He's happy and he knows it!

It's hard to believe my baby boy will be 18 months next week. He's growing up so fast. It is so much fun to watch him grow and learn. He's definitely all boy. He loves being loud and making all kinds of animal sounds, but he also knows how to keep us laughing. He also loves music and singing, as you can see in this short clip.

Birthday Crowns

We celebrated Daddy's birthday last week, and looked quite festive in our birthday crowns. Putting the ages on each of the crowns was Adalynn's idea. We didn't have much time for a party since Daddy had to work late, but the birthday pie was yummy!

Fun with $20

Back in January, I decided it was time to do an experiment and begin using coupons. It took several weeks to find the right websites, and get the hang of collecting coupons and making lists using the weekly store ads. However, I decided it was worth it even on my first shopping trips. Other than saving the money by shopping sales and using coupons, my favorite part was no longer doing one huge trip to Wal-Mart every week for everything. Shopping this way meant I could now shop at Publix! While I am still shopping at Wal-Mart occasionally, I am now becoming familiar with other stores and will make weekly trips to Publix and Kroger, and the occasional stop at CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid.

Tonight's trip (with the spoils pictured above) was some of the best fun I have had so far. Total spent out of pocket: 19.38. Total saved: 71.33. This trip was full of a lot of snack food, but part of the idea is stocking up: we still have a lot of meals from the cupboard to last us through the next week or so. These snacks will keep us going for several more weeks, so I can use my grocery $$ the next couple weeks on meal staples.

Part of the fun tonight was watching the cashier and the guy who bagged my groceries. It took about five minutes for all of the coupons to be calculated, so the bagger just stood back and kept watching the register. I'm sure he was curious how it would all end up. The cashier handed my receipt to me and said, "Wow. 71 dollars."

My thoughts exactly.

Just Because

Aren't they beautiful?

My husband arrived at the door this evening with these flowers and a sweet note. He wanted to encourage me, as I've had a few rough days this week. Nothing earth shattering, just general keeping up with the demands of a busy household and sick children. Oh, and the added burden of bad dental health and my teeth falling apart! I guess I'm just starting to feel my age and all that.

Isn't he so sweet? After 11 years of dating he still remembers that tulips are my favorite.

Did I mention he also took care of dinner? (Wendy's) And the dishes? (Paper.)

As he was quick to remind me just now, the point isn't that he did the dishes. The point is that I didn't.

BFF

I haven't posted anything lately because there hasn't been a whole lot going on here. Now that the holidays and birthdays have passed, it's hard to follow those up with just a normal, everyday post. But that's what has been going on here, just a lot of normal everyday days. Brooks is walking up a storm, and has the bruises to prove it. He is building his vocabulary daily which now includes: Mama, Dada, Addy, dog, bye-bye, car, ball, book, and snack ("na"). His mischievous grin and excitement at life keep me smiling. Adalynn is also coming up with new ways to get into trouble. Yesterday she tore up four pages of a library book when she was supposed to be napping. After discipline was administered and she had a firm talking-to, which included the fact that we wouldn't be going to the library again for a LONG time, she said, "maybe we can just go to some stores and stuff." I gave her a big hug to hide the fact that I was trying not to laugh. And today I made some jello. Again, not real exciting, but the three-year-old mind is always working. She sees her mommy at the counter, lovingly stirring red deliciousness, and comes up with words that just make me melt: "Mommy, you're my best friend!" Sweet Adalynn, please don't ever grow up!

A New Accomplishment

Brooks is now walking...well, falling and walking and falling again...but doing a lot of walking, nonetheless. It started a few weeks ago with the tentative first step and since then he's added more every few days, until yesterday he would do marathon stretches of up to 20 steps! Way to go, little guy!

Happy Birthday, Adalynn

Our sweet Adalynn turned 3 on Friday! We celebrated with lots of pink things: pink pancakes, a pink smoothie, and of course, pink cupcakes. We stayed busy and ran lots of errands on Friday (she loves to be out and about) and then celebrated with a family pizza dinner when Daddy came home. She is very proud to be three years old.