I decided it was very fun to put my deals down in writing. So I thought I’d share the deal I scored at Rite Aid today. I just simplified everything as much as possible to create a very condensed version but if you are at all interested in knowing the exact way I did this (or pretty close to exact, I had a few better coupons) you can go to hip2save.com and find the Rite Aid deals post for this week.
6 Packs of Trident $6
1 Pampers Big pack (76 ct. size 3) $19.99
2 Pantene Shampoo/Conditioner $7
2 Oral B 3D White Toothbrushes $6
1 Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons 18 Ct. $4
2 Covergirl lipglosses $9
Subtotal: 51.99
Deduct $20.24 in coupons (I didn’t include the up+ rewards I earned from a previous transaction, which took off another $7, because I like to deduct them off the original transaction on which I earned them)
Deduct $23 in up+ rewards
Total Expense: $8.75, a great deal for just the diapers alone! Plus, the Pantene and Covergirl purchases I made today fulfilled my requirement to spend $30 on certain products to get a $10 rebate check! The toothbrushes I purchased leave me short $1.37 on a rebate for a $10 Rite Aid gift card when you spend $25 on oral care products, which I still have 2 weeks to fulfill so you better believe I will. (I used a riteaid gift card I earned previously to help pay for today’s trip). Once you start the “bargaining ball” rolling, it never stops!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
August Days
We have enjoyed this summer. On Wednesdays, I babysit my neighbors kids: Austin, who just turned 3 and Brooklyn who is turning 1 on September 11th. While Brooklyn sleeps, we get to go outside and have fun in the sun. Now I'm stuck thinking of what to do while she sleeps in the morning when it gets cold outside. Here's a fun story about this picture- I asked Austin if he wanted an otter pop and he replied, "yeah". A few moments passed and you could tell he was thinking really hard. He looked up and said, "What's a water pop?" :) Needless to say, he liked "water" pops!
Gigi loves "Soes", or at least that's how she says it. It's "Soes, soes, soes" all day long!
Magnetic letters = fun for hours
Self-feeding at mealtime = fun for hours, or at least 30 minutes or so
She just started doing this thing where she tenses up everything until she starts to shake and pulls her shoulders up as high as she can and pulls her neck back. We laughed so much at her the first time, she just kept doing it. Here's a picture of her doing it. You can't really tell, but she is very rigid in this picture.
Last weekend we made it up to Richmond to visit with the Taylor's North and visit Paige's grave. Thanks to Aaron and Teresa for entertaining us, making us dinner and roasting smores with us.
Gigi loves "Soes", or at least that's how she says it. It's "Soes, soes, soes" all day long!
Magnetic letters = fun for hours
Self-feeding at mealtime = fun for hours, or at least 30 minutes or so
She just started doing this thing where she tenses up everything until she starts to shake and pulls her shoulders up as high as she can and pulls her neck back. We laughed so much at her the first time, she just kept doing it. Here's a picture of her doing it. You can't really tell, but she is very rigid in this picture.
Last weekend we made it up to Richmond to visit with the Taylor's North and visit Paige's grave. Thanks to Aaron and Teresa for entertaining us, making us dinner and roasting smores with us.
WJ Pool Excursion
While Gma Ann was babysitting Ashton and Brice a couple of weeks ago, it worked out that Gigi and I could join them on a visit to the WJ swimming pool. I think Gigi enjoyed the pool most. Brice just wanted to hang out with her "wubbie" blanket and Ashton's fun was had but it was short-lived. Well, at least we got some cute pictures!
Brice and Gma Ann with wubbie. This was about the most fun Brice had.
Oh wait, no this was the most fun Brice had. And you can tell that she was not concerned with getting tan. Gigi made a fun game of trying the get Brice uncovered from the blanket. Brice was not amused by this game.
Action shot! Ashton loves having his picture taken. He'd always run up to see every picture I took of him.
Princess Brice. She's such a little cutie.
Gigi with one too many animal crackers in her mouth.
