iGriza

TODAY! On Zulily...

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:12:00 +0000

I am very excited to announce the launch of Grizas Products on Zulily today! They will be on sale from May 14-16.

You can shop from their website OR using the Zulily iPhone App!

Lately.... and some shopping.

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Fri, 10 May 2013 11:40:00 +0000

Lots going on around here lately and the blog is suffering, but here are the highlights:

I am ashamed to admit that I let my wild almost 3 year old son bring me to tears recently with his BAD behavior. His wildness is NOT from lack of trying on my part, it is truely a part of his personality, and he is immune apparently to spankings and time outs so I was feeling kind of hopeless on how to get through to him, when a friend RPK suggest I read this book Love & Logic. Can't say enough good things about this book and how well it is working for us. I also cut out as much sugar from his diet as I could without being a wackadoo and put him back on a STRICT schedule. I guess I really am that girl that has to learn over and over that kids need the structure of a good routine, ALL the time.

Other lessons I have learned is that 3 really is worse than 2 !

We also have been having some issues with Fenn waking during the night and crying out, like a bad dream or something but it turned into a daily thing that we were going in there to calm him so we were all waking up several times a night ( YIKES).. after some deep thought and internet research, I decided that it was probably connected to our previous mentioned behavioral problems and lack of routine. So i moved his nap from " whenever we get back from wherever" to 12pm sharp and bedtime is between 7:30-8pm. He has been sleeping MUCH better since that little adjustment although it took a few days for it to take effect. Also it is said to be common in kids his age , especially when they have developmental leaps/changes. ( Which hello, potty training, big boy bed, learning to talk MUCH more, and getting a sister soon). He also talks in his sleep which is pretty entertaining

"Cupcake store momma, right right!" HA or " Oh no momma, I made a mess"

I recently got this portable high chair from my discount store for about $20. It folds up just like a tailgate chair and we have already used it just when we have friends over and it takes no room to store or travel with! Score! It will also be very handy for all those Titans Tailgates. Not sure how Fenn is gonna take to sharing his Flair High Chair with sister because he still really loves it!

I am soooo in love with instagram. I have zero use for facebook, and rarely twitter anymore and the blog is a struggle but I love me some instagram. Partly because I have always kept a tight lid on that one instead of adding anybody and everybody and also because I just love seeing pictures. Reading really wordy blogs is not my jam, but seeing pictures of your new handbag or your kid covered in dirt! Yesssss~

We are still loving the sandbox bubs built last year. He put a roof on it this year and we recovered it with Navy and white cabana fabric to match our new outdoor furniture.

All he wants to do is play outside these days and side walk chalk and the plasma car are his go to toys, BUT we recently bought the pirate ship water table after all my mom friends on instagram were raving about it and boy does he love it! Day 1 bought me 2 hours of complete entertainment, and he did not ask me to get my 8 month pregnant but down on the ground to dig for worms! #winning

Grizas will be featured on Zulily this month! I have not done any business updates on here lately because I feel like it bores people, but things are going well ( Steady) and I am excited about reaching a huge audience on Zulily! Please pray it does well if you are a prayer!

The beautiful and extremely talented Jgro of Grouthaus Design developed a long term plan for our backyard when we bought this house. ( You can hire her here)

We shall do it in phases as the budget allows, and right now I am in phase 1 of saving for the paver patio part. I have been having companies out to bid the job and the MOST OBNOXIOUS tool bag ever showed up this week. He was so unprofessional with his conversation, and came to my back door when he got here which creeped me out! He spent most of his time telling me about how awesome and sexy he is ( while wearing a shirt that was 5 sizes too small so as to accentuate his average muscles) and about how " the wife" sends him naked pictures to his phone... WHATEVER dude. I am 8 months pregnant, meaner than a monster, its 80 degrees and I am in a moo moo with no makeup, do you REALLY think I give 2 hoots about your self proclaimed awesomeness? Needless to say he will NOT be working here. .......

