Shout out to the Cloth Whisperer...

I think Friday the 13th is my new favorite day!! I was the lucky Fluff Friday Twitter winner of a GroVia AIO cloth diaper ..... YES YES YES!!!!

I just receieved my first trial pack from www.kellyscloset.com a few days ago and i'm already a HUGE FAN!!! You could say I am a teenie tiny bit OBSESSED!!

Just to put my new found obsession into perspective... we will be closing on our new house in a few weeks and I am scouring the web and baby stores for diapers instead of the much needed curtains/appliances etc... Shhhh... don't tell my hubby!!




A BIG thank you & shout out to the facilitators of my new found obsession:


www.TheClothDiaperWhisperer.com


www.KellysCloset.com





http://www.diapershops.com
twitter: @diapershops.com

All aboard the ECO train!! TOOT TOOT!

Ok... I'm ashamed to admit this but I have been using disposable diapers for the past 17 months ((insert GASP here)). I was ALL EARS at my moms group when the gal brought in all the different products on the cloth diaper market... myself & other sleep deprived first time mamas of newborns smiled & nodded politely but tried to not make eye contact.

I had EVERY intention of checking into cloth diapers once I got the mom game down... well... better late than never right??

I have just ordered an array of products which are spendy (another reason I was reluctant) but will save us TONS of money in the long run - not to mention mother earth!

Here's why i'm finally ALL ABOARD....

COMPOSTABLE/FLUSHABLE DISPOSABLE liners!


So excited... it's JUST what I need to help me EASE into the cloth diaper revolution. I had NO IDEA! I thought for sure you had to constantly wash poo cloths! EEEEEW!

I have been researching all the different brands and i've settled on GroVia ( previously called GroBaby) hybrid diaper system.



GroVia organic cotton soaker pads are perfect for daily use and the bio-soaker disposable inserts are made with Biodegradable & Compostable Materials! Finally a GREEN way to use disposable diapers when on the go!

I'm so excited to try these out! I will post my findings once I have given them a test drive!

Home Sweet Home

I have been avoiding blogging about our current house hunt because I didn’t want to jinx us. But…. WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!! Actually… we have made an offer on a house that has been accepted and we are in the process of buying it… let’s hope/pray/send good thoughts to the universe that it all goes well and we close on our scheduled date of September 8th!!

So here’s the skinny…. Brandon and I both really wanted to buy an old historic farmhouse on acreage. We’ve been searching high and low… we either love the house OR we love the land… many that have both components were gutted and needed LOTS of work. We were prepared to stay at Papa’s after closing and put our heart, soul, sweat & tears into a home. We both love the character of old farmhouses and no matter the level of disrepair we could see the potential.

In what seemed like our lowest hour our lovely agent (and friend) Karla sent us a listing… I didn’t even want to open it. We had been trucking all over God’s Green Earth with our kid & dogs in tow and have been disappointed over and over again… So I open the listing…..

OH MY!!!! THIS IS OUR HOME!!! I was so excited I started screaming up the stairs at Brandon! I think he thought the puppy ate another shoe. We immediately jump into the truck to head to see the house, it had been listed for 2 hours and we were NOT missing out on this one… I was on the phone with Karla so she could be prepared with a purchase & sale agreement. It was almost 9pm on a weeknight and we were on a mission.

A little background…..

About a year ago before we had even decided to sell our condo I would look on the MLS at houses just to DREAM. I found this farmhouse on 2 acres that was adorable… it was a short sale and listed above our price point (not to mention we weren’t in the market for a house just yet) but I just loved it. Brandon did as well. I followed it as it went through a few price reductions, the last time I saw it it was just on the cusp of our price point and we were waiting on our own sale to go through but alas… it disappeared. I was SURE someone else bought OUR house!

When we finally started looking at houses I kept searching for OUR farmhouse & I even told Karla about it and we never found it ( of course I didn’t have the address written down, that would have made it easier but we knew it wasn’t on the MLS anymore). So when Karla sent the listing it was a foreclosure that had JUST back on and it was FATE! This was OUR home and we were ecstatic! We made a full price offer only 3 hours after it had been listed and then we waited….

Turns out there were other offers and we needed to give our “best and final bid. We discussed our options and wanted to make a solid offer … I was afraid if we underbid and lost it we would kick ourselves for not trying our HARDEST. So we put our offer in and waited…. Two days later we were told we were not the winning bid. I cried…… this was our home, I just knew it. I was so confused! We were all devastated. We moved on,
Looking again at a Tudor in the Historic district of Snohomish. We loved that house but it wasn’t on a farm… but we thought we could fix it up and be happy there for a while.