Ashton was funny; he heard me and Ann talking about different people "getting" (meaning genetically inheriting) tan skin, like Gigi, and he started laying out in the sun. Then after a couple minutes he asked us "do I look tan?" Next time you see Ashton, make sure to tell him how tan he's looking!
Ashton yelled "take a picture of me" so I did.
Brice and Gma Ann with wubbie. This was about the most fun Brice had.
Oh wait, no this was the most fun Brice had. And you can tell that she was not concerned with getting tan. Gigi made a fun game of trying the get Brice uncovered from the blanket. Brice was not amused by this game.Action shot! Ashton loves having his picture taken. He'd always run up to see every picture I took of him.
Princess Brice. She's such a little cutie.
Gigi with one too many animal crackers in her mouth.
Ashton was funny; he heard me and Ann talking about different people "getting" (meaning genetically inheriting) tan skin, like Gigi, and he started laying out in the sun. Then after a couple minutes he asked us "do I look tan?" Next time you see Ashton, make sure to tell him how tan he's looking!
Wrapping up July
Since today is the last day of August, if I post today, I can at least say I'm posting once a month, right? Anyway, I thought I should put some fun pictures up to show our summer fun! Speaking of fun, let's start with our Jones Family Reunion 2010 at Island Park. This year's theme was "Western". 
Our little family. Gigi was a happier baby this time around and actually slept ok even through all the noise.
Crazy Cooper! He's a little acrobat.
Delicious steak - seriously, you can't find better anywhere. It was so good and not overcooked.
Gigi's first bike ride with the help of Doug. She rode it all the way up the driveway and loved it.
The annual crawdad capture.
Gigi's favorite thing to do, run away from us down the driveway.
We ended the reunion with a smile!
I love that we've had birds living in our bird house in our front yard for the last two summers. Here's a picture where you can see one of the baby birds peeking out.
Gigi is not afraid of heights. She scales this 3-step ladder with ease. She climbed up a 10-ft slide at an elementary school playground while my mom was babysitting her.
I turn around for one minute and she's inside the mop bucket screaming like a banshee and clapping her hands.
And then she made herself comfortable.
It was one of those messes that was well worth the cleanup time though... don't ya think?
Our little family. Gigi was a happier baby this time around and actually slept ok even through all the noise.
Crazy Cooper! He's a little acrobat.
Delicious steak - seriously, you can't find better anywhere. It was so good and not overcooked.
Gigi's first bike ride with the help of Doug. She rode it all the way up the driveway and loved it.
The annual crawdad capture.
Gigi's favorite thing to do, run away from us down the driveway.
We ended the reunion with a smile!
I love that we've had birds living in our bird house in our front yard for the last two summers. Here's a picture where you can see one of the baby birds peeking out.
Gigi is not afraid of heights. She scales this 3-step ladder with ease. She climbed up a 10-ft slide at an elementary school playground while my mom was babysitting her. 
I turn around for one minute and she's inside the mop bucket screaming like a banshee and clapping her hands.
And then she made herself comfortable.
It was one of those messes that was well worth the cleanup time though... don't ya think?Bargain shopping trip
Wow! Has it really been that long since I last blogged... time flies during the summer. Maybe I'll blog more now that its (single tear) almost over. Anyway, if you wonder how I spent alot of the time, I'll tell you...
I’ve never blogged about my shopping obsession but I’ve thought about doing it several times. I’m home sick today so I might as well. In case you don’t know, I’m obsessed… with bargains. It’s an addiction and I truly love it. It is obviously very telling about my lifestyle and the fact that I’ve never dealt with drugs or anything like that. To me, there is nothing like the high I feel after getting something for a fabulous deal. In fact, it’s really difficult for me to believe that people actually do pay retail for groceries. I have a hard time paying retail for anything! I frequent several different deal websites including grocerysmarts.com, freebies2deals.com, utahdealdiva.com, coupons4utah.com, and hip2save.com. I also receive daily deal emails from amazon.com, groupon.com and screamincoupons.com. Yes I do spend a good amount of time on my deal-seeking lifestyle and I understand it’s not for everyone, but it’s worth every minute to me because I enjoy it. Besides, its time better spent than watching TV or doing something else equally unproductive.
