Halloween 2013 - Tigger & Pooh

Jack LOVED his costume! I asked him to bounce like Tigger, and he shook his head, but when I asked him to jump then he was all over it:

This is what Pooh really thinks about his outfit... :)

We went to our church's Trunk or Treat and had a blast!

Here is Pooh, a little more enthused. Ha!

Tigger, however, didn't need to be any more enthused! He had a lot of fun on the bouncy slide!! 

And a video:

And with his buddy, Bryan - aka the brave lion!

We had a lot of fun!!!

Halloween 2012 - Jack/Scooby Doo

Halloween 2011 - Jack/"Smokey Manning"

Baby Miller - Eight Months

Birth: 6lbs 8oz, 19 3/4 in long

1 Month: 8lbs 10oz, 21 in long

2 Months: 10lbs 12oz, 23 in long

3 Months: 11lbs 10oz, 23.75 in long

4 Months: 12lbs 7oz, 25 in long

5 Months: 13lbs 12oz, 25.5 in long

6 Months: 14lbs 14oz, 26 in long

7 Months: _____, ______

8 Months: _____, ______

(I know... I've been bad about keeping up with this! It's hard to take 2 kids 

to the doctor to get "officially" weighed and measured!)

CLOTHES & DIAPERS

• Miller is in mostly 9 month clothes now! And as it's getting a little cooler, he is able to wear more hand-me-downs from his big brother, since Jack was wearing 9 month clothes in Feb/March. 
• I FINALLY started using cloth diapers again on my boys!! Sheesh. I am such a big proponent of it, and I can't believe it took me this long to get back into it. I'm having a friend re-do the velcro on all my "hook & loop" diapers, so in the next week or so, they should all be working like new! 

EATING

• Miller has been on Nutramigen formula for about 4 months now, and I'm still not regretting this decision for our family. :)
• He's eats about every 4 hours, and takes about 6-7 ounces each time which ends up being somewhere between 24-30 ounces a day. 
• As of his 6 mo checkup, we have been adding a couple teaspoons of rice cereal to every bottle, and he's gotten pretty used to the consistency.
• As for "real food", I am still completely TERRIBLE in this department! I've just been inconsistent with feeding him big boy food. He is really good at being spoon fed, and has started picking up puffs too. He eats anything I feed him, but especially likes bananas and peas. 
• He's still getting Axid twice a day for reflux. 

SLEEPING

• (same as 7 mo) Miller typically goes to bed about 7:30/8pm, sleeps for 3-4 hours, wake to eat, and then typically sleep until 7:30am. We are pretty much down to 1 feeding at night, so I can't complain!! 
• The best thing in the ENTIRE world is this sweet boy's nap schedule. Mornings are kinda all over the place... He'll wake up around 7:30ish and then be ready for a nap around 9:30 or so. If we are home, this one is usually about 1.5 hr. Then BOTH of my boys go down for naps around 1:30/2pm and glory hallelujah - they sleep for 2+ hours!!! 

AND...

• He has been crawling for several weeks now!! Sometimes I forget that I can't just leave him in one spot and expect him to be there when I get back! Ha!
• He's doing a lot better sitting up by himself. 
• This week he has started getting up on his knees and holding on to the couch or the side of the pack-n-play! Miller is taking his 1st step towards pulling up!
• He definitely found his voice this month. SQUEALING monster!!! He seriously screamed and squealed for almost a week, and then he started making more deliberate sounds. Ba, ba, ba, and blah blah blah. 
• He still has no teeth (Jack's 1st tooth was at 7.5 months).
• Miller loves to laugh!! He has the sweetest personality and feels like he has been part of our family forever.

Here's a video of Miller for his eight month birthday (it's longer than normal, but watch it because it's so funny. Jack decided to start spinning him around in the chair, and Miller LOVED it!):

And here's a side by side of both my boys at eight months:

Big Brother Jack at Eight Months

Have you checked out the new page on the boys? 

Look at the side-by-side progression at the bottom!

Life SKilLs: Debra - Eating

Today's Life SKilLs answers come from my friend Debra! She is wife to Bryan and mama to John, and blogs at The Klein Adventures. Check out her answers below! 

Eating

What is your “food philosophy”? As in, do you cook just because people need to be fed, or do you enjoy/love to cook?

