Saturday, June 23, 2012

Cloth Diapering - OH my!

After another quick trip to Target quickly turned into another $$ spending spree, I decided I had had enough of diapers!!! You can't really get ahead with being budget savvy when you are also buying diapers. Yes, I know there are coupons. But let's be real, they are expensive. And unnecessary. I decided to take the plunge and give cloth diapering a try instead. 

Gross. Sometimes. But when you are already covered in snot and slobber and spit up it really can't get any worse. It took us a while to get acclimated (you kinda need a washing/drying routine) but I think we have it pretty down-pat right now and I cannot be more pleased! 



We decided to go with the GroVia hybrid diapers. That we could use the biodegradable liners when traveling or going out and not have to worry about bringing a wet bag. They work for us, plus they are SO darn cute!


Since Salem has started school, we are only cloth diapering part-time (our school does not allow cloth diapers). I didn't have to purchase a huge stock of cloth diapers because we weren't going to be using them 24 hours a day. And once we figured out how to wash them, they've been a breeze to use! Even Dada can do the middle-of-the-night changes without any problems.

Very happy with the product AND the cut in the grocery bills. Only wish that we had started sooner!

Salem::3 Months

THREE months






















a kicking machine!

started 'school' and is adjusting well

reaching & grabbing (watch out for your hair!)

smiling, cooing, drooling. repeat.

goes to sleep listening to worship music

loves to be in the pool

gotta have his puppy


Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Back to Work

Unfortunately, my company went through another round of lay-offs at the end of last week. Each round gets closer and closer to home. I was very blessed to make it through this time but we are even more motivated than before to continue to being more disciplined with our resources.

And since I am blessed to still have a job, today is my first day back-to-work and Salem's first official day of day care!



Look at that precious face!!! He's getting so big, too fast, and now he's off to school!

Little Salem,


The last twelve weeks have been the hardest, best weeks of my life! I have so enjoyed spending that time with you, getting to know you, and cuddling with you. You are growing into a handsome little boy. I cannot wait to pick you up later today and see your smile- drooling and all! Be good for Teacher Debbie.


Love,


Momma

Monday, June 11, 2012

Our LAST Weekend

It was a BIG weekend for the Glasgow family. Wednesday will mark my first day back-to-work after a twelve-week leave - and it was SO good while it lasted! This weekend was our last 'hoorah' before I return to full-time working Momma status. And wouldn't you know it, I got sick just as the weekend was about to begin. Good thing I had requested a lot of relaxation because that's about all that my body could handle!

We kicked off the weekend by hanging our first DIY birdhouse! Inspired by one that we saw at a Garden Show and made from a used milk carton:


Of course, ours didn't turn out quite as pretty but it was a fun activity nonetheless. I had to hold back my inner Martha a few times and remind myself that this was for Colin, he's just three, and who cares that he just ran his brush through your carefully painted flower bed?!! I just took a little black paint and made that smudge into a bumble bee- problem solved.




Hanging the birdhouse was another adventure. The tree branches in the backyard are a lot higher off the ground than they appear from the kitchen windows. Chris attempted to throw the ball of yarn over a branch a few times to no avail and finally tied the only other thing he had on hand- a pair of scissors - to one side of the string of yarn and threw it over the branch. Don't worry, the kiddos and I watched the accident-waiting-to-happen from afar. No one lost an eye and we now have a birdhouse hanging from the branches in our backyard. Hopefully a little bird family will call it 'home' soon!


Saturday morning, we woke up, jumped in the car and headed down to Lexington for the Farmer's Market. I brought along my camera to take a few snapshots but it was extremely crowded this Saturday thanks to the beautiful weather and I didn't want to be THAT girl that was holding up the lines as I was adjusting my ISO. So, no pictures. But we did end up with some very tasty blueberries, amazingly good tomatoes and, a new favorite, napa cabbage, among a few other treats. And Chris and I shared a stone-oven margherita pizza, which is in of-itself worth the trip! The Lexington Market never disappoints!

For the rest of the weekend, we spent some time at the pool (me with my box of tissues in tow!) and tried out a few recipes, like this panzanella. Except for the horrible congestion, sore throat, and runny nose, it was the perfect ending to my SAHM experience.

Good bye dear yoga pants, hello high heels!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

2012 Family Goals: A Mid-Year Glance

Warning: no pictures with this post, just a LOT of thoughts!

I usually print out our Family Goals and post them somewhere in plain sight but since we were in a temporary apartment at the beginning of the year with a looming move into the new house, I just made the list and saved it to my desktop. Isn't it amazing how much more effective lists are when you can see them everyday?!! Since it is now June and we are half-way through the year (where does the time go???) I decided to take a peak and see how we have been doing!

We've had a few hits- I delivered Salem naturally!!! and we did have a garage sale to simplify. Everything else seems to be in the works still - paying off student loans, losing baby weight, and reducing grocery spending, among others. And some are still waiting for their time - starting a 4th of July annual celebration for our neighborhood and learning to can/preserve, for example. In other words, it's too soon to tell how we have been doing but we seem to be on the right track.

