My grandfather on my dad's side passed away when Jack was a baby. Jack was the last of his great grandchildren he knew. He and my grandmother are the parents of NINE children! He is the grandfather of 20+ grandchildren!
After he passed away, we noticed *his* number would present itself in the least expected moments. It kind of has become a symbol for his presence in our everyday life. That special number is 44. It was his favorite number. All of the family shares stories of when that number shows up in our daily lives. Sometimes it's minor, like the table number given at a restaurant. Other times it's bigger...like the Saints winning SuperBowl XLIV for the first time in history!!!
For me, it gives a sense of comfort. It reminds me of the man I remember as a child. He had a smile like no other! He was a practical joker. Jack may have inherited a touch of that trait. He had an infectious laugh. And he loved to serve in the community. As a plumber, he was even known to service people's homes and not bill them if he knew they couldn't afford it. There have been times I doubt myself in whatever it is I'm doing, and if that number appears, it's a green light and a reminder that everything is working out just as it should.
The other day I was standing at the gas pump and something made me think of PawPaw. I thought to myself...wouldn't that be something if the meter stopped on $44 dollars. As I stood staring, it passed over $44 and stopped on $51.44! I just had to smile!
Yesterday we had a major plumbing issue at our house. Actually, it was a minor plumbing issue but required our water to the house be shutoff until it could be fixed. With three boys, no water is a major plumbing issue. We were unable to get in touch with our landlord and didn't want to wait on a plumber. It was actually a crazy day. We were gone from the house most of the day. Soccer kept us at the fields from 5-7:30 because the boys' practice back-to-back and Jason coaches BOTH teams. I knew I wanted to get my dad, who is also a plumber, to help me over the phone once we got the boys fed, bathed (which required turning on the water briefly), and in bed. Finally, by 8:30-ish last night, I was able to talk to my dad. My dad is the BEST plumber in the WORLD! I honestly would rather him talk me through a repair on the phone, than have someone else "fix" it and have the problem (or another problem) a few months down the road. He successfully diagnosed the issue, guided me to Home Depot, and made the repair over the phone. While at Home Depot, I was uncertain on the exact part, but settled on something that looked like it would work, even though it didn't match up exactly. After describing the differences to my dad, he agreed. And it worked like a charm.
Fast forward to today...
Jude and I had lunch with a friend before getting James from school. As we were leaving, we stopped in the parking lot before departing. While talking, Jude reached in my purse and grabbed an old receipt and dropped it on the ground. My friend picked it up and handed it to me. I noticed the total was $2.44! When I got back to the car, I took another look at the receipt and it was the Home Depot receipt from last night! If I had noticed that last night, I would have had even more confirmation that I was buying the correct part! And now I know I had TWO of the very best plumbers in the WORLD and in HEAVEN helping me last night! And THAT, I truly believe and am grateful for. Thank you Dad and PawPaw!
Happy Birthday to my EIGHT year old! Eight years...really? It seems like yesterday we were learning how to be parents for the first time. I remember meeting Jack. It was unusual because I had to be put under completely after they removed him during the c-section. I heard him cry, but either the anesthetics were wearing off and I was starting to feel a lot of pain, so they just put me to sleep. I didn't wake up until I was in the recovery room. In the meantime, they had been dolling Jack up for me. This is a picture of him after they cleaned and styled his hair!
I remember them handing him to me in the recovery room. I was in love AT FIRST SIGHT! He was perfect! He was looking at me and seemed to know I was his mommy! He even started rooting right away. This picture says it all. I was so enamored by him!
I love this picture. Jason looks so proud! He and I were in awe and still are!
This was Jack's announcement sign in our front yard when we got home. We loved our squadron and the support of all those great people!
And today, eight years later, we've got this guy! He has given us such unbelievable joy over the last several years! I can't wait to see what his next eight years have in store for him!
We love you Jack Michael Trew! Thank you for being you!
