Well...here goes

Whew. This is hard. There has been a lot going on in my life lately. I have been thinking long and hard about sharing it with all of you. I think I just need to get it out there in the open. Man, I honestly don't even know where to start. Keep in mind, that this is a really LONG story made short. I am leaving out a lot of stuff. Honestly, there is a ton that I don't remember. I am just going to hit the high (and low) points. I am leaving out most of my emotions about everything for now. I'm sure I will write more later. Also, I am just rambling in this post. I am not going to read and re-read it to get it just right. So, if there are things that don't sound right...sorry. I also want to say that I am not writing this to say "look at where I have come from". I am writing this as therapy for myself and to say "look what God has done in my life". I'm going to start with some background information.

Okay, so when I was in high school I experimented with alcohol and marijuana. When I went to college in 1998, I really got into alcohol and drugs. It was bad. So bad that I failed out of my first year at Lander University and my roommates moved out on me without telling me. I came home one day and they were gone. I don't blame them for it. I did so many things that you wouldn't even believe from selling drugs to stealing from my own friends and family. When I say it was bad...it was bad. I got a DUI while attending a community college in Greenwood, SC. I told my parents and my Dad drove down to Greenwood and moved me back home.

I got a job working with my mom and started attending Greenville Tech. I continued to stay in trouble for a little while. Then, the guy I was dating got in a really serious car accident. The day he was getting out of the hospital, a dear friend of mine and my family's was killed in a car accident. At this point, my eyes were opened. I decided to really try to make a change in my life (so I thought).

I applied to Mars Hill College and began attending there in the Spring of 2001 to get a degree. I got baptized during the Spring of 2001 at my home church with some of my friends that I had made from Mars Hill. That summer, I did Work Corp which is a program for college students to be youth directors for churches that can't afford to pay for one. It was an amazing experience.

During the Fall semester, I started getting back into drinking. One thing led to another and I got myself back in the exact same place I was in before...drugs and alcohol. I just couldn't seem to stay away. I managed to still keep my grades just above passing...praise the Lord.

Now, I will skip ahead to my Senior year. In January of 2004, I got another DUI. It was a Sunday. My friend and I began at a restaurant in downtown Asheville drinking bloody mary's for brunch. It ended with me getting pulled over by three police officers at about nine o'clock. I was so intoxicated that I didn't know or remember being pulled over. Wow. Every time I think back to that night it brings tears to my eyes (every time) when I realize that it was God that sent those police officers to me. He saved my life. Better yet, He saved someone else's life. I am so thankful to those police officers for doing their job. Unlike most people, I love police officers!

So, the judge ordered me to either 30 days in jail or 2 weeks of inpatient rehabilitation. Obviously, I chose the 2 weeks of rehabilitation. I continued in school in hopes that I could graduate in the Fall of 2004. In April, I "met" Chris. Chris and I had known each other the entire four years in college but our eyes were opened to each other in a new way. We started dating pretty seriously. I checked into rehab that summer. The judge had allowed me to finish my semester before going to rehab. By the time I went to rehab, God had already done a lot of work in my life. God really used Chris to show me how He could change my life and love me no matter what. Everyday that I was in rehab, Chris wrote me a letter. He was amazing through everything. His friends were extremely worried about our relationship. At the time, that made me so angry. But, now, I see that I would have been the same way. I was trouble. Plain and simple.

Chris stuck by me. It was completely obvious that he was the man God created for me. I had a lot of baggage and he didn't care about any of it. As you could guess, I did not save myself for him. He never made a second comment or had a second thought about it. He loved me for who I was then instead of who I used to be. I am so thankful to him for that.

As most of you know, Chris and I moved to TN in 2004. I got a TN driver's license and (for the most part) never looked back. We had a wonderful church family and God taught me a lot of things during our four years in TN. Then, we moved to Raleigh and it came time to get my NC driver's license back. I knew I would have to meet with a counselor and prove to them that I went to rehab for two weeks. I thought once I did that then it would be over. Boy...was I wrong.

