Aunt Jane's Hero

I'm feeling a little lazy tonight, so I don't know how much of a review I can do of this book. A couple things I'll say about it.

1. As always, I am challenged by Elizabeth Prentiss through her characters to have more consistent, daily fellowship with God in prayer and His word and to care more for those in need around me. I found myself more easily relating to the character in Stepping Heavenward, but I still enjoyed following the characters in this story.

2. The book is a quick and easy read.

3. I would recommend Stepping Heavenward first, but this one soon after.

25 weeks (and a few days)
I had my birthing center appointment on Monday. Becca came with me again. She enjoyed hearing the baby's heartbeat and playing with all the dolls and play strollers they have there.

Everything seems to be moving along just fine. My ultrasound results were good. My (early) glucose test was within range. I'll have to take the actual 28 week test in a few weeks, but I'm not worried that anything will change. My blood pressure was 108/68--still nice and low, which goes to show you that parenting an almost two-year-old is much less stressful than teaching a classroom of fifth graders. :) My midwife is not at all concerned about my weight gain--I've only gained about 8 lbs or so. She says that is fine and to just continue eating healthily, as I have been doing. When she measured my belly, I was measuring a little small, but I think that will change as we go. I hope so, at least. Does anyone know why they have you lay down to measure your belly? I would think you'd get more accurate measurements standing up.

My back pain and sciatic nerve pain are next to nothing right now. I'm so thankful. My face has started breaking out for the first time this pregnancy. I don't know if it's from not washing my face for a night or two a couple of weeks ago or from being a little stressed about house hunting. I've been a bit more tired and tried to lay down for a little bit in the afternoon, but I have so much to do that it's hard. I usually have some time to read my Bible during that time, so it's good for me to stop what I'm doing and sit down for that anyway.

We had a few days of very warm weather here, which makes me nervous for being in my last trimester during the summer. I think Becca and I will spend all of our time at our apartment's kiddie wading pool. Now I just have to get a swimsuit that fits my pregnant belly. Thankfully God gave us some cooler weather today. We enjoyed it immensely.

To end with, here's a picture of my adorable daughter. Notice the red socks. She insists on wearing them whenever they are clean, no matter what color clothes she is wearing. :)

New pics up

I'm a little late in telling y'all this, but Nate put up two new folders of pictures at our gallery. I think it's Becca's 21st and 22nd months. As always, if you forgot the username and password, please send me an email or leave a comment and I'll try to get it to you.

The Nativity Story

I was a little worn out from yesterday (Becca and I joined some friends at the Children's Museum and then got groceries in the afternoon) and from cleaning the apartment and doing laundry this morning, so I decided to take it easy during Becca's nap. I knitted while watching The Nativity Story.

Overall I enjoyed the film and was impressed with how much was worked into it. There were a few things that I didn't like or that I didn't think were accurate (according to my limited understanding). I thought the Magi were a little cheesy. They seemed to be the comic relief of the movie, but that didn't fit very well. Also, there were three of them and they visited Jesus right after he was born. These are both very common views of the magi, but I'm not sure they are accurate. I thought that there were possibly more than three and that they didn't make it to where Jesus was until he was near two years old. That wouldn't have worked very well with the film being just until after Jesus birth, so I'm sure that's some of the reason it was done that way.

Other things...the arranged marriage of Joseph and Mary and connected with that, the way the film portrayed the young people (I guess what we would refer to as teenagers) didn't seem (I hate that word, but don't know what else to use) accurate either. I suppose that Mary might have not had any interest in Joseph and even resented her father for marrying her off so early, but I thought it was common for girls to get married at a very early age. The young people seemed a little frivolous and modern to me. Not that they can't have fun or laugh, but they just didn't act how I expected them to act.

Other than that, I didn't have any other objections and was actually quite moved by some things in the film. The parts that hit me the most were those showing the oppression of the Jewish people, particularly in the villages outside of Jerusalem, and the vast difference between the rich (Herod in particular) and the poor (most every other Jew in the film, except the Pharisees, of whom you see little). At one point a man's daughter (one of Mary's friends) is taken from him and his wife when he cannot pay the taxes that Herod and Caesar have demanded. It had me crying for them, imagining the threat of losing my daughter just because I couldn't pay a tax. It opened my eyes to the world Jesus was being born into and the hope he must have brought to many people.

Seeing Herod in action was another part of the film that stuck out to me. I recently learned about what kind of king he was--killing two of his own sons and a wife he liked because he thought they were trying to overthrow him--and the film really brought out the paranoid nature and ruthlessness of Herod. He let nothing stand in his way of keeping his throne.

