Adalayde Gets Cereal!

I have been putting off feeding Adalayde food for two reasons Allergies and Deniel. Mostly deniel, I can't believe that my little girl is 5 1/2 months old. With Anderson it was fun to move on to the next phase of life because it was new and exciting. With Adaladye it is not new, we have done it before and it is just a reminder that they are growing up to fast! I feel a little bit sad that I am no longer her only source of food. I am proud to say that my body has sustained her for over a year! I no longer can say that! I wanted to wait until she was six months but she appeared to be ready and my ped. thinks that some cereal might help her with her reflux. He tested her spit up and said that it indeed is acid and that she has reflux! Rather than start her medicine we decided to try cereal. We will see if it helps! While I was feeling sad about feeding her she was loving every minute of it. She did great, I guess it was a little bit exciting!

I read all my baby food books again and we will start using the babycook again! She will get to try squash next week. I hope to make all of her baby food. I made most of Andersons and am hoping to make all of Adalaydes.

She loves food, just like her mother!

She is so fun!!

Olivia and Machi Our Faithful Readers!

We have some very faithful blog readers that we know about. They are Machi and Olivia. My grandma came over yesterday and told me that are cute cousin Olivia had expressed concern for me and the kids because I had not updated the blog. So this post is for her. How sweet that she thinks of us and loves us so much that she follows are blog so religiously. We are all doing great, I just have not posted because we don't have much to report. The kids are healthy and happy!! Anderson has had some firsts this last week. He had his first play date at our house with his friend Taelor. She lives up the street and just became a big sister to twin brothers. Anderson loved having her over and hopefully she will come back soon. Anderson also had his first sitter, that is not family. We had Maris Cromar come and watch Anderson. Ok, Anderson did not know that it happened because he was asleep! But, it is still big news we paid a sitter! That is about all here! Here is a picture of the kids today. They really enjoy playing together! Adalayde is really getting big. I can really tell in this picture how much she is changing. Anyway, thanks to our readers and especially to Olivia and Machi! I will try to keep up on our posting and not be to boring. We love you all!

Food Co-Op

Mom, this one is for you! Check out all the food that we got today at the food co-op! It is all organic and very cost effective. We got all of that food for $35.00. You can't beat that price. If you live here in utah check it out www.utahfood-cop.com. You pick it up once a month and we love it! The meat is from wasatch meat and is always great. We also love the stone ground whole wheat bread. The order form changes every month and they always have great deals on nuts from nutty guys.

Favorite Chritstmas Gift

And the winner is... The Glow Worm!! Uncle Aidan got Adalayde this little glow worm. She loves it so much! The only problem, Anderson also loves it. Adalayde usually will share and will not cry when he takes toys away from her. This is not the case when it comes to the glow worm!! I guess we know what we can get Anderson for his birthday!

I came home the other night after leaving Adalayde with Justin. She was a sleep with her glow worm. Justin said he pushed the button to have it make the music until she fell asleep. She was so happy!

Thanks Aidan for such a great gift!!

Happy Birthday Hilary

It's a big birthday for Hilary she is turning 18. I can't believe that my little sister is 18 today. I am so very lucky to have you as a sister. You are beautiful, smart, deticated, determined and kind. I am amazed by your determination to do your best in all areas of your life. You are such a good example to me and to your other siblings. I love the way that you are always willing to help Aidan and Tenley and all the fun activities that you plan with your nieces and nephews. They love you so much!! I hope that you have a very wonderful birthday! Good luck at your track meet today! We love you very much!

Love,

Justin, Maris, Anderson and Adalayde

The Amazing Shot!

A typical day with Adalayde conists of at least 3 outfits, 3-4 swaddle bankets, 5-6 bibs and a ton of burp clothes and a carrier or two. She spits up so much.

So today I had just dressed Adalayde and had her in the carrier so I could put on my make up. She was facing out and all of the sudden I heard the splat. Of course, all over the bathroom floor that I had just cleaned. When I looked to see the damage I found it. Right in the garbage can. Not on the floor, not on her and not on the carrier. Now, that is impressive! If only she could do that all the time!

We are enjoying our little girl so much! Anderson especially loves her. The other day we went to Costco and I had told Anderson that if he was good he could have a sucker. It worked wonders and he was so good. So when we got in the car I gave him his sucker. We started driving home and Adalayde started to fuss. All of the sudden she stopped so I did'nt think much about it. Well, when we got home I figured out why she had stopped. Anderson had given her his sucker! She has never had anything except breastmilk and now she had a big sucker in her mouth! She was thrilled and screamed bloody murder when I took it away. Hey at least it was an organic sucker and at least Anderson shared!

