Thankful

My Thankful List of Daily Life throughout the year.

1. A new tradition; We give thanks to God before every meal. 

2. I make a point to share with Andrew how proud I am of his accomplishments and appreciate his hard work for our family. He does the same in return.

3. We say, "I Love You" whenever we feel it.

 

4.We work as a team. 

5. A happy marriage.

6. Our sweet Josie girl.

7. Royce and Reba who complete our little family.

8.  The combination of talents that Andrew and I bring to the table, making our DIY Cabin Fix-Up a little easier and much more personalized.

9. The roof over our heads; We officially close on Farmwood Lane Dec.5--thankful for selling it so fast. Excited for the new roof at the cabin which will be our shelter for the next few years.

10. Family and Friends that understand our trips to MI are short, but appreciate that time spent with us and those who make the trip in return to see us in TN!

11. Andrew's job that has allowed me to have my dream job by staying home with Josie.

12. Health

13. Getting back to our roots; Serenity of our new home. Getting away from all the hustle and bustle of the city.

14. Happiness filling our hearts.

15. Laughter filling our home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pinching Penny's

Aside from doing a lot of our home projects ourselves, which saves us $$, I also try and do some things to help our budget. Having only one income has it's challenges. The largest things I notice are Baby necessities and groceries taking most from the budget.
Here are some things that I do to try to give us some extra cushion for our budget...
1. Buy used clothing. I shop at Goodwill/Thrift Stores at least twice a month. I buy clothes for Josie, Andrew &I , and pick up household things if I find them.
2. Errands. I try and pick a day when I do all my appointments or errands in the same day. Sure it makes for a long day, but I find that I am so much more productive during the week when I have all those little things out of the way. It also saves on Gas by cutting down my trips out.
3. EBay/Etsy. I have a buying/selling account for both of these sites. The used clothing that doesn't fit Josie anymore goes into my EBay tote. Once it's full I list it on EBay. This allows me to have a constant PayPal balance that can be set aside for things I may need. I buy a lot of Josie's immediate needs off Ebay from my PayPal balance--including formula! Etsy is an awesome site, as well. I can use my PayPal balance on there to buy gifts for friends/relatives without having to take it out of our checking. At one time I had my Sissy Boo Baby items on Etsy, but just didnt have the time to maintain it. Hoping I can get some things listed again in the new year! Once the PayPal balance is out, I sell more items to fill it back up.
4. Cooking Homemade Meals. Homemade to me doesn't necessarily need to mean from scratch. Sure, I cut corners and buy a frozen pizza when its on sale for us to throw in the oven on an evening that we are crunched for time. I just mean we limit out dining-out. This is a huge savings. I find it fun to challenge myself to make a meal for under a certain $ amount per serving. It's crazy to compare!
5. DIY. This can be applied to any of the above categories. I have tried to become a lot better about doing this. Here are some of my recent examples:
---I had been eyeballing an expensive Boutique outfit for Josie to wear for Thanksgiving, but could never bring myself to spend the money on something that she will wear ONCE! I decided I could make something just as cute with a little extra time and effort. I bought a hat NEW off Ebay for couple bucks, bought a pair of gently used Green corduroy pants on Ebay, and used one of Josie's white LS tops to embroider a turkey on. The outfit I was looking at was over $30. I made/put together Josie's for less than $5.
---I had full intentions to use a 3D wallpaper that I had but never used at the other house to do my back splash in the kitchen here. However, in my thought process, I decided not to do my dream backsplash when I don't know that I will be able to enjoy it forever...(we are renting this house). So, instead of putting time and extra $ into the back splash I opted to do a textured spray paint. I bought 2 cans of the Hammered Copper Spray paint, taped off the back splash, and love the way it turned out!
---My final example I will show you one of my favorite ways to save $ in the kitchen. We eat garlic bread like its going out of style. It's really not too pricey at the store, but when you add it up in your monthly budget, its eating a good chunk of it. I make our own garlic bread and freeze it. I buy the french loaves when they go on sale...Walmart usually has them for $1 per loaf. I bought two. You will need butter, garlic salt or powder, oregano/basil or italian seasonings, shredded and Parmesan cheeses (not powdered). You will also need quart freezer bags and aluminum foil cut into strips/squares. These ingredients are always on hand at our house, so it makes this really easy. Here is a photo tutorial of how-to:

All ingredients.

