Wow, a YEAR?!

I can't believe it has been a year since I started this blog. I specifically remember writing my first entry at work, and wanting SO BAD to spill my guts that I was pregnant. Now, "baby B" is here, and I'm at home FULL TIME with him! Life is amazing, and watching God's will in hindsight always blows my mind.

Jack is just growing and growing! I can't believe how blessed I am to be here to witness it. He laughed for the first time the other day... He loves when daddy goes "Phbbbbt" on his belly! haha! He hasn't yet laughed at me, but I got his giggles on camera. TOO CUTE! I can't believe he is almost 5 months old. He is also almost saying "ma-ma" which of course makes my heart melt!! We had our Bradley Class reunion on Saturday. It was so neat to get together with the couples from our birthing class and actually get to meet their little ones! What adorable little babies, and such amazing success stories! It was a fun and positive afternoon.

The new mattress is AMAZING! I haven't felt the pains of sciatica now in a few days, and I've even been going on morning walks (which normally seems to make it worse). Thank you LORD for this! It seriously is going to change my physical life!!!

This Saturday is the big Yard Sale day. I've never had one before, and I'm nervous, but excited. We have so much stuff to sell from furniture, jewelry, electronics, videos, clothing... I hope the rain holds off and it is a success! Pray for us, as we need the extra cash for our travel expenses in August. Pennsylvania and Las Vegas are on the calendar... I'd love to make the extra cash to fund these and not have to take it out of our normal monthly budget.

Couponing has also been going well. I did a quick run to the grocery store last night and saved over 100% at Publix and Walgreens. I got the supplies needed for the yard sale at a whopping $0.87 (and saved $6.00)!! And got some stuff for dinner tonight at Publix for $14 (saved $16!). Things are looking up with that. Well, that's all for now. I have to sweep and mop the floors and continue straightening the house. Tomorrow I will start pricing all the "goods"... Fun, fun fun, WISH ME LUCK!!!

BLESSINGS! (and other random thoughts)

Well, Keith and I did it! We FINALLY bought a mattress! Yet to be delivered, on Saturday we purchased a beautiful, Ther-a-pedic mattress! It should be here on Friday, that's only 3 more days of sleeping in pain! We have needed this for YEARS and are so happy that the day has finally come. We also had our David Arms print custom framed and it came in this week. It is stunning! If you haven't heard of David Arms, you need to check him out. He's an amazing artist.

The Greater Story - David Arms

Saturday night was Jack's first time to be in the nursery at church. I kinda chuckled when Keith told me it would be hard, but MAN IT WAS SO HARD! I almost got teary, and had so much trouble concentrating on the service. They matched his name with a code when we checked him in. If this code pops up on the screens during service, it means that there is a problem. Well, let me tell you... I could not keep my eyes off of the screens. I even had trouble during prayers keeping my eyes closed. After the service was over, Keith and I peeked in through the window at Jack before picking him up. He was just smiling and playing... completely content. Hah... It's funny how we were so anxious, yet he didn't even notice the difference!

I also had an interview at church this week to do some part time childcare during the fall and spring months. They have had a lot of people interested in this, but if I have the opportunity I think I'm really going to enjoy it. I will get to meet so many other people and moms, and it will be great just to get out of the house once in a while. I hope they consider me, because I would really love to do it.

Keith and I are also planning on doing CBS this fall.; Community Bible Study. It is a non-denominational bible study. My dad and stepmom do this down in Atlanta, and have just raved at how awesome it is. We also are hoping to get together with a few neighbors we know, to get to know them even better! How awesome to be able to incorporate some sort of bible study with them too! Through I'm extrememly busy being a "mom", I want to use any free times that I have to follow what my true desire is; to know God more and live an obedient life glorifying Him. I want to really dig into the Word and get out into the community and join together with other believers.

My "meal plan" has also been working out. We have had some great meals the last few days. Pork Sirloins, Beef Enchiladas, Tomato and bacon marinated chicken... My husband was right in suggesting that we plan this out and food shop accordingly. We've had enough for what we want, need, and are even going to hopefully share some by having some neighbors over for dinner. We were also able to help out Grace Works who recently had a food drive at a local Kroger. It was so neat because they gave us a list of needs at the door, and we got to go shopping for the full purpose of helping those in our community that are less fortunate. And on top of this, everyone in the store that we saw had those lists, and were activlely using them! You could really tell which things would need restocked after this food drive. It was awesome to see empty shelves, and know that so many people would be blessed with this food.

I love working at home, as I expected, but it has really opened me up to new creative ideas and the ability to expand on the ideas I have. I have completely redesigned and organized our bathroom, entertainment area, part of our garage... and so much more to come. It is awesome what a little time and reorganization can do. I feel like I'm living in a different place! We are continually blessed, and knowing we have made the right decision for our family. Thank you LORD!!

