365 Everyday Value™ Baby Diaper review

Whole Foods Market launched a spanking-new version of the 365 Everyday Value™ Baby Diaper line earlier this year and sent me a package to try out. The first thing I noticed was that the package said chlorine-free. This made me wonder what the heck I have been putting on my kid all this time! William is in a size 6 and I found that it fit pretty well. I liked how stretchy the closures were and also how well they fit around the leg area. I noticed that these diapers are completely white (no cartoons on them). 365 Everyday Value™ Baby Diapers are made with chlorine free materials, are hypo-allergenic, latex free, and contain no perfumes or dyes making them a safer, healthier choice for your tot and the environment. They are priced at $9.99 which is $2 less than the previous rate. This really makes affording these diapers easier. I really like the fact that they carried the same quantity of diapers per package comparing to the other diaper brands~That was a big plus for me! I really wish we had a Whole Foods location near my city. I would have loved to try out the training pants.

Be sure the check Whole Foods market out on the web, Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for my review, all opinion are my own as always.

How does this happen?

Yesterday morning I took Brie to the pediatrician for a check-up. I had to take William with me since I have nobody to keep him. I thought it was no big deal. We dropped Brie off to school after the appointment and came home. I noticed over the next couple hours William was pretty quiet and just lounging around. I knew something had to be wrong. By 2:00 he had a 101.4 fever! HUH?? He was just fine and bam! So today his fever is down to 99.4 so I am keeping an eye on him. He has no other symptoms and is in good spirits. I think it might be teething. I am hoping he did not pick up any germs at the doctor's office. He does not get sick so I am so sad :( Thankfully he is his usual sweet self. We shall see...

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do

There comes a time that we all have to accept the fact that our children are growing up and as parents we must make all the changes to accommodate this growth. We are finally getting rid of all the last "baby" things. The crib is down and his bed is in place. All of the stuff I have been hanging onto (car seat, playpen, etc) will have a new home. I have a friend who is expecting a baby and she is very happy to take these items off my hands.
I guess the only way to do it is to just do it. I am just so thankful that this fella decided to ditch the terrible twos early and he is showing us what a big boy he is.

Cowlicks

I just can't seem to get any really good photos of William these days. He is more interested in looking at the pictures on the camera more than getting his actual photo taken. Look at the funky wave in the front of his head. It does not matter how much you brush it, it always goes in whatever direction it wants. I think I am going to let his curls grow in just a little bit and see what it looks like. If he looks too girly then we will have Dwayne shave it off. I tell you what though, having a boy is a dream. I went through way too much doing hair for so many years with the girls. I am so glad that they finally pretty much have a handle on it although they still ask me to help them sometimes.

Celebrating excellence

The Ismail family went out to Red Robin for a special lunch in honor of Chardie and Brie. We wanted to celebrate their excellent report cards. They both got all A's and 1 B. Brie's one B was a 92 (an A is a 93) so she was very annoyed. Chardie was expecting to have 3 B's with how tough her college level classes are in combination with the volleyball season. She was able to pull it off and she currently ranks #4 in her sophomore class. We are so proud of both girls for being such diligent students and all around sweet girls. Now we can't leave little William out, he is doing a great job with his "school" time at home. He is making great strides daily and we are very proud of him. Here are a few photos of our lunch out...

Dwayne took this photo (the reason why he is not in it). I love these 3 sweet children!
Brie did not want to be in this picture because Daddy was being aggravating. The girls warned him before entering the restaurant- NO talking, NO foolishness, NO singing, NO drawing attention to any of us. Of course he broke at least 3 of these rules!!
We seldom go out to sit-down establishments to eat but this was a pleasant experience. William really behaved well and enjoyed his 'bottomless' fries!

If you have never had a burger from Red Robin I would recommend the Mt. Olympus Burger. It was divine!!

Who needs toys anyway?

Will and I were going to pick Brie up from school and he stopped and screamed out leaf! leaf! I had trimmed off the old leaves from one of my houseplants and he decided he wanted to keep it as a toy. He picked that over a truck or book. These days his favorite "toys" are leaves, grass, pine needles, flowers and stems. I guess there could be worse things he could play with!
What are some of the oddest things you have seen your kid play with?