For the butter mixture, 1-1/2 stick butter (2 if you are using shredded cheese)
at room temperature--do not microwave to soften! Garlic salt, Italian seasonings to taste
I usually do about 1/2 tbsp each. Mash with spoon or rubber spatula.

Add in Parmesan cheese and shredded cheese if making cheesy garlic bread.
Mash into butter mixture. Set aside.

Cut each loaf along "slits"

Shown Here.

Cut each "slit" piece into 2 or 3 pieces. You will want each slice to be about 3/4"-1" thick.

Spread butter/cheese mixture onto each piece with BACK of SPOON.
You can use whatever you like, but I find this is the easiest way and doesn't rip
the bread.

Place a piece of foil between two buttered pieces (butter facing eachother)

In one quart freezer bag, I can usually get 4 large pieces per bag.

Seal up bag, getting out as much air as possible.

Complete process for all pieces.

Freeze and enjoy the delicious $avings!

 TOTAL for this tutorial I was able to make 32 pieces of Garlic bread for  the $2 invested into the bread and pennies of things I had on hand in the house. You can re-use your freezer bags, too. Just stack the empty ones back in the freezer until you have enough to do another batch!

Hard Work=Progress

I swear I am completely shocked every time I log in to post something (thinking I am on top of things) only to find out it has been a month-or more since my last posting! Ugh. I hope you'll forgive me. Yes, Josie is still growing like a weed and getting cuter by the day. Yes, we still live like hermits in the middle of 58 wooded acres. Yes, I have made leaps and bounds on the house since my last post. Yes, I. AM. EXHAUSTED.
This isn't the dramatic before and afters, but it shows great progress. We are nearing the end in many large projects. Goal is to be done with most of them by year's end. Fingers Crossed.
One of our biggest undertakings was replacing the buckled (and mildewed) wood flooring in the back half of the lower level of the house. This consisted of 3 rooms; Master Bedroom, Laundry/Hallway, and Bathroom. I may be repeating myself a but, but just want to get everyone up to speed with our projects.

The flooring in the bathroom and hallway came up first. It was replaced with tile. The laundry room was finished (minus a little trim work to be done) and I am utilizing my shelving in there as a pantry, since the kitchen is lacking one. This has taken some adjusting since at the Farmwood (previous) house, I had a walk-in pantry. Sigh.

Bathroom Before moving in

Tiling

Bathroom in Progress...

Second up, was the flooring in the Master Bedroom. Someone lit a fire in my butt one morning and I tore the entire thing up in an afternoon. I primed the next day and carpet followed one day after. I finished up the walls the day of carpet installation and we moved all our furniture in the next day. Boom.Boom.Boom.

Master before moving in...

After Pulling floors and Priming Floor.

New Carpet, Paint, and Window Treatments

Master in Progress....need to get some art on the walls!

I gave up on getting my cabinets done by my goal of Thanksgiving. The time and effort it took to complete the top cabinets took a lot out of me--including my motivation. However, I did complete my $12 backsplash last weekend. I planned to do it a little differently, but seeings how we are renting, I didn't want to put too much into something I can't love forever. This has been the toughest challenge, yet.....trying NOT to fall in love with this charming little cabin. If and when you visit, you will understand. The bottom cabinets are still on the list of goals for the end of year completion.

Before Moving in....

Top Cabinets get primed

Top Cabinets Painted and filled.

New Copper Back splash

Close Up of Backsplash.

Another Shot.

So, like I said. PROGRESS! I finally feel like we are getting somewhere. I will include some more pictures of upstairs bath, Josie's room, and laundry next time.

