Team Forbes

Every summer my dad's softball team would play in a tournament in Bozeman, Montana. My dad loved this tournament and we even had to plan our wedding around it.
This year a team from Jackson went to the tournament and played as Team Forbes. They all had Forbes on the back of their jerseys with my dad's number 32. They placed 2nd in the tournament. Go Team Forbes!
My dad would have loved this and I know he's in heaven smiling, but maybe thinking that they would have placed first if he had been pitching. :)

New Photos

Neither of our cameras are working - so I had to steal some pictures off of my mom's camera when she was here. He is getting so cute! I love his chubby cheeks!
Ephraim loves his bath and has started to splash.
hanging out with Mom.
His new favorite past time is trying to stick both fists in his mouth at the same time.
Ephraim and I often lay down on the floor and read books. He loves them!

The most recent family photo - 4th of July weekend.

Day One

Yesterday was my first day trying out cloth diapers. It was actually really easy. Our diapers came in the mail on Friday afternoon and I washed, dried them and prepared them for use Friday night. My first thought about cloth diapers is that they are super soft! I wanted to rub them against my cheeks. After using all 5 I will share my initial thoughts on them.
Bum Genius - My fave so far. Really simple to use and is not as bulky as the others.
Haute Pocket - 2nd fave. It is not as trim as the Bum Genius, but is not that bulky. I bought one with snap tabs and I wonder if I would like it better if it had velcro.
Happy Heiny - The velcro is a bit different, but works just fine.
Bumkins - this is an All In One diaper, meaning that works just like a disposable and you don't have to stuff it. It worked well, but fits babies 15-25 pounds so was a little big on Ephraim.
Mommy's Touch - This diaper worked just fine, but the insert is not as great and I didn't get as good of a fit on Ephraim because it is not as customizable.

I did not have any leaks with any of them. I am washing them right now, and all of the poop stains came out. I wish that my cameras were working because then I could show you how cute they all are.

An Adventure In Cloth

Over the past few weeks Forrest and I have been talking about how to decrease our spending. Now that I am a stay at home mom and we have one income this has become very important (especially with the cost of gas and food going up). One of the ways we have decided to try is by using cloth diapers. At first, the idea of using cloth completely scared me. It sounds so ominous and granola. We have a lot of friends in Jackson who are using cloth, including my sister Colleen. After talking with them and having them assure me that it is easy, we are taking the plunge. I am starting very slowly though - I don't want to spend a lot of money on cloth diapers to have me find out that it is too difficult. Colleen suggested buying a sample of different diapers to figure out which kind I like. I went to nickisdiapers.com and bought the One Size Pocket Package. Pocket diapers go on like disposables and you stuff inserts inside of them. They seem the simplest and require no folding. The great part about the one size is that they will fit babies from 7-35 pounds, so they will grow with Ephraim and I won't have to invest in multiple sizes. I am very excited to try this out, and can not seem to get away from reading about cloth diapering online. They should come in a few days, and I will keep you posted on how it is going.

4 Years

Today is our 4th anniversary, so I thought that I would share some of my favorite pictures from our wedding. I absolutely love being married to Forrest and the past 4 years have been an absolute blast.

No Photos

This week Ephraim and I have been having tons of fun with my best friend from high school Jenn and her 9 month old Trinity. We have gone swimming in our community pool and went to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Unfortunately my camera is on the fritz and I have not been able to take any pictures. Jenn is going to email me some though, so I will post them later.

Today Jenn is going to go visit her friend Angie in Squim, WA so I am headed into work with Ephraim to try to catch up on my paperwork. Wish me good luck as I also inform them that I am not going to be coming back!

Fourth of July

It has taken me way too long to post about the 4th of July! We drove down Thursday night to my mom's house. Ephraim did great on the journey. I fed him around 7:30 and he slept the entire time. The Brownlee's came over on Saturday morning and we got out on the river to get our wakeboarding/waterskiing in. The river was not as crowded as we expected because it was not super hot. Everybody tried wakeboarding. Merrick got up for his first time, and then proceeded to make getting up look really easy. The Brownlee's spent the night after a rousing game of Bible Pictionary (boys vs girls, girls won.) The next day we hung out at the house and the Coleman's came over for a little bit. Overall it was a really relaxing weekend.
Hanging out on the dock. Wallis is in the background wearing his new life jacket.
The only picture I took of Ephraim on the 4th of July. Grace is trying to touch his nose.
Merrick wakeboarding.


Merrick and Grace looking at Hannah in the water.
This bald eagle flew over our heads while we were on the river. I love bald eagles, and I never get tired of seeing them.

Welcome Salim!

Congratulations Josh and Heather Jacoby on the birth of Salim Elisabeth! 7 pounds 7 ounces. Born on July 9th.

Ephraim is very excited to meet her!

Sometimes...

You need a little "pick me up." I don;t know about you, but sometimes I get stuck in a rut when it comes to my faith. Lately that is where I have been. God is truly cool though, because he is teaching me through other people's blogs. Crazy huh? One of those blogs is my sister Michelle's. I love to read about how God is providing for her on her journey through Europe. God has really taken care of her and connected her with some awesome Christians along the way. You should check her blog out. Another blog I read is Valerie and Craig Perciante. They are friends of Colleen and Erik's. Their little boy Ethan was born around the same time as Ephraim, but 10 weeks early and with a serious heart condition. He is truly a medical miracle and I love to read about how God is healing this little boy when doctors don't have an explanation as to why he is doing so well.

3 Months

Wow! Our little guy turned 3 months old on July 4th. It is crazy how fast June went. Ephraim just keeps getting bigger and bigger and so cute. He loves his activity mat, and can spend quite a bit of time just staring at the mirror and bugs.
He is really smiley - although he at times seems very serious. I think his personality is like Forrest's - at first glance he seems serious and then you get to know him and realize what a goofball he is. Ephraim has his mother's circulation - his hands are always cold. He has both of our big feet. He talks a lot and has begun to giggle at times.
He is developing more and more head control every day, and really enjoys looking out into the world to see what is going on. He eats every 2 1/2 hours like clockwork. Apparently I did that until I was 6 months old, so I am prepared to continue with this schedule for the long haul. He takes 5 naps during the day anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour. He is getting stronger with tummy time and actually enjoys it. He can somehow lay completely flat, suck his hand and turn in a circle. It is really quite funny to watch.
He still has a really small head. (This hat is 0-3 months and is too big) I get a lot of comments about how little he is and I think it is because his noggin is so tiny.

He is such a joy and we are enjoying every moment.