Amazon Mom

I have to share this because I am so excited about it! This will probably only be interesting to Sarah, Lexi, and Joy. And I doubt Lexi and Joy even read my blog so, here ya go Sarah!

So follow me here. This morning I was wasting time on this "mom" blog that I occasionally read, and her particular blog post was about deals and savings. Of course that piqued my interest being the frugal woman that I am. She mentioned Amazon Mom (http://www.amazon.com/mom) as a place to save on diapers and wipes. I went to the website and read about it, and signed up. Let's talk about diapers first. A box of size 2 pampers swaddlers, 186 count (which is what Audrey is currently in) runs $41.99 at Babies R Us, and $41.99 at Target, though I think sometimes they go on sale at Target. At Amazon they are $41.49, BUT if you sign up for their "subscribe & save" program, you get 30% off, leaving the price at $29.04, with free shipping. The "subscribe & save" program is free. You pick your diapers and check that you want X number of boxes delivered to your house every month, every two months, or however frequently you need them. That's it. Amazon.com charges your card once a month when they ship out your diapers. Even better, you can do this for more than just baby wipes and diapers. Things like cereal, toiletries, even our cat food! I feel like I've just won the lottery. I have now spent the better part of my day on Amazon looking at all the things I can "subscribe" to and save money. Wow. And YAY! This is not just for moms either. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, any caregiver really. So cool!

I wonder if this has been around for a long time and I sound like a crazy person for having just discovered it. Unless I am missing some detail or catch, this is truly a great deal that I will be using from now on.

Just had to share. :) 

Changes, Changes



Headed to School!

We closed on the new house on Tuesday night! Yay! It was a few months in the making and took a lot of pushing to get it to finally close, but we did it. We got a great deal and ultimately settled for $16,000 less than we initially contracted. For those that don't know, it is a two bedroom/1 1/2 bath condo here in the same neighborhood that we currently live in. It was a foreclosure property, but was in surprisingly good condition! Everything is in working order and all of the appliances are there (which is saying a lot considering some of the properties we looked at!), and it is move-in ready, for the most part. The previous owners took good care of the house, which makes me sad to think that they lost it to foreclosure...It has a security system, which is great for me since I am such a nervous nelly and have such unwarranted fears of someone breaking in. The kitchen is a galley kitchen like you'd find in an apartment. It doesn't have a pantry (ouch!) so we'll have to find some creative storage ideas. Also, the new house has the small washer/dryer combo - which we used to have until we did some counter-cutting to make a full size fit. That means we will have to make due with a small washer/dryer and go from 4 loads a week to 10 until we can afford to do some remodeling. On a positive note, the kitchen looks out into the dining room/living room and it is all pretty open, unlike at our house now. I'm looking forward to having more open space! Upstairs are the two bedrooms, one in the front and one in the back, with the bathroom in the middle. Overall, I think we are losing 300 square feet, which is actually a lot. We have a lot of stuff that we're going to have to find new homes for. We are currently working with a Realtor to get Josh's house listed on the market and his bank is willing to accept a short sale offer. We know we have a long, hard road ahead of us on that, but we are doing our best to stay positive.

Earrings



Merry Christmas



Audrey is sick. Poor thing came home from daycare last Wednesday with a runny nose, watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, the whole nine. I did some research and learned that an infant cold is nothing to be concerned with unless it is accompanied by a fever and to hold off on calling the doc until a week has passed. So that's what I did. Her runny nose quickly turned into a stuffy nose and she has had a hard time sleeping for the past week. Monday and Tuesday night were so bad that she woke EVERY HOUR because she was uncomfortable and wanted to nurse. That leads to a very tired baby and a very tired Mama. I stayed home from work yesterday because I was so exhausted and so that I could take her to the doctor. They said its fine - no RSV, Flu, or ear infection - just that cold has to run its course which takes longer in babies since they cannot blow their noses. So I'm just using a saline mist on her nose and trying to suck anything out that I can. Last night was better, she only woke twice from 11-5am. She wasn't a good sleeper in the first place so I'm kind of used to this. Joshua is also sick and was pretty miserable all day yesterday, but he pushed through and made it to work today, despite many bouts of nausea last night and this morning. I'm hoping that all of us are back to our normal, rejuvenated selves by Monday. Audrey is getting so big - she was 16 pounds 9 oz at her appointment yesterday and she's a week and a half shy of being 4 months old. Almost double her birth weight already! She is "talking" so much and loves interaction. She demands it. We put her in the highchair when we eat dinner and she will fuss if we aren't talking to her/playing with her. Same thing when she's on her play mat. She'll play and have fun if we are down there with her, but if we turn to watch tv or get up to go do something, she will protest loudly! She is quickly becoming the queen bee in our little hive.

