10 Random Things

My friend Haley challenged everyone to do a post of 10 random things that have been running through our minds lately. So here is mine...

1.) FOOD. I have been eating HORRIBLY lately. Worse than when I was pregnant. I don't know what is wrong with my motivation. As soon as I wake up I go to the kitchen to get something to eat. I used to never eat breakfast but now I can't seem to go without it. I think it's because I am so busy and sleep deprived that I don't have time to plan my meals, so I just grab whatever I can find and eat it. I have been eating boxes and boxes of cheez-its, wheat thins, and wheatables. I cant remember the last time I had a real meal. I snack all day long! and sometimes all night long too depending on how much I'm up.

2.) POTTY TRAINING. Maci Rose is in panties these days because when she pees/poops in her pull up she takes it off and throws it in the diaper pail and that is getting to be like 5 diapers a day. It gets expensive!! I know she knows the feeling of pee now and doesn't like it in her diaper, but I can't get her to go to the potty. She is great about peeing somewhere and coming to get me and let me know, but when I take her to the potty she never goes. What am I doing wrong?? Am I starting too early? or is it a sign that she is ready since she knows the feeling now? I guess I just need to be patient, but changing panties all day is beginning to be a huge pain and the laundry is piling up fast. (This is a post in itself)

3.) COUPONS. I'm really getting the hang of coupons and the doubling up thing. I'm actually beginning to stock up on some items. I'm proud of myself!

4.) RECORDING. I have been slacking in the video taping department ALOT! And I don't want my kids to get older and not remember things of this age. Maci Rose is hilarious!! I charged the video camera yesterday and have used it a few times. Now I need to figure out how to upload videos to the computer?

The other night Jeremy and I were laying in bed, all the lights in the house were off, and Maci Rose's tv was still on. I went in there at 10:30 and turned it off & she started crying and saying it was too dark and she was scared so I told her to shut her eyes and when she woke up it would be morning and I went back to bed. Jeremy and I laid there listening to her talking and were dying laughing. Jeremy said hurry get the video camera, this could win us money. This is what we heard "mommy mommy daddy daddy I scared, my tv turned off, help, my tv turned off, who turned my tv off? I scared. I cant see momma, I cant see! (then her talking turned into crying) and we heard momma I can't see, so I yelled you better get back in the bed then, She realized I knew she was up and said no momma I gotta poo poo hurry I gotta poo poo!

5.)AUGUST= Baby Month! I have a lot of friends, family members having babies next month and I'm very excited! The next 3 weekends are packed with baby showers! My cousin Amanda is having a little boy named Preston. My neice is having a little boy. Also, my good friend Ambre and my freshman roommate Tiffany are having little girls.

6.) CARTER. I never knew I (of all people) would have a baby who is this huge and in the 75th/99th percentile in weight and height. No one in my family is big. My husband's grandfather was like 6'3 or 6'4 so maybe that's where he gets it. His hands are almost the size of my hands at 2! He is the size of an average 3 month old at 6 weeks!

7.) SCHOOL. I'm really sad and excited about starting school back next month for the fall semester. I'm sad because I have absolutely LOVED getting soo close to my children this summer. I'm with them all day everyday right now. It has been wonderful on their schedules (well Maci Rose at least). However, I'm excited because I can get out of the house and actually have a social life again. I feel like I'm trapped in my house these days until Jeremy gets home. It's sad to say, but I'd rather wait until he gets home and take one child with me to buy groceries/run errands than to tackle bringing both of them out by myself.

8.) SCHEDULE. Maci Rose has been so great on a schedule this summer and I really hope we can keep it up when my school starts back. I have pulled her out of Mother's Day Out for the summer so she is here everyday. She wakes up, eats breakfast, plays, eats lunch & lies down for a nap between 1:30 & 2 and then wakes up around 3:30 or 4, which is when Jeremy gets home from work, and he takes her for a ride on his go-cart or in the sprinkler/yard while I cook dinner. We eat dinner and then get baths and she plays with daddy or watches tv until around 8:30 - 9 and then gets in bed. Since it's the same everyday she knows what the routine is and seems to act more well behaved at bath/bedtime. I have really benefitted from this because it helps me to know when I can have free time and get things done as well. It's hard with a newborn sometimes because he is eating every 2.5-3 hours and sometimes lies awake for the hours in between, but at least I'm only working around 1 child.

