15 Months

I felt like the monthly updates were getting to be too much, especially since (hopefully) Paislee is probably going to stop growing and changing so much so quick this second year of her life--SO, I decided to do an update every three months for her second year :) So here goes!

Paislee, you are 15 months old today! You are 31.5 inches tall, and weigh 21 lbs. 12 oz. You are wearing size 4 diapers, size 5 shoes, and 18 month clothes. You have 5 teeth, soon to be six! Two on the bottom, three on top, and your fourth one on top about to cut through any day now. You have been drooling terribly with this tooth. I have never noticed much drool with your other teeth, but this one has brought on a slobber fest! I don't mind, you are happy and it doesn't seem to be bothering you too much :)

In the past three months you have gone from a baby to a toddler, and the many changes in you are unbelievable! You are now sleeping in your crib every single night! You go to bed around 10 p.m. and wake up between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m....I know, that's a pretty big gap in your wake up time--I prefer closer to the 8 a.m. ;) You are completely weaned and taking it very well! You love cows milk now, and seem to have forgotten about mama's milk :) I am so so SO happy this was such an easy transition for you, I couldn't have asked for anything better! You are also eating much much much better now that you are weaned. You won't touch veggies with a 10-foot pole, but you will eat any fruit I put in front of you! Your favorites are strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and bananas :) You also eat chicken nuggets, hot dogs and grilled cheese numerous times a week. I know, bad mama! But I give you what you will eat! You also LOVE raisins, the yogurt covered ones! Sometimes you eat the whole thing, sometimes you suck the yogurt off and spit the raisin out. It drives me nuts because I find raisins EVERYWHERE! Little stinker! You only drink cows milk and water, and love them both! You also love strawberry yogurt and usually eat it every morning for breakfast.

You are becoming less and less attached to mama, which is good because I get a little more free time to myself--just don't take it too far! I am enjoying a little more freedom and being able to leave you with friends to go on a date with daddy every once in a while, but I want you to always be my sweet sweet girl!

You LOVE your big kitty sister. You call her all day long---"Sesssssiiiiiiiii!!!". Anytime you get a snack or something to eat you call her and find her so you can share with (tease) her! Ha! She is starting to love you more too! I hope you two will be BFF's!

Mornings are hit or miss around here. Some mornings you wake up ILL as a SNAKE and I can't hardly stand to be around you, other mornings you wake up and we go lay in my bed and you talk to me for a while. You say "walk?" "Sesi!!!" "Mama" "Dada" "Milk" etc. etc.....makes me wonder what you dreamed about because you are still half asleep :)

You are into EVERYTHING! I thought I had it bad when you were a baby--boy was I wrong! I am exhausted by the end of the day from chasing you alllllll day long! You LOVE to go outside so we do that numerous times a day!

Your talking skills blow my mind! You are so smart and your doctor agreed at your 15 month checkup. You can name more than 20 animals and make all of their sounds. You recognize 3-4 colors and can say them. Your vocabulary is out of this world, you can pretty much say anything I tell you to say. I can't believe you are mine!.....yes I can ;) Where else would you get those brains? ha!

I love you so much little girl and can't wait to watch you grow--slowly---over this next year (and for many more to come!). You bring so much joy to my life and you are one of my best friends--I hope that lasts forever and only grows stronger every day!

XOXO,
Mama

Not Quite (but almost!) Extreme Couponing

As some of you may know, I have a new addiction hobby! Who knew that couponing was SO much fun and didn't inform me?? I have been collecting coupons for 2 weeks now and already have a ton, and I can't wait to use them all! I'm not that great yet, I still spend more money than I would like, BUT I save more than I spend, EVERY TIME--so I'm happy! Here are the deals I have gotten this week!

This was my first couponing trip. I spent $40.97 and saved $87.61! The total would have been $128.35 without any coupons or my RITE AID savings card. I know it doesn't look like a lot of stuff, but it's expensive stuff and it's stuff you use everyday! Those razors are $10 razors! The infant Motrin (which we go through like toothpaste in this house) is normally $6 a bottle--both bottles cost me $0.00! I bought enough body wash this trip to last Jason the rest of the year :) I am not picky when it comes to razors so this should be enough razors (with what we already have) to last BOTH of us the rest of the year! I plan to stock up on things like this anytime I find a good deal. I read somewhere that you should never pay for toothpaste or toothbrushes because it's really easy to get them both for FREE, so that's what I'm going to try to do from now on :)



This is from my second shopping trip and I totaled it up and lost the paper with my calculations on it so I will go from memory for this one :) The 2 bottles of dish soap were .5 a piece :) 3 of the toothpaste's were FREE. The 2 boxes of Excedrine were FREE :) The Tide spray was $1.99, the 2 big mustards were .98 for both of them. The M & M's were FREE. I paid ~3.00 for the razors (originally $6.99) and got the two packs of diapers, two Crest toothpaste's and 2 bottles of shampoo/conditioner for ~$15.00. I was satisfied :) :) I usually don't use Pantene because everyone who has ever cut my hair has warned me of how bad it is for your hair, but I couldn't pass up such a great deal (AND I made some extra money off of it, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bought it). We will see if I like it when I use it :) So anyways, approximately $21.00 for all of this stuff! And diapers ain't cheap, honey!

