Jumping Bean

Peyton is napping and is pretty worn out because this morning she experienced her jumper thingy for the first time. She has been in it a couple of times before but only for a moment because she wasn't big enough so today was the first full play time in the bouncer and she was impressed. She couldn't get over the fact that there are toys all around her and it was very exciting. There are more pictures here.

Whoa...what am I supposed to be doing?

This looks interesting

Hello Mr Frog...

Time for me to eat you...

More fun things to try and eat

The Grocery Game

In an attempt to save my family more money and maximize the work I put into cutting and storing coupons I decided to turn to the Grocery Game for some help. I have heard good things from a couple of people now so it was time to try it out.

Pretty much the Grocery Game is advertised as the following:

What is The Grocery Game? The Grocery Game is a website that can save you hundreds of dollars on your grocery bill each month. Log in, spend a few minutes with a pair of scissors, and you're off to win The Grocery Game! When you play, you'll get a weekly list (called Teri's List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials -- advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format.

What do the colors on Teri's List mean? Teri's List is color-coded. Black items are a good price. Buy these if you need the item now. Blue items are for stockpiling. We do not expect this item to go lower so stock up while the price is at rock bottom. Green items are free. These are not "Buy one get one free" but are actually free after sale and coupon. All you pay is sales tax!

So...it is $1 for a four week trial to as many stores or lists as you want and then it is $10 every 8 weeks for one list (each additional list is $5). After looking at last weeks published list there were some really good deals that I was not even aware of. In order to start truly seeing savings you need to gain a 12 week stockpile of goods so I will be starting on that and will evaluate how we are doing in 12 weeks to see if it worth continuing. Not bad for $21!

You can check out the Grocery Game by clicking here. Also, if you decide to register, make sure to put my email in the referral part so I can get some free weeks!

Snotty Ladies

No we didn't run into any mean ladies...Peyton and I are both sick. Peyton is almost over her congestion, cough and ear infection and decided to share her germs with mommy who now has a sore throat and runny nose. Gross. We are staying in our PJs today and being lazy girls.

We had a busy weekend so it is nice to just be lazy together. On Saturday the ladies of the house along with Grandma went downtown to an art gallery where a former co-worker displays some of her work along with 30 other artists in a co-op gallery setting called Archway Gallery. Peyton really enjoyed the paintings and a silly flamingo sculpture thing and was so well behaved. After that I decided that Peyton should further her interest in Pottery Barn and we made a trip over there along with Restoration Hardware and Crate and Barrel. Peyton has visited all these places before but I feel like she was too young to truly understand what we were doing and now that she has seen the catalogues...it was a whole new experience. But really, it is so great that she is more alert and awake when we go places. It is fun to show her things and interact with her outside of the house. Daddy stayed home Saturday and did so much around the house for us which was great! Then Sunday we had small group and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and cutting coupons. A great weekend!

So, all in all, my first week on the new job went well. It hit me on Wednesday what has happened but I know that this is where I need to be and I am so happy with our decision. This week my goals are to try not to be so busy with housework and look for opportunities to get out of the house and do things. So, tomorrow my mom and I are heading out to High Fashion (a huge fabric store) downtown and I will also be starting more on my master bedroom decorating by hopefully picking a paint color so I can start painting this weekend. One other item on my to-do list is to look into some play date opportunities for me and Peyton. She really needs to continue to be around other kids and I need to meet some new mommies so we will be following up on some things I have found...but for now....NAP TIME!

I love Pottery Barn too...

Today our master bedroom sheets came and the new catalogue came as well. It appears that just like her mother Peyton likes Pottery Barn. She was a little schocked that I have kept this great place from her and she was very excited about her new discovery and the new design possibilities! These are some pictures that I captured of her...funny thing is that these are really in the order I took them.

Five Months Old

Peyton turned five months old yesterday and we celebrated with some antibiotics. Peyton has an ear infection:( I noticed her acting grumpy on Tuesday and then that night she woke up a couple of times so I knew something was off and sure enough the doctor said that her left ear is infected. She is also still battling with congestion and getting all of that out of her so she has a pretty awful cough. But for being a sick little girl she is pretty cheerful and full of smiles for her mommy and puppy.

As for her new skills....Peyton rolled over yesterday! I can not verify that this is true however because she did it while I went and got the camera. Peyton and Titus were on the floor together being all cute and she was on her tummy. I ran to get the camera and when I turned back around she was on her back looking mighty pleased with herself. I praised her and she thought that was the greatest thing but has not repeated her feat. I am pretty sure Titus didn't help her so I will mark it down as her first roll over.

Peyton is continuing to grow and besides her recent sickness is a healthy little girl which is all we could ask for. She is over 15 pounds now! Everyday she is more and more adorable and we are so thankful that we are able to be parents. I still am in disbelief how much our lives have changed (and for the better) in this past year.

Peyton's Puppy Dog

Here are some pictures of Peyton and Titus interacting today. She thinks he is pretty awesome and well....he tolerates her.

Staying at Home Update

So, the first two days at my new job have gone well! It has been such a joy to be around Peyton all day long and I have missed our times together.

