Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures of this years Halloween costume for Emma:

My cute little Dorothy!We put my neighbors daughter's shoes on Emma because they're WAY too big and thought it would be funny and we were going to call this picture "Dorothy the Clown." But after looking at the perspective that the picture was taken in, they don't exactly look like over sized clown shoes in this picture...

Emma's First Birthday

We went up to Idaho for Emma's Birthday party this last weekend. Her party was on Saturday and she officially turned one year old yesterday! The party was a lot of fun, we got together with some family and Emma had a LOT of cake.

Here are some videos of Emma tearing into her cake, the first one is at the beginning and then the second one is at the end, about 10 or so minutes later.


Where did the year go?! It's hard to believe that Emma is already one. She's growing so fast! She also started walking a week ago! I'm just so glad that I can be at home to see it all and to help teach and raise her. It's been a fun year, a tough year, but it has been the best year so far. I know I said that about last year and I'm sure I'll say it again next year. It'll just keep getting better and better, I know it.

I've been meaning to post this...

...But then life got busy... hope you enjoy!

Oh the amount you can save...

...At Alberston's

So, decided to take advantage of the deals going on at Alberston's this morning...
My first transaction I bought 4 boxes of Cherrios, 4 boxes of Kix, 3-6 packs of IBC Rootbeer, 1-6 pack of IBC Cream Soda, 2 boxes of Bisquick and 1 box of Lipton's Dry Soup Mix.
I spent $25.63 OOP
saved $32
AND got a $15 catalina

My second transaction I bought 3 Wishbone Dressings, 3 jars of Ragu pasta sauce, 4 packages of Pillsbury Cookie Dough, Suave Shampoo, Condition and deodorant, and 2 boxes of Q-Tips and used my $15 catalina from my 1st transaction.
I spent $8 OOP
saved $45.04
AND got a $15 catalina

My third (and final) transaction, I bought 2 jars of Skippy PB, 4 packages of Liption Rice Sides, 4 things of Bryers Ice Cream and 4-6 packs of Klondike's and used my $15 catalina from my 2nd transaction.
I spent $9.65
saved $51.31
AND not only got another $15 catalina, but a $1 catalina for buying Skippy PB and a $4/5 Bryers catalina.

After all 3 transactions I should have spent $171.63, but instead paid $43.28 OOP, saved $128.35 and I still have $20 worth of catalinas left over.

Except for the IBC soda and the Bisquick, I bought things I had a coupon for.

All in all I think I did pretty good, I know I didn't save as much as some people have, but I figured, what's the point of scoring on a good deal if it's not something we're going to eat or use?

Anyone up for a rootbeer float?

Some Great Resorces

Emma's been eating solid foods for a good 4-6 months and I want to share some resources I really like for parents that are going to start giving their baby finger foods and are wondering where to start.

This article has about 12 ideas for finger foods for your baby, plus a lot of the ideas you can prepare ahead of time and store, so you can have a variety of healthy and yummy finger foods on hand.

This one talks about things to not give your baby or toddler and has suggestions for food solutions.

And this one is a website that not only has recipes you can make with the help of your young child but they are also healthy. Also, they have recipe lists for kids with Celiac's, lactose intolerance, vegetarian, etc. Other than recipes it also has tabs about other subjects (like games and whatnot) mainly to help educate you child. It has videos you can watch to help explain to your young child if they have to get an MRI, X-Ray, etc.

THIS ONE was my favorite when (and before) I started Emma on solids to know what to introduce and when. It also has a TON of recipe ideas.

This one is a sister site to the one above, just for toddlers foods.

Hats

Emma's so cute in her hat!

"More"

The sign for "more" - make two modified "O"s (some would describe it at a semi-flattened "O"). bring them together, apart and together again. Repeat as necessary.



Emma's been doing her version of this sign for a while, at first I just thought she was shaking her fist at me. Now I've realized it her sign for "more" slash "I want"

My little dare devil

My Finger

I had a run in with my sewing machine this last Monday. Yes, there is an entry wound and at least one exit wound. I wasn't paying attention, Emma was crying, and I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. The needle broke and I wasn't sure if there was any in left in my finger - I found the tip on the sewing table.
She took me an InstaCare and found out that they don't take my insurance (and they were really rude). So, we had to go to an Urgent Care center across town (they were really nice AND took my insurance). They took x-rays and found out that I had a 3/4 inch piece of needle in my finger. The doctor was able to remove it with ease and ordered x-ray retakes, only to find there's still two small pieces of metal in my finger. The doctor didn't feel comfortable telling me whether it's medically neccessary (or unneccessary) to get those pieces removed. SO, I have an appoint this Monday morning with a hand specialist to evaluate my finger.

My Mother's Day Gift!

I know, Mother's Day was weeks ago, but the present that Chris got me took FOREVER to get here. It came in the mail yesterday! It's a video camera that shoots videos in 720 (that's HD!)

FrontBack

Here's a video I just took with it!

Yay! Thank you Husband! I'm so excited, I'm totally going to take more family videos!