Shopping

We found some great buys while buying school supplies today - in fact, one receipt said I saved $101.51! Who knew school suppplies could be so expensive (or cheap in this case!)

While out, I also found some marked down Ensure. To put this in perspective, a case is normally around $7 and this lasts Jake 3-4 days. I bought 3 cases for under $1 total after coupons. Apparently they're changing the packaging and needed them sold... they don't expire for over a year (my first thought was that it must be outdated.) I hate clearing the shelves anywhere, but I am tempted on this one to go back and buy more since we go through it so fast.

Also, have you seen photo stamps? The stamps that you can make with your child's photo on it? I noticed at Walgreens that photo stamp kits were on clearance for $6.11. Each kit comes with a gift certificate for 20 free stamps with free shipping. ($8.80 value) On top of this, when I purchase these online via UPromise, $8 is deposited into Emelyn's 529 college fund each time I make a purchase. I bought 3 kits since I knew we not only need stamps now, but will also use a lot around Christmas time. Once again, I'm tempted to go back and buy more... we'll see!

And finally, for my sewing relatives who want to see, here are the burp clothes I made. I was really happy with how they turned out!

Don't you just love productive days?! Yesterday was cool and rainy and Emelyn took 2 2hour naps. I took advantage of her down times to do some deep cleaning - not only the regular cleaning (laundry, bathrooms, kitchen floors, vacuuming etc.. (even base boards!)) - but I also went through drawers and closets and did a lot of organzing. AND I was able to cook a big bag of chicken breasts, shred the meat and then freeze in individual dishes to use for upcoming meals, as well as ground hamburger doing the same thing. In addition - I even made some burpclothes - ha! Who knew I could get that much done in 4 hours??

Which leaves this sunny Friday free!! After Emelyn's morning nap we're going out to run a couple of errands and visit friends before her afternoon nap. Jake gave me a list of school supplies that local organizations are collecting that he wanted me to buy up so I'm excited to do that. One great thing about saving money with coupons/sales for every day things, is that it frees up a lot of money to do things like this. And I've seen all the ads ($.09 glue, $.19 notebooks etc..) which of course makes me even MORE excited to find good deals to buy even MORE things to donate, even though I doubt I go to more than 1-2 stores.

And now for the purpose of this post. :) It was foggy out as we walked this morning, and with each lap, Emelyn's long "original" hair on top started curling back farther and farther. I had curly hair when I was younger, so I wonder if she will too?

In case I forget

A few things I don't want to forget about Emelyn at this age (9.5 months):

• She loves to give hugs. She'll crawl over and lay her head on my lap, arm, shoulder- whatever is convenient for a quick break while she's playing.
• She loves pillow "fights" with Jake. Jake will take a pillow and lightly tap her and she squeals and giggles the entire time.
• She loves it when Jake "gets her." Jake can give her an onery look and Emelyn about crawls out of her skin trying to get away from him as fast as she can (squealing in the mean time.)
• Cheerios cure everything... any kind of food actually. Same with her sippy cup.
• She loves her blanket - a 2 foot by 3 foot fleece mutlicolored blanket. She literally wads it in a ball and either lays her head on it, or else wraps her arms around it to sleep. (Thankfuly, we have a video monitor so check on her regularly to make sure it isn't in her face!)
• When she sleeps, she's usually up on her knees with her butt in the air; her head is laying on her wadded up blanket and her arms tucked in under her stomach. And until she falls asleep, she runs the blanket through her fingers.
• She has started "telling" me when she's ready for a nap (most of the time.) She'll crawl away from her toys to stand next to me and then lays her head on my shoulder - then she looks at me with her puppy dog eyes, then lays her head back on my shoulder.
• She loves bath time, but when she's done, she's done. At somepoint I guess she gets bored, so looks at us, and starts to stand up and fights sitting back down. She wants out.. now.

I'm sure there are more, but these are a few I don't want to forget because I know she'll change quickly!

Picture Updates

It doesn't seem much has been going on around here, but I know she's changing daily so I've posted some recent (somewhat boring!) pictures below. Disclaimer: Emelyn does NOT sit in her stroller and her high chair all day long... it's just that this is the only time she's still enough to get good pictures of her not trying to grab the camera!

