Doctor time!

Today we had our regular check-ups with the new pediatrician! Michael was scared the minute I told him he was going so we talked about it a lot and took our toy "doctor kit" with us. That helped a little. The nurses were great and very helpful (they wisked one kid away so the other could get shots...). Michael was not happy AT ALL to get his finger pricked and acted extremely pitiful after that and after his 1 shot (Christopher got 3 shots!). At least the wait was like 5 minutes - 2 weeks ago when Christopher had an ear infection we waited 1+ hrs just to get in a room!

Here are the stats:

Michael (3 years)

height: 37 inches

weight: 32 lbs

cholesterol: 170 (?!?)

got some good recommendations for pediatric dentists

talks well

Christopher (1 year)
height: 29 inches
weight: 19.6 pounds (good!)
head: 17.5 inches

pleased with intake of whole milk through cup

it's no problem that he doesn't like juice (unless he gets constipated)

ear infection (etc.) is NOT cleared up - new meds - call next Wednesday if he isn't all better

brush his teeth at least twice daily (! he has 8 teeth and 4 molars are coming in)

be consistent with discipline (Dr. T was very strict!)

isolate for 1-2 mins for punishment

isolate if he tries to gag himself - although distraction is also good (! he seems SO young for this !)

put a band-aid on his thumb so he won't be able to bite it raw (like THAT will work)

give vitamins if he is picky

All in all, a 'regular' check-up! YAY! We celebrated the boys doing well by joining Daddy for lunch. Michael got to eat watermelon, peach cobbler, AND chocolate dessert for being so good! What a treat! Christopher liked the watermelon too!
We dropped by Walgreens to get Christopher new meds and also got 4 Glow Explosion sets regularly $12.99 each for $2.99 each (last day of the coupon and an awesome deal popped up!). I saw other toys regular $6.99 each clearanced out at 3 for $6.99, but I had to draw the line and I didn't get any. If anyone would like to donate money towards our collection, I will use it on awesome toys deals like this! I could just picture little girls picking out the Disney Princess dolls or little boys using the flashlight/projector on the ceiling...

Waiting for my hubby to get home so we can have a family night together!

Stacy { <>< }

Rain on my parade

Well, Christopher threw up BIG TIME while we were at the restaurant with our friends last night. Then thunderstorms kept us from swimming. (We still enjoyed some good ol' hanging out with old and new friends.) I hope we can get out there and swim with them another day!

I guess I will start compiling my list of questions for the boys' doctor well check-ups this week! I hope he has some suggestions for Christopher!!!

In other news, Casey's Great Aunt Margie passed away yesterday. She is healthy and pain-free now. Please pray for the family as we go through the visitation and funeral the next few days.

{ <>< } Stacy

Fun update!

1) I am SO excited because we get to go swimming with friends tonight! We don't get together with friends enough and we don't swim enough so this is sure to be a fun time!

2) My closet started attacking me so I decided to tackle the dreaded project of taking out all of my bags and re-organizing them. NO, these were not all purses! In fact, it was mostly tote-like bags we have acquired. Never-the-less, Casey will be SHOCKED to see how neat the top of my closet is when he gets home tonight. (and I only got rid of 1 bag!!!)

3) I am finally working on our coupon binder! I am guessing that we will either 1. find it MUCH easier to save money or 2. save a whole lot MORE money. For those of you who are not familiar, a coupon binder is a massive and organized binder with baseball card holders to store your coupons in by category. When you go shopping, you can easily find coupons to match with clearance finds or awesome sales. Usually, we gather up coupons from a massive coupon mess-pile. We saved a lot of money doing THAT so I am pretty sure this will be even MORE helpful in saving us money! It is so nice to enjoy things you might not otherwise treat yourself to when couponing makes them free or next to free!!!!!!!! I will try to post pictures when the binder is complete...... It will take me hours to initally clip coupons and load it up! (on a random note, I held on to these "wacky mac" coupons for MANY MONTHS and even had the ones my mom and Grandma gave me and they FINALLY went on sale at Publix so we got them for 19 cents a bag. just a little more proof that you should hang onto those coupons as long as it takes!)

4) Speaking of coupons, I just used $1 off any Color Wonder product to score Clearance Disney Princess Color Wonder sets for $3 each (typically $7.50-9.99). I had coupons from my family as well, so I got 4 and will be adding them to our toy donation for Happy Wheels at the Palmetto Children's Hospital. We found a lot of toy clearance after Easter (75% off at Walmart) and stocked up to donate. It was such a joy to see the Happy Wheels cart every Moday even though Christopher had no clue what was going on. They collect donated toys and books and give one to each patient every Monday. The toys are all NEW and CLEAN. Happy Wheels is a bright spot in many tough situations. If you want to contribute to our donation, let me know! I can collect toys or use cash to find more great bargain buys! Most of our toys were $0.60 to $3 due to awesome clearance! It is deifinitely a worthy cause and it makes me happy to know that each toy will make 1 child happy.

