Going Green

It's earth day, or it was anyway! I've been working at this computer WAY too long today, and thought I should probably say "hi" to the world for a while. Everyone's doing Earth Day give-away's and promotions, but we just want to ask everyone
"Are YOU doing your part?"

We sure are trying here, that's for sure. We didn't really do any "resolutions" this year for New Years, but we did make a pact to work on reducing our carbon footprint.
Maggie is SERIOUSLY worried about those Polar Bears, ya'll!
So here's what we are doing at OUR house(and no there is no judging you, this is just what works for us) We now always try to take our own bags when we grocery shop, go to the mall, you name it. If it's small enough, we just say "no bag please" I mean honestly people, my purse is big enough to hold lots of goodies! Maggie is very proud of her "Little Miss Green" bag and loves to take it places with her...for Earth Day she even used it for her book bag for school!I know it's not the usual high quality photo that you expect, but hey we got new i-phones and it's a whole lot easier to document the "little things" that catch my eye though out the day!

We also are working on Energy Conservation IN our house i.e. lights off when we leave a room, faucets off when we're not using the water, tv off when no one's watching it, and unplugging appliances when we're not using them. I'm really bad at leaving my phone charger plugged in, and don't get me started on when I EVER shut the computer down. But like I said, one step at a time. The biggest change so far is switching to cloth diapers last week. Yep, we did it, and Fionn loves it! Seriously, he does people! We find that our pre-folds and Bummi Covers work great for everyday use, but we really like our one Fuzzi-Bunz too. Speaking of Fuzzi-Bunz, there is a great giveaway going on for a set of them right now over at Kelly's Blog, so go check it out. She is also giving away a new Boppy, and a set of Re-usable Lunch Bags as well this week. There are also LOTS of great links from her blog for Great Earth Day Give-Aways from other companies!
Okay, now back to cloth diapering. The following pictures were from our first day in cloth.
Step one: the prefold with the snappi

Step two: the ADORABLE Bummi diaper cover

See how stinkin cute it is!
He likes to just run around in his diaper now, we're going to be in trouble this summer when it's hot!

So there you have it, that was day one last week. I know some of you have already seen these pictures on Facebook, but bear with me for a post while I share with the rest of the world. We also have purchased Kushi's and liners and bought a wet bag from Blue Penguin so there is A LOT out there now. Also one of our new favorite store's here in Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh Cloth Diapers. Lilli is GREAT and took the time to show me how to fold a pre-fold, and explained all I need to know about the different brands that she carries!
There are also other great online places that you can customize your diapers to your hearts content! We LOVE Etsy and shop on there all the time! Today the mailman brought our newest Etsy purchase! Fionn's new wool "soaker" These are great for night time, and they are antimicobial, so they do not need washed everyday, just if they are "soiled"

(I purchased this at Etsy from Catchick6 Creations)

So here's Fionn's newest possesion. I don't "do" skull and cross-bones(AT ALL) Don't even get me started on that, but I thought this woolie was just the cutest thing!! So i guess it's time for some "baby legs" and t-shirts to wear with his soakers at night! What a fashion statement he's going to become! LOL
So that's about it for Earth Day! I know we fed you LOTS of infomation tonight, but i sandwhiched it between pictures of the kids, so I know it didn't seem that long!!

One last note: One of Maggie's best friends, Grace, had another major surgery today. Please keep her in your prayers as she's older now and more aware of what's going on. She was pretty nervous last night when we went down to see her! We've yet to hear how it went, so we are hoping that they have her pain controlled so she could come back home tonight. She was born with two club feet, and has had multiple, extensive surgery on both feet to correct it, but this one is a doozy folks. She'll be in thigh-high casts (on both legs) for pretty much the whole summer. She will be confined to a wheel-chair for a while until she moves into her walking casts, but her house is multi-level and not going to be easy for her to get around. Just going to the bathroom is going to require her parents help. They have had to completly re-do their house, so that Grace can have a bedroom on the first floor, and on top of that their entire basement flooded two weeks ago and is destroyed. So please keep Grace and the rest of her family in your prayers, as they have a LONG road ahead of them this summer!!
Here's a some picture(s) of Maggie and Grace taken over the last year. Grace lives right down the street, and they do all they can together. dance recital 2008

