My Astronaut

This is the Astronaut holding the Side Salad.

The Astronaut is a really, really good kid. He is that kid who is always well behaved and helpful, kind and generous, insightful and thoughtful. Sometimes, I can't believe he is mine. Astronaut is 8 years old and in the second grade.

He is my firstborn and I love him so much. A has been there for it all, all the ups and downs of my adult life. I had him when I was 18, just four months after graduating from high school. He was my reason. The reason I worked, the reason I went to college, the reason I did everything positive that I did. He still is, along with his sibling.

That's it. I just thought I'd do a post about him. He is a special guy

Win some dipaers!

We have been cloth diapering since Side Salad was 2 months old and we love it! It is so easy and it makes diaper changes-dare I say it?-fun! I have a varied stash and I rarely meet a diaper I don't like. I probably have close to fifty dipes, including prefolds. Here are the benefits to going cloth:

• less waste-no trashcans full of stinky dies going to the landfill. helps me sleep a little better at night knowing i do my part to take care of the planet
  
• possibly save money, but if you are like me, it's a full blown addiction and you don't save a red penny. but the upside is the booming resale market so at least you get a return
  
• no midnight diaper runs.
• no diaper rash
• super cuteness
• no poopy blowouts
  

There are some downsides. I can't think of any. Maybe the added load of laundry? That's all i can think of.

It's cloth diaper month and Andrea over at Momma in Flip Flops2 is giving away lots of diapers.

1. A diaper and line and cover from Motherease
   
2. A Baby Kicks hemp fitted from Diapers Etc
3. A bumGenius 3.0 from Simple Wonders
4. A pocket of choice from Preston's Pants
5. An AIO from Lil Impressions
6. A Thirsties Fab Fitted and cover from Diaper Style
7. Not one, not two, but THREE Bumwear one size diaper from Bumwear

So mosey on over to my favorite blog that I didn't write and try to win! The contests start ending today...

The Meddler

Now let me give a little background info.

Squirrel and Side Salad are biologically the children of Lettuce. Princess and Astronaut are not. We have been together since Astronaut was three and Princess was one. Meddler has more than once purposely started probs with Lettuce and I.

Back when Squirrel was a little baby, she single handedly destroyed our first family vacation to go see Lettuce's mom. I know she isn't the only one to blame, but even her husband told her to cut it out. She didn't and it just made things VERY bad.

She took Squirrel to a family reunion. Lettuce is her nephew. How is HE not invited to a family reunion, but the baby is? I don't understand.

Today, she claimed she wanted to take Squirrel visiting. It turns out, she took her to a family dinner. WTF?? What about Lettuce?

He claims these things don't bother them but they do. It's just plain rude. And hateful. He has a strained relationship with his family already. This just makes it worse. But, he acts like he is scared to stand up to her. It makes me mad, but if I say anything, I am the bad guy. I think that she tries to pass my daughter off as her daughter. I know it sounds strange, but if you were here you would understand. Many of his family members have only seen her with Meddler, never with Lettuce and I. I am annoyed at the situation and frustrate with Lettuce. It is disappointing. He is a grown man. He doesn't have to kiss her booty all the time.

Well, gotta go-my baby just got back!

I am thankful

I am thankful for so much this year. My family and my children, my health, my life. All the love that fills my home. I am even thankful for Lettuce, though we are currently on the outs. Thanksgiving was lovely. My mom was here and all four of my brothers. My oldest brother brought his fiancee and two of her kids. Lettuce's little brother Junior came, too. Though we didn't get to go to Charleston, I still had a great day. My oldest brother and I split the cooking. We had:
Turkey-me
Ham-me
Macaroni-him
Collard Greens-me
Black eyed peas-him
Rice-him
Gravy-me
Cornbread-him
Apple Pie-Mrs Smith
Cookies-Tollhouse
Cranberry sauce, jellied and whole berry-Ocean Spray
Sherbet punch-me

It was just delicious.

[The only problem was Meddler, the aunt (Lettuce's aunt, his dad's sister, a family member who does not know her place and often instigates issues between us) wanted to come and get Squirrel. I am going to do a post about that next. Anywho, I think it's inappropriate to 1) treat one child specially while ignoring the others, 2) expect a three year old to spend time with you instead of with her immediate family on Thanksgiving. I didn't want drama, so I let her go, but I am not happy.]

After dinner, all the adults fell asleep on the couches and floor and then we woke up and played Scattergories, our favorite game other than Monopoly.

Happy Turkey Day, ya'll!