4? Really?

I am asked all the time how old little William is and I tell folks he is two and a half. They reply in shock and say that they thought he was 4. Wow, 4? I really don't see it at all until this past weekend. We went to a cookout and there was a lot of little kids ages newborn to teens. I saw a lot of little ones I thought were William's age but it turns out they were older... 4 & 5! I guess because I am with him 24/7 I don't notice how big he is getting. Does that happen to you where people think your kid is way older or younger than he/she really is?

Look at him looking like an old man in his pajamas. He was not looking at the camera which is not surprising. I don't post a lot of photos of him these days since he does not cooperate. He usually only wants to view the photos you take and run away when you try to take them.

I love my husband but....

Dwayne took the day off yesterday so that we could run some very important errands and also attend Briahnna's last volleyball game (details on that later). It is not often that Dwayne is home in the middle of the week so I was looking forward to it. Why did William feel that he should be mischievous ALL day long? Seriously, he is almost a complete angel during the week and he got into every kind of trouble possible. One of those bits of trouble required the use of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I don't get it. My sweet child was a monster yesterday. Dwayne laughed it off and said it was testosterone hanging with testosterone. Well no thank you. Go back to work.

I want fweep

William is a thriving 2 1/2 year old who is full of energy all day long. His new thing is deciding that he wants to take a nap-- "I want fweep" in the late afternoon each day. This is not your ordinary nap. Dude wants to sleep hard and long... 2 hours+ if you let him. I refuse to have him napping past 3. He ends up not going to sleep at night until after 10 or 11. That makes me feel like such a bad mother.


I tend to let him catch a good 20-30 minutes and I wake him up. He is pretty grumpy for about 5 minutes but then he springs back into action. I never thought I would say it but I wish my toddler would NOT take a nap during the day!

Have you ever experienced this kind of sleeping behavior with your child?

Why is it so difficult?

These days little William is a chatterbox. It's so much fun listening to all the new words he adds to his vocabulary daily. You can ask him to say and word and he will do his best to say it. He says everything from all the names of his family members, fruits and food items, toys, book titles and so much more. Why is it when we ask him to say William he freezes up? He knows his name but refuses to say it. I don't get it! He refers to himself as "I Baby". Here I was thinking that naming him William would be simple and turns out it is really hard for him!

Have you ever been through this with your toddler or know anyone that has? What the heck do you do?

Addicted much?

It's no surprise that my family loves Carmex lip balm. It is a must have for us and we don't go a day without it. Now William on the other hand has a fascination, perhaps obsession with Carmex...stick, tube, strawberry, cherry, original...he has no preference. He does not actually use the stuff, he just likes to hold on to it. If any of us have one in our posession and he sees it he will yell out "carwex!" and we prepare to say good-bye to it. He will seek out his Carmex all over the house. Yesterday I caught him with 4, yes FOUR of them at one time. I am not making this up. I had to grab him to snap a photo.
He has even fallen asleep clutching a Carmex in his hand. I really don't know what it is but I won't complain. It is like a compact little soothing device for him. The parents from Brie's volleyball team are always so amazed at how calm Will is when Carmex is in his hand. They said they need to go try it out with their little ones! I am sure they also think the Ismails are a bit crazy, haha! Hey, it beats having a 2 year old sucking on a pacifier or carrying around a blanket all day.

Y'all better not be making fun of his big head!! haha :)

Question: Does your child have a fascination for something unusual?

William updates

William is one busy little fella. He is maturing more and more and has made some big strides in his speech... He can now speak in short sentences! We are noticing that he is working harder to pronounce his letter sounds more fluently and is adding to his vocabulary daily. We can sit in the car and I can ask him to repeat a series of words and he will try his best to do it. He is taking directions very well and I get him to participate in a lot of things around the house to help himself more. It's been so busy with the girls involved in volleyball and he has to get dragged around from school to school. So far he is doing pretty well and seems to enjoy watching the games way more than last year. He used to cry every time I would clap and cheer. Now he chimes in and gets into a frenzy of excitement. It sure makes for a more enjoyable experience. It is really funny how as a parent you wonder when certain milestones will be met and if certain things will ever happen for your child. I am glad I am a patient woman and know that everything happens in its own time. I am grateful for a healthy, smart and happy little boy. Oh and by the way, I am officially a mom to a 14 & 16 year old. Brie turned 14 on the 7th and Chardie turned 16 today. It still astonishes me some days that I am a mom to three. I am one lucky gal :)

