Our lives

It is easy to let the days pass by without really stopping to take notice of all that is going on when you are a stay at home mom.  One day easily blends in with the next and before you know it weeks and months have passed by without any MAJOR changes.  When the kids are not sick, when we don't have any big plans, when no major milestones occur, it is easy to say that we don't have anything going on.  But the truth is, that everyday with Isabelle and Molly is a day with something new, something they haven't done before, and I hope I can remember these seemingly little things as well as I remember the monumental first things like crawling and walking and vacations and teeth and all those other BIG moments.

So while nothing really huge happened this past week, my girls are doing new things, growing way to fast and keeping me busy.  Isabelle is currently all about puzzles.  But in true Isabelle fashion, the easy ones are of no interest and the ones that are much too hard are the ones she wants to spend all day on.  We are practicing her letters and numbers everyday and she has a puzzle with the alphabet that we are still trying to master.

Cait and Josh came over this week and Isabelle was so happy to have someone to play with other than her sister Molly.  They had a little dance party in my room while I was cleaning and if anyone stopped dancing, Isabelle was not happy.  Let me tell you, cleaning a bathroom while dancing is not the easiest thing!

Molly is not crawling, though at this point I don't know that she will.  She is a very fast scooter.  Just as fast as if she was crawling, so I am not sure she sees any need to crawl.  I see the early signs of her wanting to pull up on things, so that can't be far behind.  She is eating more and more solid foods and right now she seems to like anything I put in front of her.  I can't help but be sad because I know this is just the beginning of the end of her being my baby.  Jason suggested we have another, but I am confident he was kidding!

Jason's work is pretty much the same...BUSY.  No one at our house is complaining!  I am so thankful that he works for a company like Alaback.  My business is good.  Overall, we are amazingly blessed.

And while right now things are pretty uneventful for us, the holidays are just around the corner and that brings a LOT of activity for our family.  So I will try to take advantage of the slow times, the times where I feel there is nothing happening.  And,  I will try to remember to enjoy all of it, the slow and the jam packed schedule.  The small moments and the huge moments.

Questions that need answering

1.  Is it okay for a two year old to only eat yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, and cheerios for a week straight?

2.  If the answer to #1 is no, how do you get them to eat vegetables, meat, or other healthy items?

3.  Where do you go to find the answer to the question, "Is my child truly gifted, or am I just biased?"

4.  How cold is too cold when you are getting ready to go camping with an infant and a toddler?  After all, the Indians lived in tents, right?

5.  When should a child switch from a sippy cup to a regular cup?

6.  Will Molly always be this easy?

7.  Will Isabelle always have this much energy?

8.  Will I always feel like a rookie when it comes to Isabelle and a total know it all when it comes to Molly?

9.  How can a parent be sure to take as many pictures and videos of their second child as they did of their first?

10.  Why does Isabelle love to eat ice?  Is this a kid thing or an iron thing?

11.  Will anyone answer my questions???

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Favorite Things Part 1

I was inspired by another blog post to do a list of some of my favorite things.  I think this idea of my favorite things is slightly self centered since it assumes someone cares what my favorite things are, but I am still going with it, because, well, these things are awesome and you simply must get/try them all.

I am calling this post Part 1 since I have WAY more favorite things and since I am certain I will want to share more of them with you at a later time.  I will switch back and forth on Wednesdays doing money saving tips and favorite things.

First up, a baby item.  A really gross, but super awesome baby item.  If you have toddlers who have never been exposed to this, don't start now.  It is NOT Isabelle's favorite item.  But Molly is different.

The nosefrida.

It is a magical snot sucking device that has provided hours of continuous sleep for Molly.  One end goes up to the nostril, one end goes in your mouth.  You suck the snot out.  And while you are never in any danger of getting snot in your mouth, it still seems icky.  Jason said something along the lines of, "up your nose with a rubber hose," which is pretty accurate.  I love the nosefrida and think all moms should own one.  Way better than the bulb aspirator.

Number two is much less disgusting.  Kind of. 

