Dizzy Dancing

Daddy's Lullaby's

Baby Food

Thanks to the wonderful peer pressure of my great friends, Whitney and Devrie, and special thanks to the economy for being so rotten, I decided to make my own baby food. Yes, it's more work, but it's saving $$$ and better for the baby right? Chris is all for it, as long as it really is saving money. Here's what we paid for the few fruits we bought to get started...

3 Apples - $1.51 (on sale for 1.00 a lb.)

3 Pears - $1.52 (also on sale for 1.00 a lb.)

a bunch of Bananas (7 to be exact.) - $1.17 (but I didn't use 4 of the bananas so I'm dividing this one up... I only used $.52 worth of bananas.

1 Mango - $.88 (on sale too... the sign said 1.44 each, guess we got lucky on that one.)

Total Cost - $4.43

The regular price for Gerber 1st foods is 1.19 for two cups (not actual CUPS as in the measurement, but their little plastic things.) This is equal to 4 ice cubes of baby food (2 ice cubes is one jar of baby food!)
The apples steaming!

I made the baby food this morning (didn't use 4 of the bananas, remember?) and in all I got 4 1/4 ice cube trays of baby food. With 16 Ice cubes per tray... That's 68 Ice cubes of baby food or 34 Jars of baby food or 17 of those gerber 1st food packs. It would have cost me $20.23 for that many jars of baby food. But instead I spent only $4.43, saving $15.80.

My supplies

I'm so excited. We are also adding cereal to the baby food to make it go a bit farther and thicken it up some. So far Maddie is LOVING this. She's a flavor girl and that plain cereal wasn't cutting it. I'm excited to see how long all this fruit I made will last. I think maybe later today or tomorrow I"m going to do the veggies I bought. I did buy those frozen instead of fresh, cause I don't know what to do with fresh peas and green beans. Oh, I did make a fresh butternut squash the other day though. I got a TON of baby food out of that, but didn't have the camera handy...

Homemade Apple Baby Food

Anyways. I'm so excited to finally have started this. And Madison is loving it also. She's finally sleeping through the night. she went to bed at 8 last night and woke up at 7 this morning! I'm so happy! and well rested.

All the baby food I made!

Grocio.com

For anyone who buys groceries... this website is a must. I heard about it on the news last night and signed up this morning. What it does is you type in your grocery list. Then, it comparison shops for you with all the stores surrounding you (you pick which stores for it to compare.) After that, it matches coupons with your grocery list. Then you just print our your coupons and list and go save $$$. The site hasn't officially launched yet. It will next week. But for now you can sign up with your email account and I guess they'll email you when it's up and running. Just thought I'd pass this along!

www.grocio.com

Bloggy-ness (will be long... it's been a while.)

I haven't blogged in what feels like forever. I've been just a bit overwhelmed with life in general. I haven't even checked my email. I don't want to see or talk to anyone. It's just one of those times. But I figured, so much has happened, if I don't write it down... I'll forget it all. So here it is... I'm starting with now, and working my way back. Sorry if that's confusing.

Today

Maddie has the bluest eyes!

My girls!

It started out okay enough. I had a DR. appt for my wrists and such. So i got the girls ready to take over to krystins. After I got all our stuff ready to go out the door, I remembered I didn't have my insurance card in my wallet, so I ran upstairs to get it. When i came back down, Madison was kicking in her carseat carrier funny. I came down to see her, and she was gagging. Taylor said "Madison eat!" Lately we've had issues with Taylor trying to feed madison. So far she's had chocolate, fruit snacks, gold fish, milk, juice... It was turning into a problem. (Just typing this story is making me sick to my stomach!) Lately we've also been letting Taylor eat Jelly Beans that we bought for easter. Taylor tried to feed maddie some jelly beans. I COULD NOT unbuckle the STUPID snaps on Maddie's car seat. I just kept screaming "Madison!" while I tried frantically to get her out of her seat. I finally unbuckled her and had scooped one jelly bean out of her mouth, but she was still choking. Every once in a while, there would be a tiny cough, but mostly just gagging and choking. I ran and grabbed the phone while turning maddie over on her stomach in my arms. I was beating her back and trying to decide if I should call 911 or Chris. I dialed chris's number first while I was still beating on her back with her stomach down. While it was ringing, Maddie finally threw up and the other jelly bean came up with it. Needless to say, by this point I was Panicing. I was crying so hard I couldn't even tell chris what was happening. All I could really get out was "Taylor gave, Madison, Choking" I'm sure he was freaking out a bit too. I was finally able to tell him what had happened. He calmed me down a bit. But I was still crying. The odd thing was Maddie was fine... no crying... nothing. She was just sitting there like nothing had happened. Taylor was standing beside me the whole time saying "Mommy sad? I'm sorry Mommy." It was SO heartbreaking. It makes me tear up just thinking about her telling me how sorry she was. She did understand too... After dinner tonight, chris gave taylor a couple jelly beans, she took one in each hand and said, "Maddie No eat." I hope she remembers it. And they will not be alone again like that... No way.

