New wash routine

Along with moving came a few changes to our cloth routine. Nolan is getting close to being potty trained but truthfully with the move and new house full of new carpet, end of pregnancy and upcoming road trip, I haven't been working on it 100%. He has now pooped in the potty (YAY!!) and goes pee numerous times a day. We need to bite the bullet and move to undies and just be prepared to clean up accidents.

Every blog post needs a pic so here are a bunch of our diapers in action over the past 2.5yrs!

Our new house has a top loader washing machine. Tim was willing to switch out our HE front loaders for these new appliances but I was hesitant. I was pretty excited to get to try a machine that could actually soak diapers! I have to say I'm really happy. I wish it had a soak only feature which the machine doesn't or just a rinse feature but I've fine tuned our wash already. I do a lighter wash on cold first which doesn't agitate as long would be similar to our old rinse and drain. Then I do a super sized load on hot for the longest time available with an extra rinse at the end. My diapers are definitely smelling better and seem better rinsed with minimal effort. No more hand rinsing in the bathtub either! I've also stopped storing and washing inserts and covers separately since with the new machines nothing is requiring extra washing. Overall pretty happy. You can definitely cloth diaper and probably easier with the less fancy machines.

House into Home

We are slowly turning our new house into our home. I say slowly because while we'd love to be decorated and all moved in it hasn't happened. Eight months pregnant and with a toddler means I have minimal ability to do a lot of the big things. The weather and a flooded first house has meant Tim has had minimal time to do the rest. After digging, roof tarring, cleaning and drying carpets, pumping out water, and various other tasks the old house is finally almost ready for our tenants. Both of us are exhausted. Later this week will be a fun IKEA trip for the new house so new things should take shape here too! In the meantime, here are some of the things we've managed to install and gather for our forever home.

Our new dining table all ready for company.

Nolan's reading area in his playroom.

Other side of playroom!

Backside of my laundry room.

"My splashpark." The first house as it was flooding!

Maternity session fun

I had my maternity session yesterday with Cindy Morrison Photography. My good friend is the photographer Cindy. She completely knows how to get picky toddlers to interact and take good pictures after lots of experience with them herself!! Cindy focuses on amazing newborn pictures and maternity pictures.

She's posted a few sneak peeks for me on FB that you can see if you visit her page here. I'm loving them so far and can't wait to see everything!!! Less than nine weeks until Carter's estimated due date now.

Gluten Free Saga continues...

So back in December when Nolan's IGG results came back showing a high reaction/intolerance to gluten and wheat (pumpkin and parsley too) we started on the road to gluten free with him. It wasn't too difficult at first but as with anything and a two year old eventually there were tantrums and tears over not being able to have what his friends have. Our pediatrician had high hopes that once his gut continued to mature we'd be able to reintroduce these down the line. They suggested eliminating them for at least 90 days. Because 90 days flies by in the blink of an eye and our petite little man didn't suddenly become a bruiser, we continued gluten free for a full 6 months. Last week we decided to reintroduce gluten and see if we noticed a difference.

Nolan's issues aren't easily noticeable to the outside world. He doesn't swell or develop a rash. What exactly happens to him on the inside is a bit of a mystery too because he can't yet verbalize it to us. What we do know is this. After a few weeks off of gluten my picky, non eating little boy started eating full meals, drinking quantifiable amounts of food, sleeping through the night for the first time in his life, and having more regular stools. Last week with a day or two of the reintroduction of gluten, that all changed.

His first sandwich at a picnic in the park.

My usually happy go lucky little boy became a whiny miserable little terror. I know that's not my baby and he must not be feeling okay. We had gone months without him skipping a meal and in the last week he has skipped more than he has eaten. It started out well, he ate a whole sandwich at our picnic in the park but each day became progressively worse. Tim would get home from work just in time for the meltdowns and dinner time issues to begin.

Nolan is of course only two and any two year old can have a bad week so I didn't want to rush to judgement. After over a week of the issues getting worse and our baby not eating though, it's pretty clear we need to go back to gluten free and be determined to keep even small amounts from him. If large amounts have this sort of effect, even small amounts are doing some harm. So we'll be back to avoiding the bakery counters at every grocery store, shooing away anyone trying to feed him random things, and leaving playdates early when he just can't cope with the fact that he can't have exactly what someone else is eating. At least I'll have my happy little toddler back!!

Slacking

It's been a while since I've posted but man has life been busy. We packed up our old house, moved into our new one, and managed to get our old house rented. Between packing, unpacking, decorating, getting the old house ready for tenancy, and regular life the weeks have flown by. I'm almost 30 weeks in my pregnancy now!! That means my appointments have officially gone to every other week. It's the small things that make you realize you're getting close.

That's the giant belly I had to maneuver around during the move. We are starting to settle into a routine and Nolan is in love with the new place. Living next to our best friends is also everything we hoped it would be! A second set of hands when you need some help, buddies to have a beer with on the patio Friday nights, and playmates for the kiddos.

More updates and pictures coming soon. For now we are off to JoAnn's Fabric. Home decor time so I can start to think about the nursery!

Growing... growing

Here are a few belly shots from this pregnancy so far!!  Unfortunately, I don't have any purposefully taken flat stomach before pics anywhere though. I did find a few where I happened to be in the shot that will do.

One week before. See, I really didn't have a pooch. =)

 

 

9w6d

 

 

14w4d

 

16w1d

20 weeks!

21w5d

23w5d

Rent me!!

New and exciting things coming for us! In the meantime though, our house is up for rent. You can view the full listing here.

It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a pool and 2 car garage located north of Mandarin off San Jose Blvd. in Jacksonville FL (32217). It has a newly remodeled kitchen with stainless steel appliances, front loading washer and dryer, large backyard with pool, and oversized separate storage shed. We're also pet friendly.

Our friend's house is also for rent! Check out their awesome place if you're interested in St. Johns County. It's off of CR210 so you know it has A rated schools. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house that's 1812 sq ft. You can check out the official listing here.