This workout is no joke.  What makes it one of my favorite things is that it is only about 30 min long.  You do need a set of hand weights to complete the workout, but other than that, you can do this at home, get results and don't need lots of equipment.  I can't really make it to the gym anymore, but I can workout.

Ray.  My love.  I don't need to say anything more.  Just buy his CDs.  All of them.  You won't be disappointed.

Lastly, a recipe.  My favorite recipe at the moment.  It makes a TON of food, isn't too hard to prepare, is healthy and Isabelle eats it up!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/baked-penne-with-roasted-vegetables-recipe/index.html

Delicious.  I would have never known this great meal if it weren't for my friend, Stephanie.  She made this for us when we came home from the hospital with Molly.  We have made it probably 5 times since then.  Just had it on Monday in fact!  You should really try it.

There you go!  Four of my favorite things.  Hope you enjoyed this completely self centered look into what I think is awesome.  Have a great day and see you on Friday!

This and That

So much has been happening around our house.  This past weekend I was able to get away for a night and attend the Girls Getaway with our church out at Dry Gulch.  I went with my sister, my niece and my friend Stephanie and we had a GREAT time.  We enjoyed great food, great teaching, and great weather.  I wish it had been two nights instead of one! 

While I was gone, Jason's mom came and stayed with Jason and the girls.  They took Isabelle and Molly to a pumpkin patch and got some great pictures.  Isabelle could have cared less about the pumpkins.  She was fascinated with the goats and sheep. 



I might have mentioned that Molly had her six month checkup last week.  She was in the 54th percentile for weight and 76th for height.  Pretty similar to Isabelle except I think Isabelle was a little chunkier at her six month checkup.  I am currently in the process of making a first year scrapbook for Molly and this is one of the pictures I took for the six month page.

Isabelle always wants a bow in her hair if Molly has one in hers.  Otherwise Isabelle will have nothing to do with hats, headbands or bows. 

The swing set is finally complete.  In Jason's defense, it was only lacking a swing to strap the girls into instead of a regular swing.  Isabelle still has a little difficulty figuring out big kid swings.  So on Saturday, Jason and his mom went to Toy's R Us and got a great pink swing!  Isabelle is in heaven.  She fell asleep in it on Sunday morning!  I wish I had a picture of that!!!

And lastly another cute picture of Isabelle!  She was so excited to see her favorite person, Caitlin, this weekend.  I think it has been three weeks since she has seen Cait on a Saturday night.  Isabelle is a BIG fan of her cousins, Caitlin and Buzz.

After a fun filled weekend, Molly and Isabelle are both under the weather.  Molly started feeling sick on Friday night, Isabelle on Sunday.  Hopefully both will feel better soon so we can get out and enjoy the cooler weather before it heats up again this weekend! 

The fair

I would like to start by saying I hate the fair.  I hate the midway and the smell and the rides and well, all of it.  I hate the fair.  Perhaps if I could stomach the rides or if I liked donut burgers or other such similar food, I could get on board with the fair, but currently none of those things are true and I still hate the fair. 

There is only one upside of being at the fair and that is people watching.  I love people watching regardless of where I am, but the fair is like hitting the jackpot of people watching.  I wish I would have taken a camera in order to do justice to the things I am about to describe, but I didn't.

First, a reggae banana.  Not just any reggae banana, but a HUGE reggae banana.  Like five feet long, stuffed, dreadlocked, reggae banana.  Have you ever seen a reggae banana?  Didn't think so. 

Second, (and hold on to your seats for this) a florescent green, pigtail, dreadlock, headband.  I am assuming that because it was a headband and because it was pigtails, this item was made for women, not men.  I don't think any human should wear it.  Real dreadlocks are bad enough.  Green, pigtail, headband ones are worse.

Next, a Mexican cowboy wearing what can only be described as a jeweled belt.  Not a belt with rhinestones, but a belt that was made completely of different colored square jewels.  Not only was it a jewel-belt, but it was a pastel colored jeweled belt.  My description is not doing this belt justice.  It was sweeeeet.

