The Battle of the Phone.

I have decided that babies must be born with some kind of sixth sense that tells them when their mom picks up the phone. My four sons, all of varying ages, seem to wait until they see me move towards the phone to ask me any random question that comes to their mind or to start crying, in a coordinated effort to keep me off the phone. Of course, there are times when I have to make a call and it cannot wait. I eventually get past all of their initial attempts to stop me and mistakenly believe that they have given up and will behave and play quietly while I am on the phone. But, that is just another trick they use and I fall for it every time.
I think that most moms have witnessed this phenomenon on many different occasions. Your kids can be playing outside, but the minute that you pick up the phone to make an important call, your kids suddenly appear in front of you. Of course, in a perfect world your kids would see that you are busy and realize that their sudden urge for a Popsicle (you can substitute band-aid, snack, drink, toy repair,or any other very important, need it right now, absolutely can't wait critcal item or question they might come up with) is not a national emergency that requires your immediate attention. But that is in a perfect world, in the real world they will talk to you progressively louder, cry-if they are young enough, or any other crazy and annoying tactic they can think to get you off the phone. Please note, that the more serious and important the phone call is, the more obnoxious and loud your children will be. Eventually you are forced to either put duct tape on your children's mouths or get off the phone. And since the duct tape would be just a little harsh-you hang up the phone and hope that the person you were talking to has kids too.

Saving Money on Diapers...

OK, like most moms out there, I am always looking to save money! One of the biggest expenses that parents face is DIAPERS!! The problem that I always run into is trying to find a cheaper diaper that doesn't leak. I have tried every generic brand of diaper in my area (Midwest) and the one generic diaper that works the best is Parents Choice-sold at Wal-mart.
I like Parents Choice because the fit is good and it has a soft feel. Plus, the diapers don't leak! I have three boys in diapers right now and Parent's Choice works for all three. The Parent's Choice diaper looks like a Pampers Swaddler- which is what I had been using on my soon to be four month old. I think that the absorbency of the Parent's Choice diaper is superior to that of Pampers and Huggies, not to mention all of the other generic diapers that I tried. I had been hesitant to try a generic diaper on my youngest for two reasons. First, he has very sensitive skin and sometimes generic diapers can irritate a new baby's bottom. Second, and I am sure most new parents will agree with me on this, newborns can pee through almost anything(especially if they are wearing a new outfit and look especially cute at the time)!
My two older sons, they are 2 and 4, also use the Parent's Choice diaper. The diaper works well for them also. I think that if it can work for two very active toddler boy's, then these diapers can work well for any baby.
When it comes to the money you can save by using Parent's Choice rather than Huggies or Pampers, it will add up quickly. At my local Wal-Mart a package of 48 size two Parent's Choice diapers were $5.74 while a 48 count size two package of Huggies and Pampers were between 9 and 10 dollars. If you buy the larger size packages, the difference in price is over 9 dollars. The amount of money that you save will definitely add up.
I will admit that I had been skeptical about using a generic brand of diapers because I worried that I would spend the money I was saving on laundry detergent because I would have several more loads of laundry to do because of leaky diapers. But happily that has not been the case. I definitely recommend that you try using Parent's Choice diapers- I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

Politicians and Economic Problems

Like most Americans these days, our family is struggling to make ends meet. I am still in shock over how much gas has gone up and I can't imagine paying more than 3.39 a gallon- but I think that day is coming. I dread going to the grocery store now because everything is so much more expensive now. It seems like all the politicians do is talk about how hard it is for the American public right now but I don't think that they have any idea. Most of the politicians, especially our three presidential candidates, have no idea how hard it is right now. They don't have to go to the grocery store and wonder how they are going to be able to buy everything on their list. I am also sure that they don't have to give up going places because they can't afford to put gas in their car.
I wish that the cantidates would stop talking about how they 'understand' and 'can relate' to the American public.
Instead of trying to tell America how they 'relate and understand' what Americans are going through right now, I think that the politicians should be trying to 'understand' and fix the problem that got America into this position in the first place.

It's My Birthday-Again!?

