This week we made the big plunge to cloth diapers.  O.K. it really wasn't a plunge, it was more like a small step.  Coleman is now the proud recipient of one cloth diaper.  A girl has to start some where. 

You may be wondering how I reached this point.  Trust me this didn't come hastily, it has taken some time for me to make this big step.  Millicent has been trying to convince me to go cloth for years.  I always thought it was more expensive (I don't know where I got this notion from) and who wants to deal with all of that messy stuff?  Not me!

Then it was brought to my attention that I should be doing some more work when it came to the disposable diapers.  I always thought you just wrapped the diaper up and through it in the garbage.  Who knew you were suppose to dump as much of the content into the toilet before disposing it?  Boy, life's little secrets can sneak up on you.

So, I figured if I'm going to have to do some "dumping" anyway and it's cheaper, why not go cloth.  Oh, and washing them everyday is no big deal because I already wash everyday.

Here's Coleman  trying on his cloth diaper.


I chose to go with an all in one diaper that has a pocket for additional inserts by DryBees
Isn't it cute?  I know I shouldn't have been factoring in cuteness as part of the decision making process but I did.  If you are new to cloth diapers like me check out  The Diaper Jungle for great info. about what detergent to use and more.

Oh, do you remember me asking a few post ago if you could tell what was new about Coleman?  My five month old baby has two bottom teeth.

L.J. enjoyed baby wearing and changing while we were learning about cloth diapers.

Here I come world!

First, I need to go to the library and get some FREE books on photography.  Then maybe take a class at our local community college.  Afterwards who knows what's on the horizon.

This is currently my favorite picture.  There will be no stopping me once I get PhotoShop.  Or should I say once I get PhotoShop and learn how to use it.


This picture was taken on the 4th of July.  We took the boys to enjoy Lake Dallas' 4th of July.  It was nice to be in a small town atmosphere having fun as a family.

Later on that night we enjoyed fireworks.  We had some of the best seats.  It was like the show was just for us.  Here I am watching the show with the boys.  So Kysha here is what we did for the 4th.

Since having Coleman 5 months ago, I have gone walking maybe five times.  I know that doesn't sound great but it's better than nothing, right. 

I actually thought I was doing O.K. in the weight area because I only need to lose about 15 more pounds to get back to my prepregnancy weight.  Now, I was and am still concerned about how flabby my stomach got this time around but I know time will return things to normal, right.

For years I have told myself I was going to start working out.  I just hadn't quite made the plunge yet.  Due to some good genes I have always been able to eat pretty much anything and still look like I'm in good shape.  In my mind I was being pretty active because I would go walking about three times a week.  Boy was I fooling myself.

The Set Up:  One day last week Alicia suggests that I should come work out with her because she's about to start a new program.  Oh, what harm could that be?  I'll go do this "little" fitness test and we'll see what I feel like doing from there.

So imagine my amazement when she says, "Let's take some pictures."

PICTURES! 

O.K. pictures with me holding my stomach in right? Nope! 

I had pictures taken with all of the flab hanging. And trust me it wasn't a pretty sight to behold.  Whenever L.J. catches a glimpse of the good old stomach he says, "Your stomach is talking!"  I have no idea where he got this from.

Back to the set up:  Do you remember the "little" fitness test I referenced earlier?  Let's just say it was a beast.  It included doing as many over hand pull ups (not under handed) as possible.  I couldn't even do one.  How about this one?  Do as many push ups as you can.   Seven was my max.

When we embarked upon the jumping jacks I thought, "Finally something I can do with ease."  NOT!  All I had to do was do jumping jacks for 2 mins. and during the last 30 seconds go as fast as I could.  I don't know who Alicia let in the house but it felt like four other people where there.  One was on my right arm, one on my left arm and so forth.

I was sore just from the fitness assessment.  The next few days during work outs I used muscles I didn't even know I had.  It was so sore I could hardly pick up Coleman. 

Now it's one thing to start working out, but when you start messing with a girls triple dip sundae from Braums it's time for me to end the friendship (just playing).  I agreed to work out, not change my eating habits.  And only one special treat per week.  Do people actually do this?