Also, Michael will be going to the hospital with me to make the donation. We are teaching him the importance of giving to others :)

5) Speaking of coupons again, I just spent $1.02 at Publix on 3 boxes of Tylenol Precise heating pads (saved $24.00). That's why I love matching Publix sales with manufactuer copons!!!!! Those heating pads will come in handy for my shoulder muscles come crazy school/concert/gig season!

6) Life is so good!

Stacy { <>< }

Yay for table food!

When Michael was 1, he ate "table food" happily! Christopher gags himself so much I am SCARED of "table food". Well last night at a restaurant, he didn't like the baby food so he ate our food instead: Japanese rice and cooked zuchini. And no gagging it up (even though he tried to)! Yay! He's also doing just fine on cow's milk AND his new 'cups' that we got. They are very similar to his old bottles but the nipple is shaped like a cup spout instead. I hope these are steps in the right direction!

I just realized I haven't taken a picture since at least last Saturday. I can't remember the last picture I took! yikes! I better get my camera out and remedy this situation!

Tomorrow is my first 'real' day of summer break! Nothing on the schedule and nothing to worry about! Just housework and kids. Summer love! :)

{ <>< } Stacy

Jose

Michael can certainly keep us laughing ~ his personality is blooming so much! He has been a sweet little boy lately (most of the time). I just HAD to share this funny story with you. My mom told me that this conversation happened at her house while we were on vacation, but it happened again last night while we were all leaving Publix.

Casey responded to something Michael said by saying, "No way, Jose!"

Michael shouted, "I'm not Jose! Don't call me that! My name is Michael!!"

Again later, "You can't call me that, my name isn't Jose, it's Michael!"

The funniest part of all is how vehemently he wanted us to know that his name was MICHAEL, not JOSE. It was pretty hilarious. I'm pretty sure we will toss out a "No way, Jose" every now and then just to get a little giggle.

Stacy { <>< }

Bye-Bye bottle...

I pretty much cringe at the thought of mealtime for Christopher. He went for a week without any gagging, but he's back at it again. He usually eats well, but sometimes he will just hold food on his tongue and gag himself. He's done it with cheerios, bananas, smooth baby foods, cereal, chunkier baby foods.... almost anythying! I have no idea what sparks it either! It is kind of comforting to know that he did the same thing for my mom while we were on vacation (Well, I'm not GLAD he did and I know it was really a pain for her), but at least we can now commiserate on how frustrating it is.


ANYWAY, I am SO frustrated that he is 1 year old and severely struggling with switching to a sippy cup. If you followed me or our hospital stays, you know that he would ONLY drink from a sippy cup after his 1st surgery (which was just fine) and then he switched to ONLY a bottle after his 2nd surgery. He HATES cups of all varieties and he even seems to dislike juice. His faces are hilarious when he gets a sip of juice.


Well, I have decided it is time to transition him even if against his own will. Luckily, we had no problem switching to 'real' milk so maybe having 'real' milk in a cup will help. I am going to buy this "NUK Active 12 Mo+" cup since it is very similar to a bottle and go from there. And can you believe it-- Target has a printable coupon for this cup AND the NUK website has a manufacturer's coupon... $2 off! so this might just be 'meant-to-be'.



Please wish us luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Stacy { <>< }

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Michael ~ We hope you have a GREAT day today! You turn 3 today! Happy Birthday!

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!!!

Couponing rocks!!!!

Since Casey and I are headed out tonight for a lengthy vacation, I decided to just pick up a FEW things at Publix this week. Southernsavers list in hand.....I got:

3 Pure protein bars
2 boxes of Tylenol medicated heat wraps (3 per box)
7 boxes of pasta (we were completely out!)
2 packs of Kraft sharp cheddar cheese (10 slice packs)
4 Sargento shredded cheese packs
2 packages of Ball Park hot dogs

all for.............$12.50

I saved: $45.57

Couponing ROCKS people!

Busy days!

Last Saturday was my last day of the school year!

Last Sunday we had the boys' joint birthday party for family in friends in Spartanburg. Christopher had an Elmo theme because I wanted him to have something that we didn't already have around the house from Michael. We literally had NO Elmo stuff! I let Michael choose his theme and he chose Hot Wheels. So the table was decorated half and half. I was very happy! We had so many family and friends come! I felt so loved (even though it was all for the boys). My mom did a great job helping me plan out the cakes too :) ~ I can't post pictures because I left my camera cord in Spartanburg! ~ Of course, the party wasn't without any issues...Casey accidentally dropped Christopher a short distance onto the floor. There was much crying and consoling. After a full tummy, he was feeling much better and on to eating a cupcake! Funny thing is, he didn't really EAT it! He just finger painted on the tray! I guess he doesn't have much of a sweet tooth yet...

This week has been filled with teaching, errands, housework, and a million other things that got "pushed aside" in the busy days at the end of the school year. Luckily, I have taken a little bit of time to relax too. Now, I am packing the kids to stay at Grandma's house so Casey and I can go on a little vacation of our own! Saturday is our 6 year wedding anniversary and we will be flying out to enjoy some time in Wyoming! I'll try to post some awesome pictures next week! We'll be back home on Thursday.

I'm livin' and lovin' every moment of time with my family!

Stacy { <>< }