This kid is so outgoing! I seriously am told daily by strangers how friendly he is. He LOVES talking to people. He loves to find WHOEVER will listen to him so he can talk their ears off. If you have eaten at Panera in Montgomery while James was there, you've likely met him. We leave places like Panera or the farmer's market and we'll hear people shout out something similar to, "bye James...good luck in Kindergarten, I hope your bobo gets better." I can give him money to go to the counter and purchase something, and he does it without ANY fear. That terrified me as a child, especially James' age and Jack is only just now beginning to be okay with it. If we're at a place with a bar type of setup, James has no problems (and actually enjoys) bellying right up to the bar all by himself to order a glass of ice water...although, the last time he did that, he ordered a Shirley Temple. James doesn't just like to talk to strangers...he talks at home non-stop too. Sometimes I yearn for peace in the house because James talks all day long. Don't get me wrong, I love that he's so vocal. There was a time in James' life when he was not vocal before he learned how to talk and he was the most frustrated person I knew! He would bite friends and throw a temper tantrum like nobody's business! Knowing now how much he likes to talk and express himself, I guess he was just overly frustrated by his inability to talk.
With all that comes out of his mouth, we get some pretty good laughs. It's even more hilarious as his vocabulary starts to become more grown up. For instance, yesterday we got the kids in the car. They didn't know where we were going because Jason and I had not decided where we were going first. James said, "Dad, where are we going?" Jason, "we don't know." James, "What? Uhhh...this is YOUR situation. You're driving. You don't know WHERE we're going?" Later in the day we were leaving the splash park so we could get home to cook. James is our SLOWPOKE in the family. Mostly because he wants to stop and talk to EVERYBODY! So, I nagged him to speed up a bit as we were walking to our bikes. He actually did a little jog over to where I was, surprisingly. So I said, "James, thanks for putting a little fire in your rear." He looked at me puzzled, and then said, "Mom, THAT'S inappropriate."
I get such a kick out of his little personality. He's still our little firecracker and full of spunk! I have a feeling James will always have tons of friends throughout life. He's so outgoing without a shy bone in his body. I admire those traits and wish I had a little bit more of that in myself.
His teachers love him, strangers love him, and we love him. A lot!
I am so impressed with Jack's new school so far. We couldn't be more thrilled about him being exactly where he should be. This school is perfect for him! And I wish so dearly we could stay here forever so that our kids could have this opportunity to remain in such a wonderful school environment. These students, once accepted into Forest Avenue, will go on to the magnet middle school and the magnet high school as long as they maintain a 3.0 gpa and their good conduct. The magnet high school is called Loveless Academic Magnet Program (LAMP). It's ranked as the #8 magnet high school in the United States! We feel so blessed to have access this academic magnet school for the time being.
This morning Jack left for the bus, forgetting to bring his lunch. So, Jason ran it by his school on his way to work. When he walked in, Mrs. Hill (the principal), was greeting students as they walked in. She noticed Jason and said, "did Jack forget his lunch?" It kind of blows me away that she would recognize a student's parent and know who his child is this soon. There are 762 children attending Forest Avenue this year.
Jack has come home SO VERY excited to talk about his day. We have been telling him for a few months now how the teachers have high expectations from the students and that it will be a challenge. I think we, including Jack, are so happy to see the teachers DO expect a lot from the kids, but still create a very fun and exciting environment for them.
On his first day of school, Jack came home and HAD to tell James about his day. He HAD to tell James that he doesn't just have two teachers...he has THREE teachers. And one of his teachers teaches SPANISH! This was so exciting for Jack to share with James because James has this deep passion for learning Spanish. Or, actually he thinks he already knows Spanish. They learn a little in preschool...so anytime he hears others speaking a foreign language, whether it's Spanish or not, he proceeds to tell them he speaks Spanish and will then spout out some of the words he knows. People find this hilarious, thankfully!
