Shakespeare Can Be Rough

 My little guy loves the bookshelf. Today he grabbed the Complete Works of William Shakespeare and took off running with it. Before I could stop him he tripped...and caught the corner of the book under his eye. He cried pretty hard for a minute and was over it.



At the park on post.

We took advantage of the warm weather this weekend along with everyone else. Once we left the house I was wishing I had worn flip flops. If only that weather would hang around!

Nap #2

After lunch

Yes Jackson has been sick, but we weren't going to keep him cooped up. We did skip church since his nose is so runny and his cough is bad. I knew they probably would appreciate us staying home...even though I think he caught this bug in his class at church! So on Saturday we had to go by Jeremy's office to unlock some stuff. Luckily, I got to see Jeremy's awesome work truck. We were hoping Jack would be awake to take a ride but it was his first nap time for the day. Maybe next time.

:)

Next was lunch at the PX then we went to the huge playground on post to play. I can't believe what a little monkey this boy is.

He can climb these no problem. We are close by to help.

Sand between the toes

After we played HARD (2 naps!) we went by Publix, CVS, and Rite Aid. I didn't take pictures but I did get 24 free light bulbs among some other things like diapers, wipes, shampoo, and 2 rebates for $10 Publix gift cards. I don't know what I will do in AR without Publix :)

Saturday night we were home in time to enjoy the rest of the daylight too, Jack was happy about that.

Lately he has been waking up in the middle of the night to get in bed with us. I don't know if it is because he is sick or not, but as long as he goes back to sleep I don't mind it at all. He is such a cuddle bear except for those feet he likes to kick around. If I am awake enough I usually take him back to his room.

Me and my girl lounging, she is so goofy. She wanted her picture taken.

In the back of the picture above you can see a turned over tool bench that belongs to a boy in his officially terrible two's. It is probably a combo of being on medicine, not feeling well, and his mommy's perfect timing of hiding all the paci's, along with the big "2" approaching. Jumping off couches, climbing, breaking things, rebelling, throwing fits....we are there. Thankfully, he goes to sleep at nap and bed time so easily! We tell him it is time, we get no argument, we tell a story, and before the end he is out. Yay!

Another thing he has learned to do well is twinkle twinkle little star. He LOVES singing, so the other night while he was going to bed I recorded this. He has gotten even better at it now too! I'm not

sure why the video turned out so dark. He has a good night light.

 

If music be the food of love, play on

--William Shakespeare

Is it Spring yet?



Wagon ride!



I let Jax play outside today and I know I shouldn't have. We were only out there for about 30 minutes and it was 55-60 degrees...but he has been sick and I don't think it helped him any. He was too hot in his jacket. Benadryl won't even touch what he has going on with sinuses and congestion. He wanted to go out so badly I finally gave in after nap time.

 I thought keeping his ears covered up even if its warmer can't hurt

 He isn't doing worse tonight, but he is not better for sure. As the tradition goes, I will be calling the doctor tomorrow (always on a Friday) and begging for help.

He sang his own lullaby tonight and I just want to never put him down. Twinkle twinkle little star has never sounded so precious. I keep hearing him cough, so I'm just waiting on him to come out of his room with his monkey and crawl in bed with us :)

It has come down to this...I feel like my shopping trips are like self inflicted homework and I have to report on them haha! It is such a fun challenge and hobby. But I am blogging about it I think because I take saving money more seriously now than ever and I want to keep up with what I'm saving and maybe ignite some ideas in your minds too. Fun for me, probably boring to you :)

So how did the Publix trip go? I think pretty well. First off, we were out of coffee (a staple) and so they were having a deal on the whole beans luckily and I spent $5 on 2 bags that we normally pay $6.99 a piece for at Wal Mart. I'm thinking maybe I should have bought a couple more.

Also, I took advantage of the deal going where you buy a certain name brand item you get theirs for free...Spaghetti was the theme so I got some free pasta, sauce, baby spinach, and parm cheese, and had coupons for the name brands. That helped.

Can you spot the little boy?

Anyway, there are a couple of items not pictured (hummus, cheese, Sam Adams($8!), and the (2) juicy juice 12 packs are hidden). 4 V8 splashes that I am excited about. Some strange purple passion potatoes that I have never heard of in my life, (free or else I wouldn't even go there) and lots of baby spinach, lettuce, soup, rotel, (4)spaghetti sauces, and condiments galore (thanks kraft!). We are set for some cookouts haha!

