Cole is 3!

On Christmas eve, Cole turned three.  He had his well check visit this morning, and checked out great!  He was 28 lbs and 38 inches tall.  They did a blood test for lead, where they poked his finger and then filled in 4 circles on a card with his blood.  We teased Cole he was finger painting.  I don't remember either of my other two kids ever doing that. Even though all three of the kids were sick before Christmas with the flu (undiagnosed officially), the doctor recommended they got the flu vaccines to protect against the other strands going around.  I really debated, but finally decided it was worth it if it meant we wouldn't have to deal with another week of fevers (reaching 104), puking, and misery like we already struggled through.  So, the nurse got all ready, and I took turns holding the kids down while they fought and cried.  It was reaaaally bad.  I wanted to start crying right along with the three of them.  But thankfully, by the time we left the building, they had calmed down. As a three year old, Cole is the sweetest little guy ever.  He still gives the best squeezy hugs and loves to give me kisses, too.  He enjoys drawing, listening to stories, playing with trucks/cars/airplanes, playing outside, singing, and snuggling with me.  He eats pretty well and says his favorite food is macaroni and cheese.  Caiden shares a room with him and they each sleep in a twin bed.  He dresses himself, puts his own shoes on, and likes to do things "all by myself".  Within the past couple of months, he FINALLY officially was day time potty trained.  This week, he woke up with a dry diaper two days in a row, and then wanted to sleep in underwear the next night, so we let him.  He stayed dry the next night, too, but woke up wet this morning.  I debated about waking him up to go to the bathroom when I was up during the night, but wanted to see if he would do it himself- I should have just gotten him up!  Oh well.  :)  He loves to help me in the kitchen and enjoys playing with his brother and sister.  Cole does great in his class at church on Sundays and might be able to go start Cubbies on Wednesday nights soon!  During the night when Cole wakes up, he often wants to hop into bed with me.  I try and encourage him to get back in his own bed (because I just don't sleep as well with the kids in my bed) and I tell him he can come cuddle with me when the sun wakes up- I do love my morning snuggles with my littlest guy! To celebrate Cole's third birthday, we had immediate family over December 8th.  Some of the family was going to be in town that weekend to see the kids perform in our church Christmas program, so we decided to make a weekend of fun!  We made a cake, had presents, and then went to see the local Christmas light show with everyone. We planned to celebrate Cole's birthday with Phil's extended family at our family Christmas party on the 22nd, but Cole and Ellee had fevers, so they stayed home with Phil. On his actual birthday, the 24th, Cole was so excited when he woke up!  He remembered right away that it was his birthday!  Everyone had breakfast and got dressed, and then we sang to Cole and let him unwrap his presents.  We were going to make his birthday cake, but realized we used the rest of the eggs at dinner the night before, bummer. After opening birthday presents, we transitioned to our family Christmas celebration since we were going down to Kalamazoo that night.  We read about the birth of Jesus in the Bible and then had the kids open their stockings.  After that, they took turns opening their presents and spent some time playing with their new things.  We ate lunch, and while the kids napped, I ran to Meijer to get eggs and a few things we needed (including the rest of Phil's Christmas gift- a "family rules" wall hanging, and new mirror for the back of the bathroom door).  I made the cake and we got the rest of our food, gifts, and clothes gathered so we could leave for Kalamazoo right from church.  Phil and I both participated in the music portion of the Christmas eve service, so we had to be there early for practice.  We dropped off Cole and Ellee (and our van) at Phil's aunt's house and rode with Phil's cousin, Stephanie, to church.  The rest of the family met up with us later in time for the service. The service was nice, though our two youngest kids did not stay seated with the girl they were supposed to sit with, while we were on stage.  Got me a little stressed out while I was up front singing and my kids were running around the church, but what can you do??  After the service we headed down to Kalamazoo, where we stayed the night at my sister/parent's/the Kalamazoo house, before heading to Phil's parent's house in the morning.  Caid was up most of the night with ear pain, which meant so was I, and I was thankful to have plenty of room on the couch since Ellee came to snuggle with Caiden and I, too.  More about our Christmas fun later!

Stationery card

With Love Christmas Card

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Converta-Clips, for baby and mama!

I’ve made double sided Paci-Finders before, but this time, I made them with a couple of new ideas in mind!

These double sided clips can be used to convert a restaurant cloth (or paper) napkin into a quick bib!  Just throw your clip in the bag, and you will always be ready with a bib for your little one!  Then you don’t have to worry about remembering to grab a bib before you run out the door, and can leave the messy napkin behind instead of sticking it back in your diaper bag when you leave the restaurant.  Your clip will always be with you and ready to go!  This clip is just under 10 inches long, and worked well when I tried it on my 5 year old, 3 year old (as modeled by my sweet girl in the photos below), and 1 1/2 yr old children.  (I even put it around my neck, to my children’s delight.  :-))

These Converta-Clips can also be used with a receiving blanket, and you’ve got a nursing cover!  Attach one side to the blanket, adjust the blanket over the baby and the clip behind your neck, and clip the second side to the blanket as well, and you and your baby have a little bit of privacy for meal time.  I wish I had one of these when my kids were nursing!  My nursing covers weren’t quite large enough for me to feel comfortable using them, so I was always trying to keep my receiving blankets tucked behind my shoulder for privacy.

My kids helped me model the clip with a blanket to show you.  (Which made me think you could also use one of these to turn a special blankie into a super hero cape!!)

Just like the mitten clips, Converta-Clips can also be used for other things- like clipping baby’s blanket to the car seat, or a toy to the car seat.  I’m sure in all your creativity, you could think of many other uses for these clips!  If you do, I’d love to hear what you come up with!!  Like all of my items, I am happy to make custom orders, or coordinating sets.  Let me know what colors or ribbon theme you are interested in and I will get it to you ASAP!!  Stop by my site, www.pacifinderetc.com, or send me an email: jen@pacifinderetc.com.