Total Freedom!

Eli is one of those kids that LOVES being naked. If we aren't fast enough after bathtime, he will run through the house naked. And he's always got a huge grin on his face. I'm sure Brian will say he can't believe I would put these pictures on a blog, but hey, your only young once. It's still acceptable to run around naked at his age. No worries B, I will only show a little bit of bum and fat rolls:) Anyways, the other night he was making a break for it after his bath. He had his bubble lawn mower and his walking toy out in the living room. So, he did what any one would do when they are fresh, clean, and naked....he went and mowed, and then chased the dog around the house with his walking toy:). Makes total sense to me. He was a free man!!

Look at those rolls!!
A little kitchen mow after bath never hurt anyone:)

And just because I love these kiddos and they things they do are so cute, here's a couple of other photos:

This picture is so adorable. Eli looks like he has so many great secrets to tell his baby sister and she is listening very intently. He gave her a kiss soon after this. He is still so loving to her, I'm trying to soak it all up while I can.
And here's our beautiful little girl. She loves to smile and talk to us. She's just getting so big so fast.

Going Green

(Sorry for the crazy format this time. I meant to upload pictures first and then write, but I forgot. I'm still figuring out how this thing works and am far to lazy to try to figure out how to format it the way I want:))
Doesn't this girl look so silly. This onesie is adorable, but still so big on her. And you gotta love the socks that are much more like knee highs on this kiddo. She looks especially wide this time too because she was sporting her cloth diaper. Still gotta get used to the bulkiness of them, especially since she's still pretty petite.
These diapers make Kamdyn look like she has some major junk in her trunk. She's a tiny thing, but her butt looks big in these diapers. Plenty of room for her to grow into them for sure!

Laundry soap process:
We had to grate the bar of soap up and dissolve it in hot water over the stove. I wanted to use a cheese grater, but we didn't have one, hence the large knife. We will definietly invest in one for the future, it will make it so much faster.
Nicole was trying to cut the soap into bigger chunks and then grate it. Needless to say, this soap was tough and we just ended up doing it the way we had been:) Chris, Nicole's fiance', was just enjoying watching us be total dorks
Progress!!
Dissolving the soap. Nicole was in charge at this point, I ended up making a huge mess buy letting it boil over. Pretty sure I was still trying to get the soap wiped up off the range. We kept joking that even though it was a mess, it was clean.
Brian stepped in to add the borax and baking soda (should have been washing soda:), but at least they can both be used for cleaning).
Chris pouring our dissolved soap mixture to the bucket of borax and baking soda. Then we stirred and filled the bucket (yes, this is a 5 gallon bucket!) with water and stirred again. We sealed it up and it sat overnight and was ready to go in the morning.
We were able to fill all 6 of these empty containers with our soap. This recipe makes a ton of soap! It would take me forever to use if I didn't someone to split it with. The best part is, this cost me under 10 dollars to make!!

I've always been a cheap person. I hate spending a lot of money on things, and I'm always one that will buy the cheapest thing out there that I can (assuming it's still decent quality). Recently I've gotten on a huge "do-it-yourself" kick. I'm tired of spending so much money on laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent, diapers and baby wipes, ect. So....I've decided to start making my own. We are going green here in the Hutton household in an effort to save a few dollars on things we can. It's just an added bonus we get to save the environment too. Last night my friend Nicole and I made our first ever batch of homemade laundry detergent. It was super easy, and while there are a couple of kinks (who knew there was a difference between washing soda and baking soda (I probably should have:)) to work out for the next batch, overall I think it turned out well. I used some for the first time today, and while it was really weird to use instead of my think normal detergent, things came out smelling fresh and looking clean. So that's all that matters. I also tried an alternative to dishwasher detergent this week. The crazy thing is, this stuff is so easy and probably most people have some or all of the stuff they need. For the dishwasher all I needed was 1 tbsp of borax (had this to make laundry detergent) and 1 tbsp of baking soda. Then if you want, you just fill the jet dry spot with vinegar. The dishes looked just as wonderful as they did with our regular detergent. So there goes having to buy that anymore:).

