Getting ready for the day...

Ethan is such a sweet boy and wants to be wherever his mama is! So when i'm getting ready for the day, so is he! I snapped these pictures this morning when he stepped up on the stool by himself and grabbed my comb and started brushing his hair. Too cute! Did I mention that he decided to wake up at 5:30 this morning and not go back to sleep?! Oh yeah, that was fun. (Note the sarcasm!)

Sunday

This morning I felt like Mike, our Pastor, wrote the sermon just for me. It was on trials and faith. God really used it to show me a lot about my faith. My faith tends to be circumstantial and emotional. I thought that I had a strong faith, but when it gets tested I fail miserably sometimes. I know that my family will never go without the essentials of food, shelter and clothing. I know that our needs will always be met. So it really is sad when things get rough sometimes that we panic and question, moan, whine, and complain! I need and want to have faith that the Lord promises to meet our needs and He will take care of us! Finances are just the biggest thing in our life that God uses to teach and grow us. And sometimes I just don't want to be taught-ha ha! I just pray that when we get through this, that he gets the Praise and that it will strengthen us. That we won't allow it to make us bitter or blame anyone or anything.
I have a challenge for myself and I would like to pass it on to anyone who wants a challenge. Whenever I start to compare myself to others, become ungrateful or let situations discourage me I now thank God for a blessing instead of dwelling on the negative. For example if i'm upset that we don't have enough money to buy something I want...then instead of dwelling on it I will now thank and praise God that we have plenty of food. It is turning a negative into a positive and thanking God and being grateful instead of letting wants drag you down and discourage you. It has helped a lot already, so start thanking God for your blessings!!!

Saturday

I love Saturdays. This morning we woke up and dropped Ethan off at his Grandma's house. I was supposed to go see a girlfriend who just had a baby, but she wasn't feeling well. So I was able to go to Matt's flag football game at the Seminary! (They are currently undefeated) It was so nice to be able to watch and not chase around a 19 month old who inevitably would not be able to sit still for an hour. I wasn't completely baby-less because I got to snuggle a friend's baby who is 7 weeks old. So precious!!! That did not help my baby itch! He nestled right into me and was dead asleep!
We picked Ethan up on the way back home and now he's taking a nap and we are just relaxing. We have no plans the rest of the day and I love it! Well one thing I need to do is run out and pick up some whole milk for my boy. He would drink a gallon a day if I let him! Off to ponder what I want to do the rest of the day...

Udderly disgusting

There's just something a little gross about eating ice cream made from human breast milk. No thanks! I'll stick with cows.

http://www.wral.com/news/strange/story/3614563/

Potty training update & more

So the past few days we have been doing some potty training with Ethan. He actually did very well. He goes pee pee on the potty and loves it. But i'm just not sure he is completely cognitively ready. I can't really reason with him. For example: "Keep your pull up dry or the cars will disappear". He understands but doesn't understand. Now I know why people wait until their child is at least 2, because they just can't reason about it. SO, I think we'll stop for now. I am sure when he's a bit older it will be more beneficial in the long run. So that is the consensus for now.

As far as the finances goes, after our freak out moment yesterday we have taken productive steps in being smart with our money. Ultimately when things are going well we don't give it a second thought. But when we have a rough month we suddenly panic and question everything. What I am learning the most through it all is that we need to have a change of priorities. We were becoming too materialistic and not even realizing it. We were spending money left and right and justifying it with unjustifiable means. Last night as I was thinking a lot about it all I was actually grateful for this reality check. It got my priorities in line again and also made me really think about life in general. Are we spending time, energy, money, and effort on things that will last or things that are fleeting. It's so funny how something like finances really gets your heart and mind thinking about all aspects of life. Or maybe, God intended on using finances to get our attention. Either way, I am grateful.