Oh Wow!

It is already 4 oclock! Time flies by even faster than I ever thought. My idea of blogging, basking by the pool, and long relaxing days is far from what "staying at home" really seems to be! I have yet to go to the pool, this is only my second blog (and as I type I'm trying to decide how much time I really have to write/edt/post this before I need to be making dinner), and I still get up relatively early and go to bed relatively late. But I do LOVE every minute... seriously... I do.

We had a wonderful weekend in Charlotte and Atlanta. You see, Atlanta is 4 hours from us, and Charlotte is 4 hours from Atlanta, and we are 8 hours from Charlotte. So it works for us to drive 4 hours to my dad's in Atlanta, take a break, and then continue on another 4 to Charlotte before turning around and doing it all over again. This time we left in the evening and arrived in Atlanta just to stay the night, and got up at 4:30 EST (3:30 our time)to head to Charlotte so that we wouldn't miss any of the festivities planned for Saturday. You see, my nephew turned 1 last Wed. and my sister had a bunch of stuff planned on Saturday to celebrate. We went on a safari/wagon ride at the Lazy 5 Ranch... (it turned out pretty well, had its ups and downs, it's a long story, but we got some really great photos! ...somehow we managed to take 600) we grilled out for dinner, watched Dylan care less about the gifts we all brought, THOROUGHLY ENJOYED A NIGHT OF SLEEPING ON A MEMORY FOAM MATTRESS, and enjoyed a Sunday service with the family before heading back to Atlanta. My brother-in-law's mother, sister, nephew, and niece were all there for the weekend, it was fun to see them all. They all loved Jack, and Jack surely loved them. You could just see the gears in his head turning, thinking about the days he can get in just as much mischief as the older children.

When we got back to Atlanta, around 6pm, we enjoyed spending some time with my stepmom for her birthday. Her parents, sister, brother-in-law, and their 4 boys were all there for the party. We had a great pizza dinner, and the best CAKE ever!! There is this special cake that my stepmom's mother has been making for her every year since she was 17. It is awesome... Keith laid down for about an hour before we headed back home, and got in around 1am CST. Long and tiring weekend, but we like to cram in as much as possible on these visits. Family all lives too far away, and we get to see them far to little.

Our next trip is August 7-9 as we head to Pennsylvania to mom's farm for a weekend. It will be great to see everyone, and hopefully Jack will get his first horseback ride! We are super excited for this. Then we'll probably just stay home until Christmas... We promised the Jeep we'd take a break.

Jack had his 4 month checkup on Monday. He weighs 13lbs 6oz and is 25.5 in. long. This was all good news, he is growing nicely. She also commented on his BEAUTIFUL sking and AMAZING head control! Yay, my strong and beautiful little boy. He has been changing so much, even over the last weekend. I see him watch this other kids, and then try to imitate things. He has gotten so strong and is almost sitting now on his own. He had to get a zillion shots along with an oral vaccine, we've never done that many at once before. He is also getting one bottom front tooth in, so he was quite fussy. It isn't a whiney type fuss though, more of a "mom, I'm sore and feel yucky" type whine. I felt bad for him, and gave him lots of cuddles (and tylenol).

Today I went grocery shopping again. And though no one that reads my blog may care, I feel proud and excited to announce what I saved with coupons. Mainly I do this for my own sake, because it takes a lot out of me to do this and if I feel like I can somewhat "report" what I save, it gives me the motivation to do it all again the next week... haha...

I spent $130.00 at Kroger, and saved $70. This was including a $20 box of diapers... So $200 worth of stuff for $130.00, I'll take that! :)
I spent $24.oo at Walgreens and saved $18. That's $42 worth of stuff for $24... I'll take that as well.

I tried something new this week by planning out the next 10 days worth of meals. This way we won't eat all $200 worth of food the first day... We tend to get excited with all the goodies, and we eat them all. Now that I have it planned out, we should be better about knowing what food is for what days, and it will hopefully last a little longer.

Anyways, that's what's been going on with me. Laundry, dishes, cleaning the floor, taking care of the zoo, feeding baby boy Jack, and grocery shopping. All in a days work! :) Love it Love it Love it!!!

blog blog blog...

I need to start getting back into this, so I will start small. I had an amazing weekend in Charlotte and Atlanta! Little nephew Dylan turned 1, and my stepmom Robin turned 45! I have so many pictures to add, and so many stories to write. Plus, Jack had his 4 month doctor's appointment today! I need to feed him and get the laundry started, but then I'll spend sometime updating this today.

I'M BACK!!

Not necessarily back to blogging, but back to COUPONING! I saved $67 dollars last night at publix... WOOT WOOT!! and $186 worth of food at that! Our cabinets are FULL AND STOCKED!! Yippie!