O.K. I'm willing to compromise.  You can buy your delicious Jamba Juice smoothie and I'll go a few doors down to Stone Cold Creamery and get some fresh strawberries mixed with a little something.

She made me feel so bad I didn't get my ice cream and I've actually started looking at my calorie in take.  However, that one treat per week sounds a bit if . .fy.

All kidding aside I'm looking forward to turning over a new leaf. . . . gradually :)

My mom and my son reminded me that my body is God's temple.  L.J. reminded me when he was running, tripped and fell to the ground.  As he was lying on the floor he say, "I hurt God's temple!"  All I could do was laugh.

I need to recall L.J.'s memory verse more often. 

Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple, and His Spirit lives in you? 


Coleman and his buddy Wadell (Alicia's son).  Aren't they cute and handsome?  Little Waddell I just had to introduce you to the blogging world since mommy hasn't started her blog yet.  Don't fret little one, she will start one soon.  Right Alicia?


See, I can have one more and he or she will fit just fine.  I don't know what we will do if God blesses us with four children?  Hopefully we will get to see one day!

Can any of you tell what Coleman has in this picture?  And I am not referring to that kissable ham hock of a thigh. 

Do you need a hint? 

It's something new that not even the hubby knows about because he has been out of town for a week.  I don't have any stalkers like Melissa, but just in case, my man will be back protecting his family before you read this posting.  Never can be too safe :)

Yesterday evening Millicent and Detrick stopped by.  Towards the end of there visit Millicent and L.J. were having an interesting conversation.  I couldn't tell exactly what was being said because I was on the telephone.

Once I got off the phone Millicent said, "Let's ask your mom." 

"Denita, L.J. said you haven't played with him today."

I stood there searching the recesses of my mind because that couldn't be true.  I know I played with him today.  I played with him all day, right?

Let's see.  He helped me wash dishes this morning.  He built with blocks while I was folding clothes.  He helped me put the clothes in the washer machine.  He watched Word World and Super Why by himself.  He rode his Power Wheel 4x4 while I was cleaning the tile around the tub (I told him to leave out of the bathroom because of the fumes).  He had book time by himself.  He watched/ran around the house while watching Letter Factory.

L.J.'s right, I haven't played with him all day.  I had to admit it.

So, what's a mom to do when her child asks her to play Candy Land?  She plays with him.

As we were playing this is what I was thinking.  A mom could not have created this because she would have not have made it so long.  Why are there only one or two blocks on these cards?  There needed to be some cards with four or five blocks. 

What L.J., you pulled the card with Mr. Mint on it?  What do I do mom?  I'm not sure (I was a Chutes and Ladder girl).  It couldn't possibly mean that he needs to go ALL the way back to Peppermint Forest, that's at the beginning and we are almost to King Kandy.  L.J. we will just ignore these cards.

Here I was trying to finish the game when I hadn't even played with my baby all day.  I'll do better today.

Here are a few pictures from the last month.

L.J. helping make peanut butter cookies.  The boy loves peanut butter.  He would eat peanut butter sandwhiches all day every day if we let him.


He likes to cut out "coupons" with mommy.  I just give him the ads but he thinks he's doing the same thing I am.

I'm sitting here thinking about all the great things that have happened  in the last month.  There have been so many I just don't know where to start.  I guess I'll start with today.

Today while I was washing the dishes L.J. says, "Mom, you looked like a princess!"  I turned around to see him looking at my bridal picture.  That boy sure does know how to make his momma smile.

Today I also found Coleman's pacifier that has been missing since Saturday.  We tried giving him another one we had but he wasn't having it.  My life has been so much better since finding that pacifier.

We had about 8 of the boys over for the basketball game.  I was thankful we had enough space so that they did not have to sit in each others lap.  I am also thankful that they enjoy playing with L.J.  That equated to somewhat of a break for daddy and mommy.

I'm thankful for being able to go to Six Flags as a family and to see Stomp at no cost to us.  We didn't even buy anything at Six Flags.  That's big for us.  Oh, and how can I forget about the watching the Rangers game from a box.

I'm thankful I was able to spend an entire weekend with my husband at a Weekend to Remember conference at no cost to us. 

