Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Green Beans and Peas

We've started the boys on solids. They started off with rice cereal, which Evan did not care for, and now they've tried green beans and peas. We're feeding them the same food for 3-5 days to make sure they don't have an allergic reaction before moving on to the next food. After peas, we'll give them squash, carrots and then fruit. I love mealtime with them, it's so much fun to see their reactions to the food. It also makes me realize just how fast they're growing up.

The pictures I've taken are funny because the boys look like they hate it, but they both actually liked the green beans and the peas, these are just their first reactions. After a couple of bites, they were gobbling it up.

Evan's first bite of peas



Carter's not sure what to think Carter's first bite of peas

Thursday, January 20, 2011

5 Months Old

I can't believe the boys are already 5 months old. I was going through some pictures on our computer of when we first brought them home from the hospital and they've grown so much in just the last 5 months. I think I'll do a fun comparison post for their 6 month update. I can't imagine them in another 5 months. It's crazy how fast they grow.

Carter weighs around 16.5lbs and Evan weighs around 15.5lbs.

Over the past month you both have got your first colds.

Both of you have rolled over once.
Evan spends a lot of his play time on his side, trying to roll over
Carter tries some, but is pretty content just hanging out in whatever position we put him

Both of you have been eating rice cereal once a day.

Both have slept through the night. You got off schedule due to your colds but were getting back there.

You both are so happy and laugh and smile all the time.

Evan, you are so friendly to anybody in the store that will talk and smile at you. You are definitely a flirt.
Carter is a little more reserved, he has to check you out first before giving you a smile

Both of you are napping good.

You both love theexersaucers, story time, baby gym, sophie, dancing & singing, bathtime, "Airplane", sliding down our knees

Carter, you sit very well. Evan, you don't like the bumbo, you need to be able to move around. You can't sit still, you are constantly squirming, trying to roll over, scooting across the floor, etc.

Everything goes in their mouths, but we think Evan may be on the cusp of teething


Here's Evan's 5 Month Pictures



Here's Carter's 5 month Pictures


Evan in the exersaucer
Both boys in their exersaucers. We tried switching it up and putting them in the opposite exersaucer, but they really seem to favor the ones they're in right now.
So cute!! The boys smiling at Daddy.
I'm finally getting some pictures where Carter is smiling too.

Evan & Carter with Sophie the Teething Giraffe.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Great Deals

I recently saw some friends on Facebook talking about how much they saved at the store using coupons and they listed some websites that they use. I've been trying to use coupons since becoming a stay at home mom and we've saved a lot of money, but nothing like I heard these girls talking about, so I decided to check out some of the websites they were talking about. I went to Southern Savers and Hip2Save along with a few others and got some great tips on how to save even more money. One of the websites lists all the great deals, some that the stores don't even advertise, to help you save money. They also list all the great coupons that will be in the Sunday paper as well as links to websites where you can print coupons to take to the stores. I found out that Target accepts manufacturer coupons as well as store coupons for the same product, which is very exciting because everytime we buy diapers there, a Target coupon prints out for us to save money the next time we buy diapers. We can use that coupon AND the coupons that are in the Sunday paper or that Huggies sends us in the mail at the same time. Very exciting, especially since we feel like all our money is going towards formula and diapers. I was so excited about all the information and coupons I found, that I made a quick trip to Harris Teeter since they were having their "Double Coupon Days" and got some great deals. I bought all that's pictured below for $10.00. I'm super excited to start utilizing these websites, although I won't be able to get as organized as I'd like to be until the boys are at least sleeping through the night and I have a little more time.

This isn't the best picture, but I got all of this for $10.00. The Weight Watcher snacks are normally 3.99 a box and the Johnson's and Johnson's products are usually pretty expensive.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Tragedy in Tucson

What happened in Tucson this past Saturday was awful. We are both so sad for all those affected by this tragedy. This was such a senseless crime and I cannot understand what would make somebody so angry that they would kill innocent people.

Normally when things like this happen, we read the first few articles on it and maybe watch a story about it on the news, then we try and take a break from it all. After reading article after article and watching news program after news program about something like this, it really affects you. But this is different to us since we've both lived there and Greg grew up there. It's hard to distance yourself from something that happened in a place that you have a true connection with. It makes it that much more real and you realize that this type of thing can happen anywhere and to anybody. It's such a scary thought. It's easy to think that things like this don't happen where you live, but unfortunately they do. Greg went to the same high school as this guy, I worked at the hospital that Gabrielle Giffords is at right now, we've been to that Safeway many times, Greg's brother actually works at another Safeway in Tucson, and one of Greg's good friends was one of the paramedics pictured below that responded to the call. This event has definitely been weighing on our minds these past few days and I can't imagine what those affected are going through right now. One thing that made me feel good in during this awful time was an article I read on CNN.com about the residents of Tucson coming together to support the parents of the 9 year old girl that was killed. You can read the article here. Westboro Baptist "Church" (I don't know how these people call themselves Christians) is planning on protesting at the funeral, even though Arizona has banned picketing within 300 feet of funerals, they still plan to protest from 300 feet away. So, a group of Tucson residents are going to put up a human shield so that the family and friends attending the funeral will not have to see the protesters. I think that this is such a wonderful thing to do for the family of this little girl. They should not have to be subjected to the disguisting signs and the message that this church brings to funerals. Hearing stories about people doing nice things like this really helps me focus on the good in people and not on the bad, which can happen when you hear awful stories about people who go on shooting sprees.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Under the Weather

