Happy V-day and 4 Years!

Yesterday Jeremy and I celebrated 4 years of marriage! And usually we combine Valentine's Day and our anniversary in one romantic dinner out....But Hey! let's face it.... with 2 kids, 2 and under there isn't much romance around here anymore. And it just doesn't feel right going to a Japanese restaurant without the kids who are so entertained by it! So this year I cooked a nice dinner and we celebrated with a family night!

I am one who is more content with not spending any money and just having a movie night with my hubby and putting the kids in bed early. My perfect way of celebrating!

We had baked potatoes, chicken cor don bleu, broccolli, croissant rolls, salad and homemade strawberry cupcakes that Maci Rose tells everyone, "I made 'dem by mytelf."

Jeremy got me an I Phone 4!! Ok, call me crazy people, but this phone is way too complicated and advanced for me so I'm sending it back. But, I am going to get another nice phone with the same package as the I-phone and I will FINALLY have internet on my phone! I am sooo excited! I'm sure one day I'll look back and wonder how I ever made it without internet on my phone.

 (that is the box with my I-phone in it. It was delivered to my door on V-day. Pretty cool huh?)



After lots and lots of candy and a Valentine's Day party at her school, this little girl was out at 6:45!!

And here's a little video I took of Maci Rose right before she got out of the car for school. I know....I don't have an actress! She never performs right for the camera, but this is all I got! Even if it does have some attitude with it!

 

 

Enjoying Each Other's Company...

One of the main reasons I wanted to have another baby so close to Maci Rose is so she could have someone to play with. My brother and I were only 23 months apart and I loved having a sibling so close in age to me.

Now that Carter is crawling and into EVERYTHING, Maci Rose and him have been able to play together!! It's so cute! It kind of depends on if Maci Rose is in a "sharing" mood or not, but on her good days it sure makes me happy!!

Carter thinks his sister is soooo funny.....

My mom and sister came over on Sunday and while the kids were being bathed I put out Valentine's gifts in their rooms.  When I went to get the camera this is what I came back to find....

he had crawled into Maci Rose's room and they were sharing her sucker..

Needless to say, he could have cared less about his real present after that sucker.

Bathtime is another thing that is hit or miss. Sometimes Maci Rose wants him to get in and play with her and other times she doesn't, but needless to say it is always together because Carter crawls into the bathroom and stands on the side of the bathtub watching and squealing to her. He walks back and forth along the side and knocks off everything on the side of the bathtub into the water and splashes his sister and himself and has a blast whether in the tub with her or not.

 

 

 And then when she is forced to get out of the tub because it is Carter's turn she comes BACK in there and tempts him with all of her cool toys. Here she is just pacing outside the tub waiting for him to get out and play with her...

 And then he stands up in the tub from the other side to see what she's got, & that's when I begin draining the water, because I know he is an accident waiting to happen....

  And now he can push his baby in the stroller along with his sister!

 They can also play chase and hide-and-go-seek...

Now it's time to see how well they play together outside! I hope you all are enjoying this weather!

It's Official...

........that this little girl........

...........IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!!

This past Thursday marked a solid month that Maci Rose has been in panties. This includes at night too! We've had some rough patches for sure, but there have been no accidents for almost 2 weeks now. She has been accident free at school too, which makes her 1 of the 4 children that are potty trained in her class. I thought she was a little late considering she will be 3 in April, but I guess not considering over half her class is still in diapers. This has also decreased our expenses by over $50 a month!

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU MACI ROSE!!!

8 months

Well Carter boy, you are eight months old!! And it hit me this morning that you are only 4 months away from being a year old. Where has the time gone??

I wish I could hold onto these next 4 months forever, but you seem to want to show me everyday something new you can do. You have been getting around on your own since 7 months by crawling/scooting backwards across the room and even bear walking a few times on your hands and feet, but on Sunday afternoon (1/30/11) you took off! So now you are officially crawling!(**forwards that is**)

Everywhere we take you we get comments about how good of a baby you are and how smiley you are. It's funny because you can sit in a stroller at the mall all day long but as soon as you get home you are fussy. When people babysit you they are constantly making assumptions that you are not feeling well or tired because you are fussy, but it's because you don't like to SIT anywhere. You are a go, go, go baby! I could ride you around in the car all day long and you wouldn't ever make a sound. I guess this means you're a social butterfly!