I put it off and put if off, thinking that it didn't matter. On September 13th, driving home from my parent's in SC with just Kael in the car, I got pulled over. Come to find out, my TN driver's license means nothing in NC or SC. So, I got a ticket for "driving with a suspended license" even though technically I had a squeaky clean TN driver's license. I have been without a driver's license since that day. We had to pull Bryce out of preschool. I have court on December 17th. I had to get an assessment with an alcohol and drug treatment center. They concluded that since I have had 2 DUI's and I admitted to having a couple of glasses a wine a week, that I needed to do 60 hours of group counseling. So far, I have gone to 12 group sessions. I have 10 more to go. I will write more about this later. It is kind of crazy.

I want to say that I am not an alcoholic or drug addict anymore. I do not believe in "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic". I know a lot of people will strongly disagree with this statement and that is okay. We all have different experiences with alcoholism. However, I am (daily) putting ALL of my faith in Christ to keep me on the right path. I don't struggle with wanting to be on the path of drugs and alcohol anymore. My life and family are wonderful. I know what abusing alcohol and drugs will do to my life and I want NO part of it! God has blessed me so much and I know that He has taken away my desire for that life. But, as one of my friends always says, none of us are above anything. Sin is always right around the corner. It is a daily commitment to follow Christ and to seek His face in all that we do. I am so incredibly in awe with God's grace and mercy in my life. If you know me well, you know that I cry a lot. I used to think that it was because I had so many years of not being sober that I didn't know how to deal with my emotions. I still think that was a lot of it. However, I realize now that I am often overcome with complete awe that God saved me.

"For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

three boys!

Haha! Gotcha! No, I am not pregnant. However, I am hoping to be soon ; ). Well...I have been hoping to be for a while now, but am waiting patiently on God. I started keeping my neighbor's five month old little boy yesterday. He is absolutely precious! Bryce and Kael think that he is the coolest baby ever. I was a little nervous about how I would handle having three little ones in the house, but I love it! It really hasn't added any extra stress to our house at all. I think having Kael prepared me for anything. Don't get me wrong, he is a sweetheart and absolutely adorable. But, he has been a challenge at times. Nathan is a very laid back baby. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to take care of him while his mom is at work (she teaches special ed in high school). It is really going to help Chris and I financially and it has definitely confirmed that we want another child (preferably a sweet little girl...hehe). Isn't God great?! This was my conversation with Bryce today:

Me "Do you want mommy to have another baby?"

Bryce "ummm...yes"

Me "Do you want a brother or a sister?"

Bryce "ummm...a sister"

Later on in the day:

Bryce (as he is loving on baby Nathan): "Awww...I love baby Nathan. Mom, let's keep baby Nathan and get a baby girl."

Penny for your thoughts

There are a lot of opinions out there on how children should be educated. I want to hear your thoughts. I think all of the options - public, homeschool, and private - have pros and cons. So...let me know. What are you doing or planning on doing and why? Just curious.

Easy on your wallet

This is a recipe for Giada's Penne La Carbonara. It is so yummy and very fast to make! And, if you substitute bacon for the pancetta it is really inexpensive. I used pancetta this time but next time I will use bacon. I'm also posting my recipe for gorgonzola bruschetta. Gorgonzola just happened to be on sale so I thought I would try it. It turned out really good.

1 pound pancetta, diced into 1-inch cubes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 pound dried penne
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Directions
Heat a large saute pan, until hot. Add pancetta and saute until golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Season with black pepper and remove pan from heat.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs and cream. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in Parmesan, reserving 2 tablespoons for garnish.

In a large pot, boil 6 quarts of salted boiling water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander. Do not rinse with water; you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will stick. While the pasta is still hot, return it back to the pot. Add the browned pancetta and mix well. Add the cream mixture and coat the pasta completely. It's important to work quickly while the pasta is still warm so that the cream mixture will cook, but not curdle. Add remaining Parmesan and chopped parsley.

Talia's Gorgonzola Bruschetta

1 cup gorgonzola cheese
half a loaf of french bread
4 garlic cloves
2 tomatoes
1-2 tsp dried basil or 5-6 fresh basil leaves

Slice the french bread about 3/4 inch slices. Place on baking sheet. Broil for about 2 minutes on one side and then about a minute on the other side. Watch it carefully so it doesn't burn. As soon as you remove it from the oven, rub each piece of bread with one clove of garlic - just peel the clove and rub it on each side of the piece of bread. The heat will help "melt" the garlic onto the bread. Drizzle each piece of bread with olive oil. Top each piece with gorgonzola and tomato mixture (recipe to follow).

