Ryleigh is 9 months old!

{ignore the fact that I should be doing laundry}

I can't believe it!!! Well, first I STILL can't believe she is a girl and then I can't believe she is just 3 months away from being 1!

We had to stop by the peds office to check her weight since I have yet to buy a scale but she weighed in at a whopping 16 pounds! I have no clue how tall she is at the moment but I may break out the tape measure later.

When people see her and comment on how big she has gotten I kinda want to laugh. She hasn't gotten bigger she has just gotten older. I love that she is my little peanut. As small as she is though she wears age appropriate clothes. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

As far as new stuff there is a lot going on. She finally started eating food around 7 1/2 months. She eats mostly whatever we are having but will eat some baby food. This drives my grandmother bonkers because for some reason she thinks that fresh steamed veggies aren't as good for her as baby food veggies. No clue. She will drink from a cup. It is still a little hard for her to hold it up but she does ok. She normally lays back on the bean bag chair with her cup and watches Mickey Mouse. I have never had a child interested in TV this young. She really likes Mickey.

Yes, she is still breastfeeding. She nurses about 4-5 a day times still but once is around 12-1 am. How long will she breastfeed? Well, my typical answer is however long she wants. This answer tends to shut people up when it comes to voicing their negative opinions. The truth is... I am not sure. I nursed the boys until about 1. Braxton woke up 3 days after his one year birthday and just stopped. Rogan was closer to 16 months. He was a little harder and also the only child who never had a bottle and held on to the paci a little longer. Parker stopped nursing around 10 or 11 months when he could drink milk because I was working at the time and it was just too much. Ryleigh can stop whenever is good for her. Charles is ready for that to be tomorrow! But she is my last baby and I don't want to rush things, they are flying by as it is! Do I think I will be nursing her at 2? I doubt it. I don't see anything wrong with it but 12-18 months seems to be a good time frame for me and for our family.

She is CRAWLING! Over the last week she has gone from moving a couple feet to across the house. She never really did the "army crawl" like the boys but has been up on all fours. I cannot think about her walking soon. She doesn't really stand or pull up on things just yet so I am thankful for that!

She still says DADA and BUBBA. She refuses to say MAMA. She will cry for me and is starting to reach for me to pick her up. She thinks she is supposed to be on my hip at all times and I don't mind too much. I am kinda fascinated with her. She is in LOVE with Parker. I am sure the fact that he is here with her all day helps but whenever he is around she lights up. He does so good with her most of the time! This morning he tried to shoot her in the head with a nerf gun but mostly he adores her. He calls her Ryleigh bug or baby girl and helps her and tries to teach her things. It is precious.

I can't believe time is going by so fast and before you know it that girl will be having a birthday!

In My Free Time

Along with all of the day to day there are a lot of things I have planned to accomplish this year. While I need to make sure that my priorities are in order before venturing on to accomplish this entire list, I do think it is important to have things that are "mine". I need to be my own person and not just the mom and the wife.

Here we go. This is a HUGE list so while I don't expect to get to everything, I can look at it and have some direction.

Sign.
I am taking a sign language class now and this is something I can do anytime and anywhere. I absolutely love it and am having a great time learning!

Read.
I have been keeping up with my daily bible reading! I also love to read books. Lots and lots of books. I got a kindle for Christmas and I am in love with it. I would like to make a list of books that I have read but I am too chicken that all of you people will laugh at my obsession with all things teenager and vampire related! but since the secret is out... I may just have to come up with something.

Craft.
One hand made item for each holiday. Preferably some sort of home decor. I am the world's worst decorator and I thought this would be a simple way to add some of my personality to the house. I already have something in mind for Valentine's Day. And my optimistic side is wanting to make Ry a shirt AND try making conversation hearts. We'll see how that goes. I also have a few crafts in the works for family and friends.

I know that this is all on top of kids, cleaning, husband, baseball, school, worship team, and everything else but these are the things I love. As they get accomplished I will be sure to share so that everyone else can love them too!

Back in the saddle

I have not been couponing the way I was. Or at all really. It takes time and well, I just didn't want to spend time on it. But here we go again.

Yesterday I spent a total of $221.25 and saved $120.49. Could I have done better? YES! But since we were out of a lot I had to but what was available and not what was on sale and since I have been forgetting the paper each week I didn't have some of the coupons I could have.