Lastly, the ref.  I have no idea if he was a real referee or not.  His shirt did not specify if he was a real ref or not.  Just said Ref.  His pants that he was wearing with his ref shirt suggested that he was not really a ref, but my sister would not let me ask.  She said I could not ask without laughing.  Incorrect.  She could not quit laughing.  If you had seen him you would understand.  It was awesome. 

I should mention that we did meet lots of nice, modest, normal and even funny people as well.  However, I think that perhaps this year was the last year I will work at the fair.  Of course I said that last year. 

As a side note, if you like the fair, the Tulsa State Fair is over this weekend, so if you are wanting to go, you'd better get to it!  Stop by the dairy truck inside the Exchange Building for a free ice cream cone while you are at it.  It is probably the only thing at the fair that is free!  Have a great weekend.

So......

As it turns out, coming up with a way to save lots of money every week is somewhat more challenging than I initially thought.  I love saving money, but I pretty much do the same things week in and week out rather than something new and exciting each week.  The savings on Directv was great, and my diaper savings continue on (and if you need diapers right now, if you buy two value boxes at Babies R Us you get a $15 gift card), but really I just work hard to do the same things over and over that I know save money.  So my money saving tips are going to continue, just not every Wednesday. 

Today, until I can think of another wonderful savings, you will get a great way to save money on coffee.  I LOVE coffee.  I would drink a whole pot if I wasn't nursing.  I never knew how much I depended on caffeine until having children.  Now I can barely function before my cup of coffee in the morning.  Lately, coffee is getting more and more expensive.  We buy Folgers in the 33.9 ounce can.  It is $8.59 pretty much everywhere (Walmart, Target, etc.),  EXCEPT  Dollar General. 

I have never been to Dollar General or any similar store.  But I do get the ads with my mail and I saw the ad yesterday and coffee (the same size and brand) is only $6.   I realize most people won't make a special trip for $2.59 in savings, but they also carry name brand laundry detergent, dishwasher soap and other cleaners for much less.  So, it may be worth your while to swing by and pick up your coffee and cleaners, or if you shop somewhere where they price match, just take the ad and voila, instant savings without making a trip to the dollar store!  Which is what I will do instead of making another trip just for coffee.

Next week on Wednesday I am giving myself a break.  Instead of a $ tip, I will bring you a list of my favorite things.  From favorite kid products to music to books to makeup and more.  Saw a blog like this the other day and as a result I am going to do one myself!  See you on Friday.

This is the life

Today was Molly's six month check up at the doctor.  Everything was great as expected.  Pretty boring appointment really, unless you take into consideration Isabelle.  She is a mess, but Molly is great.  Isabelle is not a fan of the doctor's office.  I think it is because she is able to recognize that it is a place we go to get shots!  Imagine how she would feel if she actually got all of the immunizations she was 'supposed' to.  So when we go to the doctor's, regardless of whose appointment it is, Isabelle is less than well behaved.  And because I am not a mom who just lets her children run crazy and scream and carry on, I always worry that our visit will end with DHS coming to get me because someone reported me for spanking. 

I wish you could all be here right now.  I just got off the phone with Directv, cancelling a pay per view movie Isabelle bought with the remote.  I thought turning on Gabba would buy me a few minutes to write...WRONG.  Isabelle is in the living room right this instant with her jeans off and her shirt around her waist.  That girl is constantly taking her clothes off.  Okay, now the shirt is off and she walked in here and declared, "Uh-Oh."  I am pretty sure taking off all her clothes was no accident. 

So with that short bit of information I will leave you all to be jealous of my rockin' awesome life.  Constantly putting clothes back on Isabelle, cleaning up messes and going to the doctor.  In fact, we will be back at the doctor's office next month for Isabelle's 2 year check up.  WHAT???  TWO???  How the heck did she get that old?    Guess I need to start thinking about a birthday party.

And now I am off to re-clothe my oldest daughter, get ready for sales meeting and prepare dinner.  See you all on Wednesday.