The other day Lily called down to me from the playroom, "Mommy, I'm cleaning the playroom." Every few minutes or so she would remind me that she was cleaning. I could hear lots of banging and knew that I was in for it, but figured that the 45 minutes of uninterrupted time downstairs was probably worth it. Here's what I found when I finally ventured upstairs.
To her credit, the playroom was very clean.
I finally did it. I left my children for the first time. Sad but true, Lily is almost three and the longest I have ever been away from her was when I had Sarah Ellen. A few months ago James casually mentioned a conference he had coming up in January at a resort in Florida. I usually don't make these conference because most of the destinations you have to fly to get there, and since I don't like to fly and I didn't want to leave the kids, it was always pretty easy to say no. This time I just couldn't resist. I got online and looked at the awesome resort and the beautiful scenery and said I was all in. We left on Wednesday, the 14th and came back on Saturday. It was a ten hour drive that my husband tried not to grumble too much about. I didn't care at all. It was ten hours of just me and James - ahh, the peace. We had a wonderful time. I spent most of my time lounging in bed and loved every minute of it. I even slept until 10 one morning. I didn't even know I could still do that.
Thank you Mimi, Papa, Doncie and Poppy for making this possible for us. They all took shifts to come keep the girls. I truly could relax knowing they were in safe, loving hands.
Both our girls (and me) are blessed with some wonderful friends. Here are some shots from last week of the girls and their friends. I am sorry there are so many, but there were too many cute ones.
Lily, Porter and Austin making some wonderful play doh creations at the oyster roast:
Mr. Austin turns three:
The girls opted for arts and crafts instead of silly boy play:
Sarah Ellen and Olivia - best buds already:
Lily loves to help Mommy cook. I have to be creative to find ways that she can "help" Mommy . I think I found another thing that she may have gotten from her Mama.
Recently the topic of coupons came up when I was chatting with a friend on Facebook. She quickly asked if I coupon, as in a verb. I said sure I use them here and there. She then asked what websites I used, did I create my own database and how do I structure my notebook. Whoa!! I soon discovered a whole new world of couponing and that, yes, the word coupon can be a verb. I signed up for the website www.thegrocerygame.com and thus began my obsession with coupon shopping. At first, I thought this wasn't going to be possible for me, because with two children I can't be running all over town searching for the best deals, but I soon learned that I don't have to. I can find the best deals at just a few stores. I picked Harris Teeter as my main grocery store and this website provides a database that matches the Sunday paper coupons with the current store sales so that you get the best deals on items. She color codes items so that you know which ones to stock up on and which ones to buy only if you really need them at the time. On my first trip to HT, I saved 54 dollars and this week I saved 65 dollars. I plan a weeks worth of meals using the Wednesday sales flyers and then plan my shopping list on Sunday when the new database is posted online. It takes some time at first (especially if you are a slightly OCD nerd like myself), but I think I will get the hang of it soon. I'm going to do all my shopping at Walgreens and Harris Teeter and see how much I can save. I usually shop at Sam's, but found that I can actually get better deals by using this website. This morning I bought cans of soup, 2 Fantastik cleaners, 2 Windex wipes, 2 Dial hand soaps and paper towels at Walgreens for just $8.50 after coupons and rebates. I've created my coupon filing system (fun for someone who LOVES school supplies), and I'm ready to save. I find it rather thrilling to be getting so many groceries at such good deals. I even finally bought the HT green grocery bags to help the environment. Let me know if you are interested in trying this out. I'm very new at it, but have already learned a lot of good local tips. Happy shopping.
Saturday was a wonderful day for our family. For lunch, we headed down to the park for a picnic. Lily rode her tricycle the whole way (with some steering help).
We spent the evening over at the Smiths for our annual Sunday school oyster roast. The kids and adults had a great time.