The last thing that I really liked about the film was seeing Joseph's character developed. In the Bible we are told little about Joseph, but we know that he is a righteous man and an honorable man. The actor who played Joseph did a remarkable job of showing those characteristics and being humble at the same time. You find yourself learning to like Joseph along with Mary, in fact, I think he is very likable right from the start. He didn't look as old as I thought he was, but he is definitely older than Mary.

I'd recommend seeing the film. It's rated PG for some violence (Herod's orders to kill the baby boys being carried out, though, not on film, are disturbing, as they should be; showing some men crucified because they show signs of being the Messiah).

Whew! I made that a little long. Thanks for reading. :)

Real Love for Real Life

I finished Real Love for Real Life by Andi Ashworth about a week ago. I kept having flashbacks to when I read The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer, which is not surprising because that is one of the books which influenced Andi Ashworth in the first place. Not that the books are extremely alike, but they do have a similar vein of hospitality and creatively caring for those around you. I will refer you to Kristen's review of the book, since I agree with her review and think it was well written. There was another site that drew me to the book in the first place because of a review written there, but now I can't find it. Bummer.

Another Girl Name

I was thinking tonight that there is another girl name that has been growing on me lately: Jenna. I don't think I considered it with Becca because I had a Jenna in my class I was teaching. Jenna Grace. That sounds sweet, I think. :)

Ultrasound

Today I had my second ultrasound for this pregnancy. Nathan came with us this time to see his son/daughter in fuzzy, ultrasonic motion (or something like that). Mostly he just took care of Becca and got to see the screen a little bit. The technician (who was really nice) took a long time because our baby wouldn't turn his/her head in the right direction for her to get the measurements she needed. She says that everything looks fine and we'll have the official results at our next birthing center appt., which is next week (I think). Becca did pretty well for having to be there for so long and she even was given a small stuffed bunny by one of the workers there as she and Nate were walking the hallway. Becca promptly named him "Bunny". :)

It was so cool to see our baby moving. Our technician was very informative, showing us what was what on the screen (bone, blood, skin, organs, limbs, etc), with the exception of the gender of our little one, since we told her at the beginning that we were wanting to be surprised. Part of me wants to find out, but I really do love finding out right as I get to pick my baby up and hold him/her for the first time. Talk of gender had us discussing baby names again tonight--mostly boy ones because we are set on one of two girl names. I'll discuss those below.

I tried to take pictures of the ultrasound, but there was not enough light to take it without a flash. Maybe later.

I've been having some pain in my side recently. I'm sure it's just normal pregnancy pains, from all the stretching and growing and moving everything around in there. My lower back and sciatic nerve pain seems to be a bit better this week, but still not completely gone.

I have to admit I'm getting a little sick of eggs. We've fried, scrambled, hardboiled, and deviled them. I'm running out of ideas. Maybe I can make an egg quiche. Today I was craving a hamburger...oh, how I wanted one. I was also craving chocolate cake--a nice moist, homemade from scratch one. As a compromise (?) Nate said we could have Quizno's for lunch tomorrow. Maybe a hamburger next week...please??? :)

Names:
Our two possible girl names are Caitlin/Caitlyn or Abigail. I'm leaning more towards Abigail right now, but I'd love to use Caitlin sometime too. Her middle name will most likely be Grace after my mom's middle name and my great-grandma Grace Vander Velde.

Boy names were the ones up for discussion tonight. Our previous boy names were Caleb, Joshua, and Christopher. Now we are leaning towards either Caleb or Aaron. Nate also likes Derek and I like Matthew. Caleb is the most likely candidate, but you never know what other name might pop up. Possible middle names are Nathan, Jeffrey, or Thomas (the last two being Nate's dad and my dad).

I feel such a huge responsibility in naming our child. I want to have a feminine, beautiful girl's name with a significant meaning, and I want a boy's name to be strong sounding with a significant meaning too, of course. Middle names are chosen based on family names and how the name sounds with the first name.

Project pictures...finally

These are a little slow in coming, but here are the pictures of three recent projects I finished. I don't have pics of Becca's knitted tank top that I finished today yet. I still have to iron it so the top and bottom don't roll.

1) Nursing blanket/cover:


2) Nate's pajama pants:

3) CD case photo frames (the first is just the frames--not crazy about the bottom left pic since I cut it wrong, but I like the rest--and the second is to show how I hung them under another frame I already had up):

Worth Reading

God Bless the Sheepdogs at Blestwithsons blog.