Delicious Duggar Taco Soup

Ok, I'm not really that obssesed but when I printed the detergent recipe it printed all of the family recipes. This one sounded good so I made it. It was so yummy! It made a big crock pot full so we ate half and put the rest in the freezer.

1 lbs ground turkey
1/2 medium onion
1 (4oz) can green chillies chopped
1tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 pkg. ranch or 1/3 cup liquid ranch dressing
1 can of hominey, undrained
3 (14 1/2oz) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (15oz) can kidney beans, undrained
2 (15oz) cans of pinto beans, undrained
1 1/2 cups water
Brown turkey with onion. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Simmer 30 minutes. We loved it!

Duggar Detergent

So here is the recipe for the detergent. Sorry it took so long Megan! Liesl and my Mom have also converted to Duggar Detergent so give it a try.
You Need
1-Fels-Naptha bar
Washing Soda
Borax
I found all the ingredients on the laundry isle.
A 5 gallon bucket with a lid

You grate the Fels-Naptha bar and mix it with 4 cups of hot tap water in a sauce pan. Stir continually over medium-low heat until the soap is dissolved. Fill the 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water, add melted soap and 1 cup of washing soda, and 1/2 cup of borax. Stir to dissolve. Fill the rest of the bucket to the top with hot tap water. Stir again and let it sit overnight. Fill an old soap dispenser with 1/2 of your soap and the rest with water. Shake before each use. For a front loader use 1/4 cup and for a top loader use 5/8 cup.

Good luck and let me know how it works for you. They also tell you how to make powdered if you would like that recipe let me know.

Happy Birthday Grandma Scott

Happy Birthday! We hope that you have a wonderful birthday! Thank you for your willingness to watch our kids and for loving them. Thanks for all the wonderful Sunday meals and for helping me on the plane with Adalayde. We are so blessed to have you in our life. My kids are so lucky to have you as a Grandma! Happy Birthday!
Love,
Justin, Maris, Anderson and Adalayde

Fun With Tachi and Grammy

We had lots of fun with my Dad and Cheri. Saturday I got to go and ski at Snowbird I left Justin and the kids at home. I had a great time but missed Justin and the kids. Cheri was a tropper and sat in the warm hut at the top of the mountain while I pumped. I am not sure how many people can say that they have pumped at the top of a mountain but I can!

Sunday we all went snowshoeing. I loved it, it was so nice to be outside and it was the perfect temperture outside. Justin carried Anderson and I carried Adalayde. Anderson did not love it, he screamed a good portion of the time. Memo to self you do not go snowshoeing during nap time. We are looking forward to going again but not during nap time. Thanks Dad and Cheri for the snowshoes we had a great time!!

Happy Birthday Isabel

I can't believe that you are 13. You are officially a teenager! I remember the day that you were born so well. I was so excited to have another sister. I am so lucky to have you as a sister. You are so smart and fun and we enjoy you so much. You are a great aunt and all of the kids love you especially Pierce. I hope that you have a very happy birthday! We love you so much!

Duggar Detergent

I don't watch much t.v and never watch it during the day but, at night when I nurse Adalayde I like to watch it. My favorite stuff to watch is on TLC. They have great programs like adoption stories, mystery diagnosis, Jon and Kate Plus 8 and 18 Kids and Counting. 18 Kids and counting is about a family named the Duggars. They have 18 children and are pretty amazing. Most amazing is that they live debt free. If they do not have the cash they don't buy it. They built their own beautiful house and work together as a family to accomplish lots of stuff. They have very strict rules and standards and Liesl andI are totally intrigued by them.

About a month agao the show was on how they budget. One of the things that they do is make their own laundry soap. It is all natural and they gave the recipe to make it. I am a pretty big laundry snob and will only buy cheer, tide and dreft. I am very picky about how my laundry is done and wash my kids clothes seperate from our clothes. So in our home we do a lot of laundry! I can't imagine what the Duggars must do or my mom for that matter.

I have also been trying to go more green in our home. Use natural cleaners and buy as much organic as possible. I have tried several of the green laundry soaps and have not been impressed. So, I decided to try the duggar family soap recipe out. I made it on Saturday and have been using it since. Yesterday we put it to the ultimate test Adaladye had a blow out and Anderson vomited last night. Normally I would soak these clothes but since it was just pajamas and a onesie I rinsed them and put them in the washing machine.

