BabyLegs Giveaway!!

Fall is coming!

Do you have a little one to keep warm?

Or even a toddler?

These are great for crawlers who have nothing but carpet to crawl on!

 

The Paper Mama is giving away a BabyLegs Grab Bag!!! 

 

 

Emmersyn has a few pairs of BabyLegs and I love them. If we had more money, she would have even MORE then the few she has. They're super adorable. And addicting!!

Head on over to her blog to enter her GIVEAWAY for your change to win.

 

BabyLegs are for little girls and boys!

Day 1 Down!

Emmersyn is finally down for the night - So I can finally get around to this.

Today was a success. However, spending a day without daddy isn't unusual for us. Every 6 days he has duty, where he is on the ship over night. Duty last 24 hours - But if it ends on a week day, he still has to work that full day. So he's gone for a day & a half at times. I realized last night after he left, that this is the 1st time I will be alone with the baby for longer then that amount of time since she was 2 & 3 weeks old.

My mom spent Emmersyn's 1st 6 days of life with me. After that, I was completely on my own until DH got home when Emmersyn was 3 weeks and 1 day old. And to be honest, I loved those 2 weeks we had together where it was just her and I. They are amazing. I enjoyed our mommy/daughter time greatly. As I knew that when daddy got home, life would be much crazier and busier. And boy has it! I feel like we've been going non-stop since he got home at the end of March!

Thankfully, Emmersyn isn't young enough to really be affected by her daddy being gone - But I know that she will be thrilled to see him when he gets home!

I decided that we are going to make the best of our mommy/daughter days together. Even if her nose is running like a fountain, and she is working on her 2nd tooth (which is why her nose is running like crazy). She is still my beautiful, amazing and happy baby. She won't let a simple runny nose, or a new tooth bother her! And neither will mommy. . .

So today - Today we shopped! What's better then a mommy/daughter shopping day? I know I love shopping with MY mommy!

Babies-R-Us made bank off me today!

I ordered my Ergo Baby Carrier- Which I am totally stoked about. We used the Moby Wrap a lot as she was younger and not so heavy. And I haven't worn her much since about 2-3 months because she got to be too heavy for it + it is a lot of material. I decided I would get myself an Ergo with my Birthday money. So I did just that - Finally! I got the Galaxy Grey one. I think it's so cute, and this way I can use it with baby number 2 when the time comes! I cannot wait to test it out - I've heard good things about it!

My MIL said she would buy the baby gates we need when I mentioned that we have to get them (she asked if there's any expensive things we need). So we headed into the Babies-R-Us store for those. . . And I got Emmersyn her first Christmas present. It's the bath time letters and numbers (I am too lazy to look it up). She's only going to get a few toys (picked out already) from us, some puzzles and books and maybe some outfits. MIL has got her a lot of clothes already and will get some toys. And my parents. . . I dunno what they plan on getting her (they don't have anything in mind yet) but my mom said they aren't doing much this year since she'll be so young. Which is fine and understandable.

I cannot believe I am thinking//talking about Christmas - And SHOPPING for Christmas!

Right next to our BRU is Target. Yes, it is very dangerous to have both of them just steps away from each other. I needed bread so we headed into Target. . . I got my bread. As well as some Baby Mum Mums and Biter Biscuits for Emmersyn. And I picked up Eat Pray Love for me. I've never been much of a reader - But it is something relaxing and I figured with DH gone, I might as well try it out. And I've heard good things about this book + it isn't too terribly long. So we'll see how it goes.

All that shopping wore little miss out! So we came home and she napped while I washed bottles and got some things cleaned up. Of course, what I cleaned up is now wrecked again. Hah. We spent the night in, just relaxing and talking to each other.

Emmersyn is starting to make new sounds. . . One which consist of "Dada". She first said it in her super tired babble on Saturday now. DH and I were laying in the bed with her in her pack-n-play next to the bed just listening to her babble/waiting to see if she fell asleep. And she said it. He was thrilled. I figured it was coming. She's said it randomly since then. It's great and I know he just loves it!

