Elias' New Car

We got a big box in the mail yesterday... Nana and Granddad bought Elias his first car! (Well, really it's more like a 4-wheeler, but he calls it a car.) Thankfully it's not motorized - it just runs on foot power. Here he is playing with it:


You'll note that he likes to sit on it sideways:Or backwards:But he refuses to sit on it forwards. Go figure. He also likes to sit beside it and play with the buttons. In the video, you'll also hear him pointing out the stickers on the side, which he really likes!

THANK YOU, Nana and Granddad, for the fun new toy!

I also left in the clip where he got distracted by the camera and just kept saying "picture" over and over again. He LOVES it when I take a picture of him and then let him look at it on the camera. He'll look at the picture and say "Elias John!" as if to say "That's me!" Very cute.

Free YoBaby 3-in-1 meals

This deal was just so great, I had to pass it on in case any of you frugal mamas out there hadn't seen it yet. I first saw it here at Freebies 4 Mom. Click over to read her instructions on how to do it.

I had never heard of YoBaby's 3-in-1 meals, but they're awesome! It's a cup of organic, baby-friendly yogurt that also has a fruit and a complementing veggie mixed in. So it's like a whole meal in a cup! With the above deal, I got 5 of them for free, and Elias loved the one he has tried so far.

Block mania

Elias has a set of big lego-type blocks. He hasn't figured out how to build with them yet, but we still have BIG FUN with them anyways!

Airplane Crash! Oh no!!!

Elias has a little wooden puzzle piece in the shape of an airplane. He has started running around with it in the air and making a noise like it's flying, and suddenly he'll throw it on the floor and shout "CRASH! OH NO!!!!" Cracks me up!

Walgreens Madness

I don't want this blog to be entirely about saving money, and so I don't post on here all the time about what I do and great shopping trips I have. But I am still doing the Walgreens Game, and I regularly get GREAT deals there. I just can't resist posting today's shopping trip. I got all this:
...and made money doing it!

First of all, our Walgreens is AWESOME because they give a 15% discount to students and faculty of the local university. Off your entire purchase! So since my husband works there, we rack up on savings that way.

Secondly, I use coupons, and I check the money-saving blogs. The main two that I check for Walgreens deals are Money Saving Mom and Mommy Snacks. Then I also page through the ad to see if there's anything else I want, and I use Hot Coupon World's coupon database to see if I can find any coupons to use on top of what's already on sale.

Third, I take advantage of their Register Reward deals. Most weeks they have at least one item that will be free after Register Rewards. (Register Rewards are coupons for so many dollars off your next purchase at Walgreens.) When I combine this with my faculty discount and coupons, I often make money on these. For example, last week they had the new Dove Men's Body Wash on sale for $5.99, and when you buy one, you get a $6 RR. However, I only paid $5.09 for it with my 15% discount, and then I used a $1.25 coupon. So I only paid $3.84 for it, but I still got the $6 RR. So I'll often buy the free-after-RR stuff even if it's not something we need... (Justin wasn't really excited about me buying him Dove Body Wash!) But I can donate it to a local shelter or ministry. That way someone else benefits and so do we!

So anyhoo, with sales, discount, coupons, and then using $21 worth of RR's from last week, I only paid $4.14 out of pocket for everything you see in the picture above.

THEN I got a $4 RR back for the razor.

THEN I'll submit the 3 Olay products for this $15 rebate.

So I'll end up MAKING $14.86 for purchasing all these things at Walgreens today. Oh yeah.

Eating with a Spoon

I've only in the past week or so started really trying to get Elias to eat with a spoon. He's been doing a fork for a while now, but I haven't been willing to attempt the spoon because he turns it over and everything just falls off and makes a mess. He's starting to get the concept, though, so I've been giving it a try with his breakfast cereal and applesauce. He's doing pretty well! This morning, though, was the first time he actually dipped the spoon back in the bowl himself to try to get more. Usually he just hands the spoon to me and I put food on it for him to pick up and put in his mouth. (You'll see that at the end of the video below - I left it on there so you could see.) I happened to have the video camera handy this morning, so I captured a little bit of his first attempts to get himself a spoonful of applesauce. So we're making progress!


Note: I've posted 5 different videos today, so if you're not using a reader to view this site, make sure to scroll down so you don't miss anything!