Next comes the kiddos. Having two kids in diapers is a lot. And while I'm thankful that I'm going to be all in the diaper stage at once and then hopefully be out of it all at once, it does hurt the pocketbook. Diapers are not cheap. Wipes aren't too bad, but if you go through as many as I feel we do, that cost adds up fast. So, I've decided that I'm going to give cloth diapers a try. I'm still surprised that I'm willing to do this, but it would save us a TON of money (and we would have a whole lot less trash). Besides, I have several friends that have switched to cloth and love them. Not quite as simple as disposable, but they still aren't too bad. I'm trying out a brand right now (a friend loaned me a couple to try out before I buy). Bum genius. It is a one size diaper and fits kids from 7-35 lbs. So Eli could even wear these until he's potty trained (hopefully!). I know I'm going to have more laundry by going this route, but I plan on getting enough to only have to do a load once at night and then have them ready for the morning. For those of you that are worried we might make you use the cloth diapers when you are watching the kiddos, fear not, we will still have disposables around. But I would much rather cut our diaper budget from 100 dollars a month to 20:). I haven't made my own wipes yet, but that's on the agenda this weekend. I have another friend, Ginger, who makes her own in an effort to save a few dollars and she really likes them. So, I'm gonna give it at shot:).

I'm amazed at how simple making my own stuff has been. I can't believe I didn't do some of this earlier.

New Territory

Eli is always discovering new things around him everyday, but recently we've entered a new phase that I'm not used to with him. Eli has never been one to put a lot of stuff in his mouth. Sure, he would chew on things a lot if he was teething, but he's never been a kid that puts anything he sees in his mouth. Those days are over. He has recently discovered a love for putting anything and everything in his mouth. It all started with the Carter's sticker (well probably started before this, but this is when the true fascination started). Then he started putting his magnets from his etch-a-sketch in his mouth. After that is was a rock he found on the floor. Seriously?! How do these kids find these tiny things! Then he chewed on our food ticket for lunch one afternoon and very kindly gave it to me all slobbered on. Very gross. The funniest thing is that he walks into the room with this proud little smile on his face. He knows he's not supposed to chew on these things, but he truly gets a kick out of coming into the room with a new little treasure in his mouth. Makes it a little scary to think about what he's going to be like as a older toddler. YIKES!!

On the other front, I'm getting used to Kamdyn's dramatics. For those that have spent any amount of time with Eli, you know that he's pretty dramatic. But Kamdyn is so dramatic about things Eli never was. It's kind of entertaining to see the differences between the two. If I ever wanted to mess with Eli, feeding time was the time to do it. He just didn't care what I did to him as long as he was eating. Kamdyn is the complete opposite. Whenever I try to clean the fuzz out of her fingers during feeding, she just gets ticked. Same thing goes for if you accidentally poke her or scratch her. She gets so mad so fast, no warning. Crazy little drama queen!

Spring Has Sprung!

We've been enjoying all of the sunshine that we get. Even though it's been a little chilly in the mornings, it's been so nice when the sun has come out in the afternoon. We've definitely been taking advantage of it. The other day we decided to go on the first walk of the season with both kiddos in the same stroller. We loaded up and went to the park. It was still pretty chilly, but the sun made it so nice outside and it was worth it. Eli loved being outside, and Kamdyn just fell asleep like normal. Ready to go!
Kamdyn was all warm and cozy bundled up in her little sack. We got this from my mom for the car seat, but we haven't used it in there yet. But, it has been perfect for the stroller. I don't have to worry about covering her with a gazillion blankets, I just button her in her little sack and she stays nice and warm.

