Chainsaws, Diapers, Teeth, and Pizza a.k.a. What's New with the Jorgensens

So a lot has happened lately with our family. I weaned Madeline to whole milk (she loves it). Benjamin turned 6 (pictures coming as soon as I remember to ask Marianne for them--I, of course, forgot my camera). Our ward boundaries were just redrawn so we are in a new congregation for church. AND...drum roll please!!! Seth gave up diapers (more below)!!!!

Chainsaw:
We are working hard on our yard. When we bought the house, the backyard was mostly wild trees/shrubs/undergrowth. Unfortunately, that undergrowth included LOTS of poison ivy--Justin got it mildly a couple of times; Benjamin got it badly twice, the last time on his face, arms, hands, and in between his fingers, YIKES! So below is Justin's hard work with our handsaw, a rake, and then a bunch of chemicals to kill all the poison ivy (including the roots so it won't come back--that's the theory at least).


However, when you look at the picture (and the one below) you can see there is still MUCH work to be done. So Justin borrowed a chainsaw from someone at church and cut down the rest of the trees. I took a picture of him felling trees and then emailed myself the wrong one.


We're really excited to be able to clear out a large space in the back for the boys to run around and play in--kicking balls, playing tag, and just running or rolling around.



Also new in our family is Madeline's diapers. I've been feeling really guilty about all the diapers I throw away (in an average week, we would generally have one kitchen bag of trash and at least that volume or more of diapers). I know how to do traditional cloth diapers (prefolded, pins, and plastic covers) from my younger siblings. I had thought about starting out that way with Benjamin but we didn't have a washer and dryer in our first apartment. Various things (most likely habit being the strongest) contributed to me not switching back.

However, I finally decided to go for it--not being in graduate school anymore, no job yet, and having more time being BIG contributors. Oddly enough the final catalyst was not wanting to have to drive 30 minutes to Target to buy more disposables. I did some research and picked a style (there are several different varieties now) that promised to be easy enough so that Justin could change them without much (if any) learning curve. Below is Madeline modelling one (with the new bag I needed to carry wet diapers changed while out--it helps that it's cuter than any of my other bags).
I got three colors of shells: one white for church (to wear under light-colored dresses), two pink giraffe, and three green giraffe (both with brown backgrounds to hide the inevitable dirt that comes from sitting on the ground). The inserts (on the bottom of the picture) just snap into the covers so they stay in place without pins. The covers snap adjust to different sizes and snap closed. I've been pleased so far though it did take a day or two to get into a new routine so diaper changes didn't take quite as long. (I also picked up flushable wipes for dirty diapers since wet pieces of flannel only do so much.) I feel much better about my family's impact on the environment and our cost savings for not having to buy any more disposable diapers.
Also, Seth is now independently using the bathroom! (I used Azrin and Foxx's train in less than a day method with slight adjustment for Seth's older age and penchant for temper tantrums). He has had so many successes and only a few accidents in the past few days and loves being a big boy!

He is also finally pushing through more teeth! (Madeline is also getting on of her front middle to fill in the gap). He last pushed through teeth between 1 year and 18 months, so I was getting a little worried because his canines and half his molars were missing. However, they are coming in now!

As a cute and adorable side note, below is Madeline's first experience with pizza!
She loved it and ate more of it than Seth--who has been choosing to pull everything off, including the cheese, before he eats the bottom crust (but not the edge of the crust).