My new nephew

My nephew was born yesterday. I was excited because his birthday is on Earth Day. I think my sister-in-law is excited to not be pregnant anymore.

Our family is great. Daddy has three siblings; each sibling has two children (three of the four have one boy and one girl). Three boys were born one year, three girls were born another year. Brother and this baby weren't born the same year, but are only seven months apart. Thus, every cousin has someone their same age to play with.

Here is the sweet new baby at fifteen hours old:

And here is my beautiful sister-in-law. Man, I wish I could look that good after giving birth!

Branson

Twice a year (spring and Christmas) we take a family vacation to Branson, MO and visit Silver Dollar City. Sister has been looking forward to this for weeks, talking about the rides and shows. Finally, the day came. We piled in the car to make the four hour drive to Branson. Easy, right? Except for the two hours of crying by Brother, absolutely.

We went to Branson knowing that it was probably going to rain. That's okay, we told ourselves, there is stuff we can do indoors. According to the weather channel, it we would have thunderstorms all morning with clearing in the afternoon. However, when I woke up to clear skies, I knew I had to wake up everybody else and head out.

We got to Silver Dollar City as they opened. Of course, Sister ran straight for the kiddie rides. Seriously, it has been a year since she rode rides but she knew just where to go. This year, she rode some by herself, including the frogs. She also did some bigger rides, including a swing contraption that I refused to go near. Is it bad when your three year old will choose scarier rides than you?

Silver Dollar City has different festivals throughout the year. Right now is World Fest. This is a home schoolers dream. Oh, the unit studies that we can do when they get older! But I digress. This year, we really wanted to see the Chinese acrobats. I was amazed, but Brother and Sister sat through the entire show.

(Mommy, Daddy, Sister and Brother before the Chinese acrobat show)

(Grandma, Grandpa, and Sister before the Chinese acrobat show; not a chance in the world that I would take Brother out of the wrap at this point!)

We were very fortunate to miss most of the rain that day. Sister got to do lots of rides and we got to see several shows that incorporated dance or music from various countries. However, at the end of the day, the rain came down! We found shelter under an awning to try to wait the storm out.

Finally, we decided to run to the front and leave. Running in the rain was great fun! Being soaking wet afterwards, not as much.

Daddy, Sister, Brother and I got to the car before Grandma and Grandpa, whom had gone to see the Chinese acrobats again (I told you they were good!). While we waited, Daddy took off Sister's socks and shoes. While trying to get in her seat, she slipped and fell, causing her to cut her toe. Tears ensued. At least until we got back to the condo and she got a Band-Aid; then everything was fine again.

We love these family trips with Grandma and Grandpa. The kids have such fun on vacation (yes, even little Brother had a good time...except for in the car seat) and I am pretty sure that Grandma and Grandpa have fun with the kids.

My handsome little man

Like father, like son (except Daddy usually put on more than just a tie, at least for work).

Thoughts on Earth Day

With Earth Day quickly approaching (April 22nd in case you forgot), I started thinking about what I am doing to teach my children environmental stewardship. Here are a few of our favorites (at least those that we had pictures for!):

CLOTH DIAPERS

Using cloth diapers saves the landfills from disposable diapers that take 500 years to decompose and fill the soil with urine and feces (only 1% of people actually dump the fecal matter in the toilet before throwing out the diaper). Add in the financial and aesthetic benefit and it is hard to pass up cloth diapers.

CLEANING

Instead of using chemicals for cleaning, we primarily use vinegar and baking soda. Not only does this prevent harsh chemicals from entering the water and soil, it is healthier for our family.

FOOD
We try to eat as much organic food as possible, which isn't always easy on a budget. Brother, Sister, and I do, however, we a vegetarian diet (Daddy is a semi-vegetarian), which is both healthy for our bodies and the planet.





And my all time favorite way to be earth friendly? Come on, if you know me you can guess.



BREASTFEEDING


Now, I could talk for DAYS about the benefits of breastfeeding, however, for the purposes of Earth Day, I will outline some of main environmental benefits of breastfeeding:
No formula cans, bottles, etc in landfills
No water to mix with formula or to wash bottles
No energy (electric and water) to make formula and plastic for bottles
No energy needed to transport formula and bottles to stores
No runoff pollution from making formula and bottles
Best of all, it’s free!





So I have shown you a few of our favorite ways to be Earth friendly; tell me some of yours.

Easter with the Extended Family

So, we have been in our new house for about three weeks, so the next logical decision is to host Easter for 20, right? Nothing says welcome home like staying up all night to cook and decorate!

