Monday, December 29, 2008

What Would You Do with $2?

Well, this is what I purchased at Walgreens today with my $2...

Garnier Fructis Shampoo + Conditioner
Olay Body Wash Radiance Ribbons
Revlon Translucent Finishing Powder
Revlon Blush
Revlon Eyeshadow
Revlon Mascara
Gillette Fusion Razor
Dawn Dish Soap x2
Roll of Christmas Wrapping Paper
Box of 12 red ball ornaments
Pack of 4 gift boxes

After Walgreens sale prices, coupons, manufacturer's coupons, mail-in rebates and register rewards I spent $2 out of pocket. I have a new hobby -couponing. Yes, I have reached the pinnacle of dorkhood, but you know, I'm saving my family a ton of money. The most awesome part about today's trip was that I did it all by myself. There are a TON of couponing blogs and websites out there that I find deals on. But most of those people were taking a break for Christmas so I figured out the deals myself!

Anyway, that was pretty much the highlight of my day...possible my week, so I thought I'd share!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Use Your Imagination

Dec. 7th...dispicable. I'm ashamed to call myself a blogger. I have an excuse. Soon after that last post (well, ok, probably like a week)we sent our computer off to HP for repairs. It had recently become possessed and apparently the deliverance is taking longer than they thought. Of course they promised the holidays wouldn't impact the repair schedule (why did we believe them?) BUT since they are fixing all the problems for free I shall not complain.

Anyway, Andrew has been bringing his work laptop home in the evenings. I've been able to check my email and read all your entertaining blogs. But the USB drive for this computer is programmed to scramble any storage device plugged into it. My husband works for the CIA apparently. All that USB business means I cannot load pictures nor share them with you. Tear. So, had I been blogging over the last 20 or so days they would have been pictureless posts. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. And I would not want to bore you with my blabbering on and on.

But so much has happened since then. How can I wait another 2 or so weeks to share Christmas with you? I just can't. So...you will have to use your little imagination for this post.

We rotate holidays between the Scharffs and Marshalls. I think I mentioned that at Thanksgiving. So we headed to Safety Harbor, Florida for Marshall Christmas. Since Wade absolutely LOVES to ride in the car (HA!) we decided to drive through the night hoping he would sleep. And he did!!! It was totally worth all the junk I ate to keep myself awake driving.

So, we arrive Saturday AM about 7:30. After food, showers and naps we headed to the Safety Harbor Christmas parade. Imagine all the public works vehicles in New York City. Now imagine them driving past you at 5mph honking their horns. That's pretty accurate of the first 20 minutes of the parade. Following that were about 100 classic cars. Then a few dance companies who missed the memo that they should actually stop and dance. The shriners riding in a trailer playing their little oboe things. (Back in my day these guys would dress in the these goudy vests with no undershirts and fake belly rings. They would belly dance as they marched along playing their oboes. While it was extremely disturbing it just didn't seem right that they were fully clothed and sitting in chairs.) Hmmm, let's see, what else? Oh, Santa. Yah, after about 2 hrs. Santa finally comes on by. First of all, he wasn't even real looking. Second, there was no music...he barely waved. Sadness.

Sunday my brother joined us for a trip to the beach. I learned a secret this week. I should have had a kid 5 years ago. I saw more of my brother last week than I have in 5 years. The beach was fun. Wade wised up since October and did NOT eat any sand. Um, what else to share...it was a gorgeous day. The water was cold. See this is where I'd love to just show you a handful of pictures.

Monday we went to IKEA in Orlando. Swedish meatballs. CJ came, again. The plan was to buy a barstool for Wade, we bought 2 last summer and needed a 3rd. We had a fun day discovering how to live in 300 sq. ft. What's hilarious (or NOT) is that when Andrew unpacked and set up the barstool yesterday we discovered we bought the wrong height. Brilliant.

Tuesday, Christmas Eve Eve. We decided to do some shopping. What? Why? Good question. Of course what was supposed to be a 2hr. trip took about 6hrs.

Wednesday, my descriptions are getting shorter. I'm getting bored without the pictures. I'm sure you are too. We hung around the house I think. At 5pm we went to church then to a Christmas party. Andrew started a tradition of making cookies with Wade for Santa (pretend you can see the adorable picture of them).

Thursday, Christmas! CJ came over and we had a great morning opening presents and watching Wade play with his toys. That afternoon we went to my uncle's for the family get together. Wade loved getting to see all his great aunts, uncles and cousins.

Friday, Andrew and I ran out to do a few errands while mom hung out with Wade. Andrew packed and then we took a nap. We hit the road about midnight and returned to Chattanooga Saturday morning.

I'm so done with this post. I really hope you're not as bored as I am right now. Actually I hope you don't even get to this sentence. Maybe you quit reading 500 words ago.