Ahhhh...a fresh start for us all! Jack and James started school. I've become a stay-at-home mom of one again. Jason is beginning his job as an instructor in the ACSC program at Maxwell AFB. And Jude, well he's got his mama all to himself in the mornings!
I must say, I already miss our lazy summer days. The mornings and evenings have become a lot more hectic. The rush to get everyone out the door in the mornings and the hectic evenings of cooking, homework, soccer (which Jason will be coaching BOTH boys' teams this fall), and baths have replaced those lazy mornings and relaxing evenings. I always forget towards the end of summer how hectic the school year really is. I have been reminded quickly though!
Jack brought homework home on his 1st day of 2nd grade. It wasn't anything difficult and he didn't mind it, but it required time and parent effort. His new school has extremely high standards and teaches a grade level ahead in all subjects. It's accelerated and seems like it'll be a great fit for Jack. We very excited for him.
James is in Kindergarten this year. He just turned 5 in July though...so he's one of the youngest in his class. This will most likely be year 1 of 2 years of Kindergarten for James. His current school, Frazer Kindergarten, was the school he attended last year for PreK and we absolutely loved it! He learned so much at this school. He even started to read by the end of the school year! So, we obviously wanted to keep him at Frazer for Kindergarten. After this year, we'll probably put him in another year of Kindergarten at the elementary school we send him to. I would love for that to be Forest Avenue (Jack's school). Of course he'd have to score high enough on the test to be accepted AND we'd have to still live here.
The whole "still have to live here" brings me to my next point. We aren't sure Jason will remain as faculty beyond this academic year. Originally he was supposed to stay two more years...but there may be a slight change to those plans. We'll find out more as the next few months go by. I'm a little too pooped to talk about another impending move at this moment.
All is well in the Trew household. We're looking forward to the fall season. Football, soccer, fall festivals, Jude's 1st birthday, cooler weather, and fall foliage are all right around the corner! Yay!
So, I have been cloth diapering exclusively for almost 9 months now. I wanted to document my routine so that when I'm done with diapering days, I can recall easily for friends or family who may be interested in using cloth too.
WHY CLOTH:
For me, I decided to try cloth diapering because I wanted to save money, avoid paper diaper chemicals, and be more environmentally friendly. I have to admit, I don't like extra work if there's an easier way around something...especially as a mother of three boys. Easy is my preference. Lucky for me, cloth diapering is a LOT easier than I thought it was going to be. Honestly, I thought I was going to fail miserably at using cloth. So much so, that I didn't even buy any disposables for Jude before he was born because I didn't want to be tempted by the "easy" way out! I used the disposables in the hospitals...and that was it! With about two other exceptions...when I had to borrow a diaper from a friend because I forgot to put a diaper in my bag and another time when we went to Covington for a visit, I forgot to bring my load of diapers I had just dried in the dryer on our trip. Other than that...it's been cloth all the way! Even at night!!!
BUYING DIAPERS:
So, let me begin first with what diapers I use. The first diapers I bought were from Fuzzibunz Diapers. There was a special of 5 diapers, get one free. So, my 1st 6 diapers averaged out to be $15/diaper. Yikes! This seemed a bit expensive to me. But I was determined to search for more deals throughout my pregnancy. The Fuzzibunz diapers I bought are one-size pocket diapers. They adjust in the leg elastic and the wait elastic. It is lined with snaps across the waist for a snug and secure fit. According to other cloth diaper (CD) users, snaps are better than elastic because they last longer in the wash. I agree. Fuzzibunz are a very high quality, adorable diaper, in my opinion. An added benefit to Fuzzibunz is that it's a Lafayette, Louisiana-based business owned by a Louisiana mom! Love that! Below is the link to Fuzzibunz.