Virginia Tech

Pray for the students, faculty and staff (and their families) of Virginia Tech. What a horrible thing has happened there today. We just heard about it this afternoon when Nate's mom emailed us to tell us that Nate's cousin Ryan, who attends there, is okay. I rarely follow the news unless someone mentions something on their blog, so I didn't know what was going on until then.

Chilly Weather

I think it's actually snowing a little bit here. It's a good day to make some chicken soup. I'm just waiting for the chicken to cool so I can tear it apart. I'll use the leftover chicken for chicken salad sandwiches tomorrow and Texas Chicken Enchiladas on Monday. Maybe I'll even get a few more meals out of it...we'll see. I'm working on a stricter grocery budget now. Our grocery budget is actually the same it has been ($400 a month including shampoo/soap/cleaning supplies/paper supplies when needed), but we are taking the money out of the bank so I can do a better job keeping within the budget. It's really helped and made me a lot more conscious about what I spend each week. I don't like carrying around all of it at once, so I take half out at the beginning of the month and the other halfway through the month (or whenever I run out of the first half).

We did some spring cleaning this morning, but are having a lazier afternoon. Becca and Nate are both taking naps and I'm finishing up the chicken soup. Becca helped me clean out and organize the fridge, and she also helped me dust the lower shelves of her bookshelf. Nate tried to get rid of some clothes and books and I organized the laundry area shelf and freed up two plastic crates for Baby #2's cloth diapers. The diapers are now in the crates up in Becca's closet ready for a little bottom to wear them. :) Nate also cleaned our entry area, which was in desperate need of cleaning and eventually we'll go through the entry closet.

Unfortunately, it's too dark here today to get a good, non-flash picture of my project, so we'll have to wait on that one a couple of days. Nate freed up some more CD cases for me. I have three other projects that need to be worked on first, but it's so tempting to fill more of them.

Off to check the chicken.

Evening Project

I took an hour and a half tonight to decorate part of our wall in our dining room. I'm rather pleased with the results and will try to post pictures tomorrow (if I take a picture now, I'll get major glare with the flash). I'm pleased for three reasons: 1) I like the look of it; 2) I spent almost nothing; and 3) I got to re-purpose some CD cases that were just sitting upstairs instead of throwing them away.

I was inspired this past Wednesday when our MOPS group did a project using empty CD cases (aka jewel cases). We cut out pictures and words and patterns from magazines and decorated the front of the CD case using decoupage method. I was going to make mine into a picture frame by decoupaging (is that a word) a border/matte on the front and then taping a picture inside the case and putting a magnet on the back to put it on the fridge. I ended up running out of time and wasn't really pleased with my efforts anyway, so I scraped that one, but it started me thinking about how else I could use them as picture frames.

I found two cool ideas online. One was from the Debbie Travis Facelift show in an episode on Cassandra's basement. If you scroll down to the after shot and move your mouse over the picture, a box should pop up over the wall art and explain on how to do that. You basically cut up a large poster or picture to fit in individual CD cases and place it on the wall in a mosaic type form. This was cool, but at this point I was more interested in smaller photographs.

The other idea I found was from Photojojo: CD Photo Frames Tutorial. This is mostly what I used, with some variations, to do my decorating. You can go there to get instructions, but I'll list my variations here:
1. I used 5x7 prints, instead of cropping them down, and just cut them to fit. My prints were cut down to 4 5/8 x 5 inches instead of 5 3/8 because most of my pictures were horizontal (landscape) layout.
2. This is not a variation, but just to show another re-purposing: I used an empty cereal box for the cardboard that I needed. And I cut out all the cardboard backing I needed at once to make it go faster.
3. I used my Mounting Squares from scrapbooking instead of double sided tape. I put one in each corner of the picture.
4. To hang the cases, I used black thread and clear push pins instead of velcro. I cut the thread all the same length (about 13 inches) and tied the thread at about the same place on each one. Then I looped the thread into the hinged part of the case at the top and closed the case. I hung them from the clear push pins.

Like I said, four of them took me an hour and a half, from the first tracing to the last one hung up on the wall. And it was nearly free. Don't be surprised if you come over and see CD cases hanging in every room around here. :) I have a lot to use up.

