tips on stripping...

its not what you think!!

"tips on stripping"... now thats funny.

for anyone who has tried to strip a cloth diaper, you know its not the easiest thing in the world. I found this awesome little link that I wanted to share.

Kenleys diapers have some FUNK attatched to them right now and its bumming me out!

I have the day off today (besides a meeting at Kissui later) and Lord knows we arent stepping outside in this heat!.... so today is dedicated to getting the stench out of these suckers, wish me luck!

http://www.zany-zebra.com/stripping-cloth-diapers.shtml

I DO love having a laundry line...

we've got a walker!

many safe miles little one...

to my hard working hubby...

I am so proud of Gavin!!

Today is his last day of summer school!! YIPEE!! He is taking his final as we speak. This boy has taken classes in BOTH sessions of summer school... 9 units in the first session and 3 in this last session. He has worked SO hard, spent countless hours in the classroom, doing homework... going on field trips to juvinile hall??? (ya, you can imagine what that was like down here)...

Gavin has taken all the right measures to finish school as quickly and efficiently as possible. The fact that he is here in the first place, making this all happen speaks for itself. Thanks to his good grades this past school year, our grant for the 11-12 school has been increased!... which I think is such a HUGE accomplishmnet.

Unless you have done it... no one realizes what it is like to be a student athlete... and in a baseball program at a Division I school?!? To say that he puts in a lot of work would be the understatement of the century.... and on top of all of this, he is raising a family!!

Gavin, you are my hero. I love you so much and cannot thank you enough for working so hard to provide for your girls.

one year stats

A week ago yesterday (last Tuesday) Kenley had her one year appointment... finally!

After being post-poned for two months after our lovely stomach flu epidemic, we were anxious to get her stats

We love her pediatrician... thank you Dr. Sharpe for your care!

At 14 months Kenley weighed 23 lbs and 5 oz... She is exactly 30 inches long putting her in the 71st percentile for weight and the 58th percentile for height.

I asked my mom to send me my stats so we could compare :) ... I was 22 lbs 11 oz and 30 inches long.

I had eight teeth and so DID Kenley at 12 months. She has popped all 4 molars in the last two weeks :)

TWINS!

I would be pretty surprised if she ends up as short as I did seeing how she takes after Gavin in every possible way... so between the two combined we figure she will be a really nice height... lucky gal!

The day of her appointment Kenley also got a couple vaccinations along with a CBC to test for anemia... and the little lady does in fact have some mild anemia, supposedly very common for babies her age (which is why they do the test).

Dr. Sharpe initally asked me to give her a Fer-a-Sol iron supplement (dropper form) giving her an extra 30 mg of iron per day... but she hated it, I thought it was kind of unnatural and did a little research of my own, AND basically it smelled and looked disgusting. I couldnt justify giving this to her especailly when I found out that there were easier, more natural ways of doing business!

Enter "Jack".... our new juicer!

Did you know that beets, broccoli, cherries, kale and chard are all FULL of iron?? Enough so that  giving 5 mL twice a day of any of these juiced is equivilant to the extra iron that Kenley needs...

I proposed my idea to Dr. Sharpe and he approved! Tonight was the first time I combined chard and grapefruit for Kenley and she was DIGGIN it...

tomorrow is Thursday and you know what THAT means! MARKET NIGHT!!! I-am-stocking-up!!!!
Off to go juice something for myself!!

Goodnight, Jess

Redlands Market Night

we love this place!

this picture was taken last thursday where we picked up TONS of fruits and veggies for all under ten dollars... thats the trick by the way, dont take out any more than you want to spend at the ATM since they only take cash :)

turkey sloppy joes!

Ive only shared a few recipies here but this one I couldnt pass up on handing over... easy, delish and healthy...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/sloppy-turkey-joes-recipe/index.html

above the couch...

Im sure that no one other than myself cares about what hangs above our couch in the family room but I have changed what has been hanging up there about 5 times in the 10 months we have lived here...

I think I have settled on something... for now...

Yesterday at Michael's I found these frames for $1.99 (usually $10.00 each)... I was STOKED!!

