Introducing...Georgia Leigh!!!

My sweet niece, baby Georgia Leigh was born today!!! 

She was born at 2:00 and weighed 6 pounds - 12 ounces, and was 19 inches long.

I was SO happy to get to be in the room with Kyle and Amy during labor and delivery.  It pays off sometimes to be a labor and delivery nurse:)

One funny thing to start off the day...Kyle went over to the hand sanitizer dispenser and wasn't paying attention and squirted A LOT into his hand.  It's the foamy kind and I looked up and said "what are you doing" and he said " just rubbing some mousse into my hands".  Ha!  It was really funny!!

 Amy did AMAZING during labor!!  She went in last night for Cytotec and by the time I got there around 7:30 this morning she was already 4cm.  She labored like a champ and didn't take any medicine AT ALL.  No epidural or anything!!  She did SO good!!  (She must take after her SIL, HA HA!).

Miss Georgia made her appearance at 2:00 this afternoon.  Kyle got to deliver her and she came out screaming!!!  She is absolutely beautiful!!

Kyle was immediately in love!!!

 6 pounds 12 ounces

 Kyle's first time to hold his daughter!!

 Group shot with Dr. Bell.  He is SO silly:)

 First photo of the family of 3:)

 She couldn't take her eyes off of Amy!

 The grandmas getting a look...

 Nonnie and her first granddaughter!!!

 Nonnie, Poppy, and Georgia Leigh

 I think Poppy might like her:)

 Cindy, Sara, and Grandma Judy

 Georgia with her Aunt Erin...She LOVES me already!!

 Another perk of working in labor and delivery...I got to give Georgia her first bath and put her first bow in her hair:)  Doesn't she look just beautiful?!

It was such an amazing day.  I'm so glad that Kyle and Amy let me be a part of their day.  It is so weird to be on this side of a birth and not be in "nursing mode".  I just got to do all the fun parts, and leave all the paper work to the real nurse!  I can't wait to spend lots of time with Miss Georgia.  The boys have looked at the pictures of her over and over.  They can't wait to see her either, but they aren't allowed to visit in the hospital.  So, they will have to wait until she gets home.

Tomorrow is Amy's birthday.  What an amazing way to celebrate....with a brand new baby!!  Happy Birthday Mommy Amy!!  We love our Georgia!!  You did great!!!!!

King and Queen of Hearts Ball

Saturday night was the big finale for the Cotillion season...The King and Queen of Hearts Ball.  Blake has continued to really enjoy cotillion and this night was no different:)

He looked SO handsome!!

 Parents were invited to attend, so Travis and I got dressed up to go with him!

 The every popular "Electric Slide".  A fun way to start out the night!

 All the students voted at January's cotillion for the "king" and "queen" for their grade level.  There is also a "court" which is the 1st and 2nd runners up for each grade.  Blake was the 2nd runner up boy for the 5th grade!!!  SO EXCITING!!!  Travis and I knew ahead of time, but Blake had no idea!!!  It was so fun to see Blake recognized for something he did well!!! 

I didn't get a good picture of the king and queen and their "court", but here is a picture of Blake with Blakely, the 2nd runner-up girl.  They were pretty darn cute!!  Lauren Meeker was the 1st runner up girl and Sarah Beth Moore was the QUEEN!!

 Parents were invited to dance with their child, so Blake and I got to dance together.  We were doing the "rhumba".  Interesting!!

 He was so sweet and polite to me.  I really enjoyed getting to dance with him!!

 At one point he said his arm was SO tired.  He had to rest it:)

 The guest speaker for the evening was Tyler Wilson!!  It was really great to hear him talk about his experience in the Greenwood Junior Cotillion and how the things he learned are helping him today!  He was SO sweet to pose for pictures and sign autographs during refreshment time.

 Before refreshments, the students have a "grand march" around the PAC.  Blake escorted Lauren.  (He has a secret crush that may not be so secret anymore:).  The teen leaders made a "bridge" for them to walk under.

 Fun!

 Here are Lauren, Blake, and another girl (I don't know her name) heading to refreshments.

 Me and my sweetie!!!

 My two handsome men!

 I just love this picture.  Blake, Mason, and Dane have become good friends.  They were all so handsome!!

 Miss Queen Sarah Beth and Hadley hanging out with sweet Jasper!!

 I love this picture, too!!  It is all the 5th graders from East Pointe that they made for the yearbook!

 The boys.  This will need to be in their senior yearbook!!!

I just can't say enough about the Junior Cotillion program.  Mary Ann Sandifer does an excellent job of running a program that really teaches good manners and social skills.  I'm thrilled at the progress Blake has made in the past few months!!  He has become much more comfortable around girls, and can even ask them to dance without "dying".  I am very proud of him!!  He is already excited about next year!!

More Snow!!

We were out of school for so many days over the last 2 weeks I lost count. I think we had 5 snow days + 2 scheduled days out for winter break. That makes for one CRAZY MOMMA!!