I wish you could "hear" this picture...

Daddy's specialty last night - rice, broccoli and peaches YUM
"Can I have the camera?"

Feeding herself a cereal bar

Laughing at her daddy

A cheesey grin to start the day!

Concentrating on the strap holding her in...

And then as she does with everything... tasting it...

Singing while eating... a common thing around here lately...

"Ew.. there's something on my hands!"

Random Jake thoughts...

Here are a few random thoughts from the week:

• I got up at 5:50 (am!) this morning to go on a walk with Jake - I'm so impressed at his discipline - 1) to actually exercise and 2) to get up so early to do so. It was in the 50's and really nice.
• My neighbor gave us a lot of zuchinni. I knew that since it was green and somewhat healthy, Jake would never try it on his own, so to use it up I made some zuchinni bread. When he got home from work yesterday he was so excited to see that I had made "banana bread" and ate about a half of a piece (telling me how great it was in the process) before I couldn't hold in the laughter any longer. Once I told him the truth, he refused to eat anymore. If I only could have held in the laughter until he'd eaten 2-3 pieces...
• Speaking of Jake... he only uses Pilot G-2 ink pens. Weird, yes, I know. He has them in about every color and carries them with him. Literally, if he needs a pen to work on the daily crossword puzzle and I hand him a pen that isn't a G-2, he'll go to his truck or back to the office to find a G-2. Thanks to back to school sales, I can buy 2 packs of these for $.09 (after tax!) this week so I've been stocking up. I wish you could've seen how excited he was to see 6 brand new pens last night... he did tell me he prefers the .5mm ones over the .7mm ones though (which of course I had bought the .7 ones...)
• On another Jake note - he had bloodwork again this morning. He hasn't been craving ice lately so he thinks his hemoglobin is better. Who knew that anemic people craved non-nutritional things? (I've since been told that some anemic people crave dirt too...)
• In a few short weeks we'll be celebrating our 5 year anniversary! I love him more and more each day - including his funny little quirks - I can't imagine how dull the last 5 years would've been without him!!

Wedding Weekend

We went to Hays this past weekend for my brother, Chris' wedding to our beautiful new sister-in-law, Megan. I am about the worst photographer out there - out of over 170 pictures, I have NONE of my brother!! I also only had 2 from the time we spent with Jake's family AND I didn't have any of Jake, Emelyn and I. *Sigh* Next time I'll do better - and hopefully I'll have some pictures sent to us. Here are a few pictures - they uploaded backwards so you'll see the last ones first.

Emelyn eating supper with my Aunt Kathy and cousin, Ashley. Jake and I didn't hardly see Emelyn all day, starting with the wedding. Since we were both in the wedding, one of my aunts took her during the ceremony and she went from Aunt to Aunt at the reception too!

I thought this one was hilarous! She LOVES this book and was "reading" it on the way to the reception
In the baby room with Aunt Valerie looking into the church during pictures (who was supposedly putting Emelyn down for a pre-wedding nap.)

Checking out mommy's necklace

Emelyn reading with Grandpa... you'll notcie she has her tounge out while concentrating... in case you're curious where she gets that...

.. I think it's from my dad's side...

Jake and I pre-wedding

My beautiful new sister and I!

Dana and I getting ready

Rehearsal Supper at Frontier Park - Jake and Emelyn going down the slide together

My nephew Kayden - such a cutie!!!

Emelyn swinging with Grandma

And then playing with Grandma...

Emelyn and mom

9 MONTHS

Emelyn is already 9 months old! Where has the time gone? Where did the last month go!? We went in for her 9 month check up today and she's as healthy as can be! Appointments are always so reassuring for me - it's nice to have a "professional" look to see how she's developing and to find out if we're doing things right. Especially food - since I nurse and make her baby food, it's always hard to know if she's getting the right things and enough. Our Dr. assured us that she's getting a much wider and healthier variety of foods than Gerber offers, and that nursing is still more nutritional than formula or whole cow's milk and advised us to continue doing this as long as possible. Whew.
On another note, they also tested Emelyn's iron levels. Since Jake missed the appointment to get a blood transfusion, testing to see if she's anemic was a top priority too. Our Pediatrition always asks about Jake's health and encourages us onward - his wife has battled cancer in the past and he shared some verses that kept them strong through the tough days. All this to say, we are SO THANKFUL to have such wonderful Doctors in the area! (And by the way, Emelyn's levels were right on so no anemia for her!)
Here's the past month's summaries: 6 month, 7 month, 8 month and now 9 month:

