Meijer 1/18

To start this lengthy post, I must thank my mom for watching BOTH of my kiddos- I shopped in peace and forgot how fun it is to actually LOOK at the products you're buying and not race through the aisles sticking suckers in a 2 year old's mouth.

I pretty much stuck to my list- only straying a few times ;) I went 20 over my budget of $50.00- not bad considering all that was bought.

-Meijer salt
-Bananas
-2 cans of cream of chix soup
-1 can kidney beans
-1 can black beans
-2 onions
-1 bag yellow rice
-1 block cream cheese
-2 bags chex mix
-2 bags white chocolate chips
-1 pack butter
-1 box brown rice
-4 boxes fruit snacks
-1 gallon milk
-1 tub sour cream
-1 dozen organic eggs (I've now become obsessed w/ brown hen eggs!)
-1 quart half/half
-1 Reynolds wrap
-2 packs Tyson chicken
-1 Rotisserie chicken (for tonight's chicken hot dish)
-10 cans of veggies
-4 cans of chicken broth
-1 bag confectioners sugar
-2 cans diced tomatoes
-1 box cake mix
-5 bags goldfish
-2 blocks of cheese
-1 block velveeta
-5 bags frozen veggies
-4 tubes pringles
-1 dole salad mix
-8 boxes kelloggs cereal

Grand total: $70.08
Savings: $51.13

Again, I try and aim to stay around 50/60 bucks per week- 70 isn't too bad... I didn't have coupons for the white chocolate (which is expensive!!!) or the Tyson chicken. But we've got food for the week, cereal & snacks for months!

Here are some pics:



I had already put the refrigerated food away- this is a pic of the dry stuff.

oh how did that sneak in here??? cute. :)

8 Weeks Post Partum...

Tomorrow marks EIGHT weeks of Henry's life here on earth. WOW! I have yet to schedule his 2 month appointment... oops. I'm assuming we'll get in sometime this week- I'm anxious to find out why he is fussy 24/7.

On another note- I posted a post partum pic of when I was 2 weeks post partum. Sitting here, quite pudgy and soft, not much has changed. I'm bummed. I have been dieting and nursing for 2 months now- yes, yes I've lost over 40 lbs- but remember about 30 of that was PURE FLUIDS! So really, I've only lost 10 solid pounds. And to get to my goal weight of 120 I still have 15 lbs to go. :( poo. Here's a pic of me this morning. Ignore my triple Z's in the pic.

In one word, YUCK. But here's the thing- in order to maintain my milk supply my midwife told me not to cut calories... okaaaaaayyy- that makes it a little hard to diet! Working out is the next best logical step, but with a newborn who likes to nurse at random times all day long, its hard to get out and do it. Unfortunately we don't live in a climate where I can put the kids in the double stroller and take a walk. For me to exercise I have to pack the kids up, drive to the Y, check them into the jankity daycare and PRAY my name isn't paged to come claim a child down in the nursery. Nope- the Y isn't going to happen. So now I'm thinking of exercise videos. I've heard of some good ones, so I'm willing to try them. Even with THAT I am not sure where the time to do a video will come from- my kids hardly ever nap at the same time and when they do I can pretty much guarantee you the first thought in my mind won't be "GOTTA EXERCISE!" It will probably be more along the lines of "GOTTA LAY DOWN!" sighhhhhh.... I need these extra 15 lbs off bad... what to do, what to do? Talking with my midwife, she said give it a year to get back to normal- focus on nursing, maintaining my supply and life with two kids. So is it selfish for me to want to get these 15 pounds off??? I wish I didn't care so much about the stupid scale- but my GOSH I am sick of my jeans cutting off blood supply to my legs. And I REFUSE to go out and buy size 7 jeans (yes that's what size I am in at the moment). I feel like if I give in and buy the size 7's I will always be in that size. Make sense?
Well, if any of you have some fabulous ideas on how I can get these pesky 15 lbs off, let me know! I am ALL ears! :)

Got MILK???

I DO!

Just in case someone out there doesn't believe me that I am actually a cow disguised as a human, here's a few pics to prove it:




Each bag contains 5-6 oz. of milk. It may not look like a TON- but keep in mind that I am also nursing Henry! I pump out about 20 oz. a day on TOP of nursing... yes, HOLY MILK. We also always keep 3-4 bottles of 5-6 oz. of milk in the refrigerator just in case I need to leave or we get to go out kid-less (rarely happens, but hey- we can dream!)

Who's Who?

no denying these two are related, eh? :)

Update On the Queen of the Night.

Maeve- aka, "Queen of the night" has been doing *OKAY* in her re-adjusted big girl bed (we just turned her crib into a daybed). She stays in her room just fine- the problem? She's up off and on most of the night. It's actually quite humorous. In the middle of the night we'll (let me rephrase that- I WILL) hear the light flick on and then a few thump, thump, thumps. After about 15-20 minutes the light will turn back off and things will be quiet again. Hilarious kid. :) Let me also mention that it is now truly impossible to keep her room cleaned. We used to wait until she fell asleep at night, transfer her to our room and then clean up her room. NOW, since she is up in the middle of the night PLAYING, the room is constantly messy. Blah. She also likes to fall asleep in her "Rose Petal Cottage" and on her Tinkerbell couch. Basically every time we open the door its a guess as to what we're going to find. Here are some pics from the past couple of days of Maeve's nighttime adventures. :)


This was during nap time...

