Walking to the Dream

Some of you may remember, that last year I walked to Hilton Head. Well, this year, I will be walking to our Cruise! I have twice as many miles to walk, but also a lot more time to do it.

The reason I have decided to do this again is two fold:

1. It gets me outside and exercising

2. It helps pass the time, while I am anxiously awaiting our vacation.

Last year I walked to take my mind off babies. Well, this year, I will be walking with my baby! It's crazy how much your life can change in just a year.

I would love to have someone walk with me, so if you are local, and would like to walk about 2 miles a day, please let me know.

I walked this weekend, to kind of get geared up for this, and boy am I out of shape. Let's just hope I can make it through this first week.

I will be posting my totals weekly, and keep a running track over on the right hand side of my blog. Let the fun begin!!

6 Month Pictures

Last week, Sarah came over to take Michael's six month pictures. We are participating in her "Watch me grow" program. I'm really looking forward to seeing the end result in a few months. I know he is going to change so much in the next six months. He has already changed drastically in the last 6 months. Anyway, here are just a few from his session. I LOVE how they turned out! He loves showing off those teeth!

Mama and Baby having fun!

Love his eyes in this picture!

Deep in thought...

Was very into this stick

He was getting sleepy by the end of the session.

I took full advantage of him wanting to cuddle. That doesn't happen too much anymore.

Thanks so much Sarah! You did a great job! Can't wait to see the rest!

6 month check-up

Today was Michael's 6 month well check visit. Here are his stats:
Height: 27 inches - 65th percentile
Weigh: 19 lbs - 74th percentile
Head circumference: 17 inches - 38th percentile

He is doing great and is right on track developmentally and the doctor said he was doing great!

While at the doctor's office, I found out that our insurance doesn't cover any immunizations! The thing that really bothers me, is that this is the first I am hearing about it. You would think that I would have gotten a bill or something from the insurance company saying that they weren't paying it. But we have received NOTHING! So I will be making some phone calls tomorrow to try to figure this all out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I think I have the cutest Valentine this year!

I Love you Michael Weston!

Of course I have a wonderful husband too! This is our 9th Valentine's Day together! Can you believe it! I love you Andrew.

Cereal is a winner!!

This morning, I gave Michael some oatmeal cereal for babies and he loved it! So happy that we have found something he likes and is willing to open his mouth for.

I guess I should have started with cereal, but I just wanted him to have something yummy for the first time. We can gradually start adding fruit and veggies to the cereal.
Check out my little guy eating up the cereal. He couldn't get enough!

I just love his little grin!

Cruisin'

Aruba, Jamaica ooo I wanna take you
To Bermuda, Bahama come on pretty mama
Key Largo, Montego baby why don't we go...

That's right, we are going on a cruise!
We will board the Disney Dream on December 26th for a 3-night cruise to the Bahamas. We are so excited to take Michael on his first cruise.

The Disney Dream is a brand new boat, that just started sailing in January 2011. There are so many cool things about this boat. Like the water coaster that actually goes off the side of the boat. Or the "magic porthole" in the inside staterooms.

We are going to have such a great time. I only wish we were leaving sooner.

Bananas!

On Monday we tried Bananas, to see if Michael would like them any better than the avocado.

Once we got them in his mouth, he liked it. The problem was getting them in there and keeping them in there!

First Foods

This weekend, we gave Michael his first taste of solid food. We had planned to start when he turned six months old, but since that happened on Monday, it was easier to do the first food over the weekend. We decided to give him avocado since it is nice and creamy, and very good for you.

Well, on Friday night, we ate pizza for dinner and we always give Michael a piece of crust. He usually just looks at it, and then drops it on the floor. Well, Friday night it went straight into his mouth, and he sat chewing on it for a long time. I'm sure it felt good on his little gums, and it tasted much better than any of the toys he has to chew on. I hate to document that pizza crust was his first solid food, but in actuality, it was.

On Saturday afternoon, we attempted to feed him the avocado. Let's just say that he liked the pizza crust a lot better. He took the first bite with no problem, but then he didn't want to take another bite. We did manage to get some more in his mouth, but I think most of it ended up being spit back out. We tried again that night, and he didn't like it any better the second time.

