Five months

Losing all 1100+ of my photos taught me that procrastination is not a trait I like about myself! You are actually going to be six months this coming week, so your five month post is long over due. I had all your five month pictures saved in my phone. Last weekend I needed my iphone fixed. So I took the darn phone to the apple store. The technician obviously didn't know what he was doing and erased all my photos! All the past 3 months of you and your brothers life was on there! All.of.them.

Two lessons learned here:

1. Don't trust the apple people just because they work for apple and are supposed to be "techy."

2. Don't procrastinate.

So I will just be posting random pictures that I took throughout the month. Luckily family and friends have been so kind to send me back the pictures that I have sent to them. I wasn't a very happy mommy, needless to say.

Well little guy,

You've grown up quite a bit this month. Not that I'm not happy that your growing and getting bigger. I just don't want you to get big too fast. And it seems as if that is what you are doing. All the fun new things that you learn and do everyday make you getting bigger a little less painful. This month you started working out your biceps and pushed yourself up off the floor. Hello, crawling? Were not quite ready for our five month old to crawl! But I suppose your brother is far too interesting of a guy for you to just sit there and stare at him, so you've got to go, I get it. You weighed in at 16 pounds 15 ounces at your last doctors visit. Your baby rolls are now uncountable. Even your little wrist has a roll! This month you did big things, like sitting in your bumbo for the first time. Since you had that mastered right from the get go, you decided to buck out of it, leaving us no choice but to have one hand on you at all times. One things leads to the next, so after bumbo seats comes trying out rice cereal, so that is just what we did. We only gave it to you a couple times this month since you are still young. I don't know if you are quite into it yet. Most of it came out and got smeared all over the place.  It did make for a good photo op. These things take time. You'll get it soon enough, and then before I know it you will be eating pancakes and eggs.
Your cheeks are just too huge not to kiss a thousand and five times a day. Even Jaxson loves to snuggle on you! You have the sweetest smile.You are quite the little chatter box too.
All kinds of exciting baby things are happening over here.
Slow down baby,
Slow down.

Here are a few photos from your fifth month of life.

Just look at those rolls:)

We love you Mattix,

Xo

Faces....

Well little mister, that's a face.. What are you thinking?

XO
Jessica

Life as I know it lately...

These boys sure do keep me busy these days! If you follow me on instagram then you've probably seen a lot of these. But here's a recap of what life looks like lately;)

Cousin Gracey

at the park

bed time stories

Nap time

brotherly love

face off with the cow

first rice cereal!

Smoothie- Stache

and were mobile....

Chalkboard Wall

Four Months....by Jessica

Baby boy,

As I say every month your growing up too fast. Time has flown by since those first few moments that we met you. It seems like just yesterday that we were anxiously awaiting your due date.

Your a hefty little Rolly Polly these days, weighing in at 16 lbs 15 ounces! 

Your a funny little dude. Everything makes you giggle! Just trying to change your shirt makes you laugh. If you think we're about to tickle you, you laugh... Sometimes just hearing your brothers voice will make you laugh.

This month you started rolling over. The first time you tried it and we're successful you woke us up about 3 am and we saw you flopping around on your belly! Now you've perfected it but it makes you mad that you can't get off your belly. You squirm and kick like your trying to crawl but it gets you no where. Soon little man you'll be off chasing your brother.

If you catch a glimpse of lelu it makes you so happy, especially If your on the floor. Since she's eye level with you, you follow her around until she out of your sight!

We think you've found your vocal cords too since your constantly squeeling and shrieking like your trying to tell us something.

Jaxson loves to read his books to you and it's adorable to watch you listen so contently. We're pretty sure your going to get a tooth pretty soon since you are viciously chewing your toys!

Every month with you little guy gets more exciting! I'm sure that the rest of the family would agree!

We love you Baby Mattix:)

Watch a G break down!

I found this to be rather interesting. While I can't say that I don't ever use disposables, because I do...This is sure to make you think. Another reason to love Gdiapers. You can compost, flush or toss (tossing is not recommended by them) their disposable inserts!

Watch the break down!

Jessica

the scoop on poop...by jessica

Most of you will have no fascination with this post what so ever. But I am going to share with you one of the less glaourous sides to motherhood with you today. After all my life isn't all glitz and glamour! 

Before Jaxson was born I did some research on cloth diapers. It was something I really wanted to try. At the time we lived in an apartment complex and the washers were shared with about 16 other tenants. Granted 5+ of those tenants were our good friends. The washers were crap though, and the tenants that were not our friends, well most of them were wierd and kinda gross. I have a wierd obsession with my laundry and the way it smells and the detergent I use and since those washers barely washed our clothes, adding dirty diapers didn't seem like a good idea. And needless to say I'm pretty positive that the other tenants didn't want poop in their washer either. Even if some of them were our bestest friends. So I chose not to do cloth. I did think about a diaper service, but once I saw the episode on Dirty Jobs where it shows everyones dirty diapers being thrown into one big washer I was a little disgusted. All those poopy diapers floating around together? no thank you! I know you think i'm crazy cause hot water and soap kills germs...but i'm a germaphobe, and well if your one then you get it....

Ok, I'm rambling.....  