I have moved up a size in maternity wear and had to purchase a few things right here at the end to get me through. I got these at Old Navy online and love them both! Especially the chambray one. I know lots of you are preggars right now so thought I would share. Use Promo code ONLADIES20 for 20% off!

Little Fenn.. 33 Months Old and Not Quite 3 Years!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Wed, 01 May 2013 16:39:00 +0000

Recently thanks to a new app called TimeHop, I can see what I was doing on social media several years back ( on this day) and I really loved reading Fenn's updates. It is crazy how fast you forget. And it was great motivation for writing a new one.

So lets See... He is just shy of turning 3 years old. He is tons of fun, and bad to the bone!

These are our neighborhood friends. He ADORES that little girl " Carowine" and her grandmother lives next door to us and he calls her " KayKay" and loves her too! We caught that big turtle in the creek behind our house.

Interests :

He loves being outside and wants to ride his plasma car 24-7 or look for worms, beetles, and roly pollies. (sp?)
He still likes painting and markers a good bit
He loves to sing and will dance a pretty good bit too in the car to R&B music . He seems to prefer Little Wayne over everyone else. He sings row your boat, ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle and Itsy Bitsy Spider. He is very bossy about whether or not you are allowed to participate in singing and dancing.
He likes the movie Finding Nemo, and still loves the cartoons Dora, Bubble Guppies, Super Why and Umi Zoomi. He also seems to love Barney and gets excited when it randomly comes on.

Talking:

He has really turned a corner in the communication department and I can not tell you what a relief it is. and I still can't say that it will ever get on my nerves. Even when he is telling me " doughnut " over and over and OVER again. Or whatever it may be. He started bringing home phrases he hears from others like " whoopsie" and saying stuff we say like " Hold on, I'll be right back" or calling for someone through out the house and saying " where aaaarrrreeee yooouu" and he almost always will ask you a question or if he just agrees with what you said he follows it with " Right Right" Which i think he has picked up from Dora, and from me and his teachers when he does something right, and we compliment him. HA

" Momma, Heeeeeelp, Beachy Ocean?" that means Momma take me to the beach again

" TT Potty Momma, right right" means he needs to go TT

He has also learned the roads around Brentwood now and when I turn onto the road that leads to our neighborhood, he generally will start telling me to turn around and will also scream and cry when I don't. I am kind of amazed that he knows the way home from places.

In the speech world, that is a biggie because that is an " action phrase". So now we are onto sentences, actions, spacial phrases, emotions.. all kind of stuff!

That is how he speaks and he has lots of things he says but over all i know what he is talking about what he wants.

Food :

We still struggle with food quite a bit but it has come a LONG way. He will eat lots of stuff for Mrs Jenny ( his occupational therapist) but not as much at home, although some of it does carry over.

His favorites are currently :

Apple Sauce, Peppered Turkey Slices, Buffalo Pretzel Chips, Greek yogurt with honey, Cheese slices, Nutrigrain bars, any kind of cookie or chocolate, sweet potato mash packs from Earth's Best.

He will eat some other things and has tried a lot of new foods lately that even though they are not healthy, or a "win" they are still positive because he has tried something unfamiliar. Like Lucky Charms, or Cheetos. ( everyone has fallen victim to my pathetic pregnancy cravings)

A big thanks to @mrsmfc for the nibble tray suggestion from Dr. Sears. ( Amazon $8) it is a great bento tray for toddlers with a detachable dipping section as well. I love seeing her pics on instagram of what she fixes for her toddler.

Discipline:

WHEW.. this has been wearing me down lately. Almost bringing me to tears on occasion. I am SO pregnant right now which makes chasing after him hard, and he is fully aware of that. He likes to run off from me in parking lots or run away when I am trying to get him dressed and such. By the time I drag all 40 lbs of him to his room for time out I have had about 6 contractions.
I have to switch up my methods with him in order to get his attention and currently the most effective thing I am doing is making him sit on his bed with lights off and no dogs/toys etc for 10 minutes. Then I make him look me in the eye so we can discuss what he did wrong. He could really care less about a spanking right now but being made to sit still and bored is torture for him.
He is SO strong willed and hard headed like both his parents

We took him to Orange Beach in April and that is really his first time back at the beach since he was 9 months old. He loved it SO MUCH and still asks to go " to the beachy ocean".