I'm thankful to have a great friend who cares enough about me and my hubby that she  would just volunteer to send us to a Weekend to Remember Conference.  Danielle you are the greatest!  You blessed us tremendously.  Our church even paid most of the registration cost so we were able to use some of the money Danielle sent on food.

I'm thankful to the Coner's who loved on our babies while we went to the conference.  We thought about not going because my parents where going out of town the same  weekend and would not be able to keep the boys.  The Coner's kept the boys Friday thru Sunday.  It was the first time Coleman had been away from his parents overnight.  We missed them dearly but knew they were in good hands.

This summer LaCarlton said one of our goals as a family is to learn Spanish.  How come his job started offering free classes and someone gave us the Spanish Rosetta Stone software they had purchased but decided not to use.

I could go on and on but I say all this to say, God is so good!

Many times I focus on what is not going right and what did not get completed.  I don't want to be like Jonah and not be thankful for the duration of time I was able to enjoy the shade provided from the plant.  I don't want to focus on the worm and what he did.  During the hot sunny days I want to look back and remember how He cared enough about me to provide shade. 

I pray that you will be able to do the same.  
 

We have been in our new community for almost a month.  When we first moved in a neighbor told LaCarlton, "We are glad you are in the neighborhood but tell your wife to move her flowers because they will take them."  He replied, "I tried to tell her but she wants to keep them our there."

After being in the house for over a week the general contractor came by to do some work on the house.  I opened the door and he said, "Your flowers are still here.  You must have prayed over them or something."  He also said that some people try to screw their pots down with concrete screws or glue them down but that doesn't work either because they will just break them if they can't take the flowers.  I couldn't believe all the comments/warnings we were receiving about the flower pots.

Everyday we wake up and look out the window to see if the flower pots are still in front of the house.

Well this morning LaCarlton asked me if I had brought the double jogging stroller inside the house.  I said, no, why?  He said because it's not there. What do you mean it's not there?  He said, "It's gone some one must have taken it last night."

Here we were looking to see if the flowers were going to disappear not even thinking about the stroller.  Now there is a reason I didn't think anyone would steal the stroller.  It did not have the front wheel on it.  So here I am left with a front wheel and no stroller. 

But guess what , it could have been worse.  They could have taken the stroller and the flowers. :)

Do you think they are going to actually use it or take it to the pawn shop?  Who knows.

 I've been without internet access for almost half a month.  I didn't realize how dependent I had become on blogging and reading other blogs.  I would have had to rethink this move if I would have know there was no high speed internet access in the area I could afford.  Just kidding!

Some of you already know that I also have a dependency on Bloglines.com.  I've been dependent on it for quite a while now.  I actually have to confess that I don't like to see any of my registered blogs in bold print with a number beside them.  So I will go through and click on them without reading them just to have it "all nice and neat".  O.K. I know I have problems.  So imagine how my list looks without having read a blog in over two weeks.

So much has happened around here.  We are all moved in and almost not a box in sight.  Coleman is three months old and already turning over in his crib when we put him on his back to go to sleep.  L.J. is sleeping in his bunk bed like a big boy.  And we all are enjoying the new house.  Life is exciting and going well.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Lastly, all parents please be advised that there is a reason the instructions say to buckle your babies in at all times.  Because you never know when they will decide to do this.  I was shocked when I walked back in the room and found my two day shy of being three month old baby like this.  I couldn't even blame L.J. because he was with me.  Please don't call CPS on me.  I really am a good mother  And the funny thing is he was so content. 


This picture of L.J. makes me laugh every time I look at it.  I can't even remember what he was laughing at but I'm glad he thought it was funny.

We move in four days and not one box has been packed.  What is my problem?  I'm not quite sure but I know I better get it together quickly.  Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind I don't think the place is going to be ready (It was suppose to be ready today).  I'll start tomorrow has been a familiar song I've been singing everyday.

O.K. here is something that has been on my heart.  I've debated if I would blog about this or not.  So here it goes. 

The hubby and I believe life starts at conception.  So once the egg and sperm have met a life has been formed and we don't want to do anything that could harm the "baby".  Therefore we don't believe in oral contraceptives but had recently been advised to use NuvaRing.  Since I didn't know much about it I thought it may work differently.  So imagine my shock when I read this on a website.