Face Lift

Well, our little diamond got a major face lift this week. It really put some life back into her exterior appearance. She got a standing seam metal roof, which replaced her leaky, mossy asphalt shingles which had no grain left on them! We started to tear up more of the wood flooring in preparation for tiling the hallway/laundry room this weekend. Keep checking in for updates!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Homestead Progress Update #2

To say that we have been busy would be an understatement. However, we are absolutely loving living out here at the homestead. Lots of progress has been made in the past week. I have been able to get a lot of painting done and the large undertaking of replacing the wood flooring on the back half of the house (previous water damage) has begun! We will be replacing the pine wood floors in the bathroom and laundry with tile and carpet in the back bedroom. We opted for tile because these are high traffic areas and the previous wood flooring showed a lot of traffic wear. The carpet was my request....there is nothing worse than stepping out of your warm bed in the morning onto a cold floor. We have wood floors in the living, kitchen, and full upstairs, so thankfully Andrew was willing to compromise on our bedroom. We have contractors coming out tomorrow to replace the roof. We are having a metal roof installed. I am so excited to see the before and after of that!
Here are some pictures of our progress....

Josie's room is 95% done!

My hard working handy man...

New bathroom color for the upstairs bath. (Before and After coming soon!!)

Progress on my kitchen cabinets. SO happy with the way they are coming out!

Homestead Update #1

We have discussed what we want to call the new house...(ex: cabin, cottage, homestead, acres, etc) But for blogging purposes, we shall refer to it as the homestead.
I have been running back and forth at least every other day to move items and/or work on the homestead. My main focus was getting Josie's room primed, painted, and settled by the time we officially moved in (10/06/14). Yesterday, I headed out to the homestead extra early and stayed late to finish moving large items into her (freshly painted) room. I decided to paint her room a different color than her mustard yellow room at the old house; mainly to have something fresh and new and so I could transition the new color into a toddler room someday. I went with a denim blue color and am very happy the way it turned out--BONUS I found the can of paint in my basement that I had previously bought at a local Ace Hardware scratch and dent sale! (Who knows why I bought it at the time). I did not get a picture of her room. I will post a before and after pic sometime after we get settled.
Now, my main focus is to finish my kitchen cupboards. I LOVE my cupboards, but unfortunately realized shortly after our commitment that they had mildew stains. I have done extensive amounts of research and washed/sterilized them inside and out numerous times. The only option other than replacing them was to thoroughly paint them with Kilz Primer and hope the first few coats covered it. It worked! I am ready to paint my top cupboards and will move on to the bottom cupboards for primer. I decided to do half and half so I could at least utilize half of the cupboards during the start of us permanently being there rather than searching through boxes for every meal.
We had the plumbers out last week and after 7 broken pipes, I think (fingers crossed) that the water is good to go. Waiting on the water test this Friday to ensure it is safe to drink and bathe in. I need a shower.

Here is MY wish list to complete this month: (in order of importance)

Finish Cupboards
Prime both bathrooms
Prime Laundry/Hallway
Paint kitchen and living room
Prep for DIY Kitchen Back splash project (yay! I am so excited for this)
Find area rug for living room and Josie's room.

Here are some progress pictures with the cupboards...

Our first look at the kitchen.

Taped off all the window panels---NOT FUN.

During Painting.

3 coats of Primer and Walls and Ceilings Primed.
What a difference some paint makes!

Looking forward to showing you the dramatic Before and After pictures!

Wiltshire Homestead

I can finally share our exciting news...along with purchasing 28 acres a few months ago, we also have been given the opportunity to fix up a cabin to the adjoining 30 acre lot. So, the Wiltshire's are moving North! No, not back to the home state, but 30 minutes closer. That knocks the drive down to 10 hours 30 minutes! 
It is bittersweet putting up our first family home up for sale, but we are so much closer to our dreams with this move. We will be busy, busy, busy the next year with home improvements and land clearing for our Polebarn next Spring (hopefully). With that being said, the blog will be put on the back burner, and switching gears a little as well. We are unsure when we will get internet (or if we can get it out there!) but will try to keep you all updated with our projects, as we have volunteered to do the repairs ourselves to get the cabin back in tip top shape. Here are a couple pictures, one of the three of us, and one (BEFORE SHOT) of our diamond in the rough....
Did I mention, we welcome volunteers and helpers...........
Free room and board, free food, and free adult beverages. 
HAPPY FALL YA'LL!!