Another mom-based business located in China is called Sunbaby Diapers. This is where the rest of my diapers come from (24 of them). At $5/diaper (including shipping) for decent quality pocket diapers, including the inserts, you just can't beat that!!! Since I've ordered, she has made a size 1 and a size 2. The diapers I bought from her before she implemented these two sizes is comparable to size 2. Jude wore these as soon as we came home from the hospital at 9lbs 3oz. So, I would suggest size 2 if you'd like them to fit longer. After 9 months of use, I am very pleased with the quality of the diapers. I've had no wearing problems.
I'll start with the diaper pail I bought. I purchased it from Amazon (I love Amazon for most diapering stuff). It's perfect for cloth diapering. The wet bag I use to line it fits it perfectly. See pail link below. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009A4FBQ/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00
Here's a video of the diaper pail and the diaper pail liner:
When I change Jude, I do it just like a regular diaper...only instead of throwing it in the trash, it goes in the pail. There is no need to put water in the pail. If there is urine or poop from a bottle fed/breastfed baby, just throw it in the pail (no need to rinse). If your baby is older and the poop is more solid, you'll want to remove the poop and place it in the toilet first (I treated myself to a diaper sprayer http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G6NOYI/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00). Then just throw the diaper into the pail.
Here's a video of me changing Jude (at 8 months old):
In the video, I forgot to show what I do when I take the diaper off. I simply remove the diaper, then pull the wet microfiber insert out of the pocket and drop both pieces of the diaper into the pail. Easy peasy!
Here's a video of the diaper sprayer:
You can even use cloth wipes. This sounded disgusting to me. But, if you think about it, when you change a baby with a disposable diaper, you stick the wipe inside the diaper, wrap it up and toss it in the trash. With cloth diapers, if you use a disposable wipe, you can't just wrap it up in the diaper and toss it...you have to throw it away separately in the trash. Remember, if I can make my life easier, I will...with cloth wipes, I can just wrap it up in the CD and toss it in the pail! Surprisingly, it works so much better than disposable wipes too! And saves more money! And is more environmentally friendly! YAY to all of that!
You can buy cloth wipes. But I chose to just cut up an old flannel receiving blanket into several squares. You can load the wipes in a Huggies dispenser container and pull them out just like disposable wipes. The solution you use to make the wipes wet is up to you. Here's a link with a ton of homemade solution ideas: http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml You can either add the solution to your stack of wipes, or you can put the solution in a spray bottle and spray a dry wipe (or baby's bottom) with each diaper change. Here's a video of my routine:
Here's another video of how I store the diapers. The containers and shelf are from Target and they really are a perfect fit for the diapers.
WASHING DIAPERS:
To wash the diapers, see video below. I usually do diaper laundry about every 3 days. Typically if I wash on Sunday, the next time I wash is Wednesday. It's really not that much more of a commitment. What's another couple of loads a week amongst the 1-2 loads/day of clothes I already do!?! Haha! Here's my diaper laundry routine below:
You should always strip your new diapers after you receive them. Through manufacturing they can have build up. Stripping is basically just washing them several times before your first use. I did 3-5 washes on my new diapers before using them.
NIGHT TIME DIAPERS:
A night time diaper is a more absorbant diaper for overnight. For me, a night time diaper is just a Sunbaby Diaper with an extra insert. The insert I use (along with the microfiber insert it comes with) is a hemp insert. Microfiber is fast absorbing, but holds less than hemp. Hemp is slow absorbing, but holds a lot more than microfiber. So, the trick is to layer the two inserts. The microfiber should be layered on top (closest to baby) and the hemp goes underneath the microfiber. Makes sense, right...since hemp absorbs slower?! The night time diapers are a bit bulkier, but they hold that wetness in perfectly!!! Here is the insert I use. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002FB7FLY/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00 I bought 4 hemp inserts. I think 4-6 is a good amount to have when considering how many you'll need. I like to have a few night time diapers prepared ahead of time and that also allows a few days before having to wash again.