This is what happened when it was time to leave, UNLESS he was hungry, then he would pack up all his sand toys no questions asked! ha

POTTY TRAINING

I feel like that subject totally deserves all caps and red font. I was so scared to death of this whole thing, and it really has not been that big of a deal. He has done great and I am so proud. I will do a post on this later with more detail. He is not completely trained yet , as we still wear a pull up at night time and he has accidents about 15% of the time.

Seeing him in those tacky cartoon underwears is about the funniest thing Ever!!

Other Random Info:

Height : 38 inches approx.

Weight : 38 lbs give or take some ounces.

Shoe Size : 10 working on 10.5

Clothes Size: 3T or 4T depending on the brand.

April Projects Completed: Nesting in Full Effect

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:46:00 +0000

Erik built a raised Garden Bed for me and we planed herbs and veggies!

I recovered all of our dining room chair and they look SO much better. It is a shame how dirty they were! The paint also needs touching up so that is on May's list for bubs.

Before:

After :

Did a huge clean out of the playroom and also cleaned everything in there.

Got my master builder bubs to make this headboard I wanted in Ballards:

Finally finished Peebs curtains. The one on the right is the "Before". I added a red duck fabric top so that they would look cuter, hang better, and be long enough. ( remember the curtains are actually duvet covers from Target). It is hard to get a good picture of them in the day time because of the sun light, and I forget at night.

My super great find of the year probably was this outdoor couch at my discount store. It cost exactly half of what I sold our old patio furniture for on Craigslist! SCORE. so I made some cute throw pillows for it ( outdoor fabrics are 50% off at JoAnne's right now) and I am having the other 2 khaki pillows monogrammed.

Finally painted this powder room off our kitchen. It is " Oyster Bay" from Sherwin Williams. FYI it is like National painting week or something like that so SW paint is 40% off .

So we made some great progress but I still have a ton to do before this baby arrives. I explained to bubs that from my memory with peebs I will be spending lots of time sitting or sleeping with a newborn and breastfeeding for 1 million hours and I don't want to look around and be annoyed by unfinished projects that I will have neither the time or stamina to complete. It makes me anxious.

May Goals:

Touch up paint on dining room chairs
Paint Master bedroom
paint peebs nightstand
recover the sandbox in outdoor fabric that co-ordinates with new couch
have bubs make built ins for nursery closet.
paint master bathroom
sew shower curtain.

Bumpdate 30 Weeks : She finally has a NAME!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 02:37:00 +0000

Mostly I still can not get over how different this pregnancy is from my 1st. I actually think it deserves it's own blog post so stay tuned for that.

Current cravings : Cheese Puffs & Reese Peanut Butter Eggs

Weight: up 7 lbs so over all I have gained almost 30lbs.

Symptoms : Both sleep and my pregnancy cold have been much better lately! Hoping that sticks around.

Braxton Hicks have been much better and I have been making a strong effort to rest more and drink more water. I have them in back now as well though and that is painful!

I am in major nesting mode now cleaning like crazy and trying to get all the things done I have on my "BB Bucket List " ( Before Baby).

and... I think we have finally settled on a name!

Anna Clarke

and we will call her " Anna Clarke"

Anna is my maternal grandmothers first name and Clark is my paternal grandmother's maiden name, as well as one of my best girlfriends from college middle name!

29 Weeks :

this was 29 Weeks with Peebs:

30 week ultrasound pics:
So far she is juicy, with no hairs, big lips and long limbs! Not sure of estimated weight yet.