9-Months!

In three short months I will have a ONE year old. I still do not know how I feel about that yet...
Today was Josie's 9 month appointment.
Weight: 22lbs 9.5 oz (94th percentile)
Height: 29 1/4" (95th percentile)
She has eight teeth and working on those awful molars.
She ordered her first meal-out this past week: quesadilla (and LOVED it)
She is still an all vegetable girl, but is starting to enjoy fresh cut peaches, pears, and mandarin oranges.
She is not crawling, but that isn't stopping her from getting around. 
She is very vocal and loves to mimic sounds.
Josie is a social butterfly and likes to flirt with the old men in the grocery store.
Our most common words are Dada, RaRa, and Hi.
We also went on our first hayride and saw our first cow this past weekend...she waved hi at them the entire ride.

Self Confidence

I have been debating about how I wanted to go about this post for some time and whether or not I even wanted to post it at all. However, after getting so many responses from new mothers about my last "Out of Milk" post I decided if I can help even one other Mama, this post will be well worth it.

I have always been a person with high self confidence. Sure, there was always something about myself that i would change, but it always seemed to be something small and never affected the way I felt about myself. I have always loved my hair, loved my butt, boobs, and legs. The only thing I constantly battled with was my stomach, but like I said, nothing to stop me from feeling self conscious or to keep me from sporting a bikini in public.

I felt beautiful most of the first and second trimesters of my pregnancy. In my last trimester I began to feel less and less attractive. Of course this is nothing that my husband said or did, it was just something deep down in me that made me find myself for the first time, ugly. It could have been the human growing inside of me sucking every last life out of me, but I told myself this feeling will pass. After all, there is nothing more beautiful than new life.

After Josie was here I went in for my four week check-up with my doctor. I had lost all my pregnancy weight plus 6 pounds of pre-pregnancy weight. WAHOO was not the first word that came into my mind. If I was technically smaller than before I was pregnant, what was all this extra baggage and where did that factor into my weight?! I do have to say that the first month or two when my milk supply sky-rocketed, I felt TINY, but later realized my enormous (and swollen) boobs made my waist look tiny and the fact that I had looked at my waist protruding with a human for almost 9 months, of course it looked tiny now!

Josie was a beautiful newborn baby and we constantly received compliments on her beauty. One person said, "You know what they say, the girls take all their mother's beauty." That was it, SHE stole it! Okay, I quickly came to my senses and realized this wasn't completely true, but I did like that for an excuse for a while.

I had Josie in December so I could cover my body for a while without anyone noticing. But summer weather hit quick and I found myself sneaking my maternity elastic waist shorts into my wardrobe and wearing loose fitting tops. Nothing wrong with that, but it wouldn't have been my first choice of attire. Sport shorts and drapey tanks slowly worked into my wardrobe when the weather got unbearable. My daisy dukes, cute summer tops, and tanks got thrown into my garage sale and were sold much less than what they were worth just to get them out of my sight.

There came a day when I was finally sick of it and wanted to do SOMETHING. I started walking with Josie--lasted about 2 weeks. Then we made our vacation plans for the summer, which was 90+ days away. P90X. Yes, I was going to do that! The DVDs never made it to the TV. 60 days until vacation, I am going to join one of these beachbody-type teams and be beach-ready for our vacation. Never signed up. 30 days until vacation, okay I am going to do a combination of these 30-day work outs. I printed them off at least! We head out next week. I sit here with my final ItWorks Wrap on, which for me hasn't shown any improvement (Some people see WONDERFUL results, so don't let my experience or lack of one deter you from it...everyone is different!) Yes, get out your little violin to play or call the WHAHmbulance, but honestly, between school, Josie, home, and activities I had no extra time to commit. Or maybe it was more that i just didn't have the energy by the end of the day.

