Second Switch. :)

Remember those two big switches I mentioned a couple posts ago? Well, the first one was cloth diapers. Now, don't think we are crazy, it's just coincidence that these two happened at practically the same time, I'm not like "let's save the earth" or anything, I don't really care about that (well sort of I guess, in a normal way?) let's just say I don't care about "going green" ha ha. Both of these switches were for completely different reasons. So, the second switch is, we are vegetarian. Yes, you read that right, we don't eat meat. And it has been awesome. I am not and never have been a meat-eater, I used to eat it growing up because I thought that was the only way I would get my protein and iron. All my life I have had to dissect my meat and get as much down without gagging as I can, having horrific images of mutant cows, chickens and pigs going through my head...wondering what hormones and "feed" they were given. If you know me, you know this is pretty regular thinking, let's just say, I am a very thorough thinker. ;) ha ha. Meat is just so sick. All the veins, cartilage, bones, arteries...blood...fat...etc. Have you ever been eating a hamburger and all of a sudden you bite a piece of bone. Yeah, that happens to me all the time, then I can't eat. I chew my food really good (which means I am always the last one at the table) and I find...things. Anyway, I kind of tricked Jer and stopped buying ground beef almost a year ago now, I used up what we had left in the freezer and he didn't even notice I wasn't cooking with it anymore. Then I stopped cooking with chicken and ham as often and he still didn't notice (he must like my food! yes!). When I finally told him I wanted to be vegetarian he kind of looked freaked out. We are going on a month now of no meat. And after watching a couple of documentaries on food, we both agree it's a good thing.

The funny thing about all this is, I used to absolutely HATE vegetables. I really did, I wouldn't eat them. Now I love them! If they are cooked the right way, of course. :) I have found SO many awesome recipes, I was surprised...someday we might go vegan (which means no dairy or eggs), we still eat eggs and cheese, we stopped drinking milk a loooonnnngggg time ago, cause that freaked me out too. I have a replacement for eggs, the cheese is our hard thing, I love cheese in my food. So, someday, maybe I will be able to give it up. We drink almond milk, it has more calcium, more vitamin D along with a bunch of other vitamins, than regular milk.

I've noticed that even in the month that we have been doing this everyone thinks all that vegetarians eat is...salad. ha ha. :) It's funny. We've only had a salad once in thirty days, and that's because someone else made it for us. I am a picky vegetarian, so if you ever come to my house for dinner, don't be afraid, we aren't weirdos, it will most likely be something normal unless I get some crazy idea and it's experiment night. This has all been really gradual, and we are still working on gradually cutting some other things out of our diet that we feel are not healthy. It's amazing how much self-discipline it takes...like with sugar. I am pretty sure that most people are unknowingly addicted to sugar...I am!! It's awful, really. I try to not eat sugar for like a week then end up making a huge batch of no-bakes and eat the whole thing...definitely NOT healthy. :p Anyway, hopefully I didn't bore anyone with my talk of food and vegetables and my opinions on meat, I could go on all day probably. If anyone has any good meatless recipes, I would love to try them! Let me know. :)

17 months. :)

My little boy is 17 months old! Gosh. I look at him and I try to see him as my little baby still...I don't know what day it happened, but all of a sudden he wasn't a baby anymore. :( He is a little boy now. :) And he is a blast! Holy moly. He keeps us SO busy! He has cut two more teeth in the past three weeks, so I believe he now has 10 teeth. I always think "geez, he's been really ornery the past couple weeks, I wonder if this is like a stage or something..." then I realize he cut two teeth and that's why he hasn't been his happy self OR sleeping good. Zero awesome mom points for me. :p Anyway, the past couple of months (as long as we are at home) Bridger goes to sleep at about 8 and sleeps til' 3 in the morning, I nurse him and he goes back to sleep until 7 or 8. So, he is waking up once a night. :) He is still happily nursing, once before naptime and once before bed...and once during the night, that one might have to go soon ha ha. I have thought about weaning him, but then I thought to myself, why??? I love nursing him. It's the only time he will cuddle me and actually sit still enough for me to trace my finger on his face, sing to him, rock him, and just look in his huge beautiful eyes. Plus, I love the fact that he gets my milk instead of some weird cow's milk (sick!). We actually don't buy milk, we drink almond milk, so when I give Bridger milk, it's almond milk with some of the breakfast essentials chocolate powder mix in it (he won't drink it plain, he doesn't like milky stuff usually). Almond milk has the same amount of Vit D as cow's milk and it actually has more calcium and other vitamins than regular milk, I add the carnation for extra calories and to boost his vitamins.

He can throw SO good. No joke. He can throw a ball further than any toddler I have ever seen. Like, clear across our living room and this has been since a couple months ago. He loves to kick, whack, throw,  roll, anything to do with a ball. He can turn the TV on, can turn the Wii on, and then he can turn a show on-usually Curious George, all by himself. :) He uses my phone to make phone calls to only three people, it's either daddy, grandma or grandpa. Don't ask me how he knows. He can swype too. All I know is I hear him talking in the other room and I run in to see that one of those three is usually on the other end, and he has the phone up to his ear while he walks around or drives his little car. It's cute. ha ha. :) He carries on a full-blown conversation with hand gestures, head nods, a mixture of voice volumes, and facial expressions included.