"Madison No Eat!"

I did get to Krystin's, and then off to my appt. I was diagnosed with carpal Tunnel! Great! The dr kinda hinted at me not crocheting anymore, but that won't happen. I enjoy it too much. He did give me a steroid pack, some pain pills, and splints for my hands that I have to wear 24/7, except for the shower. Once my hands aren't hurting so bad, then I can go to just wearing them at night. I can't wait!

When Chris got home from work, we both went in different directions... he took the girls with him. he went to target for a a couple movies... then off to best buy (he had gotten gift cards for his birthday.) He bought Quantum of solace, How I met your mother season 3, the Italian job (why we didn't already own that one I have no idea!) and a cd (can't think of who right now, I'm tired.) I went to the post office, Krogers for my perscriptions, and then off to sonic for dinner (1/2 priced burger night on tuesdays... It's becoming something of a tradition!)

I had the perfect night with the girls tonight (chris is out playing basketball!) first, they both took great baths! I even let taylor play in my shaving cream (her new fun thing to do in the tub.) And Maddie LOVED watching taylor splash and play in the tub. I love it when they crack each other up. After their baths, we went into their room and read The rockabye farm. After that, we had prayers. taylor's getting very good at saying her own prayers.

Taylor - Heavy Fawa

Me - Thank you

Taylor - Day

Me - Bless

Taylor - Daddy

Me - Bless

Taylor - Madison

Me - Bless

Taylor - Mommy

Me - Bless

Taylor - Taylor

Me - Bless

Taylor - Granma, Granpa

Me - Bless

Taylor - Mamie, Papa

Me - In the Name of Jesus Christ

Taylor - AMEN!

I Love it.

Yesterday

Was pretty uneventful... nothing real noteworthy... except I watched twilight for the 3rd time since I bought it.

Taylor in mommy's cinderella shoes!

Sunday

We had a great day at church. Relief Society was awesome. Have you ever had a lesson that you know was meant JUST FOR YOU? That's what happened to me this past Sunday. I had to read a story aloud. The story I read was almost exactly like an experience I had once. I know I was meant to read that story and remember my experience. It was a much needed reminder how much my Heavenly Father knows me personally and loves me.

Here's a pic of Maddie after church... Just chillin in her swing!

Saturday

Chris's Birthday. My handsome's getting old. We had a fun little party with some good friends. Chris got some good birthday wishes via text, facebook, phone calls... I think it was a good day for him... He had already gotten most of his gifts from me... But I suprized him with a gift card from the girls. He also got a New Titans jersey, the new Halo game, and a book. I think he enjoyed it. I know he Likes his presents. He's worn/played/read them enough... And he's already used most of his gift card... so I'm guessing It was a good day.

My Parents also left this past Saturday for a trip to TAHITI. I'm so jealous. And I can't wait for them to get back... I need my mommy :) I have so much to talk to her about. Chris's mom is away right now too... Where did all the mom's go? I need to talk!!!!!! LOL.

Friday

well, technically, Saturday Morning

Me and chris stayed up late Friday night... at like 12:04 chris said, "Hey, It's after midnight!" so i went out and bought Twilight. Chris, being the great man that he is, sat with me and watched it... til we passed out. We finished it on saturday. I've currently watched it 3 times, and planning on another one in the next day or two. I notice different things everytime I watch it. I still don't think it's a great movie, edward's still not cute, jacob isn't either... but like rita said... it reminds me of the book, which I love. So there... yes, the movie isn't good... the acting sucks. But I'll still watch it.