Modesty. There is something to say about being modest, but  for me there is something also to say about feeling frumpy. Swimsuit season. I have never dreaded it until this year. I decided to focus on finding cute one-pieces and tankini styles to help me get through the season. However, I never felt cute. I felt frumpy. I kept grabbing my two-piece suits and trying them on just in case they had somehow gained magical powers and could turn me into a super model. So far, no such luck.

This post is not to complain or whine about my body, but rather, help everyone to realize Mamas bodies change. I swear somedays that i have shrunk and the extra baggage settled in between my hips and boobs. And by settled, I mean wilted. I have learned (forced myself to see) that there are still things that are pretty about myself (right now my feet) yes, feet can be pretty if they make you feel good. I make it a goal to find something good to focus on each week that you like about yourself. Last week was my eyebrows, the week previous my eyes. I have found that focusing on the good tends to outweigh the bad. I even wore a two piece to the public pool with Josie a couple weeks ago, sporting my stretchmarks and all. I was definitely self-conscious and regretted this decision when we got to the pool, but quickly forgot about it once I saw how much fun Josie was having and how much better I felt about myself to let some of that translucent skin see some sun. I even felt a little dare I say it.....sexy.

Despite the kind and encouraging words and compliments from my amazing husband, sometimes I can't see it until I BELIEVE it myself.

So our vacation is literally right around the corner. I made the decision to not pack any of my "frumpy" suits. Only my old two-pieces-- don't worry no string bikinis. We will have access to a public pool almost our entire vacation. To me, vacations are supposed to be about family fun, sunshine, and good food. Not being self-conscious, staying inside fully-clothed, and tasteless food.

Looking forward to more posts in September!

JUST a college graduate.

I am done! I officially ended my time at Chattanooga State this week. I took my final exam and will receive my degree in a few weeks! What a ride it has been...Since starting college back in 2007 I have transferred twice (once out of state) and have experienced every possible emotion along the way. I earned 89 credits while I was in MI attending GVSU and GRCC. Only 12 of which transferred with me to Tennessee. I literally had to start over. But, I. AM. DONE!!

I have had many wonderful people congratulate me and tell me how proud they are of me. However, in the mix of all these happy emotions, there are always THOSE people to make you step back and rethink. This moment has occurred more times than one might think possible since graduating while talking to (unnamed of course) people. The conversations went a little something like this each time.

Person: "How is school going?"
Sadie: "Really well, actually. I graduated in May, but finishing up one final class this summer."
Person: "That is wonderful! I am so happy for you (yadayadayada)! What is your degree in?"
Sadie: "I have my associate of science for early childhood education!"
Person: "Oh, you (--emphasize the next word choice--) JUST/ONLY have your associates?"

When I first experienced this, I immediately felt shame. Not because I was ashamed of my achievement (although it did down play it quite a bit), but it was an automatic response to the previous comment. I found myself beginning to explain why I JUST/ONLY had my associates. This went on a few more times, until I tried to avoid it all together by just saying "I have a degree in Early Childhood Education," carefully leaving out the A.S. part. I then would be questioned about my plans to teach and would be caught off guard about and find myself trying to backtrack to explain my degree didn't exactly allow me to teach my own room.

THEN ONE DAY SOMETHING CHANGED. I CHANGED.

I finally came to the realization that I had accomplished something great. Associates, Bachelor, Masters, or Graduate....I finished college. I HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE.

So to respond to those that asked me earlier about me "JUST/ONLY having your associates?"....

-Yes I JUST have my associated degree.
-And, I JUST worked my ass off the past seven years to achieve it.
-Yes, I could have a masters degree by now (laugh to yourself cause I don't find your joke funny), but sometimes life JUST doesn't work that way.
-By the way, I JUST worked full time to pay my own way through college.
-And throughout my entire college career, I JUST experienced three major life changes--moving to another state, got married, and had a baby while going to school for JUST my associates.
-I JUST have the most supportive husband a woman could every ask for and a group of very special people who coached me along this long road.
-So, I JUST don't care that you think less of me for JUST having my associates degree.
-I JUST couldn't be more proud of myself and thankful for those people who have been there the entire time.
-So next time someone you know JUST earns their Associates Degree, JUST KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT.