I must say that I do have my limits. I’ve realized that for me, the best deals are usually found at Rite Aid and Smith’s and so, each week I will usually visit these two stores. I am not one of those people who will spend a whole day running around to 5 different stores to just get the bargains at those stores. I can pass up a sweet deal when it’s just not “in the cards” for me because I’ve come to realize that another sweet deal is just around the corner.
So here’s where I get to brag about my most recent deals:
I shopped at Rite Aid today and here’s what I got:
1 20 ct. Tampax tampons $2.99
1 Pampers Cruisers size 3 jumbo pack $8.99
1 Pampers 72 ct. thickcare wipes $3.69
1 Tide HE Detergent 50 oz. $5.99
1 Men’s Nivea hair/body wash $3.00
1 Listerine Zero Mouthwash 500 mL $3.99 (side note: as a hygienist, I’m very excited about this new product from Listerine – it doesn’t contain Alcohol, which is a causative agent for oral cancer, but still contains the essential oils that make Listerine a great product to begin with.)
1 Boudreaux’s Buttpaste $3.99
2 Pepsi Max 20 oz. $1.49 each
1 Nivea lipcare $2.99
Subtotal: $38.61
Here are the coupons I used:
$5 off $25 purchase at RiteAid
$3 off Boudreaux’s buttpaste (Rite Aid coupon)
BOGO free Pepsi Max (I used one Rite Aid coupon and one Manufacturer’s coupon making them both free)
$1 Rite Aid coupon off Listerine
$2 coupon off Listerine Zero (both coupons make Listerine free)
$1 off Tampax
$1 off Nivea for Men
$2 off Boudreaux’s buttpaste (Manufacturer’s coupons, in addition to coupon above, I made $1 on this)
$3.50 off pamper’s wipes
$3 off Pamper’s diapers
$1 off Tide
Which brings the total out of pocket to : $13.13 (plus tax), a great deal but that’s not the end of it…
I received the following “up rewards”, which are coupons for a dollar amount that can be used on any non-Rx purchase. Essentially cash at Rite Aid.
$2 from Pampers
$1 from Listerine
$1 from Tide
$2 from Nivea Body
$1 from Nivea Lip
Brings our subtotal down to $6.13
I will receive the following Single Check Rebates from Rite Aid in the form of a check to be cashed at my bank at the end of the current Rebate period:
$1 from Tampax
$1.99 from Nivea Lip
Bringing my total for everything down to: $3.14! What the what?!
I will also mention that I didn’t really pay anything out of pocket because I just transferred a prescription there and received a $25 gift card for doing so. Wahoo!
Plus, I have a P & G (Proctor and Gamble) rebate for $110 in P&G coupons for $50 spent in P & G products. This transaction will add $21.66 towards that rebate. I actually only need $15 more to reach my $50 total and the rebate period goes from 8/20/2010 – 12/31/2010 so I’m thinking it won’t be a problem! I’m sure the $110 in coupons will go towards more free (or very close to it) stuff! Now can you see why I get so excited about this? And these kinds of deals aren't once in awhile. They can be found EVERY week!
P.S. If you've ever thought about couponing, right now, like immediately, is the time to get a newspaper subscription (Fri-Sun), you can get a whole year for $19.99 to either the Salt Lake Tribune or Deseret News. That kind of a deal is really unheard of. You can get up to 8 copies of either paper too! CRAZY! (I only get 2, and for our family that is plenty, altough there are times I think man, I wish I had another copy of that coupon but I really don't need it, ya know?) The regular rate is $64 for a year. But this offer is only around for like another week so jump on it if you're interested. I'm not being paid by anyone to post this by the way, I just wanted to share with my friends and anyone who might happen upon this blog. You can get this deal through utahdealdiva.com or freebies2deals.com. Just go to their links for newspaper subscription deals. I've dealt with Jessica from utahdealdiva.com and she's great!
