A Birthday, An Early Thanksgiving and A Milestone

Wow, the last month has been super busy so this post has been in draft for awhile waiting for pictures. To start it off we went up to our home in north Georgia as the hubby was asked to help at the plant near our home there for the week. It was nice to get to spend time with family. The kids always enjoy getting to stay for awhile and go to my mom's school and do sleepovers with the grandparents. It was made even better because we celebrated Josiah's birthday all week long.

His actual birthday was spent rather quietly but the next day we went to my mom's tutorial school to celebrate with his friends. We brought cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday and that made his day. Since moving to south Georgia the kids have really missed seeing their friends at school. They are making new friends here but they always  enjoy spending time with their old friends.

At the end of the week we went to my mother-in-law's for an early Thanksgiving with all the family. We don't get to see Nana as much as we would like so it was a special treat to get to spend the night there. She had gotten a Ninja Turtle cake for Josiah so we got to sing to him for a second time after a wonderful dinner. The kids definitely did not want to leave and hopefully we will get back up there soon.

To top the week off we celebrate Josiah's birthday one more time at my Grandmother's home. Josiah asked for a Jake and the Neverland Pirates cake with lots of crocodiles. I love making our children's birthday cakes. They may not be the best looking but seeing their face when their ideas come to life is amazing. Josiah enjoyed helping this year by placing the figurines on the cake. Josiah loved being doted on. Sometimes I feel like he gets the least amount of attention because he is the quietest. So I really love to make him the center of attention every now and then.

Once we got back home I almost let Hezekiah turning four months old slip by unnoticed. He is so big and strong I often forget he is so young. He is already out growing his 3-6 month clothes in length. He his quite the talker, loves to play peek-a-boo and be tickled. His smile is infectious and has an instant calming affect on everyone.

I am so thankful God blessed us with our cuddly, sweet, caring Josiah and our happy, bubbly Hezekiah. I cannot imagine our family without them.

Little Miss is Two

I can't believe it has already been a month since we celebrated Ziva's second birthday. There are days when it does not seem possible that she is already two and then there are days when I have to remind myself she is only two. She is so independent and her verbal skills are quite impressive so she had a lot to say about her party. She choose Minnie Mouse as her theme. So there was a lot of pink in the house.

 

I always make our children's birthday cakes so when Ziva asked for cupcakes I knew I would make them myself. I used regular and mini Oreos to make Minnie Mouse shaped heads on top and then laid them out in a mouse shaped head. This was one of the easiest birthday "cakes" I have done so far.

 

Thanks to Pinterest I found this tutorial for a Minnie Mouse hair bow and made it using fabric from one of Hubby's old black t-shirts. It was a little to heavy for her hair but she loved it. She had such fun being the center of attention for the day. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring for Ziva. She amazes me everyday with her curiosity, she maybe two but she is two going on fourteen.



BabyKicks Goes Pink, Let's have a Twitter Party to Celebrate!

Just when I thought I couldn't love BabyKicks anymore they announced their 2+2+2 promotion. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month they have revealed limited edition pink diapers that are only available on their Facebook page . When you purchase a diaper not only do you get $2 off the retail value and $2 flat rate shipping, BabyKicks will donate $2 to be split evenly between the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Women Supporting Women. These special diapers are only available for the month of October. So not only do you get a great diaper for a great price, you are helping women who are fighting the battle of their life.

To celebrate this awesome promotion BabyKicks is throwing a Twitter Party next Tuesday at 9 pm EST. This will be my third Twitter Party with BabyKicks and they are always so much fun. On top of getting to chat with everyone there will also be four pink prizes, two pink fitteds, pink washies and a pink trimmed blanket. You have to RSVP to here to win. If you are still a little intimidated by Twitter parties The Inquisitive Mom has a great tutorial here.

I hope to see you at the party. Even if you can't make it be sure to pick up your favorite BabyKicks diaper in pink and support a great cause. I already got permission from the Hubs to get one for Hezekiah, even boys can wear pink.

RSVP for the #BabyKicks Twitter Party!

You already know that BabyKicks makes fantastic cloth diapers. Maybe you even joined us for the #BabyKicksPrints reveal party this summer and fell in love with Outfoxed and Baby Safari. But did you know that BabyKicks also offers an awesome assortment of natural, hemp accessories for mom and baby?