And today, I bought 4 6-packs of Bounty paper towels, and got them all for $6.36 TOTAL! A 6 pack of Bounty paper towels up here run about $6.99 per pack. That's $28! I got 2 of the packs for $2.09 a piece (with a $3 off coupon) and then I had 2 1.00 off coupons in addition to my $3 off coupon, so the other 2 packs were only $1.09! That makes me a happy girl!

Sorry if this post bored you to death, but everyone wants to know more more more about couponing so there you go. If I can do it, YOU can do it. UNLESS you are like I USED to be and want the coupons handed to you. You gotta go get the Sunday paper and clip the coupons and do a little work. They ain't gonna fall in your lap, drag you to the store, fill your cart up for you, and pay for you. It takes a little work but the end result is DEFINITELY worth it!

Happy Couponing!

XOXO,
Ashley

Diets. Blah!

I know everyone feels the same way as I do about dieting. It sucks! But it is time for me to make a lifestyle change, not just go on a diet. I am worried that now I have had my thyroid surgery, I am going to have problems with my weight, so I need to go ahead and get it under control, along with my HORRIBLE eating habits. I have ALWAYS eaten WHATEVER I want, WHEN I want--and not eaten healthy. I don't really know of many healthy recipes besides just grilled chicken or plain veggies so I need your help!

I am open to anything really, diet shakes, snack ideas, recipes, workout regimes, meal plans, etc. I don't want to spend a TON of money, and don't want to make recipes with 1,000 ingredients, especially weird things I've never heard of. I will replace meals with smoothies or shakes if I need to, but I need something quick and easy to do--not something that takes a lot of time to make, or time to keep up with. Like I said, I am open to anything!...haha..I just re-read that paragraph and I guess I am ALMOST open to anything :)

Just shoot me some ideas--what you do, what has worked for you in the past. I am even open to taking diet pills--here's my hand, smack it and tell me no no and move right along--I've taken them before and they worked wonders for me! And I am done breastfeeding, so it's my body I can do what I want to! hehe :)

Thanks in advance for all of your awesome tips that are going to give me my high school body back!

XOXO,
Ashley

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I know, I know. What an original title.

Mama is leaving us today to go back to North Carolina. She has been here since the Saturday before my surgery and I may have cooked 3 meals since she's been here. I usually cook every night. I have folded ZERO loads of laundry, changed MAYBE 5 diapers. Let's just say that the woman will be missed and things will go back to normal around here :( Unless of course I can milk Jason for a couple more days :) It hasn't been 2 weeks since my surgery yet, therefore I am still not allowed to pick Paislee up. Doctor's orders! I know, that sounds terrible coming from a mom. I should enjoy bath time, and putting her in her car seat...and I do! But I also do it ALL the time, and am enjoying this nice little semi-vacation :) I will be glad when I can pick her up and carry her around and rock her when she's tired...I do miss that :)

Just blogging since Paislee is asleep on the floor and not in my arms, trying to pick up good habits even if what I blog about is boring!

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! Jason and I are thinking about driving about 3 hours north to a town called Bar Harbor, and visiting Acadia National Park for the weekend. We will see if that or lounging around the house taking turns napping wins!

XOXO,
Ashley

A day I never thought would come

Paislee has now been sleeping in her crib for over a week and is fully weaned. She had her very last feeding last Monday night, and went in her crib last Sunday night. The first night in the crib was rough--she cried for 45 minutes, then finally gave up and went to sleep. We sat in front of her crib the whole time. She woke up twice that night, and pretty much every night the first week. Saturday night she slept the whole night without waking up, and has ever since. She has not asked to nurse, I think she thinks about it every so often and gets a little antsy, but other than that she acts like she doesn't even know what a boobie is! Well I won't go that far, we don't say the 'B' word in this house anymore, ha! And she definitely isn't allowed to see them!

I never thought this day would come! I am SO proud of her, and how easy she handled this big transition! Easier than me! I still am up most of the night going in and checking on her, but we have ordered a security system with TWO cameras so soon I will be able to lay in bed and watch her every move :)

Just a little motivational post on how me, Jason and everyone else NEVER thought this day would come, especially without blood, sweat and tears, but we did it and with no blood, no sweat, and very few tears--just how I wanted to do it!

It seems like everything with motherhood has been this way so far. There have been things big and small that have came along that I thought "how will we ever get through this?" or "I will be stuck living like this for the rest of my life!"...ya'll know, you have been reading and encouraging me through it all! It's a hard job, the hardest one I've ever had (I know, I haven't had many!) but it is SO worth it at the end of the day and all throughout :) I never thought of the little things that make a Mama SO happy and proud. Here are a few we have been experiencing lately:
--When Paislee wants something she says "Peeeeeaaaasssee!!!"
--When you give it to her she says "Dank dew" (Thank you)
--She welcomes medicine with open arms!
--She eats RAISINS--and enjoys them! YUCK!
--She is a bedtime hoarder. Seriously. She grabs anything she can fit in her arms and wants to take them ALL up to her crib. She wants milk AND water. She wants 3 baby dolls, a kitten, and Minnie Mouse, a regular sized pillow (mine) and one of those pillow pals. Her crib is stuffed and it is hilarious. But it makes her happy so I am all for it :)

*Thanks Ann, for talking me out of my hiatus. I do want to document all of this stuff that goes on, I just don't get to do it as often as I would like. This post took 3 days to write ;) So I will write when I can :)*

XOXO,
Ashley