I won't share everything but here is my trip to Publix:


Here is what I bought:
2 YoBaby Yogurt 4 packs (found a coupon after I got home!)
2 Select Harvest soups
3 Gerber fruit puffs
4 Ragu spaghetti sauce
2 bagged salads
1 quart heavy cream (that stuff was $5!)
2 cans evaporated milk
2 small containers of Country Crock
20 jars of Beech Nut baby food
1 box Beech Nut baby oatmeal
2 Pillsbury breadsticks
2 Pillsbury cinnamon rolls
2 boxes of Capri Suns (not pictured)
10 Yoplait yogurts
2 Blue Diamond salted almonds (1 isn't in the pic because I was eating it)
eggs
20 pack of Coke (not pictured)
Cottonelle toilet paper (not pictured)

Okay, I know that is a long list. The one from Winn Dixie is longer! And when you are shopping with 2 small children you can only imagine how long it takes to get everything and make sure all your coupons are ready and for the right thing!

Anyway--- Here are a few of the things that I bought and what I paid for them.

THE BAD

COKE! I try to pay between $1.50 and $2.50 at most for a 12 pack. Instead I paid $5.99 for 20.

Carnation evaporated milk. I bought this at Publix even though I knew it was on sale at Winn Dixie because of time issues. I ended up spending 70 cents more than I would have. It isn't a lot but things like that add up!

THE GOOD

20 jars of Beech Nut baby food. This isn't really my favorite but she doesn't eat a lot of it and for the price I couldn't pass it up.

20 jars at 57 cents each = $11.40
but they were BOGO = $5.70
and a $2 coupon = $3.70
which makes each jar 18.5 cents!

10 Yoplait yogurt. It amazes me how much yogurt costs! My boys eat it all the time and Ryleigh eats one every morning for breakfast. I rarely buy any for myself because of the price.

10 yogurts at 75 cents each = $7.50
on sale for 50 cents = $5.00
1 target q for 50 cents off of 10= $4.50
2 mani q's for 50 cents off of 4 = $3.50
making each one 35 cents!

And my last favorite. Blue Diamond almonds.

2 cans of almonds at $3.19 each = $6.38
on sale BOGO = $3.19
2 q's for 50 cents off = $2.19
making each can of almonds $1.09!


Not the best trip but I am not complaining! Hopefully I can stick to it this time around! I like to save money and the more I save the more we can do for others! Not to mention all the food I can donate now!!!

Operation Try New Foods: Avocado

Random conversation with Parker this morning:

Him: Momma, did you remember that fruit thing we tried. The ah-buh.... ah-buh...
Me: Avocado
Him: Yep the ah-buh-cado. It didn't like to be in my throat (or froat as he says).
Me: Oh yeah? You didn't like it?
Him: Yeah, I did but it just didn't like to be in my throat or my belly because I taste weird!
{insert incredibly cute giggle here}

I know I say this everyday but that child cracks me up! He has the craziest imagination and comes up with the most random things!

I know everyone on the planet has had avocado before. I eat guacamole occasionally but I haven't ever had just plain ol' avocado. We looked online and read a little about where it came from and if it is a fruit or veggie. I think the boys were a surprised about the answer. Charles wasn't around to try it but I have a feeling he would have been as impressed as I was.

That thing was gross! Maybe I got a bad one or it wasn't ripe or something. The boys didn't really care for it and I thought it tasted like eggs. Weird. And the texture was a little odd too. I guess I thought it would have a creamier, smoother consistency. While I am glad we tried it I doubt that is something we will be having again any time soon.

Time to grow up

I am not the best housekeeper.

I also think that is an understatement.

I know that no one actually enjoys cleaning but I just cannot make myself get up and do it some days. Call it lazy, procrastination, whatever. It's just how it is. When the house gets messy I tend to leave and when I leave I tend to spend money. See the problem?

In my daily bible reading I have been learning about Joseph. Joseph had every reason in the world to be bitter. He was sold by his brothers into slavery yet in every chapter, no matter how much worse his situation got, he prospered. As a slave he was put in charge of the entire household. In prison the bible said that the warden didn't even have to worry about anything because Joseph was in charge. I can't imagine that he was given these responsibilities because he was moping in the corner. He was noticed for the hard work and good attitude he had despite of where he was.

