Mini Vacation

Over Presidents' day we took a mini vacation down to St. George. We went down with Jordan and Kristy and stayed with Kristy's parents at their house. We went rock climbing, played games, ate delicious swig cookies, but mostly enjoyed some sunshine and warm weather. It was a nice break from school and work and it was just what we needed. Paisley did great on the car ride. We stopped in Fillmore on the way down and I fed her real quick, but other than that she slept and played with Kristy :) On the way home she was so exhausted from our weekend, not to mention she didn't get a nap all morning, so she slept the entire way home. She really is such a great baby and always delivers when she needs to.

 

First 5 pictures are from St. George.

Last 4 pictures are Paisley on Valentines Day :)

Paisley at 6 months

Pipsqueak turned 6 months! I feel so accomplished that I was able to keep my child alive for 6 whole months. :) She is so much fun! We love watching her change, grow, and discover new things each day.

*Can roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy
*Switches objects from hand to hand easily
*Able to reach for objects she wants and has an opinion for what she wants
*Starting to eat solid food. Has tried rice cereal, squash, and sweet potato, a few bites of banana and bread.
*Laughs all the time
*Loves playing the spitting game with dad
*Loves being thrown in the air
*No teeth yet
*Mostly wearing 3-6 month clothing, can still wear some 3m
*Size 2 diapers-about to switch to size 3
*Can stand up well, just needs a few fingers to hold to help her balance
*So happy in the morning-she wakes up and just talks to herself for a few minutes and when I walk in to get her she gets a huge toothless grin on her face, and clasps her hands together. It's adorable
*Grabs everything and puts it right in her mouth
*Sleeps from about 8pm to 7am with a 2 hour nap in the day and 1-2 small naps.
*Sleeps in her crib (since the end of January) and will sometimes fall asleep on her own if we just lay her down after she gets a bath and eats.
*Will not take a bottle
*Loves going on walks and being ouside

*Favorite toys include; rattle, measuring spoons, her little light up singing radio, rocking horse teether.

We love you Pais!

The Beard

Last year, Brad wanted to participate in 'NO SHAVE NOVEMBER' but wanted to get a little bit of a head start -he is a slow beard grower- so he didn't shave from September - January. Today, January 26th he shaved it off. We had to document this moment.

We had some fun with Paisley's hair elastics. Brad is such a good sport.

 

He looks like a totally different person!

I love this picture! It is Paisley feeling Brad's face with nothing on it. He has had facial hair for basically all of her life, so this was a new experience for her.

 

7 ways I'm saving money in 2014

Now that I get to stay at home with Paisley, Brad and I have been working hard to save money and make our income last longer. Here are a few ways we are saving money.

1. We don't have smart phones.
A lot of people think we are "lame" for not having them, but we calculated it and we are saving about $50 a month. It doesn't sound like much but that is the equivalent of 2 dates a month, not to mention $600.00 a year.

2.We made a budget.
We have never done this before, but so far it's going well. I made some tracking sheets and found some really simple tracking sheets here.

3. 4 days a week we commit to being a one car family.
I am a stay at home mom 6 days a week, and one of the biggest ways to save money is actually staying at home. Except for the day I go to work and an extra day to run errands, I pretend we only have one car and that Brad has it at work. Luckily we have 2 cars, so if I need to go somewhere I still can, but I'm trying to think like we only have 1. (This is new for me, I'll update next month about how I'm doing)

4. Pack lunches.
This is really so simple, but I think the fact that it takes time is why people (including me) don't always do it. Packing lunches not only saves you money, but it is much healthier too.

5. Check price labels and don't buy name brand groceries

6. Only eat out once a week

7. Be creative.
For the last 2 years, every January Brad and I do the $7 challenge. We each only get $7 a week to spend however we would like. (This excludes our regular expenses like gas, groceries etc.) You can combine it and spend it on one thing or buy little thinks like treats or eating out if you want, each week. We found it's nice to do in January because the holidays just got over so we don't really need anything. You should try it!

How are you saving money this year?

Photos of Paisley

1.Laughing at Zeus
2.I found her sleeping with her hood covering her eyes
3.Cutest little feetsies
4.She LOVES her crinkle toy
5.Making waffles with mom
6.Tummy time with the crinkle toy
7.Story time with mom
8.Hood buddies
9.My happy baby girl

Another month older

*Loves "talking"

*Blows bubbles all the time

*Giggles a lot

*Rolling over is getting easier

*Still only eating breast milk (Brad can't wait to start feeding her "real food")

*Loves story time

*Likes when you sing to her

*Has a few onesies and pajamas that are 0-3m ~ most are 3m, but can now fit into 3-6 month

*size 2 diapers

*getting used to being in her car seat

*Loves sitting in the bumbo and helping me cook

*a happy happy baby

I'm 4 months!

This little nugget turned 4 months! She is 13.8 pounds and 23.25 inches long. She is in the 75th percentile for weight and the 50th for height. She laughs all the time now! The first time she really laughed was on Dec. 17. Brad and I were giving her a bath and she let out a really high pitched squeal and then laughed and laughed. It was so amazing to hear! I am so glad that both Brad and I were there for that!

*she is still a great sleeper

*still doesn't like to be in her car seat in the car. She is fine to be in it when we're in stores, but she hates it in the car.

*Likes to grab daddy's beard

*only eats breast milk

*is mostly in 3 month clothing now. She can still wear 0-3 and 3-6 is just a little too big.

*wears size 2 diapers

*loves putting everything and anything in her mouth

*likes her bumbo chair

*can occasionally pass light objects from one hand to the other

*definitely knows who mommy and daddy are. When she gets tired or overwhelmed she won't let anyone else hold her but mom or dad...it's so cute and makes us feel like we're doing something right! :)

 

Our happy baby girl!