Big Brother:

He has been quite the terror lately! I keep having to be reminded that sometimes, as ridiculous as it seems to "bargain" with your child, it totally helps to approach things differently.
Our current trick is to offer him 2 choices both of which are OK with us, instead of just telling him straight up what he needs to do.
For Example " Come over here and put your clothes on" = running from me and screaming) is now " Would you like to put on your shirt or your pants first?" = happily answers with which one and starts getting dressed calmly . It is the craziest trick EVER and totally works so take that little nugget and stick it in your pocket ! you're welcome.

We are working on potty training. He seems interested and has sporadically been using the potty since Dec. 2nd so we are going all in this week and will see what happens. Seeing him wearing cartoon big boy underwears is the funniest thing EVER. I wish I had known that they only come in a handful of characters because apparently that is an important thing to get excited over, but he does not know who "Angry Birds" , Super heroes or "Cars/Toy Story" is so we don't have that bargaining chip.

I have been going back and reading old pregnancy posts from Fenn and they are kind of hilarious. BOY has life changed since then. Here is a link to my 31 Week Bumpdate with him
http://www.grizaland.com/2010/06/pregnancy-update-week-31.html

Master Bedroom Makeover : DIY Upholstered Headboard

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:50:00 +0000

Before we started this makeover I planned out what I could do on my budget that I set up for this room. As usual lots of things I wanted to do and not enough money to do it all exactly, so I had to figure out a few ways to cut corners. The Headboard was definitely an easy area to cut costs.

This is the "Kate Upholstered Headboard" that I liked in Ballards in " Linen Spa that was about $953 with tax and shipping for a King Sized Head Board.

Here is our DIY version:

** It is just propped up on our bed for show of size. We have not finished the headboard as we are bolting it to a metal bed frame**

Not an exact replica but close enough. I was skerred to get to drama tic with the cut outs. Total Cost was $ 235.01

That number can be tweaked based on fabric choice and if you have coupons for the foam which was the majority of the cost. I included chart cost because I was really curious about this when I was cruising the internet for tutorials.

Other Helpful Info:

Get some coupons before buying that foam at Jo-Anne's. They do not consider the foam or the batting to be "fabric" so any 40% one yard of fabric coupons will not apply. Also you will need one coupon for each yard. I think it is about $32 a yard YIPES
Some tutorials talk about buying foam at Home Depot. They do have foam for about 1/2 the price maybe cheaper, BUT it is more like styrofoam and not soft cushion foam so keep that in mind. I wanted our headboard to be soft but if this was for a guest room I might have cut that corner.
We did lots of piecing with the foam since I did not buy quite enough and it worked and saved some $ but wish I had bought longer pieces.
Design Sponge does a really great video tutorial on you tube. You can watch that HERE
I used some paper off my sons art easel to make the stencil for the design of the headboard. That took lots of thinking and planning to try and get the proportions done properly for a king sized headboard. If you ever see the style you want out somewhere, study it and measure it before copying it.
I wanted our headboard to be big and tall so it would show up well when pillows were in place and make a statement. This one measures 78" Long and 48 " High at its tallest point. We will put legs on it so that it hits the bead just right.

My Fabric Choice is a Linen in Celadon. It is very hard to capture the true color on camera but it is a blue grey shade. LIKE THIS

March Goals : Status

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 02:35:00 +0000

Recording my progress for my NY Resolutions and things are going really well! I decided to do a different format this time and include also some of my BB Bucket List Stuff ( Before Baby ).

$ Budgeting $

March was our best month yet on the new budget. I LOVE this new plan and feel so great about it and the changes that we have made because of it! No debt ( except our house) and no credit cards are being used! Just planning and getting resourceful. I have sold so much stuff on craigslist lately in our big clutter clean out and that has been awesome. In March I sold pretty much all of our outdoor toys and furniture in order to buy new stuff because this house has a different yard layout that our old house. That money is in savings until we decide what to do out there, and may wait till the end of the summer when everything goes on sale.
I am still using the Dave Ramsey software online instead of the envelope system because I just did nor feel that Cash envelopes was practical for us, we are more of a "virtual cash envelopes" type of people. We actually spent BELOW our March budget and that was with having my big Easter party too!