Wednesday

Last wednesday we went to the zoo with my friends from the white house ward and krystin. it was a great morning to go, and I'm loving that I decided to buy the membership. We got our cards in now so I'll be going all the time. Madison did very well sitting up in the rental stroller. And there was enough room for both my girls in the single stroller. I was excited to save the 2 bucks. After we had lunch at the zoo, we came home and my friend Devrie came over and her boys played for a bit with taylor. it was fun to have them over and i hope she's able to come over again.

We also talked about my next project. I'm going to make a couple/few busy books. I'm trying to decide how I want to do them. I"m just in the planning stages right now... but I can't wait until i actually start getting the peices and sewing. I'm so excited. maybe I'll even finish this one! :)

Well, I think that's about caught up. There are tons of new things taylor is saying, but i can't think of them now. I'll make a list soon. She's getting pretty funny... and sassy. So be on the look out!

Maddie at the Dr. office last Week.

Maddie's 6 Months Appt, and then some

Madison Had her 6 month dr appt this morning. Everything went very well...

She's 14 lbs 13.1 oz (27%) and 24 inches long (5%). She's an itty bitty one!

The Dr and me talked for a while! (I love this office. They'll sit and chat with you! So nice.) She actually PRESCRIBED me to hire a baby-sitter. She told me that even putting the girls in a Mother's Day out a couple days a week would be great. I think that would be a bit much for me (and we couldn't afford that...) but I do know I need more time... She could definately sense that I need a break... (the past week has been a bit rough with chris being sick and all.) She also prescribed a date night, atleast once a month. We talked about how Disconnected you can get from your husband when you're up all night and such. She talked about the resentment that can build from thinking you're doing it all on your own (and no chris, I don't resent you... I know how much you help me.) It was a good visit... for both me and Maddie!

Getting there was a different story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I speed... alot. It's hereditary. My mom and dad both do it. I like going fast. I really can't help it. This morning, it wasn't just because... I was late. I had to drop off Taylor at my mom's so I could go to the dr with maddie, and my mom could go run her errands with Pumpkin Doodle (her nickname for taylor) So there was an actual reason for my speeding.

On Long Hollow (the other side of Nashville) there's this one spot where everyone and their mother (including mine :P ) has been pulled over! My dad was even pulled over twice in this spot in the same day. Cops love to sit there cause you're coming over a hill, and people tend to let their cars go a bit faster down the hill. Then they catch you and pull you over. So I came over that hill... saw this weird thing down the road a bit, thought for a second it was a motorcycle cop, then figured it was probably just a part of the driveway he was sitting in (like a column or mailbox or something.) By the time I realized it really was a cop... it was too late. I KNEW he had clocked me and I was speeding.

This has been my first speeding ticket since fall of 02! For someone who thinks 10 over can be a bit too slow at times... this is... well... I deserved it much sooner. And the sad thing is I know I should be thinking, Man.. I shouldn't have been speeding. But I keep thinking... Man, I shouldn't have gotten caught. :P

And you remember how you felt in high school or college when you got in trouble with your parents and you had that awful uneasy feeling... had your stomach in knots... I've felt like that all day!!! It's awful. I feel like everytime I get in my car I'm going to get yelled at or something!

Chris was fine with it... well, not mad atleast. He did his "told you so" "Hope you learned your lesson" thing... I told him I already had a father! He said he had a right to say these things... cause he's the one paying the insurance. :P All this was in fun! We actually laughed about it. Til we looked at the costs...

But since it's been so long since I had a ticket, I can go to driver school and have it taken off my record. WooHoo!

Okay, so now I'm rambling. I'll be done now. And (knock on wood) no more tickets... or dr appts for that matter.

**Note** Okay carrie... I specifically didn't put in how much OVER the speed limit I was going. But it was more than 15... less than 20 though! I'm awful. I know.

Like mother, like daughter

I was looking through the pics of Taylor at the zoo, and saw the one below and thought...

I've seen that face before!

It's my face!

I love you, too.

Taylor told me "I love you" tonight.

It's the first time she's said it without being prompted first, and it made me SO happy.

My little baby is growing up.

And I adore her!

Taylor and mommy, July 07!