Budgeting

I want to be real in my blogging and share what is going on in my life. I feel like I have great friends and family members and strangers that can help and also benefit with sincerity in what is going on in our life. I don't however want to share every single detail that goes on in our family. So without going into too much detail, I will say that our family has hit a huge reality check today. Money. I've blogged before about it, but today it hit real hard. That we are spending more money each month than we are making. We have cut things out in a major way and today had to do some more cutting. We are basically only spending money on necessities. No more eating out, no more spending money. We can't. And that is a reality. Our family values that I get to stay home with Ethan and we are truly blessed in so many ways. However, if we want to continue to do this we have to make more major changes. Changes meaning I am taking on more shifts at my part time job. At the rate that the gas prices are going, I will truly be a stay-at-home mom. Cutting out trips out and whatnot. It's been so hard but something very real that we need to address. It is completely changing my way of thinking and priorities. Sometimes I wish money grew on trees, but then again I know that God is using this time in our lives to grow our trust and faith in Him and where we feel that He is calling our family. We also need to be the best stewards of our money. It is so easy to justify expenses or spend a few dollars here and a few dollars there. But really, we too easily eat out and buy things one minute and then cry about not having enough money the next. If I would have wrote this blog 30 minutes ago I would have been blaming others, filled with anger and tears and claiming how unfair things are. But now i'm writing, knowing that we are responsible for our finances and where our money goes. Trusting completely that our needs will be taken care of, but also knowing that we have a responsiblity to spend and cut out things in a strong way. We need to meet our basics month to month at this point. There is no room for extras or wants. I truly hope friends and family hold us accountable and encourage us in this. God is good and I never want to be ungrateful or a complainer. I want to honor him and be an encouragement to others in all aspects of life...including finances.

Potty training?!

The past couple of months Ethan has been showing signs of possible potty training readiness. I have ignored such signs deeming him "too young". A lot of fellow mommies have been telling me to CAPITALIZE on these signs and get with it. Well tonight I took their advice to heart and acted on it.
For the past month when Ethan has gotten into the tub for a bath he has stood and pee'd. At first I thought he was just being goofy, but then I could tell that he was trying to pee every time he stood in the tub. SO, tonight before I put him in the bath tub I put him on the big potty (with a little potty seat) and within 10 seconds, I told him "go pee pee" and he looked down and he went! Just like that! So I called my dad and talked with him about it all. He told me I either just need to do it all the way or not at all. None of this in-between stuff. So we are going to try it. He actually liked going pee pee and was excited. So we might save the M&M bribing for later. Here's hoping it goes better than the paci detox! ha ha! (Which is actually going well. He only gets it during sleep and doesn't seem to miss it otherwise!)

The new ketchup

Ethan's latest thing is to dip his chicken nuggets into his applesauce! He loves it! I guess I can't knock it until I try it. He has also picked up the habit of slurping his foods. He thinks it is hilarious when we share yogurt to slurp it off the spoon. He makes me laugh! Silly boy.

Date night & pictures

Last night we had our date night while Ethan slept over at Granddaddy and Dee's house. He had a blast of course and we enjoyed a night alone. We ended up going to see the Dark Knight with some friends of ours. We then went to their apartment and played cards and stayed up until 1:30 a.m. Matt and I don't even remember the last time we stayed up that late. It was SO nice to sleep in this morning! I got up at 9:20 and went to Starbucks this morning to treat myself to a coffee and picked up a biscuit for Matt and I from McDonalds for breakfast. Matt was STILL sleeping when I got home. He could have slept past 12:00 if I would have let him. It's so funny because while we thoroughly enjoy having a night to ourselves when we can sleep in and enjoy staying out late, we REALLY miss our little boy when he's not around. It's so amazing how your love and bond with your family makes it hard to be away from each other.
Anyhow, on to some random pictures from the past week.

Ethan likes to stick letters from his ABC puzzle into his new toy.
Feeding himself with a fork...still a major work in progress.
I brought out the white shelves from his room and rearranged his play area the other day, you would have thought it was Christmas, it was like he was discovering his toys all over again. Especially his books, now that they aren't just thrown in a basket.
My big boy eating his snack in a big chair. His recent obsession is climbing up to sit in it all by himself.