Reading
I finally finished the 7 Experimental Excess book and I really enjoyed it! I realized that when I am reading serious books like that it takes me a much longer time to finish! That was supposed to be my Feb. Book so I am behind here but will catch up in April.

Cooking
March was also a very successful cooking month. I am not sure April will be as good because I am getting tired of standing in the kitchen with this big baby belly. I cooked ALOT and we also planted our garden so that I can hopefully start growing almost all of our own produce and herbs. We shall see! The weather here has been super cold so I am off to a late start. I am forgetting to take pictures lately before I eat. oops.

Church
I have yet to start Sunday School! I must get on this but it feels like it would be somewhat pointless to start before the baby comes since I will be grounded for a few weeks after her arrival. We shall see. We are still in regular attendance which I am considering a total win these days because bubs has had to work a lot of Sundays and I am still managing to get my wild 2 yr old dressed and there ~~5 minutes late~~ on time.

Home Improvement
We added hardware to the laundry room cabinets!

Set up the boy an aquarium in his room!

I FINALLY painted the back wall of the built in shelves. I had been putting this off because the previous owners painted them in place ( grrrr) but Erik beat them out with a rubber mallet and he also drilled a hole in the wall to run cable wires so we dont have wires hanging down the fireplace for our TV anymore!

and the boys built me a raised garden bed and hauled in composted dirt to fill it with. They forgot the chicken wire at the bottom to keep the moles out so I hope the moles don't find me! We put it close to the house and in the fence like that to keep out deer and other critters that frequent our back yard.

Easter !

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:31:00 +0000

We had a really great Easter this year, despite the yucky weather. Fenn is finally old enough to get the concept of the Easter Bunny. I made some bunny tracks from flour and stencil and he really enjoyed " tracking the easter Bunny" to find his basket.

When he did find his basket, All he cared about was the Cadburry Eggs in his basket. That is what he had for breakfast. I am sure the nursery workers at church appreciated that.

He was excited to show cousin Stevie his Easter Basket when he woke up! Cousin Stevie spent the weekend with us and Fenn loved having him here! SO did Ralphie since Stevie was his first "little master".

Still really thankful that @marshallcolquett let me buy this buffett from him. I am so in love with it! That is our Easter Spread. This year people ate pretty much all the food which was nice because last year I had tons of left overs. We had about 16 adults and 10 kids.

Adult Table

Kids table

Peebs got lots of goodies from our sweet guest and here he is showing his excitement for the mini Cadburry eggs Katie and Taylor brought him.

Aunt Marti brought over a big Easter puzzle and the kids loved it and dance on it when they were done!

We had to have our Easter Egg Hunt inside which was a bummer but it still went well!

The 3rd Trimester Begins ! Large and in Charge!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:47:00 +0000

Sorry for the belly pics cause I know my Nonie HATES these, but you can not appreciate the huge-ness when it is covered. DUDE! This thing is HEAVY. I am pretty shocked at how uncomfortable I am these days (already ) because I fully expect to gain another 15-20lbs in my last trimester.
It really blows my mind how different this pregnancy is from my last. I feel like I am not as wide as I got last time, which is weird bc I thought girl babies made you get wider than boy babies?
Whatever the case I can tell you that this belly is hurting every inch of my body. I am ill equipped for holding it up. I ordered the Belly Bra from amazon and it was not made for tall chicks so I had to return it.

Hope everyone can appreciate a good re-run because that is the only cute outfit I own that fits right now and I keep holding out and holding out for warm weather. UGH. I should have bought another pair of jeans like 2 months ago.
I have had some great luck dress shopping at ROSS of all places. They are not maternity dresses, just stretchy fabric that I buy a size up ( or in this case two sizes up as my Nonie insisted). Most of their dresses are $15-20 . Cant wait for it to be dress weather every day!

and... even though I have been eating Cadburry's by the boat load, I am only up 1 pound and 1 inch this week from last week. You see that it is a family affair now. Like my Lucky Charms.. I wanted those for my pregnancy snack and now all of a sudden my son and husband are woofing down my cereal!