Total before coupons and B1G1: $105.61
After: $31.04 with tax
70% savings!
Of course I will be going to Wal Mart this weekend for chicken and a few other generics, but I am happy with the outcome tonight. Oh! And I stopped by Rite Aid and picked up 2 free 4 packs of GE Light Bulbs. Sweet. 

Jeremy is ready for the weekend, I am ready to stop being dizzy and to stop having a constant headache, and Jackson is ready to breathe normally :(  But we are happy and looking forward to some pretty weather Saturday and a good time at church Sunday if Jax is up to it.

Special Deliveries!

Package from Grandma and Grandpa

 This lucky little boy has gotten 2 things in the mail this week from his great grandparents!

Package from Mamaw and Papaw

 The first envelope was from Mamaw and Papaw Louis, and it was chicken feathers! The look on his face was priceless. He has been asking about the chickens since we got back home. Last time we were home he played with feathers when he was at their house and it really left an impression :).

We were laughing SO hard at his expression

I gave him his stickers from Grandma after bath time

When he saw his Elmo Potty DVD he said Oh Wow! We watched it almost immediately and he listened to most of it.

It is a good thing he has gotten some surprises this week! Last night was really rough. He has had a runny nose and chest congestion for about 2 days. Last night he woke up throwing up, followed by covering Jeremy almost literally from head to toe with round 2. I don't know if it was from sinus drainage or what happened, but today he hasn't been sick anymore. He is very irritable and wired, but I think that is from having no sleep last night.

Also as of last night, we are pacifier free! I hope we can stick with it. So far it has been easy. He can't breathe out of his nose right now, so it was perfect timing.

Of course since I hit up CVS tonight, I had to document my trip.

Luckily I had a coupon print up from the red machine in the store( you scan your card and it prints up some coupons for the day) that was $5 off of 2 Revlon products. Well they had some Revlon products for 75% off and I wound up getting them for $5 total=Free! I had coupons for everything else except for the Physicians Formula bronzer which was on clearance for $2, at Wal Mart it is around $10. Between coupons and money back I spent $7 and I got back $4.

Publix will either be tomorrow or this weekend, depending on how Jackson is feeling.

Just Another Day

Snack time! He could eat broccoli at every meal!

 Well, less than 2 months and my baby will be 2 years old. That doesn't seem right! I guess it never does.

This past week has been easy going for us. We haven't had many plans, aside from going to church on Sunday. The past 2 Sundays we have gone to Cascade Hills in Columbus. We really like it so far, but we are thinking about trying another church this Sunday. My main concern with changing is that Jackson is not a fan of his class already, and moving around might make it worse. He likes his teacher, and he is happy as long as she takes him outside (indoor/outdoor play ground) and has one on one time with him. He does not like being inside with the other kids. Hopefully he will get over that soon. She said they were going to work on being happy outside then once he is ok with being left with her, she is going to work on being inside.

Proud Mom brag warning! She did tell me that he is the most verbally advanced child she has ever had in her class. This is a huge church with over 8000 members! She could not believe how well he communicated and how much he knew :) I felt terrible about leaving him crying, but it cracks me up knowing that he talked to her as much as he did. He kept telling her "Mommy and Daddy will be right back ok?" Poor baby was crying when we picked him up too. I was afraid that he had cried the whole time, but she said he had just started  back up when the parents started picking the kids up. We had a pager and she never paged us. Last week she did because he was upset and she wanted to make sure we knew...after I calmed him down he was fine and I left.



His little legs are starting to thin out!

My guess is that he is hitting a growth spurt, since he has been eating a ton and his legs are thinning. He is now 35 inches tall....so I know he has grown about 2 inches at least in the past couple months. He eats all the time. I keep giving him more until he raises his hands and says "all done". Sometimes he has a snack before bed too. I did the height predictor online, and if he didn't grow any in the next 2 months, his prediction is 6 foot tall. I think I believe it! 

Big Boy



 I love my boys


Good Daddy, Good Hubby :)

 It has been cold but sunny out, so we are trying to be outside as long as we can stand it.  Another change is that bedtime is now at 9:00. That is a nice change, I get much more done and I can get in bed earlier too.

I have a thyroid ultrasound tomorrow. I'm hoping for some answers within a week or two!

Bad Weather, Cool Boy

Sometimes you just have to get outside! We needed fresh air even though it was damp and cold out, so yesterday and today we got out.

This pic reminds me of Brian at this age

Jackson loves pointing to the sky and finding airplanes and clouds.