I enjoy cooking, but not when I'm in a hurry.  So, that means I have to plan ahead, or it's just another chore.

What do you typically have for breakfast? What about your kids?

I usually eat cereal or toast.  My favorite is raisin toast, but I'm out right now because I keep forgetting to go to the Little Debbie Outlet, and I'm too cheap to buy it at the grocery!  John gets milk for breakfast right now, although I'm sure it won't be long till he starts wanting some fruit or something.  (He's 6 months).

What do you typically have for lunch? Kids?

Lunch is hit or miss.  Lately, I've been enjoying a chicken salad kick.  Easy to make and keep in the fridge, so it's quick to pull out and make a sandwich.  If we're out running errands, it's whatever strikes me.  Again...John gets milk.

How often do you make/cook/fix dinner each week?

Probably only about 3-4 times.  I would love to cook more, but we are just a little busy lately and I haven't gotten back into a routine since the baby came.  We used to eat in 5 nights a week, leftovers one night, and date night one night.  I got into a really great routine and it was working well, but then....well, life happened!  By the way, I make John dinner every night.  It's automatic (he's nursing).

Do you meal plan?

Not right now - at least not consistently.  I would love to be better about it, and like I said earlier, I was better about it for a few months and it made life a lot easier.  Maybe I'll get back into it again.  When I did, I used a website - www.howdoesshedoit.com to help me get myself together.  It is a lot of work on the front end - putting in recipes that you use regularly so you can automatically populate a shopping list - but it was so handy when I got it up and running.  I had the iphone app too so that I couldn't forget my shopping list, which I'm known to do.  I do plan John's meals...milk, milk, milk...oh, and now, rice cereal!

How often do you eat out each week?

We eat out for dinner probably once or twice a week.  Right now we also bring dinner home at least once a week (sandwiches or pizza).  We also eat sunday lunch out.  I guess we eat out more than I'd care to admit!!

Don't worry Debra, we do too!! :)

Well, we have had 6 (including me) installments of Life SKilLs so far! I'm going to take a week or so break from these and then start back up with the Cleaning questions I asked everyone. I'd love to hear from YOU - leave a comment and I will send you the next set of questions. Even if I am interviewing someone with a similar "story" as you, YOUR story is different! And important! And someone will be thankful to read what you have to say.

Okay? Let me know!

Life SKilLs: Brianne - Eating

Today's Life SKilLs answers come from my childhood best friend, Brianne, who blogs at Truth Telling 101. She is a married workin' woman with a unique schedule (as in, not your typical 9-5). Check out her answers below! 

Eating

What is your “food philosophy”? As in, do you cook just because people need to be fed, or do you enjoy/love to cook?

I think I would have to say, I honestly love cooking. I love being creative and finding new ways to make your basic “meat and potatoes” kinda meals. I love seeing my husband’s (and/or family) face as they eat my (usually) successful meals. I have to be honest, it’s kinda fun to see the faces when it’s a failure too...usually by then I know it’s not gonna be fantastic, but it’s always so sweet when the hubs eats everything and still tells me it was delicious....even if he does make himself a snack an hour later. I just only wish I had more time to love it. Being on a different schedule every single day it makes it difficult sometimes to make dinner and have it ready for when Josh gets home from work. Usually those are the days I just don’t really like cooking, but I thoroughly enjoy knowing Josh will have a nice dinner at home, and won’t have to go to Taco Bell or Burger King.

What do you typically have for breakfast? What about your kids?

I can’t believe I’m about to admit this....but I’m VERY rarely up for breakfast. Even on my days off. It’s just soooo hard to get up before noon (eek) when I’m not usually getting home from work until after 3 in the morning. However, IF I do happen to get my lazy butt up I usually have a cup of coffee and either some toast or a bagel. I’ve also gotten into a pop tart kick. Josh never eats breakfast, at least that I’m aware of...he might grab something on his way to work or when he gets there...but we don’t have breakfast together. The kids (aka dogs) have a bowl of food each the little one 1/2 cup and the big one 2 cups.

What do you typically have for lunch? Kids?

It always varies. If Josh and I are home together we typically go out for some lunch, which usually means fast food. However, we have decided to try to cut back on that and eat lunch at home, sandwiches, left overs, etc. If I’m home by myself its usually a grilled cheese sandwich...or whatever we have in the fridge. The pups don’t get lunch.