It finally happened, the boys got their first colds. It started with Carter last Thursday. He had a cough, runny nose, etc. By Sunday, everybody in the house had it. We thought it was important that we all get as much sleep as possible, so we moved the boys' swings to our bedroom and all four of us slept in our room on Sunday and Monday night. The boys are still stuffy and have problems breathing through their noses when they're on their backs, so we moved the swings to their room tonight so they could sleep in them until they can breath easier. Greg had some vacation time saved up and was able to take Monday and today off to help me out with the boys. They haven't been too bad, but when they don't feel good, it's nice to be able to give them some extra love & attention. I really hope they feel better soon, it's so pitiful to hear them coughing and sniffling. Evan had finally started sleeping through the night last week, he did it 3 nights in a row. Carter had slept through the night for almost a week straight, and then they got sick. I really hope that they go back to sleeping through the night fairly easily after they start feeling better.

Our bedroom, with two swings and a humidifier in there. It was a crowded mess, but we were all able to get some sleep, which was the most important thing.

Carter.
Evan's cute pjs.
Still smiling.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Banished to the Basement

Yesterday we decided to move Evan's crib to the basement. Carter has been sleeping through the night for about a week now and Evan is still waking up at 3:00. We are so happy to have one baby sleeping through the night and we don't want to mess that up, so we've decided to seperate the boys at night until Evan is sleeping through the night also. Since you can hear Evan in the nursery from pretty much anywhere in the house, we had no option but to move him down to the basement. Greg moved the crib and the rocker down to the guest bedroom yesterday and slept down there last night. It was rough. Greg thinks the boys have a twin bond and missed each other last night because neither one of them slept very well. Tonight I'll be sleeping in the basement with Evan and Greg will be upstairs with Carter. I hate seperating them and also us. We really work as a team at night and when half your team is 2 floors away, it makes it a little harder. Hopefully Evan will start sleeping through the night soon and we can move his crib back to the nursery. We're really, really looking forward to both boys sleeping through the night. After they start sleeping through the night they should start getting on a more regular schedule, which I'm very much looking forward to.

Evan's new room. It's a little messy, we just tried to grab the things we thought we might need at night and pushed all the stuff that's normally in there to the side.

The nursery, looking so empty. So sad.

Monday, January 3, 2011

New Years Weekend

Happy New Year! We had a nice, relaxing weekend. Greg had Friday off. My mom left early Friday morning to go back to Georgia. :( We already miss her. But, it was perfect timing because it gave me 3 full days with Greg helping out before I'm all alone with the boys on Monday. We decided to try and relax and focus on the boys this weekend instead of trying to get a million things done. The weather in December was so cold and windy, so I didn't get out too much with the boys. This weekend it warmed up a bit, so we got the boys out and did a little shopping. We also went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was so nice to get some fresh air. I normally love winter, but this year I'm looking forward to spring. New Year's Eve was pretty quiet for us. We put the boys down for bed, ate dinner and got caught up on several shows we had tivo'd. Normally, after we put the boys down, we wash dishes, clean the house, do laundry, etc. so it was nice to just sit down and rest for a bit. We were in bed by 9:00pm. We're such party animals! Saturday we went grocery shopping and stocked up on healthy salad stuff, vegetables, boneless, skinless chicken, etc. We've been eating like crap since the boys arrived and also because of the holidays, so we're ready to start eating better. Our boys are going to be crawling around before we know it and we need to have the energy to run after them all day. Today we did a little more shopping--we went to Babies R Us and just looked at things that we're going to need soon to get an idea on how much it costs. Babies are so expensive!!!

But, after relaxing all weekend it's time to get back into the swing of things. Time to do some laundry, dishes, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming, etc. Fun stuff.

Here's a picture of the boys on New Year's Eve, wearing outfits from their Aunt Caroline
Evan on New Years Day
Evan & Carter on New Year's Day, in another outfit from Aunt Caroline
Carter on New Year's Day

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Rice Cereal

The boys turned 4 months old on December 18th and we got the go ahead from their pediatrician to start them on rice cereal. We were prepared with cute, matching high chairs, some rice cereal, brightly colored spoons and our camera. I don't think the boys knew what to think of their first taste of cereal.










