Saturday, April 17, 2010

Another First

We took the girls swimming yesterday- it was Claire's first time. I will let you be the judge by the video and pictures if Claire had a good time or not:

You might want to turn the volume down because the pool was loud and I was yelling- sorry about that.

Anyway, we had a blast and we will definitely be heading back soon (but only if Ben can go- it's too scary to have both girls by myself- or, if any of you want to go with me- let me know, and we will meet you there).

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

I Am Awesome!

(This is for you Danielle- a FUN story about how great I am!)
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do,
or do without."
-Brigham Young
I really wish I could sew, but alas, I cannot. Of course, I have never really tried to learn, so that is probably why. Despite this hindrance, every once in awhile I get a crazy idea and run with it. (OK, I often get a crazy idea and run with it)
I had this beautiful skirt sitting in my closet waiting to go to Goodwill because it didn't quite fit right after having 2 babies.

Because of Audra's love of dresses, and her ability to wear through them at lightning speed, I decided to turn it into a dress. The seams and the zipper were already complete, I just had to shrink it down and add sleeves. Easy job, right? Here is how it turned out:It only took about an hour and I had great motivation: a cutie pie saying over and over, "Mommy makes me a pretty dress."

I will never throw an old skirt away again! Now on to the next project...

Blessings

I was searching Craigslist for a kitchen island and some cabinets (I'm desparately hoping to solve my storage and counterspace problem), when I saw this title of a listing:


This poor guy is down on his luck, to say the least! To have all of that happening at once, it just breaks my heart- and makes me grateful for all of my blessings. It's tough out there for so many people, and this was a good reminder for me to be grateful for all that I have. I may not have all the cabinet and counter space I would like, but that really doesn't matter in the large scheme of things, does it?

Monday, April 12, 2010

Just For Laughs

When I went in to get Audra after her nap, she was undressed. I told her she needed to get dressed and then she could come downstairs.
This is how she "got dressed":



I guess it is time to take her swimming!

Incidentally, the face she is making is her "happy face." Ben gave a family home evening lesson a couple of weeks ago on being happy and making others smile. Since then, if we are upset or not "happy" she makes this face and says, "I make you happy!"

Truth be told, she always makes me happy!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Guess Who Turned 9

9 months old that is!

Yesterday was the big day, and I still can not get over how dang cute she is!

Milestones:

Weight: 15.4- this girl is not winning any weight gaining contests. This time she wasn't wearing a diaper, but she had just eaten dinner. I am not sure how we can fatten her up more outside of giving lots of junk food, which we are not going to do. So I guess she will just be another skinny minnie like Audra.

Height: 26"- just a hair shorter than Audra at that age.

Sleep: Normally, she sleeps great, even though she wakes up early. She wakes up between 6-6:30, then I go and get her and nurse her in bed. If I am lucky (like this morning) she falls back asleep and we sleep together for an extra hour and then wake up together. I have to admit, even though she wakes up early, it is worth it to bring her into bed and snuggle with her for an extra hour. Nothing beats waking up to my beautiful Claire-bear smiling up at me! When she wants to play, though, it's not so great. That is when I am grateful for Ben being a morning person, because he will normally take her so I can sleep a little longer.

Eating: New foods: applesauce (which she did not like at first- surprisingly- but now eats when mixed with yogurt), zucchini (she LOVES zucchini), beets (I am also surprised that she really likes these- I mix these with yogurt as well. Seems like an incredibly strange combination, but both my girls liked beets that way, and I figure as long as she will eat beets, I will give them to her!). Her favorite food introduced this month: BREAD! She LOVES bread- she loves breaking it apart and throwing it on the floor, she loves picking it up and putting it in her mouth, she loves everything about bread! Her least favorite food introduced this month: cheese. She would have nothing to do with cheese.