How often do you make/cook/fix dinner each week?

I really try to have something put together 6 out of 7 days a week. But we all know life happens, and plans always get changed. It usually ends up I cook 4 to 5 days a week. There might be a day that Josh does something on the grill for himself and I grab what I can, but over all I would say 4 to 5 days...at home cookin’.

Do you meal plan?

YES!! One of our biggest arguments is what we will have/ do for dinner. Meal planning completely eliminates this. Plus, with my work schedule, I usually plan out more difficult meals when I’m home all done, and just those quick fixes for the days when I work. I also don’t have any type of budget to work with when going grocery shopping ( working for tips, it’s kinda hard to have a set budget for anything, but that’s a whole nother subject for another day) so having a meal plan to work with helps eliminate all those purchases that we tend to make when we don’t know what we are looking for...it’s kinda like going shopping when you are hungry, we all know it never ends well.

How often do you eat out each week?

Together usually once. If I don’t get to making dinner because of time constraints, we usually grab what can where we can. But we usually go out or order in once a week, some weeks it might be more, depending on how lazy we are or what plans we have going on.

Life SKilLs: Emily G. - Eating

Today we have my great friend, Emily who blogs at The Geyers in Chattanooga. She is a stay at home mama to 2 sweet boys: Crawford (19 mo) and Lawson (1 mo). Life is a bit crazy right now with a newborn, but she took the time to answer my questions!

Emily asked me to use this photo - this is REAL LIFE, people! :)

Check out her answers below:

Eating

What is your “food philosophy”? As in, do you cook just because people need to be fed, or do you enjoy/love to cook?

I definitely only cook because people need to be fed. I'm pretty much the opposite of a "foodie", in that I eat very plain, simple things, and really only to satisfy my hunger (which is currently an impossible task 3 weeks after having a baby, nursing that baby and chasing my 19mo old).

What do you typically have for breakfast? What about your kids?

Crawford is on a waffle kick. Sometimes we make them (then freeze a large batch), other times its an eggo. Or three. Lets be real. Other breakfast items include: yogurt, granola, bananas, biscuits, muffins (I make some combo of banana/blueberry/zucchini in large batches and freeze them) or smoothies.

I almost always have cereal. Except this morning I had Julie Darling donuts because my darling husband brought them home for me last night. I should say I almost always have cereal, unless I can have donuts.

What do you typically have for lunch? Kids?

Crawford usually has a grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly or leftovers and fruit. I usually have a grilled turkey sandwich or peanut butter and jelly or honey or leftovers (but I usually don't like leftovers, so it would have had to be a pretty special dinner).

How often do you make/cook/fix dinner each week?

Now is kind of a hard time to answer that... Lawson is 3 weeks old and people have brought us almost every dinner we've eaten since being home from the hospital (thank you, friends!!). Pre-Lawson lately we've really buckled down to eating at home (no take out) every week night and only allowing eating out on weekends or special occasions. So that usually means four nights of "cooking" (sometimes it is simple like a meal I made in advance and froze or David grilling) and one of leftovers.

Do you meal plan?

Yes! A couple months ago we made a list of 20 meals we all like and that are easy enough to actually get made. I had been in a "what do we have for dinner tonight?!" rut, and I found myself going to Pinterest and being overwhelmed by a million new meals that I COULD make. Then, I would make something new and it would be gross. Anyway, we worked our way through that list in about 5 weeks, and now we are starting over. We stared by going to the grocery and stocking up on all the non perishables to make all 20 meals, which cut down on our need for regular, large grocery runs. We usually plan that week's meals on Sunday, and David and I always do it together. I could eat a pb&h sandwich or a bowl of cereal for dinner and be fine with it (so could David sometimes), so it is helpful to me if we can meal plan together. We usually do it in the car on the way to church :).

How often do you eat out each week?

See above. Usually two times. We often get $1 tacos from Mojo on Saturdays before or after church, and usually one other time on the weekend. I almost never eat lunch out. Crawford is so not fun at a restaurant so that helps deter me from wanting to go out and spend money when I could easily eat at home.

Find things about you that are similar to Em? Let us know in the comments!

When Daydreaming Becomes Discontentment

Earlier this year, I started subscribing to the new HGTV magazine. With the flip of a few pages - I was hooked.