I’ve never blogged about my shopping obsession but I’ve thought about doing it several times. I’m home sick today so I might as well. In case you don’t know, I’m obsessed… with bargains. It’s an addiction and I truly love it. It is obviously very telling about my lifestyle and the fact that I’ve never dealt with drugs or anything like that. To me, there is nothing like the high I feel after getting something for a fabulous deal. In fact, it’s really difficult for me to believe that people actually do pay retail for groceries. I have a hard time paying retail for anything! I frequent several different deal websites including grocerysmarts.com, freebies2deals.com, utahdealdiva.com, coupons4utah.com, and hip2save.com. I also receive daily deal emails from amazon.com, groupon.com and screamincoupons.com. Yes I do spend a good amount of time on my deal-seeking lifestyle and I understand it’s not for everyone, but it’s worth every minute to me because I enjoy it. Besides, its time better spent than watching TV or doing something else equally unproductive.
I must say that I do have my limits. I’ve realized that for me, the best deals are usually found at Rite Aid and Smith’s and so, each week I will usually visit these two stores. I am not one of those people who will spend a whole day running around to 5 different stores to just get the bargains at those stores. I can pass up a sweet deal when it’s just not “in the cards” for me because I’ve come to realize that another sweet deal is just around the corner.
So here’s where I get to brag about my most recent deals:
I shopped at Rite Aid today and here’s what I got:
1 20 ct. Tampax tampons $2.99
1 Pampers Cruisers size 3 jumbo pack $8.99
1 Pampers 72 ct. thickcare wipes $3.69
1 Tide HE Detergent 50 oz. $5.99
1 Men’s Nivea hair/body wash $3.00
1 Listerine Zero Mouthwash 500 mL $3.99 (side note: as a hygienist, I’m very excited about this new product from Listerine – it doesn’t contain Alcohol, which is a causative agent for oral cancer, but still contains the essential oils that make Listerine a great product to begin with.)
1 Boudreaux’s Buttpaste $3.99
2 Pepsi Max 20 oz. $1.49 each
1 Nivea lipcare $2.99
Subtotal: $38.61
Here are the coupons I used:
$5 off $25 purchase at RiteAid
$3 off Boudreaux’s buttpaste (Rite Aid coupon)
BOGO free Pepsi Max (I used one Rite Aid coupon and one Manufacturer’s coupon making them both free)
$1 Rite Aid coupon off Listerine
$2 coupon off Listerine Zero (both coupons make Listerine free)
$1 off Tampax
$1 off Nivea for Men
$2 off Boudreaux’s buttpaste (Manufacturer’s coupons, in addition to coupon above, I made $1 on this)
$3.50 off pamper’s wipes
$3 off Pamper’s diapers
$1 off Tide
Which brings the total out of pocket to : $13.13 (plus tax), a great deal but that’s not the end of it…
I received the following “up rewards”, which are coupons for a dollar amount that can be used on any non-Rx purchase. Essentially cash at Rite Aid.
$2 from Pampers
$1 from Listerine
$1 from Tide
$2 from Nivea Body
$1 from Nivea Lip
Brings our subtotal down to $6.13
I will receive the following Single Check Rebates from Rite Aid in the form of a check to be cashed at my bank at the end of the current Rebate period:
$1 from Tampax
$1.99 from Nivea Lip
Bringing my total for everything down to: $3.14! What the what?!
I will also mention that I didn’t really pay anything out of pocket because I just transferred a prescription there and received a $25 gift card for doing so. Wahoo!
Plus, I have a P & G (Proctor and Gamble) rebate for $110 in P&G coupons for $50 spent in P & G products. This transaction will add $21.66 towards that rebate. I actually only need $15 more to reach my $50 total and the rebate period goes from 8/20/2010 – 12/31/2010 so I’m thinking it won’t be a problem! I’m sure the $110 in coupons will go towards more free (or very close to it) stuff! Now can you see why I get so excited about this? And these kinds of deals aren't once in awhile. They can be found EVERY week!