Now I am not saying that I am in any way in a situation similar to his. I am beyond blessed and I think that I could use a lesson in appreciating what I do have and taking care of what God has given me. Instead of complaining about all the dishes I have to wash or the time I spend in the kitchen cooking I should be thankful that I have never had to go hungry. My children get three meals and a million snacks every day. I look at the huge laundry pile and instead of counting the number of loads and hours of washing and folding I need to see that my children have clothes that fit. They aren't depending on others old clothes (not that there is anything wrong with that and I will take them if anyone wants to share!). They will never have to go barefoot and they will never have to be cold. I look around the house in general and there are toys everywhere. We have so much stuff that there is no more room to put it. There are floors to clean and a yard to mow. But at the same time this is where my kids grow. It's where they play and invite friends to play.

I am not comparing Charles to a prison warden but I would like him to not worry when he isn't around about the things at home. I want him to know without a doubt that his needs will be met. At this moment I am sure he has to wonder about things or ask me to make sure they are done. I want him to know that I am not out spending money recklessly. I kind of have a habit of doing that occasionally. :)

I am not trying to brag about anything or act like I have so much more than everyone. I just need to realize that I do have a lot. That God has given me a lot and it is time that I am more responsible for those things. I want my children to appreciate what they have and not take for granted how blessed we are.

Like everything else though, I can only do one day at a time.

Operation Try New Foods: Asparagus

I know it is absolutely insane that I haven't had asparagus.

I have had it once or twice but I have never bought or cooked it. There are quite a few foods that I am sure are common household items that I have never touched.

I didn't really do a lot to them. Just looked around a little online and figured out how to prep them. I bent them on the bottom until it snapped and the stem looked fresh and then cut the rest to that length. It was about 2 1/2 inches from the bottom. I coated them with olive oil, sprinkled some garlic salt and then passed them off to Charles to grill. He put them on a hot grill for about a minute or two and turned them again until they seemed ready.

They were really good!!! We have cooked them twice so far and I love it! Brax will eat a couple and Ro will eat one or two. Parker breaks down and cries but at least he tried once. I have no clue how to cook them on a stove but that will come next. :)

If Your Friends Jumped Off a Cliff...

Would you do it too???

Well, IF they lived to tell about it, then YES. I probably would.

It's a new year as everyone by now realizes and for the last 28 of those I have managed to not set any resolutions. I just don't really get it. If I'm going to do something I just start doing it. I don't need to wait for a new year or a certain day of the week or a date on the calendar. Maybe I'm weird. (HA! I said MAYBE!)

But lately I look at my life, the everyday ins and outs, and something has to change. It seems like everyone I know is making lists and so I figure I can too. I'm not trying to jump on a bandwagon or copy anyone but I do believe that if a majority of people you know are trying something there is not harm in trying it out also. If you don't try new things because it's what everyone else is doing then how are you going to find your passions and things that are just fun. (and when I say this I do not mean we should all go out and party it up without a care in the world because I knew people in that scene that didn't live to tell about it) ANYWAY. Yes. God has made me for a specific purpose. Different from any of you but for now, this is it. It's what I got and I am hoping it works.

I am going to blog.

I was aiming for once per week but... what day is this??? I don't care if I write 5 words. I have a whole lot to say and for some unknown reason I feel like everyone out there ought to read it. I'm sure it will be mostly random, I need to update on our new foods! There will be more to come. I am determined. And if you don't see one for a while, text me, call me, email me, smack me, something. Please.

I am going to read my bible DAILY.

My goal for this year is to read the bible. The WHOLE thing. This is the one thing I am on track for so far. I do not care if I understand all the words I am reading at the time but I will read every begot in that book. I will read front to back, well, as front to back as I can with an ebook. I have a daily plan and two amazing people to hold me accountable.

That's it. Really. Of course there are other things I want to do but those two above are things that are important to me and I want to be incredibly serious about.

Other things I have going on:

Learning sign language. It's simply amazing. It's time to myself.

Sing! I absolutely love it!!! Even if I'm not really that good. Me and the boys will be singing a lot. It makes the whole house happy!

I want to run a 5k. At some point. There are quite a few ladies out there right now gearing up for one and it is exciting to see! I would probably have a stroke trying to run to the mailbox. But if my 7 year old son can run 3 miles then I had better at least try. I simply want to be healthy. I want to play with my kids without needing a break every few minutes.

My very last birthday month is coming. Let's make it a good one.

Make it to level 85.

Figure out what this next chapter of our lives is going to look like. No more babies. It's time to watch them grow! I know this is a "rest of my life" kinda goal but I better get used to it at some point.

So. If you see me. Ask. I am probably the most candid person ever (although this is not always a good thing). But I need people there, behind me, with a cattle prod. Here's to 2011!!!