Thankful for family

Two weeks ago the hubby was in the hospital and Cakes was sick. I was trying to keep it together, but I was freaking out on the inside. I was freaking out because my husband was very sick. And I was scared. Scared that perhaps he wasn't going to be okay. Then Cakes got sick, and Cakes had never been sick before other than a runny nose. All I could imagine was that she got whatever hubs had and was going to end up in the hospital too. Then all I could think about was that Sparky and I were going to get it. And then what?! How was I going to take care of Cakes and baby Sparks without hubby's help? We very much share parenting responsibilities so parenting alone was new to me. Fortunately, I wasn't really alone.

My mom and dad came to the hospital immediately and helped keep Cakes and Sparks entertained while I gathered my thoughts to figure out what I needed to do. My sister-in-law brought my niece to help me out with the kids as well. Cakes adores her cousin Tori so having her around was a blessing. She was a great help! And, of course, hubby's grandmother and dad were there checking up on hubs and making sure he was taken care of and had whatever he needed. I felt guilty that I couldn't be there with him the whole time, but I knew that he was in good hands.

All of this just made it even more clear in my mind how important our families are to us. We are so very fortunate to have our families close by and willing to be there for us whenever we need them. I may have had fleeting thoughts of wanting to move back to Colorado but now those thoughts are gone. I may like Colorado better, but I can't imagine not having our families close. So, unless they all want to move, our home is right here where we're at! Thank goodness for our families because they were there for us!

From the Mouth of Cakes

Mister Roger's Neighborhood came on this morning while Cakes was watching t.v. I was in Sparks bedroom changing his diaper when I hear Cakes yell, in a very sassy tone, "You're not my neighbor!"

Of course she would say that!

Brother and Sister

Aren't they so cute hanging out together?!I think Sparks is resembling Cakes more and more. Same face shape, chin, cheeks, eyes, and nose, but they do have different skin tones. Cakes takes after my coloring and Sparky has his dad's color.

Do you think they look alike?

Not always peaches and cream

I very rarely blog about the bad stuff in our life. It may seem like everything is always peachy but, of course, it isn't. We have bad moments, bad days, and unfortunately we are currently having a really bad week.

Wednesday, the hubby woke up not feeling very good. Apparently he had some sort of stomach bug because he proceeded to throw up throughout the day. By evening he felt better and slept through the night. Thursday morning he felt better, but still not well, and stayed in bed all day resting. Thursday night was horrible. He was throwing up every 2 hours. A trip to the doctor Friday morning led to a trip to the hospital for tests. Bad test results meant a stay in the hospital. Hubby was in really bad shape. He was severely dehydrated and his sugar levels were way high (he is diabetic). It was a good thing we went to the doctor because, quite honestly, he could have died if we had waited any longer. And I'm not being dramatic, his doctor flat out told him that he had seen diabetics die from this. Thanks doc. Just what a wife needed to hear while trying to stay calm for her kids and husband. Anyway, hubs was hooked up with fluids and insulin and he looked better in no time.


If having hubs in the hospital wasn't bad enough, Cakes threw up Saturday morning. This was the first time she has ever gotten sick, so I was freaking out. How was I going to take care of her and Sparks without the hubby's help? All I could think was that she got whatever hubby had and she was going to end up in the hospital too. Fortunately, it appears to be very minor. She threw up 4 times in 24 hours and has been fine all day today (Sunday). What a relief!


Hubby was in the hospital until around noon today. He is doing alright, but his whole digestive tract was burned from all of the acids, so eating is not too much fun. He's tired and weak, but definitely on the mend. We are so glad he's back at home!


I know it definitely could have been much worse. Our family has had 2 terrible tragedies within the last four months, and this week of ours is nothing compared to them. But while it was happening, all I could think was the worst. Let's hope that our bad week is over and that Sparky and I stay healthy!

From The Mouth Of Cakes

We were out to lunch today and a little girl at the table behind us says to Cakes,

"You're little brother is cute!"

Cakes responds, "Yeah, but he cries a lot."

Bubble Bath Beauty!

What girl doesn't love a nice bubble bath?!

Mmmmmm...rice cereal!

Today, Sparks had his first taste of rice cereal. He wasn't terribly opposed to it, but he wasn't sucking it down either. It will take a few tries (or more) to get the hang of actually "eating" off a spoon, but he seems to be okay with the idea of it. Most of it ended up on his face. But he was pretty good at sucking it off of his hands!

It tastes okay, but the milky milk is better!

The Boy - 4 Months

It has been confirmed. Our little man is not so little! Today was his 4-month checkup and he weighed in at 16 pounds, 13 ounces and 26 inches long. 90th percentile in both weight and height. He is developing right on track and as our doctor likes to say..."He checks out good!"

So, what's Sparky been up to? He now can roll over from belly to back. He sits up with some support. He babbles. He jumps in his jump-a-roo activity center. He laughs and giggles a lot! And he sleeps through the night!!!! Woo hoo! He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, I wake him to feed at 10 and he goes right back to sleep and sleeps until 7, and then goes back to sleep until around 8:30. I am so lucky that he is such a good sleeper! I am so lucky!

Next up for Sparky, solid food. He'll start with rice cereal and then we'll begin introducing veggies. I have a feeling that he's going to like eating.

From the Mouth of Cakes

Whenever Sparks cries, Cakes will often say...

"Oh no. Sparky (or little buddy) is upset. I think he needs some mommy milky milk."

It cracks me up every time!

