another random post...!

Too much to catch up on...

Another busy week has gone by! Seriously, is Ella almost 3 months old & my first "baby" Tay is 3. I've actually been a bit sad over it the past few days. Wow; they're growing up so, so fast. Not that I want any more kids, for sure, but it makes me sad that I can't do it all over again. Oh, how I love my girls. They're my heart.

Not much to post regarding this week's menus! It's been over a week since I've been to the store. But...here's what we'll be eating this week. Just leave me a comment if you want a recipe! I'm really not doing much cooking, actually!

Monday--Chuck E. Cheese for Tay's birthday
Tuesday--Baked Spaghetti
Wednesday--leftovers!
Thursday--Chicken Dressing Bake
Friday--if Scott doesn't work in the yard, we'll grill thick cut pork chops marinated in Dale's (so yummy). If he does work in the yard...I'll have to think of something to cook inside!
Saturday--Tay's birthday party--we'll have pizza
Sunday--Ella's baby dedication lunch celebration--I'm making zesty barbecue chicken in the crockpot, coleslaw, chocolate chip pie, and banana pudding. Mom is doing baked beans & Mrs. Robinson will bring potato salad. Yummy, a good barbecue lunch! Poor Ella, she can't even enjoy it! :)

Catching up with my girls...
The girls and I stayed busy over the weekend while Scott was in 'Tega. On Saturday, we tried out a ballet for tots class. To tell you the truth, it was very disappointing. I'm not sure we'll go back. We actually walked out in the middle of it. Then, we went to a birthday party for a sweet little boy from the class Taylor was in at daycare. The only unfortunate thing was that it was at a park...which typically is a fantastic thing! But, I had Ella with me & it was very hot. So, I couldn't juggle holding Ella in the heat & watching Tay play on the equipment. I feel so badly sometimes when I can't do what I used to with Tay because I have to hold and take care of Ella. For the most part, Tay does so well and is so patient with me and Ella.

We had a huge day on Monday for Tay's 3rd birthday! It started with a trip to the Eastern Shore Center with Shelli & Emma Kate. We were so glad they came with us. Tay had a BLAST playing in the fountain!! I loved watching her. Then, we had lunch at Chic-fil-a and the girls played there, too. After a long afternoon nap, Gran picked us up & we celebrated again! We went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. What a day! Tay is so excited to be 3. :)

Well, the weight loss has really stalled the past few weeks. Truthfully, I'm rather glad it's stall and not gone up! After all the celebrating, pizza and cake, etc....I'm surprised! Plus, I haven't been able to work out as often since we've had so much going on. I only have 3 more months until I return to work (wow!) and still hope to lose at least 15 lbs. by then so I really need to get moving.

As for my Bible study, this is our last week of Beth Moore's Esther study. It is bittersweet. I have really, really loved it and am so sad for it to be over. What a journey. We started this study just 6 days after Ella was born. Two key points I will always remember from this study and wish for everyone to know for themselves: My God loves me. My God is GOOD. Just these 2 phrases have really changed my perspective. I'm so thankful. I hope to be able to share and do this study with a group again.

To share a "favorite" this week, I want to point you to Beth Moore's blog at http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com. This week, Beth's daughter Melissa, is in Calcutta with Compassion International and has been writing about some amazing things she's seen there. It has brought me to tears!

Ok...well, what an assortment of things have been covered in this one post! The girls keep me so busy & I'm usually holding Ella. So, I thought I better get all my blogging in when I have the chance!

Where did the week go?!?!

Wow, I can't believe tomorrow is Friday...ALREADY! The first two days of this week were spent holding Ella for nearly 48 hours straight! I don't mind doing that typically, but I got absolutely nothing done for 2 whole days and felt like a complete couch potato. Mom & Dad were so great to watch the girls for us Saturday when we went to A-Day, but they said they had to hold Ella all day or else she fussed. This is not typical around here! She's normally totally content napping in her swing which gives me some free time. But...sure enough...I had to hold her A LOT the first few days of this week. (This also made blogging difficult (actually impossible!).

When I went to the gym Wednesday night, it had been nearly a week since I had worked out. I was feeling totally frumpy & didn't want to weigh in but I remembered my commitment to do so on the blog. Thankfully, I hadn't gained any. Whew! I'm still feeling rather frumpy though since I haven't been able to work out as frequently this week.

Tomorrow we are hosting a birthday playdate for Taylor! She wants a Mickey Mouse birthday party, so we'll get a Mickey Cake for her party at the Watermelon Patch next weekend...but, we're keeping this playdate simple. We'll be serving hot dogs, chips, and rice krispy treats (I'll stick a candle in one for her to blow out!). It will be a pink theme--pink plates, pink rice krispy treats made with strawberry marshmallows, tortilla chips with pink dip (salsa & sour cream mixed together) and I'll made a pink dipping sauce for the hot dogs (ketchup, mustard, & mayo mixed together). All this topped off with pink lemonade! The funny thing is...there will only be 1 other little girl from our playgroup attending...the rest of them are BOYS! Oops! :)

We used our new Kirby vaccuum cleaner to shampoo the carpets tonight! It turned out really well considering how terrible our carpets looked!!

After getting the abdormal results from Ella's newborn screen done in the hospital, we received a letter about 2 months ago saying they had collected "insufficient amount of blood was collected" for her repeat newborn screen done in the doctors office. I thought...you have to be kidding! After the situation with the cystic fibrosis testing, I surely thought we were done with the newborn screen. Well, here we are & Ella will be 3 months old next week. Yesterday, we got another letter in the mail saying we needed to bring her in for the newborn screen for...you guessed it..."insufficient amount of blood was collected"! Oh, man! So, I guess I'll need to take her back for that again.