My wonderful SIL has hosted Easter for the past couple of years. This year, she is nine months pregnant; a good reason not to have people over! Daddy and I had the brilliant idea to grill hamburgers (and veggie burgers!) with lots of sides. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain on Easter. Still, Daddy managed to get two grills going and followed though on his promise.

After eating, the six kids (Brother not included) did Easter Egg Bowling, colored ceramic eggs, and did the highly anticipated Easter Egg Hunt. Since the yard was soaking wet, we had to move the hunt indoors. Much of our furniture is still at the old house until inspections are finalized, and today I was very thankful that we had some empty rooms. I split the kids into boys (three five- and six-year-olds) and girls (three three-year-olds). The boys did their hunt first in the front room.

Next, the girls went to the master bedroom (which will be our study once we get our furniture) for their hunt. Sister and her girl cousins waited together outside the door...

...and then ran into the room!

There weren't many hiding places, but the girls had a great time.

Sister after filling her basket...she was getting tired and didn't want to smile.

Finally, Grammy and the six older grandchildren sat together on the stairs. Brother was asleep at this point, which was probably just as well since it was almost impossible to get a picture of the kids. This was the best from the bunch:

After everybody left, Brother nursed and fell asleep on Mama while Sister snuggled Daddy and fell asleep on his shoulder. We sat together with our sleeping sweeties listening to the rain.

Easter Family Pictures

Easter Party

Brother, Sister, and I went to an Easter party at a friend's house. Although Brother could care less, Sister was very excited, as she hadn't seen some of these friends in months.

There was food (including the best no-wheat-no-egg-no-milk cupcakes in the world), crafts, and games, but of course, the highlight of the day was the Easter Egg hunt.
Sister ran all across the yard finding eggs!

The party was a huge success and fun for all.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Again, loving this new neighborhood, we got to go to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. Daddy and Sister rode their bikes; Brother rode in the sling while I walked.

Sister waited patiently for them to call her age group. However, before they began, she looked over the eggs to decide which ones she wanted.

Even Brother got some eggs!

Brother's First Time at the Park

One of the perks of the new house is a neighborhood park. It is close enough to walk to but far enough that we don't have to deal with the traffic - absolutely perfect!

The first nice Saturday we had in the new house, we took off for the park. Sister rode her tricycle and Brother rode in his toy car (yes, I realize the picture is sideways).

He loved the swings, which is funny since he refuses to go in the infant swing at the house. Maybe it's all the fresh air.
They swung side by side for quite awhile.

Sister, whom normally is jumping in front of the camera, did not want her picture taken. This is the only shot I got of her the entire time.

Co-sleeping at its finest

Originally, Daddy sat down with Brother, whom fell asleep on his shoulder. Then Sister climbed up and went to sleep. Finally, Daddy nodded off.

Moving Day

Let me just begin by acknowledging that yes, many of these posts will be out of order. I am trying to catch up on my blogging and have some pictures downloaded and others not. I'm sure you can deal with it.

Onto moving day. We were fortunate enough to find our dream house just a mile from our current house, which made the move much easier. The last time we moved, I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Seriously. I cried for two days because of all of the stress. This experience, however, went much smoother. We were able to take our time and move at a semi-leisurely pace.

Below you see Daddy and Sister loading the cars. My parents inherited a pickup and trailer, which eliminated the need for a moving truck. Of course, this was a family affair. Sister helped Daddy carry stuff to the car; I wore Brother in a wrap (unfortunately, he isn't big enough for my back yet) and moved stuff around. Then, when we got everything loaded, we drove over to the new house. We got quite the rhythm going.

Of course, moving is tiring work, so Daddy and Sister had to take a little nap while the bed was on the trailer.

Brother's First Banana

For almost seven months, Brother has been exclusively breastfed. After meeting the developmental milestones that indicate readiness for solid food, we decided to give it a try.

We started with banana:

We stripped Brother down to the diaper and sat him in the highchair. As you can see, he was very excited.

I cut the banana into little bites and sat it in front of him...

He was mildly interested in the banana. Bite goes in, big smile, banana comes back out. Looks like he still has some tongue-thrust reflex and isn't quite ready yet...

...but smashing the banana is just as fun!

Brother's six month bear picture

Wow, Brother has gotten so big in the past six months. He is sitting on his own, as seen in this picture. He also can stand holding onto the couch, coffee table, or anything else he can get his little hands on. The real joy has been watching his personality grow and develop recently; he is an amazing little man!

Moving pictures

We had fun taking pictures in our new house with the boxes that we unpacked.