Looking at an airplane

Jeremy made over

Stylin' in his Nike gear

Speed was the game! He had some serious energy to burn off

I like the comfy look he has going on here. He doesn't usually dress this baggy! His sweatshirt came in from the Children's Place (huge sale online right now) and it is a little big on him. It did shrink some in the dryer after he wore it yesterday. 3T! I can't believe I'm already buying 3T. Some of his long sleeved 2T stuff is already too small. Pants too, 24 months are already too small.

Originally, I couldn't find the white toboggan, so I gave him one of mine :) He never knew there were Disney princesses on the back Haha! I got a huge kick out of it. He probably wouldn't have minded anyway, but one day he might get me for it.

This last one I just have to throw in because I think it is too sweet.

We did a lot of resting on the past 4 day weekend!

I went into Publix today and promised myself I was only going to buy the really good specails with coupons, so that is what I did. It felt nice! These were all BOGO plus coupons that either came in the paper or I printed.

$2 with tax at Publix. Jack is going to love the yogurt especially!

 I had to hit up Rite Aid too. The Proctor and Gamble promotion came at a perfect time, we needed to stock up. So this was a combo of P&G coupons, a gift card I earned from previous deals (that cost me nothing but tax) and then money back in register rewards.

$21 out of pocket, but I got $13 back. The diapers alone were $19.99 so I am happy with it!

Those were my deals today. I have a little more to do this week since I have to stock up while things are all free or close to free! Next week will be all new stuff so I have to get it while I can....every week...but it's fun. So the doctor has me on Meclizine and it takes me forever to get going once I wake up, hopefully tomorrow will be better.





28

I laughed so hard the night of my birthday. I'm not sure what had gotten into Jackson, but he was in the mood to be a comedian, and that made my day. Jeremy didn't get home until around 4, but I had plenty of entertainment.

We chose Smokey Bones for dinner and I'm not sure why (we had a ten dollar off coupon and I'm cheap, that is why). Anyway, we should have chosen Carrabba's or Longhorn Steakhouse but I wasn't sure how kid friendly they are. We have never been to either one. Smokey Bones is okay...but nothing special. So while we are in the restaurant things were going fine until we were almost ready to leave. At that point it was time for Jackson's 3rd diaper of the night. I couldn't believe he had gone through 3 wet diapers, we only live 10 minutes from this place and I only packed 3. I was trying to lighten the load in the diaper bag (for once). So I grabbed the final diaper and wipes from the bag and off we go. While I'm changing him in the end stall on the little changing table the new diaper's tape and the left side of the diaper rips right off the side. Jackson knew it was bad and he took a time out from howling to say "oh frick". (I have to get him away from saying this word! I know it isn't a bad word but still, it is what it is. He has heard us all say it.) He always howls in public bathrooms because he likes the echos. Well at this point I had not realized we were totally out of diapers so I rigged Jack's diaper the best I could, while both of us were laughing, and went back out to get the bag from Jeremy.

We get back into the bathroom and I put Jack back on the table, and trash the diaper. Reach into the bag and realize great, we have no diapers left and I just tossed the last half diaper we have left into the trash can. I just looked at Jackson and started laughing and he glared back at me for a minute and started chuckling the cutest little laugh, and then he peed on both of us. At this point I'm glad the changing table was located within the handicap stall and not out near the sink like many are. I stood there debating on what to do with my pants less little boy and all I could do was laugh. On a bad day I probably would have cried. He laughed too but he was wanting down. I said a fast "Dear God please let there be a diaper under his extra change of clothes" and to my surprise there was a spare! Until then, I was thinking about stuffing his pants with paper towels to get him home, or going out into the dining area and looking for a baby his size and asking to borrow a diaper. That was a first.

My huge plant from Mom that I love

Up close before dinner

First ever flower cake from Dad! So pretty

I have been working on printing our blog book, and realized that I love the days that I went into more details about stuff. The memories I have are enhanced by the small things I have already forgotten. So warning: as you can tell, I'm making time and bringing the details back.

When we got home from dinner Jackson was like a mad man after my cake. He has started eating more, and I'm sure that contributed to his excitability, but he also has realized the he LOVES cake. Just like his mommy. It is my addiction, it haunts me at the grocery store and takes over my mind when it is in my house. So yes it is gone now and I think that we are all better off this way

I don't care if it is a girly wand, it has frosting on it

Sugar Silly

Making use of my crown

So, my 28th birthday was low key, a great day with my boy, and a great night with my boys. It is going to be a great year.