Well, it worked the clothes were perfectly clean not a spot on them. I did make it without any sent and do miss that. I might try to add some sent to it and see how I like it. So far my clothes are clean and I am very happy with the results. Especially the cost which is $2.10 for a 180 loads of laundry!!

Sick Again!

Anderson is sick again. I took him to the doctor on Saturday and they said that he had double ear infections. We started him on antibiotics and yesterday he seemed a lot better. I even took him to his Kindermusik class. Then last night he started coughing really hard and running a fever again. I was sure that he was Really, Really sick this morning when he woke up and did'nt go straight to his basketball hoop and ball. All he wanted to do was cuddle in bed with me. That is a rare and special occasion for me! Anderson will not cuddle in our bed for anything. So back to the doctor this morning. Poor Anderson has a slight case of pneumonia. The doctor said that he thought we caught it early but that he would need a shot today and to start a new antibiotic tomorrow. My poor sweet boy had to get a big fat shot in his leg and I know from personal experience with this shot that they really hurt. They also really work!! I feel so bad for him but am enjoying cuddling with my sweet boy!

Swaddle Time

For those of you who don't know Anderson had colic when he was a baby. Thanks to my Mom, sister, Aunts and Grandma who never dealt with colic I had no idea what to do. Cheri helped by telling me that all you could do is carry them. Yes, that was great advice and lead to the purchase of many slings and carriers. It worked like a charm! I also had to put him on a strict 3 hour schedule since the worst thing you can do for a baby with colic is feed them when they cry.

So while I was pregnanct with Adalayde I read two wonderful books. Baby Wise and The Happiest Baby On The Block. They said that you should swaddle your babies and that it would greatly reduce colic. So from day one Adalayde has been swaddled and is on a strict eating schedule. She has done wonderfully with this combination. When swaddled she knows that it is time to sleep and that is what she does. She sleeps for 10-12 hours at night!!

We found Aden and Anais blankets and they are the most amazing swaddle blankets. They are huge and are made of muslin so they are not to hot. Thanks to Erin and her family we just recieved 4 moreof these. Believe me they have already been put to very good use. Thanks for such a great gift!
What could be Sweeter?

You might ask, how long can you swaddle a baby? Well, here it is Anderson all swaddled up next to his sister. He was not a fan so it was pretty short lived but it made for a great picture.

Jumparoo!

Justin and I have a many fond memories of this jumparoo! I bought it when Anderson was 4 months old. It was the first really ugly piece of baby equipment that I bought. Before that I tried to buy things that were neutral and not to bright. This is none of those things. I was sure that Anderson was going to love it!

Justin was less than impressed with my purchase. I defended myself by putting Anderson in it for him to see. Sure enough his heart was melted. Anderson loved it! Justin and I laughed so hard at him as he would go crazy in it jumping and hitting all of his toys.

Finally when he was 14 months old I took it down while he was asleep and put it in storage. I would still catch him in the storage playing with the toys on it.

The other night at dinner we started talking about the good old jumparoo and I decided we would pull it out and let Adalayde try it. She seemed to like it but she only got a very short turn in it. Anderson was pretty excited to see it resurface and was not overly eager to share it with his sister. We will see if she ever has the oppourtunity to love it like her brother!

Anderson now, still a fan!!

Anderson 8 months old loving it!!

Ainsley also loved it!

Adalayde trying it out!

We Are BacK

The worst part of the trip, the airport. Uncle Creighton walked all over the airport with Anderson on his leash. Anderson is lucky to have uncles who love him lots! We had a great trip and even survivied over ten hours of travel time with two under two! Our kids were awesome!!

We got to New Orleans late at night but still had cousins to greet us!!

The weather was prefect and we even got to go swimming. I think more time was spent in the hot tub but it was lots of fun to swim with our cousins!!

We had so much fun at the aquarium. Anderson loved all the fish! Justin and Anders loved the sharks especially the one who ate one of the other fish in the tank while they were right there.

Anderson went on a swap tour with his dad, his uncles and his Grandma and Grandpa scott. He had a great time and even saw some turtles and alligator eyes!

Mr. Utah! This guy was walking around dressed like Mr. Incredible. I can't even imagine Justin doing something like that!