What was the most encouraging, however, was our Family Word for 2012 - intentional. Just one word at the bottom of the page that sounded good at the beginning of January. At this point, I don't think we could have picked a better word for our family for this year! Already, God has done some amazing works in our hearts. I thought the word would be a good fit since we were having a second child so we needed to be more intentional in the way that we spent our time with Colin and the new baby. However, being intentional has become a theme in other areas of our life too!

Reducing our grocery spending was one of our goals for this year, however, we have since decided that we want to be more intentional with the foods that we put in our fridge and on the table. We have become a little more 'aware' of the produce and foods that we buy so that our family can be healthy. Sometimes being healthy can be a little more expensive, so we are working on ways to balance that. In fact, we met with a couple from our church to discuss our finances and I actually used the word in our meeting! One of my goals was that I wanted to be more intentional with our resources! Chris and I have both been working to become more organized and responsible with our resources to better prepare our family for the future.

Chris and I have also been talking more and more about our family 'legacy', if you will. We've already looked into schools for Colin and have even talked about homeschooling as an option for him. God has really laid it upon our hearts to begin thinking about what environment we want our child to be educated in and how it may influence him, even on a spiritual level. Our pastor discussed parenting in this weekend sermon and said that from an early age it's important for us to have our children in the House of God and being involved in the works of God. Chris and I both serve in our church and attend consistently. We want them to grow up attending church and being involved in the church body. And, as we speak, our church is expanding. This could very well be the church of our kids and our kids' kids so this is the time for us to be intentional with our Sunday mornings/Wednesday evenings (and sometimes other day's in between) and being intentional in the way we raise our kids, in general.

While getting my hair done today I was reading through 'The Mission of Motherhood' (side note, I think that this is my third time reading through this book in full and each time I learn something new!) and this sentence caught my eye:

'God holds us accountable for our stewardship of his blessings' (pg. 49)

She, of course, was talking about our children as blessings in this sentence, but how perfect is that for every other area of our life? Our spiritual gifts, our resources, our children. All blessings that He has entrusted to us. It is SO very important to value these as blessings and to be responsible with them. And, more importantly, not to waste them!

PLEASE keep in mind, I am human and fail in all of the areas on a daily basis! I was just so encouraged the work that He has been doing in us and in our hearts. I'm excited to see what else He has in store for us this year as we seek to become more intentional with our blessings!

Monday, June 4, 2012

What Is In a Name?

One of the most commonly asked questions that comes up when we introduce Salem is 'is that a family name?'. It's a (very) polite way of asking where in the world did you come up with that one? And we've heard it all- you mean like the cigarettes? like the witch trials? like the cat on Sabrina the Teenage Witch? Yes. Exactly like every one of those. Good thing we had a few months to prepare our family and friends!

The truth is, we discovered Salem through one of our pastor's sermons. I couldn't tell you what the sermon was even about but while I was pregnant I was skimming through my church notebook and found 'Salem = Peace' scribbled in the margins. I immediately showed Chris and he said "That's it. We're done. We're keeping it." Again, I totally thought I was having a girl so I didn't feel the need to be that attached to the boy name anyway. Lo and behold, on March 21st we had a boy and Salem he became!


Now, I LOVE it! It's unique but not too unique. There's only one spelling. And it's strong. It's a solid boy name and I am so happy that we stuck to our guns and went with it. Both boys have five letter names with an 'L' smack dab in the middle so naming a third (IF that ever happens!) could be a bit tricky, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!

In my study Bible, next to Genesis 14:18, I have Salem underlined and his birth date written next to it. The verse reads: 'Then Melchizedek king of SALEM brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High'. And in the study notes at the bottom of the page, it says '"Salem" is a shortened form of "Jerusalem" and is related to the Hebrew word for PEACE'.

So, there you have it. Salem = Peace. And no, it's NOT a family name!

My Boys...

Throughout my pregnancy, I truly thought that I was pregnant with a girl for the most of it. It was so much more difficult than my pregnancy with Colin and I carried completely different with both of them. But as one of my doctors told me while I was pregnant, 'those women who think they know what they are having are foolish.' She said it, not me.

But after we welcomed little Salem home and got to know each other more over these few weeks at home, I can say that I am happy to be a Momma of two boys. I kinda like being the only girl in the house :)


















The three of us have been spending a lot of time together. Chris had to go out of town for work for a few days and then Colin was home sick a few days last week with a stomach bug. Two can be challenging but it can also be a lot of fun! There is nothing better than seeing your oldest love on his little brother. Or watching the little one's face break into the biggest smile every time he sees his older brother.

But it's not all smiles around here 24/7 - boys will be boys! And there will be lots more of that as the boys get older. Can't wait to see what they will be getting into together as they get older- this Momma is going to have to stay on her toes!