These hormones work by stopping ovulation, thickening cervical mucus as a barrier to sperm, and preventing implantation of the embryo if fertilization occurs.

WHAT!  Could this be right?  Maybe this site made some mistake because I was told about the first two but not the third.  I kept doing some research and found other websites that said the same thing. 

I've only mentioned this because there may be others out there like me who have expressed to their doctors that they don't want to take anything that would allow the sperm and the egg to meet and are advised to take things like NuvaRing.

After reading this I understand that there is a great debate in the medical field on this issue.  I'm of the opinion if someone can get pregnant while using them then there will be times when fertilization occurs and the embryo (baby) simply can't implant.  This doctor also agrees.

Now that I have that off of my chest here's a pic of my mom and the kids a few weeks ago.

Once again I don't know where the time has gone.  I've been meaning to blog but just haven't.  So much has happened this month I don't know where to start.  I guess I'll start with our BIG announcement.

We're pregnant again!

Just kidding :)

Seriously, our BIG announcement is that we are finally moving to West Dallas!  Yes, that means we are moving again.  We have wanted to move to West Dallas since LaCarlton started working for Mercy Street.  We have already seen God's favor in preparing for the move.  Our landlord has graciously let us out of our lease.  Can you say thank you Lord.  We are moving to the part of the neighborhood we wanted to live in.  And lastly, the inside of the house will be new.  Praise Him!

I was a little worried about L.J. having to move again.  He will be 3yrs. old in May and has already lived in three different homes.  At first when I told him we were moving he expressed that he did not want to move.  Then I told him we were going to live close to Mercy Street and the baseball field.  The boy actually started cheering.  So now he is as excited as him mommy and daddy.

Please pray for us as we embark on this new journey.  Don't you just love how the Journey Continues?

A few weeks ago the boys and I walked from my parent's house to the park.  As we were approaching the park I could see what looked like many teenagers on the playground equipment.  As we moved closer and closer to the play area I was astonished at what I was viewing.  There were approximately ten young ladies dressed in very small shorts and halter tops on the equipment standing in vulgar (to me) positions being photographed.  I couldn't believe it!

My first response was to turn around and shield my babies from viewing such a sight.  Then I decided, no, we are still going to the playground. 

As we approached the playground you could here some of the girls asking the guys taking the pictures to hurry up.  Some even looked at me and said, "We are so sorry".  One even said, "I'm never going to take my child to the playground".  Conviction GREAT! 

My prayer as we approached the playground was that someone would realize what they were doing was wrong.  It was also another opportunity to teach L.J.  I took him on the backside of the playground and told him not to look at the ladies because they were not dressed modestly.  Later on another little boy came to play and L.J. told him,  "Don't look at the ladies because they not modest."

Now, some people may think that a two year old can not understand what is modest and what is not.  However, I think L.J. understands. 

One night after the playground incident he looks at me and says, "Mommy you are not dressed modestly."  He didn't yell it or whisper it.  It was just like it was everyday conversation.  I had to stop, pick my bottom lip off the floor and look at myself.  And what do you know.  I was not dressed modestly.  I had to say, "L.J. you are correct mommy will put a shirt over this."  He said, "O.K."

Wow!  I couldn't believe my 2 1/2 yr. old was holding me accountable.  Later on I called my mother and told her not to buy me any more nursing night gowns that were not "modest" :) 

I am so glad that I have some friends that taught there son to not look at women who are not dressed modestly.  We were watching T.V. and he got up and changed the channel.  I asked him why he changed the channel and he said, "Because they were not modest."  Because of this encounter we will change the channel and tell L.J. why. 

Unfortunately, LaCarlton is often able to train on modesty when he and L.J. watch basketball and football games.  And unfortunately, I am able to train him on it when we go to the malls.  I often have to say, "L.J. bounce your eyes."  I learned about men bouncing their eyes from the book, Every Man's Battle by Steve Arterburn and Fred Stoeker.  I want to train my children now so that they will be equipped to be victorious in that area of their lives.