grace came over with her baby sister in the fall for a shoot with her little sister, this is what we ended up with...the two big girls goofing around

trick or treating 2008

Monday Fun

So I've been working on this post all day, and seriously I don't have anything eloquent to say today!
We've been praying for Stellan most of the day today and I think Fionn is a.)coming down with something or b.) just a plain ole grump! We got a phone call from the Drs office late this afternoon that he was approved for ONE more round of Synagis, they extended the season I guess(they only do this if RSV rates are still high) so off we go in the morning for his last shot. What a blessing it has been to be able to have this shot every month. Our handsome little guy has no more than the sniffles here and there since coming home from the NIC-U almost a year ago! One day we hope that ALL premmie and at-risk babies are covered for this shot because we know how great it has been for Fionn!
Speaking of the little devil, he is yelling for his momma so this is going to be a SUPER short post! This was at the Tom Ridge Center at the foot of Presque Isle in Erie last Monday before we came back to the burgh. We went out with Mema and Pop-pop to check it out, and our friends Jamie and Jaiden came to visit while we were there! In the one picture you can see that Maggie's lips still look a little funny, this was the morning after Easter.
Okay, the fit is intesifing so i better go!

Billy Bad bag

So Maggie came home Friday with this paper bag, all excited about it. She was talking WAY too fast for me to understand what in the world she was trying to tell me, so i just listened and nodded. I know all you other mom's out there are smiling right now, lol! I feel horrible not slowing her down and finding out what she was rambling about, but honestly, it's a paper bag people!
SO i just checked my dashboard, and found this link on her school's blog. So now i share it with you, so you all can know the story of the paper bag puppet! Yes in case you are wondering, that is Maggie sitting with all the boys watching...I didn't think it was her at first, i sent her to school with her hair in a ponytail, and she came home with her hair in a ponytail, but it is her. I remember her telling me she had been playing with these boys on Friday at recess...something about hula-hoops!
(update...they changed the picture, so now Maggie is NOT in the picture)
Sorry this is short, Fionn and I are off to run errands. I think the post office lady is getting tired of seeing me, lol. Good thing she seems entertained by my kids! It was another long weekend here, and I'll get around to blogging about it at some point! Just not right now, Greg needs more sleep!

Julie's Wedding

Here are a couple shots from the wedding we were at on Saturday. I have lots more to edit, but this was my jumping off point! Julie and I have been friends for...well, a long time! We met by chance in Edinboro MANY years ago, and all of our crazy antics led to us becoming the bestest of friends all these years later. She's my person. We all have them. Our husbands know they are, our families know them. They are our people, plain and simple. When our girls were younger we always wondered if they would be friends when they got older...Maggie told someone Saturday that her and Rainey "are like sisters" It made my heart melt! My next post will be dedicated to them! I just wanted to put up a few of Julie, Mark and Rainey first. Thank you to my husband for snapping a couple of me and Julie too!!

March of Dimes Benefit

Special Limited Time Offer from Frames Of Infinity

It's spring in Pittsburgh, and the flowers are already everywhere. If you know Kristy then you know that dandelions have a special meaning to her. You know that they are Asher's flowers. When I was coming home from Maggie's Easter Party Tuesday morning, I noticed a clump of them next to the road by our house. I took a couple pictures and me being me, couldn't just send her a picture of them. I let my creative juices flow and well, this is what I came up with. So, this is our first dandelions of the season in Pittsburgh!
I wanted to do something special with it, so I decided on a benefit for the March of Dimes. All the information can be found here about the print, the price, and how much goes back to the March of Dimes.