Triple Coupons

Don't you know that my husband is in heaven today because for the next three days Harris Teeter is tripling coupons! And don't you know that i'm in heaven because he is in heaven about groceries! Wow. We have been cutting and organizing and making lists. Last night we were at my parents house and Matt saw that they had several coupon books in their recycle bin. So don't you believe that he picked them out and we were cutting those last night. Anyhow, trip #1 of many to come was today. We basically spent $8.00 on $45.00 worth of groceries! Amazing. So all you couponers go to Harris Teeter now through Sunday. Happy shopping!

Hilarious

I am stealing this from my friend Sheila's dad's blog...

Always check with the music minister

A preacher was wrapping up his Sunday sermon on temperance. With great emphasis he said, "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it in the river."Then, with his voice rising, he said, "And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it in the river."And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he concluded by saying, "And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and dump it in the river."With that, he completed his sermon and sat down. The minister of music stood up, and announced with an uncertain smile, "For our closing song, let us sing hymn #365, "Shall We Gather at the River."

It's not fun...

...when you check your bank balance and it is way lower than you were expecting. Sometimes I just wish we were rich. Sometimes we are hanging on month to month by dollars. There's still a lot of month left before we get a paycheck. We're now accepting check, cash, and credit cards. ;) ha ha! Off to turn off every light and electronic object in our apartment. Just kidding. Off to trust that God will meet our needs and brainstorm ways that we can better spend or not spend our money.

Early morning

I love how the morning I decide to wake up early to run, is the first morning in weeks maybe even months that Ethan decides to wake up early too. I had planned to wake up at 6:30 or 7:00 to run on the treadmill and Ethan woke up at 6:00, when he usually doesn't wake up until 8:00! There was no apparent reason for his waking, I even tried to get him to go back to sleep. No such luck. Maybe i'll run during his naptime today. I mean if I wasn't going to run this morning, I at least wanted it to be for a good reason like "accidental" oversleeping, not my son jabbering wide awake before it's even light out! ;)

Fitness Kick

I am finally grasping the realization that i'm not getting any thinner and I don't want to get fatter! Just because I lost my running partner because she was blessed with PREGNANCY! (We prayed so much for that, yeee haaw!) that doesn't mean I can't continue to run and stay in shape. I've kinda been in a slump the past month or so. I didn't really watch what I ate, I hardly exercised and I just gave into watching too much TV. Last week God laid a smack down on me about my lazyness! So this week, starting tomorrow, I am getting back with it. But I don't want this to be another goal that I set and fail miserably on. So I am hoping for some life change. I ask that my friends and family hold me accountable on this. I want to set a good example to Ethan about taking care of our bodies. So yay for taking a LONG walk with Brooks tomorrow! I'm looking forward to this, believe it or not!

Kids EveryWear, part 2

I wanted to post a few pictures of the new stroller. I wasn't going to until Ethan did something SO cute at dinner, that I HAD to post the pictures AND tell the story!
Story first. We were eating dinner and I was telling Matt a cute story about how Ethan said "pway" (pray) as I was putting him down for his nap today. (I like to pray before I put him to bed and I was just about to forget and he reminded me.) Well as I was telling that cute story to him at dinner, Ethan bowed his head, jibber jabbered, and then said, "men" which is amen! It was SOOOO cute! He said his own prayer at dinner! How precious!!! I wish you all were here to see him do that then look up with a huge smile. Ahhh, melted mommy's heart!
Now onto pictures:

The new ride. After a lot of debate whether to get the front to back or the side-by-side double stroller, I decided to get this one. Benefits far outweighed the cons in my opinion. I also asked a few ladies at the mall the other day about which ones they preferred. They happened to each own a different one but they both concurred that the front to back was the best. Easier to fit through an aisle although the turning radius isn't that great. So there's my rating on MY BRAND NEW (to me) DOUBLE STROLLER! Anyone want to go for a ride with Ethan?! You don't know how badly I want to use it, ha ha!

