Monday, July 30, 2007

Haircut

I got my hair cut this weekend. I had had long hair for several years, and I was ready for a change, partly because of the heat lately, partly because Baby Boy likes to pull hair, and partly just for fun. Here's a pic:

 

I got to watch Baby Boy stand up all by himself in his crib today. I heard him babbling to himself after waking up from his nap, so I quietly opened his bedroom door. He didn't see me poke my head in. He was sitting up, and then he grabbed hold of the crib bar and pulled himself up and started chewing on the bar! It was so cute! Eventually, he noticed I was standing there, and he smiled, like, oh, you caught me, Mama. :-)
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Not too bad for $19.30

 

I had a fairly successful couponing trip to Walgreens today. I got these products for a total of $19.30:

3 25.4-oz. Pantene shampoo+conditioners
3 25.4-oz. Pantene conditioners
3 12-oz. Herbal Essence products
1 13.5-oz. Aussie conditioner
1 6-oz. Aussie mousse
3 16-oz. Infusium23 products
1 Venus Divine razor system
2 15-pack Gillette disposable razors
1 2.6-oz. Secret deodorant
1 Oral-B Indicator toothbrush

The total retail value of these products is $96.37, so I had a savings of $77.07. I know that is a good deal, but I had been hoping for an even better one. I had talked to the manager earlier in the day, and he told me that the Walgreens registers were printing out $16 worth (a $10, $4, and $2) of Register Rewards (which can be used like cash) for every $20 transaction on select items, as listed in the Walgreens advertisement. So I thought I would get everything for around $1. But when I went to Walgreens this evening, the registers were only printing a $10 coupon for every $20 transaction. I bought everything anyway, because I had a tired Baby Boy with me and needed to get home. To get this price, I used a combination of manufacturer's coupons (I had several buy one, get one free) and Register Rewards.

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Sunday, July 22, 2007

A Day at the Park

 
 

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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Crawling

Baby Boy has finally (at 10 1/2 months) started to crawl. He is quite pleased with himself and spent quite a bit of time today chasing after some balls with bells and rattles inside. Before now, he would roll to get where he wanted to go, or scoot on his back. But I think he likes going forward. It's more efficient. ;-)

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Crocheter's Lament

I have been wanting to learn how to knit solely so I can make a few of these adorable wool soakers for Baby Boy. So I bravely took knitting needles and yarn in hand, and...found out that knitting is (to me) way more complicated than crochet. Not only is it way slower, but it's hard to insert the needles exactly where I want them and the yarn keeps sliding off the hook-less needle ends and I keep dropping stitches or adding stitches or twisting stitches...you get the idea. With crochet, when you mess a stitch up, you just slip it off the hook, give the yarn a tug, and you're good to start over again. With knitting, it's not the simple. I E-mailed the designer of the soaker patterns I linked to above and asked if she would be coming out with a crochet version any time soon; her response was a definite no. I know there are crocheted soaker patterns out there, but none of them are as cute as the Little Turtle Knits patterns. I'm fairly crafty and it's usually not too hard for me to get the hang of a new skill, but I've given knitting more than a fair shot and I'm thisclose to giving up on it.

In other news, it's been HOT here--around 100 degrees. We don't have air conditioning...well, we do have a small unit, but we can't use it...mainly because in the complex we live in, you're not allowed to install air conditioners in any windows visible from the street. Our air conditioner is only strong enough to cool a small room, like a bedroom, and since our bedroom windows face the street, we're out of luck. Annoying regulations. :-P We've been opening up all the windows until around 10 A.M., then shutting up the house and even closing the blinds to keep the heat and sun out until late evening. It's been working all right, but things are still pretty sticky around here. Baby Boy is sleeping in just a diaper.

We're having transmission problems with our car again, so Hubby has been taking public transportation to work, and I've been walking everywhere I need to go (which isn't really much of a change for me, since I don't have the car during the day anyway). Early this morning, before it got too hot, Baby Boy and I walked about a mile to the nearest grocery store and came home with six bags of groceries hanging from the stroller handles! Baby Boy sometimes gets bored when we're shopping, especially because I like to compare prices and use coupons, so I'm not a very fast shopper. I got a store advertisement and kept giving pages of it to Baby Boy, who had a blast tearing them in pieces the whole time we were in the store (I picked up all the pieces, of course!). I do hope we get our car fixed soon, though. The transmission is still under warranty from when we had to have it fixed last Christmas, but the problem is that the shop is a 90-minute drive from where we live (we broke down halfway to my parents' house last Christmas Eve). So now we have to figure out if it's cheaper to have it towed all that way and get it repaired for free, or just pay someone in town to do it.

I want to go to a fabric store to pick out some fabric for some nursing dresses, but it's too far away to walk, and it would take too long to get to via public transportation, so I'll have to wait until the car is fixed. I don't really know how to sew (I made a few articles of clothing in high school with help from my mom), but I'm planning to learn. Hopefully, that will be more successful than my experience with knitting. I ordered this nursing dress pattern from Elizabeth Lee.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Busy Weekend

Wow, this weekend was very busy and stressful at times. I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding, and I had to try to balance being "there for" and helpful to her with still caring for my family, especially my still-nursing baby who will only nurse lying down. Hubby and I planned out a schedule of who was to be at the church when (he was helping with some wedding preparations as well), when Baby Boy would take his naps, when I would be home to nurse him, etc., but things didn't go as we expected. For example, we had planned that I would get to the church and dress in time for pictures, do the pictures, drive the 20 minutes back to my parents' house where Baby Boy was napping, nurse him, and then we would all come back to the church in time for the wedding. Well, as it turned out, the pictures were two hours late in starting, and I had the car with the carseat with me at church, so one of the kitchen helpers had to drive all the way out to my parents' in our car (with the carseat) while we were doing pictures, get Baby Boy for me, and bring him back the church. Then I tried to nurse him in a rocking chair in the nursery, but as I said, he only wants to nurse lying down. And then, because Baby Boy didn't nurse, I leaked breastmilk on my outfit during the reception. Grrr. I am happy my friend is happily married, but I am really glad to be home. Traveling with a baby is hard work!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

This Weekend

This weekend I helped a friend who is getting married next week (7-7-07, which I've heard is one of the most popular wedding dates ever) make dozens and dozens of cookies for her reception. I am to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was fun to see my old friends from back home.

This morning, I met with some friends for prayer and Bible study. We just started going through a book on the names of God. It has been good for me to get back into the habit of spending time alone with the Lord every day. Hubby and I read together out of a one-year Bible every morning, but I am better at really listening to the Lord and meditating on His Word when I take some time on my own, as well.

I am thinking of doing a "day in the life of me" post sometime soon....I haven't known where our digital camera was since we moved, but Hubby informed me recently that he's known where it was all along! :-) I'm also considering doing pictures of a week in skirts, like I know some ladies have done on their blogs before. I do wear pants sometimes, but I really prefer to wear skirts, as I feel much prettier and more feminine, and it seems like I get more done (same goes for wearing an apron...).

I have lost around 8 pounds so far on the South Beach Diet in the week-and-a-half that I've been on it. I'm feeling really good.