Ok, perhaps I can find a way to get pictures posted before the computer returns.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

A Real Page Turner

 

So I mentioned the other day that Wade loves to turn the pages as we read books.  Here’s the proof.  Now unfortunately his talent is slightly downplayed by my expressional (is that a word?) reading.  After we finished the book Andrew proclaimed that we had chosen the wrong book and I wouldn’t want to post it.  But I figured you might need a good laugh

 

Thursday, December 4, 2008

10 MONTHS!!

Wow! Wade has been in this world longer than he was in my belly. Yesterday was his 10 month birthday.  I managed to get the picture taken on the right day but still can’t seem to post it in a timely fashion. Oh well, I got 2 more months to get it right!

 

 

In honor of 10 months (& Dave Letterman), here are the top 10 current happenings in Wade’s development…

10. He has staged an all out boycott of the bottle.  Each day he gets one bottle with Jamie while I tutor.  But over the last month apparently he’s decided he’s too big for that.  He prefers his milk in a sippy cup and he likes to sip on it rather than drink it all in one gulp.  You know, like a normal human would drink.

9. He LOVES to read books.  He will pay attention the entire book (well, an 8 page board book at least).  His favorite part is turning the pages.  After we read a page I left up the next page a little and he flips it for me.  His current favorite is Brown Bear, Brown Bear…he thinks it’s hilarious.

8. His signing has progressed.  He consistently signs “milk” (although he uses it for water too) and “all done”.  Occasionally he signs “more” but I haven’t been as diligent about that one.  He also waves hello & goodbye.  Although he doesn’t move his hand, he just holds it up towards the person.  Kinda like a guy who’s too cool to actually wave.

7. He LOVES LOVES LOVES his daddy.  Every day when Andrew comes home he goes nuts.  His favorite time is when he gets to wake daddy up in bed.  He does his excited dance and starts panting and crawls all over him.  This morning as Andrew was leaving we were pointing to him saying “dada” and I swear he said “da”.  Now he does ramble dadadada a lot but he had been working on “thu” since he woke up so it wasn’t just a continuation of his rambling.  So maybe, maybe….

6. His best friend is his cousin Sydney.  Syd is 18 months old.  They love to play together and hug and kiss.

5. Although he will eat virtually anything, his favorite food is grilled cheese sandwiches.  How can you go wrong with bread and cheese, right? Just like his daddy. 

4. His shoe size is a 2 1/2! That is VERY small.  Like, baby shoes start at a size 2 generally, so many newborns wear a 2.  The other day at the mall we stopped in Stride Rite and had his foot measured.  The lady laughed at him.  Not in a condescending way, just in a “wow, you’re 10 months old and you wear a size 2 1/2” kind of way.  Guess he takes after me.

3. He is a crawling champ. A sprinter, really.  He pulls up onto his knees constantly but doesn’t really attempt to pull up onto his feet often.  When standing he will occasionally move a foot but is very reluctant.  We don’t expect him to walk anytime soon.

2. As of 2 weeks ago he weighed 19lbs. 4oz. (35th percentile) and measured 28 7/8 inches long (75th percentile).  He swims in most of his 12 month clothes but the 9 month pants are too short.  Do they make belts for babies? Or maybe suspenders.

1. Bathtime is still a favorite activity. No matter how cranky he is as soon as we go in the bathroom he starts his happy dance.  His newest trick is laying on his back with both arms stretched out touching the sides of the tub…kinda like he’s floating, but he’s not cause there’s only like 4 inches of water, but don’t tell him that.

 

Well, there you have it folks.  10 facts.  And just in case you weren’t convinced that Wade is the best kid in the universe then let me seal the deal….

DSC_0110

I mean, really…I’m probably a little biased, but could he get any cuter?

Monday, December 1, 2008

Gobble Gobble Gobble

I really have no excuse for not blogging for so long. So I’m just going to pretend that I’ve been blogging along and jump right back in. 

Of most recent importance would be Turkey Day.  This year we celebrated at our house with the Scharffs.  We, like most families who live away from extended family, rotate between the Scharffs and Marshalls for holidays.  Last week I intended to share with you what we were planning to feast on…yah, that didn’t happen.  And now that we’ve all had our fill of the Thanksgiving meal and it’s leftovers I doubt you’re interested in reading what we had.  We had the same stuff you did.  I will say that I took the Crockpot Lady’s advice and used the pots to cook 2 sides freeing up the oven. Brilliant. 

This, as you know, was Wade’s first Thanksgiving.  Just a week before the big day we got the go ahead from Dr. Wiley that Wade can eat most table foods (referring to the food we adults eat).  So, Wade ate…

Turkey

Creamed Corn

Green Bean Casserole

Rolls

Mashed Potatoes & Gravy

Stuffing

I kid you not.  My son ate all of those items and not just a bite.  Hoss.  He also spread all of those items in his hair.  Some kids need a bib, mine needs a hair net.  It’s just too hard to pick one photo so here’s a slide show.