Week in Review

I just thought I'd post some pictures of what we did last week. The weather was beautiful on Monday and Tuesday, so we took advantage of it and went to the park a whole bunch (Have I said how much I love the park and love having it so close to my house?). Wednesday and Thursday it snowed. Blech. Friday it was better again, as was Saturday (except for the windstorm).

Sydney and Aaron at the park on Monday night
Sydney and I on the slide at the park.
Sydney making her latest "I'm not happy with this" face (and David Cook in the background) Sydney waking up from a nap. I just thought she looked so funny all swaddled. Look at her little feet!Last night, playing with one of her favorite toys - a piece of tule. She's got cheap taste.

I also set up and did a photo shoot of Sydney this week, so I'll post those pictures soon as well.

Saturday

As we had an unusually busy day on Saturday, I thought I'd post them for you! Saturday morning Aaron went with a bunch of guys from our ward shooting clay pigeons. What a stud.

While he was off being manly, a friend and I decided to drag our babies to a community garage sale nearby. I love the concept of community garage sales. Everyone brings their stuff out, you drive like 3 miles and hit 15 garage sales, etc. Well, I realized that this community was an over 55 community, which made me think they would have tossed most of their stuff when they moved in, but apparently not! It was pretty funny because everything was sooooo old! It made us laugh. We did go to one other garage sale that was better, but all in all it was just a funny morning.

Then Aaron and I both spent the rest of the day working in the yard. He dug a giant hole to plant our new tree in that we purchased Friday night (a globe willow). Then our neighbor kindly helped him roll and heave the thing into place. Thanks Caleb! I meanwhile, was not just cooling my heels. Our landscaper did not put enough dirt in our garden when he did it and the stuff he did put in was mostly the original clay crap that doesn't grow anything. We ended up buying a ton of steer manure, peat moss, and sand to help break down the icky stuff in there, but it all had to be mixed together. That's what I did. The good news - I finished it all right about the same time Aaron finished the tree. The bad news - still not enough dirt. We need to do more this week. Blah. Sydney sat on a blanket and watched for awhile, until the wind kicked up and blew my shirt halfway up my back (can we say, show your religion day?), blew a bunch of our bought dirt away, and blew it all over my slobbery kid and her toys. She was covered in brown stuff. Needless to say, we all ended up having baths that night.

Confession

Ok it's confession time. This morning on the news they were doing a bit about the rising cost of groceries and how buying 1 container each of bread, cheese, eggs, chicken, and milk now costs $40. Last year at this time it cost $32 and next year they think it will cost $48. Their suggestions to combat this additional expense? Use a grocery store club card, go for generic brands, and even start clipping coupons. Now I'm sure that many people at this point in the news hour went, GASP! Coupons? Coupons are not worth it! Why clip to save 50 cents? No, they're not for me! But I must admit (here's the confession part) I secretly LOVE coupon shopping.
There, my secret's out. I love clipping coupons, taking them to the store with me, and finding my items that I need and matching them up with my coupons. I love getting to the register and watching my total price drop when my coupons are applied. I love to scan through all the grocery ads and find the best place to use my coupon. It makes me feel like I'm cheating the system or something because I refuse to pay more for something than I feel is right. (Wow, that sounded kind of pathetic! I guess I'm really easily entertained!) Anyway though, I really do love doing all of that.
Here's an example: On Tuesday I went to King Soopers and purchased some Pillsbury Biscuits (in the exploding cans!). They were 10 for $10, but if you bought 10 you got $5 back. So I bought 10 for $5, but then I used a coupon for each can of biscuits that I bought, and the store I was at doubles coupons! I ended up getting 10 cans of great Pillsbury biscuits for about $2. I then proceeded to do the same thing with scalloped potatoes, rice cakes, granola bars, yogurt, and a bunch of other food. I bought in bulk, I used my coupons and my club card, and I was a little bit giddy as I watched my total go from $62 (after my club card savings) to $19. That was just a good feeling. :)
Now you all know my secret. Think what you will, but I'll still enjoy paying far less for my items than most people. It's my dirty little secret. Shhh. ;)

Baby Food

I'm kind of amazed at the ridiculously high prices of baby food! I mean seriously people, why are we charged $1.18 for 2 little tubs of food? It seems like highway robbery to me (sort of like the formula and, oh yeah, most things for the little guys of our worlds? Anyway, I thought it would be kind of fun to do a "how to make your own baby food" post. Here we go.

1. Cut sweetmeat squash in half (or quarters depending on the size of the squash and your pan)

2. Place in baking dish with 1 inch water

3. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour.

