Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Lazy or Enjoying life
blogging from my backyard again while henry sleeps in his outdoor swing (he has an ear infection and won't sleep laying down...never knew how bad an ear infection could be...wow. poor guy.): Currently there are enough cherrios to fill up an entire bowl of cereal on my kitchen floor, laundry on our love seat, laundry in the washer waiting for the dryer, and no dinner is prepared (yet...i am going to make spaghetti and salad). I sometimes question whether I'm being lazy (not doing my job) or because i dont stress about having the perfect house, I'm able to enjoy life with henry and shaun. I know there are a lot of sahms that clean in the evenings (like kitchen and laundry), but i find myself in my pjs as soon as henry is in the bed for the night, and i pretty much refuse to do anything productive in the evening. shaun and i eat dinner and watch our fav shows, and the only thing productive you might see us do is to take our plates to the sink (and maybe some couponing). i thrive on down time. I like to chill, visit, eat slowly...does this make me lazy? Maybe it does but for now the cherrios are going to stay on the floor, and im just going to sit here and watch Henry sleep.
Friday, May 21, 2010
lately.
I'm typing this post from my phone in my backyard while i watch boo boo sleeping in his swing so excuse the typos and quick random thoughts.
I've been thinking about a few things that i think i might have forgotten to write about in hen's 9 mo post and wanted to jot some of those down before i forget...
Henry loves, loves getting his teeth brushed...or watching us brush our teeth. he thinks it is the best thing ever. i have this little song i sing while i brush them and he gets so excited when i start to sing the song.
Henry hates getting his diaper changed or clothes changed...ive tried songs, toys, holding him down, saying no and telling him he needs to lay down. he does seem to be getting better about getting dressed now that i talk him through it and use the same words. it is amazing what a contrast this is from the early baby days when he would giggle and coo during diaper changes (awww).
Henry also loves to play peek a boo...it is a guaranteed laugh/smile, and I even think he is starting to try to play it with us.
He also goes nuts over books right now. Every time after he nurses, he leans as far as he can over to the books and when I ask him if he wants to read a book...he does his little whinny grunt that he does to say "yes" until I start reading. And the best part is that he now turns the pages..love it :).
did i mention that i love him to bits? i think i might have mentioned it but just wanted to say it again. okay just wanted to write those thoughts down because time is just going by fast, and I'm doing every thing I can to soak up this sweet age. I know I'm going to blink, and my baby boy is going to be a toddler.
I've been thinking about a few things that i think i might have forgotten to write about in hen's 9 mo post and wanted to jot some of those down before i forget...
Henry loves, loves getting his teeth brushed...or watching us brush our teeth. he thinks it is the best thing ever. i have this little song i sing while i brush them and he gets so excited when i start to sing the song.
Henry hates getting his diaper changed or clothes changed...ive tried songs, toys, holding him down, saying no and telling him he needs to lay down. he does seem to be getting better about getting dressed now that i talk him through it and use the same words. it is amazing what a contrast this is from the early baby days when he would giggle and coo during diaper changes (awww).
Henry also loves to play peek a boo...it is a guaranteed laugh/smile, and I even think he is starting to try to play it with us.
He also goes nuts over books right now. Every time after he nurses, he leans as far as he can over to the books and when I ask him if he wants to read a book...he does his little whinny grunt that he does to say "yes" until I start reading. And the best part is that he now turns the pages..love it :).
did i mention that i love him to bits? i think i might have mentioned it but just wanted to say it again. okay just wanted to write those thoughts down because time is just going by fast, and I'm doing every thing I can to soak up this sweet age. I know I'm going to blink, and my baby boy is going to be a toddler.
Monday, May 10, 2010
9 Month Update!
I'm writing a 9 month update post, which means my little guy's first birthday is less than three months from now...how is that even possible??!! We just continue to fall in love with him more and more every day. This age is so fun (I do realize I say this every month)!