9.) EXERCISE. I have been walking on my treadmill for an hour about 3 -4 days a week. It feels great to exercise again. I just got out my ab roller since last September and have been attempting those too. I can only do about 20 a day right now because I'm still recovering a bit, but I have full faith that I will be back to my normal weight by the time Carter is 6 months old. I have about 5 more pounds to go. I weighed 107 at my post partum appointment the other day so I'm getting there.

10.) I would love to read more of these posts, so I challenge more of my readers to do the same!!

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND!!

Dinnertime

I must admit I'm not a great cook and I really don't even like cooking much. I LOVE to bake. I usually offer to bring desserts to parties & family functions because I love baking cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, etc. and I have an awesome banana pudding that I tend to get carried away with eating it while making it and therefore end up having to buy double the ingredients! :)

However, I DO cook even though almost all of it comes from boxes and cans. Nothing is homemade in this household! I like to blame that on the fact that the first year we were married Jeremy and I both worked full time and it was cheaper for us to eat out at lunch and dinner than to buy groceries that went to waste since no one was ever home to eat them. So I didn't cook AT ALL!

I have found these VOILA meals (carried in your grocer's freezer) that have worked wonders many nights in the household. Especially in the past 6 weeks when I have about 0.2 seconds to get dinner ready.

They are only $3.99 a bag and they feed our whole family in one bag. They come in all different flavors and ingredients, but they contain veggies, meat, and pasta all in one big mixture. It's the perfect simple meal. And it's good for you too! A whole bag only has like 600 calories and that is split 3 ways.

Our favorites are cheesy chicken and alfredo chicken.

All you do is pour the bag in a skillet and cover and simmer for 7-9 minutes and VOILA!! (no pun intended)

 

Doesn't this look delicious??

On a side note...has anyone ever had these things??



They are delicious!! I go through a box of them a week!!

Hair it is!!

Look who started growing hair in the past 2 days!! It is not much and not long, but it's there and that's all that matters!

Who would have thought that with my dark hair and dark eyes that NONE of my children would be dark haired/eyed? Of course, I know that Carter's coloring may change, but the hair that is coming in is very light and right now he has really blue eyes!!

He was 5 weeks old as of yesterday, but he just had his 1 month dr. appointment and he weighed a whopping 10 pounds 6 ounces and 22 inches long!! Talk about a big boy!! He was born 5 weeks ago at 6 pounds 9 ounces and 18.5 inches long. What a huge jump in that short of time! The way he is eating though, I didn't expect anything less. This little boy DOES NOT SLEEP! I guess he is my "payback" child for all the sleepless nights I put my parents through supposedly.

However, I must brag a little bit about him for a second! He is either extremely advanced for a 1 month old or Maci Rose was very behind. Carter is doing all the milestones that 3 month old babies do. He has already smiled and laughed out loud. As a matter of fact, he smiles all the time and even smiled for my dr. yesterday when he asked me to show him how I got him to smile. If I do rasberries to him with my mouth, he will smile as if it's the funniest thing he's ever seen!

He's also holding his head up in 45 degree angles, blowing bubbles, cooing and trying to mock my mouth when I make sounds to him. He is very social like I was as a baby, and loves to be talked to and tries to talk back. Unfortunately, since he is so social he doesn't like to miss a beat, meaning he's not very good at sleeping AT ALL! Last night was the first night I had to let him cry from 3 - 4 am because I could do nothing for him. I think he is about to be going to sleep in his crib, because I HAVE to get some sleep! He is still only going 2.5 - 3 hours in between feedings (no matter how many ounces we give him)and by the time you feed him, change him and burp him and then he throws a fit for an hour it pretty much gives me an hour of sleep before the next feeding. Not fun!

Here he is fussing!

I will say this...he absolutely loves his mama! He was crying the other night for 30 minutes straight and Jeremy gave him to me and as soon as I started talking to him he quit crying. Jeremy had tried talking to him many times and he just wouldn't have it. He is definitely a mama's boy and while I love that, it doesn't help me get anything done when I'm here with 2 kids by myself all day.

FOJ Part II

Sunday, we headed to my dad's side of the family pool party. It was so good to see everyone!!

Playing with Thomas.

She helped herself to 2 plates of cake and popped a squat to eat it.

We left there and headed to another pool party and watched a small fireworks show. Carter slept right through it!

