Stripping Diapers Today...

Today has been a FULL day of stripping diapers (well really just the inserts).  Since Tucker has had an ear infection, it gave him a terrible diaper rash, so I new we needed to address the diapers, so I googled stripping.  I have stripped them before with dawn dish washing soap, but it seemed to never really get rid of bubbles, even after running the washing machine through the wash/rinse cycle 7-10 times...so I found a new attempt at stripping - The Dish Washer!  After having clean diapers, you stack the diapers in the dishwasher, making SURE the heating element is turned off, and then run the cycle with NO detergent, and No jet dry.  I have now run the dishwasher 6 times, and it's probably going to need another wash or two, but they should be like new when done.  I'll sun them tomorrow and I should have diapers ready to go!

Add the covers to the top rack - I actually ran this the first time with the inserts in the bottom and the covers in the top, but then pulled out the covers and spaced out my inserts - I figure the covers won't take as long to get the soap out of

Inserts ready to wash - make sure they aren't able to fall through the bottom

That's what I call a full load.



We played and crawled back and forth between toys while the dish washer was working so hard.

I can't wait to see if this is really as successful as people have stated it was.  I'm really looking forward to having diapers that aren't crusty any more.  That amoxicillin does a number on diapers - in hind sight I should have gone with sposies for 10 days and been done with it.
Hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend! I know we will. :)

Baby Dedication

We had a baby dedication on last Sunday, August 21st.  There were 25 babies dedicated during the service.  I was a little worried about Tucker because we had visited the minor med the day before because he was just going berserk.  He wouldn't let me lay him down at all, but as soon as I picked him up he would be asleep in my arms.  He took both naps laying on me on Saturday, so I told J we had to go in and see what was up - I just knew he must have an ear infection.  Sure enough, we had a double ear infection and a red throat.  The doctor put him on amoxicillen and said he would be fine in a few days.  We stayed home Sunday morning so he could get as much rest as possible.  We also adjusted his bed so it was tilted up and he could sleep without putting pressure on his ears.  He seemed to be feeling better the next morning after having two full doses, but still not completely back to normal. 

He did so good though!  We had a reception that was really nice for all the families before the service.  They had a slide show with all the babies photos, each family had their own table.  Brother Steve and Mrs. Donna posed with each family for photos.  It was a sweet time.  The dedication was at the beginning of the evening service and it was about 20 minutes.  That's a long time for a baby, but he watched the big screens and seemed extremely content.  We were so excited to be able to dedicate him to the Lord...not that he wasn't dedicated back the day we were blessed to met him, but it was nice to formally get a chance. :) 

Tucker and Mimi

T Man and Aunt Sarah

Tucker and Grammy

Family Photo

Cousin Spencer was dedicated the same day as well!  Too fun!

"T Dub" and Pappaw

Tucker and Popa

Tucker and Aunt Katherine

T Dub and D Dub - Uncle David

Tucker wore one of J's outfits he wore as a baby.  I thought that was special and it fit him perfectly. 

Tucker Wiley, We love you...and we praise the Lord for giving us the opportunity to raise you and train you up in the way you should go. 

Naps in our world...

Naps lately seem to be no existant, nota. Not Happening!  This has been causing an iratable baby (somewhat), and a frustrated mom (again somewhat).  Tucker is so sweet, but he can get a little temper when he doesn't get a nap - and he refuses to take them, so I knew we needed a mommy's intervention.  I haven't been one to try the cry it out method so far, but his need for me and only me to put him down at nap time and bed time was just too much, and we had to break the cycle.  We started the process Monday - nap time at 9:30 or 10.  I could barely get him to hold out until 9:30 because he was so tired, so I put him down, and he cried for several minutes.  I was going in and comforting him, which seemed to not be very helpful, but more upsetting, but he finally fell asleep on his own and slept for an hour and a half - he needed that nap! The afternoon naps on the other hand were a whole other story - he was SO tired and SO frustrated that he cried for 45 minutes - I felt like the meanest mommy on the planet, but it had to be done. 

Tuesday seemed to go on without a hitch until the afternoon nap again - same thing, but this time for 30 minutes.  I check the monitor and saw this, I couldn't believe it, so I went to check on him and this is what I saw:

Really, he had learned to sit up in the bed...from being on his back.  I couldn't believe it, I laughed out loud! 
Wednesday he went down for his first nap within minutes, and the second one as soon as I laid him down.

Then there was Thursday....

Tucker woke up Wednesday night and was sick with a runny nose and caugh.  We were pretty much up all night, so I had no idea what to expect or how to go about Thursday....three days all for nothing.  But he slept at Grammy's for 2 hours - the longest nap he has ever taken there!  Also, he slept a little on our way home, buldn't finish his nap, so he took another one at 5:30.

We are still fighting the naps sometimes, but it's getting better - we are getting on a pattern and it's very obvious that he is getting used to the naps and is tired when I lay him down for them - but they are only an hour at a time - I'll take that for now.

Happy 6 Months!

Tucker turned six months old on Thursday! I can't believe how quickly a half a year can fly by. Tucker can now sit up, scoot and pull himself (almost crawling!), sit up from a crawl, and he is just getting better each day. We are now eating breakfast and dinner, and loving getting to eat real food. He is currently in 12 month clothes. Below are a few photos of Tucker becoming extrememly curious about his surroundings. He loves to look under our area rug - there is nothing under there, but that sure doesn't stop him!

Here are a few fun photos from six months:

Uncle Jonathan came in town from working in Dallas on a play, he was here for a week and T man got to eat breakfast with him

 Happily playing in his crib and loving that he can sit up and play!

 Daddy I' driving...We were looking at deer out the window and tried to get Tucker to look at them, but he was much more interested in the steering wheel.

 He officially has two teeth! We have both bottom teeth now.

 Just chillin:  He loves his sunglasses - we had gone on a walk but he didn't want to take them off, so we left them on and played.

Happy Six Months Sweet Tucker Boy! We Love you!

Promotion Sunday

Today was promotion Sunday at church.  Our little man is already out of the bed babies and is now in his new big boy class...where they can sit up and start crawling.  I can't believe he is growing up so quickly!

The attempt of crawling

I can't believe we are already even thinking about crawling!  I thought babies waited to do that forever, and I guess here we are at forever.  Here is his first attempt at crawling.  I'm guessing that we will be moving wherever we like by the end of the week.  I just had no idea time was going to fly by so quickly.

Tractors

Lately, Tucker has become so much more interested in things that move.  J was cutting our grass the other day and T wouldn't pay attention to anything else because he was so interested in looking for the tractor through the window, so we went out and watched daddy cut the grass for the next 30 minutes, following him from front to back of the house.  He was so facinated and didn't take his eyes off of it.  It was bed time, but he was having none of that, so we just went with it.  After he finished cutting for the night we took a photo of them on the tractor.  I think he's going to love big toys...just like his daddy!

Really??

Saturday I was sitting in the recliner in the den playing with Tucker and the next thing I know there is a horse running through our back yard.  I jumped up to see J coming from the wooded area on the side of the house with another horse with a rope around it's neck.  He brought it around for us to see - apparently they were camped out at his salt lick for the deer...they must have liked it as well!  Well they wouldn't go back through the woods, so J took them around to the front of the neighborhood and returned them to their owners.  It was a sight!