*********UPDATE*********

Taylor has already learned how to manipulate the "I Love You" to get what she wants.

Today (Saturday), I had to re-lay her down for her nap like 10 times! I even ended up spanking her once! After I laid her down for the last time, I had to use the bathroom, which is right beside her room. While I was doing my business, I could hear Taylor in her room screaming, "I love you mommy! I love you!"

I felt HORRIBLE for being frustrated and being mad, and the spanking. So I went in her room, laid down with her, rubbed her back, and refilled her sippy cup.

Taylor knows how to work her mom!

Road Trip from...

Nashville to Chatanooga.

Doesn't sound too bad huh? About 1 hour and 45 minutes is what it should take. I packed the girls in the car this morning at 9:45.

Snacks? Didn't need them. The drive isn't too long. We'll get there before lunch.
Toys? I loaded up. I didn't want the girls to get bored for the 1 hour 45 minutes we'd be in the car.
Music? I had it! My ipod!
Movies? That too! Thanks to our portable DVD and a few Elmo and Mickey Dvd's!

I was so excited to do something out of the norm today. A break.
Cayce needed someone to take her to the airport. Only thing was, she needed someone to pick her up... from chatanooga. But hey, I didn't mind. Honestly. I really was excited for it.

It started out a bit chilly. I hate wearing shoes during road trips (even short ones) so I had to have my flip flops. Silly me... there was ICE on my windshield when I got out to the car. So My feet FROZE... literally. Not too bad. Turned on the heater and I was A OK in a few minutes.

Then I needed gas. I filled up on the other side of murfreesboro so that I'd feel like we'd made more of a dent in the trip! It was maybe 10 (or right after) at the time.

We made excellent time. My favorite part of the trip is that one rest stop on the Tennessee river, near the state line. I LOVE that rest stop. I remember stopping there on youth temple trips before there was one in Nashville. LOVED IT. But I didn't stop this time. Oh no. We had to get to Cayce.

At 11:0... something, I called Chris. It was his lunch break. I was so excited to tell him I was passing the rest stop... or near it. can't quite remember. I just remember talking to him. A little bit after I got off the phone with Chris, I passed a sign saying
"Chatanooga 13 miles"

WOOHOO... almost there. And right at lunch time too. I had timed it perfectly. We'd get to Cayce's just right. Taylor could eat, maddie could nurse and....

Wait...

We slowed down...

Then we stopped!

???? What was going on? Alright... no biggie. We'd be there soon. But we weren't. After 30 minutes I started calling people. My mom, Cayce, and Chris. I told chris... NO we're not in chatanooga yet. Almost... 12.9 miles away!!! I asked Cayce to check online to see what the hold up was. I asked my mom for advice cause the girls were kinda whiny.

Another 30 minutes. I asked Cayce to REALLY try to figure out what was going on! I asked my mom if I should try to nurse Maddie even with all the cars and trucks and people surrounding me. I asked Chris what he thought could possibly be going on. He said it takes about an hour to clear out a wreck. Okay I thought... they've had time to clean it up. We'll get moving soon.

Another 30 minutes. I had gotten out of the car, gone back and read the girls some books, turned the music up to drown out the screams of a hungry baby (I decided against the nursing... She wasn't going to starve), watched some dvd's, and gotten very aggravated at I 24! But still... no real movement.

ANOTHER 30 MINUTES! SERIOUSLY... WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON CAYCE? MOM, THEY ARE BOTH SCREAMING AND NOW I AM TOO! CHRIS, THE GIRLS MIGHT NOT MAKE IT BACK ALIVE! (I got so bored, I pulled out my camera and tried to see the weirdest shot I could take in my car. I had fun with the macro setting. But my camera is outside, in my car at the moment, and it's cold and I don't want to get it now. I'll show my random pics tomorrow.)

We finally started moving again. And do you know what the holdup was? Because I don't! There was nothing. One second I was stopped, the next, I was doing 70 again! Maddie cried herself to sleep. Taylor went through 3 Elmo's World Episodes, 5 Mickey Mouse Club House episodes, and 1 round of Leap Frog Letter Factory! Oh my WORD it was awful. We FINALLY arrived at Cayce's at... 1 something. That's right... almost 4 HOURS after I left, I arrived. Taylor got some Burger King which she didn't really eat, but instead fed to Sady. Maddie nursed for like 5 minutes and then went back to sleep. And then we got to get back in the car to drive home.

