"Yeah...Let's just talk later..."

Does anyone else feel so completely different from their husband?? I mean aside from the obvious MAJOR differences (just use your imagination, ok?) Aaron and I - well, we are not the same. Aaron is a very gentle soul who thinks a lot but says very little. I'm fairly certain that it's not because he has little to say, he just keeps things to himself most of the time. Aaron is perfectly content curling up in a chair and reading through an entire 1000 page book in one day. It's truly a beautiful thing that MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE TO ME.

I, on the other hand, go one day stuck inside my house and i'm jumping up and down about getting out to the grocery store. I start talking to the boy stacking apples in produce about how nice the weather is - he starts to think i'm crazy for sure, but he smiles and keeps nervously stacking. And to the woman placing her items on the checkout belt behind me about "how good that chocolate cake looks." "By the way, are you celebrating someone's birthday tonight? My son will be one in just about a month!" (Fight back tears while talking to stranger...FIGHT BACK TEARS WHILE TALKING TO STRANGER.) Yep, Aaron and I are very different.

Really, though. I love those things about Aaron. I really do. I find it amazing that someone can love so much quiet time to themselves. Introverts: How DO you DO it?? Can you teach me? Darn, probably not.

Sometimes I get down-right pissed, but other times (like today), I simply hang up the phone and chuckle after a conversation like this with my husband:

Me: Calling Aaron....

Aaron: Monotone - "Hello."

Me: "Hey....uhh, Casey hasn't slept much today. I don't know what's going on but I wish I had done something about those fire ant bites a few days ago. I wonder if they're getting really itchy and bothering him. (Side-note: I know, we're terrible parents for not watching him close enough to know he had crawled into fire ants in our backyard. Ugh.)

Aaron: "Hmmm.."

Me: "Can you come home earlier than last night? I'm trying to get shishkabobs ready, but it's not going so well with a screaming child..."

Aaron: "Sure."

Me: "Oh by the way, I called and exterminator to come out tomorrow and get the critters out from our walls (another story for another day). They said it could be rats, or snakes, or squirrels, or...something else. AHHHHH!!!!" *Very dramatic.

Aaron: Silence...

Aaron: Silence...

Aaron: Silence...

Me: "Yeah...let's just talk later."

Aaron: "Ok."

I think i'll go read "Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus" now. Marriage is such a beautiful, strange thing. :-)

Love and Diapering

I titled this post "love and diapering" but it encompasses two things about my heart: my love for people and my love for cloth diapering. How can someone love cloth diapering so much? Well, it saves us a ton of money, is good for the environment and is so very healthy for babies. Have you ever read about the chemicals found in disposable diapers? Eek. In case you were curious, Casey has never had a diaper rash. Ok, he had ONE, but that was in Hawaii when we were using disposables - ah ha. Sure, he's had some redness here and there, but that's common depending on what babies eat.

Those of you who know me, you know how much I genuinely love people - all people in all walks of life. No need to explain myself here. :)

One reason (of many) why I'm passionate about cloth diapering is because of what it means for LIFE. Ok Jenny, what on earth do cloth diapering and life have in common? Well, while working with women in unplanned pregnancies, I heard many women say in the counseling room that they wanted to end their pregnancy because they didn't have any money. Guuuhhhh - SINKING HEART. God forbid we ever put a dollar amount on a precious human life. But in some ways I really GET IT. I think there's certainly a flaw in thinking here, but on the other hand I truly have compassion for people who are financially strapped. Those of us who have babies know that they don't come cheap! Money does not provide happiness, but it does provide comfort. When there isn't enough in the bank account, we can be robbed of peace and joy. It's a vicious thing, but so common. I read this study by Huggies that revealed that many low income women/men/families are using hair dryers to dry out disposable diapers in order to reuse them because they don't have money to buy more. This is such an unsafe practice and a huge health hazard for babies! This breaks my heart. While many who use disposable diapers hate buying them, there are other people who simply can't buy them at all. I've also been reading that the government may provide cloth diapers through WIC, but i'm not sure how likely that is. Oh how I wish! I would support this 100%.

I've been thinking about somehow getting involved in teaching cloth diapering classes for free to low income parents. I want to get more involved in my community here in Texas. I want to help people in practical ways. I'm currently researching and hoping something will come of this.

Do you have any ideas to pass along to me??