Tomato mixture:
Core the two tomatoes. In a food processor place the tomatoes, remaining three garlic cloves (mince them so there won't be any big chunks), basil, salt and pepper. Pulse for just a few minutes. You want the tomatoes to be slightly big chunks. Drain the excess liquid before placing the topping on the bread. Enjoy!

This is what's for dinner tonight (July 7th)

From "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives cookbook"

Beef Brisket

1 beef brisket (2-3 lbs)
garlic powder (or granulated garlic if you have it)
fresh ground pepper
MoGridder's Dry Rub Barbecue Seasoning (recipe follows)
MoGridder's Barbecue Sauce (recipe follows)

Season the brisked with garlic powder, pepper, and barbecue seasoning. Wrap the brisket in foil tightly seales so no juices can leak out. I lay one sheet horizontal and one sheet vertical and gather it together at the top. Bake for 6-8 hours (I prefer 8 hrs) on 225. Remove from oven and let rest. Serve with barbecue sauce.


Barbecue Seasoning recipe (makes about a cup...store the rest in a glass jar for later use):
2 1/2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp garlic powder (again can use granulated garlic)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

Barbecue Sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ground oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp kosher salt
2 to 3 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup molasses
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup mustard
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional...we like ours spicey so i put a full tsp but be careful)

Combine first 6 ingredients in a medium nonreactive saucepan. Stir in enough of the vinegar to make a loose paster. You will probably not use the whole amount. I ended up using about 1/4 cup. Combine the remaining ingredients and incorporate well. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until thick. Enjoy!!

God is good.

You know those times in your life when you are not sure when something is going to work out. You know God is going to take care of it, but you are still struggling with it all. Well, I have been struggling with not having a church home. We will have lived in Raleigh for a year come the end of this month. About a month or so ago, Chris and I had a long talk about what our next step was going to be. We were both emotionally exhausted from church hunting. We were just having a hard time not comparing every church to our last church (which we still miss dearly).

We decided that we just needed to commit to one of our favorite churches and dive in. We narrowed it down to two churches, ultimatley choosing the church that is closest to our house and the one our neighbors attend. We are now regularly attending The Summit. We are positive that the Summit is where God wants us to be. We weren't positive when we first committed to it, but after JUST a few weeks it became clear. God is so good. I am already singing in the choir which is so fun! My neighbor friend and I are leading the worship this week for Route56 (5th and 6th grade) during VBS. We are having a blast! As soon as Chris' schedule will allow, he is also planning on getting plugged in (hopefully helping with the youth in some way). God is doing great things at the Summit and I can't wait to be a very small part of it! Praise the Lord for His faithfulness!

This is what's for dinner (June 8)

Chicken and Potatoes in the Oven (Rachael Ray)

1 package chicken pieces, bone in, skin on or 1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces (2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 breast pieces cut in half)
1 1/3 pounds small yukon gold potatoes, quartered
8 to 10 cloves garlic, crushed
3 sprigs rosemary, leaves removed, roughly chopped
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) for drizzling
Salt and pepper
A healthy drizzle of the liquid or juice found in a jar of hot peppers (use any kind of peppers such as hot yellow pepper rings, hot cherry peppers or whatever you keep in your fridge

Preheat oven 425°F.
In a roasting pan, combine the chicken, potatoes, garlic and rosemary. Drizzle liberally with EVOO and season with some salt and pepper. Toss the chicken pieces to coat them thoroughly then place them in an even layer on the bottom of the roasting pan.
Transfer to the oven and roast for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear. Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle with a little hot pepper juice and top with a couple of the yellow hot pepper rings.




I added some asparagus to the pan and rolled it around in the evoo so the kids would have a veggie. I also made gravy out of the pan juices to pour over top. It is a great recipe and super easy!!