I'm a forgiving person. So, I'm forgiving road trips for giving me such a hard time today. But I'm not going to be taking another one anytime soon, unless I'm really prepared (bottles, snacks, earplugs!)

who let you go? - the killers

This is one of my favorite songs ever!

Also... please excuse my singing... I know it's rough.

Goals for My Etsy Store

I haven't been doing alot of time online time promoting my etsy shop, but sales have been pretty steady (3 this past week.)

I'm still wrapping up a HUGE wholesale order, so I'm going to try to finish those up... but I decided it wouldn't hurt to put a little more effort into my etsy store.

I've decided my next major item to buy is a WAGON! I'm so excited. I can't wait to take the girls to the zoo in our new wagon!

So here are my goals to reach my ultimate goal of purchasing a wagon by the end of the month!

*300 hearts! (people heart your store when they like it. At the moment I have 220 something! only 80 to go.)

*atleast 30 views a day to my shop. (I'm averaging about 15 new views a day right now. I'm just going to start with doubling that.)

*I would love to have about 50 followers on my other blog by the end of the month also. (by the way... I'm offering a free giveaway on there at the moment. You could win a free sock monkey beanie. Check it out and tell your friends. It's at http://www.babyluvgifts.blogspot.com/)

*Create 10 new hats! I'm also asking for suggestions on my other blog for hat ideas. So i'm going to make some new hats. That way, the people who have seen my shop before can come back and order something new! I'm so excited.

Okay, well those are my goals for now. As I go along, I may edit and change them, even add to them. We'll see. And be sure to check back for an update on my goals. Who knows... hopefully I'll be so busy the rest of the month with sales, i won't be able to blog one bit! I'll keep dreamin.

A day at the Zoo

Saturday, we spent the day at the zoo with John, Krystin, and Isaac.

We bought memberships, which I reccommend to anyone with small kids, so me and Krystin will definately be back with the kids this summer! I can't wait to take the kids again, and have picnics and all sorts of fun!

Anyways... here's pics from our day! There are alot, as there always are when I do pictures!

Enjoy!

Taylor loves the swing!

And so does maddie!
I love doing this with them! I think it's too cute and funny

Isaac could swing all day too!

I didn't touch the colors on this picture at all... these are the birds actual colors. Isn't it beautiful?

This is john's hand feeding the little birdie

Then chris tried!

We only had two strollers at first... so taylor rode on top of Isaac's.

Elephants! One of Taylor's favorites!

Giraffes!

Monkey's... my favorite

Meerkats... another one of my favorites

We finally went and rented another stroller... $7. we almost could buy another cheap umbrella stroller for that much. But oh well. The kids were getting tired... and we really needed it. Only, when we got it, Isaac decided he didn't want to ride in his stroller anymore, so Taylor could have ridden in it. They had fun both riding in the rented stroller though. Til Taylor started kicking and got Isaac in the head. It was fun for a few minutes though.

Taylor liked the zebra's alot too.

She stood at the fence for a long time looking at them.

She also loved the Tigers! I did too.

I'm not totally sure, But I think Isaac like the alligators the most. He was either calling them snakes or asking to go see the snakes. Either way... they were pretty cool.

We decided to try and get some cute pictures of the kids... yeah right! If one was looking and smiling, the other one wasn't. If they were both looking, neither one would smile. Here's the best of what I got though.

I LOVE this picture. Isaac can totally work a camera!

Next was family pics...

Isaac would not smile or look. Til John put him in a headlock! And can I just say that Krystin is the absolute cutest pregnant lady in the world. :)

And here's our little family. The girls were both worn out... and so were the adults.

Then it was back to the gators. And this is the only picture of taylor AND isaac facing the camera at the same time. Thank you Chris for getting it!

After that (3 hours) we decided to head home. The kids were cranky, and us adults were getting there. We did stop by the gift shop and get taylor an elephant and maddie a tiger. I had to get them something for their first trip to the zoo.

Isaac was out before we even got to the cars!

Taylor was out after only 30 seconds in her seat.

All in all, it was a great day. So much fun. I can't wait for more zoo trips this year! Hopefully they'll be just as fun as this one was.