Her first tooth (bottom left) is all the way through and every day it comes out more and more. It's starting to get noticeable when she smiles, but only if you're looking for it. And I am 99% sure that her 2nd tooth will be popping through soon, too. Since she has a [clear] runny nose. I am thinking her 1st 'cold' a few weeks ago wasn't really a cold, but rather teething. Since a week/week and a half later, the 1st tooth popped through. And now she has a runny nose again. Eeep!

Her sitting up is getting better every day. I think next week we may move up to our level 2 Gymboree class. . . We'll see what they say when we go to class tomorrow. I can now put her down and steady her, and she'll sit up and play for a bit. . . And then she kinda slowly falls and gets onto her tummy.

Ahh - When did she get so big?!

Over all - Day 1 of missing daddy was a success. I did fail at trying to get us back on our morning routine. . . But lets face it, 6:30 is too early for this mommah! Emmersyn thought so, too, as she went back to sleep around 8am and we slept until almost 10. Hopefully tomorrow she'll wake up between 7-7:30 and I can attempt to get my bottom out of bed and get moving!

Does anybody know if there is a weekly/bi-weekly meal planning Meme's floating around in blogger world yet?

Since getting into meal planning [the 1st 2 weeks were a success!] I am interested in sharing my meals/recipes & finding new ones. I am all of a sudden into cooking/trying new meals. I don't know what it is - But I like it!

Mommy & Me Monday

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

 

 

It's been a while since I've joined the fun of Mommy & Me Monday. . . But DH is gone for the week [thanks Navy] and I figured now is the best time to [attempt] to get back on some sort of schedule for Em and I.

 

 

 

 

 

Even though it isn't the best picture of me, I still love it. . . Emmersyn is actually looking at the camera/kind of smiling. Have I mentioned before how much she loves her daddy? Don't worry though, she loves her mommah just as much. <3

 

 

This little one is seriously the light of my life. And I cannot believe how fast these past 6 months have gone by!! 

 

The Happenings of Emmersyn

It's been a while since I've posted anything of importance. . . A lot has happened in these past few weeks with my little princess - I don't know where to start.

 

When we got home from our vacation, Emmersyn learned how to actually JUMP in her jumperoo. . . Rather then sway back & broth, side to side. And oh my does she love it. We were also able to remove the pillow from under her feet and she just gets more air. She would jump in that thing all day long if we let her!

Eating. . . This kid can eat. We're now up to 3 'meals' a day plus anywhere from (5-7) 6oz bottles a day. Unbelievable. She will easily eat a full stage 1 container of food and 15 minutes later, chug 6oz.

 

 

 

And she *loves* her food. To this day she's had:

 

Apples

Bananas

Peaches

Pears

Peas

Carrots

Squash

Sweet Potato

Alvocado

Prunes

 

The only thing she wasn't so sure about was the alvocado. So we'll try that again in a couple days.

She is also REALLY holding her own bottle now. She's been able to do it for some time now - But was just lazy. But now I can plop her on the floor in her boppy pillow & give her her bottle and she'll grab onto it and suck it down. Of course, we're still working on perfecting it. And we're still working on picking it up by herself once she drops it, but we'll be there soon. She's a smart little chunker!

 

Speaking of being chunky. . . When she was sick last week, I took her to the Dr on Monday to make sure it was nothing bad - She sounded horrible when she was breathing [turned out to just be a cold]. Yeah, the kid weighed in at 17lbs! That was 2lbs gained in a month - Which honestly shocked me. She's growing up way too fast!!

After 2 weeks of not going - We went back to Gymboree last Tuesday. We were so happy to be back and to see all our friends. And they all just loved Em and loved all her new rolls. I am sad to say, though, that we will be moving up to level 2 next month & leaving our friends behind. . . Until they catch up to us. She's coming up on 6 months - And she's working on perfecting her sitting up. Once she is sitting up perfectly - We'll move on up.