Kids EveryWear

Today I got to shop at my favorite consignment sale. This is the Fall/Winter sale plus the usual toys and equipment. Ethan is now officially stocked on all clothing items for this Fall and Winter. I got him a nice jacket(brand new, with original tags from the store) for $7.00 and a halloween costume for $5.00. Along with other shirts, pants, overalls, fleece, Carolina apparel, toys and more. I also am a proud new owner of a double stroller. NO, I am not pregnant....yet. I am definitely nannying soon for a newborn PLUS the hopes of having a second child in the next year or two, I decided to just check out the strollers. I found a double (front to back) stroller for $60! It's in great condition with all its parts. I couldn't resist. If we end up not needing or using it, my thoughts are that I can just resell at a consignment sale OR craigslist. Anyhow, when I got home from the sale I started showing off all my purchases to Ethan and his Granddee. As soon as I pulled out 1 pair of shoes I got, Ethan grabbed them and wanted to put them on his feet. He then proceeded to wear them and play with his new toys for the next hour and a half! SO I decided to post a picture of the adorable shoes I got for $3.00 and a new puzzle. He has mastered his ABC puzzle, but I got him one with lowercase letters as well, so he's up to a new challenge. Which reminds me of a quick story. When Dee got here to watch Ethan while I went shopping this morning, he was playing with his ABC puzzle. I held up a letter and said, "Ethan, what's this?!" And he said "F!" He is now starting to learn his letters!!!! Anytime he does his puzzle and I sit with him, I will just say the letters as he puts them in and now he is learning them. How fun! He LOVES LOVES LOVES his ABC and number puzzles. He definitely has a spatial mind as my friend Sheila said!
p.s. If any of my NC friends want to go to the sale on Monday, e-mail me or message me and let me know! I can get you in with a friends pass!

Adorable Sperry-like shoes for $3.00!
Am I crazy to buy him a puzzle with 52 pieces?!! Even if I am, Ethan will LOVE it!

Great birthday!

I had a great birthday! Thank you to family and friends that left me messages and made me feel so special and loved! My husband surprised me with a birthday dinner last night. We were supposed to be eating dinner with the family at TGIFridays and when we arrived there were just a few extra people, 15 or so to be exact! Wednesday night we were supposed to go to Olive Garden with my parents because they weren't going to be able to come to TGIFridays last night. Well dad had a late meeting so we ended up going to their house and ordering food from Cinelli's. Well I was pouting because I had really wanted to try this new dish at Olive Garden that they had been advertising- Asiago cheese fetuchinni alfredo! Well since we didn't end up going out Wednesday, mom called me yesterday and wanted to bring me Brueggars (one of my favorite places to eat). Well she shows up with a big To-Go bag from Olive Garden. She had brought me the Asiago cheese fetuchinni alfredo! How SPOILED am I?!!! I loved it.
So thank you all for a great birthday!!!

Birthday Resolutions

Today I turn the big 2-7! Wow, i'm getting old! ;)
Yesterday I had a great devotional time and I made some birthday resolutions. Next week I am officially getting back into running. The past few weeks I had let myself go in a lot of areas and i'm trying to get back on the right track. (Those of you CWR people, you know where I got that motto!) I got in the rut of watching TV during Ethan's naptime, not running or even walking, eating not-so-great, and not spending time in God's word like I need and want to. It was about time I got my hiney in gear and stop wasting time and LIFE. How appropriate that this timing fell around my birthday. I am really taking time to reflect on my life. God is so good and He is so merciful and loving. Most of this life change has started the past 6 weeks when our church has been doing a S.H.A.P.E. series about your passions and personality traits and spritual gifts that God has given you. I have been thinking a lot about my role in life and my purpose here. Sometimes I wonder why it has taken me almost 27 years to make some changes, but I know God has a plan for my life and I just want to be used by Him. So this is the birthday of reflection and growth! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

(I tried not to use a lot of christian-ese in this post, as my brother-in-law calls it. So if you are not a Christ follower and/or have some questions about what in the world i'm talking about, please don't hesitate to ask!)

