Halfway to a Year!

Baby Madelyn is six months today!

Doing her new favorite thing: turning upside down.

Watching Daddy put up the lights.

Getting ready for a run in the jogging stroller.

Helping Mommy make cookies.

Hanging with her BFF, Cousin Sammi.

Meeting Uncle Dave...

and Uncle Herb.

Reading our favorite book, Pete the Cat

Enjoying the snow.

Happy six months!

Five Months Already?!

Wow! I cannot believe my baby is five months today. She is growing so fast, too fast actually. It seemed as though over night she gained this new found awareness of the things around her. She won't just sit still in my lap anymore; she has to grab EVERYTHING. She also has become very interested in food. Guess that means we will be starting solid food soon!

It seems fitting to list my five favorite things Madelyn does for her five-month blog. So here they are in no particular order:

1. Puts the pacey in her mouth by herself. This can take her anywhere from 3 seconds to three minutes. But where there is a will, there is a way. She is definitely my baby.
2. Smiles. This never gets old.
3. Rubs her eyes. She use to miss and rub her forehead, but now she gets it right on, and it's the cutest thing! 
4. Laughs. She will usually chuckle, but the other day, she had some full-out-giggles. We both couldn't help but laugh with her. She hasn't done it since.
5. Lays her head on my shoulder. This only happens when she is tried, but when it does, I LOVE it!

Great G'ma Rita and G'pa Joe out from California.
We loved spending time with them!

I am telling you- she is ALL Daddy.

Getting ready for a "cold" walk.

The second those clothes comes off, she is happy.
She loves her baths.

Hanging with Daddy for the day
In the sink wearing only one sock.

Baby with Uncle Mikey and Uncle Ryan.

Baby's first hike. Looking at the waterfall under the bridge.

Hiking with Daddy.

And Baby thought the first waterfall was captivating...

Happy five-months, sweet girl! I love you.

Cutting Back but Not Going Without

When we first got married, it was recommended by many to only live on one income. In theory this is a great idea, but in actuality, it is next to impossible being newly married and working in entry level positions. And although we didn't follow this advice completely, we did try to save a lot of my income.

Just the other day, a very good friend of mine called me up to let me know she was going to go back to work part-time in order to be home more with her son. It was a difficult decision for them to make, and after going through the same thing months prior, I completely understood their hesitation. It is very hard to cut back the budget- especially when you have been experiencing life's convenient "luxuries" for so long.

After my friend shared her exciting news, I joked and said I would send her all of my money saving ideas. I then decided it would be my next blog post. Most of my tips are a just a collection of ideas I have heard from someone else. I am sure some of you will read this blog and think, "Wow, she is a little too much!", but it's how we make our budget work!

Ways we save monthly: 

1. First and foremost, making a budget and sticking to it is most important! I use mint.com and it tracks my budget for me. Thanks, Clark Howard!
2. Breastfeeding. No explanation needed.
3. Cloth diapering. They cost more up front, but they pay themselves off in about two to three months. 
4. Shopping garage and consignment sales for baby items. I have found some practically new items at awesome prices.
5. Canceling the maid and making my own cleaning supplies. Vinegar, baking soda, Borax, tea tree oil, Murphy's oil and empty bottles is all you need to clean an entire house. I got my ideas from the book The Naturally Clean Home: 150 Super-Easy Herbal Formulas for Green Cleaning. 
6. Eating at home. This was probably the hardest one for me, but now I actually prefer it to eating out.
7. Freezing or eating all leftovers. 
8. Never buying prepackaged or already prepared items. We buy whole chickens and cut them ourselves (well, Eric does), make homemade granola, taco seasoning, humus, french fries or hash-browns, Bisquick, ect. You can pretty much find a recipe for anything you buy pre-made for 1/4 of the price. 
9. Cooking meals that use the same ingredients (e.g. cilantro, corn tortillas), items on sale, and seasonal produce. I know Eric is about tired of eating butternut squash, but it's in season! I subscribe to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine, which has dozens of recipes that use seasonal produce and allow ingredients to be used more than once.
10. Buying alcohol at Trader Joe's. A bottle of wine and 6-pack of beer are both $3 each. And we think they taste great!
11. Using reusable water bottles and installing a faucet water filter. 
12. Using Groupon, Scoutmob or Livingsocial for date nights. We hardy go out to eat anymore without a coupon. These sites are amazing- especially Scoutmob; you can get 50% restaurants for free. Thanks, Brack!
13. Using coupons for name brand products (i.e. toiletries, paper towels, batteries, ect.) Coupons are not always a good thing because I can usually still get the store brand cheaper, but they are great for items that I would buy the name brand anyway. Stores like Target and Publix have their own coupons, and they will also take the manufacturer's coupon. I have gotten 1/2 off many products with the two coupons combined.
14. Cutting Eric's hair and growing mine long. I have been cutting Eric's hair since college. I must say, he had some pretty bad hair cuts at first, but now they look pretty good.
15. Canceling our gym memberships. Now, I put in a DVD and Jillian Michaels kicks my butt more than any trip to the gym.
16. Using our American Express Blue credit card whenever possible. We get $500-$700 cash back a year for just using our card. They give the most for groceries and gas, which is where we spend most of our money. Of course, paying the bill each month is a good idea too.