• 19 lbs, 6.4 oz. (60th percentile)
• 26 3/4 inches (25th percentile)
• Nurses 4 times/day - around 7am, 11am, 3pm and 7:30pm
• Eats 3 full meals a day and can eat most of the same fruits/veggies we eat each day
• She ate meat for the first time yesterday - roasted chicken breast with sweet potatoes, green beans and milk
• Her favorite meal for breakfast: oatmeal with chopped banana and fresh pureed blueberries with milk (all blended together)
• We tried yogurt to introduce milk products but it seemed to make her sick so we'll still wait a while to introduce dairy
• She loves her sippy cup!
• She eats finger foods - cheerios, bites of Kashi cereal bars and graham crackers
• She takes 2 naps/day - mid morning after breakfast and early afternoon after lunch
• Goes to bed around 7:30-8:00 p.m. and wakes up around 7:00 am
• Crawls and pulls herself up to stand
• Starting to couch surf
• Loves to crawl all over mom and dad and then snuggles in for a hug
• She has 4 teeth - maybe 5 - the 5th upper middle tooth seems to be in and out (is that even possible?)
• She is such a joy! We both say all the time that we never dreamed being parents would be this much fun!

Newness

Do you ever look through your closet and find something that you forgot you had? Emelyn has a lot of clothes in the 6-9 month size - too many, really (yet she seems to wear the same 7-10 outfits over and over.) Well I'm holding off on doing laundry until later this week so we picked out a new outfit this morning. Once it was on her, I thought it was really cute (yet almost too small!) and I wish I had put her in this outfit sooner! Looks like we'll be washing it and bringing it to cousin Janessa this weekend.

Emelyn playing with her musical table (we just got this yesterday and she LOVES it!)

Finally a real smile but of course her eyes are closed!
Out for a walk

I love where she puts her feet during the walk...

Tomorrow is Emelyn's 9 month check up, and unfortunately, Jake will be missing it again. He had blood work done yesterday and his hemoglobin levels are down to 6.2. So Wednesday and Thursday he'll be at the clinic getting blood transfusions. Please continue praying for healing for Jake, as well as wisdom as we start to make plans for the near future regarding his health. Thank you so much.

Funny story (to me anyways)

Emelyn is 9 months old today! I'll post more about her age after her 9-month appt this week, but I do want to say that 1) time is flying and 2) this month was even more fun and enjoyable than the last - and I really didn't think it could get any better than it was last month!

Drinking out of mommy's hospital cup - oddly enough, she actually knew to suck on the straw and is able to drink out of my cup!

For some reason, they thought it was fun to put toys in their mouths and act like dogs
Loving on mom... she seems to do this a lot... come lay on top of Jake or I and press her cheek on ours for a moment or two. So sweet!

And now for the story...

When Jake and I shopped for a crib over a year ago, I was looking at style, type of wood, color etc... Jake on the other hand, would grab on to each crib, shake vigorously, and from there, decide how "worthy" it was to hold a baby. At the time, I thought he was being a little over-protective and maybe even naive about what a baby was really going to be like... after all, little girls don't stand and shake a crib over and over do they? Little did I know that we'd have a little girl that thinks just like her daddy.

Shaking with all her might!

Good thing we lowered the crib a few months ago!

Favorite Friday Fotos...

Emelyn loves crawling all over dad and in this case, is using his head as a step stool

"Hello Mom!"
It seems more and more pictures are turning out like this... up close and personal with someone determined to get the camera.

Another favorite these days - getting to hold her own sippy cup to drink.

She acts like she doesn't want daddy to "get her" but can't stop laughing once he does!

Who needs toys? Frosted Flakes boxes are just as fun!

..as well as mom and dad's shoes... at least until she hears the word "no" ... which she knows is coming in this picture...

Bargain of the week...