Scott is leaving for Talladega at 6 in the morning. I don't like staying home alone, so the girls and I have a weekend slam-packed with activities!

Mom and I are responsible for bringing refreshments to our Esther Bible study. We really went back and forth trying to decide on what to prepare. Mom is going to make a spinach salad with mandarin oranges, almonds, feta cheese, and poppy seed dressing and a fruit trifle. I'm sure both will be delish! I'm making a pasta salad and chocolate chip pie.

We only have 2 more lessons of our study. I have enjoyed it so, so much. Along with the Ester study, I've been listening to Beth Moore's online study from the website I posted awhile back--http://www.oneplace.com. There are just so many things God is teaching me through both studies. This week, as I was listening online, Beth was teaching about holiness--that we are to be holy. God calls us to be holy. You might ask...how am I supposed to be holy!? The only holiness within us comes from the Holy Spirit, nothing of ourselves. So, you must be filled with His Spirit. Another thing that hit me, I actually laughed out loud when I heard this, was that we are called to "other than this world"--set apart. She said we are called to be the "Others"! Now, if you're a fan of the show Lost, you might get a kick out of that like I did! I've really been praying about and thinking about what that means to be an "other". I've also been thinking about how I can best minister to others. I want everything I do, everything I say, and every way I behave to point to my Lord Jesus.

Sorry this post was so random, there was just so much I missed out on writing about this week!

I hope to be more consistent next week. I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

photo fun...

A quick post for my Mimi because I promised! :) I'll post more later...I've held Ella for nearly 48 hours straight so I haven't been able to get much done around here!! She's been clingy, but I can't complain--she's a sweetie for the most part! (These photos are all taken with my camera phone, so please excuse the poor quality!)

Back to normal!

I'm so grateful that after such a rough week last week, things are back to normal around here. I was scared that Tay was trying to give up naps when she was so fussy last week...but on Monday & Tuesday she napped for 2 1/2 hours & today she napped for over 3! I can't tell you how important that quiet time means to me. It's important to her, too. She has had such a different attitude & perky personality this week!

Some funny & sweet things out of her mouth this week...
At dinner one night, "Mmm...this is TASTY!"
"Jesus is in my heart...but, not in Allie's heart!"
"When the bad men hit Jesus (while reading the Easter story), they went to TIME OUT!"

Ella is still being her sweet, smiley self! I got some really cute pictures of Tay "holding" Ella yesterday. I'm just amazed at how much Tay loves her; it's so precious.

Today, we went to Megan's house for Charlie's 2nd birthday playdate. We had a great time. Taylor kept saying all afternoon that she had fun at "Megan's house!" The weather was awesome & the kids played in the backyard. The party was a "Cars" movie theme and Megan had made cupcakes. Tay was able to take home a little "Tow mater" toy!

On Friday, we have a playdate planned at the Environmental Center. I haven't been there since I was in elementary school, so I'm looking forward to going. I'll take pictures and post them here soon. We'll be having a picnic lunch there, too!

Tay starts her "Ballet for Tot's" class this Saturday! Unfortunately, Scott & I will be going to Tuscaloosa Saturday for the A-Day game...so, Poppy will be taking her to her first class! :) Won't that be cute! Tay's little buddy, Elizabeth, is taking the class, too. So, I hope she does fine without me for the first week.

Oh, I just realized that I hadn't posted Ella's 2 month stats: 12 lb. 6 oz. & 23 inches long!! Woo-hoo! She's in the 90% for weight & 75% for height. Too cute!

Weight Loss Wednesday

Well...I've committed to weighing in & posting my results here...but, I'm a little disappointed now that even after 2 weeks of working out at the gym...I can't seem to get the scales to budge! I still need to drink more water and will try to commit to that this week. Is there anyone else that is trying to lose weight--what are your goals? how are you trying to lose it? Let's encourage each other!

Savings Saturday--on a Tuesday :)

Here are some deals I'll be taking advantage of this week:

Walgreens--
Walgreens reportedly has all of their Easter candy 50% off. Hershey's Kisses are usually priced at $2.50 a bag. So if your store has the Easter Hershey's Kisses 50% off, that makes them $1.25/bag. Buy 4 bags for a total of $5 plus tax and then submit your receipt for the April EasySaver $5 Hershey's rebate (#25) to get these for free after rebate.

Buy 1 Colgate Max White or Max Fresh Toothbrush at $3.49, Get $3.49 Register Rewards
Free after Register Rewards

Buy 1 Chapstick 100% Naturals or True Shimmer Lip Balm or Butter (.15 oz) at $1.99, Get a $2 Register Reward (not advertised in the weekly ad, but is reported to be a monthly deal)
Free after Register Rewards

CVS--

Buy 1 Colgate Enamel Protect, Sensitive Whitening Toothpaste (6 oz.) or 360 Sensitive Toothbrush at $3.99, Get $3.99 ECBs (Limit 2)

Buy 1 Softsoap Scrub Body Wash (18 oz.) at $4.99, Get $4.99 ECBs (Limit 1)

Target--

Market Pantry Fruit Snacks (3.8 oz.--located near the registers)--$0.89
Use $1/1 Target coupon
Free after coupon

Dole Salad (6 oz.)--$1.19 at some stores
Use $1/1 Target coupon
$0.19 each after coupon

Target coupons are great because you can print and use as many as you want! They can be found here.

These deals are courtesy of Money-Saving Mom, a great site with many more deals than I have listed. It's a great resource for saving money and is a big help to me.

All out of order...

I'm not quite following my schedule of daily blogging, but I wanted to let you know of one of my favorite websites that I've come across recently. It's one place media --home of free Christian radio. I love it! There are so many speakers/teachers and on so many different topics. I love listening to it while I'm cooking dinner, especially my favorite is Beth Moore! I hope you'll check it out.