P.S. If you've ever thought about couponing, right now, like immediately, is the time to get a newspaper subscription (Fri-Sun), you can get a whole year for $19.99 to either the Salt Lake Tribune or Deseret News. That kind of a deal is really unheard of. You can get up to 8 copies of either paper too! CRAZY! (I only get 2, and for our family that is plenty, altough there are times I think man, I wish I had another copy of that coupon but I really don't need it, ya know?) The regular rate is $64 for a year. But this offer is only around for like another week so jump on it if you're interested. I'm not being paid by anyone to post this by the way, I just wanted to share with my friends and anyone who might happen upon this blog. You can get this deal through utahdealdiva.com or freebies2deals.com. Just go to their links for newspaper subscription deals. I've dealt with Jessica from utahdealdiva.com and she's great!
Sunday, July 04, 2010
3rd, 4th of July & Samantha's blessing
Well there were many memorable things about the 4th of July this year! One being that we celebrated it on the 3rd this year due to the 4th being a Sunday. Two, baby Samantha was blessed on the 4th of July this year! Three, this was the coolest 4th of July I can ever remember. I actually got cold tonight, sitting in Eric's parent's backyard! And four, I missed out on going to a big fireworks show but I've decided that next year we are going to go to one! I love the 4th of July and it has always been one of my favorite holidays, next to Christmas. I love everything about 4th of July. I love fireworks, parades, swimming, barbecues, popsicles, popcorn, carnivals, sunshine, red,white & blue, being outside and being with family. I'm thankful for every opportunity that I have to enjoy this holiday because of every person who has stood up for and defended our nation! God bless the USA!
What a sweet little devil!
Proud Grandma Brenda snuggling close with baby Sam.
Wild boy Evan!
Whitney asked for this picture to be taken... but I'm glad she did!
Cute shot of Dad, mom & baby Sam.
Ahhh... refreshing!
Don't know why neither of them were looking at me because they were supposedly posing for this picture... gotta love grandmy & grandpy!
Baby Dax... I don't have a clue how he got such fair skin! He doesn't really look like his parents but he's handsome!
We played this game in the backyard, it was pretty fun. You just toss washers into this box, its kind of like horseshoes.
Concentrating.
What a sweet little devil!
Proud Grandma Brenda snuggling close with baby Sam.
Wild boy Evan!
Whitney asked for this picture to be taken... but I'm glad she did!
Cute shot of Dad, mom & baby Sam.
Ahhh... refreshing!
Don't know why neither of them were looking at me because they were supposedly posing for this picture... gotta love grandmy & grandpy!
Baby Dax... I don't have a clue how he got such fair skin! He doesn't really look like his parents but he's handsome!
We played this game in the backyard, it was pretty fun. You just toss washers into this box, its kind of like horseshoes.
Concentrating.
Monday, May 10, 2010
He did it!
Hip, hip, hooray! Three cheers for Eric! I am very proud of him for sticking it out and obtaining a Master's degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the U of U. We love you babe and are very thankful for all of your hard work and dedication.
One year old!
So, it’s been three fast-moving months since I last blogged and I can’t believe I’ve allowed myself this long to actually get to it! I’ve told myself at least a dozen times “oh, I’m going to blog about this” or “I’ll have to remember to include that in my blog about Gigi turning one”. By now, I’ve probably forgotten many things that I was supposedly making a mental note of, but at least I can finally get out the few things I actually have kept note of and make room for more mental notes in my ever-crowding brain!
Doesn’t it sometimes feel like you really do have an amazing collection of information in your head but it’s just so hard to figure out where you’re storing it all or how you sorted it to begin with? Was it alphabetical or categorical? Perhaps even chronological? And that is why we have computers; to have someplace to sort it out. Or was it the computers that caused my brain to get so rusty and out of shape in the first place? I feel like this blog entry is turning into a fine submission for Eric’s newsletter, “Ravings of Mad Man,” lots of rambling with a few good philosophical questions.
