Still Figuring It Out

Pictures

2010-02-03T09:26:00.003-05:00

A few random pictures from over the weekend. Eli being a goofball with his spork :) This was his first time trying baked Mahi-Mahi and he ate it with peas, brown rice and some avocado. He loved it!

Eating pizza for the first time. Yummy!!

Playing in Gap and wishing he could get away with throwing all the piles of clothes on the floor. I think not, kiddo :)
Checking to see if Daddy was looking before he climbed under the rack of clothes.

COLD TURKEY

2010-01-13T08:21:00.004-05:00

Yes, my turkey is probably a little cold right now but that's not what this post is about. hehe :) Eli is such a big boy and went cold turkey off of all of his bottle feedings yesterday. And it was a success!! When I got to daycare last night, they told me that he cried when he saw the babies get their afternoon bottles. He then stood at the doorway near where they get fed and whined and refused to play with the toys or kids. This broke my heart when I heard it. They went ahead and gave him an extra sippy of almond milk and he was back to normal.

So, this got me thinking...Eli's 6oz formula bottles are 120 calories. A 6oz sippy of almond milk is 48 calories. It stands to reason that the almond milk can't "replace" a bottle. The whole reason we're transitioning from the bottle/formula is so that Eli can get 100% of his nutrition from solid foods and water. I can't expect this kiddo to keep his same feeding routine and simply exchange the bottle/formula for the sippy/almond milk. We have to start a new routine!!

Tada, mama finally figured it out :) So we got home last night and Eli went straight into his highchair for some dinner. During the bottle days, Eli would fall asleep on the way home from daycare and go straight to bed for the night around 5:30 p.m. Maybe 1 out of 7 times waking for a bottle before we went to bed. Last night, this ravenous boy ate a very large half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, half of a fresh peach and half of an apple Lara bar. He also drank 4oz of warm white tea and honey in a sippy. He started to fuss a tiny bit and I could tell he was really tired so off to lube up with Aquaphor (poor kiddo has bad eczema on his elbows, knees and lower legs) and put on jammies. He went straight to sleep - not a peep. 7 pm

I got up at 5:30 this morning and he was just laying in his bed with his paci. I warmed up a sippy of almond milk and gave him the other half of Lara bar in his highchair. He gobbled up both without complaint. Previously during the bottle days, he would cry for a bottle immediately and never ate breakfast at home before he went to daycare during the week.

We're off to a happy 2nd day of no bottles or formula and having fun starting new routines :) I'm so thankful that Eli is such a great little transitioner. He really makes being a mom easy and we're so blessed. I'm excited at the prospect of Eli staying up later at night and having that time with him.

Here is a pic of Eli eating his peach last night. He was having a hard time picking it up off his tray so I gave him a bowl. He didn't dump it all out, throw it or anything. I was so proud of my little big boy using a bowl. I love you so much turkey butt!! :)

Rusty's Graduation

2010-01-12T09:06:00.005-05:00

Finally, I'm getting around to posting some pics. Bad wife! Rusty graduated with his Doctorate in Chiropractic on December 18th. The tears floweth like wine several times :) I couldn't be any prouder of my husband. What an accomplishment!!

Eli & his Ganny

Eli & Javin Meade waiting on their daddies to graduate

Josh, Tony & Rusty

Rusty & his proud parents

The fam - Rusty's brother Ryan and parents

Rusty & his best friend Corey

The recent grads & their sons :)

Whew, we've had a lot going on :)

2010-01-12T08:35:00.005-05:00

I've been absolutely horrible about posting lately. Here's a brief recap of what we've had going on....Rusty's birthday, Christmas parties, Rusty's graduation and party, Christmas and family in town for the Holidays, light snow, ice & record setting freezing weather and finally the little man's first birthday and party, whew, we're tired. I've declared this weekend a PJ party for me and Eli. We're just going to play and veg out!

Here are a few pics from this morning. Eli is playing on his truck that Mimi and Grandpa Jim got him for his birthday. For now, I think he thinks it is some sort of kid recliner that he sits on while mommy pushes him around :)

A pic of my tired boys heading out to daycare and a few pics of Eli trying to get himself into trouble this morning.

Follow-up To Previous Post

2009-12-12T19:28:00.008-05:00

Here are a few more pics of Eli helping Daddy. This time they were building the rolling shelves that go under the activity table. I don't know what it is but Eli sees a box and goes totally nutso like a hyper little spaz. It cracks us up :)

BBSSSSST...BUSY BEE ALERT!

2009-12-08T10:00:00.006-05:00

Eli had quite the busy weekend putting his activity table together (with some help from Daddy of course), climbing shelves and trying to leap over toys :) He also turned 11 months old yesterday. Wow! This is such a fun age and we're enjoying almost every minute of it. What isn't fun at 11 months is getting professional pictures taken. This kid wanted to call all the shots and those shots just weren't purty. teehe

Needless to say, we had to move this toy AWAY from the shelf. The climbing adventures:

I IMPRESS MYSELF

2009-12-04T11:54:00.011-05:00

Look at me below using not one but TWO hyperlinks in my post SUCCESSFULLY!! I finally found a website that my virgin HTML brain could understand. I'm so happy with myself AND the hyperlinks open in a new window vs taking you from my blog to another site :)

STRETCHING A BUCK: THANK YOU!

2009-12-04T11:10:00.009-05:00

We won the DVD Little Spirit: Christmas in New York from STRETCHING A BUCK. Thank you so much! We feel very blessed. I'm so excited about spending this Holiday season with my new little family and absolutely can't wait to watch this DVD with Eli. I also confess I'm super excited that it features songs by Faith Hill. teehehe.

Love This Site Awards :: Jolly Mom - DivineCaroline

2009-12-03T12:17:00.001-05:00

"I love me some Jolly Mom. Check her out!"

No pressure or anything, but I think this site deserves to win a Love! This Site Award from DivineCaroline, so please, vote soon! You can also still nominate your favorite sites.

View >>

COUPONS!

2009-11-05T19:30:00.004-05:00

Oh my word, its been a week since I last posted. Oops. Well, I'm here now and I'm here to tell you that I just spent $10.68 (including tax) on the items below at Kroger tonight. Woohoo!! I saved $25.57. I just love Mega weeks. The only item I didn't have a coupon for was the Nutella but that was a special request by the Hubs. I saved 72%. Yehaw :) The man behind me in line said "That's some impressive use of coupons...I wish you could show my wife how to do that." hehe

This week I was forced to upgrade my coupon organizer. My original fell apart....as you can see below. Hey, who says your coupon organizer can't match your purse/diaper bag???

THURSDAY RANDOMNESS

2009-10-29T21:25:00.003-04:00

Well howdy folks :) Thought I would update with some complete randomness. First of all, I thought the kiddo's yummy homemade food was too colorful not to post.

We made a trip up to Kohl's tonight so I could have a little retail therapy spending my Kohl's bucks. Aside from the fact that I had 2 mini-meltdowns on the drive up due to Rusty's very questionable driving (deep breath), we managed to find some good deals. Here is the little man being such a big boy in this funny cart contraption. Also, look how cool these little Play-Doh thinga-ma-jiggies are to hand out to trick-or-treat'ers. Only $2.09 for the bag of 20. AWESOME alternative to candy. Well, maybe not so awesome to the little recipients' parents, but whatevs...not my problem. hehe

CRAZY LIFE

2009-10-28T18:37:00.005-04:00

Life has just been crazy busy lately. It has gotten so bad that I feel like my to-do list is a jumbled mess in my brain that is constantly distracting me. This nightmare to-do list keeps me up at night. Then, to add to that, I've been struggling with major guilt lately with the lack of time I have with Eli during the week. He has been either falling asleep on our way home from daycare or falling asleep right when we get home. I have to wake him up before we go to bed for jammies and a bottle. He is maybe taking one 45 minute nap at daycare a day so of course this kiddo needs the 12 hours of sleep at night but that makes for a very sad Mom :(

Somewhat on this note, Eli starts a new daycare on Monday. We are so darn excited about it. Right now, they only have part-time available, which is all we need until January. They can only give us Mon & Wed (and Fridays if a child calls out) so we still have to figure out Fridays but I don't care. He had to get out of his current daycare. The week before last, he was playing in the dirty diaper bin and this week he was taking apart a nasty vacuum cleaner and playing with the filter. I almost lost my mind. The new daycare provides 100% of his solids and the menu all organic, hormone free, etc. He'll also learn Kindermusik, Spanish, play puppets, sign language, get outside time every day, a set eating and nap schedule every day. Best of all, the daycare has a 3:1 child/teacher ratio. We knew instantly that this was a good fit for Eli and our lifestyle. The daycare owner even asked us if we cloth diaper and asked us to bring them because they'd love to use them. We were like SAY WHAT NOW? :) hehe She also told us that Eli needs to learn how to stop using other kids as furniture. Whoopsies...yeah, we'll work on that. Oh, she also doesn't usually allow the kids to have anything in their bed so Eli very well may be on his way to losing his paci habit. I think I'm ok with this. I think. :) My guilt wants him to have whatever comforts him when he is away from home but I also know he needs to learn how to sleep without it.

I can't forget to show you what showed up today! Ta-da....how excited am I??? Ok, now, before you go thinking I'm some spoiled rotten brat, I want you to know that we listed things we don't use/need on Craigslist and we are THIRTY BUCKS away from having this baby paid for by money we earned through Craigslist. And, I have this $30 sale pending for tomorrow night. Woo Hoo. I found a deal too good to pass up a Kohl's so I got it 20% off, free shipping, $65 brush attachment kit free and $80 Kohl's cash to boot, which will buy Eli some warm footie PJs that are oh-so-needed now. I walked into the little turkey butt's room last weekend to get him out of bed after a nap and he had taken his pants off. Then, the other day, he tried to take his shirt off by grabbing the back and yanking it over his head. This behavior makes this mommy very nervous at night thinking that he could be suffocating himself in bed and I wouldn't know it. Only one piece pjs at night for this little nudist from here on out.

One last thing, my diet is ON starting tomorrow. No sugar, no flour, no soda, no Halloween candy....just salads, veggies, fruits, nuts and lean meat. Lots of water and exercise. I just need to get into my work pants comfortably and I need it to happen SOON. Flub be gone!

ZOO BOO TOWN

2009-10-26T06:42:00.004-04:00

My little brother TJ and his friend Shelley came over Saturday and we went to breakfast and the zoo. I really don't get to see that kiddo enough. It was Boo at the Zoo so all the kids were dressed up. Whooops, this mommy didn't know that :) Eli still had fun trick-or-treating. At this stage, he enjoyed the bird sanctuary the most. The coolest part was when we heard the male lion roar. It was so loud that we all thought it was fake at first. We thought it was just something the zoo did to attract visitors to the exhibit. Nope, was he ever mad about something. So neat. The absolute weirdest thing we saw was the vulchure exhibit. There was a fake dead zebra on display that looked unbelievably real. As we were walking up, one of the vulchures was actually eating something out of this fake dead zebra. Almost as gross as Eli trying to eat a roach :o)

Its The Small Things

2009-10-21T19:28:00.003-04:00

I'm so happy that I was part of Eli learning something new this morning! Yeah! I feel like I miss so much with Eli being at daycare 3 days a week and with Rusty the other 2. I know how blessed I am and this was just a little icing on the cake today. Yes, yes...I'm getting to the point :) Eli was in his highchair this morning and I put a few puffs down. I put one in his mouth and then put one in my mouth. He then picked up a puff and put it in my mouth. What a proud mommy moment that was. Finally, I get to watch him learn something new! I just love this mimic stage...so darn fun. He proceeded to feed me about 5 in a row. So cute!

Speaking of spending 2 days a week with Daddy, this is what I left at home yesterday morning:

Daddy thinks Eli is a genius...

2009-10-20T15:45:00.004-04:00

...because Eli crawled into the laundry room and knew exactly what to do with Rusty's camelback. I think its kinda obvious but I kept that to myself ;)

OCTOBER

2009-10-19T19:42:00.004-04:00

I just love everything about this time of the year, well, except for the wind-burned lips you get when outdoors for too long :) Here are a few pics from our trip to Burt's Farm up in Dawsonville, GA. These pumpkins were HUGE. Their pumpkin roll was a yummy big hit. It was way toooo crowded to really enjoy our time there but I was glad we went!!

SNEAK PEEK: TURKEY BUTT

2009-10-15T22:58:00.005-04:00

After Eli's 9 mo well visit today, it occured to me to check his Halloween costume to make sure it still fit. Um, not quite...way too short in the arms and legs. He could hardly move around in it...but it was sooo cute :) I'm keeping my fingers crossed that BRU has one in a size 18-24 month and Rusty will be a sweety pie and exchange it for me tomorrow so I don't have to make a trip up to Dunwoody. I had to give Eli my Blackberry to keep him from crying the entire time. This kiddo is going to humor me and wear this costume for Thanksgiving and there is no way he'll be able to get this zipped 5 weeks from now. GOBBLE GOBBLE.

OF COURSE, I have a back-up. hehe Eli is going to wear this one to his friend Cameron's first birthday costume party next weekend. This is the only peek you get for now...

2009-10-14T21:01:00.001-04:00

This is my new adorable siggy that Jill made for me on IV. Love it!!

Oh durn...the right side is cut off. I need to figure this out. My lack of blogger smarts is paining me.

TOOFERS

2009-10-14T19:53:00.003-04:00

A shot of the little man's teeth comin in :) Look at that gap between the top middle two! Going to be so adorable.

Rave: Kashi Frozen Entree - Chicken Florentine

2009-10-07T15:20:00.003-04:00

I just had to share my RAVE about Kashi's frozen chicken florentine meal. It is my favorite one and I've tried them all now. It is very creamy compared to their other flavors and super garlic-y. I ate it for lunch today at work and several people commented about how good it smelled. Lots of spinach too. Umm ummm....definitely worth a try. I found them at Wal-Mart with a peel coupon on them for $1.50 off. I think final price was $1.25 each. Way awesome price for a yummy healthy meal coming in at 290 calories :)

9 Months Old Today

2009-10-07T12:42:00.008-04:00

My little man is 9 months old already. I had no clue that this journey as a new Mom would be this action packed in 9 short months. Just last night, Eli got mad and hit me on the mouth when I told him NO for pulling on my laptop cords. I keep looking for anything, even a shred, of my little laid back chill baby boy and he is gone. Bu-bye. What we have now is a humongous not-afraid-to-display-his-emotions strong-willed speedster who obviously thinks he doesn't need his Mommy telling him what to do anymore. The Terrible Twos are sounding down-right frightening at this point. I think the turning point was when Eli tried to bite poor Sophie's face off while choking her:

Here are a few pics from our fun trip to Mimi's last Sunday:

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs Movie

2009-10-06T13:05:00.005-04:00

There is a fantastic coupon good through 10/10 for the new Snow White movie released today. Retail value is $29.99. I just got one for $6.99. Check out this site for all the juicy details:
http://30dollarweeklygrocerychallenge.blogspot.com/2009/10/toys-r-us-snow-white-deal.html

I literally have 2 mins to post so don't have time to fancy it up. hehe Today, Toys-R-Us let me use a 15% off one baby item coupon (the register was able to scan it for the movie) in combination with the $10 off. You really can't beat $6.99 for a Christmas gift :)

Goodbye Live Feed

2009-10-01T23:02:00.004-04:00

Live feed...you are driving me elcrazio. Goodbye. You are dumb because the paedophile creeps can just click a button and you will ignore their browser. Plus, I'm not going to worry about the crazys of cyberspace. I'm choosing to enjoy my kiddo via bloggerville sans your stupid service. Adios.

Busted

2009-10-01T22:33:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Eli decided to escape through the kitchen to who knows where....

....but he didn't get far because he had to stop and check out the newly crawled territory :) Soooo busted little man.

Cereal Bling

2009-10-01T10:53:00.002-04:00

Eli is oblivious that he has cereal stuck on his cheek. hehe

OCD - It finally sunk in....

2009-09-29T16:02:00.003-04:00

I've finally come to the realization that I'm OCD. Of course, I don't think I have a severe case of it (of course :) but I can finally acknowledge that I have it. For a solid week, I've been looking for one little purple ball that goes with one of Eli's toys. Mind you, he has about 20+ balls that go with all of his toys and he certainly wasn't missing it :) I've been looking all over for it every day and it has really been bothering me. I looked everywhere, so I thought. I was **this close** to calling my brothers to see if they hid it on purpose just to mess with me. In hindsight, why in the heck would they do that??? haha Well, I found it sitting in the snack tray on Eli's Jumperoo on Saturday. I immediately ran to my phone to tell Rusty. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? First of all, he could care less and I'm sure he was sick to death of hearing me go on about how this ball was missing. **DEEP BREATH**

I also have a confession....yesterday I ordered a bag of replacement parts from Fisher Price for all of Eli's toys that have small parts (even his Christmas present that he obviously hasn't even received yet. Gaaah). I even ordered TWO spare bags of balls for the toy that was missing the purple ball. HOW AM I GOING TO RAISE A SON WHO WILL INEVITABLY LOSE PARTS TO HIS TOYS OR BREAK THEM WITHOUT GOING CRAZY? :) I can't even go to bed without making sure his play area is put back together and all the toys are"where they go." Oh boy.

How am I going to raise a son and not have him impacted by my OCD issues? I know, I know...I need to let it go. Baby steps. Easier said than done. I've always known I was a neat freak (and certainly not a clean freak) but that dang purple ball just sent me over the edge. Doh. I will do my best to reign in my OCD but I draw the line at anything resembling a pack rat or hoarding :)

My Review of Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Shop and Learn Walker

2009-09-26T22:07:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The Shop and Learn Walker by Fisher-Price is an interactive learning walker that teaches baby through everyday play. The walker features a wide, steady wheel base and a comfortable grip handle for baby. As baby walks, music and lights encourage him to continue and sing along to ABC's and other ...

Cute & Engaging

By Eli's Mom from Atlanta, GA on 9/26/2009

Pros: Durable, Interactive, Fun, Engaging, Promotes Learning

Best Uses: Indoor

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent, Working Parent

My kiddo is 8 mo old and I'd say this is his second favorite toy (FP activity table is his favorite). I was very happily surprised to see how sturdy it is. He started walking with it immediately and now dances to the music while playing with toys in the basket. He has not knocked it over while pulling up on it and loves all the shape toys and groceries. I'd buy this as a gift in a heartbeat.

Eli & the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Shop & Learn Walker

Tags: Using Product, 029

Tags: Picture of Product, Using Product

(legalese)

My Review of Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Fun with Friends Musical Table

2009-09-26T21:40:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

This Bi-lingual activity table from Fisher-Price features interactive characters to encourage baby's learning and play. Characterized light-up faces on activities encourage baby to cruise around the table. Each character has a unique personality to interact with baby. After baby stops playin...

A must buy & worth the money!

By Eli's Mom from Atlanta, GA on 9/26/2009

Pros: Durable, Promotes Learning, Engaging, Fun, Interactive

Best Uses: Group Activity, Indoor

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent, Working Parent

My 8 month old absolutely adores this activity table. There is a huge assortment of songs and modes to put it in. Without a doubt, his favorite part of the table is the phone. He stands up and shakes it and hits everything on the table with it. I don't think my son would enjoy it as much if the phone was attached. I was surprised that the legs are a bit flimsy and I've heard from a lot of moms with this table that their kids can push it around like a walker. It stays upright to my son pulling up on it but it does shift. I highly recommend this activity table. My son has the FP musical jungle, the FP kitchen, FP shopping cart walker and more and this is his favorite...he goes straight to it. He also just started crawling under it and really gets a kick out of that.

Eli playin' with his Fisher Price Activity Table

Tags: Picture of Product, Using Product

(legalese)

My Review of Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Crawl & Cruise Musical Jungle

2009-09-26T15:50:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

With the Crawl & Cruise Musical Jungle by Fisher-Price, baby can put and take one of six included balls in the hippos mouth as he spins a full 360 degrees. The hanging jingle ball rewards baby with music & lights as it is batted at. The crocodile rocks back and forth as baby plays activati...

8 mo old loves his jungle

By Eli's Mom from Atlanta, GA on 9/26/2009

Pros: Fun, Promotes Learning

Best Uses: Indoor, Group Activity

Describe Yourself: Working Parent, First Time Parent

My son is 8.5 months old and loves his musical jungle. It is also sturdy enough for him to pull up on and stand (and he is around 23lbs). My son prefers his FP activity table over this toy b/c it is more interactive but he likes to sit and stick the balls in the elephant ears and spiral.

Fisher Price Crawl & Cruise Musical Jungle

Tags: 042

(legalese)

Hyperlinks

2009-09-24T15:30:00.004-04:00

Can someone pretty please share with me how to get a hyperlink to work on Blogger? I'm VERY frustrated. hehe :)

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you Eric for giving me the 411 on hyperlinks!

Diaper Cakes!

2009-09-24T15:18:00.007-04:00

My friend Amanda is now selling her homemade diaper cakes on Etsy. Check them out! She'll customize them however you like, too :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8057730

I've been a crazy shopping girl

2009-09-18T23:07:00.006-04:00

I just can't stop talking about the awesome deals that Toys-R-Us / Babies-R-Us are having lately on Fisher Price infant toys. Most people either abhore TRU/BRU or love them. I'm tickled pink in love. I've NEVER had a bad experience with their customer service but I do know they are usually more expensive than other retailers of the same items (Wally World, Target, Amazon, etc.) but TRU/BRU offer coupons routinely unlike their competitors and have always happily stacked coupons. So if you shop the sales and work the coupons, TRU/BRU is back in the competition and leading the pack.

TRU/BRU is having a 30% off all Fisher Price infant toys sale and a free $10 pack of Fisher Price diapers with any $25 FP infant toy purchase. So, we have us a double whammie of savings here folks. Today, their 15% off one baby item coupon went into effect....so we have us a triple whammie now :) On top of all that, Fisher Price just sent out $20 off of a $100 purchase from their Laugh & Learn and Go & Grow line of toys (which are the ones on sale for 30% off). WOWZA.

I, gulp, confess that I bought Eli's Christmas present (Stride To Ride Lion), his birthday present (Laugh & Learn Home), 3 stand-up/walking/development toys for Eli (I swear he was in need!) (Crawl & Cruise Jungle, Activity Table & Walker Shopping Cart), our new baby niece and our baby nephew's Christmas presents (these are a secret) and Eli's BFF at daycare's 1st birthday present (Stride To Ride Lion). All with a coupon, or double coupons and 30% off and the diapers to boot. WOOOOOT!

Here is the low down: I spent $206 on 8 sizeable toys and got $80 worth of free diapers. The sticker price total on everything was $458. AMAZING. All of this was purchased with cash from stuff I sold on Craigslist that either I didn't use anymore or Eli stopped playing with.

I feel like I cheated on Craigslist with TRU :) Oh, let me not forget one more prop for TRU...I bought the crawl & cruise jungle right before the 30% off sale started, and they gave me a credit for the difference. They didn't have to do that. So nice. So I included that purchase with the total for the shopping spree this week.

EDITED TO ADD: The 30% off of all Fisher Price infant toys and free $10 pack of FP diapers with $25 FP infant toy purchase at TRU/BRU was good through Saturday, September 19th. The current 15% off one baby item coupons are good through 10/1 (one is 9/18-9/24 and the other is 9/25-10/1 and these are in the same booklet from TRU/BRU) and the $20 off of $100 FP coupon is good through December 1, 2009. I wonder if TRU/BRU will mark down their FP infant toys again before Christmas? Hummm. Since I'm new to this baby business, I'm clueless as to what the trend has been in the past.

Daycare

2009-09-17T12:39:00.004-04:00

Eli getting busy at daycare a few weeks ago. Rusty was dropping him off and he crawled as fast as he could to his friend Cameron (who is 2-3 months older) to start playing at the table. So today, I got to see Eli walking while pushing the exersaucer (which is in the background of this picture--one leg of this thing is stationary and the other two roll in a circle around the stationary leg). My lil man is growing up way too darn fast.

I took the spoon off lockdown

2009-09-16T21:42:00.004-04:00

After 4 months of not touching the spoon while we fed him, Eli finally got his little mitts on the goods. I made a bit of oatmeal & cinnamon for him to play with. Good times ensued.

RAVE: Immaculate Baking

2009-09-13T20:56:00.007-04:00

Publix has Immaculate Baking cookie dough on sale this week for 2 for $4. I've never seen them before but then again I usually am looking the other direction intentionally. These things are fantastic. They use organic flour and sugar and all natural ingrediants. Super yummy flavors too although our Publix only carried the chocolate chunk, oatmeal raisin and sugar. We tried the chocolate chunk and they are just perfect. A bit crispy on the edges and gooey and soft in the middle. One package has 24 cookies. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Now I'm off to bed with a lingering chocolate chip cookie scent in the air...aaaaah.

Check out the website to see what stores near you carry them and give them a try. Definitely worth it. http://www.immaculatebaking.com/

Edited to add that I accidentally just found the biscuits and blueberry scones at Whole Foods at an end cap. 2 for $7 I bought 'em and can't wait to try 'em out :) Yummmy. I'll be sure to post an update after we've tried them.

Coupons this Sunday!

2009-09-11T11:39:00.004-04:00

Rumor has it that there may be up to 5 coupon inserts in this Sunday's paper...so don't forget to clip clip clip :) You really can save a lot of money if you use 2 manufacturer's coupons in conjunction with a BOGO deal at Publix or on the the 10 for $10 deal at Kroger (for you Southern shoppers :)

To my sister the coupon virgin: Mandy--don't forget to buy a Sunday paper (or two but check to see if the coupons are worth your while before you buy any additional). I can just picture you now sitting at Looney Bean with your paper and scissors. It could be your weekly get-a-way :) Love you and miss you HORRIBLY.

I'm a slacker!

2009-09-11T10:42:00.008-04:00

I left the camera battery charger and cord at my sister's. Whoops. I am really going to try to get better at blogging in the future. Hum, maybe this is a good excuse to buy a new camera. I do definitely need one anyway...

Also, I added a live feed for the sole purpose of making sure people with bad intentions don't frequent my blog. Somehow over Labor Day weekend, this blog registered 11,500 hits. Not sure what is going on, and I'm positive the hits are NOT legit, but I do want to make sure those disgusting child porn sites we keep hearing about that steal blog photos aren't stopping by :) Maybe its just that the counter thing-a-ma-jig is on the fritz but I still need to make sure creepy folks aren't stalking my baby. Sooo wrong.

Here is a pic of Eli licking his Jack's Harvest apples and cinnamon out of the bowl last night. He didn't believe me that it was empty. This was after he also scarfed down some butternut squash and sage.

P.S. - Please forgive yet another craptastic pic from my phone :) And yes, that's a double chin you see....what do you expect from a kid was this big in the womb at 39 wks....

Tippy-Toe Action

2009-08-22T20:49:00.005-04:00

The boy knows no limits. He thought he'd get his froggy paci but got distracted by the previously undiscovered screwdriver. I think not, son. Oh, that's fresh drool all over the rug, not crud :)

Rave: Craigslist

2009-08-22T20:32:00.003-04:00

I'm still a Craigslistoholic in case you were wondering :) It pains me to pay full-price for baby toys and I just won't do it! Love me some Craigslist. I ended up getting 2 walk-n-ride thing-a-ma-bobs, a Vtech helicopter with balls and a Little Tikes sports center for $40. All from the same lady who was so excited to see them move on to a new family. They are in awesome condition. I washed them down today and Eli got busy. Whew.

Earth's Best

2009-08-22T20:17:00.004-04:00

I stocked up at Babies-R-Us today like a crazy lady. I just finally did the math and they were $.30 a jar. So I got 30 jars for $9. That's awesome for Earth's Best organic (2nd food - 6 mo+)! I love me some coupons and sales. The sales peep was like "Do you have any more coupons?" She was being serious...she was getting a kick out of me working the coupons and getting such a deal. She even remembered to ask me for my Rewards Card. Fantastic :)

Pssst...the HappyBaby organic puffs were $1 a thingy! $3 regularly. There is a $1 coupon hiding under the lid of the banana ones. Ssshh! The greens taste better than the naner ones. I swear. Weird but they do. Kale, collards and spinach. Ummm.

First official big boy toy

2009-08-21T21:18:00.004-04:00

And now he is scared to death of it. Let's just say this kid isn't so fond of talking Zebra's. Grand idea I had to turn it on. The exersaucer is about to get broken down into a toddler table, we're picking up a few walk & ride toys tomorrow and packin up the baby gear. Tear :( We're moving on to throwing food on the ground, eating dog hair off the floor and trying to squeeze into places we don't fit (like under the couch).

Blueberry Applesauce....ummmm

2009-08-21T21:13:00.003-04:00

Here's my newest baby concoction. Organic Gala apples and blueberries. The combo was a big hit. I know, I know. Nerd alert.

Houston, I think we have a problem!

2009-08-21T21:08:00.003-04:00

What in the heck am I going to do with these darn shelves now that I have a kid who crawls and skedaddles all over? Oh, and these shelves are right outside Eli's room. Whoops. I've got to rethink this. Geez Louise!

New Baby Food Combos

2009-08-15T22:03:00.007-04:00

Eli had quite the adventurous week of fresh organic fruits and veggies. Here's what he had going on:

Broccoli, spinach & carrots
Strawberries, blueberries & kiwi
Peaches & kiwi
Bananas, peaches & kiwi
Avocados
Honeydew Melon
Pineapple
Peas & green beans
Okra & carrots

Yup, OKRA. My friend Shannon shared some yummy fresh okra from the backyard garden and, voila, here is my okra adventure:

So, doesn't look too appetizing but I bet the turkey butt gobbles it up :) We'll see tomorrow.

Morning Nap

2009-08-10T14:48:00.001-04:00

This is how Rusty found Eli sleeping this morning. Rusty gave him a bath, lotioned him all up and put him in his bed to play while he got everything together to take him to daycare....

Cruisin in the Big Boy Seat

2009-08-07T09:17:00.004-04:00

Eli loves his new big boy seat. First of all, he can SEE!! He leans forwards and keeps looking to the left and the right quickly like he is in shock at what's out there. He can also kick the baby mirror and play with it. Most of all, it is so much easier to function that the darn infant seat. So mama likes!

Psst...my phone takes craptastic pics :)

Yummy Playmat

2009-08-05T09:54:00.004-04:00

Instead of playing with his bazillion toys, my child prefers to take apart the playmat and eat it. Oh boy :)

UPDATE: I've temporarily outsmarted my kid without resorting to duct tape. I put a few of the extra squares and edges down for him to play with. He has yet to pull apart his mat since! Yaaaay me. We'll see how many minutes this lasts :)

Lights, Camera, Action

2009-08-04T10:18:00.003-04:00

Yup, more pictures. The Wouters' cousins had an inpromptu pic session this past weekend to memorialize their first meeting.

Penelope 5 yrs - Eli 7 mos - Beckett 3 wks

Recouping From Chaos

2009-08-04T09:33:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was all kinds of crazy but, whew, on to a smooth sailing Tuesday so far :) The Pathfinder wouldn't start yesterday morning and I was in a frantic rush to get to work (after about 4 hours of sleep upon returning from the weekend in FL) b/c we had a new associate starting and I'm the first point of contact for the newbs. :) So Rusty jumps me off and on my way I go with jumper cables in tow. Then I get a call later that morning that I had a new battery and was good to go. I had no idea he snuck into my work parking deck, tools in hand and got 'er done. Awwwww...I thought I'd have to get another jump after work to make it to pick up Eli from daycare and head to an oh-so-dreaded car place. THANKS BABE!!! So then Rusty is on his way to Outreach and his car breaks down. teehehee All in all, it only cost $107 for my battery and $200 something to fix Rusty's coolant leak issue. Eli and I picked Rusty up last night and now he is at the mercy of his friends for the next few days until his car is up and running.

So after a crazy Monday at work, the car ordeals, etc., I get home to a wonderful birthday surprise. My family hired a cleaning crew to deep clean the house. We're talking blinds dusted, shower/tubs scrubed, window sills clean, tables Pledged, shelves dusted, furniture moved and cleaned under, all class cleaned (even windows and mirrors), area rugs vaccumed. There wasn't a dog hair in sight. They even folded towels on the oven door handle all purty like and folded the blanket on the couch. Amazing! These people even cleaned the baby changer thingy under the countour pad!! I feel so loved. This is like giving me the gift of time :) More time with my family and more time to relax. It is perfect and I'm one happy sister/daughter/sis-in-law :) Thank you guys...I appreciate it immensely and will never ever forget it. I'm still walking around on cloud nine. Oh, and the icing on the cake, is that now I think I can officially get away with instituting a "no shoes in the house" rule. So far, so good :)

We broke down and bought Eli a convertible car seat last night. Its just a car seat and why have I been stressing about it?? It isn't a purchase that requires a loan. haha We have a Maxi Cosi Mico infant seat b/c it is one of the seats that can be used with our Bugaboo stroller. Soooo I've been struggling with my loyalty to the Maxi Cosi and the fact that the convertible seat only goes to 40lbs. What to do? Well, ole Target had the Maxi Cosi Priori ON CLEARANCE for $90. They only had one and I've never seen them on display in the store so I'm assuming it was an online return. Too good a deal to pass up. I'm an easy sell when on sale :) Its on the smaller side for convertible seats but should fit nicely in Rusty's Jetta. It also reclines quite conveniently for our little car sleeper. Not sure how long our 22lb 7 month old will fit but the infant seat is officially pooped out :)

Here are a few pics for ya of our little Turkey Butt in Target during our shopping excursion last night. He was 100% boy and not about to sit in that durn baby seat when there was so much to see!

Eli and Daddy making goofy faces at Mommy!

KOBE BRYANT

2009-07-24T15:10:00.024-04:00

KOBE - RIP - JULY 24, 2009

Today we said goodbye to sweet loyal Kobe, who I have had for just about 11 years. She had a long happy life and here is to hoping she gets to chase squirrels 24/7 in doggy heaven :) I love you Kobe and I'll never ever forget you, our great adventures together or the impact you had on my life! I miss you already.

WONDERFUL WEEKEND :)

2009-06-28T20:37:00.006-04:00

Well, the weekend if winding down. Somehow, it felt long, busy and relaxing. Our first anniversary...I can't believe it! I confess I was a bit weepy yesterday while reflecting on the past year. Rusty completely surprised me and gave me a little Tiffany blue box before we left for the wedding last night. A pair of black onxy ball/bead earrings. They are perfect, very retro looking and very me. I warned him that he set the bar high! Eli's Aunt Molly babysat while we went to the wedding. It was great to get out and meet new people, most of them Rusty's Life friends. Hilarious. Yummy southern food.

My sis-in-law MaryCarson sent us the sweetest box of goodies. For our anniversary, she sent us the 50 First Dates DVD, macadamia nuts, a pinapple candle and a coconut candle to remind us of Hawaii :) Here she is about to give birth to our precious little nephew and she is sending us thoughtful anniversary gifts. Thank you MC!! We watched the movie this morning....so cute!!

SWITCHING GEARS ALERT! Rusty made and installed a diaper sprayer for me. WOOT WOOT. What a sweetie pie. I now have 18 cloth inserts that we are going to use when home. The new gDiaper cloth inserts are not nearly as bulky as the prefolds we have or the flushies. Our new daycare gave out a big fat NO to our gDiapers but I'm gonna soak 'em with a whole lotta southern and see if I can get my way. hehe Hey, its for a good cause.

Lil turkey butt passed out early tonight. He was Mr. Personality all day. He's been eating organic green beans these past few days and loves them just as much as peas it seems. I made some more blueberries and his little face looks so darn cute all plastered purple :) Its the little things...put a big ole smile of pride on my face.

Look at those thighs! He comes by them naturally. hahaha

ELI MEETS AUNT LYNN FOR THE FIRST TIME!

2009-06-24T14:36:00.004-04:00

We met Rusty's sister Lynn at the Atlanta airport for lunch today during her layover on her way to London! Lucky! Eli loooooooves his Aunt Lynn. She is fun to play with (not to mention a good sport when Eli drooled all over her the entire time)!! :) We get to see her again in a month on her way back from London. Woo Hoo!

P.S. - Gotta love the belly shot :)

BABY LEGS!!

2009-06-24T10:36:00.003-04:00

Anyone not splurge on a pair of Baby Legs yet but really wanna try them out? They are awesome for a crawling baby or to throw on your kiddo in a jiffy if you are somewhere with A/C blaring. I have 2 extra pairs. I ordered them from Babysteals.com and they never showed up. They sent me out another set and, voila, like 4 days later the original pair shows up. They told me to keep them. So, here I am offering them up to you fine folks! :) Pic below. Let me know if you want a pair. We're all about sharing the love.

FRIDAY....Yaaaay!

2009-06-19T20:34:00.003-04:00

So while I have Rusty busy taking pics of el crapo that we need to list on Craigslist and get rid of, I thought I'd sneak on here and do a little update. Since my life now revolves around my kid, I'll update you on his room. The final touches have been added and I swear I'm DONE. The $1.99 red Ikea frames are up, the roman shade that is non-returnable that doesn't fit inside the window is functional at least and the ever-so-looming-over-the-baby's-head Ikea bookshelf is ready and waiting for Eli to get his read on.

The only other exciting event of the day is our new BLACK GDIAPERS. If momma likes black, then baby likes black. :) Because I'm the Mom, that's why! haha

Oh, and let me not forget my 2 attempts to get Rusty's Father's Day gift today. I'm headed back out tomorrow at 9 a.m., Starbucks in hand, birthin hips sashayin, baby stroller on a mission and ready to plow through people with more patience than me. I know what I want and I will get it. Don't mess with a new Mom folks...we have nerves of steel :)

2009-06-19T20:31:00.001-04:00

Feelin better....say cheese!

2009-06-19T14:12:00.003-04:00

Whew, after a long sleep-less night, my little goober is back to his cheery self. The pic quality is bad b/c it is from my phone but I had to act quick.

My first attempt at blogging!

2009-06-14T15:49:00.030-04:00

Instead of inundating my Facebook page non-stop with pictures and ramblings about Eli, I thought I'd blog. Plus, my Mom refuses to FB (which is probably a good thing :), so here's to hoping she'll read my blog. Love you Peetle.

First things first, I made headway with the play "area." Desperate times call for desperate measures, so we now refer to half of the den as the play area. It works. I ain't complainin. Deal of the week, 3 Pottery Barn off-white leaning shelves off of Craigslist for $125. I'm still grinning about this find.

Second accomplishment of the weekend, baby gates! Well, they are solely intended at this point to keep the pups out of the den, play area, kitchen and Eli's room b/c my germaphobia has kicked into high gear, much to Rusty's horror. He's over it. I'm ridiculous. I know. :)

Baby Food! You know I'm addicted. Anyways, I added mango to Eli's pears in the babycook and he now has a new favorite...peas have been demoted to 2nd best.

Family friendly parking. How did this just now enter my life? Where has it been for the last 5 months. Ikea is my new fav! These spaces are just too good to be true...wide, long, close to the door, the people waiting for your spot all have the patience of Job, yadda yadda...I could go on and on.

And lastly for the weekend, turkey butt has officially outgrown his swing. I can't get both sides of the straps to connect and he tries to roll out. He assaults the mobile constantly. Poor lil lamb swing. Time to say goodbye and go into storage.