Here are some pics of the traniees.  I took them to take pictures this day but didn't like how they turned out.  So we took our own Easter pictures.  To bad Coleman is falling in this one.
In this picture Coleman is saying, my brother sure does love me a lot.  He is always kissing on me.  If he loves me so much why does he let me fall when we take pictures?

A few days ago L.J. said he wanted to read to Coleman.  I said O.K. and he went off to his room to choose a book.  He came back with Uncle Jed's Barbara Shop (Thanks Mrs.  Zelda he loves this book).  He sat down and started "reading" the book to Coleman.  I'm still amazed at how he can look at the pictures and remember the words to the story.


Later on while I'm hanging up some clothes he picks up the Bible and starts reading to Coleman.  I couldn't grab the camera fast enough.  Notice how the Bible is upside down.

 

During moments like these I'm glad we have made the sacrifices for me to be at home. 

The life changing event occurred on Thursday evening.  I was sitting on my bed and out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of it, and my ears heard its movement.

I screamed!

I picked up the phone to call the hubby as I was scrunched up on the bed.  I told him to "come home quick to get us out of here."  Of course he wanted to know what the problem was and I told him I saw a rat.  I was so upset.  He said it was probably just a field mouse.

Just a FIELD MOUSE!

If it was a field mouse it belongs out in the field and not in my house.  When it came in my house it became a RAT. 

See that's how people in Texas are (no offense to Texans).  They say roaches are water bugs and rats are field mice.  O.K., I looked up the difference between a field mouse and rat and now know there is a difference.  But those so called "water bugs" are roaches. 

Well the hubby came home and packed us up as I sat on the bed with the kids.  L.J. kept wanting to know what was wrong and I would just said, "nothing."  We left the house on Thursday and just returned last night.  This whole "RAT INFESTATION" has really gotten to me.  It's really affecting me but everybody else (hubby, mom, sister-in-law) says I'm over reacting.  I just feel so violated.  Yes, violated.  I work hard to keep my home neat and clean (O.K. I need to work on the office) and can't believe "others" have been in my house.

The exterminator said by looking at the droppings.

What droppings?  Oh, those little black things I saw in a few places were droppings from the invaders.  How was I suppose to know that?  I really thought something black had broken off of one of L.J.'s plastic toys.  I also thought is this a piece from Coleman's umbilical cord?  How naive!

Anyway the exterminator said it looked like the droppings were from a baby filed mouse. 

A BABY!

That means there are some adults and more babies somewhere.  Can this get any worse?  Yeah.

I remember Millicent saying she saw something in the kitchen cabinet while she was keeping L.J.  I told her it was O.K. because we noticed when we moved in that there was a hole with some steel wool in it.  I told her it was just the steel wool she saw in the hole.  WRONG!

That means the invaders have been here for a least a month.  I've been living with others and didn't even know it.  Boy what good is a college education if you can't even tell you're living with others.

All that said, now we have a lot of work to do.  Washing all the dishes, cleaning all cabinets and drawers, the pantry, floors, etc. all because you don't know where the others have been.  Boy am I thankful the hubby is off three days this week.  My incision has been bothering me and I couldn't do all this cleaning by myself.

On a brighter note I took the boys to the park last week.  It was the first time for Coleman.  We had such a good time.  Coleman slept most of the time but I had to feed him once.  The weather was so nice.  It was nice to be in the park at noon and not burn up.  In the summer I normally take L.J. to the park around nine or ten because it gets so hot later on.

Here's L.J. enjoying the tire swing.

Today I was feeling overwhelmed (yes again), so I opened up my journal to write.  For some reason putting my feelings down on paper makes that heavy feeling go away.  I have not been able to find my current journal for almost a month so I've been using a journal I use to take notes in.

As I was flipping the pages trying to get to a clean sheet I saw some old notes.  I think the notes were written some time in 2006.  Here is what they said:

Dr. Lois Evans
Luke 18

When you don't know what to do call on the Lord.
  -  First pray
  -  Second don't loose heart (2 Cor. 12)
  -  Be persistent like the widow
Luke 11:11
Jeremiah 29:11 Call on the specialist
John 2:1

So, what did I do?  I called on the Lord and made my request known

Later on during the day I went back and read/meditated on Luke 18 and 2 Cor 12:9-10.  Afterwards I was so glad for the Word.  I felt refreshed and believed God would give me what I needed to train and discipline my children (discipline in reference to L.J.) while not losing my mind or having my home look like a disaster zone.