We were out so late Sunday night and so tired from all the festivities that we slept in until 9:00 Monday morning. Whoops!! But once we got up and got ready we headed to Alabama Adventure and met up with my inlaws. We had tons of fun in the wave pool and lazy river.

We used LOTS of sunscreen this weekend. We were in the sun all day everyday, but it was a lot of fun!!

Fourth of July Part I

We started our LONG 4th of July weekend on Thursday night and it ended tonight (Monday) at 7 pm. Talk about a long weekend!! and with 2 kids and a baby who isn't much of a sleeper....I think it's going to take me a week to get back to normal!

On Thursday night we took Maci Rose to the Baron's game. Jeremy got free tickets (go figure) and we had great seats right above the dugout!

She had a blast!! And even made it onto the jumbotron!

She caught a ball...(which she threw back on the field before we could even blink) and the nice baseball player in the dugout gave it back to her!

Aunt Aimee and Joey met up with us and Jeremy and I actually got to sit back and enjoy the game. Thanks Aimee and Joey for the free childcare and entertainment! We'll have to do it again soon!

On Saturday we headed to my aunt's pool for some fun in the sun! We actually participated in the yard dart games thanks to all my family who helped watch our children! It's not easy keeping one from jumping in the deep end and disappearing constantly and the other cool and out of the sun and fed, burped, changed, etc.

And this little guy was such a trooper for us. He hung out and let us have a good time and when he got fussy we had a line of people who wanted to hold him.

And this is Maci Rose hanging out on the 4th in the same little bed. I think Carter and her are the same size in these pics except for she was 3 months old and he is only 1 month!

Well, I have a baby to feed, but I'll have another post about the rest of the weekend! I hope everyone had a great 4th!!

Frugal Friday

How to get a cheaper oil change!

When you get your oil changed it's not how many miles but at what hour you go that can save you money! If you take your car in at the end of the day, closer to the shop's closing time, you can avoid "upsells" (the extra suggested repairs) that can turn a quick, cheap oil change into an expensive fix-up.  That's because the mechanics don't have as much time or desire to find additional and unnecessary repairs. So you can get in and out without any unexpected exspenses!!

1 month!!

Carter is one month old today!! I can't believe a month ago we were going in the hospital to have him. Time flies!! Here are just a few updates of things that have happened in his first few weeks of life!

He is eating 4 ounces every 2.5- 3 hours and acting like he's never eaten a meal before when it's feeding time!

It's still rough in the sleeping at night area. Good thing is he doesnt seem to have his nights and days mixed up. He sleeps/wakes just as much in the day and night. He loves to sit up and stare and look around. I don't remember Maci Rose being this alert or aware. It may have something to do with the amount of noise around here. We used to have to try and wake Maci Rose up to eat. Carter doesn't have that problem.

He weighed 8 pounds/11 ounces at the doctor last week and was 21 1/2". That's a weight gain of over 2 pounds in 3 weeks and 3 inches. This little guy is growing like a weed!!

He just starting cooing and trying to talk back when I talk to him and he holds his head up really well.

He has swatted twice now at things you hang in his face. Maci Rose didn't swat at anything until 2.5 months old. I don't know if this is advanced or due to the fact that he has a big sister hanging objects in his face constantly and he can't stand it. Ha!

I took both kids out by myself for the first time yesterday. Maci Rose had 2 spankings before we could even get out of the car, and I was worried about Carter being bad?? I had no problems with him for my first experience. He slept the whole time until we were almost home and I had Maci Rose feed him a bottle in his carseat. That is a luxery that I didnt have with her. She has been a lot of help when it comes to things like that.

I've already gone through a whole refill thing in my diaper genie. They lasted 4 months each with Maci Rose!! I know it's because I have 2 kids in diapers right now, but boys definitely use WAY more diapers than girls. I have to change Carter almost every single time I feed him.

He is already in size 1 diapers. Maci Rose was in NB until almost 2 months.

The only 2 things that I wish would change at this point is the duration between feedings for him and the fact that he is losing so much hair!! Notice I only take pics of him with a hat on.  Look below.. he's almost completely bald now! Help!!

He looks like a baby doll in the swing.

Crying because Maci Rose won't leave him alone.

Poor guy! I think he'll be cute as soon as he gets hair! Right now he looks like a little old man because he is so bald!