In each frame is a different peice of scrapbook paper... each $.19... making it afforable enough to change out the papers accorinding to the season/holiday.... I see pumpkins and candy corn in the new future :)

night-time routine.

Kenley has been sleeping SO well lately and Im loving it... so much so that I figured I would share our night-time routine. She has been sleeping through the night with no problem since she was 6 weeks but lately she has been going down with out so much as a PEEP, wakes up in a happy mood and is getting a full 12 hours at a time!

Bed-time routine has always been my favorite part of the day... and not because Kenley is going to sleep.. but simply because it is so relaxing, for both Kenley and mama. By this point in the day she is a little sleepy which = extra cuddly.

Our habitual order of night time duties (sounds so official!) begins with dinner....
I have always referred to this book for Kenley's nutrition... and still do! She is such a good eater so I am loving trying all of the new recipies approved for one year olds :)

Next is bath time...
Kenley loves the bath... although she has recently picked up a bad habit of standing up in the tub. This is a dangerous combination for a soapy, slippery, wobbly baby. We have found a quick solution to this problem by distracting her with toys... however! the best bath distraction isnt really a toy...
One of her gifts from her second birthday party was these little rubber circles with suction cups on the bottom, meant to keep babies from slipping in the tub. You can place the little colored circles wherever you want in the tub and they actually turn WHITE when the water is too hot!!
Kenley spends the better part of bath time trying to pull the circles off the bottom of the tub... fine by me! Whatever keeps her on her buns!

After the bath I wrap her up like a sweaky clean little burrito with a hooded towel (cutest thing ever) and dry her off on her changing table. She finally has enough hair that I actually DO have to comb it and get the knots out :)
I then give her a little baby massage with our FAVORITE Burt's Bee's Baby Bee lotion. We have used this lotion since the very first bath we gave her so I have a feeling that smell will forver remind me of these days...

She then gets wrapped up in some magical concoction/combination of a cloth diaper and into her adorable little jammies. Right now my go-to night time diaper is the BestBottom diaper with a hemp insert.
Since it has been SO hot... her jammies have usually just been a little nighty-dress of some kind. (maybe I should take a picture of that... its pretty cute :)

The windows in her room stay closed all day along with the blinds to keep the heat out. After her bath we open all four windows in her room... WIDE open... (we make sure to close them first thing again in the morning).

Let me back up for a moment and say that when we come in her room after bath time, I turn on her iHome that has the iPod "touch" on it and play the Elizabath Mitchell Pandora station... if you dont know Elizabath Mitchell, she sings children music- very lullaby-ish... and so cute.
With our music still on low... we have daddy bring in three books (which have to be different than the three books from the night before). Either Gavin or I sit in the glider and read to Kenley.... which is MY favorite part.

So you can picture... the windows are all open, there is usually a little breeze moving through the room, the crickets are chirping and we are gliding back and forth to the tunes of Elizabath Mitchell. There is a newly cleaned and lotioned baby on my lap who is ready to get lost in a good book with me. Like I said... favorite moment of the day.

Kenley is finally to the point where she will sit quietly, listen, follow along (without trying to turn the pages with her feet).
Kenley has been given SO many amazing books... Im not sure she has a favorite yet but Im sure she will.

After the third book, we turn off the light (and music)... I grab the little square "napkin" as Gavin calls it (that she cant sleep without and covers her face with)... put it on my chest so she relaxes on me while we are still sitting in the glider...
We say our prayers and then I place her in her crib with her "napkin." ....She brings it up to her cheek rolls over on her side.

I quietly leave the room and turn her fan on.


At that point I wont see her again until morning... which makes me miss her already (so sad, I know.)

sweet dreams little one.

in this together...

More than once, and I feel more frequentlly, I have gotten the question, "why do you blog?"

Before these past couple of weeks, my answer would have been along the lines of... "its a way for me to jot down memories, keep track of things Kenley is doing while keeping our friends and family at home updated."

Our family has been put to the test recently and some might critize me for sharing the following but I have a new reason to add to my list of why I blog.