Latest and greatest

Ethan has an obsession with bugs, whenever he sees one he says, "bug.....shoo, shoo" and waves his hands around.

One thing that is not so great is his latest love for the word "no". He says it all the time, and loudly too. Even when he's just playing by himself.

Ethan has also developed a love for "buckles". Every time he gets down from his booster seat he has to try and buckle them back.

Yesterday he was holding his beloved puppy and he put the puppy's ears over its eyes and took them off and said "boo"!

Ethan now looks in the mirror in the bathroom and says, "dethan"! So cute.

He has also learned to put his crocs on all by himself.

Lately he has been a great helper. He likes to help me throw the clothes from the washer into the dryer. He loves to put his sippy cup in the fridge and take it out. Whenever we have a little trash or napkin, he wants to take it and throw it away himself. He also loves to "keen up" his toys! Don't you believe I am capitalizing on this!

Paci update: We aren't sure if he was biting his crib because of a need for something in his mouth, or because he was mad he didn't have his paci. (I think it's the later) So for now we are in the weaning process. Meaning, we do not take it anywhere with us during the day. He absolutely doesn't get it unless he is sleeping. Then we give 1 to him right before he goes in his crib. Whereas before we would litter his crib with several paci's in case he lost one during the night. Then maybe in a few weeks or so we will try to take it away for good. NOT caving this time. A friend recommended just throwing them away that way we cannot cave. So we'll keep you posted.

Paci Detox update

So we failed miserably. Well, I wouldn't say miserably, but it was rough. Ethan screamed for almost an hour. I mean, SCREAMED. Like not breathing kind of screaming. He was so upset he was gnawing the paint off his crib rails. Wow. I definitely didn't expect that. And I didn't expect to be such a softy. It was so hard to hear him so upset. He wasn't really a baby that cried much, so to hear him scream and cry for so long was very hard for me. I heard him screaming while I was in the shower with the ventilator fan on. So after over an hour of that, we gave him his paci. The thing is, I know he doesn't need it, but I created the habit for him when he was a baby. So now it's hard to break that habit. I hear it is better to take it away when they're young, but now our thought is to wait until he's a bit older when we can reason with him. Any suggestions or ideas? Maybe he isn't a cold turkey kind of kid. So we'll see what the next few days hold. I can tell you though that it is so nice knowing that he is fast asleep in deep slumber now. Ahh, peace!

Photographical evidence

This used to be a beautiful smooth white crib rail
A few paint chips on his face...and he's not even using his paci! Good gracious, son!

Paci Detox

Today is the day. This morning Matt and I realized that it was time to get rid of our sons beloved paci. (aka "pass") We have felt for the past month or so that Ethan was ready. He doesn't need it for teething anymore. He only gets it during sleep or extreme fussiness. This morning he was throwing a fit and had an attitude with us. He went into his room and was looking for his paci. We realized that if he's old enough to know that he wants it then he is too old to have it. So here it is. Day 1 of Paci Detoxification! We just laid him down for his nap and I heard him searching in his crib for it, but he's just talking and playing right now. So we'll see how it goes... I'm hoping it will be easy, but we're prepared for it to be a battle. Please join us in prayer for our sanity over the next few days, ha ha!

Another cute moment

This morning as I lay snug in my bed fast asleep. I hear this faint precious voice calling, "moooooommy, mooooooooommy!" There is no better way to wake up!

"wim-min"

Ethan and I were playing on my bed and he started pointing to something and saying "wim-min, wim-min". I moved to see what he was talking about and he grabbed my bathing suit off a stack of clothes that was on the bed and held it up and said "wim-min"....my little cutie pie wanted to go "swimming"! That just made my heart melt. I love to see him making connections and discovering life.