This post is about cloth diapers really. I promised a friend I would tell her what I thought of cloth diapers...here goes.
When I was pregnant with our second, Mattix I talked my husband into letting me do cloth diapers....we now had the right circumstances, and by that I mean our own washer and dryer that does fancy things, like a sanitary cycle, and extra tub rinses etc. So I convinced him it would save us a ton of money...Which it does. If you diaper a baby using cloth diapers until their about 3 it can cost you almost  $3,000. Depending on which brand of cloth you choose to you can spend anywhere from $300-$1,500.
I started out with BumGenius 4.0 AIO. I have about 6 or 7 of them. If we choose to go with this brand we will need a lot more than what we have but I haven't decided yet.

Here are the pros:
*They are very easy. No stuffing or pre folding. you just put them on and your done.
*I've never really had any major leaks.
*You really only have to buy them once because they fit from 7-35 lbs.
*I like the snaps, they seem like they will last

Cons:
*Cost is a little pricey. $18 for regular cotton, and about $24 for organic, which is what we chose. But 4 of ours were gifts.
*If you have a chubby baby it's hard to get it on without creasing their fat and you feel bad because it looks so tight!
*They are very bulky and it's hard to fit pants over them.

I also received some G diapers as a gift. I tried them once when Jax was a baby and he blew out of it and it was horrible. I mean awful. It was everywhere. I will spare you the details. I really wanted to like Gdiapers too. I couldn't get them out of my head for some reason, So I tried the two I received as a gift and it was going good, so I ordered about 6 more with this bundle deal. So far I really like them. I also ordered extra cloth inserts.
Here are the pros and cons of G diapers.

Pros:
*adorable
*they aren't bulky and they are super soft.
*you have the option to do a cloth insert or a disposable insert that you can either flush, compost or toss in the trash.
*they sell liners that you put on top of the cloth insert to catch poop that you can just throw away. (these do not work with infant poo though, it leaks right through onto the cloth so it's pointless until it's solid.)
*the cloth inserts are so soft, they are made of micro fleece on the top which takes moisture away from the babies bottom and the underside is made of hemp and cotton to trap the wetness.
*the more you use them, the more absorbent they become.

Cons:
*Not cost friendly...They are about $18 a piece. you can buy a bundle and get a deal though.
*the disposable inserts are expensive. They are nice to have if you plan to use these full time if your out and about you can toss that part. In my opinion there isn't much point to doing these if your not doing the cloth because they cost as much if not more than using regular disposables..it's just 'greener' is all.
*It's a lot of stuffing and snapping to set these guys up.
*They use velcro and It seems like at some point they may wear out....(although if your careful how you wash and dry these they should be fine.)
*They come in different sizes. Meaning you will have to replace what you've bought when your kid outgrows them. Again, not cost friendly.

All in all I really like the Gdiapers a lot more, even though they are a lot more work. I still use the BumGenius all the time too. I don't use cloth when I'm out of the house. I'm not that dedicated and I don't want that much stuff in my diaper bag. Also when I know he's going to poop, I try to just put a disposable on him. Eventually I plan on clothing him all day and not using disposables at all unless I am out. Eventually, eventually.....
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, so if you have any questions just let me know.
I do like cloth diapering so far and it's really not a ton of extra work. It does take a little getting used too, once you get a routine down it's not that bad. I will never be used to the part when I'm washing out poop in the toilet while I hold my breath and try not to gag, but hey that's just a small part of the dirty job that a mother deals with on a daily basis. And that is optional torture.
*if you don't want to stick your hand in the toilet there are other options, I am tempted...:)

Until next time....

*AIO= All in one

3 Months...By Jessica

I'm a little late on posting this since he's 4 months next week!

Dear Mr. Baby Mattix,

Your 3 months,

Time has flown and you get bigger and chubbier each day. Your thighs have 3 rolls on each leg now! Oh my!

This month for you has been hard. You and your brother have been sick almost the entire month..ear infections, pink eye, colds, you name it. It was so sad to watch you be so sick:(

From being at the doctors so much we found out that your weighing in at at a whopping 15 pounds at this point!

We have discovered that you are quite the giggly little guy. Especially on your changing table. You get so happy you start kicking all over the place and smiling. If we make you laugh, which isn't hard, you get the hiccups almost immediately..that's how hard you are laughing at us. We must be pretty funny!

The best part of this month was the day that you were laying on the floor and your brother was talking to you, when all of a sudden you burst out in laughter and got the hiccups because something Jaxson was doing was funny to you. There is nothing more precious than watching you giggle at your brother! Oh how you love him. It's just adorable!

Anytime were getting ready to go somewhere Jax asks: "Is baby brother coming?" Anytime were out and a friend is holding you and your not in Jaxson's sight Jax comes over and asks "Where's my baby?" and sometimes when someone comes to take you away for a minute Jax decides that he wants it brother back! It's so cute how much you guys love each other already.

I know that someday you guys will be wrestling over toys and fighting, but it is the sweetest thing to watch you guys at this stage in your lives together...

We all love you baby Mattix.

I still ask myself where did time go? How did you get this big? I know I'm going to blink and your going to be turning 3, and then your brother will be 6 and off to kindergarten...That is not something I am ready for...

So lets slow down, alrighty?

See Mattix at months 1 & 2