In Other Bumpdate News:

Major Braxton hicks contractions lately. I will be riding scooter wheel chairs for likely the rest of this pregnancy. Anytime I do much on my feet I start having them.
Decreased appetite, significantly, but still nurturing my sweet tooth.
I have another cold this week :( I think that makes 3 colds I have had during this pregnancy ( which I had none with Fenn) one of the side effects of having a toddler during pregnancy!

Big Brother:

Has been enjoying this Easter Season with Egg Dying, Visiting the Mall Easter Bunny, and practicing his egg hunting skills. He is still talking, singing and dancing up a storm.

He still is clueless about the impending arrival and loss of his "only child" throne. I may try to chat with him about that a little soon.

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:36:00 +0000

We took our annual trip to the Easter Bunny today! I am so sad that no one has a cute ( white) Easter bunny that is not wearing some tacky garb. I am sincerely thinking that I will order and own an Easter Bunny costume for Erik to wear every year at our Easter Brunch that way everyone can get some cute , low stress Easter pics. Not to mention, save some $! I could have 2 Easter Bunny costumes by now for how much these little mall pictures cost! HA

This year I tried to talk up the Easter Bunny a lot and I told him that the EB would give out " chocolate eggs" aka Cadburry Eggs( his cryptonite). He did smile long enough to grab that egg from the Bunny's hand and then he wanted out of there! But not far far away. He was perfectly happy to blow kisses and wave and smile at the Easter Bunny from the checkout table!... just not within touching distance. He especially loves tap dancing around in those Sunday shoes on the mall floor.

I learned the hard way last year that finding an Easter themed photo frame is impossible, so I snatched one up at the Mall Easter Bunny stand and I think it is so cute!

Frames of years past!

Attention all Boy Mommas...

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:46:00 +0000

For the LOVE, can some of you guys explain to me how to get the stains from every day life out of your boys clothes?
Lately I have been trying to wash clothes like normal but do a soak cycle if stained stuff is in there, and add oxiclean oh and also pre-treat stain with Resolve spray. STILL it does not work.
What am I doing wrong? Or is Peebs just like the messiest kid ever?

Also I joined the train of bloggers moving from Google Reader to Blog Lovin. Link below AND they have a sweet iPhone/ipad app!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Bumpdate: 25 Weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 16:56:00 +0000

YAY ! Almost closing in on the end of the 2nd Trimester!

Symptoms: I am for realz pregnant now. Everything was pretty easy up until this point. My body HURTS and I sleep like crap. Those are my biggest complaints. I still have " pregnancy cold" so also get really stuffed up at night. I can take some killer naps during the day though!
Occasional Sciatic nerve tweaks.

Weight Gain: 22.5 lbs. This is generally the stage of pregnancy when I start to really gain weight. My doctor said he is not worried with my weight gain due to big baby history and the fact that ALOT of it is fluid, so that is good news for losing it post birth.

Belly Growth: 39" so about 7" added since week 5
My belly is getting bigger by the day, but it is SO MUCH LOWER with this pregnancy than it was with Fenn, that it is very uncomfortable. Did any of you have that experience? The heaviness of it pulling on my body is awful. I tried to buy a support garment called " A belly Bra" and I think it would have been awesome if I was not so tall. I have a long torso which makes this belly bra not long enough to fit me properly :( so disappointed. Can anyone else recommend something of this nature?

Baby News: I need a name for this baby. I can not come up with anything, and I am NOT an indecisive person! This is killing me. Erik has already picked his name and now I need to pick one that will go with it and I just can't decide. Every name I like he hates! For the love of monogramming, I need a NAME!
This girl kicks all day long, and jams out in there. She enjoys everything I eat and loves Cadburry eggs like her momma and big bro.

