Happy Halloween?

On some subjects, it is difficult to have an original thought. So many smart people have spent time writing about it, that to add to all that would just be silly. This is especially true when you've just finished reading an article by Mark Driscoll that sums it up perfectly. :-P

Such is the case with the "Halloween for Christians" issue. Should we even celebrate at all? If so, how? And why? As I don't have a well-articulated answer of my own right now, and my child just woke up from his nap, I'll simply refer you to the article I just read. I am still forming my convictions on this issue, so give me until tomorrow. Then maybe I'll have some thoughts for you . . .

. . . along with some pictures of the cutest little "lion" you've ever seen. :-)

with a son like this, who needs a daughter?

Just kidding. I would totally welcome a little girl into our family if God decided to give us one. Totally.

However, this week, Lyndon has begun to show an interest in some. . . homemaker type tasks of mine. You know, the ones I hope to teach my daughter how to master someday.

He saw me using my mixer and begged to help make some apple crisp . . .

Then I cleaned the windows, and he wanted to get in on that too, so I let him wipe down the dishwasher with his very own (water-filled) squirt bottle . . .

He took his job very seriously, and has probably used his bottle and rag three or four times since then, completely unprompted. He also discovered the dustpan, after seeing me sweep the floor, and has had a great time using it as a Lyndon-sized broom.

I guess I kept thinking of him as a little baby, too young to help with things and not just make a huge mess, or as a tough little boy, not interested in things like baking and sweeping. But he's proving me wrong, and I love it.

pictures taken with a swanky, swanky camera

First of all, a word about the camera that took these (for all you camera nerds out there who know what I'm talking about and/or care): these were taken with a Nikon D5100, which is a way nicer camera than I will probably ever own, even if I do end up with an SLR for Christmas one of these years. They were all taken in RAW with just the kit lens, and I played around with them a little in Adobe Bridge before putting them on my computer. They aren't amazingly good, but I think they're much better than what I usually take with my Canon PowerShot G5. Let me know what you think!

giggling together before a  hayride

lookin' snazzy on said hayride

Now, before you start griping (because I know you're like that) ;-) about how dark this one is, keep in mind that I wouldn't have even bothered trying with my Canon. Taking pictures in my living room without a flash or lots of blur requires an ISO of at least 1000. And even then, we had to do quite a bit of lightening work in Bridge.

climbing a gangplank

You can't imagine how excited I am to get decent pictures in my living room!

Well hello there my bold, brash toddler. Ready to take on the world, are we?

Oh, Nikon. Never, ever leave me.

totally unrelated, completely random

Haven't blogged in a few days; nothing earth-shattering has happened, just the stuff of everyday life.

Baby #2 has started getting hiccups; I'm pretty sure he's starting to hang out head-down more and more, as well. He's so low that occasionally I can feel him pressing on my pelvic bone; it's a little weird and I find myself thinking about pre-term labor all the time now.

Lyndon had a low fever on Friday, then again tonight. We think he's starting to get some eye teeth, since normal sickness doesn't skip a day. It sure does make him grumpy, though, to be feverish like that.

Had our church's 7th anniversary celebration today. It's been a tough year: lots of people have left, and the ones who have stayed are starting to burn out a bit. There's a lot to do and not a lot of members to do it. Adrian and I had our first day off together in a looong time. We got to come to church together, on time, and it was wonderful. Had some church friends over afterwards and shared some of our concerns with them. Adrian managed to nail it: We're "evaluating" our church. Taking inventory of how much longer we're called to be there.

Adrian got a chance to borrow some swanky digital SLRs from work the last few weekends; I just finished importing the pictures, and I'll share some soon. Oh boy did I love taking pictures with those cameras; they felt so natural. We decided that I wouldn't use one enough to justify buying it, though, especially since I'd need something more than my netbook to get the most out of it. Maybe next year.

We need to take our Christmas pictures soon, but I can't find outfits in a common color for all of us. That's my mission for this week, I suppose.

28 week belly shot: oh hello Braxton Hicks; I remember you!

I totally meant to post a 24 week belly shot . . . and then I woke up one day and was 28 weeks instead. Oops. That's how this pregnancy has been, though. Chalk it up to it being Baby #2, but everything has just been so much less . . . remarkable this time around. It's still awe-inspiring, when I stop and think about it; I guess the difference is that I have less time to stop and think about it.

Welcome to pregnancy 2.0, I suppose!

Wow is my bathroom mirror dirty! Sorry about that, folks.

Did you notice that I fixed the bathroom lighting issue (at least in this shot)? Compliments go to MckMama and her fabulous online photography workshop!

Adrian says (and I agree with him) that I'm carrying lower this time than I did with Lyndon. So far, I'm ok with that. Breathing is much easier than it was last time, and starting out lower just means Baby #2 has that much more of a head start (pun intended).

I put on a new shirt the other day and said, "Adrian, is it just this shirt making me look big, or am I really this big?" His reply? "You're pretty big." Only a woman who has never struggled with her weight could accept that kind of brutally honest answer. He's right, though. This big belly kind of snuck up on me. One day, I woke up and none of my pre-pregnancy shirts fit, even the nice, long, forgiving ones.