You know when you think you have someone completely figured out?... even a complete stranger? Im guilty of this myself but Ive had a recent revelation about my quickness to judge. In summary, you NEVER know what is going on in someones life... so give the crabby bank-teller a break and let the person who flipped you off on the freeway feel like they got away with something.

In the last two weeks, I have been a crankier, more irritable, tired, short-fused version of myself. I have heard myself say things and thought... "really Jess?!? that must be the exhaustion talking." All in all, Ive been a real peach... which I feel terrible about. The stress of our finances have officially gotten the best of me.

To give you a little background on the situation at hand... our Cal-Grant is usually in charge of our rent but for whatever reason decided not to cover the month of August. Long story short... we were expected to live off of $1,200 for the entire summer which did not include rent (which it usually does). Thats basically $600 for a family for three for THREE MONTHS. While we should have set the rent money aside to begin with, that would have put us at trying to budget HALF of that for the past two months. I dont know on what planet that is possible????

Anyway... rent is due tomorrow and after paying the months bills, we have literally SCRAMBLED to get this money togther. Needless to say I have been working NON-STOP to make this happen, pulling all nighters and trying to get as much work on my billing sheet which was due on the 10th. It truly has put things into perspective for me and for that, Im thankful.

So this is the part of the whole scenario that I feel so proud to share....

After continually bugging my dear friend Makayla to send me more transcription work... I had to explain to her the situation and that all the work that she could send me would be MUCH appreciated. I half-jokingly told her about how that night I had a cupcake and a cucumber for dinner since we literally had no food in the house and the nurtrious food we DID have was obviously going to Kenley. In the background, Makayla heard Gavin say, "what?!? you ate the whole cucumber?!?" ......HAHAHA!!!!  We had such a good laugh over that one.
so... that very night, Makayla (WHO IS ON HER HONEYMOON IN HAWAII!!!!) sat down at her computer with her new husband and together they ordered us groceries and had them sent to us from Vons the next morning.
I was working from home when I saw a Vons truck pull up and saw a gentlemen walking TEN bags of groceries up to my front door. I lost it.
He must have thought I was a complete fool, crying over groceries. "my friend who is on her HONEYMOON sent these to me!".... He just nodded like I was a complete nut haha!!
I still cant believe she did that for us. Ive had a really hard time asking for help since we have been on our own. Its similar instances that make me realize that we will never be truly alone in this. Amazing friends, I have. AMAZING!!!!

So I sit here...  realizing all the things I have and yet how quickly they can be taken away. which I was quickly reminded of this week when I THOUGHT I was getting some type of break, to no avail. but guess what else?? "no one OWES you anything." and aint-that-the-truth! Im not the best at asking for help, and maybe to a fault but lets just call it being very "determined."

But you want to know the best part of it all... and a reason to check the attitude at the door?? we CHOSE this, and its up to US (and only us) to make it work. Gavin has been given the opportunity to finish school and keeping in mind that these tough days will benifit us in the end, makes the struggle right now worth while.

Continually being humbled,
Jess

Jon Michael Martin Foundation

First, let me introduce Jon Michael Martin... a sweet little boy that I cant even say that I have met yet! However, I do know his amazingly brave mother Amanda Martin. I met Amanda through my dear friend Molly Hamblin about two years ago. Jon Michael was born while we have been living in southern California and as you will soon find out, he has been a busy guy since his birth and our paths simply havent crossed yet. I feel like I know him though thanks to technology aka facebook. His pictures seem to brighten my day. I hope to meet him someday soon but until then I want to help him and his little family in any way possible. And thats where you come in!
Jon Michael Martin was born with a rare heart condition known as tricuspid atresia with a ventricular septal defect, which is explained on their blog (link below)

http://jmmfoundation.blogspot.com/

After making a donation myself, with Amandas permission, I wanted to share Jon Michael's story and make their blog and donation outlets available to even just a COUPLE more people. As you will see, Amanda and Jeff are a very grateful, honest and brave couple who have made it clear that EVERY-LITTLE-BIT helps.
On their blog that Amanda's husband Jeff runs you will find an icon thats says "donate." The rest is very self explanitory. On their blog you can read Jon Michael's story and stay updated with their little family.
God Bless!

meet the Martins!