Easter

What a crazy and busy weekend we had! It all started on Friday as I had a photography seminar in Uniontown, Pa (about 70 miles south)(and until 11:30pm) and then had to turn around and head almost 200 miles NORTH (to Bradford, Pa) and be there by 10:30am Saturday morning!! Along the way we had to stop and drop off the dog and the rest of the bags since we were only going to be in Bradford for the day! I'm editing the wedding pictures today, so I will post more later of our fun day with two of our bestest friends!! We were so honored and thrilled to share their special day with them, even if we could only be with them for a few hours!!
After that we drove another 100 miles BACK to Erie to spend Easter with our family! We took the "scenic" route home and stopped to say hi to my mom and aunt along the way. It was a LONG EXHAUSTING day. Maggie scored these great new fun jammies from her gramma along the way (thanks mom) and loved wearing them this weekend.

Sunday dawned bright and early, and the search was on to see if that darned bunny had come...sure enough, there were two big baskets waiting! The (momma) bunny was mean though and brought an addition/subtraction workbook(which she loved) Homework on Easter? I love that she doesn't think of it that way!!As you can see Fionn's all about helping sissy with her homework!! He was just making sure her ears stayed out of the way! :-)Fionn loved riding around is his lego-mobile! Who needs a big red wagon, if he fits, he fits! LOL Pop-pop showed him this the night before and he loved it, so daddy took him for a stroll in the morning too!

Our handsome man all bathed and ready for Easter service. He was such a good boy that he slept through the whole service!Fionn and his "cole-cole" He and Michael playing together after church. After Bill and Shell left with Mikey on Sunday, Fionn kept going over to Mikey's picture and picking it up, smacking his face and saying "cole-cole" It was really sweet. He did it again on Monday after we got back from lunch with them! These two should keep us busy this summer! And last but not least...this picture shows you why I've been so anal about what Maggie eats for the last five years. My mother thinks i was just one of those mom's who doesn't let her kid eat any sugar, not so much. Maggie is outgrowing her red dye allergy, but as you can see, soemthing set her off. Angelina Jolie had nothing on Maggie Sunday night. Her poor little lips were just sooo swollen. This was after some Benedryl. The rash was horrible, all over her body. I ended up sleeping with her just to make sure nothing happened in the night. I felt sooo horrible!
So that's it, our Easter. Mema made a FABULOUS dinner, and we got to see a lot of our family and friends, which was nice. Now we're back home and trying to get back on schedule. We went Tuesday and bought some cloth diaper supplies and i've spent the day getting them ready. Tomorrow we start. I'll let you know!

Easter Egg Fun

So on Thursday, since Maggie was off of school, and while the boys napped we colored Eggs. We didn't get to do it last year, and well...she's colored them before, but she didn't really remember! So for her, it was like doing it for the first time. She had so much fun, made beautiful eggs, and was very patient in letting the eggs sit in the dye to get brighter colors. We got this sparkle kit at the grocery store and it was really fun. It comes with these bright foil sheets and some sticky glue to spread on the eggs. Then you just wrap the sheets around the eggs and press the foil on them. Only draw back, you need much more glue than the directions say! Since we were low on glue Maggie decorated a couple with stickers...they turned out really pretty as well. I love how serious her face is in a bunch of the pictures, she was really concentrating, lol. I love being crafty with her, even if it just eggs, she's so much fun to play with! I do have to say though that no one will be receiving these beautiful eggs due to the fact that after I hard-boiled them perfectly last night(at4am) I forgot to put them in the fridge after I took them out of their ice bath. yeah...these are just pretty throw aways basically. It was cute, Maggie asked if were going to eat them when I showed them to her(the plain eggs) and I said no, because I left them out(and she has cracked eggs before) said to me..."what's in 'em, not chocolate??" The look on her face was priceless!! Fionn woke up when we were almost done and came downstairs to help...help supervise that is!Fionn making sure Maggie's doing a good job

Fionn enjoying his mini-goldfish and juice...

Happy Easter everyone, we hope that you all have a blessed day with your families.