Dinosaur Train

There's a show on PBS called Dinosaur Train that is one of our new favorites. We only started watching it because it's on at the prime time between lunch and nap, when Mommy is ready for a break and Elias needs to start settling down. So we turned it on one day, and Elias just LOVES it! I'm really not even sure why, because the science and information is too old for him. I guess he just loves the colors and characters, and maybe he's learning too! I'm certainly learning a lot of things about dinosaurs I never knew! I'd highly recommend this show for anybody whose littles are a bit bigger than mine! I took a video, though, of Elias saying "Dinosaur Train" and calling "All aboard!" like the conductor. This TOTALLY cracks me up because he says it at a pitch that could shatter glass. Prepare to laugh out loud at the video. At least I did. Then at the end there's a clip of him saying a couple of the characters' names. He's gotten to the point where when he's done eating lunch, he'll start saying "Dinosaurs? Dinosaur train? Tiny? Shiny? Buddy?" Mommy doesn't mind if we turn it on. :)

Rollin'

It was late afternoon a couple days ago. Daddy had just gotten home from work, so Elias was excited. And the floor was clear since I had just vacuumed it. That's our only explanation for why Elias decided he wanted to roll like a maniac! This video is less than a minute long, but he did it for seriously like 5 minutes straight! I had never seen him roll in a circle like this, so maybe he was just excited at figuring out how to do it. Either way, he's silly!

Learning the Alphabet

My little smartypants is doing great learning the alphabet! Here he is yesterday singing the Alphabet Song with Mommy.

A few notes about the video:
-The ones he knows best are the letters at the end of each phrase in the song. He actually sounds like he's singing them, since he says them in a lower tone and holds them out longer.
-Every letter between L and O is O... But he knows the P comes next once we finally get there!
-He takes a break after V to look at the letter magnets we have on the fridge. Those are one key to him knowing so many letters already.
-For the last line, he decided to majorly start chowing down on his bread. But he managed to get all the letters out!
-I left it running at the end so you could hear him say "alphabet." He has a little musical elephant that plays "Twinkle, twinkle little star," but ever since he learned the alphabet song, he prefers we sing that instead of Twinkle Twinkle. The elephant is hanging next to the chair where he drinks his bedtime milk, so every night when he's done with his milk, he says "Elephant! Alphabet!" and we have to pull the tail to make the elephant sing the alphabet!

Bathtime Fun

Bathtime remains one of Elias' favorite activities, and mine too since it's always Daddy who gives him his baths! (Thanks, babe!) He loves to play with his toys, but most of all he just really loves playing with the water. On this particular day, he grabbed the plastic cup we use to wash his hair, and he had a LOT of fun filling it with water and pouring it out. Even poured it right on his face and didn't mind... Hopefully that means he's going to be good with swimming when the time comes!

The Meaning of Motherhood

I'm reading a book right now called The Power of a Positive Mom by Karol Ladd. The first chapter talks a lot about the significance of motherhood and the importance of the role we play, especially in the lives of our young children. To help enforce the point, she copied this poem, author unknown:

I took a piece of plastic clay
And idly fashioned it one day;
And as my fingers pressed it still,
It moved and yielded at my will.

I came again when days were past,
The form I gave it still did last
And as my fingers pressed it still,
I could change that form no more at will.

I took a piece of living clay,
And gently formed it day by day,
And molded with my power and art,
A young child's soft and yielding heart.

I came again when days were gone;
It was a man I looked upon.
He still that early impress bore,
And I could change it never more.

Monkey on the Couch Cushions

Last week we were stuck inside for several days due to illness and weather. So I was getting a little desperate trying to find ways to keep my child entertained. Some friends suggested building a fort with couch cushions, but I thought that was a little beyond my little guy's skills. Instead, I just piled them all on the floor so he could climb on them! MAJOR FUN!He jumped, climbed, bonked his head into the cushions, and threw them around. We will definitely do this again.Side note: One of Elias' new favorite things to do is repeatedly bonk his head into the couch cushions. I've read that this is normal toddler behavior, but it freaks me out sometimes! And it hurts when he decides to use ME as the target for his head-bonking!