Food
Yes please! I have to eat like 8 meals a day to keep from starving. My current obsession ( other than Cadburry eggs) is Lucky Charms. How disgusting! But I am mowing through box after box. I remember panicking with my 1st pregnancy about how crappy my eating habits were and I was worried they would stay that way, but everything went back to normal after the baby so here is hoping that is the case this time as well.

Big Bro:

This little scrompy could not be cuter! I just love all these new phases he is into right now where he can talk, sing, and show interest in things he likes, or communicate that interest.
He is full of spunk and attitude too which has been spending lots of time in the time out chair when his ears are not working.

- He is really into singing and imitating still. I love watching him copy EVERYTHING his daddy does, and stuff he sees on TV too like dance moves etc.
- He has ( for unknown reasons) started racing all through the house chasing Ralphie and saying " RARRRRRRWWWRRR" while he does it. He will crawl over and under anything in the process. Poor ralphie is a good sport but I do have to intervene often and give the poor dog a break.
- He asks me often to watch " ipppooo momma" which means the Baby Einstein with the Hippo on the front that is about musical instruments. Then he goes to his playroom and brings out his piano, guitar and a table that he pretends is a drum and he copies what the characters on the screen do to play each one. He hums the classical music REAL loud too and will often dance to it.
- He basically NEVER stops moving!
- Still doing well with sleeping in his big boy bed. He really loves that bed and just even playing in it. The other night Ralphie kept trying to get me up, barking and so forth because Fenn was laying close to the edge of his bed, and sure enough he fell out of it! Erik put him back in and he pretty much never woke up during the process, although he cried out when he fell. Gotta give ole Ralphie props for watching after his little master so diligently and having good intuition.

and here is my little rockstar singing Rhianna " Diamonds" He also really loves some Taylor swift! You can see how serious he is about it! HA

Menu Monday: March Week 2

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 21:49:00 +0000

Monday: Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Shells
Sauteed Spinach & kale

Tuesday : Chicken N Rice Casserole
Jim -n- Nicks Cheddar Biscuits
http://pinterest.com/pin/71494712806916849/

Wednesday : Skinny Chicken Florentine
Texas Toast, Salad
* I will omit the chicken*
http://pinterest.com/pin/71494712806947811/

Thursday: Sweet & Sour Chicken
Fried Rice, Broccoli
http://pinterest.com/pin/71494712806913131/
http://thebitesizedblog.com/blog/2013/03/06/fried-rice/#.UTz-oqWEzdk

Friday: Spanish Chicken & Potato Roast
Fried Okra, Salad
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/spanish-chicken-and-potato-roast-recipe/index.html

Extra Item : Chicken Salad for Lunch Sandwiches.
http://blog.naturebox.com/post/35207819367/harvest-chicken-salad

MENU MONDAY REMINDERS

I have the week planned out but rarely cook the assigned item for that day and go more with what we are in the mood for.
If any of the recipe links don't work properly you can refer to my pinterest boards. I have one for recipes to try, one for tried and true recipes, and one for failed recipes. Self explanatory. I usually comment on the pin on each board as well.
I try, try being the key word, to find a good balance of health, thrift, and only a few days with meat for both health and financial reasons.
COSTCO really , really is a good idea. trust me.
You can follow me on instagram to see pictures of what I cook every day
I plan for 5 meals a week because we eat leftovers for lunch and the other 2 days. Meals that make a ton or enough to freeze half I will notate. Gonna be doing that soon with baby coming this summer!

Request, Prayer & Kindness..

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Hey guys, just wanted to have a space to explain to you my tweets etc about this little boy Caelon.