Stats:
Weight- 20 lbs 6 ounces (50th percentile)...Height (75th percentile)
Size 3 diapers (but last box in that size--already buying size 4 when I find them on sale--see post below)
12 mo clothes--Loving summer boy clothes. Mainly dressing Henry in polo shirts and shorts or john johns
Milestones:
Mobile!- Henry is completely mobile now as he can crawl very fast from room to room. It is so fun to watch him explore the house and to follow after us like a little puppy dog. His new mobility does make my job a little harder at times because I have to be watching him very closely but at the same time, he is soooo much happier now that he can get where he wants to go. His crawl is really cute because he doesn't let his knees touch the ground. I think the carpet was bothering him so he decided just to lift both knees.
Pulling up- This is just a recent development, and he still doesn't seem to know that he can do it because he isn't pulling up on everything yet, but we've seen him do it many times. He also will side step (slightly cruising) when he is standing and playing.
Baby Signs- I know everyone has their different opinions about baby signs, but I'm so glad that we introduced signs to Henry. This month he has mastered fish (smacking his lips together--too cute), and he makes the sign every time he sees a fish especially with his toy fish in his bath tub. He started sniffing and winking too (which is the sign for flower...although I don't know for sure if he has put that one together yet). Still shaking his head "no," but he won't do it when we ask him to anymore because he would rather do his new tricks lol. He is also clapping and waving bye bye. Signs we are working on now: drink, milk, more, bath, ball, flower, hat, water.
Words- Oh how Shaun and I are loving hearing our names. He for sure is associating us with our names and not just babbling anymore. Henry goes nuts when he sees his dada and says his name over and over. Tonight, Shaun came home while Henry was getting a bath, and he looked up at him and said clearly "hey dada." Shaun and I just looked at each other like...."what did he just say that??." It was very cute. Henry says mama more often when he wants me to feed him or if he needs something because he knows his mama takes care of him :). But for the record for Henry...his first word was dada, second was duck and third was mama. Really looking forward to hearing more in the coming months.
Word recognition- So fun to continue to see that Henry is starting to understand more and more of what we are saying. One of my fav moments of the day is to ask Henry when he is in his high chair if he wants to look outside. He gets soooo excited and looks at the window, and I open the blinds.
Favorite toys: Anything that isn't a toy lol. wires, toilet paper, trash cans, drawers, doors, hinges...etc.
Favorite books: A new book that mimi gave Henry that has pictures of babies in it...he loves it.
Eating/Nursing:
Breastfeeding- still going strong. I did notice a temporary decrease in my supply when I started my first cycle this past month, but I think we are back to normal now. He just got his top two teeth (got his two bottoms at 6 mo), and he has really started biting me hard recently. Obviously going to have to figure out how to get that to stop or we might be weaning sooner than I would like (goal/desire is to make it at least a year).
Finger foods- This month has been an interesting transition to finger foods. Henry loves to eat just about anything that he can feed himself, and he is starting to refuse baby food (and mama feeding him). I'm still trying to give him a jar or so at every meal with the finger foods, but he would much rather feed himself at this point. Some of his favs...LOVES cheerios, strawberries, turkey/chicken/beef, carrots, peas, olives, bananas. It is definitely messier, but so fun to watch him feed himself (and gives me some extra time in the kitchen for chores too).
Nighttime sleep/naps:
Oh we had some major issues with sleep this month (are you surprised lol?). I think it was a combo of a sinus infection, the top two teeth coming in, and the main problem was that he learned a new skill at the beginning of the month (going from tummy to sitting)--he didn't know how to get himself back to laying down. The good news is that for the most part, Henry is now going down easily for his naps and for night sleep. I guess it pays to stay consistent even during the rough times :). One thing that I think definitely helped is that I extended the time that I rocked him before putting him down. With all of the changes this month and mobility, I thought he might need some extra wind down time, and mama was right :). I still lay him down awake, but he is pretty drowsy by the time I put him in his bed.
Nighttime sleep- he is still waking around 4AM and sometimes around midnight. I'm tired. I'm ready for a full night's rest. And yes I'm going to have to do something, but it can't involve too much crying because I can't let him cry for long.
