "Be patient."

Momma: ....

Four years ago today, a young woman walked up a flight of stairs in a large house half way around the world. A video camera was rolling, hearts were pounding, and in the distance there was the noise of babies fussing. At the top of those stairs was the portal to a whole new world. At the top of those stairs was the answer to prayers and tears and heart longing difficult to describe.  At the top of those stairs, in the last room at the end of the hall a tiny 5 month old baby girl lay sleeping. Her caregivers woke her and placed her in my arms. She fussed for only a few seconds and then looked curiously at the strange people who were cooing over her and crying. Her life begin before me, but in many ways mine begin over that day. I walked up those stairs that morning just another woman, but I walked down them a mother.

To sorrow Jehovah shall add JOY!  Miriam Josephine Desta

Happy Family Day, my beautiful, wonderful little girl!

Day One

Fall 2006

Fall 2007

Fall 2008

Fall 2009

One of those things that we have struggled with as Christian parents is that pesky little holiday at the end of the month of October. I was raised without any acknowledgment of Halloween and never dressed up or when trick-or-treating. Brian was allowed to dressed and t-n-t, but still it was not a good holiday. Interestingly enough, I am actually the one with the least hang ups over the kids dressing up. At this point, we do not want to celebrate Halloween and all it's dark meanings, but this year we did dress the kids up for a few party type things in the week prior. I'm not sure exactly what we'll do in the years to come, but I would love to see some type of celebration of All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day. But who knows.

Anyway a few picture of our Princess, Cowboy, and the Ladybug!