 

The day of the "big" snow Travis stayed home from work. That was the only really "fun" day for me:) The boys all bundled up to go out and sled. I insisted on taking Beau out for just a few minutes for some pictures.

 

He looked SO cute all bundled up with his boots on!

 He really didn't know what to think about the snow still falling...

 Blake LOVES the snow!

 Evan is WAY too tough to smile for his momma for any reason!  But, he really couldn't get enough of the snow!

 Beau walked out into the snow and immediately went for a big handful:)

 And...his gloves stuck in the snow!!

 He was pretty much ticked off after that.  This was a VERY poor attempt of all the boys in the snow.

One of me was even worse!!  At that point the camera lense had water drops on it and Ev's face is blurred with a water droplet.

This is what Beau did when I brought him inside.  Needless to say, he wasn't ready to come in. 

The big boys and Travis stayed out all morning.  They went over to East Pointe to sled.  Some older boys had made a ramp, so they ramped for forever!!  Then the went back out and did it all over again later in the afternonn.  This was a FUN snow and we were very thankful!!

Walgreens on the budget!

Well, yesterday was my first trip to Walgreens on the new budget.  I have budgeted myself $15 per week to spend at Walgreens.  Last week I didn't go at all, so I had $30 to spend.  I spent exactly $45.00.  So, in a way, I totally failed!  But, after I got home and spread everything out, I realized that I should have used $10 out of the grocery envelope, because a lot of this is food.  So, I paid back the Walgreens envelope $10 and I also have a $5 Register Reward to use next week.  In the end, I still have $15 to spend next week, so I'm feeling better.

I also know that Walgreens sales go in cycles and that the first week of the month is always the BEST for good deals.  I have been holding off buying spaghetti sauce and peanut butter becuase I knew this deal was coming.  Same with diapers...a Huggies deal ususally comes once/month. 

Anyway, I felt like  I did really well.  I spent $39.42 on my first transaction and got back $14 in Register Rewards.  I spent $5.58 on the my second transaction (I also used my $14 in Register Rewards).  Then I got back a $5 Register Reward on the last transaction to save for next week.  My receipts say I saved a total of $68.22.  Not bad!!!

In case anyone is interested in the details...On the first transaction:

Charmin $3.99 with in-ad coupon +$1 manufacturers coupon=$1.99
Pop-tarts $1.88 x 2 + $1.00/2 manu coupon=$1.38 each

Colgate 2/$5 + (2) $1 manu coupons and a $3 Register Reward printed =(FREE!!)

Hand Sanitizer $3.99 + $4 Register Reward printed= (FREE)

Hershey's mini bags $2/5 + $2/2 Walgreens coupon (from book by the front door) and $2/2 manu coupon=$0.50 each

Huggies diapers $8.99/pack, $2 manu x 2=$6.99/pack

Huggies wipes $2/50/pack, (2) $0.75 and (1) $0.50 manu=$1.75 & $2.00 / pack

 **Buy $25 of Huggies-$5 Register Reward printed**

Ocean Spray juice $2.99 + $2 Register Reward printed=$0.99

Total with tax=$39.46

2nd transaction

Ragu spaghetti sauce $1.50 x 3 + $0.75/2 manu =$3.75/3

Skippy peanut butter $1.50 x 4 + $0.50/2 manu = $5.50/4

Lipton tea $2.50 x 2 + (2) $0.60 manu = $3.90/2

**Spend $15 on the above, $5 Register Reward printed**

All detergent $6.99 on sale B1G1F + (2) $1.50/1 manu = $2 each

1 dozen eggs=$0.99

Total with tax after $14 Register Rewards = $5.58 + $5 Register Reward (to save for next week)

I know that is a lot of details...but for those of you who have been asking, I hope that helps!!!

As far as the rest of the budget goes...so far so good!!  I budgeted $75/week for groceries and I had $5 left over last week (after my $10 at Walgreens).  So, we'll see how I do this week!!

Snow Days...

Not too very long ago, snow days were SO nice.  The big boys would curl up on the couch and we would watch movies ALL day.  It was so calm and relaxing.  Now, with a 14 month old tornado running around, not so calm and relaxing:)  I'm TOTALLY worn out!!!

We braved the snow and went over to the Scogin's to play Just Dance one afternoon.  It was SO fun.  It took a little while for Lindsey to get warmed up, but she finally joined in.  Sharon and I had a blast, too.  It's just SO fun!!  One of the best Christmas gifts we got this year!!

 Whitter looking so cute in Ev's hat:)

 It took Beau about 30 seconds to find the "snack" cabinet.  I could NEVER keep snacks down low like this or we would have them trampled and stomped all over the house ALL the time!!! 

 He was digging through that cabinet as fast as his little hands would let him!

 He and Whitney both had a box of cereal.  Notice, he his eyeing hers:)

 Whitney taught him the art of picking the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms.  Hmmm, I'm in trouble!!