At one point he was jumping on the cushions, and he started saying the rhyme "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed..." Well, he can't say the whole rhyme, but you hear something about bumping a head and a doctor, and then he says "No, no, monkey!" Very cute. So I pulled out the video camera to catch him saying the rhyme. You do get a bit of the rhyme in this video, but it's more the infamous head-bonking. So enjoy!

Peyton Mania

Last night we were watching the Super Bowl while we ate dinner. Although I wanted the Saints to win, I was also rooting for Peyton Manning to do well, since he is my favorite player. (Side note: Did anybody see the interview with President Obama before the game? He said he thought Peyton might be the best quarterback EVER! That's what I'm talking about!) So I was cheering "Peyton! Peyton! Peyton!" and Elias thought that was just HILARIOUS! So he started cheering for Peyton too! I've created a little fan!

Unfortunately, Peyton seemed to fall apart after his little fan went to bed... But at least the Saints won!

Still Here

Just wanted to do a quick post to say we are still here! And I have NOT forgotten my blog! Elias and I went traveling last weekend, and so that had me in a frenzy of preparation beforehand and then completely exhausted afterward. And THEN I got sick with a cold, and I just haven't felt like blogging.

The REAL reason, though, that I haven't been blogging is that I'm so far behind I just can't catch up. There are so many things I wanted to post on here, so many ways Elias has developed and so many cute pics/videos I should've posted, that now there are just too many and I'm overwhelmed. And instead of just getting started and posting them all bit by bit, I just decide to not think about it. As if that helps the situation. *sigh*

So what I'm going to do is just start fresh from here. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on! If I ever miraculously get some free time, I'll maybe try to post some of the backlog. But that is most likely not going to happen. So I'll just start fresh with new pics/videos, and you guys can catch on if I mention something that you didn't know Elias could do already... :) Sorry to be a slacker, but I know most of my readers are also young mommies who GET IT!

Branson, Part 3 (Butterfly Palace)

There was really only one touristy-type thing that we did while we were in Branson (besides shopping and visiting the IMAX - Avatar in 3D at the IMAX was absolutely breathtaking! But I digress...), and that was visiting the Butterfly Palace. This place was really cool! They have an introductory movie telling about the life cycle of a butterfly, and then you walk into this rainforest where there are hundreds of butterflies flying around!We were there for their winter display, which is all white butterflies and red flowers. I didn't think about it that day when I got dressed, but wearing a red shirt made the butterflies just LOVE me!They got really "attached" (ha ha) to my mother-in-law's glasses, too!They also seemed drawn to our cameras - they must be pretty used to the spotlight!You had to watch where you were stepping because sometimes there were butterflies just chilling on the floor!As a part of the special White Flight winter display, they also have one of their employees dress up like a statue and pose whenever visitors are there. So she was really neat looking! She came out while we were there, or else we wouldn't have even known she was alive - it really would've freaked us out when she moved her arms! But she stood so still that the butterflies often perched on her. I think that's a neat job to have!

They also had a huge poinsettia tree, and so we took a family portrait in front of it.And I thought Elias looked so sweet standing in front of the bench like the wings were his! My precious boy.On the way out, they have a three-way mirror so you can check and make sure you don't have any butterflies stowing away. Elias thought the fellow looking back at him was very handsome, too!

Branson, Part 2 (Willow Ridge Lodge)

As I said before, the hotel we stayed at was AMAZING! It also helped that we were there during the dead season, so we were literally the ONLY guests there. So we always had the pool, play room, and fitness room all to ourselves! That was completely awesome. Here are a few shots of me, Justin, and Elias at the pool!Daddy got in the big pool and played peekaboo with Elias behind the edge.Splashing is such fun!!!The hotel also had a really neat kids' play room, and we took Elias there just about every morning just to get out and do something different! This was awesome! Here he is playing with (chewing on) an Etch-a-Sketch and doing a puzzle with Daddy.And chilling on the bean bags with Mommy.
They also had a full fitness room, which Justin and I took advantage of after Elias was in bed. And they had a game room with ping pong, pool, foosball, and several arcade games. Elias loved sitting in the seat of the driving game and playing with the steering wheel.So we would definitely recommend this place, although I bet it is a madhouse during the summer season! With the weather being as cold as it was while we were there, it was nice to be able to entertain ourselves without having to leave!

Branson, Part 1 (Fun with Family!)