Seeing Green

Happy St. Patricks Day! We had a pretty good day. We loaded the kids up and headed to Newton to go to Carters (no we didn't have a stroller, but I had something even better, another pair of hands!) to get some Easter outfits for the kids. Then we met our good friend Jami (minus her husband Caleb bc he was working:(: hopefully next time)and had lunch with her. I never really cared much about wearing green when I was growing up, but it sure is fun to dress the kids up for the holidays; I loved their outfits this year.

Eli was super excited to have his sister on his lap. She didn't feel the same:)
Always giving love to his sister, even when she's not interested at all!

Little Missy

I can't believe our little Kamdyn is already 2 months old! Time has just flown by and she is getting so big so fast. We had her 2 month check-up on Tuesday. She is doing great. She didn't take the shots nearly as well as her brother did at her age. She was very dramatic about it. Eli was over his first shots in about 30 seconds, it probably took Kamdyn a good 5 minutes. But.....she doesn't have the Howell thunder thighs like her brother does either, so I can't say I blame her. I thought it would be fun to pull out Eli's old sheets on his measurements to compare the two of them.

Kamdyn Grace @ 2 months:

Height: 21 1/4 inches (25th percentile)

Weight: 10 lbs 13 oz. (50th percentile)

Head circumference: 15 1/2 inches ( 50th percentile)

*she's still a little bit of a shirmp: newborn clothes are too small, but 0-3 month onesies have the buttons down at her knees:). Her head is going to outgrow her brother though. Now, if only they had down cheek circumference too:), I think Kamdyn might have Eli on this too.

Elijah James @ 2 months:

Height: 23 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 13 lbs 2 oz. (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 15 inches (10th percentile)

Note to self......

ALAWYS have at least one stroller in your car at all times.

I've been wanting to hit up the Carter's outlet store in Newton for a couple of weeks now. It's starting to get warmer, so I wanted to do a little spring/summer stock-up for the kids. Plus, Eli is beginning to outgrow all of his jammies, so I wanted to get some bigger ones. Anyways, today was the first day I've had time to go. I originally planned on heading out there after I fed Kamdyn at 10. Then I discovered they opened at 9. So, I decided that I wanted to go out there right when they opened and be home in time for Kamdyn's 10 o'clock feeding. Too ambitious...quite possibly, doable...definitely. So I got the kids loaded up, got some gas, dropped off a movie at Ben and Erin's and hit the road. I was so proud of myself for getting there just a few minutes after 9. I was thinking this trip would be qick and painless, I could get stocked up, and get home by 10 too. Then I opened the trunk to find........nothing! I knew I had taken the bigger jogger stroller out of the trunk to make room for a swing we are borrowing from a friend, but I had forgotten that Brian had the little umbrella stroller for Eli in his car from his guy's weekend last weekend. CRAP! Oh well, I figured it couldn't be too bad. Kamdyn was sleeping and I figured I could just set her down(she doesn't go anywhere yet, so nice!) and carry Eli around the store. Things rarely work out the way you plan. About the time I made it into the store, Kamdyn woke up. Not really a big deal, except for the fact that unless she's sleeping, she hates her car seat. I can keep her hapy and quiet, but I have to carry the car seat around so she's moving. Rocking her with my foot doesn't do, I have to actually be hauling the montrous thing around. So.....I pick her up and decide to put Eli down. He can walk.........