Saving throughout the year:

1. Searching for internet codes before buying online. Type in the store name and "internet code". I almost always find some kind of discount (e.g. Target, JCPenny).
2. Calling your cable and phone company once a year to get a lower rate. They always give me the newest promotion deal even though I am not a new customer. 
3. If you usually pay your bills on time but forget one month, the company will almost always waive your first late fee - you just have to ask.
4. When buying furniture, always look for flaws. No matter how small they may seem. I call the store and get at least 10% back. It is easier for them to do that than exchange the item.
5. If you purchase an item and it breaks, contact the manufacture. Rival is now sending me my third crock-pot due to a flaw in the product. I might never have to buy another crock-pot again!

And Eric has done his part too -  he traded his dirt bike for a mountain bike. That is sure to save us thousands of dollars in medical bills!

And she makes the effort worth it!

Baby's First Halloween

I couldn't wait for her 5 month blog to post these.

 

The cutest Kitty I have EVER seen!

Baby and Daddy.

Playing the role of a Kitty perfectly.

Baby thinking of her Uncle Matt out in California.

I love this one! No caption needed.

Baby and her Great Grandma Rita

Trick-or-Treating!

Baby had a busy but exciting first Halloween.

Madelyn Page is Four Months!

It has been a great four months, and we are both enjoying Madelyn very much! She is finally growing out of her colic and is a much happier baby. Her personality is really starting to show; she is talking like crazy, and her new favorite thing is to show us how she rolls over.

Uncle Mikey is finally able to hold Baby
without her crying.

Neither of them have had their
morning coffee yet. 

Mountain Day at Berry College to visit Uncle Mikey.

Bath time.

Taking a walk in the jogging stroller.

I don't think she knows she is reading upside down. 

Burt's Pumpkin Farm

Daddy searches for the BEST pumpkin for the
LEAST amount of money. No lie.

 Eating every sheet in reach is
much more fun than folding.

Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Art visit Baby.

Nana got Baby a walker, but someone
forgot to tell Nana walkers are so 1980.

The family.

Happy four months, Baby!

A Letter on the Refrigerator

I feel as though God has shown himself to me in many ways throughout my life, but there are two instances that stick out the most where I knew, without a doubt, God was directing me, or us, to take a leap of faith and follow him, no matter how scary or uncertain the situation. One being marrying Eric in college at age 21, even though others thought we were crazy. Best decision I ever made. The other being, deciding to stay home longer with Madelyn and giving up teaching at the school I LOVE and possibly being out of a job come this February.

My passion has always been to stay home when I had children of my own, and I was having a hard time accepting the idea of me working as both a mother and teacher full time. One night Eric was reading a letter from John Bloom, the executive director of Desiring God ministries. As we sat on the couch together, Eric read me a part of his letter. The words provided me with a sense of peace, and I immediately took the letter and placed it on the refrigerator.

Four weeks before I was due to go back to work, through a situation I know only God could have directed, I received a call about taking a job working 10 hours a week, providing me the ability to stay home with Madelyn for the vast majority of each week.

A few days later, I came across the letter buried under old pictures, invitations, and papers. I pulled it out. In the closing of the letter it read:

The unplanned, inefficient detours of our lives are planned by God. They are common for disciples and they commonly don't make sense in the moment. But God's ways are not our ways because our lives are about him, not about us. He is orchestrating far more than we know in every unexpected event and delay.

We will see what February brings, but I know without a doubt that this is God directing our family, and I just have to trust that all the other details will also work out.

Daddy-Proof

When you see these types of shirts at the store, you might laugh and think, "That is a bit of an exaggeration." But for Eric, it is no exaggeration. He never snaps her bottoms, and he takes her shirt off by pulling her entire body through the hole for her head. But whatever the method, even if it denies logic, he still achieves the same solution- a dressed or undressed baby.

Mother's Intuition

I teach special education, and each year the kids have the vocabulary word "intuition". When discussing this word with my students, I used "mother's intuition" as an example.  It was always the first thing that came to mind.  I understood the definition of mother's intuition. What I didn't understand was the value it held.

As a parent, there are so many decisions to be made: Breastfeed or use formula; Cry it out or don't cry it out; Sleep in parent's room or sleep separately; Vaccinate or don't vaccinate; Hold often or don't hold too much - the list goes on. And when you love someone so much, it makes these decisions that much harder. Before, when I made decisions, it primarily affected me. But now I have my child counting on me to make the "right" decisions.

When I was pregnant, so many people reminded me, "There is no baby manual for her." And they were right. There is not one book that has all the answers. No baby manual. Yes, there are hundreds of baby books, but they all focus on completely different problems giving completely different solutions.

So with no baby manual, I was forced to learn quickly. If my intuition says something, I follow it. Nine times out of ten it is right. Every time I ignore it; I always regret it later.  And with all the decisions required in raising a child, you have no choice but to follow your intuition.

So maybe some would suggest I do things a different way, but I can't worry about that. I have to do what I feel is right, and maybe sometimes that is the best answer of all.

Three Months

Madelyn was three months old yesterday. It was also my birthday, so Eric took the day off to spend it with his girls. It was such an awesome day!

Just woke up. She is like her daddy- a little grumpy when she first wakes up.

She loves that stinkin lion.

She is a little stinker. And she knows it too.

Uncle David is a natural.

Tummy time!

We are definitely at the beginnings of teething. Let's hope for pain free breakthroughs.

Happy Three Months, Baby!