Arrival

The port-a-crib mattress we ordered arrived today, and I am very pleased with it so far. We will see if our new baby is pleased with it when he/she comes. It's laying (lying?) on the living room floor right now--Becca has been using it to lay on and to put her dolls on. We bought it at an Ebay store. It's a Pure Rest mattress that is natural rubber (known for being resistant to molds, mildews, and dust mites) on the inside and has an organic wool (flame resistant and bacteria resistant without the use of chemicals) outer layer. The mattress is about an inch and a half thick, but very hefty feeling. I can't wait to use it in our port-a-crib, which is where the baby will be sleeping next to our bed.

Food, yummy, food

I made these Turkey Meatloaf Muffins the other night and they were a hit. Even Becca ate over half of one. Just make sure to spray the muffin tin with something so you don't have to soak it for a day to get it clean. We ate the leftovers with fried eggs one day, macaroni and cheese leftovers another and I still have two left that I'll eat tonight with some leftover pasta (yes, we've had a lot of leftovers lately). I replaced the tomato sauce in them with Prego Tomato Basil pasta sauce and left out the garlic powder. I bet you could make them with a barbeque sauce instead and have them be really good.

Banana bread is one of my favorite things, so I always try to buy extra bananas with the hope that there will be enough left to make some. I found a great idea for always having some mashed bananas on hand to make banana bread with over here. I'll post my recipe here that I got from my mom who got it from her mom who got it from her mom (with my variations):

1 cup mashed bananas (I use almost three medium bananas, which is a little more than a cup)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup (or less) sugar
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups flour (I use 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of unbleached all-purpose)
1/2 cup oatmeal (I like the added fiber and texture, but you could replace this with flour if you don't want the oatmeal)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Cream butter until soft. Gradually add sugar, creaming until fluffy. Add eggs and bananas and mix well. Mix flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl (I often do this ahead of time). Stir into creamed mixture. Grease and flour bread pan. Bake at 325-350 degrees for 1 hour (I put my oven on 325 because of the added bananas and during the last 10 minutes or so, I lightly place a piece of aluminum foil over the bread so the top doesn't get too overdone). Cool ten minutes. Remove from pan and place on cooling rack with a towel over it. Store wrapped in wax paper and aluminum foil once cool.

Thanks to Serina's post, I have some "dobbled" eggs :) in the fridge. I was getting sick of scrambled eggs, so these are a nice break.

Scrapbook progress

I worked for about an hour and a half or so this afternoon while Becca napped and got two pages laid out, the pictures cut and put down, and I'm ready to do just a couple of short journal paragraphs. It really helped to keep it simple, and although it doesn't look like a work of art like those amazing ones I've seen some women do, I think it looks pretty nice. :) Yay for progress!

Hobbies

As some of you know, I have way too many hobbies. Nevertheless, I would rather have more than enough hobbies than none at all. I'm rarely bored when it comes to free time, and even before I was a mommy and had tons of free time, I always had a hobby to choose from. This post is an attempt to organize my thoughts and goals on my hobbies so that I can both enjoy them and make some progress in them. I feel motivated to write the post now because I've been so productive lately when it comes to knitting and sewing in particular.

General goals/reasons for hobbies
1. To glorify God in creating things and using talents He has given me
2. To have something in my life that I actually finish (as in not the laundry or the dishes, which keep coming up again and again)
3. To finish projects in a reasonable period of time
4. To bless others with gifts
5. To enjoy time with my family and friends as well as just enjoy myself in general

Hobbies and Goals for each hobby (in alphabetical order)
1. Baking/cooking--This is part of how I serve my family as wife and mother, but I consider it to be a hobby too because I do enjoy it (especially eating what I've made :) ).

1. Try at least two new recipes a month--either baking or cooking (I got a head start on this one this month, since I made Aunt Minnie's Fresh Apple Cake to bring over to a friend's house last night. I highly recommend it.)
2. Learn how to make whole wheat bread (besides the no-knead kind) and make it at least twice a month starting in June.
3. Include Becca in dinner making at least three times a week (helping to make salads, pour in and mix ingredients, put veggies in the steamer basket, set the table, etc.)

2. Biking--Oh, how sad I am to give this up for awhile (except for on the trainer inside). It's just not safe to bike while pregnant. I'm hoping that Nate will be able to take Becca out biking a little in the coming months.

• Start taking bike rides again (inside and outside) when I am cleared for physical activity after the baby is born--try to ride two or three times a week. Take Becca when going outside to ride for some Mommy and Becca time.

3. Crocheting--I'm a novice crocheter, but I like to use it for making some baby things and afghans. Lately I've been setting aside the crochet hook for the knitting needles.

