Eli

Eli is such a blessing. He is growing like a weed! I took Isaac to the doctor for a check up last week, and while I was there, I weighed Eli. He was 22 pounds, 2 ounces. He is wearing 18 month clothes. I am thankful that he is thriving, but weighing that much at three months does present some logistical challenges. He is now over the weight limit for his infant carrier car seat. That is a bit of a pain because I can no longer transport him from the car to the house without waking him up (I hate waking him up -- a wise woman once said, "Waking a sleeping baby is like taking the winning team off the field!"). We do still use the seat around the house because he sleeps so well in it. He has outgrown his swing -- he can still sit in the swing, it just does not have the power to move him! I still put him in his bouncy seat, but it has lost much of its bounce! It is also a bit of a challenge to hold him in one hand and accomplish something with the other hand. All "challenges" aside, I am so thankful he is healthy!

He is starting to try to grab things with his hands. He is not very good at controlling them yet, so it is fun to watch him practice! One of his favorite things is to suck on his fingers. It will be interesting to see if he follows in Olivia's footsteps and becomes a thumb sucker. She loves it when he manages to get his thumb in!

He has started sleeping longer at night. The past few days he has slept around 7 to 8 hours, which is wonderful! He usually wakes up around 5:00, eats, and then goes back to sleep for a couple of hours.

I love seeing his sweet smile and hearing him laugh. He has several very sensitive tickle spots! He is truly a joy, and I am so thankful to be his Mommy!

Grocery Challenge Update

I went to Publix yesterday to take advantage of their Superbowl sales. This was a great week to replenish my snack stash that is in my closet. We take a finger food to our small group every Sunday night. Sometimes I make something, but it is nice to be able to grab something when I decide to take a nap (I think that Sunday afternoon must mean nap time in some language)!

I bought:
pita chips (2 bags)
Chex Mix (10 bags)
Cheerios Snack Mix (2 bags)
Triscuits (6 boxes) (The children like these with cheese or humus for lunch.)
Wheat Thins (2 boxes)
Diced tomatoes (4 cans)
Humus (2)
Granola Bars (4 boxes) (Mark takes these for lunch.)
Frozen Hash browns (2 bags) -- This was the only thing not on sale. I paid $3.00 a bag -- ouch!

My total was $98.36. After sales and coupons, I paid $30.74. That leaves $448.64 in my Grocery Challenge Fund.

A Beautiful Couple and Amazing Photographers

The photographers from Wes and Rebecca's wedding posted a few "teaser" photos on their blog. They are simply amazing. I want to save my pennies (and my dollars!) so that I can get them to take pictures of my children. They are phenomenal!

Our Little Baker

Bailey has been working on a cake decorating badge for American Heritage Girls. One of the girl's mothers did a demonstration for the troop. We all enjoyed eating her masterpieces!

Grocery Challenge

The Grocery Cart Challenge is a blog that I enjoy reading. The author challenged herself to spend an average of $60 a week to feed her family of six, and she shares her experiences as she tries to meet her challenge. I spend significantly more than that to feed my family of seven (I do not spend a whole lot on feeding Eli yet, but given his size, I bet that it won't be long!). We budget $750 a month to buy groceries, diapers, toiletries and household supplies (toilet paper, cleaning products, etc.). I use coupons and shop sales, and I still have a hard time staying within that amount (in fact, I usually go a little over).

After I read this chart, I felt much better about our spending. There are several ways to figure the amount, but according to my calculations, our family should spend about $788 if we are using the "thrifty" plan up to about $1,541 if we were on the "liberal" plan. We will probably add some money to this category in the future, but I have challenged myself to try to stay within our $750 budget for the next several months, as we "tighten up" to save a little extra during this time of job transition. I have a very well stocked pantry at the moment, so that will help. I have been stocking up over the past year, as I have matched coupons to sales. I am currently using Hot Coupon World to help me find good deals. I used The Grocery Game when I first started to help me learn how to best use coupons.

I usually go to Walmart about once a month to buy the things we need that do not typically go on sale at the other stores. I go to the bread store once a month to buy our bread and buns. Then I shop at Publix and Kroger's the rest of the month, trying to buy only what is on sale. I make fewer impulse buys at these stores because I know they are overpriced.