In other news, those lovely Braxton-Hicks contractions that I had for so long with Lyndon are back. With a vengeance. I've been feeling them sporadically since I was about 20 weeks along, but they've picked up in the last 2 weeks or so. I now have them whenever I move too vigorously, which includes things like climbing stairs, standing up after sitting, cleaning bathrooms, and changing sheets. Oh, and picking up Lyndon. When I pick him up and put him on my lap, I am pretty much guaranteed to set off a contraction. They're uncomfortable this time around, too, especially since I usually have to continue what I'm doing instead of having the luxury of just making everything stop for a minute. Lyndon would be pretty upset if I threw him off my lap halfway through "Go Dogs Go" because my belly was contracting. Again, welcome to pregnancy #2. It's a little different this time.

cloth diapering 2.0

When Lyndon was about 3 months old, we jumped on the cloth diapering bandwagon. I knew, though, even before he was born, that he would be in cloth; I actually put it on my gift registry! After talking with friends, researching, and trying out a few brands, we decided to use BumGenius one size all-in-ones. They have worked perfectly . . . up until a few weeks ago. (For those of you who have never investigated the wonderful world of cloth diapers, you totally should! They're not your mother's cloth diapers anymore. Nope, these things can fit like disposables, complete with velcro tabs. They're a bit more labor intensive to wash than a normal load of laundry, but not by much. And when you consider, among other things, that each disposable diaper takes 250-500 years to decompose [source], it really all becomes worth it.)

Anyway, so we were plugging away nicely with our little stash of BumGenius, when I noticed that the velcro closures were dying. I tried picking the lint out of them and sticking them in the dryer (per the manufacturer's recommendations). No difference. After talking with a few friends whose BumGenius are lasting well into baby #2, I had to conclude that the problem is my washing machine. We inherited it from my in-laws, and, while it is old and not particularly gentle on clothes, it was free, and it still works perfectly. I am a use-it-til-it-wears-out kind of girl, so we are not getting a new washing machine until this one dies. Which means that, for our family, velcro diapers are not a viable option. Le sigh.

So, I started researching alllll over again. And I found this:

These diapers (yes, they're called Fuzzibunz) use snaps instead of velcro, which last longer, but don't give as tight of a fit and are known for causing leaks. The catch with this brand is that they're way more adjustable than your average diaper. It's all in the elastic-- see?

They adjust the same way adjustable-waist pants do: with a row of buttonholes on the elastic and a button on the fabric. I bought two just to try them out, and I am in LOVE. They're so trim and fit so well that I think Lyndon can actually move more easily in them, and I don't have to readjust the sizing every time I wash them. Snapping and unsnapping those BumGenius before and after every wash was getting to be kind of a pain, but the instructions say to make sure they're on the largest size before washing. With Fuzzibunz, that's not a problem. Oh, and did I mention they come with an extra set of elastic? Just in case.

So, I bought a set. And I put them in a bag in the nursery closet to await the arrival of Baby #2. New baby, new diapers, new beginnings, all of that. Then, last night, I reached the end of my rope with my poor, dying BumGenius. I put one on Lyndon after his bath, and there was just no way the velcro was staying on. With not a single disposable in the house, Adrian and I did the only thing we could think of: we duct taped that puppy. Yes, last night my child slept peacefully in a duct taped diaper. And his pjs were nice and dry this morning, thankyouverymuch.

So, last night after he went to bed, I pulled out the brand new Fuzzibunz and adjusted and washed them. Lyndon is in snaps today. And I am way too excited about it.

I joined the double stroller club . . .

Sometime in May, I decided I wanted to put our growing family in this stroller. Sometime in August, I found it on Craigslist! As you can see, the thing retails for nearly $400 new. The stroller I bought was barely used, about a year old, and in perfect condition. It came with a car seat attachment and (purple!) seat covers (retailing another $50), and I paid $250. I did have to drive to PA to pick it up and got horribly lost on the way, but it was all worth it for this:

Clearly, Lyndon already loves it. (See him on the seat back there?) He actually begs to take it for walks instead of our single Graco. And, honestly, I think it handles better than the Graco anyway.

Showing off the sit-n-stand option:

The space right behind Lyndon's head is where the car seat fits in; this was one of only two strollers I found that put the infant seat in the space closest to the adult. I love the idea of having the baby closest to me. And when the baby is ready to move up to the front seat, Lyndon will (hopefully) be mature enough to handle riding on the sit-n-stand section. It's a perfect solution for us; I'm just anxious to be able to put it to good use. Three more months to go!

We've been house-sitting (which apparently means I don't blog).

Some friends of ours have a really nice house . . . with a really big yard . . . a really nice pool . . . and a really extensive collection of toys. Occasionally, they ask us to house-sit (and dog-sit, since they also have a really big dog). It's the kind of place we would go on vacation, so we treat it like one. We love it; what could be better than a vacation 5 minutes away from home? We eat outside, swim in the pool, and pick fresh raspberries out of the backyard. I use Lyndon's naptime to rest and read, instead of catching up on housework, and Adrian and I can watch The Food Network after the little guy is in bed. Bliss.

Unfortunately, this bliss does not translate very well to blogging. I'm not super comfortable posting pictures of someone else's house, and, most of the time, I just forget to take them. It doesn't feel like a "special" enough occasion, I guess. A vacation at the beach feels like a valid reason to have the camera out all the time. A vacation down the street? Not so much.

All that to say, I don't have a single picture of our little pseudo-vacation that we took last week. BUT, now that I'm back into the swing of blogging, I do have lots of stuff to share. Starting with some recent purchases . . . (to be continued)