Bridger can say thank you, hi, bye, go, mom, dad, more (na na in his language, don't know where he got that..), cool, whoa, more (signs), and my favorite...what's this...except when he first started saying it I thought he was almost swearing til' I figured out what he was meaning. ha ha. :) My second favorite is when he says "sssssshhhhhhh" and holds up his finger to his mouth at me, then I do it and he puts his tiny fingers up to my mouth. It's cute. :) He does a few different signs but really isn't interested in them, he loves giving kisses, and doing "pound it" or high-fives. He loves when his daddy pushes or drags him around the house in a laundry basket really fast. He loves to say prayers and folds his arms "Bridger style" still, with his hands right under his chin and his elbows in the air. He loves to color, is not really in to reading books right now but will sit through one, loves playing with cars, and likes to help me with laundry (mostly mixing up my piles). He has one chore already...he puts the little soap tab in the dishwasher, shuts the little soap door, then closes the dishwasher and helps me turn the knob to start it. He gets so excited to help me, gotta start em' early. ;)

He is still picky. We are working on that, I am pretty sure it's just genetic cause I am too. :l He loves my homemade wheat bread, my wheat crepes, and my wheat pizza. He also loves yogurt, grilled cheese, skillet ziti, ramen (I saute eggs and vegetables to make it sort of healthy...), mac & cheese, and he has been liking the softer vegetables in soups that I make.

Bridger goes to nursery in only two weeks! I can hardly believe it. He is extremely ready, and I know I am too, except I am really going to miss my little boy always being with me. He really is my little buddy, I love him so much. I spend all day long with him and I love it. I have a hard time leaving him for even a few hours at a time because I just like having him with us, even when we go out! I am attached to him like no other ha ha, he is everything to Jeremy and I. Sometimes when Jeremy gets home from work we will just play together and we will just end up watching Bridger and just laugh at the silly things he does and talk about how much we love him and how stinkin' adorable he is.

Some pics from 15 & 16 months...

Sweet hair.

He is so delicious.

 Delicous again.

He definitely knows how to frown, don't know how he learned that...

 Playing a game with daddy where he talks in the cup then he puts it up to his own mouth and Bridger would yell in the cup, it was cute. :) 

My sister Jen has this cute little farm with chicks, chickens, and ducks and I was so excited for Bridger to be able to pet them...turns out he liked petting Vespa better (their puppy). He loves dogs. :)

Calum and Bridger. :) Calum isn't afraid of anything it seems like! He was searching for those chicks like no tomorrow and wanted to take care of business. 

Calum showing Bridger how to jump on a trampoline. :) Bridger didn't really know why the ground was bouncing and couldn't decide if he loved or hated it.

Silly boy after breakfast. :) I just had to add these pics in because I love his expressions. :)

This was last week, we had just gotten home and were talking in the kitchen, all of a sudden we heard the bag crinkle...we ran in there and there was a gigantic pile of potato chips on the floor! He helped clean up for about 4.25 seconds, then decided he would play with his car instead...ha ha. :)

The Switch...

So, some people might think I am some sort of like...extremist or something...but we have made a couple of big "switches" in the past couple of weeks. One of them is that we switched from disposable to cloth diapers. :) Yes. You read that correctly. No. We are not crazy. ha ha. I have been researching cloth diapers for, literally, months. I have wanted to do cloth diapers since Bridger was only a few months old! I researched so well that I did not even feel like I needed to do a "trial" (some sites let you try certain brands for like thirty days) I did a trial anyway, and guess what. I loved the ones I wanted from my research. wabam. That is what I call good research. ;) I am sort of a researchaholic. I researched both of our carseats (we have an infant carseat and now a convertible) for months, read hundreds of reviews and compared every carseat out there. Basically, I like to become an expert on the subject before I buy anything...so far I have been very happy with what we have decided on, so it's worth it. Anyway, cloth diapers are SO different from what most people think...I can't really go in to every little thing that is different and makes them so A.W.E.S.O.M.E. cause there are like a million things. Basically, we will save a ton of money, they are super cute, healthier for babies, better for potty training, reusable, easy, and look way comfier than disposables. If any of you mom's want some info, email me and I can hook you up with some awesome sites that can tell you all about them. :) Or I can just tell you. Either way. We decided on BumGenius Freetimes with snaps, not velcro. You can use this diaper from newborn to potty training, you just change the size with these little snaps. What about poop you might be wondering??? Well, they actually have sprayers (like on your sink) that hook on to your toilet...so no more dunking. :) Just take the diaper off, spray if needed, throw in the diaper pail...a day or two later, toss it all in the wash and line dry. That's it. Easy for dad's and babysitters. I went to this calculator online to see when we would break even with our initial cost to start (which seems a little pricey at first) starting with 18 diapers it said we would break even in only six months (that's including utilities)! And that we would save over two thousand in the long run. Sheesh. And imagine how much you would save after like three kids in these? They have a ton of cute colors, we are going gender neutral with all of them. Ok, enough about diapers. Just know that I love them. And so does Bridger. And surprisingly, Jeremy does too. :)

Cute, huh? :)