So let’s go back in time to February 2010. It started out to be a delightful spring this year with several very warm, sunny days. I thought surely the groundhog must not have seen his shadow thus leading us into an early spring. Boy was I wrong. Apparently, the six weeks of winter that are normally experienced in February and early March were just delayed… until May! But we didn’t let that stop us from having a rip-roaring springtime. I made a few digiscrapbook pages to commemorate our February fun. Gwyneth had her first real “playdate” with Jack Harris. We’ve already worked out the arrangements of their marriage and have started to build up Gwyneth’s dowry.
In March, we welcomed a new nephew/cousin, baby Dax, to the family. Dax is a handsome little fella but from the looks of him, I’m pretty sure Mahina was a surrogate for Andria’s egg, which does make the whole situation a little weird! J/K He does look like one of Andi’s kids, so it’s a good thing Andi’s kids are so darn cute! It’ll be fun to see him and Eme grow up and watch if they end up looking more or less alike.
I also caught the baking bug and made lucky green velvet baby cakes for St. Patty’s Day (which for some reason I find absolutely enchanting...the holiday, that is). Then, my friend Meg and I decided it would be fun to try these cinnamon roll sugar cookies we found on picky-palate. It was a semi-disaster with lots of fun memories and a few really great cookies to show for it in the end.
This is me during Meg's and my baking disaster. I'm trying to get the dough out of the inside of the mixer. I need a better mixer apparently.
Meg and I showing off the finished product. Some frosted, some fresh out of the oven.
The finished product, frosting and all. They really do look like cinnamon rolls but in a flatter cookie form. Next time, I think I'll just make snickerdoodles with cream cheese frosting though!
These are me lucky green velvet baby cakes. Ummm... so good! Mini cupcakes are perfect because they are bite size and contain a great frosting to cake ratio.
Our first visit to see baby Dax. At least next to him Gwyneth looks somewhat big, at least, big-ger.
These are shots from her 1-yr-old photo shoot. Grandpa Noisy takes great pictures. Thanks!
The Birthday Party!!
Gigi's barn cake with animal cupcakes. Homebaked the night before the party. I was very pleased with how it turned out and happy to have Meg's help baking the night before. She claims she just watched and didn't do anything but her tips were invaluable.
I love the lips as she's sizing up the cupcake.
The first cautious touch... this is too good to be true.
Gigi's party was farm-themed, complete with red wagon rides through the kitchen. James is hugging Gigi, Lily is hiding. She did not want her picture taken. We women obviously come by that naturally!
Doesn’t it sometimes feel like you really do have an amazing collection of information in your head but it’s just so hard to figure out where you’re storing it all or how you sorted it to begin with? Was it alphabetical or categorical? Perhaps even chronological? And that is why we have computers; to have someplace to sort it out. Or was it the computers that caused my brain to get so rusty and out of shape in the first place? I feel like this blog entry is turning into a fine submission for Eric’s newsletter, “Ravings of Mad Man,” lots of rambling with a few good philosophical questions.
So let’s go back in time to February 2010. It started out to be a delightful spring this year with several very warm, sunny days. I thought surely the groundhog must not have seen his shadow thus leading us into an early spring. Boy was I wrong. Apparently, the six weeks of winter that are normally experienced in February and early March were just delayed… until May! But we didn’t let that stop us from having a rip-roaring springtime. I made a few digiscrapbook pages to commemorate our February fun. Gwyneth had her first real “playdate” with Jack Harris. We’ve already worked out the arrangements of their marriage and have started to build up Gwyneth’s dowry.
In March, we welcomed a new nephew/cousin, baby Dax, to the family. Dax is a handsome little fella but from the looks of him, I’m pretty sure Mahina was a surrogate for Andria’s egg, which does make the whole situation a little weird! J/K He does look like one of Andi’s kids, so it’s a good thing Andi’s kids are so darn cute! It’ll be fun to see him and Eme grow up and watch if they end up looking more or less alike.