(Side note, although this side note is longer than my actual story in the post: Ethan now knows the letter "B" due to his fascination with his ABC puzzle and today he and daddy were "counting"! Meaning, daddy was counting outloud and Ethan was repeating what he was saying. SO cute! Matt literally teaches him something new every time he stays home with him while i'm at work, it's SO fun! I know money is tight with our family and sometimes it is hard to trust God, but I wouldn't trade Ethan being able to spend so much time with us over ANYTHING. Praise God for His blessings and provision. I hope I never take staying home with him for granted. Or how much Matt gets to see him for granted.)

Miscellaneous Thoughts

During breakfast this morning Ethan handed me his sippy cup and said, "milk...all gone".

I went birthday shopping today (although technically it's the 11th) and bought 2 shirts, 1 pair of shorts, and earrings at Kohls for $26.00! I love shopping there!

I love that I can use normal baby shampoo and nice smelling lotions on Ethan now that he doesn't have excema or an allergy like originally thought.

We spent a TOTAL of $160 on groceries for the whole month using the grocery game and saved a total of $150! Whereas we were averaging $300-$350 on groceries for the month pre-grocery game. The thing I love the most is my husbands new found love (bordering obsession) with grocery shopping!

I cannot wait for all the new shows to start this fall! (Survivor, The Office, and Chuck to mention a few)

My new favorite snack: yogurt with almonds

Even though I now own a treadmill and it's in my bedroom, i'm still finding excuses not to run. I really need to get on it. (Literally)

I'm very ready to have baby #2...I pray that we are able!

Florida Trip

Our trip to Florida was great! Ethan did very well on the plane rides. On the way there he fell asleep 10 minutes before we landed. He stayed asleep through the landing, getting carried off the plane, and up until we got our baggage. I was impressed. My good friends Emily and Stoo picked us up from the airport and we spent the afternoon with them. Friday night we all arrived at my uncles house. The whole weekend was a surprise to my Grandma who was turning 80! She had NO clue. This was the first time that ALL of her kids and grandkids were together as well as her siblings. Let's just say Friday night was filled with happy tears the whole night! Ethan was up VERY late that night, as dinner wasn't served until 9:30! We had filet mignon, salad, and pasta as well as other various finger foods. Saturday all the girls went to a salon and we were all treated to anything of our choice. I chose to get my hair trimmed and get a pedicure. All the men went golfing or swam at my uncle's house. Matt was exhausted and Ethan needed a good nap because we had another dinner that night, so they rested at the hotel all day. Matt got to see ASU get crushed by LSU. Saturday night we had lasagna, salad, garlic bread and fresh fruits. Sunday morning we were free to do what we wish while the caterers arrived at my uncle's house to set up for the big birthday bash. Tampa was feeling the affects of hurricane Gustav the whole weekend, but we were able to go to the pool Sunday morning with the kiddos. It was fun swimming in 25-30 mph winds. Made for a chilly swim time! We also went to the mall across the street and did some shopping. Ethan got a good nap in Sunday and we were off to my uncle's for the big party. He had live entertainment as well as catered food. It was very yummy! We said our goodbye's that night to all the family because some were leaving VERY early Monday morning to head back home. Our plane didn't leave until 1:20 so we had time to dink around and get to the airport. Ethan slept the whole way home. (He had his own seat there and back because the plane wasn't full... that was SO nice! We also traveled with my brother and his family, so we sat with them and helped each other with our kiddos!) It was a nice weekend. We were ready to be home though! Ethan wasn't on the best behavior all weekend, but who could blame him when we were up at least 2 hours after his normal bedtime and sometimes got hardly any nap at all. We're hoping being at home and getting good sleep will get him out of this testing behavior, but we'll see. I didn't get many pictures from the weekend on my camera, but here are a few.

Mommy and Ethan on his first plane ride!
Jumping in the pool with papa- Ethan got his cousin Ashlyn jumping in the pool for the first time!
Tuckered out on the flight home.