We have done a lot of cooking and baking while it snowed outside.  Last night Blake went to spend the night with a friend and Evan REALLY wanted to make Oooey Gooey Butter Cake.  I told him to go for it!  He read the recipe and did it ALL by himself.  He's becoming quite a little baker:)  Watch out all you little girls...he's gonna be able to cook for you!!

 We got up this morning and he wanted to make waffles for breakfast.  Notice...the same clothes as he had on last night.  That's what happens when we are snowed in around here. We just live in our comfy clothes.  I think he might have slept in them???

 He did a great job on the waffles and Beau loved them too!!

 My happy boy waiting patiently for his waffle!

 After breakfast Evan and Travis went out to sled.  I had to get at least one picture of Beau in the snow:)

 What is it about kids and snow...they just can't resist eating it!!

This afternoon we attempted to make some snow ice cream.  It was okay, but the snow just wasn't the right texture.  Sounds like we will have another chance later this week.  PLEASE...just don't snow on Tuesday.  I NEED Mother's Day Out!!!!!!!

BUSY!!!!

It has been a BUSY day, and it's only half over:)  I'm writing this for myself, just to remember someday what I did when I didn't "work" and had a little one at home...

We got up, got the big boys out the door, put Snowy out on the deck with her breakfast, and fed Beau some breakfast.  Then I got myself ready, while Beau emtied out all the drawers in the bathroom and then moved on to the trash can.  He's also figured out how to climb into the bathtub. So, he climbed in, pulled the big pile of clean towels in with him, and turned on the water.  So, all the towels went to the laundry room to be washed.

Finally got myself ready, got Beau dressed, put Snowy up, and loaded up in Nonnie's car (had to trade cars for the day because GaGa and Dessa can't climb up into my car).  We got to Wa-Mart, grabbed what groceries we needed (crazy how that goes faster when you are commited to only spending the cash in the envelope), and headed out to the car.  Nonnie's car is SUPER fancy and you don't even use a key to open it or drive it.  But, apparently I'm crazy, because I couldn't figure out how to get the trunk open after the car was running.  So, everytime I needed something out of the trunk I had to turn the car off first:) 

So, I finally got Beau loaded, groceries loaded, and headed to Golden Years to pick up GaGa and Dessa.  Got their, left car running with Beau inside, locked the car, and went in to get them.  Very carefully, managed to get their coats on, and out the door.  We (GaGa, Dessa, me, and 2 walkers), made it to the car.  I got them inside and then went to fold up the walkers and put them in the trunk.  Hmmm, remember, the trunk won't open.  So, go turn off the car, go back and load the walkers, then head out.

Get to the beauty shop.  Get out to get Dessa's walker (duh, can't open trunk!!!), So, turn off car, get the walker, set it up, get Dessa out of the car and into the beauty shop.  Go back out to the car, get GaGa's walker, set it up, get him into the barber shop next door. Wow, I'm already tired;)  And, Beau is screaming!  So, we hang out, I pull out the goldfish, teddy grahams, sippy cup, toys....whatever it took to keep him happy.

About 15 minutes later, I see GaGa getting out of the barber chair.  Go in, help him get his coat on, get the walker, make it back to the car, get him loaded, fold up walker, try to open trunk (duh, won't open), turn off car, get walker in trunk, get in the car and head back to Golden Years with GaGa.  Get walker out, se it up, get him back into his apartment.  Run back out to car, Beau is screaming, and head to the bank.

Drive through the bank, head back to the beauty shop.  Beau is finally asleep.  Get there, wait a little longer, then get Dessa, get her in the car, fold up walker, try to open trunk (seriously, I did it EVERY time), go turn off car, go back and open trunk, put walker in, and head out.

GaGa and Dessa want KFC for lunch, so drive through KFC.  Get chicken, head back to Golden Years.  Get there, get out to get walker (forget, go turn off car), get walker, set it up, get Dessa and chicken back into the apartment.  Get them both sitting at the table eating and head out.

Beau is still sleeping, head to mom and dad's house to get my car.  Get to their house, move Beau over to my car, move all my groceries over to my car, get mom's car in their garage and head home.

Seriously, it is only 12:15.  Put Beau in the high chair,  while he is eating start a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, start the pot of soup for parent/teacher conferences.  Beau is acting sleepy, so rock him and put him down for a nap.

Now, I am sitting here at 2:00, eating my lunch in front of the computer, listening to Beau scream.  That 20 minute cat nap in the car will be the DEATH OF ME!!!  He will not go back to sleep if he falls asleep in the car.  Ever.

So, I say again, I'm writing this down for my own memory.  Just to remind myself that there is never an EASY time.  I'm so thankful that GaGa and Dessa are here, and that I can help them.  I'm also thankful for a little spunky 14 month old that won't sleep.  I'm very thankful that I am healthy and have the ability to help my family when they need it.  And, I'm especially thankful to hear that little Georgia is happy and growing in her mommy's tummy and that she is going to get to cook for a little while longer!!!