sneakin a peek at the tv

The animals are all doing well. I haven't reported on them in a while because they've kind of been put on the back burner since Audrey arrived. Frank has a small growth on the side of his face which the vet says is nothing - just a growth. I'm not sure what that means, really, but I think it has gotten bigger (or maybe I just forgot how big it was) so I'm going to take him in for follow up appointment soon. Dora is doing ok. We stopped crating her up when we leave the house and that was going great up until last week. Every day that we came home we saw that she had eaten out of the litter box. Josh cleans the litter box every morning so there wasn't much for her to get into, but she did anyways. So now we are back to crating her when we aren't home. I hate that she has to be in that little room all day, but for the time being that is just how it has to be. I can't wait for the weather to get warm again so that we can all go on walks and Dora can get the exercise she needs. Pussycat is her usual quiet self. She cuddles with us anytime we are sitting down and she usually sleeps with us too.



Spit Bubbles!!

Well that is about it for now! There is more to write but I need to tend to my sick little babies! Love you all! xoxoxo

Progression to Angry

Mom, I'm not having fun anymore.

Mommy, I'm really not enjoying this...!

Mooooooooooom, I DON'T WANT TO SIT IN THE BOUNCER ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Learning to pick up on her cues more and more every day.

Back to work...

I am going back to work on Friday. How can I possibly leave this beautiful face all day?

No stranger is going to take as good care of her I as can.

Until I can find a way to stay home with her, I will just keep playing the lotto and hope for a win.

xoxo

Elizabeth

Happy Thanksgiving and now it is December!

Ah! Where does the time go? Every day seems to fly by, then a week is gone, and a month, and somehow my daughter turns two months old! Whoa! Here she is on her 2 month birthday. Josh sent me roses and lillies for my birthday since I was in Texas, so I took a picture of our little rosebud with a rosebud. :)

Audrey is out of her harness now. I can't remember if I blogged that, but 3 weeks ago we had a checkup and the doctor said her hips are strong and beautiful and she no longer needs to be in the harness! Yay! We were all very relieved. We have another checkup in January just to follow up and make sure things are looking good. She also had her two month checkup at her pediatrician's today. She is 14 lbs and 5oz, and is 23 inches long! Big Girl! I actually thought she was over 15 lbs. Close, but not quite. She got three vaccines today, so she has been sleepy all day...which was fine with me. :) I just laid down with her and got to enjoy a long, cuddly nap.

Audrey and I traveled back to Dallas for Thanksgiving and she was wonderful on both flights again. It took a couple of days once we were there for her to settle back into her routine with naps and everything, but once she did settle we had a great time. Thanksgiving was at Grandma Bobi's house and it was great to see everyone. Mom and Grandma decorated the house beautifully and the food was amazing.

Cristina loves baby A. Baby A loves Cristina, too.

I am returning to work two weeks from today. Luckily, I go back on a Friday so I will only have to be away from her one day. Joshua is going to stay home with her that day, and the following week she will be with Lisa for three days and with Joshua two days. Then on Monday, December 27, my little baby will start going to daycare. I am not looking forward to this day at all. I knew it would be hard, but not this hard. I went and toured some centers yesterday and today. Joshua and I toured one while I was pregnant and we loved it, but I wanted to check out some other places too, to make sure we chose the right one for Audrey. One of them was $2100 a month!! That's more than college tuition!!! Daaaaang. After touring 4 places, I went back today to the first place we toured back in June and decided it was the one for us. It is more expensive than the others (except the $2100 one!), but I felt much more at ease when I walked in and was able to see what the children were doing. I didn't like walking into an infant room and seeing three babies sitting in swings that weren't turned on and didn't have any toys. They were just sitting there. Another place had a room so small that the children looked like they couldn't even all be on the floor playing at the same time because there just wasn't room. I'm sure there are things I will not like about the daycare I chose for her, but I do feel like it is the best place for Audrey at this time, since I can't be with her. We introduced the bottle to Audrey recently, to get her ready for daycare. She seems to do ok with it. It takes her much longer to eat than when I nurse her, but I guess that is just because she is still getting used to it. Here is Daddy enjoying dinnertime with his little girl...

We are going to visit Santa Clause tomorrow at the mall. Yay! I am definitely looking forward to this first Christmas with Audrey. I know she won't know what is going on, but I will be sure to take many pictures so she can look at them when she is older, and so you all can be a part of it.