4. Scoop out squash and blend in the blender until smooth

5. Put pureed squash into freezer-safe containers

6. Freeze large portions, refrigerate small portions.

7. Feed to your hungry baby abd enjoy not buying squash at the baby aisle any more.

What a Good Eater

This kid loves her food. She's almost 7 months old and she's tried a lot of different foods. She'll eat most of the foods we give her, although occasionally we have to convince her by eating some ourselves. So far she likes: squash, sweet potatoes, corn, carrots (not fresh), apples, blueberries, mangoes, guava, bananas (frozen are her favorites), pears (pureed only, no chunks allowed or she spits them out), rice cereal (mixed with fruit), chicken broth, graham crackers, animal crackers, pasta, bread, and pizza sauce.

She refuses to eat any green vegetables (we've tried peas, beans, spinach, and broccoli) and spits them all out at us. At least she eats as many foods as she does, even if she is pretty particular about some of them! We'll count our blessings that she's such a good kid!

Sydney eating her favorite frozen bananas. She's naked because she gets sooo messy!

Also, since I originally wrote this she has now tried croissants and cranberries, both of which she liked. Actually she loved the croissants and I had to share more of mine with her than I really wanted to. What can I say, she takes after me! I love them!

Anniversary

I guess this post is a day late, but here's celebrating 1 year (and 1 day) of being needle free. Hooray Hooray. Yesterday was much better than April 3, 2007 when I was sick as a dog because of my vicadin and in a lot of pain because of all the digging going on down there. Ouch. It kind of hurts just thinking about it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here for the full story. Jordan, I'm sorry if this still makes you sick. :)

Adoption

I have to post a somewhat sentimental "mushy" post here guys. Just to warn you. If you're not into that, skip this post, or read on at your own risk. ;)
I've been thinking a lot lately about how absolutely lucky we are to have Sydney. Yesterday as I was walking Sydney to the park in her stroller, I thought, this is my absolute dream come true!


A friend and I were talking about our babies yesterday and how we both usually wake up before our babies actually cry. Whether it's because their breathing patterns change, they start rustling, or because we just have a connection with them, it happens. I already knew it, but it was a nice reinforcement that giving birth isn't mandatory for being a mom. It doesn't matter how we got this little monkey, she's ours. She knows and loves us and it's so fun to be her parents. I don't want to turn this into a "you should all go have kids" because that's not what it is. I just feel incredibly blessed to have been able to be a part of this adoption.

I love my baby. I love feeding her, playing with her, dressing and bathing her, and I don't even mind changing her! I know a lot of women don't feel fulfilled enough staying at home with their kids (and I know that many other women are not actually able to stay at home - I'm not judging anyone here), but I couldn't imagine a more fulfilling and wonderful way to spend my days, weeks, and months than with this amazing little person. Plus, after taking so long to get this little squirt, how could I let anyone else raise her if it's humanly possible for me to stay home and do it? I couldn't miss a single moment - every new discovery is an absolute joy. Aaron often says that I have all the fun, and he's totally right. Taking care of kids is sometimes hard and is a lot of work, but gosh it's great. I'd totally rather change 6 poopy diapers than go to the office each day. :)

April Fools!

This is a song that I learned in Elementary School that I loved. Just had to share it! follow the link at the bottom to actually hear the music for it.

YOUR HAIR IS THE COLOR OF TOMATO SOUP,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
THERE'S A GREAT BIG GORILLA IN THE CHICKEN COOP,
APRIL APRIL FOOL!

Refrain:
OH, LOOK OUT THE WINDOW, WHAT D' YA SEE?
PEACHES ON THE CHERRY TREE.
I FOOL YOU, YOU FOOL ME,
THIS IS APRIL FOOL'S DAY!

2nd Verse:
THE CAT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CUSTARD PIE,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
THERE'S A DOG IN THE KITCHEN AND HE'S TEN FEET HIGH,
APRIL, A PRIL FOOL!

(Refrain)

3rd Verse:
THE PIG IN THE PARLOR HAS A BIG CIGAR,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
THERE'S A TWO HEADED ELEPHANT IN DADDY'S CAR,
APRIL, APRIL FOOL!

(Refrain)

4th Verse:
THE COW IN THE CLOVER GAVE THE HORSE A K ISS,
APRIL FOOL, APRIL FOOL.
YOU CAN'T EVER SING A SILLY SONG LIKE THIS,
'CEPT ON APRIL FOOL'S DAY! APRIL APRIL FOOL!

http://www.msu.edu/~eulenber/John/Songs/AprilFool.html