Way Back When-esday

This is Brooklyn on Easter last year (April 2009). For some other cute March/April memories, see this post from last year's Way Back When-esday. Have a great Easter weekend, ya'll!

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Wordless Wednesday

Easter Pics

We braved Portrait Innovations for the first time since Jake was born last week. Having 4 adults and going on a weekday helped a lot with minimizing the chaos. The kids did great, and we got some great prints for the house.

The First Annual Gibson Park No Puma This Ain't Your Momma's Half Marathon (a working title)

On Saturday, March 20th, Chad, our friend Jeff, and my dad had planned to run the NC Half Marathon in High Point. When they discovered it was $65 to enter, the wives thought that they could just run the race themselves and then take us out for a nice dinner that night. :) Luckily, they agreed. So, the guys ran the half marathon themselves in the Jamestown area, and we were there to cheer them on. Jake was just excited to be outside in the stroller. What a relaxing morning!

My dad was the first to arrive!

And then was followed by Chad and Jeff. Go guys!

And Brooklyn loved riding her bike around the parking lot and coloring with sidewalk chalk. It was a BEAUTIFUL Saturday morning!

We were so proud of the guys! And I definitely enjoyed my ribs at Cooper's that evening! :)

5 months young!

At FIVE months old, Jake is...
*Wearing size 9 month clothes (with newly purchased onesie extenders) or 12 month clothes comfortably
*Wearing size 3 diapers
*Smiling and straight-up laughing and cooing with some pretty long conversations in his baby language
*Started blowing "raspberries" (HILARIOUS)
*Comfortably sitting in the Exersaucer and High Chair
*Eating every three hours during the day (6 liquid servings and 2 servings of rice cereal)
*Sleeping on average from 9:00pm to 7:00am
*Weight is officially unknown, but I am guessing 21 pounds.
*Still sits in the glider occasionally but also loves laying on his activity mat
*Still swaddled at night (we have a [literally called] "miracle blanket" and he's still being swaddled tight to get that continuous 10 hours of sleep)
*Still has not needed formula (I am a milk-making machine! Woot!)
*Still has that blonde hair growing in....very slowly....so we may have plateaued on the hair for a while
*Favorite toys/activities: Anything on the Exersaucer; books read by Brooklyn; Winnie the Pooh rattle; chewing on the strap of his paci or the back of the paci
*Loves to watch Nick Jr. with Brooklyn on the bed
*Taking two-three naps a day (10am, 2pm and sometimes an evening cat nap around 6:30pm)
*Just a snuggle bunny! Love this boy sooooo much!

Wordless Wednesday

Poor timing on my part...

Don't you hate it when you feel so accomplished about getting to grocery shop ALONE, buying food to make dinners all week and provide food for lunches, only to find out after spending over $75.o0 (with $10.00 in coupons), that starting Wednesday, it's Triple Coupon week at Harris Teeter?

I do.

And I will probably head back later this week to stock up on the better triple coupon deals.

Maybe I just won't have to grocery shop NEXT week. :-)

The best St. Patrick's Day Celebration...

You'll have to trust me when I said the kids wore green on Wednesday. I had other things on my mind. :-) Wednesday morning, just after midnight, one of my best friends gave birth to her first baby, Nora Kate. 4 of us drove to Huntersville right after work Wednesday to wish Nora a happy birthday and give hugs to her mama (and daddy, too!). She was literally the teeniest baby I ever held at 5 pounds and 14 ounces. She came 2 1/2 weeks early but was perfect in every way. I'm so excited to be updating my "Oh, Baby!" counter with precious births (and some new pregnancies).

Here is the happy new family: Marisa, Marc, and Nora Kate.

The hospital said that Nora had the most hair they have ever seen on a newborn...I believe them!

Jake's first food!

Here is Jake getting his first bites of rice cereal...and some precious interaction between Brooklyn and Jake at the end.

Seriously?

My baby gets even bigger! (No fat jokes, please.) This morning, Jake rolled over for the first time (unless Aunt Patty isn't telling me he did it earlier this week when she was watching him). :-) This is why I am so thankful for the opportunity to work from home. Yay, Jake-Jake!

Remember when I said I had no motivation for working out? I weighed myself on the Wii Fit this morning and I have lost 3 1/2 pounds in the last two weeks. The same two weeks that I have not been working out. That is not helping my motivation, but...Yay, Me! :-)

And we're there.

I just cannot believe that Jake is 4 1/2 months old and venturing into the world of solid/semi-solid food. This baby is growing up way too fast! I almost just wanted to put it off a while longer so I can keep my precious baby a baby forever, but the Dr. did suggest we start soon with the spoon, and though I hate to admit it, I think Jake is starting to need a bit more sustenance to keep up with his growing body. :-)

So, Saturday, March 6th, we gave Jake his first experience with rice cereal.

And he got to wear a cute bib for the occasion.

He was a little nervous about what was to come...

But Daddy quickly showed him that it was going to be fun.

He thought it was a bit strange at first.

But we had a great helper standing by to talk him through it.

And Brooklyn encouraged Jake to try some more.

And he ended up loving it!

Now, excuse me while I go cry because my last baby is growing up too fast.

Wordless Wednesday

At least one of us is exercising this month...

Momma doesn't have time to exercise this month with a busy work schedule and a sweet family to take care of. (OK, I know if I really wanted to, I could find the time, but I am still enjoying the fact that I am burning about 500 calories a day breastfeeding. Momma's in for a dose of reality in a few months!) But, after Jake's 4 month check up on Friday, we knew that he was ready for some "active play." I am still neglecting the tummy time, so I need to get better with that, but Jake's doing so great with his neck control. We pulled out Brooklyn's Exersaucer, and he LOVES it!

Speaking of the 4 month check up, Jake is (as you can obviously see ) growing quite well. :-) He is 20 pounds 9 ounces (97%) and 26.5 inches long (85%). He got one oral vaccination and two shots but with the extra meat on his thighs, I don't think they bothered him at all. He only squawked with the second one and only for about 2 minutes. Dr. D says he is looking great and to start trying rice cereal on a spoon. We also have pretty much labeled him "reflux free" and his ears were 100% cleared up from last month's infection.

I am so blessed to have such beautiful, healthy children!

A day for deals

My poor Jake-Jake...so many rolls, so little clothes. :-) He has just completely outgrown most of his wardrobe. He is the longest 4 month old I have ever seen and needs 9+ month clothes in order for them to snap around him. I knew he needed some stuff for this "in between" weather before we get to full-blown Spring and then Summer. I was so happy that I scored some major deals at Babies R Us today on my lunch break. I bought $193.00 worth of stuff and only paid $0.75. How? Well, Carter's clothes were all 50% off, and I did have about $57.00 of store credit from returning some things that I bought the kids for Christmas and ended up not giving them. And we got a wonderful monetary gift from friends for Jake this weekend (Thanks, MAB!).

I also got Jake a jacket at Target for $1.73 and then bought Brooklyn a Barbie scooter, because I love her and I felt bad returning her easel at Babies R Us today. :-) Seriously, the kid got soooo much for Christmas and her birthday, she did not need anything else for inside the house. I used her birthday money from Great Grandma and returned 7 chalk sets from her birthday party, so only spent about $10.00. She loved playing on a friend's scooter this weekend, and I thought she would love using it on our neighborhood walks.

Also, to help stretch some of Jake's current clothes that are borderline small, I found onesie extenders online and got a 10 pack. No real deal on that, but for $10.95 plus shipping, I can keep using some current clothes and not have to buy more.

And finally, I bought diapers and wipes on diapers.com for a pretty good deal ($54.00 for 3 packs of wipes and 204 Pampers diapers). I got a first time buyer $5.00 credit and free shipping (and they are delivered to your doorstep, so cannot argue with that).

I would say it was a pretty good lunch break! (Oh, and I only spent $2.00 on lunch by dining on a hotdog and coke at the Target Café.)

One Year Ago....

It was one year ago this week that I discovered I was 5 weeks pregnant with our second baby. Who knew that one year later I would be staring at the sweetest, most laid back, baby boy I have ever seen? Thank you, God, for this precious blessing, and for giving me my family, the three best gifts ever.

Grace Reigning Down On Me!

We had an awesome show Saturday night at our church, First Lutheran. It was our first show since CROP Walk in October (when I was 37 weeks pregnant!), so it was great to get back out there playing our music. We had a wonderful opening act, God's Allies, made up of 13-18 year old kids from a Thomasville Youth Group. Then, we played a 45 minute set.

This was also a benefit for Greensboro Urban Ministry, and from the 175+ attending the show, we collected 475 pounds of food and $130 in donations. Yay!

Need a good birthday party idea?

I want to take a moment and brag on Bounce U. I was a bit hestitant in scheduling a birthday party here "sight unseen." When I have been in there before, the inflatables were deflated so I had no idea what the rooms actually looked like and what they offered in terms of entertainment. In addition, Brooklyn has never attended a party there. But, I am a sucker for discounts and cheap deals, so when I received a coupon for a $99.00 birthday party, I thought, "hey, worth a shot." I pulled up their website, showed Brooklyn the video online showing a birthday party, and we both decided to give them a chance. My mom took Brooklyn to an "open bounce" a few days later so she could try it out (because I would have the daughter that would stand in the corner, terrified, at her own party). Mom said Brooklyn LOVED it and was so brave going on even the largest slide.

For $99.00, we got an hour of bouncing and a 1/2 hour in the party room for (up to) 25 kids and unlimited adults on a weekday night. Now, having a birthday party for a 5 year old on a Wednesday is a bit unconventional, but it was her actual birthday, so it made sense to Brooklyn (and I just hoped at least a few of her friends could come). Not only did a few come, but everyone but 2 families came!

We had a full house. It was loud. It was a bit warm. But, all the kids had fun- from 1 year old to 18 years old. It was not at my house. And it was over in an hour and a half. Score.

Let's get personal and talk finances here (because I can and I want to remind myself in years to come).

In past years, I have had three birthday parties for Brooklyn. One on her actual birthday with immediate family, one for extended family, and one with school friends. I have had her "school friends" party at the Children's Museum for the past two years. Also an excellent place for a party. But also about $250.00 on a Saturday. Add cake and snacks, goody bags, drinks and snacks for the parents, and paper products, and we total usually about $350.00 for this party.

THEN, we would also have the family party. Another cake. More paper products. More snacks. Another Saturday blown. About $50.00.

So, we have usually spent about $400.00 for Brooklyn's Birthday Bonanza. (Not that she isn't worth it, but hey, she's a KID.)

This year, I have had to be a bit more frugal because of having Jake and knowing that in a few weeks we will have two children in daycare/school. We're trying to live as resourcefully as we can without making huge sacrifices.

So, here's how Bounce U broke down.

They "get you" because you cannot bring in ANY outside food besides a cake. They offer pizza, ice cream, drinks, tons of snacks, etc. etc. etc. But, they also make you bounce first and party last, so there was no way I could serve a "dinner" before 7:30-8:00pm that night. So, we pushed the party to 6:30pm, hoping that allowed for people to get a quick bite to eat. I added Lemonade and Goldfish to our party package, and chose their unlimited paper product option. (Best decision ever with kids and spillage.) I bought a cake from Walmart (and let Brooklyn pick out whatever design she wanted from the catalogue). I also chose to do just a "one item" takeaway as opposed to a goody bag made up of lots of little (let's be honest here) crap. That way, if there were extras, packages were not opened, and I could return the leftovers. BTW, Target has great stuff in their "front of the store dollar bin."

So.....
Party $99.00
Cake (Walmart 1/2 sheet) $30.00
Goldfish $7.00
Paper Products (unlimited from Bounce U) $8.00
Goodies (sidewalk chalk and bubbles) $26.00 (but I have 7 to return so about $20.00)
Grand Total: $165.00

Momma's happy. And I can afford to buy Jake diapers this month. :-)

Just for giggles...

I thought you would like to know what's been playing in my head all week.

A mother of 2, a Contemporary Worship leader, a Girl Scout staff member...and this is what song lyric I cannot stop singing:

"Call me Mr. Flintstone. I can make your Bed Rock."

Happy 4 Month Birthday, Jake! (a few days late!)

I don't ever want to forget these sweet chubby arms and legs. This baby is just the sweetest, most cuddliest baby ever!

At FOUR months old, Jake is...
*Wearing size 9 month clothes
*Wearing size 3 diapers
*Smiling and cooing with occasional belly laughs...he smiles at everyone, but has a very special smile and look of adoration that he saves for his big sister.
*Holding his head up very well by himself...we are working on sitting in the Bumbo, and I think the Exersaucer and High Chair may be dusted off this week.
*Eating every three hours during the day, but that schedule should change slightly after we get the OK for solid foods from the doctor this week.
*Sleeping from 9:30pm to 6:30am
*We have the official doctor visit on Friday but when we had to go to the doctor last week for Jake's ear infection (first dose of amoxicillian) and respiratory virus, he weighed 20 pounds and 3 ounces with his clothes on and a full diaper.
*Still loves the glider and also loves laying on his activity mat
*Still swaddled at night, but is busting free on a pretty regular basis now, so I have a feeling we may be moving on from the swaddle stage
*Still has not needed formula
*Is growing a new batch of sweet soft blonde hair on top
*I think he is over the reflux. I stopped giving him Zantac right after his 3 month birthday and he has been fine.
*Favorite toy: "Big Rex and Friends" book
*Has moved on to the Convertible Car Seat in my car but we still use the other "infant carrier" in Chad's car and when others need to drive him