I also caught the baking bug and made lucky green velvet baby cakes for St. Patty’s Day (which for some reason I find absolutely enchanting...the holiday, that is). Then, my friend Meg and I decided it would be fun to try these cinnamon roll sugar cookies we found on picky-palate. It was a semi-disaster with lots of fun memories and a few really great cookies to show for it in the end.
This is me during Meg's and my baking disaster. I'm trying to get the dough out of the inside of the mixer. I need a better mixer apparently.
Meg and I showing off the finished product. Some frosted, some fresh out of the oven.
The finished product, frosting and all. They really do look like cinnamon rolls but in a flatter cookie form. Next time, I think I'll just make snickerdoodles with cream cheese frosting though!
These are me lucky green velvet baby cakes. Ummm... so good! Mini cupcakes are perfect because they are bite size and contain a great frosting to cake ratio.
Our first visit to see baby Dax. At least next to him Gwyneth looks somewhat big, at least, big-ger.In April, we celebrated Gwyneth’s 1st birthday! I think this verse from a popular country song about says it all, “So glad we made it, look how far we’ve come my baby.” – Shania Twain. Classic.
There were times I thought I might die from exhaustion by only getting 4 hours of sleep at night, night after night after night. There was a month or so where about 10 times a days, I experienced a sharp shooting pain through my entire nervous system for a few minutes as Gigi would start feeding. I’m talking curl-your-toes, electric-shock-therapy pain! There were times Gigi must have thought that if she just screamed longer or louder her parents would love her more, so she screamed as loud and long as her little body could. There were times I spent entire days doing absolutely nothing more than feeding, changing, comforting and putting Gigi to sleep only to have the whole cycle begin again the next day… Oh, and cleaning out several dozen poop blowouts (it really is gross, even when it’s your own kid.) There were times when I really resented Eric for being able to go to school and work while I stayed at home. There were times when Gwyneth got into things she wasn’t supposed to, and before you knew it, a whole roll of toilet paper was strung throughout the house or a whole bowl of dog food was floating in the dog water, minus the few pieces she was hiding in her mouth. There were times I thought I was the worst parent in the world when finding her holding a sharp kitchen knife… in her mouth, or trying to operate a pair of scissors… on her finger. There were times when she was just plain a little stinker! And then there were times, so many times, when she was perfect and I couldn’t have been happier with anything or anyone else in the whole wide world. I guess its true what they say, no pain, no gain. I guarantee it was a mother who originally coined that phrase.
What’s Gigi been doing for the past couple of months? Well, she’s been walking like little Frankenstein’s monster since about February. She eats such an immense variety of foods very well. She has an appetite like you would not believe, especially given her tiny stature. Her favorite foods are definitely sweet fruits like grapes and berries. She also loves chocolate milk, yogurt and cheese. She sleeps so well and truly loves her crib. For the most part, she lays down and immediately shuts her eyes when we put her in it and wakes up happy, babbling and playful. She is quite the babbler, in fact, and has “uh-oh”, “mama”, “dada”, “hi”, “hello”, and “what’s that?” down pat, along with a variety of whines, shrieks, and wails. She drinks out of straws and sippy cups but still hasn’t given up the pacifier. She loves to play games and, in fact, started hiding herself from us with her blanket spontaneously one day, spawning a love for “peek-a-boo”. She is very active, curious, social, playful, coy, flirtatious, and controlling. She was steering the shopping cart the other day at the store (I was holding her at the level of the handle because I couldn’t keep her seated in the cart no matter how tight I made that worthless belt) but every time I would place my hand on the handle to help steer she would immediately swat my hand away and start yelling baby swears at it. It was kind of cute, but unbelievable, that she’s already doing the “I-can-do-it-by-myself” thing. She’s definitely going to be Miss Independent, so I need to enjoy all the hugs and snuggles while they’re still coming pretty easily. Oh, and one last thing, she’s recently entered the stage where no one can touch mom but her. Just tonight as she was eating dinner, I hugged and kissed Eric goodbye and she broke up in tears just like that. We stopped hugging, and the tears stopped. So he hugged me again and just like that, instant cries! We went back and forth like that teasing her a few times before I really did have to leave. It’s quite nice though, belonging to someone like I belong to Gigi. I’ll belong, as long as she’ll have me.