We don't have cable anymore, so I really miss watching HGTV (though it was a HUGE time waster for me, so I know I'm better off). Anyway, I love the magazine, and every time a new edition popped into my mailbox, I would look through it and dream. 

Dream about what color I could paint this piece of furniture, or how I could rearrange that shelf. I would earmark page after page and file ideas away for our future dream house. 

But after the arrival of the last 2 issues, I found myself putting off looking at them. The covers were just as beautiful as always, just as intriguing. I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't get the same giddy feeling. 

It's because I've been trying to be intentional about loving our "right now".

Sure, looking through it gave me great ideas, but what I found was that it was stealing my peace. My contentment with where we are and what our home looks like right now. The messy kitchen and the plethora of dust bunnies. Those shelves I just can't seem to keep organized and my "command center" covered in junk mail. 

I'm working on those areas, but slowly and steadily. And my house will probably never fill the pages of a magazine, but the thought of this place fills my heart. It's where my husband proposed. It's where we ripped up rooms and rooms of 70s carpet. It's where my 2 boys came home from the hospital. It's where my big guy spins around and around, and where my little guy crawls, amidst the dust and dirt. 

So I'm not renewing my subscription. Maybe if/when we actually get that dream house, I'll check it out again. But until then, I'm going to let my dreams live here. 

Life SKilLs: Rikki - Eating

It's time for another installment of Life SKilLs! Today we have answers from Rikki! She is a working woman with a hubby, a dog, 2 cats, and a bird! She blogs at cocktails & confetti. And she's hilarious.

Eating

What is your “food philosophy”? As in, do you cook just because people need to be fed, or do you enjoy/love to cook?

I am a terrible cook. Really. Fortunately, Austin can cook practically anything without even needing a recipe. So if it's me cooking, it's probably because Austin is not home and I'm trying to not starve. I am trying to be better about cooking, though. About once a month or so Austin and I will try a new food or recipe and Austin helps me avoid chopping off my own fingers. Now, baking-with a very specific exact recipe-I'm totally your girl.

What do you typically have for breakfast? What about your kids?

Cereal. Dry. Out of the box by the handful. I'll have this for about three months or so, then I'll pick something new. I go through phases where I eat the same thing every day. So ask me again in a few months and I'll probably be on to frozen french toast sticks or toast with jelly before I circle back around to cereal again.

What do you typically have for lunch? Kids?

Half a peanut butter sandwich and a pack of fruit snacks. I may not have any kids, but I sure do eat like one. This is what I pack every day for lunch at work. Rarely, I might pack some leftovers from dinner earlier in the week. For work though, I do home health, which means I'm driving around lots of the time and perishable foods + hot car = tummy ache. So I usually have to pack something that might not ever see a refrigerator. Lunch on the weekends is almost always leftovers from the week's dinners.

How often do you make/cook/fix dinner each week?

We cook together on most nights. If we have a recipe I can handle it. If it's something we're making without a recipe Austin takes over more. I've never been good with things like "season to taste" or add a "pinch" of this or a "dash" of that. This type A personality girl needs a pretty specific recipe and clear instructions. And a slap-chop so my digits stay in tact and not a side dish.

Do you meal plan?

Yes! We plan our meals before heading to the grocery store each week. Grocery shopping is literally my least favorite thing in the whole entire world. If it were up to me we would buy bread, peanut butter and cheese each week and call it a day. Maybe throw some cookies in the cart for good measure. So as far as I'm concerned we meal plan simply to make grocery shopping less miserable for me, because we have a plan so we can get it, get out, and pretend it never happened.

How often do you eat out each week?

We usually end up eating out once per week. We hardly ever eat fast food, mostly because I'm vegetarian and fast food doesn't really cater to that kind of diet. Austin would probably go out for lunch just about every day if I didn't strongly encourage him to pack his lunch. I would say we run out for a quick dessert relatively often though, maybe 3 times a month. I have a serious sweet tooth and after dinner, if we have no sweets in the house, I won't turn down a quick trip to DQ for a blizzard or Dub's for a peanut butter milkshake.

Are you enjoying this series? 

We have SEVERAL more friends lined up for the "Eating" questions and then... I'll share everyone's "Cleaning" answers! I hope that you will find a few ladies that you can relate to, and find a few new blogs to check out. :)