Lauren will be home in 21 days!

xoxo, love,

Beth

Traveling Baby!

Audrey took her first plane ride at 6 weeks old, and I am happy to report that she did great!!! We flew to Dallas to surprise Lexi for her baby shower. I carried Audrey in her wrap so that I wouldn't have to worry about carrying her in my arms. It worked out great - she fell asleep in the car on the way to the airport, woke up when I put her in the wrap but then fell back asleep and slept until about 10 minutes before we landed in Dallas. I nursed her at takeoff and landing so that her ears could pop. The flight home was almost as easy, except that she woke up a half hour before we landed, so I had to entertain her for that time which was pretty easy, but I was so afraid she would just start wailing or something. The lady next to me had made a few comments early in the flight about having to sit next to a little baby, and she even made a comment to her friend about me nursing on the plane (I had a window seat and I was fully covered, give me a break), so I really wanted Audrey to make her eat her words. And she did- when we landed the lady all of a sudden wanted to talk to me about how cute Audrey was and how "well behaved" she was. I wanted to tell her that babies aren't "well behaved" or "poorly behaved", they're just babies and are completely unpredictable. Whatever.

Lexi's baby shower was great!! She had lots of family and friends show up and they showered Tiernan with many gifts! Aside from the weight lifting competition going on in the room next door at the hotel, the shower was perfect. Here are some pics:


Wish you were here Lauren!!! Although the trip was short, it was really great to see the family and for Audrey to meet everyone. But, it was exhausting!!! I realized how much Audrey really needs consitency every day. She was so tired and didn't sleep well while we were there, not naps nor at night. That carried over into the week following the trip. It seems like we've just recovered from it actually, and now we're getting ready to go back in a few days!

I've been getting letters from Lauren and it is so nice to know that she is doing well. She will hopefully be home for Christmas, which would be perfect!!! It has been much harder without her than I expected it to be. I realized the other day that this has been the longest we've gone without seeing each other since 2002. And we still have 5 more weeks.

Audrey is 8 weeks old today. It feels like it is flying by, but at the same time I feel like she is older than only 8 weeks. Maybe it is because she's so big, I'm not sure. I am loving every minute of being home with her and am sad that I only have 4 weeks left. It is going to be really hard to be away from her and not know what she's doing all day. Maybe one day I will be able to stay home with her, but now is not the time. She has started smiling for me. It is the most wonderful thing. It is usually in the morning, right after she wakes up. I love rolling over and seeing her face light up when she sees me. There's really nothing like that. Here she is enjoying playtime

Last Friday we went to see the orthopedic doc and we got great news! Audrey's hips are looking great and she is FREE from the harness forever! We are going back in 2 months for a follow up, but the doctor said for right now, she is right where she needs to be. Thank goodness that is over, it was not fun! And now she can kick her legs and work on rolling over!!

She is sleeping with Daddy right now so I need to take advantage of that and get some things done around here. Love you all and I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Keeping Busy

Since Josh has gone back to work I've been trying to keep busy. I have a hard time just staying around the house, so I've been planning my errands spread out over a few days each week so that we have a reason to go out. Last week we had doctor's appointments. Again, Audrey's orthopedic doctor said she has to be in the harness for another two weeks (one more as of today!). I was so disappointed when we left that appointment, party because I know I wasn't being as strict as I should have been with the harness. I would take it off a few times a day and maybe that's why she still wasn't fully developed. So since last Friday she has worn it all day except for maybe an hour each day when we do playtime.

Speaking of play time, Audrey is having more and more awake time each day. It happened so suddenly...one day she was just awake for an hour and I didn't really know what to do with her. I just sat on the couch staring at her and bouncing her. I decided to look up a playgroup in the area as a reason to get out of the house and also so I could meet other moms and see what they do with their little ones. I found a place here in Centreville called Smalltalkers. It is run by a woman that is a pediatric speech therapist, and basically she offers hour long classes to help parents engage with their babies and learn about the development, etc. Tuesday we went to our first group, it was a new moms group for babies 0-6 months. Audrey was the youngest but it was really neat to hear the other moms talk about what they are going through at each stage. The group instructor showed me some age appropriate toys and told me ways to get Audrey used to doing tummy time and enjoying it. Yesterday we went back and did another class and it was very fun. I learned some songs to sing to her and some little activities we can do together around the house. I am looking forward to going to the next class.

I have so much more to write, but I know I don't have much time while Audrey is asleep so I better use the time I do have to do something productive. Here are some of the amazing pictures we had taken...I hope you all enjoy!