That's the problem, he can walk. So pretty much immediately he's getting into things. He was trying to help me pick out some cute outfits for Kamdyn. He found a couple of good ones too, but he just didn't understand that I didn't need 5 of the same dress pulled off the rack. Clearly he couldn't keep out of trouble. About this time Kamdyn had fallen back asleep due to my walking, so I put her down and picked problem child up. Again, things rarely work out the way you plan. Not more than 2 minutes later she was up and wailing, so down goes Eli, up goes Kamdyn. He's momentarily good and I am able to quickly grab a few cute things. Well, I could go on, but the vicious cycle continues and eventually I have to carry Eli and Kamdyn's carrier around the store so I can finish up. I grabbed some jammies for Eli and headed for the check-out counter. Almost home free! But then Eli found so gift bags that he thought were pretty, and he had a very smelly poopy diaper on too. So, one obstacle after another. As we were leaving they gave Eli a sticker to take home (for being such a great helper??:)). Got paid, got the nasty diaper changed, got the kids loaded up and headed home. Eli wanted his sticker on, so I put it on his pants. We hit the road and he is happily playing with the sticker on his pants. Look back about 10 minutes later and he is eating his sticker. Seriously?! Managed to get him to give me his half chewed, slobbery sticker and we continue home. We make it without any further incident thankfully, but it was definitely not the trip I invisioned. Good news is, I don't have to work out today. I'm pretty sure I was sweating inside Carter's from chasing Eli around and hauling both kiddos. I'm sure the workers were laughing at me after I left. Another good thing from this visit is that Eli's "helpfulness" probably kept me from buying WAY too much stuff that we didn't need. So I'm sure his daddy will thank him later.

Moral of this story.........
NEVER,NEVER,NEVER, NEVER leave the house with a 18 month old and 2 month old without first making sure there is a stroller in the car (especially to go clothes shopping). Next time (if there is a next time with the kids with me) I get to Carter's and discover there is no stroller in the car, I'm getting back in the car and heading home!!!

Clean bill of health

Well Brian and I experienced a first for ourselves today as parents (and hopefully no repeat visits are ever needed). At Eli's 18 month check-up, the doctor heard a heart murmur. It was the first time she had ever heard it, and she wasn't concerned at all. But, she did still have to have it documented that it was innocent and functional so she recommended us to a pediatric cardiologist. Our appoitment was today. We saw Dr. Mo (this isn't actually his full name, but that's what everyone calls him) out at Cypress Heart. We got there early like they asked and got all checked in and everything. I think Eli was liking the visit from the start because he was getting "special" stuff he doesn't usually get. He got to have a big sippie cup full of apple juice and Brian even shared his "waiting room" snack with him (this was something chocolate that our 1 year old definitely didn't need, but it was hard to deny him when Brian was sitting there eating it right in front of him. Oh....and handing him pieces:)). When the nurse came back to get us Eli was spralled out in the waiting room chair drinking his juice with one foot on the arm rest. Pretty stinking cute, I wish I had a picture of it. He had the look of pure contenment on his face:). We got back and they started doing all of their tests on him. He got some cool "stickers" stuck all over him so they could do an EKG and he loved playing with the blood pressure cuff. Next we went back for our echocardiagram. I didn't know what this was before, but it is a sonogram of his heart. It was very cool. They could see five sides of his heart and measure everything that they needed to see. This was probably the hardest part because Eli had to be fairly still for about 20 minutes. He wasn't too sure what the gel was all about that the guy kept putting on his chest, but he didn't seem to mind. They had a video playing that kept him occupied part of the time. I'm always amazed by all of the technology we have. It was pretty cool to see his heart and watch it pump and beat. Of course, I had no idea what I was really looking at, I don't know how those guys do it. It all just looks like black and white blobs to me. Anyways, after the echo we went back to the room to wait for the dr. He came in and told us that Eli looked great, his murmur was innocent and he shouldn't expect to see any problems from it. He told us that 5 kids out of 10 Eli's age will have a heart murmur and that probably 4 out of 5 are perfectly fine. He told us that kids' heart walls aren't are thick so a lot of times the heart just has that extra sound. I told Eli he just had a musical heart:) We don't have to go back unless for some reason his pediatrician thinks something about the sound of the murmur has changed or it gets worse. Eli did a great job, I was so proud of him for sitting so still and letting strangers mess with him. He even let the first nurse carry him when they went to get his weight. I was fairly shocked. He's never done that, especially not with me in the room. Brian and I weren't too worried about this visit in the first place because our doctor wasn't concerned, but it was very nice to hear that everything looks great with him. He just confirmed what we already knew, he's our crazy little man!