This is what's for dinner tonight (June 5)

Rachael Ray Chicken or Turkey Spanakopita Burgers

3 cloves garlic, 2 chopped, 1 crushed
1 red onion, 1/2 chopped, 1/2 thinly sliced
1 box frozen spinach (10 ounces), defrosted
2 teaspoons dried oregano, lightly crushed in the palm, divided
6 oz feta crumbles
1 1/3 pounds ground chicken or ground turkey breast (the average size of package)
1 tablespoon grill seasoning, such as McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
1/3 English (seedless) cucumber, thinly sliced lengthwise, plus 1 small, 2-inch piece of cucumber, peeled, trimmed and chopped
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced lengthwise
Salt and pepper
4 crusty rolls, split

Topping:
2 roasted red peppers, drained
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley (a generous handful)
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives (about 10-12 olives)
Hot pepper rings or pepperoncini (optional)

Preparation
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. To one side, add a little EVOO and a tablespoon of butter. When butter melts, add the chopped garlic and chopped red onion and cook for five minutes. Transfer the onions and garlic to a bowl to cool. Return pan to heat.

Wring the defrosted spinach dry buy twisting it in a clean kitchen towel over your sink. Separate the spinach as you add it to the bowl with cool onions and garlic and season with one teaspoon of oregano. Add in feta crumbles, then chicken or turkey, grill seasoning and a drizzle of EVOO. Mix and form into four patties, 1-inch thick. Raise heat on pan to medium-high. Add patties and cook six minutes on each side.

Season the sliced cucumbers and tomatoes with salt and pepper. Toast rolls, if you prefer.

Place red peppers, parsley and olives in food processor, season with salt and pepper and process until a paste forms. Place cooked burgers on roll bottoms. Top the burgers with sliced cucumber, tomato, reserved red onions, and hot peppers, if using. Slather roll tops with red pepper and olive paste and serve with chips of choice.


These burgers are amazing!! I served them with some fries (frozen store bought) topped with EVOO, basil, thyme, salt, pepper, parmesan, and asiago cheese.

Chance to win $200 to Bubbles and Bows Boutique

Here is another chance to win! You can win $200 to Bubbles and Bows Boutique. You have the chance to get a lot of entries in the drawing. Go to the blog to read more about it. Happy one year anniversary, Bubbles and Bows!!

This is what's for dinner (June 4)

Alfredo Pesto Ravioli and Stuffed Mushrooms

So, my husband and I love the Alfredo Pesto Ravioli from Maggiano's. I thought I would try to recreate it. I had a surprise date night. I told him that I ordered it from Maggiano's and he totally bought it. I don't know if it is that good but give it is yummy.

Pesto Sauce (you can always buy store bought but i don't think the sauce will turn out as good)

In a food processor, blend:
1 cup fresh basil (or you can use cilantro...i prefer basil)
1/2 cup pecans (or you can use pine nuts)
5 garlic cloves
1/2 cup asiago cheese (or parmesan)
coarse ground black pepper (about one tsp)
salt

Gradually add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup evoo until desired consistency (thick paste). You will want to taste and add salt and pepper as you like. Then, set pesto aside.

Alfredo Sauce:
2 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbsps)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice or a couple tsp. of concentrated lemon juice
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup asiago
2 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. white pepper
salt to taste

In a large skillet, stir together cream and lemon juice. Add the butter and turn on medium heat and stir until the butter is melted. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook on low heat until the sauce thickens. Stir constantly so it does not burn the bottom. Once it has thickened, add the pesto and heat through.

I used store bought ravioli from the refrigerated section. I bought the Buitoni mushroom kind. Next time, I am going to try to make my own but one step at a time : ).

Stuffed Mushrooms

14oz. of large stuffing mushrooms
about a cup of bread crumbs
quarter of an onion (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
evoo
1/2 tp 1 cup cheese (i used a combo of parmesan and asiago because that is what i had)
1-2 tbsp of italian seasoning or fresh herbs of your choice
salt and pepper to taste

In a skillet, cook the onions and garlic in evoo until soft. In a bowl, combine onions and garlic along with the remaining ingredients (except mushrooms). You might need to add a couple more tbsp. of evoo to bind the mixture. Pop the stems off of the mushrooms. Press the a couple of tbsp of the mixture into the mushroom. Then, drench each mushroom in evoo. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes and then at 400 for 5 minutes. Move them to the bottom rack and turn off the oven for another 10 minutes.

Bitty Buns AIO cloth diaper giveaway!!

Ok, so I know it is crazy! I haven't blogged in three months and now I have posted three times in one day. Haha! There is a giveaway that I thought some of you would want to know about. The giveaway is for three AIO cloth diapers from Bubble and Bows Boutique. The girl writing the blog entry is a friend of mine. There is an opportunity to get more than one entry in the drawing. Good luck!