You still DO NOT sleep through the night, but I guess I'll contribute some of that to teething. You have 2 teeth at the bottom and I can see the right one of the top about to come through.

You are still a big boy! You weigh 19 pounds, 13oz. and are 28.5 inches long.

You can wear anywhere from 6-12-18 month clothes!

You eat all day long, but don't seem to like your bottles/formula anymore. You want food! This week alone I have caught you drinking your sister's milk cup and eating the rest of her pop tart this morning. ONE thing is for sure...if you put food out in the room I know you will stay there so I don't have to worry about you falling down the stairs!

You are pulling up on everything!

Last night was so cute....Maci Rose was playing hide and go seek with you and you would crawl over to every closet and door she went to hide in and would chuckle when she would run out screaming 'you found me'!

I love when you grab my face and give me slobbery kisses!Despite the sleepless nights, you sure are one bundle of joy and such a loveable baby! I am so in love with you!! You couldn't be a more perfect son! Happy 8 months Carter boy!

Frugal Friday

A few small changes you can make at home that can add up to big results:

* Save energy. Keeping your fridge too cold wastes energy. Keep your fridge between 37 - 40 degrees and freezers at 5 degrees.

* Save water. If your bathroom fixtures were installed before 1992, replacing your toilet with a more efficient one could save you thousands of gallons of water every year.

* Reduce waste. More than 80% of recyclable bottles end up in landfills each year, so reduce bottle waste and filter your tap water.

Frugal Friday

Recession Busters!!

If you see a sale advertised you automatically assume you're going to save money, right? Think again! Alot of retailers use promotions to sneakily get you to spend more than you have to! Here's how to steer clear of them...

1.) Avoid BOGO: Yes that's buy one get one! The trouble with a lot of these is that stores often inflate their base prices on these items. Plus, the items that go on sale are often more expensive than other options to begin with. For instance, a familiar brand of an item may be on sale but another brand or an off brand might be the better deal. So before you BOGO an item do a quick price comparison to make sure you're getting the best deal.

2.) Decline a door buster! Door-buster sales, like what you see on Black Friday, are becoming more regular. This is because retailers reel in customers that are on a "buy now" mission to a big purchase such as a new tv and usually supplies are very limited. Make sure you do some online price comparing using the door buster's model # before you rush to the store.

3.) Avoid liquidations! A retailer that is shutting its doors will often run a liquidation sale to clear its store completely. But many liquidations are handled by outside companies who reprice many of the items and may possibly increase the prices till the close date approaches. To outsmart them, go right before the start of a liquidation sale. That way the retailer is still in control and has likely drastically dropped prices to recoup as much money as possible!

Catching Up #1

I figured I'd start labeling my Catching Up posts by #'s! School is back in session and things are going full swing over here so I have a feeling you're going to be seeing a lot more of these!

Here's a recap of what's been goin on...


We went to Superior Grill to see Livewire (the band that played at our wedding) play for New Years. Here are a few pics from the night...

I have been painting our foyer and living room and I'm very pleased with the outcome. We still have light fixtures to put up and couch pillows to cover but here is a sneak peak at what it looks like so far...

Maci Rose has been wearing panties since January 3rd. We've had some great days and some terrible days but one thing is for sure..SHE'S DONE WITH DIAPERS! When I mention putting a diaper back on her after an accident she pitches a fit so I'm just going to have to live out this "in between" stage the best way I can.

The worst is when we're out in public and she has to go. She's gone at a Burger King, Walmart, and in a port-a-potty (my church is under construction). Yuck!! I know this phase will pass, but this in between potty training stuff can be very exhausting!

 She's also been best friends with Carter. She wakes him up as soon as she gets up in the morning to play with her, but as soon as he grabs something she doesn't want him to have, she gets mad and asks me "to get the slime off of it." I guess we are going to have to work on the sharing thing.

Carter is crawling, but only backwards, it's funny! He has 2 new additions in the bottom of his mouth. He has been up every 2 hours most nights. It's made for a very tired and cranky mommy and baby. I'm hoping the rest of his teeth don't bother him this much.

And here are a few pictures from the ice storm last week. My mom and sister stayed with us Sunday - Tuesday and we had a blast!! I think we all gained 50 pounds because all we did was play in the snow and then eat and over and over again, but what else can you do when you're snowed in? It almost became a laughing matter every time someone was hungry again. (Guess you had to be there!)

 This was our backyard on Friday! We got tons of snow and it didn't fully melt until after the rain last night!