Well, today is my birthday. It is funny how birthdays change as you get older. As a child, I used to love my birthday and couldn't wait to be one year older, now, I dread my birthday and I wish I could be one year younger!! I think that as I've gotten older my birthday is just another reminder that another year has passed and I am getting older. I don't feel older though, in fact I still feel like a kid sometimes. I still find myself thinking about what I am going to be when I grow up. Some days I just don't feel old enough to have a 10 year old son and three other munchkins younger than him. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was babysitting someonelse's children and now I am taking care of four of my own! Where has the time gone?
Life seems so much faster and more complicated now than it did ten years ago. I think the whole adult and parent responsibility thing sneaks up on you. One day your free and life is at your feet and then suddenly your old and you have four kids and you are responsible for them.
Don't get me wrong though, I wouldn't change a thing. I think that there are very few people in this world who can honestly say that where they are in life now is where they thought that they would be when they were a child. When I was a child I thought that I would be a doctor by the time I was 30. I thought that I would have two children a boy and a girl and have the house with the white picket fence. But instead, I have four wild boys and a small white house with no picket fence. But that is okay because I love my simple life and my goofy boys. Plus, not only am I another year older, I should be another year wiser, too. Right!?

First Baby Syndrome

The biggest problem that I have encountered with my fourth child is that he didn't get the memo that he is not the first baby! For those of you who only have one child or who are expecting your first baby, you may encounter what I like to call the "first baby syndrome". Simply put, this means that your baby will expect to be held almost every waking moment and since you will only have your one precious bundle of joy, you will gladly accommodate this need. "First baby syndrome" isn't that bad, as long as you don't want anyone else to hold your baby or get anything else done in your house for a few months. I remember how I loved to hold my first son all the time. Of course, my parents also contributed to the problem by also holding my son constantly, but that was okay because he was there first grand baby.
You can always spot new "first baby" parents, they are the ones who buy EVERYTHING for their baby. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but there are some baby products that a seasoned mom would never waste their time on. But when a baby and their parents have "first baby syndrome", every cute, but pretty much useless, piece of baby gear is deemed a necessity.
The downside of "first baby syndrome" is that eventually most new parents have second and third babies. I just had my fourth son, and while I didn't have problems with"first baby syndrome" with my middle two sons, my fourth son has decided that he is the first baby. He wants to be held all the time, which tends to be a problem when you also have a two and four year old. I have to admit that I have also fallen into the "first baby syndrome", too. I think it is because I know he will be my last baby, but I find myself drawn to all the useless baby gear that I would never have thought twice about getting with my middle two.
So to all the new parents out there, BE WARNED, you too could have a baby with "first baby syndrome". Of course, there is nothing you can do to stop it because how can any parent not want to spoil their first, or even fourth, baby!!

Dieting

Well, I have decided to try to lose some of the baby weight that I gained with my last child. I found a website called SparkPeople. I really like it because it has so much information. You enter your information and it creates a diet plan for you. It allows you to enter the food you eat and calculates the total calories you take in daily. It also creates an exercise plan for you. The exercises that it suggests are simple enough for a beginner like me to do. Most of the exercises don't require equipment and are fast. It calculates the calories burned for each exercise you do. I like it because the more you do, the more sparkpoints you get. The sparkpoints don't really give you anything BUT if your like me, they give you encouragement to get more.
The site is also packed full of articles on everything from diet and exercise to motivation and health issues. You can also create a family plan that allows you to include your whole family in your weight loss.
There are hundreds of tried and true healthy recipes that other participants have posted and many of the recipes are very easy to make. I have been using this site for two weeks now and have lost ten pounds. I think part of the reason that I am losing weight now is because I am becoming very aware of what I eat and have started to exercise.
I definitely think that Sparkpeople is a great site for people looking for an easy and free diet plan to use. I will keep updating my progress.

Kindergarten roundup....Already???

Well, I haven't posted on here in a while because my life has been so busy. I have been running around in circles trying to get everything done. Two weeks ago, my 4 year old had kindergarten roundup and that was crazy!! He has some medical issues so he is very small and to see him with all the other pre-k kids was a little suprising. He is a head shorter than every other child that was at the kindergarten roundup...but I think his enthusiasm will make up for his short stature.