COST:
I figured the cost difference between cloth and disposables and it's pretty significant. I averaged a baby wearing disposables for 3 years, 6-8 diapers/day at $0.22/diaper to be $1445-$1927. I didn't include the cost of disposable wipes in this. On the other hand, the cost of my 6 Fuzzibunz diapers and 24 Sunbaby Diapers, diaper pail, two pail liners, hemp inserts, 3 years of diaper laundry soap and splurging with the diaper sprayer...comes out to $533! Of course there is the extra laundry water costs...but not enough to make up the difference between the two costs. And if you use the cloth on future children...just imagine the savings!!!
Did you know you're not supposed to put poop in the landfill?! Kind of crazy to think millions of people put baby poop in the landfill everyday! I was guilty of it too! The other crazy thing about disposables...is they can take up to 500 years to decompose! That's downright depressing when you think of the number of diapers out there.
And I forgot to mention how cute cloth diapers are too!!! I love Jude's little fluff butt!
I hope this helps anybody who is thinking about cloth diapering. As I've heard other CDing mama's say, "today's cloth diapers aren't your mama's cloth diapers!"
The morning of surgery, Jude was not allowed to eat (nurse) beyond 3am. So, I woke him up just before 3am Thursday morning and nursed him. Then we loaded up and drove to Birmingham. We needed to be there by 5:30am. Jude slept the whole way. We ended up arriving at 5am. I was hoping he'd continue to sleep once we got there, but he was wide-eyed and ready to play. It was 6:00 by the time we were admitted to his room. The entire team that was to work on Jude that morning came into the room and introduced themselves. Everyone was very nice.
Here's Jude in his hospital gown.
It wasn't until about 6:40 or so when Jude started fussing to be fed. He's used to eating after an hour or so from waking up.
So Jason put his feet and hands in the sink and let him play in the water. This distracted him for about 15 minutes, then he remembered he wanted Mommy to feed him.
So then Jason moved on to hospital-glove-balloon entertainment. This worked for another 15 minutes or so. By the time he started getting fussy again to eat, it was just about time for them to take him back. Below is a picture of the doctor's initials on the side of the skull to be operated on.
The nurse who came to get Jude had HUGE hoop earrings on. Instead of worrying about them taking Jude, I was distracted by my worries that Jude would yank her earrings out the instant she carried him off. So, just before she reached out for him, I asked her if she would prefer to remove her earrings because we have quite possibly the fastest, grabbiest baby EVER! She blew it off and said they come out easy if he pulls them. Well, sure enough, Jude went straight for the earrings instantly...distracting him from the fact that someone else was holding him (other than his mom and dad) and walking away from us. {can't say I didn't warn her} Jason and I were relieved to not have him crying as she walked off with him. What a blessing those hoops were!! The next toughest part was waiting for the procedure to be over and getting to see Jude. The doctor came to the room about 45 mins after they took Jude to tell us it went well. He was able to remove the growth without having to remove as much of the inner skull layer as the outer skull layer. He said they'll have the growth sent to pathology and identified by sometime next week. About another 1 hour after that went by before they brought Jude back to us in his room. He was still pretty lethargic from the anesthesia. He nursed a tiny bit, but kept falling asleep. He was super red in the face and feverish feeling. They decided to keep us a bit longer to make sure his fever diminished. I was glad they kept us. I felt a little uneasy taking such a lethargic baby home.
He slept the whole drive home. After a bit of wakeful time once we got home, he slept 3.5 hrs that afternoon. He went to bed a bit earlier than his normal time, but woke around 10pm to eat and again at 3am. Then he slept until 6-ish. Today he's been a bit more on schedule, so I'm hoping he gets back on track with his sleeping schedule.
He's been doing great, other than a little bit of swelling in his face today. Between his eyes and eyebrow area, he seems most swollen. He looks like a different baby. But he's eating, playing, and sleeping well today.
Hopefully tomorrow is even better. Love that boy!!!