Sarah Ellen may not be crawling yet, but she sure can get where she wants to go. You put her on her play mat and she ends up here:
Or here:
Here she is action:
She also has mastered the baby art of blowing raspberries. She's been doing this for quite sometime, but now she seems to do it nonstop. Her timing is very comical. I'll lean over her crib and say, "good morning sweet bug." In return I get a big raspberry and a grin. Her daddy kisses her and says goodbye, she responds with a sweet raspberry. (Does anyone know why they call it a raspberry)? Of course, I have yet to capture a good one on video, which is hard to believe since she really does them all day long. Here is what I was able to get.
Lily gets something from me after all. She loves puzzles. She has always loved them, starting with the board puzzles. She recently started putting together 12 piece jig saw puzzles. At first, it was excruciating to watch. She would try every single piece and it would take forever, but she would patiently sit there until she finished. She quickly got better and could put together all eight, 12 piece puzzles. The other night, I gave her a 25 piece puzzle and she did the whole thing. We then attempted a 100 piece, but I think that was a little too ambitious.
I thought if I posted my resolutions this year, I might be more accountable for them and actually make it past January. So, here it goes.
1) Exercise - I am going to exercise three mornings a week. Last year I had the excuse of pregnancy half the year and the lack of sleep for the second half. No excuses this year. I've never been one to hop out of bed in the mornings, but I have determined that mornings are going to be my only chance of success. Three mornings a week, I am going to get up before the girls and exercise. I realistically feel that this is one I can stick to.
2) Fingernails - Okay, so I'll add this one even though I've already broken it today. For as long as I can remember, I have made a resolution to stop biting my fingernails. Some years in the past, I have had some success, but it's just one of those nasty habits I think I'm stuck with. I'm not too optimistic on keeping this one.
3) Bible study - I am going to engage in a personal Bible study. I have spent A LOT of time this year involved in church activities - meetings, planning, and way too much to add here. Although, I have been very involved in church, I feel that I haven't been as involved with God. I have grown tremendously in faith this year and bonded more with my church family than I thought possible. Although, it has been a hard year for our church, we have grown in so many ways. I would like to take this year to quietly grow with God, and I plan to do this through personal Bible study. I'm going to start with a study I started but never finished: The Frazzled Female (sounds about right).
4) Play time - Many of us have said before that motherhood equals guilt. You feel guilty if you spend too much time with your children because you are spoiling them. You feel guilty if you spend too little time with your children because you are neglecting them. No matter what we do, we feel guilty that we could be doing it better. I am going to set aside some time (to be determined) several times a week to devote strictly to my children. Don't get me wrong, I spend most all my time with them, but I find myself doing endless other things while with them. If we are in the playroom, I start rearranging. If we are in Lily's room, I put away clothes or books. If we are downstairs, I check e-mail or make phone calls. Anyway, you get the picture. I'm going to take some time (it doesn't take much) to devote to them - no chores, no phone, and no distractions.
5) Budget - James and I, along with the rest of America, are implementing a strict budget for the next six months. In some ways, a budget will make things simpler. I don't have to feel guilty about buying things, because we just aren't going to buy things. I think the hardest category for us to meet will be eating out. We eat out quite a lot, and decided to really cut back on this. Should be interesting. If you have any good (and cheap) recipes, send them my way.
You think I would have learned by now as a parent to never say what you will and won't do. I recently posted about Lily's potty training and how she was now wearing big girl underwear and that I was not going back. Guess what? I went back. After five clothes changes and too much time spent on the potty, I decided that she was not ready yet. I think she and I both melted with relief as we put a diaper on her yesterday evening. It has been a hard week. She has really been acting out, talking baby talk, and just being a pill. I thought maybe this was related to any traces of prednisone still left in her system, but today I realized it was all do to the potty training. She was a perfect angel today - a complete joy to be around.
Although we haven't transitioned to big girl underwear yet, we have transitioned to the big girl bed. We converted Lily's toddler bed into a full sized bed today. She looked so tiny in her huge bed. She loved it and had no second thoughts about going night-night in her new bed. We don't have bedding yet, but that will just give us something to look forward to. We (okay, me) are looking for the perfect thing for her sweet room.