Little Picasso

Eli got these really cool crayons and markers for the bathtub for Christmas. Basically because I've been way too lazy to get them out most bathtimes, he's never really played with them. Brian has used them with him one other time, but that's all since Christmas. Well, Eli has finally discovered that he's big enough to open drawers and reach into them to see what kind of goodies he can find. Nothing is safe in the house anymore! Anyways, he found his crayons and markers one afternoon while I was filling up his bath water so he got to take them into the tub with him. They are very cool and if you ask me, this is the way art should be. I don't have to worry about clean up for him because he's already in the tub, and they wipe right off the tub with a washcloth. Eli had a blast coloring his bath tub. So did I:) Now the trick is just going to be making sure that he doesn't think he can color on any surface he pleases (see picture at the bottom!)

So one day last week Eli "discovered" a pencil in one of our junk drawers (again, ever since he discovered he can reach into drawers, nothing is safe!). He's played with pencils before and it's not really a big deal (all of our pencils are mechanical). But the lead was out on this one and I didn't know that. So.....Eli decided to do a little bit of art in the house for mommy. Apparently my decorating isn't sufficent enough for our little boy wonder. I was feeding Kamdyn so I didn't really think to check on him. I've decided feeding times are very dangerous in our house. Eli has realized that he can sneak off and do pretty much anything because I can't see him. I always start feeding her in the same room as him, but he never sticks around for long. Maybe I should invest in a leash for our child for nursing times for his sister(probably wouldn't be very nice)!? Anyways... I didn't even notice his handywork until later that day. He came back in to play like nothing had happened and I just foolishly chose to believe nothing had. But I noticed his art when I was going into Kamdyn's room to change her diaper. Lucky for Eli he just used pencil and Brian and I finally got the paint in her room matched so we can cover up any marks and dings in the room. I think some of my OCD cleanliness has gone, he did this a week or so ago and it's still sitting on her wall. I'm way to lazy to get it cleaned off and painted over if I need to. At least it gives me a nice smile everytime I walk into the room:)

Can I help?

Eli was more than happy to help me make dessert for our small group one afternoon. He got to lick the spatula with whipped creme. YUMMY!

As I've said before, Eli is a fabulous big brother. He is so concerned about Kamdyn and her needs. If she's crying, he makes sure I know and usually tries to cram a paci in her mouth. When she's done eating, he's always right there with me trying to get her to burp. And when it comes to tummy time or diaper changes, Eli is never far behind. This past week I layed Kamdyn down on her play mat to see how she would like it (for the record, she could still care less about it). Eli, of course, had to plop down right beside her, literally. He had a bit of a hard time getting himself to lay down under the toys, but once he was there, he was golden. He enjoyed it way more than his sister. Of course, I'm thinking that that mostly has to do with the fact that Eli kept trying to roll over.....right on top of her. She didn't much appreciate that. It's tough being the littlest one in the family! I had a very hard time explaining to him that he couldn't roll that way and that his sister was there....right under his knee. Oh well, better luck next time.

Overflowing

With love for my children that is. When they are both so young, I think it is very important for me to say that a lot. I truly do love our kids, but they test my patience so much. I always considered myself to be a VERY patient person.....and then I had kids:). But it's the moments and memories they give me everyday that I cling to on those bad days. It's the hugs and kisses I try to remember when all I want to do is scream. It seems like whenever I begin to wonder why we set ourselves up for this kind of insanity, one of the kids does something that melts my heart or makes me laugh ( like chasing the dog around the house with a bubble blower; very funny). And while I could do without some of their less than desirable traits most days, I wouldn't change them at all ( just remind me I said this on one of those bad days please:)). If our young kids can love and trust so unconditionally despite all my faults as a mommy, why can't I???

Thank you Eli and Kamdyn for teaching me where I need to grow as a person and showing me love and adoration everyday. I love you both so much!