Out of Milk

I still have about 2 weeks of breast milk in the freezer, but I am now officially done pumping. And NOW I am able to accept that. As many of you know I have had to pump since the beginning because Josie and I could never quite get the swing of things feeding skin to skin. I was the mom that scheduled my days around my pumps, excused myself from company to seclude myself to extract milk, and YES even pumped during a traffic jam (twice) in the car on our way to MI this past May. There were times I told myself to throw in the towel because it was too much. However between my amazing support group of friends (especially Katie and Andrew) they would convince me to keep on keepin' on. And I'm so thankful they did. I struggled with stopping at different times the past 7 months; Mastitis, low supply, and (sadly) inconvenience. But in the end I would always continue when reminded that 'some' is better than none. At the end of every month I would make it my goal to make it one more week, one more month. I felt that these short term goals helped me continue pumping as long as I did. Of course I would have loved to provide Josie with milk until at least 12 months +, but my body began producing less and less-regardless of what I did to increase my supply. It got to the point that I was only able to pump two-three times a day to even get enough for a full bottle. (Josie has been drinking a MINIMUM of 6 oz each feeding which is every 3-4 hours still, even after introducing solids). I finally started preparing myself that I may need to consider stopping for my own sake. This made me feel selfish and I really struggled emotionally with it for a few weeks. In those last few weeks, my pumps were lasting 45 minutes and my pump was at its highest setting. I was only getting about 2 oz total at each pump. Once again, my amazing supporters (Katie and Andrew) made me see the cup half full. I had been able to provide Josie with breast milk for almost 7 months! Those 7 months gave her a great start and I should be proud of what I accomplished (which I am).
We have been transitioning Josie into formula by mixing breast milk and formula and slowing weaning her off the milk as supply goes down. We originally started with Enfamil Infant, but found only after one day it gave Josie gas and stomach aches. We switched over to Enfamil Gentlease, which worked well, but caused constipation and she wasn't crazy about drinking it. We have finally found a formula that works for us with no issues (fingers-crossed)--Enfamil Reguline.
Some of you may remember (and have been thinking all along) about my large 400oz donation to the Mother's Milk Bank earlier in the year. I don't blame you. The answer to your question is No, I would not have been able to feed Josie any longer than what I did if I would have saved that milk for her, instead of donating it. Per our Doctor's instruction, that milk would only be able to be used for up to 3 months after freezing it because of our type of upright freezer. Yes, we could have purchased a deep freezer, which would have allowed us to use it 6-12 months after, but we did not have the room or extra cash at the time to make it happen. Do I regret donating? No! Absolutely not! Being able to donate my milk to a child who needed it all while being able to still provide for my own child...one of the greatest sense of fulfillment to date. And yes, if history repeats itself, I would do it all over again.
Since switching to mostly formula and stopping pumping all together, Josie and I are doing great. I get to spend extra time with her during the day that I would normally spend pumping, and she is obviously not suffering (she's in the 90th percentile for weight and off the charts in height). 

Stick with me...I know my posts have been down, but I am in the final few weeks with my last college class, EVER!
xoxo

7 Months!

Little Miss Sassy Pants is now 7 months old.

-Starting to scoot on her booty.
-Doing great with her sippy cup.
-LOVES fresh strawberries.
-Taught herself how to blow raspberries and spit (I'm sure you can imagine the enthusiasm in my voice.)
-LOVES the water.
-Little Miss Sassy Pants has quite the attitude.
-Laughs when things are funny-SO adorable.
-Ticklish almost everywhere (even her forearms)
-Cooperates brushing her teeth every night (as long as Mommy sings her the teeth brushing song)
-Took a trip with Mommy and Daddy to her first flea market-everyone though she was a boy. (She was wearing a hot pink John Deere onesie)

6 Months...a month late.

Josie is (was) 6 months!