• Find an easy pattern for baby booties and make two or three pairs to have on hand as gifts

4. Guitar--I taught myself to play while I was in college and a friend came with me to pick out my very own guitar, which Nate helped me buy. I really like my guitar and do enjoy playing when I actually get it out and play. Becca also enjoys it when I get the guitar out.

1. Play at least once a week--on Saturday or Sunday late afternoon after Becca is up from her nap
2. Keep my nails short enough to play at anytime

5. Knitting--Besides reading and cooking/baking, this is my longest standing hobby. My grandma taught me to knit when I was around 7 or 8 years old, but I really got into it in college. I have recently accomplished quite a few projects--two baby hats, longies, and a wool diaper cover. I'm working on a tank top for Becca and will continue with a couple more hats after that.

1. Knit whenever I have a free moment--even five minutes
2. Finish tank top for Becca
3. Make a baby hat by the end of April for neighbors who live below us
4. Make a baby hat for our baby
5. Make two or three more baby hats to have on hand for baby gifts
6. Finish the baby blanket that I began years ago
7. Make another diaper cover using the blue wool yarn
8. Make a hat for Becca for next winter

6. Photography--I enjoy taking pictures. Mostly I take them with the digital camera, but I would really like to learn to use my 35 mm film camera better. Nate bought me a cool book a couple of Christmases ago that has sort of practice sections in it and I'd like to get outside now that it's nice and start practicing.

1. Take out my film camera once a week and get outside to take pictures (using book for ideas on how to practice) of Becca or nature
   
2. Look into getting a better lens for my camera

7. Reading--Reading has taken a backseat to knitting lately. I'm hoping to change that and balance them out a bit. I have lots of books on my reading list and even a few ones that have popped up that are not on there.

1. Get through at least half of the books on my blog reading list this year
2. Talk about the books I'm reading with Nate and inquire about what he is reading
   
3. Sit down with Becca at least once a day to have a snack and read lots of books with her (besides the books we read before nap and bed time)
4. Write a (brief) review of the books I read on my blog

8. Rollerblading--I have the nicest rollerblades--K2 brand--and they are wonderful to fly around on. I got them in high school after I couldn't keep up with my friends who had much nicer rollerblades than I did. If you live near me and want to borrow them for awhile (I wear size 9), I won't be using them this summer since I don't think blading and pregnancy go together very well.

1. Maybe get to rollerblade a few times again in October before it gets too cold
2. Convince Nate to get rollerblades

9. Scrapbooking--I just finished two pages tonight, but that's about the most productive I've been on Becca's scrapbook in the last four or five months. I think my problem is that I'm worrying too much about the design and making it look as amazing as those works of art I see in scrapbook magazines. If I'm ever going to "finish" Becca's scrapbook/baby album, then I'm going to need to look at it as a glorified photo album with journaling--limit matting and embellishments (I actually use very few embellishments anyway).

1. The focus of each page should be the photographs and their should be at least three photos on each page.
2. Work on scrapbook pages at least one night a week
3. Finish four pages a month
4. Reach Becca's sixth month by her first birthday
5. Finish Becca's first year by August
   
6. Start the baby's scrapbook by October

10. Sewing--Nate's mom taught me to machine sew a couple of years ago. I don't sew nearly enough, but in the past month I've finished a pair of pj pants for Nate and a nursing blanket. I don't have any projects on the immediate horizon, but I have a few goals.

1. Eventually (for Christmas?) make my dad another pair of pj pants
2. Start making some clothes for Becca using patterns I've bought
3. Once we get a house (silent prayer) make curtains for the rooms
4. Learn how to hand sew basic stitches
5. Finish making napkins using fabric I bought awhile ago
   

11. Wall climbing--My best bud, Lisa, and I got into wall climbing in college. We had this sweet climbing gym in the same town where we went to college. I climbed enough to want my own shoes and harness, and am still glad that I bought them. I'm sad I haven't used them in quite some time, but hope to pick up wall climbing again and even someday make it a family thing to do together.

• No goals for now since I'm pregnant and won't be climbing for a while.

Birthing Center Appointment (21 weeks)

All went well at my birthing center appointment today. Becca came with me again and enjoyed playing with their baby dolls and stroller. She wanted to play outside on their swingset after the appointment, but I was so hungry that I had to only let her play for a minute. I told her that Nana (my mom) would play with her on the swing set while mommy was having our baby, if it's during the day. All in all, I think I spent more time outside of the appointment room than inside, changing Becca's diaper twice, letting her play, talking with the ladies at the front desk about payments and appointments. This is so different from my first time around because I spent so much time asking questions...this time I have so few questions.

