APRIL FOOL'S!

I just finished putting together Chase's April Fool's joke for tomorrow. He is spending the night tonight and is SO excited about tomorrow being April Fool's, so I had to do something! Now I wish I had taken pictures of it, but oh well...

He takes a morning snack to school every day, usually either these Keebler Bug Bites (little graham crackers), Scooby Snacks, or a Rice Krispy treat. I opened up a bag of Scooby Snacks on the seam, poured them into a ziploc, and then rinsed out and dried the Scooby Snacks bag, filled it with colored Goldfish then resealed it on the seam with a glue stick, so it looks like it's never been opened.

Then I opened a bag of Doritos on the seam and dumped the chips into a Ziploc, rinsed and dried that bag and put the Scooby Snacks bag w/the Goldfish inside it. In the Doritos bag, there is a big note that says "APRIL FOOL'S! Have a great day! We love you! Love, Jim, Erin, and Kellan" stuck to the Scooby Snacks bag and inside the Scooby Snacks bag with the Goldfish, I slipped another note that says "APRIL FOOL'S AGAIN!" He's going to freak out, LOL.

What a week!

What a week! Tuesday I went in to the office for my weekly meeting and we were told that our largest client hasn’t renewed their contract. If they don’t renew by the end of the month, I’ll most likely be laid off. Not. Good. News. I was given the option to take my vacation now and return to work at the end of the month to see if I still have a job, or I could take a severance package and try to find other employment. I chose to stay, but I am scared. I’m on “vacation” until March 28 and then we’ll see what happens… Thursday was of course, St. Patrick’s Day, which is equivalent to Thanksgiving in my family. Every year my mom makes a St. Patrick’s Day feast of corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. It is my FAVORITE meal of the year, hands down. Kellan got to experience St. Patrick’s Day for the first time this year!

He LOVED it!

Little feet, always crossed.

Liam didn’t get any yummy food, but he rocked his green. Oh, and my boy thinks he can walk. He is sure of it.

He doesn’t crawl and won’t entertain the idea of even trying. He just wants me to stand him next to the couch where he will cruise by himself for a bit until he either loses his balance and falls or else turns and takes off as if he’s been walking his whole life (which also ends in falling.) He then demands to be put back into a standing position and I oblige because he is so proud of himself for taking steps like a big boy.

And I am proud of my big boy.

Side note: I finally tried the back carry in the Boba. Love. It.

My dad and Julie came in to visit for the weekend and see Kellan. They haven't seen him since he was three months old, so it was good to visit with them again. Kellan had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa! Kellan LOVES animals, so we thought a zoo trip would be fun.

He slept through the first half, but woke up in time for the lions.

And the monkeys. He LOVED the monkeys.

We also drove out to Waterloo, Illinois to my great grandparents’ old farm. The new owner was nice enough to let us take a few pictures. I LOVED going to the farm as a kid and I was happy to get some photos of Kellan on the farm. This is the house my great grandfather was born in in 1905. It is still standing on their old farm, though the porch is gone now and it’s in considerably worse shape than I remember. I couldn’t believe it was still there.

I used to love playing with the cistern when I was little.

Here is Kellan’s version of American Gothic.

On the way out, we stopped by St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tipton where my grandmother and my great grandparents are buried. I miss them very much. Especially my grandmother. She was gone too soon. We’re headed for Indiana tomorrow to visit my mom’s side of the family. Better get packing!

A Day In Cloth Diapers...

A thread started on my BabyCenter birth club the other day called "A Day In Cloth". The idea is that you post pictures of each diaper change throughout the day to show others how easy it is to use cloth diapers! I LOVE this idea and thought it would be an interesting blog and maybe helpful to refer a friend to in the future who might be interested in cloth diapering. This post will show the laundry process, different types of diapers, how they work, and how they look on baby, and how the diaper change process goes. I am not a photographer, so these pictures may not be great.

**Warning: This post is about diaper changes, so poop will be involved!**