I am excited, sad & nervous. I am excited to see what more we can do. . . She's in between being a level 1 and a level 2 right now. Some of the things we've done in our class since getting back, she's just past that. For example: We're using our blankets as props for the week. One exercise we do is lay our babies in the middle of the blanket & then grab the top corners and pull our babies to a sitting position, supporting their heads & necks with our blankets. Yeah - Em is past that. . . Not to mention, too heavy! So I just pull her up by her arms. Another one is putting them close to the edge of their blankets, and rolling them to their side - And eventually over to their belly. I barely lift the blanket, and of course Em is flopped over to her belly. So I am excited to get into a new class to see what new things we'll learn & do!

 

 

 

I am sad because well - She's growing up WAY too fast!! And we'll be leaving our friends behind. I was just getting really comfortable with the moms in our class. And I've actually become friends with another lady & her little boy, who started the same day we did. Little J, though, is a month & 2 days younger then Emmersyn - So they won't move up for a while still. She did tell me to let her know what day we decided to go so she can join our class, so that makes me happy. I am also sad because it just goes to 1 class a week with 3 days of free play we can go to. I'll miss having 2 classes a week!

 

And I am just as nervous as I was when we 1st joined Gymboree. Hoping I fit in with the class and the other moms. Jumping into a class with moms & babies that already know each other, ect. . . And now, instead of being one of the ones with an older baby in class - I'll have one of the youngest babies in class. We'll be fine and Emmersyn will love it, I am sure. Not to mention we'll still have our awesome Tuesday teacher!

 

 

 

 

 

She is still such a happy baby. She's always smiling, talking and squealing. She still has no interest in laughing - And it makes me sad. Let's not lie here - It worries me that she isn't laughing yet & she is a week and a half away from 6 months. She CAN laugh - We have heard it before. But it's been soooo hit & miss. It worries me. 

She seems to be on track with everything else, though. She rolls back to belly all the time still. She knows how to roll belly to back, though she never does that, either. We're just about sitting up fully, ect. . . But I want her to laugh!

I think the best news I have to share has to be: Her reflux has gotten SO, SO, SOOOOOO much better in just these last 2 weeks. She still spits up, but it's so rare now compared to before. Normally it's if she's on her belly right after eating. Some days she'll have a bad day - But our bad days now, were our good days when her spitting up was bad. It's amazing. I can take her out without a bib. I've walked around a store without a spit up cloth before. It's awesome. And I love that we can see all her cute little outfits now!

In some more exciting news - DH and I can see her 2 bottom teeth just waiting to pop through! And I think I can feel a little tip of one. She's such a trooper, you'd have no idea she's got teeth trying to make their way through her gums. Aside from the drool. . . And the fact that EVERYTHING that touches her hand goes to her mouth (which could have nothing to do with teething, but in our case does). I looked in her mouth yesterday and was SHOCKED to see white in her gums. I had to show DH and he saw it, too. So I'm not crazy. And now I've been feeling her gums like crazy! LOL. It won't be long now before our gummy smiles go away.

We are so off our schedule that I had got her on, and it's driving me nuts. But there is no way to get her on one until Will goes back to the ship. These past 2 weeks he's been going to school for his job. . . He doesn't start until 8am and most days is done by 11pm. So there's just no way to get her back on a schedule. We're working on her naps, though, being longer then 30 minutes. We can get an hour out of her now, which is nice. And sometimes after Gymboree, I'll get close to 2 hours!

I just turned 22 a week ago. I don't feel any older then I did. Though I can't believe I am 22 with a 5.5 month old. Wasn't I just 18 and getting married? Yes, we got married young. 