This is what's for dinner (June 3)

Roasted Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients:

one whole chicken (3-5lbs)
one lemon (halved)
half of a head of garlic
lemon pepper seasoning (a couple of tbsps)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup of butter (melted)
half an onion (cut into pieces)
sprigs of fresh herbs (i used 4 sprigs rosemary, 15 sprigs of thyme and four basil leaves)
a few tbsps of evoo (olive oil)

Preheat oven to 400. Remove giblets and rinse the inside of the cavity. Place breast side up in roasting pan or on baking sheet. Inside the cavity, stuff with the lemon halves, onion, 2 sprigs of rosemary and the rest of the other herbs, and half garlic head. It is okay if they are sticking out of the cavity a little. Loosen the skin from the top of the chicken breast (careful not break it) and stuff remaining two sprigs of rosemary under the skin. Mix the melted butter and lemon pepper seasoning together. Then, rub the whole chicken with it or use a brush and brush it on. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. You can use whatever herbs you like. These are just my favorite. Cook until internal temp is 165 or for about an hour to an hour and a half.

If you like garlic, cut a few garlic heads in half and drizzle with evoo. Set them on the roasting pan with the chicken. They will roast and you can use the roasted garlic as a spread for your dinner bread.

The juices from this make wonderful tasting gravy. Just melt a couple of tbsp. of butter and add a couple of tbsp of flour. Let it sit for a minute or two. Then, whisk in the juices from the chicken and about a cup or so of chicken broth until thick.

Enjoy!

Summertime

Ahhh...it has been a while. Well, so far, this summer has been busy and wonderful!! We just spent a week in Greenville, SC at my parents house. Chris came for 4 of the days so we could have the boy's birthday party. Bryce turned three and Kael had his first birthday. I can't beleive it! Their party was amazing! It was just our family, my parents, and my sister's family. It was perfect!

From my parents, we drove to Isle of Palms to spend a week at the beach with our friends, Barry and Mendi. Mendi's wonderful family invited us to stay with them for the week. It was so fun! Bryce is still talking about his Mimi and Bekosh. I love that he knows they are an important part of our family. I am so glad that we got that time with them. I miss them so much it is ridiculous!

This weekend we are going to a friend's wedding in Asheville. It will be nice to see old friends. I am driving to Johnson City on Sunday to go to my old church and see some friends while Chris stays at his grandma's to work. I am VERY excited about seeing my friends!!

Then, I have two more trips planned for the summer. In June, I am going back to JC to spend a week with my friend, Faith and to see some other friends. It is going to be a fun week! In July, Chris and I (and da boys) are taking our first family vacation to Colorado. WOOHOO!! We are going to see our friends, Barry and Mendi. We can't wait!! We are excited about seeing them and have some fun things planned!!

Bryce starts preschool in August. He is going on Tues. and Thurs. from nine to one. He is very excited! He talks about school all the time! Kael still isn't walking. However, he is cruising everywhere and is very close to standing on his own. We go back to the doctor next week to get his weight checked. He dropped from 75% to 25% at his 9 month check up and from 25% to 13% at his one year check up. So, we take him next Thursday to see if anything has changed and then we go from there. I am praying that it is nothing. Chris is busy working. He has one more month of his long hour rotation and then he will be a second year resident. WOOHOO!!!


Well, that is all for now. I just thought I would give an update on what has been going on and our plans for the summer!

Favorite Five Friday (Vol. 2)

Ok...so I am one day late : )!
1) I got to see some of my really close friends, Anne and Jason. It was great! I miss them so much.

2) I got a lot of one on one time with Kael this week since Bryce was gone. I realize even more how important it is for me to make sure I get one on one time with him. It is so hard to do with Bryce running around, but I am going to make sure it happens!

3) I finished recovering my chairs in the dining room. The fabric is beautiful and it is laminated for easy cleaning. Love it!!

4) Bryce spent this whole week with my sister. He had a blast! I was really worried that he wouldn't want to come back home. I met them to pick him up and he jumped out of their car and threw his arms around my neck. He was so happy to see me and it really made my heart feel good : ).

5) Bryce, my dad, and Chris raced little kid riding toys down the deck ramp at the farm. It was hilarious especially seeing my dad and Chris sitting on those little toys!