Now for a few pics:
Stats:
Weight- 20 lbs 6 ounces (50th percentile)...Height (75th percentile)
Size 3 diapers (but last box in that size--already buying size 4 when I find them on sale--see post below)
12 mo clothes--Loving summer boy clothes. Mainly dressing Henry in polo shirts and shorts or john johns
Milestones:
Mobile!- Henry is completely mobile now as he can crawl very fast from room to room. It is so fun to watch him explore the house and to follow after us like a little puppy dog. His new mobility does make my job a little harder at times because I have to be watching him very closely but at the same time, he is soooo much happier now that he can get where he wants to go. His crawl is really cute because he doesn't let his knees touch the ground. I think the carpet was bothering him so he decided just to lift both knees.
Pulling up- This is just a recent development, and he still doesn't seem to know that he can do it because he isn't pulling up on everything yet, but we've seen him do it many times. He also will side step (slightly cruising) when he is standing and playing.
Baby Signs- I know everyone has their different opinions about baby signs, but I'm so glad that we introduced signs to Henry. This month he has mastered fish (smacking his lips together--too cute), and he makes the sign every time he sees a fish especially with his toy fish in his bath tub. He started sniffing and winking too (which is the sign for flower...although I don't know for sure if he has put that one together yet). Still shaking his head "no," but he won't do it when we ask him to anymore because he would rather do his new tricks lol. He is also clapping and waving bye bye. Signs we are working on now: drink, milk, more, bath, ball, flower, hat, water.
Words- Oh how Shaun and I are loving hearing our names. He for sure is associating us with our names and not just babbling anymore. Henry goes nuts when he sees his dada and says his name over and over. Tonight, Shaun came home while Henry was getting a bath, and he looked up at him and said clearly "hey dada." Shaun and I just looked at each other like...."what did he just say that??." It was very cute. Henry says mama more often when he wants me to feed him or if he needs something because he knows his mama takes care of him :). But for the record for Henry...his first word was dada, second was duck and third was mama. Really looking forward to hearing more in the coming months.
Word recognition- So fun to continue to see that Henry is starting to understand more and more of what we are saying. One of my fav moments of the day is to ask Henry when he is in his high chair if he wants to look outside. He gets soooo excited and looks at the window, and I open the blinds.
Favorite toys: Anything that isn't a toy lol. wires, toilet paper, trash cans, drawers, doors, hinges...etc.
Favorite books: A new book that mimi gave Henry that has pictures of babies in it...he loves it.
Eating/Nursing:
Breastfeeding- still going strong. I did notice a temporary decrease in my supply when I started my first cycle this past month, but I think we are back to normal now. He just got his top two teeth (got his two bottoms at 6 mo), and he has really started biting me hard recently. Obviously going to have to figure out how to get that to stop or we might be weaning sooner than I would like (goal/desire is to make it at least a year).
Finger foods- This month has been an interesting transition to finger foods. Henry loves to eat just about anything that he can feed himself, and he is starting to refuse baby food (and mama feeding him). I'm still trying to give him a jar or so at every meal with the finger foods, but he would much rather feed himself at this point. Some of his favs...LOVES cheerios, strawberries, turkey/chicken/beef, carrots, peas, olives, bananas. It is definitely messier, but so fun to watch him feed himself (and gives me some extra time in the kitchen for chores too).
Nighttime sleep/naps:
Oh we had some major issues with sleep this month (are you surprised lol?). I think it was a combo of a sinus infection, the top two teeth coming in, and the main problem was that he learned a new skill at the beginning of the month (going from tummy to sitting)--he didn't know how to get himself back to laying down. The good news is that for the most part, Henry is now going down easily for his naps and for night sleep. I guess it pays to stay consistent even during the rough times :). One thing that I think definitely helped is that I extended the time that I rocked him before putting him down. With all of the changes this month and mobility, I thought he might need some extra wind down time, and mama was right :). I still lay him down awake, but he is pretty drowsy by the time I put him in his bed.
Nighttime sleep- he is still waking around 4AM and sometimes around midnight. I'm tired. I'm ready for a full night's rest. And yes I'm going to have to do something, but it can't involve too much crying because I can't let him cry for long.