We will just keep trying new foods and eventually he will get the hang of eating solids and I'm sure he will learn to love them!

6 Months

Can Michael really be six months old already? I can't believe it has been half a year since we first heard those wonderful words, "You have a son!"
Here is what Michael is up to at six months old:
- Things this month have calmed down, and we have been able to just enjoy spending time as a family.
- Michael saw snow for the second time in his short little life this month. We had a major snowstorm the second week of January, and it left all of us home for a few days. We enjoyed having Daddy home from work.
- Michael rolled over for the first time this month!! It was January 17th and Mommy and Daddy were both home to see him do it for the first time! He is able to go from his belly to his back, but not the other way yet. We are so proud of him. Now anytime we put him on his belly to play, he rolls right over without hesitation.
- Michael also got his first tooth this month! On January 28th, he woke up with a little tooth poking through the skin. Then on Sunday, January 30th, a second tooth popped through also! He had been a little irritable for a few weeks, and now that his teeth are in, he is back to being a happy baby.
- Michael was sick for the first time this month. He had a 24-hour stomach bug, and we hated to see him sick. Thankfully, it only lasted 24 hours, and he was back to himself in no time.
- He is getting better and better at sitting unassisted. He will just sit on the floor and play with his toys for long periods of time.
- He has moved up to wearing size 6-9 months clothes. But is still in size 3 diapers.
- On February 5th, Michael tried solid food for the first time. We started with avocado, and he didn't like it at all. Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing new food to him one at a time. We are hoping that he will like some of the other foods a little better.
- Michael has really started to notice the dogs more and more, and he loves when they get close enough for him to pet. It won't be long until he is chasing them around the house.
- He is starting to develop a little personality, and we know just what to do to make him smile or laugh.
- This has been a big month full of firsts. First time rolling over, first tooth, and first foods. - We are so blessed to have Michael as our son, and the love we have for him continues to grow each and every day.

Before I know it, I will be planning his first birthday! I wish time would just slow down a little.

Learning to use Coupons

So, my little sister is like the coupon queen. She has been able to get stuff for free and has even been paid by the store to take some stuff out! It's crazy! Anyway, we are going to be starting baby food with Michael this weekend, so I asked Becky to help me get some good deals. I looked through all the baby coupons that I had, and we figured which ones I could use together to get the best deal. She also showed me some websites where I could print additional coupons. I also looked at other baby related coupons that I had, or that I could print, and ended up having a lot for diapers, formula and baby food.

So, here is what I got!

Total items: 36
Total before coupons: $95.68
Total saved: $37.40
Total after coupons: $58.28

And just to give some perspective, the big box of diapers was $19.99 and the big can of formula was $22.49. Also, the bottle drop ins were $6.99 So, if I had paid full price for each of those items, it's like I got 30 jars of baby food, a box of baby cereal and two packs of diapers for free!

Not too bad for my first attempt. I learned some things, and now know what to do for next time. The key to getting the most out of your coupons is to use a coupon paired with an in store sale on that item. I was able to do that with some of the baby food. Another great thing is that at the store I shopped at (Publix) you can use a manufacturers coupon, a in store coupon, and a competitor's coupon all for the same item.

For example, with the Gerber Formula, I had a Publix baby club coupon for $5 off, a manufacturers coupon for $3 off, a competitor coupon for $3 off and I also had a manufacturers check for $4.25 off (which is different than a coupon). So Before the coupons, the price was $22.49, what I paid for the formula, $7.24!

Let the coupon fun begin!

Dinner with Friends

On Saturday Night, we had Jessica, Chris and Lydia over for dinner.

Lydia loved hugging Michael and occasionally biting him too.

 

We had such a great time talking and watching the babies play together.

Little Cuties

 

This is the first time in a long time that we have been able to have someone over for dinner.

Sweet Babies

 

When Andrew worked at Chick-fil-A, he was usually working Friday and Saturday nights, so that didn't leave us much time to have friends over.

Jessica and Michael

Just one more perk to him working at BMW!