Then... THE CALL… Karla is calling me and I’m napping with Cash. I almost hit ignore to get more sleep… I decide to answer and she’s asking me: “What house do you want? The farmhouse or the Tudor?” WAIT… WHAT????? I’m half asleep and disoriented… did she just ask me if we want the farmhouse? UM… YES!!! Turns out the buyers that outbid us walked and we were the next bid in line, if we gave a verbal yes we were in!

YES YES YES!!! I called Brandon and he was ecstatic! We were getting OUR HOUSE after all… it WAS meant to be!!!

Fast forward a few weeks, we are still very giddy but have had the inspection and with an 87 year old house come some issues here and there. Nothing we can’t handle but we are hoping that everything looks good to the FHA inspector.

((Please insert prayers, good thoughts & positive energy to the universe HERE!))

I am hoping and praying it works out and this will be our home for years and years to come. It’s a lifetime property. Big enough to have more children and lots of animals, grow a garden and live HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

The Jackson Family has grown by 4 paws!

Meet our newest member, 10 week old English Springer Spaniel BILLIE!!

We have been wanting to get Cash James a pup to grow up with for a while now & we were lucky enough to find little Billie yesterday. She is such a sweet girl. All her sisters were very pretty and gregarious as well but there was something about Billie. She is a bit shy & "presented" herself to Cash and I... once we acknowledged her she was very friendly but not over-bearing. She has such a big heart and is such a luv bug! Cash adores her! She fits in with our family perfectly!




Jack-Jack on the other hand.... he is a bit displaced and disgruntled but when we aren't looking he plays with her.



I have a feeling that once he tells her whose boss they will be best friends! At the very least he should appreciate that Billie will take Cash's attention off of him so Jack-Jack can relax =)

Billie already has a few nick-names.... luv bug, sweet pea, baby girl, billie jean to name a few... we're working on her FULL name for the AKC... something along the lines of : "Jacksons Bashful Billie Girl". We'll see.....

I want to thank her "biological" family/breeder for raising such a happy & loving pup! All the pups were so friendly and enjoyed playing with Cash! They obviously put a lot of love into their pups!! Rest assured we will give her a great life!! She's already one of the family =)

Fun in the SUN!

The Jacksons' ((sans Brandon)) spent a week at the beach with Grandma and the weather couldn't have been better!! We had so much fun playing on the beach & at the pool in Birch Bay ((Blaine,WA if you want to google Jo!))
We were sad that Brandon couldn't get the time off of work to join us so we packed up the truck & are heading to Cabin Creek to camp as a FAMILY for the weekend. Busy busy busy....

We are on our way East right now and the car temp gauge reads 93 out.... YEOW! Muy caliente! It's the perfect weather to camp & fish on the river. We are looking forward to some quality time with Dada. He took on a side job and hasn't had a day off in a month! We missed him while we were in Birch Bay so a family camping trip is the perfect way to reconnect! I'm also very excited for Cash to fish with Brandon. Last year he was a bit small but this year I'm sure he will be so excited to fish with Dada.

When we return I will get on a computer & upload some pics... still havnt figured out how to upload from my ((not so)) "smart phone". =)

farewell to facebook...

I am happy to report that I am able to blog from my cell phone now... assuming this posts correctly when I am done! Although I apologize in advance for any/all spelling & grammatical errors as it is harder to catch those things on such a small screen! Hopefully this is the first of many wonderful blogs... I've missed blogging...

I have given up my facebook and I must say it is liberating! During my pregnancy I spent countless hours facebooking but since the birth of my now almost 17 month son I just don't have the time, interest or energy! Not to mention having no internet in our current home (other than my cell phone) it's hard to "keep up". I trained my "friends" during my pregnancy to expect me to SEE and BE everywhere on FB.... now that I'm trying to enjoy my son and family in "person" I've been wanting to ditch the FB but I didn't want to take the baby pics away from out of state family & friends. After too many negative and backhanded comments I took the plunge and said BUH-BYE to my facebook! Ahhh..... I'm enjoying the peace.....

I'm not saying I won't ever go back. The "plan" is to start fresh whenever the urge strikes me to return. Honestly though, now that I can blog from my phone & TWEET pictures of Cash ((follow me on twitter GretchenJackson or jacksonbg@gmail.com)) I really don't feel the NEED to go back. We'll see.....

A very wise (and fabulous) women told me that every once in a while you must "pull the weeds from your friend garden." Facebook kept me from weeding as I should. It's time to focus on the positive people that love me for me and learn to protect my heart & just enjoy my family. So here's to more blogs & tweets and less DRAMA!! Xoxox

Texas......

I finally got my photos uploaded, here are a few more pics.... ENJOY!