Sad, sad... "Make Way For Ducklings" one of my all time fave. books was found torn up on the floor this morning. :(

Hurricane Maeve...

"HI MOM! Look what I did to my room last night!"

Chicken Parm. in the CROCKPOT! :)

Because soooo many of you asked soooo nicely :) I thought I'd just post the recipe:

4-6 THIN chicken breasts (you can either use a meat mallet to make them thin or just buy the thin chicken breasts at the store pre- thinned :)

1 Jar Spaghetti sauce

1/8 cup milk

1 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Parm. cheese

dash of salt & pepper

a little oil

Mozz. cheese


*Pour oil in the bottom of your crockpot- the KEY is to pour enough so the chicken doesn't burn on the bottom but not so much that your spaghetti sauce is swimming in oil!

*Mix the breadcrumbs, salt & pepper, parm cheese together. Dip the chicken in the milk, then in the breadcrumb mixture.

*Put the chicken in the pot, followed by the mozz cheese (as much as you want to use) and cover with sauce.

*Cook on low 6-7 hours and walllllllAH! You've got BETTER chicken parm than Olive Gardens!

I served the chicken with whole grain linguine :) YUM.

The Day Has Come.

She did it. She climbed out of her crib- and landed on her feet this time. I have been dreading this day more than any other. More than potty training, more than taking the paci away, more than her first day at school (well her first day at school... will probably be at home since I am still gung-ho on homeschooling). But you get the idea- I've been living in FEAR of it. Maeve- out of her crib- at her own free will. Roaming the house. SCARY.

Here's the thing- ******so far***** she's been fairly good. At nap time, I put her in her crib and she immediately climbed out as soon as I shut the door. I went back in, put her back in the crib and left. Again, she was out within a second. I opened the door and she was sitting on the floor, quietly reading books. I thought to myself, "Well, I guess this is what naptimes are now- reading books and being quiet for an hour or so." Not more than five minutes passed and I opened the door to check on her again and she had climbed in her crib and was snoozing away. WHAT a sweets :)

I will have to update tomorrow on her first night in her BIG GIRL bed goes.

For now, here are some pics of Miss Maeve before bedtime.
(she was thrilled, to say the least to have a "new" bed)






I'm planning a trip to Target tomorrow to pick up some toddler bedding! AHHH!

Please Forgive Her Lord.

While cooking dinner (crockpot dinner- so it was this morning that I was making it) Maeve ripped a few pages out of the Holy Book... our family Bible is now missing a few pages out of Job. Great.



Also, my once, very complacent, peaceful, content baby Henry has now turned into a fussing, uncomfortable little bear! HOLY WOW- this kid cannot be put down... so this is now how I look most of the days.



Sorry for the dorky shots- its EXTRA hard to take a self pic with a giant baby protruding from your chest/abdomen

I fold laundry, play with Maeve, cook dinner, do dishes, you name it with my THIRTEEN pounder slinged to my back. I feel like one of those African women who have their babies bundled to their bodies 24/7 and their boobs hanging out. No I don't walk around naked, but I do have my breasts out quite a bit thanks to my little fats :) I feel PREGNANT again carrying him around- talk about back aches! But now that I've found the secret to calming him WITHOUT nursing him 24/7 I need to invest in a better sling. The Peanut Shell is good for little spurts of carrying him- NOT good for constant carrying. I'm looking into the Moby.

Wahoo! Here' we go again!

It's that FABULOUS time of year when my mom treats my kids and I to a great little vacay! We're planning on going to Florida the first week of Feb. (the 2nd-8th) and I am THRILLED. I need some warmth!!! This year is super special because its my moms 50th birthday. To celebrate we're going to.......... DISNEY! haha... who could've guessed, right?? We're staying at the Polynesian for a night or two and taking Maeve to the Magic Kingdom. That's right folks- Maeve and I (& Henry) will be going to Disney in Feb. AND in April... even I am thinking that's a bit of a Disney overload. But that is ALL my mom wants for her birthday- a trip to Disney with her grand kids. Who am I to say no? ;) We'll of course be with my grandma the whole time too which will be great. She doesn't ride the rides anymore so I'm thinking she will have a lot of bonding time with the H man while my mom and I take Maeve on the attractions.

This will be my 3rd consecutive trip in Jan/Feb. with just my mom & Maeve- and now I am excited to bring along my little man with us! It should be a great break from this gross, cold weather. And its always fun to have some girl time- after all, it's FOUR generations of women getting together- how special is that??? :)

Now the countdown begins... I'm not sure what I'm more excited about- the warm weather or being able to pull out a bunch of Maeve and Henry's cute summer stuff for them to wear! YEEEE-HAAAAAW!