My blood pressure was great (102 over 60); I'm measuring right on (21 cm for 21 weeks); my weight gain is apparently okay (I forgot to ask and my midwife didn't act concerned); baby's heartbeat was healthy (156 bpm--you should see Becca's face light up when she hears the heartbeat). Only thing is that my sugar in my urine is still measuring high despite that I didn't have my beloved orange juice or any fruit for breakfast this morning. This is normal for me, but my midwife just wants to make sure everything is okay, so I get to go for an early test for gestational diabetes, along with the other one that normally happens around week 28. I'll also be going for the ultrasound in about two weeks.

Praise God for a healthy report and a healthily growing baby.

21 weeks pregnant


This picture was taken yesterday...officially 21 weeks and one day along. As you can see, I'm really starting to pop out! I seem to be carrying all in front, as I think I did with Becca too. From the back I don't look pregnant.

I can't believe I'm halfway there already. I still have a long way to go, which in many ways is all right with me. Having two children to care for (outside of the uterus, that is) is a bit daunting at this point, but I know God will give us the grace to make it through and I'm sure my many failures will just make me more dependent on Christ my savior. I have another appt. with our midwife this coming Tuesday...it was supposed to be this past week, but they had to re-schedule. I'll also be having an ultra-sound coming up in the next week or two purely for continuing to check that everything is okay and developing all right. We are going to be surprised again, so no finding out whether it is a boy or girl.

I'm still having a little morning sickness before I eat breakfast and sometimes if I'm up too late at night. Nothing to keep me from eating or to keep me in bed, but just a little feeling of nausea that gets frustrating. The hardest part for me is that for the past few days I've been having sciatic nerve pain on my right side, which means that I can't stand or lean on my right leg without some pain. This isn't constant, but has been rather painful. I try to apply cold packs to it to help with the pain and to be careful how I stand, sit, pick up Becca, and get off the floor. Doing pelvic tilts has helped with lower back pain when I have it. I'm a little concerned about how little weight I've gained so far--only about 6 pounds or so. I'll have to mention that to my midwife. I feel like I'm eating well and have been keeping track to make sure. Speaking of eating... :). Other than that, I'm doing all right.

I've been feeling the baby moving a lot lately. I notice that every night when we put Becca to bed, baby is moving around a lot. That's when I probably notice it the most.

Becca continues to be excited about having a baby in the house. She likes to see little babies at church and talk about what our new baby will do when he or she comes out of mommy's tummy. Tonight after she gave a hug and kiss to Nate and to me, she also had to give a hug and kiss to my belly for the baby. :) I'll leave you with a pic of Becca's sisterly affection:

Happy Birthday to...

my wonderful husband, Nathan. His mom really tried to get him out before April Fool's Day, but at least this way it's easy to remember his birthday. :) We celebrated today by having a birthday dinner of shrimp scampi and apple pizza for dessert. I made him pj pants which he is enjoying already and Becca and I got him a gift card to Target to buy some sunglasses. I also have one more gift on the way for him, which should arrive later this week. While Becca and I rested this afternoon, Nate enjoyed his birthday by playing WOW for a few hours. Oh, and he's also playing WOW right now...can you guess what one of his favorite things to do is. :)

I'm teasing. I really do have the most helpful, supportive, patient husbands out there. I enjoy spending time with him and having good conversations with him and watching him interact with our daughter. Before I met Nate, some people said my standards for a husband were too high, but I'm glad I held out and kept them that way...Nate far exceeds what I could have asked for. I thank God that he brought us together at SLT 4 and a half years ago. Happy birthday, Nate. I love you.

Our (current) CPF folding technique

This is the way I fold the pre-fold on Becca 99% of the time. I got the idea from this site in the part that says "Too Much Bulk Fold". If I don't do it this way, I use the bikini twist fold. I hope the bear is an okay substitute for a real baby/toddler:

1. Fold over the top of the CPF about an inch or more (depending on how much extra bulk you have). This picture shows it with the fold facing up, but really you need to turn it over. I just put it this way to show how much to fold:


2. Place CPF under baby or baby on CPF:

3. Fold in the outside edges on bottom of diaper to fit between baby's legs, but once it is folded up by baby's tummy, spread the top out flat and wrap around sides to reduce bulk in front (sorry for my bad explanation, this is really easier to show in person than to explain):

4. Fold front of CPF around baby's sides, bring back folded over part around the front on each side and fasten with snappi (or pins):

5. Here is a view from the back: