Our Trip to Florida

I have some catching up to do on our blog. I've been super-busy and slack about updating. Last weekend Chris, William and I traveled to Kissimmee for Chris's Uncle John's funeral. Unfortunately, I had not had the privilege of meeting Uncle John; however, it was a wonderful service and I am very blessed to have had the opportunity to have heard about him and to have met a great deal of Chris's family.

Cadence and Gabriel remained in Greenville as it was their weekend to visit their Nanny and Papa. We felt bad that we were not able to make it to Cadence's Fairy Tale Parade, but we had to head out early Friday morning. She looked amazing in her Snow White costume though and, per the usual, was such a little princess. She had a blast with her parade and totally understood our absence.


Chris was very excited to see his Papa and to introduce him to Liam. We had a wonderful time visiting and I was able to snap this picture of the three of them. I think they all look very similar. They definitely all have the same bright blue eyes.


Liam did VERY well during the trip. He slept like a champ and even tested out his soon-to-be little cousin's travel swing for her. The few times he became fussy, I tossed him into his sling and carried him around. He spent the majority of Friday night knocked out with his hand clenched to the side of the carrier. It was too cute.


We made the drive in about 11 hours each way. It definitely took longer with the Liam but, as I said before, he really handled it well. He only fussed a few times and was happy to just go through his cycle of sleep, eat, play and "talk."

It is nice to know that, at least for the time being, it appears that he travels well.

Taking Some Deep Breaths...

We are about to start a very busy weekend and I'm taking a moment to check in on my Facebook friends and take some deep breaths before the "marathon" starts. Tonight is Family Fun Night, a PTA event at Cadence's school. Tomorrow morning I am volunteering with Let There Be Mom's Seek & Snap before Cadence's first soccer game at noon. Tomorrow evening we are taking the kids to Chick-fil-a for dinner. Hopefully, Sunday will be a bit quieter, but we need to catch up on housework, diaper laundry and regular laundry in anticipation of the trip Chris, William and I are taking to Florida next weekend. Somewhere I'd like to squeeze in some couponing and general grocery shopping as well as a trip to the Farmer's Market. Here's to hoping we can squeeze it all in. Aaaand... GO!

Happy Birthday to the Best Husband and Daddy EVER!

Thirty-four!!

Yesterday was Chris's 34th birthday.

The celebration began on Saturday night when he and I went out for dinner at Saskatoon's. We had planned on going to see a movie as well but we took our time and chatted at dinner. By the time we realized it, we had been there for over two hours. I gave him everything he needed to brew his own beer as his big birthday present as a birthday/anniversary/Valentine's Day present in February. Saturday night I gave him another present - a few pictures that my amazing photographer friend Anna took of me, many of which also featured the other love in his life - his guitar. I am not the type of girl that gets dolled up very often, and I'm usually the one taking the pictures, so he really seemed to like them.


Yesterday Chris had the day off. He spent the morning bottling a batch of home brew and had lunch with his parents. Yesterday evening we took the kids out to TGIFriday's to celebrate. It was free kid night and we also had a coupon for a free appetizer, which I had as my entree. So we ended up feeding four people for the price of one. Yay! We got home and Chris opened his present from the kids - gym shorts (as requested by Chris) and a new tie.





We had intended on baking Chris's birthday cookies that night, but it was too late. They are in the oven as I am typing this. Here they are in dough form:


I also had one last present to give him this evening. It is a jar that contains 366 reasons why I love him. Beginning today, he'll open one each day until his next birthday. The jar originally contained 365 but then I quickly realized next year is a leap year and had to come up with one more. ;)


All in all, I think that Chris had a pretty good birthday. I know that we all enjoyed celebrating it with him! We love you, sweetheart!

Dear God

Yesterday I put my baby boy in a size 12 month outfit. I'm not ready for this. He is my baby. I'm not ready for him to hold a sippy cup, sit on his own or eat solid food. Wasn't he born just the other day? I remember it was a Saturday. Was it last Saturday or the one before that? Why is it that I'm already packing up bags full of clothing that he has outgrown? Why am I looking for rattles and toys instead of swaddling blankets and sleeper gowns? The newborn stage is much too fast. Don't get me wrong. I love this sweet little boy that smiles and laughs back at me. I love this angel that you have sent me that now rolls over on his own and looks at things with such intent that you know he is trying to figure them out. I love him. But I'm not ready for him to grow up. Would you please let him stay small just a little while longer? Let him continue to look at me with those eyes that say "You are loved more than anything" instead of with eyes that roll at me when I say it is homework time and not play time. Let him nurse. Let him sleep on my chest. Let him make squeaky baby noises, even if they must be made at 3am on a work night. Just please let him stay small, just for a little while longer.

Amen.

Our Trip to Atlanta and This Weekend's Activities

Last Saturday we packed the kids up and headed down to Atlanta for the day. Over the past few months I have been stockpiling my Coke Rewards points in hope to save enough for all of us to visit the World of Coca-Cola museum for free. Thanks to my friends family and my WTE mamas, we made our goal! The kids had a great time at the museum and then at the Georgia Aquarium. I found a great deal on tickets to the aquarium ($15 each) so we were able to take our whole family to both the Coke Museum and the Georgia Aquarium for $60.00!

Gabriel was not so sure about the Coke Bear

View in the tunnel

Liam seemed to think that the tunnel was pretty awesome

Everyone had a great time and, aside from Gabe's meltdown between the Coke Museum and the Aquarium, it was a pretty awesome trip.

The big kids were at their nanny and papa's this weekend. Friday night we worked on the cake for Elizabeth's shower. The icing and I did not get along and it turned out sort of splotchy, but it tasted good!

Yesterday Chris had to work and I attended the shower. Last night we went to the Greenville Road Warriors game with some of our friends and had an awesome time.

Today I got up early and did some couponing at CVS and Walgreens. I did really well (I only spent $1.92 for a basket full of stuff at Walgreens). Chris and I hit up Rita's for free ice day and then went to Old Navy to get jeans for Gabe. We did really well there too and only spent $26 on three pairs of jeans (usually $16.50 each). We bought Gabriel's birthday present at AC Moore (with a coupon, of course) and then went to Bruster's to give blood. It was Pint for a Pint Day which means you get a free pint of ice cream for donating blood. We waited in line for about 30 minutes. Once we got inside the Blood Connection bus, I picked Liam out of his car seat to discover he was wet all the way up his back. We had to leave since there really wasn't anywhere to change him. The nice lady gave us a voucher for ice cream anyway. :)

We're saving money. Now what?

We're saving money on groceries. Yay! Now what? We've decided to spend more on groceries. No, we aren't buying more groceries. We've decided to start purchasing organic meat and milk. We may add veggies in the future but we are baby stepping right now. Besides, the local market will be starting up again soon, as will the farm across the street from our neighborhood, so we'll probably buy most of our veggies from those places.

Before heading out to spend my savings, I did what any good couponer would do. I checked out the websites for both Earth Fare and Whole Foods and signed up for their emails. I also "liked" them on Facebook. Earth Fare has a wonderful deal. If you sign up on their website, they'll give you a coupon good for one chicken, a pound of baby carrots and a pound of mashed potatoes at no cost with a ten dollar purchase. I also found some Seventh Generations coupons.

Here's what I bought:

Total before coupons: $48.72
Total after coupons: $27.94
Savings: $20.78 or 43% ...not too shabby!

Stein Mart Boutique Event

As many of you know, my mom works at Stein Mart. She called me this morning to share that the Greenville Stein Mart is having a Boutique Event beginning today and running through Saturday. They will be introducing their Spring line up and will have giveaways, drawings and other fun stuff. Go check it out!! Before you do, make sure you print your 20% off coupon! (You can click "No thanks" on the pop-up and still enter your zip code to receive the coupon.)