Guess where Katy is sleeping right now?

KNOCK ON WOOD.

I can't believe it, but for the first time in her life, Katy is asleep in something other than a crib. We've had this twin bed from my mom in the closet for a while, and we finally decided to take the plunge today. We talked it up all day, and took her to Target, where she selected Flannel Princess sheets (so what if I only let her pick from the clearance rack?). She was SO excited about it, but as you can see, I wasn't quite as confident. I took the wimpy route and left the crib in the room. My strategy was to tell her that if she got up, she would sleep in her crib, which I knew she did NOT want to do. Well, for the first hour that we have tried this, it has worked so far. She got up once, I warned her that she would go back into her crib, and she has stayed ever since and fell asleep. However, I'm really nervous about the future: the rest of the night tonight, nap tomorrow, when someone else puts her to bed, when we sleep somewhere other than our house...uncertainty lies ahead!!! It'll be ok, right? So nervous...

We've had another round of illness late this week, including a nasty cough from David. We didn't leave the house hardly at all this week, and I am so SICK of winter. It's hard to imagine the days when we aren't round and round with sickness and we can go outside without 20 minutes of bundling first. Ugh.

Is Goldilocks trying to tell me something?

Is it that I need to lose weight?

Big Brother Alert

Not David, sillies.

Some of you also read Pam over at Life With Our Lads, and you know that she's having her 2nd baby today via scheduled c-section. Her family is in England, so she was planning to take her son Jack (one of Katy's very favorite people) to daycare as usual today while she went to the hospital. Well, there was a huge ice storm last night, and the day care is closed. So Jack is hanging out with us today while we await news of his new baby brother. I got a little teary when they were dropping him off just knowing what a huge day it is for their family. A good thing is that Brian's work is also closed, so there's an extra set of hands to help.

I'll leave the baby announcin' up to Pam...but hopefully we'll have some news later this morning!

Did I get bundled up for THIS?!?!

Although we've had snow on the ground for the past several weeks, I haven't wanted to take the kids out by myself, and it's been, say, below zero. So finally!

Dedicated David

This weekend we participated in a Child Dedication service at our church. Just like we did 2 years ago, our family and friends gathered together to witness and support our commitment to raise David in a Christian home.

My family gathered with Joe (the elder who prayed for us) and his wife Judy. Some of our life group also joined us in prayer during the service.

Two things really struck me during this service. One was that Joe prayed that David would grow to be a man of Godly strength and wisdom, with a sincere heart, and that he would live up to his name, "beloved." And I thought, wow, what an amazing opportunity to raise this baby, who might hopefully become a man of Godly character and heart. I don't tend to think of him beyond...maybe...2 years old. But a man. A good man. A Godly man. That's what this is all about.

Secondly, I was touched by the people who came to pray with us. It really takes a village, and it meant a lot to me to have others there in support. I truly depend on the support of others (both physical and moral) to raise these kids of mine. And some of that is right here on this blog! So thanks for being a part of that, your support is so greatly appreciated.

Bring It.

Potty training advice. I need some. Tell me your stories. If you need some guidance:

1) How old?

2) How long?

3) Method/Philosophy?

4) Pull-ups or panties?

5) Little potty or big?

6) Stickers or M & M's?

7) General pep talk? Please?

Final Round at Grammy and Papa John's

We enjoyed a visit with Brian's family in Kentucky this weekend, which included our last round of Christmas '08. I love the joy that is seeing my kids at their grandparents' houses. They just flourish there, and love every minute of it.

Katy helped Grammy cook throughout the weekend, which is basically her idea of heaven (Grammy even lets her crack the eggs BY HERSELF).

No exceptions here, everyone gets help opening their presents.

This is David's "smile for the camera" face. And as usual, he's eating.

BFF's for the day: we celebrated Destiny's 9th birthday (Papa John's granddaughter), and she taught Katy to play hide n' seek.

After a whopping 4 days of wellness, David came down with ANOTHER cold. Gotta love the first winter.

And here's how we spent much of the weekend, chasing babies and balloons...

9 Months of Bubs

Oh, my son.

We've been so busy around here lately that we just got to David's well visit today, 2.5 weeks late. I forgot to bring his vaccination booklet. Forgot to give him tylenol for the shots I thought he was getting (and then realized he wasn't getting any). Then forgot the little sheet they give you with the stats on it. But allow me to take a moment and appreciate my boy at 9 months.

This kid is pretty amazing. What babies learn in a month's time just blows my mind. Since Thanksgiving, he has learned to crawl, sit up on his own, pull up to stand, shake his head "no" (vigorously), give kisses, clap his hands, and just generally get into trouble. He's sleeping through the night (after I stopped allowing him to nurse at all hours). He's everywhere. Into everything. And smiling the whole time.

He still likes to eat. And nurse. He eats 5-6 jars of baby food per day plus cereal (in 3 sittings). He still nurses about every 3 hours during the day. And thus, he still gets the award for being Poopmaster of the house (although we've drastically reduced clothing stains since moving toward solid food). His thighs are huge. He wears 12-18 month size clothing. But today he weighed in at 21 lbs, 2 oz (55%'ile) and 28.25 inches (45%'ile). So apparently average 9 month old boys wear size 18 months? I don't get it.

We just got him a new car seat because he was looking quite snug in the infant carrier. He loves people, loves to be held, loves his sister and all little kids. He says "Mama" when he's crawling toward me, but I'm not sure yet if he knows that's me, or if he's just babbling.