Old things can bring new memories

We have had these pretend food items since the girls were about 2 & 4. They never would let me give these items away. I have been hanging on to them for several years now. I came across them and let William check it out. He instantly grabbed a spoon and the fake spaghetti and went to town with it! He says "Mmm, yummy". We had even more than what you see pictured here in the kitchen sink but they were very girly fru-fru things like a teapot,tea cups and all things pink! Y'all know who I am married to so they had to go!

I love the fact that William can sit for about 30-45 minutes playing and learning about all the basic eating utensils and food items. He even likes to "cook". I guess the girls hung onto these things for a purpose! Watching him play with this stuff also brings back such fond memories of when the girls were little.

Hi Yucky!

William is a very funny little guy. He has this new thing he says every time he gets into a shopping cart, stroller or high chair. He says "Hi Yucky!". I don't know what it is and he seems to be referring to the straps. When he gets out he says "Bye Yucky!". He is just too much!

Sibling Rivalry?

Since the girls have started back school William has discovered a new playmate (although he has always been around). Will has found a whole lot of entertainment from our family pet, Milo. Milo does not exactly care for the attention he is getting from his little brother. William takes anything from toys to plastic containers and places them on top of Milo's back and head and laughs so hard. Poor Milo takes the abuse and tries to escape to anyplace away from William.

See the rope bone on Milo's back? haha, you should see when there are like 3 toys at once on top of him. Poor dog. As William says to Milo-- "Come on Wi-wo" Little Milo is stuck with William for a very long time. Get used to the abuse.

I wonder what will happen

William is very fond of his family. He LOVES his family. Mom, dad, sisters and dog. He asks for everyone at all times of day if he does not see them. He walks back in my bedroom at random times if he thinks he might have heard his dad and will call out "DAAAD!" He wakes up in the morning asking for Chardeeeee... Breeee.... When we are dropping the girls off someplace he sobs and cries out their names. Well school starts back on Thursday and I am so curious to see how he does without his sisters. He really became very attached over the summer. I know he will be fine overall but I am wondering if he will go through any behavioral changes. Well William will have a fun-filled "school year" of his very own. I have big lesson plans for him and will do the best to get him on the road to academic success and also potty training. The potty training will start in a couple months since he really is not showing that he is ready quite yet. Maybe once we get into a new routine with the girls being gone most of the day with school and volleyball, we will factor it in. I am ready to home school my boy and look forward to some great adventures along the way.

William's weight update

I took William to the pediatrician this week for his weight check-in. His physician was concerned that he had not gained any weight for his past few visits so she wanted to monitor him. He has gained 2 pounds since his last visit 4 moths ago so she is pleased with it. She asked me if I wanted to bring him prior to his 3 year well visit to check his weight and I declined. I was not the one worried about it in the first place. Like I told her...come to my house for an hour and you will see why my boy is so lean.

And the Mom of the Year Award goes to....

Obviously NOT Shelly Ismail!!!

Look at what her son is doing *sighs*

Let me explain...We had company staying for a couple days and William's little furniture on wheels usually covers this outlet as well as his monitor unit is plugged in this outlet. We did not think to put safety covers on. Obviously this did not hinder two cousins from having some rowdy fun!

Teef!

This boy LOVES brushing his teeth. He wants to do it at least 6 times a day. He yells out "Teef, teef!" If only he could learn how to swish and spit. We would be good to go then!

WTH? Wednesday

Hey friends! I am really having a WTH kind of week. I need to ask something and I am really embarrassed and don't know how to ask it. Here it goes.... Is it normal for little boys to umm....well.... hump people? I am so grossed out by how my little William presses his little boy parts all up on people!!! Please, I have never seen this. I want your input on any experience you have had with this. I really need to know that other parents have seen this kind of ickyness.

Are you having a WTH moment? Please share it with me!!