As I mentioned in a previous post, Justin, Elias, and I spent 5 days in Branson with Justin's parents a couple weeks ago. We celebrated our Christmas together and also just enjoyed being on vacation together! I'll take a few posts to document our time together.

Being the pathetic photographer that I am, we don't have a SINGLE group photo that contains all of us! This is the best I got at IHOP right before we headed home!We had such a good time together! We rented a 2-bedroom suite at the Marriott Willow Ridge Lodge, and this place was unbelievable. I'll do a whole post about all the fun things we did at the hotel soon. But since we had a shared living space, it was easy and fun to hang out together. We even had a full kitchen so we didn't have to eat out every meal! Elias had fun playing with his Nana and Granddad, and with the toys they brought him from the whole family! Thanks again to all who sent gifts for us!

He loved this Little People Farm.

(Also note the cute new UK shirt he's wearing that Nana and Granddad brought him! Go team!)

Granddad had to take a lot of shots before he captured Elias' face right in the window! Good job, Granddad!Here is Elias modeling the adorable fuzzy footie pajamas that Nana brought him. (Size 3T! My gigantic boy!)It wasn't just toys that Elias was excited about, either. Here is is playing peekaboo with the fleece blanket that Justin's cousin gave us! He's easily amused. :)

It was SUCH a blessing to be able to have this getaway AND spend time with family. We all had a great time and came home feeling refreshed! Thank you, John and JoBeth!

Off the Face of the Earth?

Ok, so if there are any of you lovely blog readers still out there, you may have wondered if I have fallen off the face of the earth! No, we're all still here and doing just fine. I just haven't made it on here to blog in a while!

You remember how I wrote here that motherhood was no longer stressful or exhausting now that Elias is no longer a newborn? (Did any of you mothers of older children snicker at that?) Uh, yeah. I think Elias must have read that and taken it as a personal challenge to step up his game! Terrible two's have ARRIVED! And really, I don't have anything to complain about. Even as a terrible two-er, Elias is awesome and loving and well-behaved and friendly... most of the time. (And have I mentioned lately how handsome and brilliant he is??) But he's also learning about independence and MAJORLY pushing boundaries. We have entered the world of deliberate disobedience and throwing tantrums. They are not very often, but they come without warning and completely throw off this mommy who likes her predictability.

So that's where we are these days. I still think I have the single most precious child on the face of the earth, but he's just a growing child who's learning how to be his own person, and that's hard for all of us. But I DO intend to get back to blogging VERY soon!!!

New Family Heirloom

We just got back from a family vacation to Branson, a tourist attraction about 1.5 hours away from where we live. Justin's parents drove and met us there, and we had the blessing of being able to spend 5 days with them there. It was SO much fun, and I plan to post several blogs about our time there once I get the pictures ready.

While we were there, we had our family Christmas together, and we are so blessed by the generosity of our family! There was too much to be able to post about each gift, but I wanted to write about something very, very special that Justin's mother made for him.

Justin is a BIG fan of UK basketball, and he has been for his whole life. There is a long tradition of wins and championships, and we're very proud to be alumni of that school. Throughout his teen years, he amassed a large collection of t-shirts commemorating UK's national championships, conference championships, and trips to the NCAA tournament. His mother saved these shirts, and this year she sewed them into a quilt!
Some of these are even shirts that Justin got when he actually attended these games, and some of them he wore for a while before his mom snatched it for her collection! She also used two more shirts to make a pillow to go with it!I think it is so beautiful and special, and it looks so fantastic hanging on our office wall! It will be a family treasure that we will pass down to Elias. Thank you, JoBeth!

Family's Visit, Part 4

Just one more post to sum up my family's visit. We had such a great time together! Mom snapped a few photos of Justin, Elias, and me, and they turned out pretty cute! She managed to catch him laughing for the second one.
Then the morning before they left, we went to a little restaurant here in town that's famous for its breakfast, especially its pancakes! So we sampled some of that action, and it sure was good! Here's Azlan with his Mickey Mouse pancake:And Grandma posing with Elias - Patriot took this picture!They were good buddies while she was here! He finally said "Grandma" to her! It sounded like "MawMawwwwwww," but she'll take what she can get.

Thanks to you all for making the trip! I'm so glad we got to see you!!!!