So, my goal from now until the end of February is to stay within my $750 budget. I have already done my Walmart trip, which should last until the first of March. I also hit a sale on Good Nights at Publix that should last until the end of February. So, that leaves around $519 left for the next five weeks. I am trying to provide healthy foods for our family, so I will try to minimize the junk food. I went to Kroger today and bought milk, produce and boneless chicken breasts (they were on sale, so I bought four packages). I spent $39.60, which leaves me with $479.38. I decided to blog about my challenge (I know that it is not the most exciting reading) to help me keep track and to hold myself accountable!

A Day at the Park

Nanna and GrandBob took us to the park while we were visiting them over Christmas break. It was quite cold, but the children had a great time!

The Many Faces of Eli...

Happy Face

Surprised Face

Serious Face


Laughing Face

You're Cracking Me Up Face

Meal Plan Monday

Monday: Turkey and noodle soup --It actually turned out to be turkey and noodle mush because I added the noodles to the crockpot way too early! Anna Grace, who is my pickiest eater right now, gobbled it up (no pun intended). Their tastes are so hard to predict!

Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff, green beans and homemade bread -- calling it beef stroganoff is a stretch. I just put beef stew meat in the crockpot with a couple of cans of cream of mushroom soup and then add sour cream about thirty minutes before dinner. We eat it over noodles or rice.

Wednesday: Spaghetti & meatballs, salad and bread

Thursday: Pancakes -- I may get adventurous and try to make pumpkin pancakes

Friday: Homemade pizza and salad

Saturday: Barbecue chicken, potato casserole and salad

Sunday: Left Overs

A Beautiful Wedding

Wes and Mom-- You can tell by his smile how happy he is

(and not at all nervous!)Mom and me

Mamaw (Mark's Mom) had the "rough" job of snuggling with Eli during the ceremony!

This is a glimpse into why we decided not to have Anna Grace in the wedding! She did get to wear a fancy dress and walk around being cute!

Cheese!

Our "little" family

Our three princesses -- we should probably start a wedding account now!

We travelled to Tennessee this past weekend to celebrate the wedding of my "little" brother Wes to his beautiful bride Rebecca. It was truly a wonderful weekend in so many ways!

Bailey and Olivia were bridesmaids, and they were so excited to be in the wedding! I was relieved at how well they behaved during the wedding. Olivia reminded me of a linebacker as she went down the aisle. She kept her head down and charged ahead! The ceremony was beautiful.

We all had a great time at the reception. We had a yummy dinner and got to visit with a lot of people. There was a dance floor, and we could not keep our girls off of it! Isaac was very embarrassed at first, but he loosened up and danced the night away. We were all exhausted by the time it was over. Eli slept through the night for the first time -- from 10:00 until 6:51. We should go to more weddings!

A few of my favorite parts of the weekend:

--Meeting Rebecca's family -- they were truly wonderful. They were so sweet and patient with my children (who can be a bit overwhelming!).
-- Seeing my mom cut loose with Wes on the dance floor to "I'm Going to Love You Forever"-- Who knew she was such a dancer!?!

-- Watching Mark dance with our daughters. It reminded me of this song. It was also a hoot to see him do "The Twist" with my mom!
-- Seeing people from my home church that I never thought would dance out on the floor

-- Seeing my cousin Robin's son Tyler, the picture of health, after battling Leukemia for several years. Praise God for answering our prayers!

-- Visiting with friends and family
-- Most of all, seeing my little brother so happy and so in love. He has truly been blessed with a beautiful, Godly wife. I pray that they are blessed with a long, wonderful marriage!

The weekend was one of those family memories that I will always treasure!

***None of my pictures of the bride and groom did them justice (my camera did not like the lighting!), so I can't show off what a handsome couple they are! I can not wait to see the pictures the photographer took!

Change is in the Air...

Two weeks ago, Mark got the news that "change is in the air" at work. His company is in cut back mode as many other companies are around the country. Mark will hear in April if he will need to relocate or if his job has been cut completely. Thankfully, we will have until sometime in June or July before the severance would take effect. We also have an emergency fund (thank you Dave). We are blessed with the gift of time.

Wow! This is the first time we have experienced this type of news. It was quite a shock when Mark called to tell me (he was in Chicago enjoying the coldest weather they have had in ten years). I shed a few tears just thinking about all that is involved with relocating again. Thankfully, the Lord filled me with peace, and aside from a few scattered moments of panic, I have felt peaceful ever since. We have been praying that God would lead us and give us wisdom in the job search. Mark has been exploring various opportunities and has sent out nine or ten resumes. We are confident that the Lord will take care of us during this time.