Saturday, January 1, 2011

101 in 1001

I turned 28 a couple of weeks ago and last year I had a new year’s resolution list/things I wanted to complete before I turned 28, but found out I was pregnant before New Year’s Eve and that meant that I had another list to work on—things to do before the babies arrive. While I was pregnant I really got into reading blogs, since I didn’t really have the energy to do much more than that. I found something called “101 in 1001” on several blogs. It’s a list of a 101 things that you want to do in 1001 days. It’s more manageable and realistic than a resolution list. The ones I looked at had things ranging from personal goals, fun trips to go on, things to do with the family, things to do for others, etc. I thought it’d be so fun to have a 101 list, so after the boys were born I came up with my own. I got so many great ideas from some of the blogs I looked at, if you want to see those lists you can go here, here, or here. I’ve already managed to cross off some of my list which really makes me happy. I’m not going to be unrealistic, if something comes up that makes it impossible to complete something on my list, I have a list of a few backups to replace it with so that way I’m still completing 101 things that I want/need to do.

Here’s my list:
1. Have date night with greg once a month
2. Take a picture of me and Greg once a month
3. Complete project 365
4. Read all the books I own (1/22)
5. Read the bible
6. Join a church
7. Eat at Lady & Sons
8. Scrapbook—make a retirement scrapbook for my dad, our wedding, our house, and the boys first year (0/4)
9. See a Marilyn Monroe or a Audrey Hepburn movie
10. Vote in a midterm election
11. Stop cussing
12. Blog at least 5 days a week
13. Learn to make a good homemade pizza
14. Write a new “about me” for my blog
15. Get a professional background for my blog
16. Make a full southern meal of chicken fried steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, biscuits, sweet tea and red velvet cake—all homemade
17. Tailgate
18. Follow an entire season of SEC football including watching almost every UGA game
19. Make a scrapbook calendar
20. Move to Georgia
21. Join MDO
22. Let somebody other than family babysit the boys before they’re 9 months old
23. Do month pictures and blog posts of the boys
24. Make a photobook from Shutterfly
25. Organize all pictures-digital and print
26. Take pictures of boys in all their outfits
27. Get canvas pictures of the boys
28. Go to a MOM meeting
29. Go one week without tv
30. Take a cake decorating class
31. Take a creative class at Michaels’, Joanne’s, etc
32. Take a fun class at PVCC
33. Learn to make personalized shirts
34. Go to a vineyard
35. Try at least 3 new restaurants
36. Start learning Spanish
37. Learn how to make a Starbucks tasting frappachino at home
38. Practice making and decorating cookies
39. Cook thanksgiving dinner
40. Spend Christmas at our house
41. Host family for a holiday
42. Go to a concert
43. Go to an outlet mall
44. Complete a crossword puzzle
45. Learn to make sushi
46. Watch a documentary
47. Read a biography
48. Go to a ballgame
49. Go to a free cooking class at whole foods
50. Try 5 new Paula Deen(2/5), Neely’s(0/5) and Pioneer Woman(0/5) recipes
51. Fine a new wine that I like
52. Win something

For Evan and Carter
53. Start a college fund for Evan and Carter
54. Get the boys baptized
55. Get involved in a playgroup
56. Take the boys to the beach
57. Take the boys to Arizona
58. Take the boys to the zoo
59. Start a book collection for the boys
60. Start a family tradition for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter
61. Go on family walks once a week, weather permitting
62. Enroll boys in at least one semester of “The Little Gym”
63. Enroll boys in swimming lessons
64. Get or make the boys personalized shirts
65. Get the boys into a Sunday school
66. Get the boys pictures done professionally every 3 months, including at least one set outdoors 67. Take the boys to a county fair

For my (& my family’s) health
68. Join gym as a family
69. Try at least 3 exercise classes at the gym
70. Cut out soda at home
71. Eat vegetarian one day a week
72. Eat more fresh food instead of packaged
73. Try and buy local produce and shop at farmers markets
74. Start working out on a regular basis
75. Lose 50lbs
76. Floss daily
77. Complete a couch to 5k program
78. Use my DCC workout dvds for 2 weeks, min of 3 days a week

For others
79. pay for the person behind me in the drive through
80. donate money to a charity
81. Sponsor an angel tree child for Christmas
82. Send a care package to a soldier
83. Donate 10,000 grains of rice through freerice.com
84. Call and give compliment for good service

For the house or finances
85. Add pictures to all the frames in the house
86. Start using coupons
87. Paint the computer room
88. Start a vegetable/herb garden
89. Print pictures
90. Make a menu plan and grocery shop efficiently
91. clean/organize scrapbooking room, computer room, master closet, and basement (0/4)
Decorate the house for the following holidays: Easter, Halloween, thanksgiving, Christmas and 4th of July
92. Put something in master bath nook
93. Change outdoor flag for every month (0/12)
94. Get new plates/glasses
95. Get a glass pitcher
96. Hang everything on the walls
97. Be in charge of the finances for 3 months
98. Get something to hang on front door year round
99. Find a house cleaning schedule that works for me

100. Take pictures of the local scenery
101. Complete my 101 list