There were times I thought I might die from exhaustion by only getting 4 hours of sleep at night, night after night after night. There was a month or so where about 10 times a days, I experienced a sharp shooting pain through my entire nervous system for a few minutes as Gigi would start feeding. I’m talking curl-your-toes, electric-shock-therapy pain! There were times Gigi must have thought that if she just screamed longer or louder her parents would love her more, so she screamed as loud and long as her little body could. There were times I spent entire days doing absolutely nothing more than feeding, changing, comforting and putting Gigi to sleep only to have the whole cycle begin again the next day… Oh, and cleaning out several dozen poop blowouts (it really is gross, even when it’s your own kid.) There were times when I really resented Eric for being able to go to school and work while I stayed at home. There were times when Gwyneth got into things she wasn’t supposed to, and before you knew it, a whole roll of toilet paper was strung throughout the house or a whole bowl of dog food was floating in the dog water, minus the few pieces she was hiding in her mouth. There were times I thought I was the worst parent in the world when finding her holding a sharp kitchen knife… in her mouth, or trying to operate a pair of scissors… on her finger. There were times when she was just plain a little stinker! And then there were times, so many times, when she was perfect and I couldn’t have been happier with anything or anyone else in the whole wide world. I guess its true what they say, no pain, no gain. I guarantee it was a mother who originally coined that phrase.
What’s Gigi been doing for the past couple of months? Well, she’s been walking like little Frankenstein’s monster since about February. She eats such an immense variety of foods very well. She has an appetite like you would not believe, especially given her tiny stature. Her favorite foods are definitely sweet fruits like grapes and berries. She also loves chocolate milk, yogurt and cheese. She sleeps so well and truly loves her crib. For the most part, she lays down and immediately shuts her eyes when we put her in it and wakes up happy, babbling and playful. She is quite the babbler, in fact, and has “uh-oh”, “mama”, “dada”, “hi”, “hello”, and “what’s that?” down pat, along with a variety of whines, shrieks, and wails. She drinks out of straws and sippy cups but still hasn’t given up the pacifier. She loves to play games and, in fact, started hiding herself from us with her blanket spontaneously one day, spawning a love for “peek-a-boo”. She is very active, curious, social, playful, coy, flirtatious, and controlling. She was steering the shopping cart the other day at the store (I was holding her at the level of the handle because I couldn’t keep her seated in the cart no matter how tight I made that worthless belt) but every time I would place my hand on the handle to help steer she would immediately swat my hand away and start yelling baby swears at it. It was kind of cute, but unbelievable, that she’s already doing the “I-can-do-it-by-myself” thing. She’s definitely going to be Miss Independent, so I need to enjoy all the hugs and snuggles while they’re still coming pretty easily. Oh, and one last thing, she’s recently entered the stage where no one can touch mom but her. Just tonight as she was eating dinner, I hugged and kissed Eric goodbye and she broke up in tears just like that. We stopped hugging, and the tears stopped. So he hugged me again and just like that, instant cries! We went back and forth like that teasing her a few times before I really did have to leave. It’s quite nice though, belonging to someone like I belong to Gigi. I’ll belong, as long as she’ll have me.
These are shots from her 1-yr-old photo shoot. Grandpa Noisy takes great pictures. Thanks!
The Birthday Party!!
Gigi's barn cake with animal cupcakes. Homebaked the night before the party. I was very pleased with how it turned out and happy to have Meg's help baking the night before. She claims she just watched and didn't do anything but her tips were invaluable.
I love the lips as she's sizing up the cupcake.
The first cautious touch... this is too good to be true.
Gigi's party was farm-themed, complete with red wagon rides through the kitchen. James is hugging Gigi, Lily is hiding. She did not want her picture taken. We women obviously come by that naturally!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)