It's On...yep, like Donkey Kong

Wow, can you tell I'm exhausted delusional and my busiest day hasn't even started yet! Well it's here, the weekend of craziness!! I'm so excited and so tired all at the same time...Big things are happening this weekend! Today I get to go to a tour stop for Sandy Puc(who is the photog. founder of NILMDTS) and am working the NILMDTS booth before and after the seminar. Exciting right, yep it is, too bad it's SEVENTY miles SOUTH of Pittsburgh and I won't get home until probably 1am tonight. Then once I complete that 140 mile roundtrip we have to throw everything in the truck and head for my best friend's wedding (which is FOUR hours away) On the way there we have to stop off at my in-laws, drop off the dog, and the rest of our baggage and get our butts to Bradford, Pa for me to make my pre-wedding hair appt. at 10am, UGH! Not only am I the photographer, I'm the maid of honor and I am SOOOOOooooo excited. This woman is like my sister people, I can't wait!! Oh, by the way, did I mention the wedding is outdoors, and I have a sleeveless dress, and the highs are only going to be mid-forties? Oh I forgot to mention that one huh? yeah, fun...at least the snow was taken out of the forecast!
After that we get to drive the two hours BACK to my in-laws in Erie and have Easter with them the next morning. This I'm actually looking forward to! I get to see Mikey (our nephew) who we havn't seen since January, and I can't wait to see the boys play!! What I'm not looking forward to? Fionn breaking some of Mema's pretties now that he's into EVERYTHING! There are no baby gates at Mema's, and LOTS of pretties! It should be an interesting mix! Mikey's only 12 weeks behind Fionn so by summer it's going to be double trouble! Speaking of, trouble that is, here are a couple pictures of him for you! I told you they were coming!!

Fionnster, sporting his favorite hat!

our happy boybaby gate...I love, Fionn hates

the normal view of Fionn we see now

Fionn's favorite way to be...diaper free!

I had to end with a funny one, really it makes me smile. He now RUNS away when you are trying to change his diaper, and this is one of his many successful attempts...at least I was nice, i didn't put up the one of his little butt as he was standing up (diaper free) and pushing our ottoman across the living room! Ahhh, i love future blackmail pictures! Do parents still put embarrassing pictures in senior yearbooks of their kids?

Rest In Peace Brave Souls

What a senseless act of violence. Three men, Police Officers, the good ones too, shot and killed without a second thought. What is our world coming to? When a man puts on a bullet proof vest and murders three men who are coming to restore PEACE to his house, to his life. They did NOT ask to be there, they all came because it was their job. To try to HELP him, not arrest him...
It's just so sad. All of it, it just makes me sick. Our city, that we love, is has been plunged into mourning, into sadness, because of the actions of ONE man. A man who taunted the police officers guarding him at the hospital afterward, telling them that he wished he had killed more of them.
I know that only our Father has the right to pass judgment on someone's life, I know that my friends, but my heart ACHES for these families. In a MOMENT, a blink of an eye, their husbands/fiancee/FATHER was taken away. Maybe they said "good night" or "good morning" as they left for that last shift, or did these brave men just slip out the door for another routine day? Did these families even get a last " I love you"
All because of ONE man.
Please join me in prayer for our fallen officers. Please pray for peace for their families as they prepare to say their final good-byes today.

God Bless you Officer Eric G. Kelly, Officer Stephen J. Mayhle, and Officer Officer Paul J. Sciullo II. May you Rest In Peace. Thank you for paying the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe. We will be eternally grateful.

More Maggie

Yep, more Maggie...Don't worry, there are pictures of Fionn too, but this week seems to be more about her. Master Fionn will get enough attention in the coming weeks leading up to his birthday, so for now we'll stick with just Maggie...and honestly I can never have too many pictures of Maggie! These were all taken this week, and how can I not want to share them with everyone? I threw the last one so you can see, yes...she still has her everyday kid moments, she's not ALL fluff and feathers. She LOVES getting dirty and trying out cartwheels in the yard too! What can I say, I'm a proud momma!