Hubby sent me out to shop. . . And then I got a pedicure on my Birthday. We tried to have a BBQ the day after - And that failed massively. I was bummed, so the next day we went to PF Changs for dinner. Over all, it wasn't the best Birthday I've had. But I got to spend it with my husband & daughter - So I can't complain! [DH has only been here for 1 other Birthday in the 4 years he's been in the Navy]

That's really all that we have going on around here. Nothing too exciting. Just a kiddo who is growing up way to fast for her mommies liking!!!

Meal Planning

So I recently decided to start meal planning for our house hold. For many reasons. . .

 

The main reason being was that our grocery bill started to get to be about $200 every 2 weeks - Where before my husband deployed, we budgeted in $150 for every 2 weeks and I usually spent less - Rarely went over. With the extra expenses that comes with having a little one, that was just not a comfortable amount for me. I had heard that meal planning actually saves money on grocery trips - So I thought I'd give it a shot!

Another reason I decided to give this a shot, was because I often found us trying to figure out what's for dinner at the last minute - And quickly having to defrost something to cook. I also often got tired of the same ol' simple meals we were eating. I never had the ingredients and stuff that I needed to try new meals. . . And doing a quick grocery run for those items just wasn't in our budget by that time.

So meal planning seemed to be the ideal situation for us.

Also in an attempt to save money, I decided to stop shopping at Vons - Which was just 2 minutes up the road and rarely busy - And start shopping at the Commissary on base again. I had stopped shopping there a couple years ago because of the crowds, long lines and the fact that I have never walked out of there with everything I needed. But I put all that aside to save some money for our family. . . Not to mention - They have early bird hours for the elder & those with kiddos. They open an hour & a half earlier for us. I got about 30 minutes before normal store opening and that way I can shop without the crowds, and check out at a normal register (it's all self check out during early bird hours) without having to wait in a line a mile long. It worked out perfectly!

I ended up spending $117.00 for 2 weeks with of groceries. I stuck to my list. And I walked out with all but ONE thing - And that was because I wasn't sure where exactly to look for it. Now, we still go to Vons for veggies, fruit & meat because we personally don't like the commissary's veggies, fruit or meat - But we still spent less then we have been - And we have a wide variety of meals to make!

Last week started our meal planning - And we did very well with sticking to it. I write out the days of the week and a meal next to each day, but I am not strict on making a meal on the exact day.

I will put a star next to the meals that I have recipes for - And if anybody is interested in them, let me know!

Week 1:

 

Saturday - Steak & Chicken with a side [it ended up being canned corn] [We do steak & chicken because I don't eat steak & DH doesn't always want chicken]

Sunday- *Crock Pot Lasagna & Garlic Bread

Monday - *Chicken Taco Pasta Salad

Tuesday - Left Overs

Wednesday -  *Tuna Caserol

Thursday - DUTY

Friday- Baked Chicken & Broccoli

 

Week 2:

 

Saturday - *Tater Beef Bake

Sunday - *Beef Stew [crock pot meal]

Monday - Chicken & a side

Tuesday - Tacos, beans & rice

Wednesday - DUTY

Thursday - Chicken & Dumplings

Friday - Left overs

My new recipes for these 2 weeks are: Chicken Taco Pasta Salad; Tuna Caserol; And I have to look up a new chicken & dumplings recipe because the one I had got thrown away.

The Chicken Taco Pasta Salad, as weird of a name as that is, was really good. And it made a lot. We had left overs the following day for lunch + I have some frozen in the freezer. The Tuna Caserol was okay - It's one of those easy go to meals. 

The Crock Pot Lasagna is really good and easy. And the beef stew is pretty dang amazing as well - It's DH's favorite and a meal that he makes. And yes, we had it on a warm summer night.

Photoshop Fun

I promise a regular post updating on the happenings of my little princess is coming - I just need to find the energy and time to sit and type it up.