Fun in the tub!

Sparks and Cakes took their first bath together! It was the cutest! Up until now, I've been using a baby bathtub in the floor of the bathroom to bathe Sparky while Cakes used the tub. She's been asking to have her brother in the tub with her. Sparks has been sitting up pretty well, so I figured we could try out the bath ring. It worked great, and he seemed to like being in the tub with big sister! He watched her intently. And she enjoyed pouring water on him!

Fun times!

What a flirt!

Cakes sure does love her little Sparky!

About Me

Thanks for stopping by my little place in the blog-o-sphere! Here you will find my rambles, rants, and raves about my life as an eco-cheap wife, mother and everything else in between.

My name is Chanda and I am a 39-year old, domestically disinclined wife of 12 years. I am a work-from-home, breastfeeding, baby wearing, cloth diapering, baby food making, somewhat attachment parenting, eco-conscious, thrifty, mother of 2 wonderful children - spunky daughter, aka Cakes, who is 5 going on 25, and laid back 2-year old son, aka Bubby. I am a lover of animals, especially my dogs(4 Rat Terriers) and horses. I was a professional horsewoman before I had children and now I am the keeper of the books for my family's business. I am an amateur photographer and enjoy taking pictures of my children. I spend lots of time outdoors - walking, running, picnicing, boating, swimming, hiking, and most importantly, playing with my children.

We are currently living in an RV while we build our somewhat "green" home.

In short, I am just another woman trying to make my way in this crazy world!

Fall 2009

Such a big girl!

She is growing up so fast! It's hard to believe that my baby will be three in a few months. She's much more a little girl than a baby anymore. She knows what she wants and has no problems expressing it. She has a preference for what she wants to wear, and usually it is a dress and some dancing shoes. She speaks in paragraphs, and is rarely quiet. She knows the alphabet and can recognize almost all of the letters and what sound they make. And now she is now officially out of Pull-Ups and in her big girl panties!

We have been half-heartedly trying to potty train her for a while now, but we finally just did it. We put on her panties and said no more pottying in your pants and made an effort to take her the potty every hour or so. It worked! She had a few accidents, but she has been dry now for over 2 weeks. WAY TO GO, CAKES!

From The Mouth Of Cakes

Me: Quit picking your nose.
Cakes: But mom, I've got gold in there!

Think CPSIA doesn't affect you. Think again.

The Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) was signed into law August 14, 2008. It is now being popularly referred to as National Bankruptcy Day. I found out about in on www.diaperswappers.com where there are a lot of WAHMs (work from home moms) that are panicking that they will not be able to continue making their living from home by handcrafting cloth diapers, children's clothing, etc. When I first read about it, I didn't really think about the affect it would have on me. It didn't even cross my mind that it would affect me in any way, really. But then I remembered, duh, that I sell children's clothing, toys, and products on eBay, and that I will no longer be able to sell them, because anything that has not been tested would be considered an illegal product. Now that hits us hard. We buy and sell a lot of children's products.

This law must be amended! PLEASE READ this article for more information about the CPSIA. It's an excellent article with lots of helpful links.

Breastfeeding: What's the big deal?

I had decided long before my daughter was born that I was going to breastfeed. I’m not sure when I made that decision, but I know why. It was because that was the way babies were fed, as far as I knew. My only real exposure to babies was through my childhood horse-riding instructor. I spent a lot of time with her and her breastfed baby boy. It never seemed like a big deal for her to nurse him. She would nurse him whenever he was hungry, wherever we happened to be. She was so matter of fact about it that it never once crossed my mind that it was something unusual, disgusting, or inappropriate. Or that it was something to be hidden, to be done in private. It was natural. It was the way nature intended for a baby to be fed. It was “normal” and it was definitely no big deal.

Luckily, I was fortunate enough to have had such a role model in my life. If more people were exposed to breastfeeding in such an open and positive way, then perhaps it would not be such a big deal. Breastfeeding would become the new “normal” way to feed infants and more people would realize that there is absolutely nothing disgusting or inappropriate about feeding one’s child the way nature intended.

Susan, your influence on me and my family IS a big deal! Thank you for making breastfeeding my "normal".

Christmas - Part 3

Christmas afternoon we went to GG's house. GG is hubby's grandmother. We are very close to GG and see her at least 2 to 3 times a week. Cakes adores her! Here she is with Cakes.

Hubby's dad was also there with his longtime girlfriend, Sheron, and her son Logan. Cakes took a particular liking to Logan. He was very sweet to her and actually played with her Polly Pockets with her. Now that's a nice guy!

Sparky and Cakes were cooperative and let me take some pictures of them together.

Sparky was just as agreeable to pictures by himself. He's pretty laid back...most of the time. Hopefully he continues to be mellow like his dad!



And here is Cakes booty from GG, Pappa, and other in-law family. Notice the pink Cubs jacket from hubby's Aunt and Uncle! And the portable DVD player from Pappa!



And here is the little fashionista posing for some pictures before leaving. I had to capture her in this outfit. I love her little boots!
Christmas this year was fantastic! It was especially fun since Cakes knew what was going on. There is nothing like Christmastime when you have children! Now it is all about the kids and getting them as much as we can, within reason, I suppose. It was hard not to just keep buying things. And it always great getting together with our families. We are lucky that most of our immediate family lives in the same town with us and we get to celebrate occasions with both my family and hubby's family. We are blessed in so many ways.


So Christmas has come and gone, but the way time flies around here, it will be Christmas again before we know it!