Here is Amanda meeting my Kenley for the first time last June... she had just found out that she was pregnant!

sweet little Jon Michael just days old...

cupcakes galore

With a crazy busy work week ahead of me I figured I would do a quick post about Kenley's birthday party over the weekend. Between both jobs Im basically working full-time right now... and loving it might I add. Being this busy and being able to make some money is a great feeling!
So I had mentioned earlier that Gavins team and their families were doing a birthday party for Kenley this past Saturday... it was over the top!!! The team moms put so much work into the day, preparing food, decorations and my oh my the PRESENTS... Kenley seriously collected... again. It was all SO generuous and the company was even better.
I was so happy that my mom could be there and that could finally put names to faces of people I have been telling her about for almost a year now. And I think she was happy to meet the people I spend every waking moment with during baseball season. It brought me to tears when she thanked everyone at once for everything they have done for Gavin and I, how they have taken us in and made us feel so at home here and really have been like second parents/grandparents since they cant be down here. I actually felt like I was fighting tears all night, just overwhelmed with the generousity of a group of people. Simply put, we love them.
I only took a few pictures on my iPhone but I know of at least two other cameras that were snapping photos all night so Im sure I will have more photos of the day soon.
Thank you again everyone... It was far more than I had imagined, seeing how we were celebrating her birthday in a big way for the second time. ::::feeling loved::::
On another note... we are going to have a walking baby by the end of the week. Kenley took four consecutive steps last night. AHH! I dont know if I am ready for this but ready or not here we go!!!

This week: My Goddaughter Addie and her Mama are coming to visit!! They are staying at the GORGEOUS Mission Inn... I cant wait to see them... I also get to have a little college roomie reunion with Chelsey Hilts and Megan McLellan... AND on friday we are going to the San Diego zoo with some friends!

just trying to fit it all in,
Jess

signing at breakfast

I have recently stumbled upon several AMAZING blogs... inspiring me to stay on top of mine a little bit more. I have found some with awesome recipes and kitchen ideas, some with crafts and mostly fun baby stuff. My mother-in-law and I have some exciting projects in the works so stay tuned.

Yesterday Kenley decided to pull out all the stops. At one point she was standing WHILE drinking from a regular cup... it only happened for a split second and when I whipped out the Flip camera of course she got shy. She also decided that the new sign for the day was "hot".... very appropriate with our weather the past couple days. She does the sign for hot while whispering "HA" (hot). toooooo funny. AND yesterday as a customer was leaving the store and she was sitting behind the counter with me in her little red chair, she waved and SAID "bye bye!"

Yesterday our new Tea Collection shipment arrived. I was in charge of going through it all and what a task that was... not because there was so much stuff but because it was SO cute, and especially the BOYS stuff. I could have grabbed one of everything for Koa... cant wait to spoil him for his birthday :)
Here is a link for their Fall '11 stuff... TOO-MUCH-CUTENESS HAPPENING!

www.teacollection.com

May I make a few other suggestions while I'm at it? ...
If you arent reading/have not read "The Help"... can you please do it?!? Im about half way through and DYING to get to the end. Its a long book but such an easy read. The movie comes out the 10th and I already know it wont do the book justice but Im still excited to see it anyway.

Next suggestion... I have a new favorite cloth diaper... Kawaii Baby 100% bamboo diaper. With all of this heat, its hard to keep a cloth diapered baby cool, but this diaper definitely does the job. Its so breathable! While I have been totally sold on the "pocket style" diaper, this one totally works for us. Combined with a "Bummis" biodegradable/flushable liner, these things are magic and Im definitely in the market for a few more.

Well today we are headed over to Orange County to escape the heat a little... and we have some party planning to do for Kenley's birthday party with all of her so-cal friends. Gavins teammates and families are nice enough to put together a little (cupcake themed per request of Mama Boudreau) celebration for her at our friend the Boudreau's GORGEOUS home out in beautiful Tustin. Pictures to come :)

stay cool!