Silly Faces and an iPad

My mom got an iPad this week!  We LOVE it.  :)

Here you can see Joanna flipping the page in the book they were reading.

My mom came over yesterday to rescue me.  I’d had a long, not so sleep-filled night, and I was tired and cranky.  Thankfully she was able to come over and hang out with us.  Made me a much happier, friendly person!  I also went to the dentist and got my hole from the root canal filled.  My mouth is finally back to “normal" for awhile! 

I love my mother’s iPad.  It’s pretty and shiny and has lots of bright colors.  :)  I know she will love having it on all her trips!

Fall colors

After school on Tuesday, we stopped in the front yard to take a few pictures.

   

This was the best I got of all three.  Do you see that they’re sort of matchy?

Natalie is smiling here, but Joanna has a terrible face!

 

There’s a smile!

Isn’t he just so handsome?

James was 4 weeks old on Monday and is one month old today!  I took a couple of blurry pictures of him sleeping, but I will plan for a better photo shoot outside later on.  He’s sleeping in his carseat right now – loooong nap!  I love typing with two hands!

Our Favorite Pancakes

This is my favorite pancake recipe, adapted slightly from a Kroger flyer from a few years ago.

Preheat griddle to 350 degrees (or a fry pan to mediumish if you don’t have a griddle like me).

Whisk together in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Whisk together in another bowl:

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 Tbsp canola oil

2 large eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and gently whisk together just until combined.  Pour batter onto hot greased griddle.  Flip pancake when it begins to bubble.  Cook one minute longer, and transfer to plate.

I often double this recipe and freeze the pancakes.  They’re very good reheated in the microwave for an easy breakfast.  I like them plain, as do the girls, but they’re of course great with butter, syrup, or jam.  To me, these really do not taste “whole wheat.”  They’re very soft and very sweet – yum!

You can easily add frozen fruit to these pancakes.  Just sprinkle the fruit on after you pour the batter.

I never have buttermilk on hand so I substitute with “soured” milk.  1 1/2 Tbsp vinegar into a measuring glass.  Add enough milk to make 1 1/2 cups.  Let it sit for 5 minutes.

Last night I attempted letter pancakes:

N for Natalie:

J for Joanna:

M for Mommy:

D for Daddy:

I need a little practice, but everyone enjoyed eating their letter.  :)

Around the House

Love baby feet!

When the new diapers arrived on Friday, I did a load – it overflowed the little drying rack!  I’ve been using this wonderful little gadget a lot lately.  We’ve had a couple of sunny days recently, but they were both days I didn’t or couldn’t hang laundry out.  If you’ve been over recently, you may have noticed I always have diapers hanging in my dining room.  :)

Joanna put my shirt over her clothes – I think it’s a good look!

Oh – aren’t they PRECIOUS?!

I was folding laundry last night and they were waiting on me to read a book to them.  They both started looking through books.

I love to hear them “read” stories they know!

This is what Daddy and James were doing at the time:

I had to catch a picture of James’ outfit yesterday – so cute!

Here’s one thing I don’t understand though.  Why would you take the time to sew pockets on a tiny baby outfit?

Building the stash

Bum Genius is offering a “Buy 5, get 1 free” deal right now, so I took advantage!

I also tried out a couple of different colors, but wasn’t too impressed.  The top two are “sweet” which is a very pale blue/gray/green color.  The one under the green ones is “noodle” which is a super pale yellow color.  I can see the advantages to those pale ones – work well under light clothing but still cuter than white.  I like the brighter colors better though.

Someone asked me the other day how many diapers I had, and I couldn’t tell her.  I’m still not totally sure, since there are always some in the wash, but here’s what I think I have:

14 One Size diapers (fits from newborn to potty training)

4 Medium diapers (probably about 18-30ish lbs)

1 Small diaper (I think about 7-14lbs, although Natalie was able to wear them back when we first started cloth diapering)

1 x-small diaper (supposedly 4-9lbs, but doesn’t work well on skinny-leg James)

We also have:

3 NB covers

2 x-small covers

2 small covers

2 medium covers

with

2 dozen NB prefolds

1 dozen small prefolds

4 medium prefolds

2 large prefolds

And also:

4 large Gdiaper covers

2 medium Gdiaper covers

2 small Gdiaper covers

with

6 medium/large inserts

Whew!

This definitely gets us through two days, which is as long as you should go between washings.  I love putting James in the BG, but the prefolds still work very well for him.  I try to have enough BG to put on him at night, since he theoretically will go longer between diaper changes and they absorb more than the prefolds.  They’re also much easier for sleepy parents to put on!

The Gdiapers and prefolds for Natalie need to be changed more often than the pockets, so I try not to leave the house with her in them, but they work well for just hanging around at home.  The Gdiapers are just as easy to use as the pockets, but they’re more likely to leak.  The prefolds are great for when she has diaper rash.  They’re very breathable, so I’ll put one on without a cover (with pins) when she can’t be naked.  They’ll absorb enough tinkle not to soak whatever she’s sitting on, but still allow good airflow and healing goodness.  She isn’t quite to the point where she knows before she tinkles.

Playday!

James wore this cute romper for all of about 15 minutes before spitting up on it.  :)  Had to take a picture anyway!

The girls love to swing on the Vandenberge’s swing set!

This is what James did during his first playday.  :)

Even though this picture is blurry, I just love it!  Joanna’s eyes are just sparkling as she pushes Natalie, who’s looking back at her.  Sister love!

Projects

So far, I keep all the crafts the girls bring home from school, but these two that Joanna did on Thursday were 3D, so I decided to take pictures for posterity.

Here she is in her macaroni necklace, holding her pinecone turkey!

Natalie wanted in on the action, as well.  Joanna was kind enough to share her projects.  :)