Shutterfly

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Seven-month update :)

This month Joel celebrated his first Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

Joel also started eating three+  meals a day...usually yogurt and a bottle for breakfast, 4 oz. of baby food for lunch, then either cereal or baby food again for dinner & various amounts of formula in his bottle throughout the day.   We introduced "puffs" this month.  So far he's tried sweet potato & blueberry...he likes both, but blueberry is his favorite ;)      We've tried juice & water in a sippy cup, too, but so far, no go!  Joel loves his bottle & I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any plans of giving it up anytime soon. :)

He continues to laugh & giggle...so thankful for such a happy baby!!  Joel reaches out for us to pick him up, and he also started giving hugs, well his version of a hug {burying his head into your chest and snuggling in}...too cute!!   He still doesn't roll over much, but he sits and scoots around on his butt to get where he wants to go!  He rocks back and forth until he does a face plant on the floor...he tries so hard to crawl, but isn't quite there yet.

Joel loved Thanksgiving dinner...sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, soft sugar cookies, and pistachio dessert :)

We put our Christmas tree up last week & Joel is intrigued by all the sparkling lights...he sits and stares at them for long periods of time, while he smiles!!  The next update will include Joel's first Christmas...I think he'll be happy with what Santa brings ;)

I don't have a whole lot to update this month, and I may add more later, but wanted to say "happy 7 months"  - even if I am a week late  :)

Thursday, November 24, 2011

give thanks.

i am thankful for {in no particular order}...
my {almost 10-year-old} son who always kisses me goodnight...still
my littlest boy who giggles with excitement every time I walk in the room
a husband who goes above and beyond, and loves me no matter what
my loving parents who are always there for me, no matter how far apart we are
our cozy house we call home 
a kitchen stocked with plenty of food
our comfy bed 
late night chats with the best sister a girl could ever ask for
my sweet niece & nephews
early morning texts from Dan letting me know he made it safe to work 
two vehicles that get us where we need to go
a great job {with long holiday breaks & summers off}where coworkers have become best friends
a dependable babysitter that loves our kids almost as much as we do
i thank God every day for our many blessings.
happy thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

bobble.

Weekend steals at Target - a water bottle was included inside each lunchbox :)
The boys and I hit Target on Sunday afternoon...You know...the kind of trip where you say you're only making a return, getting Gerber yogurt, diapers, and Vicks chest rub...then you end up loading the cart with soccer socks, football cards, and who-knows-what-else?  Well, I'm glad Daniel mentioned that he needed new socks for this weekend's soccer tournament, because sporting goods delivered in the clearance section!  I scored two bobble bottles/lunchbox kits for $3.24 each {reg. $12.99} and a thermal travel mug for $3.94 {reg. $15.99}...I would have spent $41.77 had I paid full price {but I would have never spent that much for those three items}.  Instead, I spent $10.42...for a total savings of $31.35!   I could have gotten and saved a lot more, but we were in a time crunch.  Yay for good deals and gifts for my stockpile.   :)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Christmas Card Tension

If you're like me, you stress over Christmas cards every year.  I try my best to pick the perfect outfits, gather wonderful props, and take just the right shot.  This hasn't been a real challenge for the past several years, because Daniel usually cooperates for "the Christmas card photo shoot" {even though he's not a fan of having his picture taken}.  I like to take the pictures early and order my cards so I can cross something off my holiday to-do list before Thanksgiving.  With the snow that came to Pennsylvania the last weekend in October,  I had the perfect opportunity to get some great winter shots, but time passed & the snow melted long before I grabbed the kids and the camera.  So...I waited for a sunny {yet cold} November afternoon, gathered jingle bells, pine cones, and wreathes, and headed out back.  Joel was in all his glory, smiling and giggling like there was no tomorrow...this was going to be a breeze.  Or was it?  Daniel was in horrible mood, and wouldn't cooperate after the first couple shots {rolled eyes, stuck tongue out, you know...things 9-year-old boys do during "the Christmas card photo shoot"} so I got mad, grabbed Joel, and came back inside.  So...if we're friends on Facebook, and you notice that Joel is in every. single. picture...and Daniel is not...that is the reason.  I popped the SD card into my computer, and was pleasantly surprised at some of the great moments I was able to capture, even though my oldest boy was a total mess!  I saw their smiling faces & realized that Christmas is so much more than the perfect Christmas card.  I need to stop sweating the small stuff & live each day to its fullest.  Stressing over the perfect Christmas card is ridiculous...especially when you can take advantage of great deals like these...
RiteAid is offering 15 FREE 4x8 photo cards - Code: FREECARDS and 25 FREE 4x6 prints - Code: FREEPRINTS.  Choose "in-store pickup" and get your whole order absolutely FREE!
VistaPrint is offering 20 customized holiday cards for $1.99.  Go to www.vistaprint.com/snowman12. 
With shipping, my order came to $6.40.
The Mom Creative has a great SeeHere promotion going on right now!  25 FREE 4x8 photo cards.  With shipping, I paid $3.19. Go to The Mom Creative and click on her link to get the code.
4x8v Photo Card at SeeHere
My grand total for 60 Christmas cards was...$9.59.  That's something I certainly don't need to stress about! 
Disclosure: I am not being compensated by any of the above photo printing sites...just sharing what I love  with you. :)