Wordful Wednesday

This is my first WW. I found this old pic. It is from about 1985, when there were only two of us. I am about 3 and my little brother is about 1. He and I are so close. He is the father of 4 (1 bio kid, and his fiancee has 3) and I am the mother of 4. Our kids are 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 3, 15 months and 8 months old. They were all here yesterday, along with his friend's 2 year old and my BFF's 3 year old and 8 day old. That's right, 11 kids. Pure pandemonium, but insanely fun. The contrast between yesterday's circus and the peacefulness in this picture is so very stark. But this pic, that's where it all started.

My "Large" Family

The average woman has about 2.1 kids. I have 4 and I am not even 30. So we are labeled a "large" family. And being that I am pretty young, I honestly can't say I am done yet. Now, both Lettuce and I came from "large" families; we are both the oldest of four children. We are used to this. In fact, I don't really think I have that many kids. 6, 7, 8, that's a large family. I think we are normal. Even though it appears that we are above average on the kid count. Anywho, my number of kids seems to floor everyone I encounter. Typical scene:

Stranger: Aww, what a cute baby! Is he your first?
Me: Thank you. No.
Stranger: Your second?
Me: No.
Stranger, with eyes bulging incrediuously and speaking slowly: Your....third?
Me: No.
Stranger, rolling prostrate on the floor while gnashing their teeth and foaming at the mouth: Your FOURTH?!?!!
Me: Yes. I have two boys and two girls.
Stranger, face turning purple and pupils dilating: OH MY GOD!!!!! YOU DON'T WANT ANYMORE, DO YOU??!?!!??
Me: Well, maybe one or two more. I love being a mother.
Stranger spontaneously combusts.

That was a dramatization. But people are awfully presumptuous. They ask all sorts of invasive questions. Obviously, they think that the niceties of society will prevent me from making snarky answers. Obviously they are wrong. Here are a few of my favorite answers to silly questions.

Stranger: I hope you got your tubes tied.
Me: No, I am not spayed.

Stranger: Are they all yours?
Me: No, they followed me from the produce section.

Stranger: I would never want to have that many kids.
Me: Well, with kids like mine, it's easy to see why I want more. But all kids aren't like mine so I could see why some people don't want more.

Stranger: I don't know how you handle all those kids.
Me: We don't all have the same limitations.

Stranger: You have FOUR kids?
Me: Well, four with me. I left the rest at home.

Stranger: Are you going to have anymore?
Me: Well, we do have one more empty seat in the minivan...

If you ask a stupid question, you will get a stupid answer. What annoys me is how people feel as if they have some sort of bearing on how I form my family. Even my family does this, though not as much as they used to. Probably because of the answers they kept getting. So, here is a list of things you should never say to a MoM:

Do they all have the same Dad?
Why did you have so many of them?
Just HOW old are you?
Why would you do that to yourself?
I hope you are finished?
Did you get your tubes tied?
I hope you got your tubes tied?
Why didn't you get your tubes tied?
Anything involving getting tubes tied?

If you see a MoM, the best thing to do is just congratulate her on her beautiful family and move on. It will make her day. It's not easy being the MoM, but there is no greater reward than looking at your children interacting with each other. It is an awesome sight. It's stressful job but I wouldn't want it any other way.

My new wetbag! [stuff I like]

This is my new wetbag. It's black with a green butterfly pattern. Obviously, I did not take this picture because it looks good whereas my pictures suck. I really need a new camera.

I see the pattern as a compromise; green and black for Side Salad, butterflies for the Mommy. Anywho, I got it from SMJAE on Hyena Cart, which I heard about on Momma in FlipFlops2. Andrea always knows where the good stuff is . It was $12 bucks, far less than the twenty bucks or more everyone else seems to want to charge. And it's pretty roomy. There's a zipper at the top to keep messes in and everything. And Michelle ships super fast, which is always a plus for me. I needed a new wetbag like the day before yesterday LOL I really want another one, which is why I entered Andrea's giveaway on Momma in FlipFlops2. You should, too. Even if you don't win, Andrea's got a coupon code.

I am not telling what it is. You have to go find out yourself.

PANDA-monium!!!! [stuff I like]

I wont that giveaway I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. It was the one from Andrea of Mama in Flip Flops2 for a $25 gift certificate to Happy Panda, my new favorite baby brand. This stuff REALLY fits. Side Salad was over 9 pounds at birth and is growing like a weed. When I shop, I usually buy him size 12 months. He is 8 months old now. Anywho, HP is for cuties like him, but I would also suggest them for any cloth diapered baby because the pants are so roomy! The pants accommodate fluff in the trunk. Here is my happy little panda, before he crawled off:

My new goddaughter

I just realized that my little sweetie is almost a week old and I have yet to mention her. My BFF had a baby last Monday. This is my little goddaughter. For blogging purposes, her name is Sweetie. She was 7 pounds 10 oz and 21 in long. She is pure spun sugar.