Join us Wednesday, September 25th, from 9 pm to 10 pm EST to talk BabyKicks accessories (and cloth diapers too)! I along with several BabyKicks ambassadors will be joining @InquisitiveMom to chat cloth and share our favorite accessories.

BabyKicks also wants to give party attendees a chance to win some accessories! RSVP for the twitter party and tweet publicly at least once  using the hashtag #BabyKicks to be eligible to win one of 3 BabyKicks accessories!

Entry-Form
BabyKicks is responsible for prize fulfillment.

Diapering an Almost Newborn with BabyKicks

We absolutely love cloth diapering our little Hezekiah. The diapers are so cute on him and I know we are doing what is best for him. He has such super skinny legs we only have a few diapers that fit him well. All these pictures were taken when Hezekiah was 4 weeks old. These diapers fit before then, I just didn't get around to taking pictures.

Let's start with my favorite BabyKicks diaper for Hezekiah, the Hemparoo Prefold. This is a size small and I get a great fit. We use a newborn wool cover over it and it is invincible!

We also use the BabyKicks Premium with the one size JoeyBunz insert. I love both the snap and hook and loop. I can get a great fit with both. We have them on the smallest rise and waist snaps. Because Hezekiah is so long and we waited to use these until his umbilical cord fell off we didn't use the newborn fold.





Mom stop taking pictures.



This is the new print, Outfoxed. It is absolutely adorable. It is one of my favorite prints out of all our diapers. The hook and loop makes getting a snug fit on Hezekiah's tiny waist super easy, especially at in the middle of the night.


Seriously Mom stop taking pictures!

How cute!



These are great trim one-size options. If you wanted them even trimmer you could get the size small inserts. If you are looking for a diaper that is going to last till potty training (these still fit our almost two year old who is almost fully potty trained) this is definitely the diaper I would recommend. You can get these diapers at your favorite cloth diaper retailer or the BabyKicks website.

 

Disclosure: I am a BabyKicks ambassador and received these diapers for free. All opinions are my own.



Nana's Cream Cheese Pie

My precious Mother-in-Law is an amazing cook. I love watching her. This past Easter she made this amazingly delicious and super simple pie. I knew with the first bite I would have to add it to the recipe box. My genius of a husband took this recipe to a new level at a recent get together we had by serving the filling as a dip with graham crackers. Either way you try it be sure you have plenty of people to share it with or you will eat it all in one sitting.

2 packages cream cheese
1 tub whip cream topping thawed
1/2 cup sugar
graham cracker crust or graham crackers

Combine the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl. (It is much easier if you let the cream cheese sit on the counter for awhile first.)

Add the whip cream topping and mix until smooth.

Pour filling into pie crust and refrigerate until firm.

Slice and enjoy.

I told you it was simple. One thing I will say if you don't combine the cream cheese and sugar before adding the whip cream topping it will be lumpy. It still tastes good it just isn't as pretty to look at. Now go make one and let me know how you like it.

God Gives Strength, Welcoming Hezekiah Julian

I cannot believe it has been four weeks since we became a family of 6. I have been thinking about this post since going into labor (thinking about blogging while in labor is insane I know). Life with four children five and under keeps me very busy so I am glad I have finally gotten the chance to sit down and blog. Hezekiah Julian was born on July 20th weighing 8lbs 14 oz and he was 22 1/4 inches long.

We choose the name Hezekiah because it means God gives strength. This pregnancy was by far the hardest for me. My back gave me many problems and there were days I could barely walk. Taking care of our 3 older children took relying on God for strength everyday. It also took asking for help not only from my husband but also my family. If you know me you know asking for help is extremely hard for me. I think this pregnancy was meant to show me I cannot do everything by myself and I don't have to, God is always there to strengthen me.

We choose Julian to honor my Grandmother whose last name was Julius. She pasted away in 2010. I miss her dearly. She was a wonderful woman and I hope that Hezekiah is as kind as she was. If you are aware of Old Testament kings you will also see a pattern to our boy's names. Asa, Josiah and Hezekiah are all good kings in the Bible. In 2 Kings 18:3 it says Hezekiah "did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord". We hope that verse will also describe our Hezekiah.

We are all in love. The children are all so happy to have a little brother despite all of them thinking they were going to have a sister.  Aside from reminding Ziva she can't pick him up they have been so helpful and attentive to our little bundle of joy. They all love holding him and giving him lots of kisses. I hope that as life settles into a routine I will be able to blog more regularly. So much has happened over the last month and I want to record it and all the wonderful things that are to come.