Now for a few pics:
First Mother's Day...so sweet (my hubby is the best!). I was emotional all weekend.
Mother's Day...going into church.
Enjoying his baby pool...loving this warm weather!
Perfect example of "toys"...and this was so cute because he knew to smile for the camera.
Not a good pic of it, but he starting blinking/winking and closing his eyes with a cheesy camera smile.
You can somewhat see his top teeth if you look closely too :)
Oh how I love my little boy. I'm so blessed.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
"Saving Money is Making Money"
One of my favorite quotes from my hubby is "saving money is making money" (especially since he likes to spend money lol). Such a simple statement, but it is so true. We could both have huge salaries and drive really nice cars with large car payments but at the end of the month if all we do is break even...then are we ever making money?! As a stay at home mom, I feel that it is important for me to "make" money by saving money for our family. And I really have felt like I've failed in being as resourceful as I need to be to keep us in a good place financially. So lately I've been starting to get into couponing, and I never knew it could be so much fun! It is so funny to me that once you get into the mindset that you are going to save money how savings just seem to start coming to you. I even found coupons in my bushes this past week! Shaun put all of our spending last month into an excel spreadsheet and the amount of money we were still paying in eating out was unbelievable! We are literally spending all of our free money in eating out. Shaun was still going out to lunch every day which was a habit we started when we were both working so now I'm making him a lunch every morning. And the huge bonus for me is that means that sometimes he will get off a hour earlier since he was working through lunch! I'm now going to work toward providing most if not all of our meals at home every week. I was cooking before just not as much on the weekend! In order to save the most money, I have to plan in advance what we are eating to get the most out of my grocery budget. I really look forward to the challenge of seeing how much money I can save and how little I can spend to feed us!
If you are thinking about going down to one income or saving money: (not that I'm an expert as I'm just starting to really focus my energy on this)
Most of my coupon/saving ideas I get from moneysavingmom.com (just go to the top and click stores and there you can find the stores in your area and the deal ideas for this week)
Used reliable vehicles (hondas)-no car payment=we can afford for me to stay at home
Remember the tax savings--You will most likely move down a bracket and so you aren't losing as much money as you think you are!
Cooking at home and bringing lunch to work!
I love the walm.art brand boneless skinless chicken breasts in a freezer bag. One bag=7 bucks=6 cups of cooked and diced chicken. I just pull out whatever I need like 2 or 3 breasts and auto-defrost in the microwave instead of trying to remember to set it out long before dinner. And I've also boiled the whole bag and diced the chicken and froze the chicken in freezer ziplocs with 2 cups each...perfect for a quick casserole or soup!
Baby clothes--amazing what consignment and yard sales have for super cheap and really high quality/hardly worn clothes! Also, you might be able to find a friend that you can just borrow clothes from if your baby was born in the same season the following year.
What are your money saving tips?? Anything cheap and easy that you like to make for dinner? Pass them along!
If you are thinking about going down to one income or saving money: (not that I'm an expert as I'm just starting to really focus my energy on this)
Most of my coupon/saving ideas I get from moneysavingmom.com (just go to the top and click stores and there you can find the stores in your area and the deal ideas for this week)
Used reliable vehicles (hondas)-no car payment=we can afford for me to stay at home
Remember the tax savings--You will most likely move down a bracket and so you aren't losing as much money as you think you are!
Cooking at home and bringing lunch to work!
I love the walm.art brand boneless skinless chicken breasts in a freezer bag. One bag=7 bucks=6 cups of cooked and diced chicken. I just pull out whatever I need like 2 or 3 breasts and auto-defrost in the microwave instead of trying to remember to set it out long before dinner. And I've also boiled the whole bag and diced the chicken and froze the chicken in freezer ziplocs with 2 cups each...perfect for a quick casserole or soup!
Baby clothes--amazing what consignment and yard sales have for super cheap and really high quality/hardly worn clothes! Also, you might be able to find a friend that you can just borrow clothes from if your baby was born in the same season the following year.
What are your money saving tips?? Anything cheap and easy that you like to make for dinner? Pass them along!
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