Favorite Five Friday (Vol. 1)

So, I am not very good at this blogging thing. I attempted a " top ten thankful for" list on Sundays and didn't stick with it. So, I saw this on someone's blog and I am going to try it. It is a list of my favorite five things from the past week. Maybe since it is only five things, I will be able to keep up with it. So, here goes...

1) On Saturday (Valentine's Day), we took a trip to the grocery store to get dinner. We didn't go anywhere since we didn't have a sitter. We decided that going to the Duke/UNC game was our Valentine's celebration. I let Bryce pick out some Valentine's candy. Then, when we got to the check out he picked up another candy. I told him he had to pick just one piece of candy. He looked at me and plainly stated, "Take a chance, Mom. Take a chance." Chris and I almost fell in the floor laughing!!

2) My fabric to cover my dining room chair cushion came in the mail! It is a pretty green damask that is laminated for easy wiping. I can't wait to put it on them!

3) Ok, this one is about shopping too! I found some awesome pink metal containers at pottery barn that I am going to use to plant herbs in my kitchen.

4) My husband to an email from someone giving him a major compliment on his pathology work. I am so proud of him!!

5) I am in Greenville, SC this week with my family and seeing some old friends, Anne and Jason. I have been struggling a lot while living in Raleigh. We haven't joined a church and haven't met any friends to hang out with except for our neighbors (which are wonderful). It always lifts my spirits to come see family and friends. Thank you Lord for this opportunity!

To cloth or not to cloth...

Hello all you moms! I am a mother of two boys...one is almost 3 (in may) and the other is 9 months. This is not a post to try to convince or say that everyone should use cloth diapers. I just want to share my reasons for loving them with you so you will know. Honestly, before using cloth myself, I thought everyone that used them must have a screw loose somewhere. Those of you that know me know that normally I am all about convenience. Then, my second baby boy came along and all of that changed. He deals with a lot of allergies - food, skin, and environmental. He also had a hemangioma that his diaper was rubbing on and causing it to break open. We were seeing a dermatologist for it because it was ulcerating and causing him a lot of pain. After much thought, getting steroid ointments from the dermatologist, spending a TON of money on different lotions (of which I am IN LOVE with CeraVe...thanks Carlyn) and talking to my friend Angela, I decided to give cloth a try. I will never used disposables again!! Within 3 days of using cloth, his hemangioma was cleared up and his skin started to improve. I was so glad that I decided to make the change. Now, I am completely addicted and really have to watch what I buy so it won't eventually cost me more than disposables...hehe : ). Cloth has improved so much that really the only difference in cloth and disposables that most people are afraid of is the laundry. I thought that doing the extra laundry would be so annoying but now it is just part of the routine. I HONESTLY don't mind it at all!! Now, I don't have to spend any money on diapers since my oldest has been using the potty since October. We are saving a ton of money!!!! I made the switch to cloth wipes as well. It is a lot easier than having to handle the dirty disposable wipes. Now, I just wrap everything up together and throw them in the wash. For my wipes solution I use water, olive oil, and Dr. Bronner's.

My diapers of choice:
1) Growing Greens which I ordered off of ebay. They are seconds but completely usable and a lot cheaper.
2) Bumgenius 3.0
3) I have a few prefolds that I use with a snappi. I actually like them. I thought they would be a pain but they aren't and they were only $2!
4) Bummis Super Whisper Wraps
5) Mother Ease Rikki Wrap
6) Babyology wool longies and covers
7) Prowraps I have found that these leak sometimes. However, for the price you can't beat them. I usually just use these at home. A lot of people love them so it is probably just my baby's build.
8) Wet Happened wet bags which I found at our Target here in Raleigh. I love these!!

If you want to blog about your dirty diaper stories, cloth diapering, or cloth vs. disposables thoughts, do so and link back to Momfessions to enter to win one of three giveaways! Remember to go to Momfessions after creating your post and post a link back to your blog to be entered in the drawing. Thanks, Erin, for posting this!

It's me...

I got this survey idea from a friend's blog. All of the things in bold are things I have done. I added a few. Post one on your blog!

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band.
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland/world
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train (paris to nice)
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Been to a broadway show in NY
Run a Marathon
Been in three states at once
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagara Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Been to Grace Kelley's grave in Monaco
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Swam in the Mediterranean Sea
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching
Gotten flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone (three!)
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared my own meat
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee