Wordless Wednesday: What does kindness look like to you?

So for the last Wednesday in March of Kindness I decided I wanted to put out a call for other mamas to send me a picture that represents kindness to them.  Thank you to the mamas who were kind and helped me out!

Here is what kindness looks like to you:

This is Kaia and my grand-daughter Zamahri. Z
was so tired and crabby and Kaia suggested that she would sit on the "hard"
part of the shopping basket so Zamahri could sit on her lap and have a comfy
place to rest while we were grocery shopping. :)  Cathy from Blissful Booty Cloth Diapers

kindness was giving up my closet so that my 5 yr old who likes to sleep in our room could fit a bigger bed and have her own special place
Tanya from The Rockin Mama Blog and Instinctual Mamas

This is our 4 year old daughter, Keelin, and our rescue Lab, Jessie, right before we took her to get her first round of heartworm treatment. Keelin was crying because she was sad to leave her, but smiling because she knew she was going to get some help.
Dusti from the blog Where Am I?

This is our 2 year old son, Jackson, using a doppler to listen to his baby brother's heartbeat. I was 15 weeks pregnant at the time. :)
Dusti from the blog Where Am I?

A loving cousin sharing grandma's lap with my girl.  With a gentle sweet tickle under the chin to make her smile. Katie from The Sparkle Mama

My girl giving an old dog a hug.  She seemed to know she was an old lady and was very gentle with her hugs and pets. Doggie, got a couple of kisses too.
Katie from The Sparkle Mama

To most it may just look like a picture of a little girl sharing but to me and my family it says so much more. Brooklyn (my niece) hates sharing food/drink with anyone but her mom especially milk and she got this way because her mom hates sharing food with anyone. It just grosses her out. But one day she very casually offered her glass of milk to my dh and I was so shocked I had to take a picture. When my sister saw it she was in total disbelief. So this photo represents the kindness my niece is showing by sharing with her uncle but it also represents the time and effort he put in to winning her over. ♥

lol it also highlights our ghetto little apartment/set up before we could buy our house. oh the joys of starting out

Elizabeth from Dance like nobody's watching

 

Larissa from Mintee Mama tried to share and I feel bad because my computer would not save her pictures.  Maybe she can post her own WW on what Kindness looks like to her.  Check out her blog to see if she does!  Stupid Computer!  I could view the images but when I tried to download or right click and save they would save as a blank document and not a picture.

Thank you to all of the mom's who helped me with this post, such a great act of kindness helping out another mama blogger  ♥

What does Kindness look like to you?

 ♥ Christy

Wordless Wednesday: Random Acts of Reading Kindness

So I was kind of at a loss today on what to post for WW, I wanted to try and continue to tie it in with the March of Kindness but was not sure what to post.  I was thinking of posting pics of the kids sleeping together as when they wake up at night scared they often just climb into bed with each other instead of calling out for mom or dad. 

Then the mail came.........

this picture was Little Mans idea-he wanted me to take it
and send it to Atina to tell her thank you.

that's a lot of new books to read!
Now to just keep them away from Monkey!

Our sweet sweet friend Atina, from Harmony and All That Jazz, sent the kids each a Clifford dog and a bunch of really awesome books!  yes, I have read through ALL of them at least once today already!

If you follow my blog then you know that Monkey is very anti-book and has destroyed so many of our favorites so this was an awesome and very unexpected Random Act of Kindness!

Thanks Atina, YOU ROCK!  I hope I can pass it on soon!!

Love,
Christy

OH SNAP! Blissful Booty Diaper's Snappy Surprise

I have already written about my love for the Blissful Booty Wipe Water, Cloth Wipes and Booster Pads.  I have been meaning to write a profession of love for the diapers themselves for awhile now but never could find the time. 

I was going to write about how blissfully soft the diapers are.  They are by far the nicest diapers I have ever had the privilege to try.  They are the ultimate comfort line of diapers.  Like pooping on a cloud!  Seriously, all 3 girls seem to prefer to do their business in those diapers, it never fails, as soon as I put them on someones stinky.

They are an AIO diaper and have all the ease of a disposable, even cloth diaper newbies can easily figure out how to use these-a fact the poor hubs mourns as his excuse for not changing diapers was he didn't "know how" to work the cloth ones.  No excuses now mister!


The only real "complaint" I had about the diapers was the aplix (velcro) closure.  I much prefer snaps myself.  I know many in the cloth diaper world love aplix though, I am just more of a snaps girl.  I have 3 in diapers, all of whom are now old enough to pull the diapers off whenever they want.  Also they get accidentally pulled off as well.  I stated more than once that the only thing that Blissful Booty Diapers needed in order to be, in my eyes, the perfect diaper were snaps.......



So guess what.......

SHE ADDED SNAPS!

Cathy, owner/creator/operator of Blissful Booty has decided to add a special feature for her diapers...SNAPS!  The diapers still have the aplix closure for all of the moms who prefer this BUT you will now see an extra feature to add snaps for $2 more.  This still keeps the diaper under $20 and for an AIO diaper that's a great price.  Plus you will have the best of both worlds, aplix closure for a trimmer fit AND snaps to help keep the diaper secure and in place.

Even better, you get to select the color combinations.  You can select multiple coordinating colors or just 1 and mix and match that with either the cream or celery diapers.
The colors currently offered are red, purple, aqua, baby blue, light pink, brown, and cream (not pictured).

I am still relatively new to the CD world and not familiar with ALL cloth diaper lines but this is the first time I personally have ever seen a diaper offer both features.  I have seen a few companies with an either/or option but never both.

The day they arrived in the mail I washed them and placed one on each girl.  Monkey is the worst when it comes to ripping her diapers off and I secretly took a little pleasure in watching her try and try and try to rip it off.  It was like she knew that diaper was supposed to come off and she just couldn't figure how to accomplish this.  She got red in the face and even started screaming at it, gripping and pulling so hard her knuckles turned white... the diaper stayed in place!

Just when I thought the Blissful Booty diapers couldn't get any better, they did!

The littliest things make me so happy!!

I know I cannot be the only one who is this ecstatic over snaps......

Love,
this snappi loving mama,
Christy

Today you are 5!

Dear Teddy,

Today you are 5.... WOW! 

Mommy has been staring at that sentence for awhile now trying to come up with what to write and not loose it at the same time.

You are so big and such a handsome little boy, mommy is so proud of all that you do.  You are very smart, athletic, artistic, empathetic, funny, and loving with a smidge of your daddy's stubbornheaded strong willed temper thrown in too. -Obviously all of the good stuff is from mommy, I'm a "great" athlete don't you know!

I cannot believe it has been 5 years since I first held you.  Five years since you first opened your little eyes and peaked up at me as if to say "we can do this mom".  In an instant it was love at first sight!  Of course I loved you before you were even born but that love intensified 1000x the second you looked at me. 

The last 5 years have been the happiest and hardest of my life but I would never change even 1 second of it all!

You came to me as a little fiery ball full of energy and opinions from day one.  It was your way or the highway from birth.  I had no experience with baby's and you took my hand and showed me the way.  Everything I thought I knew went out the window once you were here.  You truly taught me how to be a mommy!

The first 12 months flew past in a whirlwind of late night slumber parties for just the two of us, marathon breastfeeding sessions, first baths, first foods, first toys, first snow.  Your first time sitting up, first time crawling, first time cruising and  first steps were all packed into the first 9 months, by 12 months you were running and climbing.  There were first words in there, counting 1-10, ABC's and  you even learned a song or two.....
1st Halloween, 1st Thanksgiving, 1st Christmas, 1st New Years, 1st Easter-WHOOSH!!

1st Halloween

1st Christmas

and then POOF...... You were 1!!

1st Birthday

Your babyhood was gone!  It went so fast!

I tried to pump the brakes, slow things down and savor each day with you but time is funny like that.  It seems to move so slow in the moment yet so fast in the big picture.

Months 12-24 you showed Mommy and Daddy just how smart you truly were!  Your vocabulary exploded and you learned multiple new words each day.  You could speak in complete sentences before you were 2! In that year there were more songs to be sung, more counting to be done, and colors to learn too.  You even memorized a few books. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" anyone? 
You loved your books, you treated them like your best friends, at any given moment of the day you were sure to have a book in your hands or close by.  We spent many hours curled up together you and I, just reading away.  Mommy's lap was your favorite place to be.
I tried to hold on tight, to keep it all from passing too fast.....

2nd Halloween

and then POOF..... You were 2!!

2nd Birthday

Time just kept picking up speed, we welcomed your baby sister into our family and you showed just how loving you could be with her.  You were the greatest big brother I have ever seen.  Sure you had your moments of jealousy but you were always quick to protect her if anyone even looked at her wrong. 
You accomplished many big boy milestones including potty training and learning to ride your bike (with training wheels of course!).
You discovered your love for art and would draw the most beautiful pictures.
You even caught your first fish!

1st time fishing

loving, caring big brother

and then POOF..... You were 3!!

3rd Birthday

No longer a toddler, now you were a preschooler.

With 3 came even more big boy challenges, going to preschool for the first time and to Primary on your own at church.  You even learned to sleep in your very own big boy bed.  Everyday I watched you grow and I watched your personality emerge.  I loved the little boy you were becoming but missed my chubby little baby so.
We welcomed a new baby into the family and you were so happy.  You love babies.  You loved to hold her, kiss her, and even feed her a bottle on occasion.
We played outside a lot, bubbles and sticks and side walk chalk OH MY!

hitting a ball

1st Day of Preschool

and then POOF.... You were 4

4th BDay

The last year of your preschooler days.  You started your 2nd year of preschool where you learned to write your letters and your name.  Your art interest and talents exploded and your true empathetic nature shined through. 
We welcomed a 3rd baby girl into our lives and while you love her immensely you were very disappointed that she was not a boy.  You want a baby brother so bad and ask almost daily when he will come. 
With 4 came even more opinions and independence.  You are Mr. I Can Do It Myself these days.  You have an opinion on what clothes to wear and dress yourself quite often.  Mommy loves to see your creativity shine through in the outfits you choose.  They seldom match but they are always so creative.
Mommy willed the time to slow down but it didn't work, the days kept ticking by until....

POOF, TODAY YOU ARE 5!!

In a few months you will start Kindergarten, then you will be away from mommy for a good portion of each day.  I am not so sure mommy is ready for that!  I will miss you so much!

With 5 you are no longer a preschooler.  First you were not a baby, then no longer a toddler and now not even a preschooler.  Today you are mommy's little man! 

You will always be my Little Man too, even when you are Daddy's age I will still consider you my baby boy.  You get so mad at me when I use the words "little" and "baby" to describe you, chastising me that you are a big boy now.  I know you are a big boy, but I will always see you as my baby.  Mommy's are allowed this!

When I look into your eyes I can still remember, clear as day, the second our eyes locked 5 years ago.  In that instant I became a mom and I knew I would do anything up to and including laying down my life in order to protect you.

You are my 5 year old big boy now.  I will always and forever keep willing the time to slow down but I have learned it all goes by way too fast.

I am excited for what the next year will bring to us!  We will continue on the journey together you and I.  I will watch you grow each year and celebrate with you all of your accomplishments but I will also silently mourn the baby/toddler/preschooler/little boy that you were.

Five years, ten, twenty, they will fly by all too quickly.  Some day you will be a man and move away, start your own family and then you will understand what it means to love someone as deeply as I love you.



Love,
your Mommy!

Crayola House

I swear I feel like I live inside a giant coloring book!  Monkey cannot be trusted with any sort of writing utensil period.  Turn your back for a second and she is off coloring on something.

Its hard because one of Little Man's favorite things to do is color.  Of course when the older 2 girls see him coloring they want to color too.  Smunchkin can be trusted to color but if I try to just let her and Little Man color Monkey throws a huge fit.

I have tried giving Monkey colored pencils but she knows I am giving her something different and throws a fit about that too.

Not only does she color on everything but she eats them all, ALL!!  She eats crayons and bites the tips off of markers and colored pencils.  She has ruined 5 markers in the last 2 days alone.  I buy crayons 2 and 3 boxes at a time only to have none a week later.

Art time is something I do to contain the older 2 so that I can try and get dishes, laundry or other cleaning done but its the reverse with Monkey.

I didn't realize just how bad the walls were today until I went to scrub them off.  Little Man's 5th B-Day party is this Saturday and I didn't want our house to look like a big giant coloring book when people came over.

The markers are washable and come off so easily, the crayon you really have to scrub at and even then it just will not come off of some surfaces with vinegar and water alone.  I am going to have to buy some dryer sheets or get some used from a friend (since we do not use dryer sheets in our house).  If you wet a new or used dryer sheet it works just like a magic eraser to clean things like crayon off of doors.

Seriously, does anyone else's house look like this...

the smooth door surfaces are impossible
to scrub crayon off of.  The marker came off
easily but not the crayon

the crayon will not come off the shelves either

Love,
one "colorful" mama,
Christy