10 Months!

I've been pretty behind on Casey's monthly updates, but I'm really trying not to beat myself up over this. He's just over 10 months and such a funny little guy! I love this first picture of him because it captures his favorite past-time...eating! Caseman looooooves to eat! He has such an appetite. I'm thinking that he eats more than I do in a meal. He's also still nursing about 5 times a day. Yes, clearly he loves food! He's growing so fast and we've noticed him getting heavier and heavier. I'm wondering what he weighs now. He's got to be well past the 20 lb. mark! He makes all kinds of noises when he eats. He screams and growls when he wants more. He's really into feeding himself, but if he runs out of food he makes these trademark noises to let me know, "Mama, I want MORE!" It's so funny! He's crazy. :)

So far he loves: Avocado, banana, egg yolk, pumpkin, ground turkey, beef, chicken, greek yogurt, kefir, mama's homemade blueberry flax bread (paleo/gluten-free), quinoa noodles, apple granola bars, yogurt melts, rice, hummus, and more. We've yet to find something he won't eat. Food is FUN!

We've now removed the tray from his chair and we pull him right up to the table. Thank goodness for this food mat! It's perfect on our table and makes clean-ups much easier. We also take it with us when we eat out.
It's a challenge to get this busy boy to look at the camera these days!

Easter 2012

Casey is officially a go, go, go kind of baby! He crawls everywhere, pulls up on furniture and cruises. Sometimes he'll let go all together and then his eyes get big when he realizes he isn't holding anything. Then he'll grab a piece of furniture really fast. It's so cute! We think he might be walking sooner than later. He gets into stuff he knows he's not supposed to. It's frustrating but funny all at the same time. He loves to go for the wine rack. I know we could move it or block it with a gate, but we've decided to go the "no touch" route. We want him to learn that just because something is out, there are just some things you "don't touch." He knows the wine rack is off limits (it isn't something he can pull on top of himself) and that's exactly why he goes for it. As he crawls over to it, he looks back at me with squinted eyes and a smirk. It's like he's saying, "Heyyyyy mom! Look what i'm doing! Try and stop me!" Their strong little wills come out quickly! We're officially chasing him down everywhere. It's a good workout for us! We know we're getting more to the point of shaping and disciplining. I'm pretty sure this will be the most challenging part of parenting, but we're up for the challenge. We love our Caseman so much!

Casey, you are so much fun and we love being your parents. I love my mommy time with you during the day. We went out the other day on a "date" and got matching Toms shoes. Then we shared lunch and you ate most of it! You love your daddy so much. The two of you run around the house and explore outside when he gets home from work. You love digging around in the grass and getting dirty. You're the sweetest boy in the world! We love you more than you could ever imagine.

Birthday Planning!

Ideas courtesy of this site

I can hardly believe that we're less than two months away from celebrating our sweet boy's 1st birthday. It's so cliche to say that time flies. Of course it does! I think I'm more in awe of the milestone. Casey is turning into such a handome, funny little boy! We see more and more of his unique personality with each day. We love waking up in the morning and hearing him playing the music on his "stuffies" (teddy bears) from his crib. He "ooohs and ahhhhs" as they sing. It cracks us up!

Whenever you have a baby, you come up with the silliest nicknames. We have at least 3 for Case. Just the other day, Aaron was commenting that we better call him by his real name or else he'll think his name is "Little Man", "Caseman" or "Spaceman!" I also call him "stinky-stink" or "Stinker-stinks" sometimes. I know, it sounds mean but I say it in a very endearing tone! His nursery smells like pee every morning when we get him up. I mean, the kid sleeps in the same diaper for 12-14 hours straight! I remember my niece's room smelling the same way. My sister called her, "Pee-pee long stocking." :) Yes, we're pretty weird as parents, aren't we?

The nickname that has really stuck since day one is Caseman Spaceman. I'm not completely sure where this came from other than that it rhymes. Aaron started it - I know that for sure! So it made sense that he would be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween. And now for his 1st birthday, we will be celebrating "spaceman" style with an outerspace theme. I've been surfing Pinterest and have found so many ridiculously cute ideas. In fact, I came across a few things I could print for free! I'm already well on my way to having this party planned. I can see it all in my mind and I can't wait. I'm even going to attempt my own home-made spaceship cake. Wish me luck!