I got this email late yesterday afternoon that was a forward from a friend of a friend. This woman has a son with autism, and she feels confident that the disorder is linked to vaccinations. Although I've done a lot of reading and research on the topic myself, the email was emotionally charged and got me worked into a tizzy on the eve of a doctor's appointment. I was extremely relieved when they told me he didn't need any shots today, and then I had a heart to heart with my pediatrician about the whole topic. One of his thoughts was, "I am completely convinced that vaccines do not cause autism. But if you are uncomfortable at all, I will not look down on your in any way if you want to postpone. Being a parent is an incredible responsibility and we can only do what we feel is best for our kids." I've mentioned about a thousand times how much I like my pediatrician. Too bad he scares the Bejeezus out of Katy.

Being a parent IS such a huge responsibility. There are so many decisions to make and so much pressure to do it right and so many things to worry about that might go wrong. Some days I'm completely overwhelmed by it all. But all we can do is what we think is best.

So David is good. I love him so much. The past couple of days he's been snuggling his little face against mine while I hold him, which is about THE best feeling in the world.

-------

To punctuate the afternoon, I had put the kids down for naps and was hearing both of them talking in their cribs when THUNK. I knew instantly that Katy had fallen (jumped?) out of her crib. She was pretty hysterical, saying her head hurt, and she developed a goose egg pretty quickly. I called the doctor, and they said just to keep an eye on her and watch for certain signs of more serious injury. I really don't think she'll do it again *fingers crossed*, because she really scared herself. We'll see.

Irony

Katy got a set of Goldilocks hand puppets from her aunt and uncle for Christmas. Last night we had read and played out the story with the puppets right before bed, and she wanted to take Goldilocks to bed with her. She tucked her in under the blanket (with her face out so she could breath) and slept soundly next to the 8" piece of felt.

Tonight Brian put Katy to bed, completing the usual routine. He turned off the light and closed the door. After he left, Katy turned over and spotted the puppet in bed with her. She apparently didn't remember what it was, and started shrieking in terror loud enough to send Brian running back into the room. When he asked, "Katy, what is the matter?," she replied:

"Someone is sleeping in my bed!!!"

A year of thrift

One year ago this month, I stumbled upon a website that has literally changed the way our family functions. I have always been a bargain shopper, but Money Saving Mom takes thrify to a whole new level, and one that I never knew existed. Within a few weeks, I had subscribed to the Sunday paper to begin adventures in couponing, including learning how to get all of our toiletries for free by CVSing. I was hooked.





I have to admit that the process isn't always fun for me. There have been several times this year that I have been in tears of frustration because of the amount of time and effort it takes to do all of this. Brian has even started teasing me because about once a month I tell him in almost the exact same words: "I'm not sure if this is worth it."





But it is. You should have seen how giddy I was when I came home from the grocery the other night. My first transaction was entirely diapers. Having 2 kids in diapers gets quite costly, so you have to strike while the bargain is hot. Through a combination of deals, discounts, and coupons, I bought the following:

The total cost of these diapers without discounts would be: $169.42.

I paid: $56.75 - that's a savings of 69%!!!

(and technically, I didn't pay anything, because I had rebate gift cards that paid for them, but that's another story)

Some of these diapers will be gifts for new babies arriving soon, and many of them will be for our family.

So then I went back into the store to get the groceries that we needed for the next week or so. (Some people go to the store methodically every Saturday, but I'm not that organized. I go when I feel like we don't have any food left.) Again, through a variety of deals and coupons, I got a cart full of groceries worth $137.92 for $58.05. That's a savings of 58%!!

Overall, even though we've added another child to our family that eats 6 jars of babyfood per day and goes through a lot of diapers (related?), I am spending less per month on groceries and toiletries than I was at this time last year. My CVS receipt says that I saved over $2,000 in 2008. I feel so fortunate that blogging has helped me in yet another way!!

And if you think that any of this is impressive, you should see my friend Beth! She is completely incredible. She walks out of stores with a bunch of stuff and pays like 30 cents. She has launched a new blog, where she's sharing some of her secrets: Coupon Coach.

If any of you live locally and are interested in this, let me know. I am thinking about having a Money Saving Party (you know, like Pampered Chef, except instead of spending money, you learn to save it?), hosted by our very own Coach.

So how about you, what has been your best money saving strategy this year? I want to learn more, more, more!!

Worth linking...

I often giggle and smile as I read all your blogs that I love so dearly, but I just read a post that made me laugh out loud. If you like a good poop story, check this out.

Round 4

We had a really nice Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. Also, after my post last week, I wanted to say that I do really appreciate having so much family, and family that I want to spend time with, and that they are close enough that I can reasonably see all of them. Sometimes I feel sad that we don't have all of the grandparents right here in town to call at a moment's notice. That's the way it was when I was growing up and it was so great. But then I'm reminded of families like Giselle's whose closest relatives are 8.5 hours away so she can't see them all at Christmas. And THEN I'm reminded of families like Pam's, whose parents are on the other side of the ocean, so she only sees them once a year or so, and only if she has a couple thousand dollars to drop on plane tickets. So we are fortunate, we really are.

But anyway! My Dad's!

A great-grandma who handles 2 at once! (David has a leetle obsession with hair)






Reading books just to David? That aren't 2 years too old for him? What a novel concept!




Ever since we got home, Katy's been asking me to count these bracelets, "...in Spanish, Mommy." There are 12 bracelets, and unfortunately I only know how to count to 10 in Spanish. (I took French, 'lotta good that did me)

My Dad loves baseball. Always has. He was thrilled to find a baseball game for 9 month olds. So was David.

Odd Place for a Typo...

Aunt Mel gave the kids this City Garage Heliport for Christmas, and they've both enjoyed playing with it in David's room. One of the features is that the letters on the white arch ("GARAGE") slide back and forth and spin like those pediatrician waiting room toys.

Cleverly, in the picture on the box, the letters spell, "Garage." But as you can see here on ours, the green letter in the middle is definitely an "E," not an "R." So we have a City Gaeage Heliport.

I guess it will be awhile before he notices.