Yesterday was a busy day. We were up and at Target at 9:00 AM. I am so used to getting up early and getting going that I didn't realize how early it was until I noticed that there were hardly any cars there. Prior to going to Target I was able to get laundry going, pick up the kitchen, do some dishes and just start getting our house back in order. I picked up some cleaning supplies and some clothes for Peyton at Target (I got an outfit for $2.50 regular $10). We then headed home and spent the afternoon playing. We went for a short walk to get the mail to test out the jogging stroller. It hit me how much she has grown when she was sitting up and looking so big in there compared to the last time in October/November when she was so small. She loved the stroller and was squeeling with excitment. We then went over to Grandma's for a little bit and I went to CVS to score some deals. I got back and we headed home to make dinner and had a nice evening with Daddy. At one point, I looked at my watch and realized that it was 6:30 PM and we had already had dinner and were relaxing as a family...I used to get home at 6:30 PM! It was so nice!

Today, we hit up the grocery store and then spent the afternoon at home. Peyton is still congested and her cough sounds worse today so she was grumpy and needed to relax. I did some cleaning during one of her naps but then she woke up and as soon as I held her she fell right asleep but didn't want to sleep in her bed so I did my favorite thing, I put her on JOhn's side of the bed and put a pillow as barrier so she wouldn't wiggle off and we napped together. At one point she woke up, looked at me, smiled and then went right back to sleep. Melted my heart!

Yesterday, Peyton started to reach out at Titus and try to pet him. He is being a good sport and was tolerating it until she leaned in to try and put his nose in her mouth and then he just backed off and looked at me. She loves him so much and it is great to see her smile at him and reach for him!

Also, in my shoping adventures this week so far, I have decided that by staying at home I would work a little harder on using coupons and looking for deals. Well, I am just in the early stages and have a lot to learn but I have already saved $106.14 this week during my regular grocery shopping and visiting CVS to stock up on some makeup etc (and I got $5 extra care bucks)! I still have some work to do and have learned tricks this week already but it is fun to save my family money!

I am still trying to figure out what our new routine will look like but it has been nice to be able to pick up the house, cook dinner and most importantly play and talk with Peyton all day long!

Master Bedroom Decorating Update

I got my gift cards to Pottery Barn yesterday evening and I decided to go ahead and purchase the duvet cover and Euro shams. They were still a little more than I would normally spend on sheets but I figured the two year long search warranted an exception. I love Pottery Barn but until this morning have only purchased two things there (my living room now master bedroom curtains and my dining room curtains). I can not wait until the duvet and shams come in so I go look for paint samples, search for some deals on sheets and start having fun! I am also wanting to find some pictures for above the nightstands and might just need to commission my personal artist....mom, are you up for the challenge?

Here is what I got....

My Own HGTV Moment...Master Bedroom Redo

We moved into our house almost two years ago (April 2007). When we moved in I made a major decorating mistake and painted our master bedroom a color that I love without having any sheets to really match. So, since then it has always been a pain in my side and a frustration. I have spent these past two years looking and looking for sheets to match the paint and after a fruitless search, I ahve decided to repaint. I finally found some sheets that I love and have decided to paint to match them and do some redecorating! Also, when John and I decided I was going to stay home, one thing I brought up to him is that we would need to make sure we are setting aside some money each month for "rainy day" stuff. Mainly little projects or things I could do to continue to express my creativity. I worked in a highly creative environment and knew that I needed to still have outlets to express creativity in decorating, cooking or photography.

So, my first creative undertaking is our master bedroom! So, stay tuned in the next month for our master bedroom transformation. Here is what we are starting with (we have added a dresser and mirror since these have been taken but I don't have a more recent picture)....

Step One in our master bedroom update is purchasing curtains for the living room. I thought you were redecorating the master...why are you buying living room curtains? Because the current curtains in the living room fit perfectly with my paint plans and sheets and why not use what you currently have and be able to update two rooms at once. After much searching (and a promotional coupon for free shipping and a discount off my total purchase) I finally decided to purchase thesese from http://www.halfpricedrapes.com/. I can't wait until they come!

Step Two, is waiting for my Pottery Barn gift card to come in the mail from us redeeming our Wells Fargo Rewards points! I found a duvet cover and shams at Pottery Barn that I LOVE and refuse to pay full price for them. However, a gift card helps justify the cost. Once I get the cover and shams I will search other discount stores for the rest of the sheets etc and then start putting things together and painting!

I am super excited about my new project (and the other ones to come in the future)...stay posted for more sneak peaks and the after shot!

Yummy...Rice Cereal

So, yesterday John and I were hanging out around the house and decided that Peyton seemed to be in a pleasant and experimental mood so why not attempt some rice cereal. The peditrician said at our last visit that she doesn't need to start solids until six months but in the meantime if she seems interested and we were adventorous to go ahead and try some rice cereal now and then and see what happens.


Peyton immeditaly grabbed at my hand and the spoon and directed me towards her mouth which made us very excited. Once it arrived at her mouth however the looks of glee turned into a little bit of confusion. She let it sit on her lips and front of her mouth for awhile and then finally swallowed. Overall she was very interested and a willing participant...even opening her mouth big and wide now and then. We only played around for five minutes or so becuase I didn't want to ruin a good thing. We will continue to experiment in the coming weeks.



Which means that this month I will be purchasing my supplies for making my own baby food (new food processor and some ice cube trays with lids for freezing). I have done a tremendous amount of research (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ is an AMAZING site) and am very confident and excited about doing this for Peyton. Not only will it limit the amount of preservatives she will be getting but it will save us a bundle of money! She won't start on the fun veggies etc until late next month but I wanted to look around for deals on food processors and be ready for when she is ready!