In the meanwhile, an awesome friend of mine - Alysha - over at Supermom recently posted a Fix-It Friday posted and explained how she edited her photos using actions in photoshop. I've always loved her pictures & the way she edits and finally got around to asking her more about photoshop & the actions she uses. She was kind enough to write up a whole blog post on Photoshop Actions.

So today - I got down to business playing with some photos. So far - My favorite actions are the Boost & the 'Quick Edge Burn'. And of course, anything having to do with B&W. I can't tell you what actions I used for all these photos, as I was just playing around and decided that I liked how it looked - Not paying a whole lot of attention. I suppose I should start paying more attention to that, eh?

Anyways - Here's a few photos I've played around with!

I know for sure I used 'Boost' & the edge burn here.

This one ended up being my favorite.

Thanks again Alysha!!!

A Give Away!

Nope - Not from me, though.

A friend of mine who also has a super adorable March 2010 baby is having her 1st give away on her blog right now. She is giving away one adorable hair accessories from The TeaBagz Lady to THREE lucky winners.

Head on over to Yadda Yadda Mama's Blog for your chance to win!

Vacation :: Lake Havasu

This week has been hectic - And it's only Tuesday.

 

But the kiddo is in bed, and the husband is out with some buddies from High School - So now is the perfect time to get all caught up so I can jump back in.

 

 

Emmersyn had a blast & did wonderful the whole time we were at the lake. I enjoyed having a little extra help. And my parents enjoyed having her around - Especially my mom. They had an absolute blast with her!

 

 

 

 

We really just hung out, relaxed and enjoyed the nice weather & the awesome water. Emmersyn - She is totally a water baby. She loved sitting or standing in the water, loved going out for dips with me and loved swimming. I have the cutest video of her swimming in the river butt naked - But I don't feel comfortable posting it since she is naked. She wouldn't swim the way she did then when she had a diaper on. . . It was too funny!

We only went out on the boat a handful of times. Em wasn't too thrilled with her life jacket, mostly when we were not moving. She looked super cute in it, though.

 

 

 

 

She fell asleep on every boat ride, even if it just lasted while we were going. . . Though one day she fell asleep and was knocked out even once we got back to our little camp out area and were anchored. We just let her sleep, unzipping her jacket to make her a bit more comfortable. She slept for a good 30 minutes.

She was a trooper. We went into the trailer to get out of the sun & heat for feedings and naps. We then put a new swim diaper on & reapplied sunscreen. We kept her from getting sun burnt the whole time we were there - Which is good, obviously. The 2nd day we thought she was getting burnt, though didn't understand HOW since we were putting sunscreen on every 2ish ours. . . But that night, when the redness went away, we figured it was just from her being hot. Her little face gets red when she gets warm/hot here at home, so it made sense.

 

 

 

At one point in the trip, there were 4 dogs. My parents 2: Buster (the springer in the 1st pic) & Dalaney (a small jack russel). And my brothers 2 dogs: Brock (in the 2nd picture) & Callie. It was insane. But Emmersyn loved all the dogs. Buster seems scared, or taken back, but it's because Dalaney is way too overprotective of Emmersyn and is a b*tch and snaps at Buster sometimes if he gets close to the baby. She was in her kennel, but the poor old guy was still freaked out. 

Em had a great time with Pap, Grammie, Uncle Garrett & Aunt NayNay. She loves all the love and attention. That's me with her & my dad a few pictures up.

 

 

 

 

I am so thankful we were able to take this trip. It was just what I needed. It was a little break for me, without having to leave my baby. And I came home feeling much more refreshed. A huge thank you goes out to one of the people Will works with, for taking him to and from work (it wasn't out of his way, but is still much appreciated). Honestly, without him I wouldn't of been able to go on this trip. And like I said, it was very much needed!

The sunsets were amazing. And it was so relaxing watching them while my dad played his guitar.

 

 

Over all - It was a great trip. I can't wait for next year, when Emmersyn will be more aware of what's going on.