Activities: She is starting to cruise a little bit, though thankfully she does not show too much interest in it. She is content just standing- which she loves doing. She loves playing with toilets- including toilet water- which is now a problem because since Audra is potty training we often leave the bathroom doors open by accident.

Talking: Not much in the way of talking. But, last night we had the missionaries over for dinner and during dinner she discovered how to do raspberries with her tongue and she entertained us all through dinner with her loud raspberries. I had never heard her be so loud- she is actually a very quiet baby in regards to expressing herself- so this was quite unexpected and funny.

Mommy-love: She still LOVES me more than anything!

This picture was taken today- I was sitting on the couch to the side of her while Ben was feeding her. She saw me and kept reaching toward me and laughing and laughing. It was really cute. My favorite thing, though, is that when I walk into a room I will often sit a few feet away from her. Whatever she is doing, she will stop, put her head down, and crawl to me as fast as can be- nothing will stop her from getting to her mama!

Here is a little video of her sweet laugh:

General Well-Being: I have to admit, that as cute as she is, this month has been a little rough for Claire. She has this un-ending faucet called her nose and she just can't seem to get over it. She HATES it when we "blow" her nose (who doesn't?) and it has made her more fussy than usual. I feel bad for the poor girl- hopefully she will get over it soon.

Overall though, she is doing great. And, as Ben always likes to say, we are now at 9months, where it seems the fun finally outweighs the hard!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Easter

We had some friends over last week to dye Easter Eggs.

It was the first time Audra dyed eggs, and the first time I have in FOREVER. I was not sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised that it was way more clean that I thought! We didn't have any spills- a miracle in my book. The girls had a great time for about 10-15 minutes, with their favorite part putting stickers on the eggs.

-

Then, I just had to throw this picture in. Audra put Claire's dress on and came down the stairs and said, "ta-da!" I laughed so hard- I must have one of the funniest girls in the whole world!

I guess her dresses are no longer enough! I told Ben I thought this was start of a war between the girls in regards to stealing each other's clothes. He looked at me and said, "girls take each other's clothes?" Such a guy thing to say!!!!

Matching Dresses




Rarely do the girls have matching clothes. I think this is the third outfit they have had the same. Mostly it is because I LOVE my hand-me-downs and HATE spending money on clothes I know the girls will quickly outgrow, stain, or rip.

But, I won a coupon to Old Navy for $50.00 off a $100.00 purchase, so off to Old Navy the family went. Audra fell in love with this dress, and it was the only dress that happened to have a matching counterpart, so since we were getting them for 1/2 off thanks to the coupon (making them $4.00 each) we caved and bought the dresses, with the excuse they are their Easter dresses.

Audra was elated! She has basically worn this dress every day (at least for a few minutes- remember, her outfits change regularly), including at times to bed. She loved that they had "tags" on them.

I never thought I would be a mom who had to match her daughters, but I will also admit it is fun seeing them match. I just love my two cuties!

March Totals

I did pretty good this month- I had some great deals. My hottest deal of the month:
-
24 Charmin (double)Rolls of toilet paper
12 Bounty double rolls of paper towels
-
Total: 3.16! That was pretty sweet.
-
On to my monthly numbers:
Total Spent: 270.05
-
Total Saved: 528.66
-
Percent saved: 66%
-
I did spend more than my $200. BUT- the reason is because I decided to do my weekly grocery shopping on Wednesday last week, which was the 31st, instead of Thursday, April 1st because it worked out better with my schedule. Before that, I had only spent $180 (I know, I spent a lot that day- I bought TONS of produce and then I also was hosting a brunch at my house on Saturday that I had to get some things for). So, if I had waited until Thursday to shop, I only would have spent $180. Curse the long month of March to ruin my numbers!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Typical Day With Audra

11:03 AM:11:07 AM:11:10 AM:

The Fashionista even has time to talk on the phone in the midst of all her wardrobe changes.

Mommy: I love you, Audra!

Audra: I love PINK!

This is my life- and I love it!