For some time now, I've been tempted to post a weekly blog telling about one of my favorite bargains/buys of the week. Yes, I realize that sounds sad, but this is such a fun hobby of mine - finding a good deal on groceries or household items. I know it's good to save money, but more so, I just love finding a good deal on "nessecities", which leaves more for other things (at present, it seems Dr bills, but hopefully some day for more fun things!)

That said, this week for whatever reason, was a great week to stock up on snack foods! We try (note the word "try") to eat 3 healthy, well-balanced meals each day, with a couple of small snacks. In saying that, I did buy 4 packages of Keebler Pecan Sandies for $.25 each at Walgreens this week - but since that doesn't count as snacks, I'll write about another trip - Target. Here's what I bought:

10 boxes of Eggo Bake Shop Muffin Tops - $1.50
2 boxes of Kashi Cereal Bars - $2.50

For weeks now I've been seeing $1.50 off Kashi product coupons and have been saving them (but somehow left all but two at home - oh well - maybe I'll be around Target again sometime this week and actually have the coupons with me.) I've also seen a lot of $1 off Eggo Bake Shop coupons and had 9 saved up. (At 140 calories per 4, the Mini Muffin Tops are my favorite mid-morning "pick me up!")

I had been hoping for a good sale somewhere and finally found one. On top of that, Kelloggs has a promotion where you get $10 back if you buy 10 Kelloggs products (Eggo is a Kelloggs product.) Also, Target has online store coupons that you can use along with any manufacturers coupon and they have a $1 off any 2 boxes Kashi cereal bars this week.

So, for the 12 items I listed above, I ended up paying $7 + $1 tax after my coupons and will get $10 back from Kelloggs ... basically 3-4 months of snacks for free! Even if I wouldn't get the $10 from Kelloggs this was still a great buy I thought. Yeah for sales and coupons!

Extended weekend

Jake took off at noon on Thursday to spend the afternoon with Emelyn and I. Once Emelyn went down for her afternoon nap we started painting. By 10pm we were done - two coats of paint and all the trim was done as well. We didn't think it would go as fast as it did and were pleasantly surprised to be done so soon! During Emelyn's nap we both painted and from the time she woke up until she went to bed at 7:30 we took turns painting/playing with Emelyn in her room. We spent Friday morning taking off tape and doing little touchups and the remainder of the weekend we loved hanging out at home enjoying the "new" feeling!

The new paint "Cumberland Fog" - it's a light blueish/gray and we love it! Here's the first picture as we were putting things back together. You'll notice I still wasn't able to find a way to get rid of Jake's beloved maroon lazyboy. :( However, we were able turn the bottom shelf of the bookcase into Emelyn's shelf for her books and basket of toys.

The dining room
I was really excited about these panels! We decided on a budget of $100 for new decorations to match the new color - not much - but I'm up to the challenge! I wanted plain white panels to frame the window and the cheapest set of two I could find was $17 and I needed at least 4 panels total. :( Then my mom suggested I use twin flat sheets. They were $3 per sheet and were already hemmed - I just had to undo the hem on each side of the top of the sheet to get the rod in. 4 panels = $12 = more money left over for wall decor, towels, placemats, napkins etc... who knows - maybe even a new light over the table! If I decide to dress the panels up a little more, I may put a thick black ribbon along the bottom of each one, but for now I like them plain and simple.

Emelyn seeing what she can get into on the bookshelf in her Fourth of July outfit - thanks Grandma Cindy!

Reading one of her favorite books - a touch and feel book about animals

Always wanting to stand to see what we're doing

One of Emelyn's new "cheesy" grins... she's started giving us this super cheesey smile when we have the camera out for her picture - Reba, did she get this from your son? :)

I know her eyes are closed, but this is the first picture I have of her 3rd tooth - can you see it on top to the side? BTW - Just tonight I notice the tooth right next to this one has officially broken through! The other middle one is super close - probably tomorrow.

"Can I come out to play?"

Emelyn's first bath in the "big" bathtub... no more baby tub. She was excited about the extra room (aka - extra water to splash)

Already working on writing her first blog

Wanting to play with dad to avoid going to bed. :)

Also, in the last few weeks, Emelyn has met two new friends - William was born a few weeks ago, and Berkley was born Thursday. It will be fun in the years to come to have someone close to her age to play with!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend. And thanks for putting up with the super long post. :)