He is an on time God!  Yes He is!

L.J.'s whining has increased lately.  Yesterday I asked him to clean up his toys and he started whining.  I told him that I was not going to give him a spanking but instead he would not be able to play with his toys the next day.

No toys sure made a difference today.  He even asked once if he could play with his toys.  I said no and asked him if he knew why.  He said, "Cause I didn't want to clean up my toys."

I'm learning what forms of discipline work with him.

On a lighter note I'm starting to feel better.  I even took L.J. and Coleman outside for the first time on Friday.  L.J. was so excited and of course didn't want to come in. 

We ended up outside because we heard a fire engine.  It was a few houses down so we just watched them.  Then we heard something near the back yard.  Here is what we found.



Yeah, the grass fire almost made it to our yard.  It started two houses down, made it to our neighbors' yard and stopped a few feet before our yard.  Thank you Lord!  I' sure was glad the yards are so large because I still haven't gotten that rental insurance :) .  Do you think I'm motivated now?

Here's L.J. having fun outside after all the excitement.  He looks like he is getting ready to enter a major race.

L.J. had his first sleepover last night with one of our friends who has five children (I hope I am still willing to help people out with their children when I five).  She called to verify our arrangements for picking L.J. up today and said that he could just spend the night and she would drop him off afterwards.  I called the hubby to see if it was O.K. and he said yes.  Then I started to get a little nervous.

See L.J. hasn't spent the night with anyone other than his grandparents or aunts (that includes Millicent).  Even though I was tired and could use a little break, I didn't want my first baby to leave his mommy.  I couldn't believe it.  Were my hormones just getting the best of me or what?

Needless to say I did let him go.  I almost  let a few tears fall from my eyes and thought to myself, "Denita get it together."  He was going to be returning home in less than 24 hours.  And return he did.  He seemed to have such a good time.

Next, guess what I had this morning?  A doctor's appointment!  I stepped on the scale and it said 183.  What that couldn't be right!  I was 182 at last week's appointment.  The scale was going in the wrong direction.  I just knew I had dropped another five pounds at least.  Then I thought about it.  When you spend most of your day in the bed and eating you shouldn't expect to loose weight.  So, let's just see if I can maintain my current weight until my six week postnatal appointment.

Now onto Coleman.  Coleman is growing like a weed.  Here he is in one of his sleepers that no longer fit.  The feet section is too small along with everything else.  Can you believe I had him all pint up like this.

And yes, I know I'm a bad mother.  Good mothers follow the instructions on the Boppy and don't allow their children to sleep in it.  But for some reason the boy doesn't like to lay flat that much.  So I let him fall asleep in the Boppy and then put him in the bassinet.



And yes, the Boppy ends up in the bassinet sometimes.  This little one is so noisy  inquisitive like the rest of his family that he spends his awake time sitting up somewhere.  Though you can tell from the picture below he does not prefer to be placed in the bouncer anymore.  I've determined he has a distain for the bouncer because his little legs dangle off of it.  I told you he was growing like a weed.


Lastly, Coleman has baby acne, bad.  It looks different from when L.J. had it.  So, of course we took him to the doctor and she confirmed it was acne.  We were told to just let it work it's self out. 

With L.J. we did let it work its self out but this was different.  If your baby looked like this.


What would you do?

So, I did what any other mother in the 21st century would do.  I googled it.  And guess what I found?  I found that the cure could be found in using the "precious gold".  All I needed to do was apply it to the affected area.

It worked!  But of course I hadn't told the hubby about my home remedy.  When he came home he said, "Denita, what did you do to him!? You popped those bumps and now he is going to have scars." 

I told him that I didn't pop them but he didn't believe me.  Maybe he didn't believe me because I was laughing so hard.  So, I had to confess.  I told him I looked it up online and it said to apply breast milk to the acne.  He looked at me and said, "You didn't!"

I don't know which one he was more discussed with.  The fact that I used breast milk on the bumps or the belief that I had popped the bumps.  Isn't life just grand :)