-Still has two teeth, working on a couple more.
-Says Mama (conveniently only when she cries-which isn't often)
-Sits up on her own.
-Very interested in her dogs and kitty.
-This month was all about loving to hang with Daddy.

5 months

Okay no excuses, I haven't written on here in a month, but I have been posting lots of pictures on Facebook, so hopefully that has been holding you over...Lots of new exciting updates!

Yesterday, Josie turned 5 MONTHS OLD! We celebrated by taking Dad lunch in the afternoon and attending a BBQ in the evening. Josie's eating habits were all over the place yesterday...we figured out why this morning--WE HAVE A TOOTH! Our Front Bottom Left Tooth has broke through as of this morning! We have officially been doing cereal/solids for a month now (2x Daily) here is what we have tried and the reactions...
(in order)
SWEET POTATO- liked
BANANAS- liked, but stopped bm's so we are going to reintroduce in a month
SQUASH- loved (our favorite veggie)
APPLESAUCE- did not like
GREEN BEANS- liked
PEARS- did not like
Switch to Oatmeal from Rice: Successful switch but we are going to do oatmeal in AM and Rice in PM.
PRUNES-loved (our favorite fruit)
CARROTS- loved
PEACHES-TBD
PEAS-TBD
MANGO-TBD

My milk supply has slowed down, so we have been supplementing 2 oz formula in each 6 oz bottle.
It has bothered me, but Andrew is so encouraging about pointing out that she is still getting majority milk and if we do have to switch to formula, that she has had only milk for 5 months. We have decided that when the formula supplement outweighs the milk amount per bottle is when we will switch to only formula. Until then, pump pump pump for me.

5 MONTHS

We love our doorway jumper.

We have our first tooth!

We love prunes and squash.

Making lots of sounds.

Ticklish spot on our collarbone.

Wearing 9 month clothes.

Sleeping 10-12 hours a night!

4 Months!

First off I can't believe its been 20 days since my last post (my apologies). We have had company in town and have been having so much fun. Lots of fun posts upcoming about our visits and visitors...
(and some Easter pics!)

This month was Andrew's last birthday in his twenties and Josie happened to turn 4 months on his birthday. Josie had her 4 month appointment this week...

Weighing in at 15lbs 11oz

25-1/2 inches long (a 3-1/2 inch growth in 2 months!)

I am so close to rolling from back to front.

My hand is in my mouth 23 hours of the day.

I have recently started bringing toys to my mouth.

I have been sleeping through the night!

I love to hear myself "talk."

I am drinking 6-1/2oz of milk every 3 hours.

This is probably a broken record to you other mom's out there, but WHERE DOES TIME GO!?

We also got the okay to start cereal (and solids in a few weeks) at her appointment.

We are starting out with 1-2 tbsp a day. (She's not liking it,yet)

I decided to start with rice, but will probably switch to oatmeal...the rice was supposed to be easier to start with, but can also back her up on bm's. I think I will get some oatmeal and try that next week.

I am starting with Earth's Best brand cereals. They weren't much more than Gerber brand so I thought, why not. I plan to make her all the solid purees, but purchased some Earth's Best baby food jars just to start out with and let our garden catch up so I can start freezing prepared meals.

Spring!

We have been loving our 70 and 80 degree days this week. The trees are in bloom, windows open and birds chirping. We have even had to kick on the A/C a couple evenings! And the yard already needs it's second mowing of the year. Josie and I have been going outside everyday and sitting on a blanket in the yard or on the porch. Here are some pictures so you can share in our beautiful weather (and give some of you a little faith that Spring will truly come this year). This weekend we are having a huge BBQ and bonfire...what better way to celebrate the coming of SPRING! We are looking forward to our many upcoming visitors, too!

Sun Beauty.

 

No the white flakes falling is not snow...its flower petals :)

Our Tulip Tree, which is also TN's State Tree.
This picture doesn't do it justice.

The Bees are already busy at work!

Decided to go simple with my DIY wreath. I bought the grapvine
base from a farmers market from a woman that made them from
dead vine in the mountains :)

Whiskey Barrel Planter Boxes are in Bloom!