He is in the hospital for having strokes and his doctors have yet to find a diagnosis for him. He is 4 years old and enjoys cruising facebook and seeing people talk to him on here and post pictures to his timeline. One of his people reached out to me and asked me to share with my social media channels because of my strong network of Mommas! and Christian mommas at that.
I am scared that quick tweet blurbs might not get anyone's attention as it looks so much like the spam that is all over the net. So I wanted to clarify this is a real deal, and that 30 seconds of your time really does make a difference.
I also want to ask all you prayer warriors to add him to your prayer list. When I hear about stuff like this, it is really hard not to imagine myself in their shoes, I am hoping y'all will do the same and

"Like" his facebook page http://www.facebook.com/CaringForCaelon
Leave him a comment on his page with a picture if you are feeling especially kind
SHARE this link with your social network.
Pray for him

It is a beautiful thing the way the blogosphere comes together in situations like this and works hard to support and lift up our fellow parents.

and @melanyburtonrogers I know you are good at recruiting prayer so hook me up girl!

http://www.facebook.com/CaringForCaelon

Tip Tuesday : iPhone & iPad Mini Cases

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Being the new owner of an ipad mini ( yes I love it even though at first I thought it a ridiculous notion), I have been scouring the internet for a good case because it feels so fragile. Cases are hard to find!

I have been using an iphone 5 case from a company called "iOttie" that I bought off groupon and I love it. Partly because it is easy to get on and off and provides great protection against the toddler, and partly because it comes in beautiful colors ( I am obsessed with mint green right now)

and as it turns out they are making matching cases for the iPad mini that will be out in March!

Just wanted to pass that along if any of you are looking for new cases. I am not affiliated with them in any way I just love their products and wanted to share with my readers.

and.. until that case is available, I am currently using an $11 " Poetic" Brand case off Amazon .....

March Week 1 : Menu Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:38:00 +0000

Monday: Mushrooms & artichoke Tortellini , Salad, Texas Toast
( I omit the chicken from this recipe)

http://pinterest.com/pin/71494712804749496/

Tuesday : Taco Stuffed Shells & Spanish Rice
( that spanish rice recipe is really good and worth the effort. Make sure not to leave out the lime juice)
I also add jalapenos to our stuffed shells.

http://blogchef.net/taco-stuffed-shells-recipe/
http://pinterest.com/pin/71494712806890249/

Wednesday : Lemon Chicken Picatta, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus
This is something I cook regularly, it is really good and not too difficult. There are tons of variations and I actually got my recipe from @matthill but basically you are pan frying floured chicken breast filets in chicken stock, capers, lemon juice, & butter.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chicken_piccata/

Thursday: Parm. Crusted Oven Baked Chicken Fingers, Cream Corn Casserole, Green Beans.

I omit the bisquick and just use butter, Ritz, Garlic salt and park cheese)

http://pinterest.com/pin/554787247816632875/
http://pinterest.com/pin/71494712806620889/

Friday: Pesto Pasta , Salad, Texas Toast
I omit the olives since we don't like.
http://ponderedprimedperfected.blogspot.com/2012/12/pesto-pasta-salad-easy-and-tastes.html?m=1

MENU MONDAY REMINDERS

I have the week planned out but rarely cook the assigned item for that day and go more with what we are in the mood for.
If any of the recipe links don't work properly you can refer to my pinterest boards. I have one for recipes to try, one for tried and true recipes, and one for failed recipes. Self explanatory. I usually comment on the pin on each board as well.
I try, try being the key word, to find a good balance of health, thrift, and only a few days with meat for both health and financial reasons.
COSTCO really , really is a good idea. trust me.
You can follow me on instagram to see pictures of what I cook every day
I plan for 5 meals a week because we eat leftovers for lunch and the other 2 days. Meals that make a ton or enough to freeze half I will notate. Gonna be doing that soon with baby coming this summer!

February Resolutions Status & Other Updates..

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:45:00 +0000

Just wrapping up month 2 of our new budget and still really loving it. I have answered lots of emails about that subject and just want to clarify on here that the Gazelle software and book are really necessary IMO for success. My friend compares it to the weight watchers app and says, if you are not daily tracking your progress, its pointless because you don't follow the rules. The book teaches and motivates, while the software keeps you in check. I love always knowing our status.
Again this month , we went over what I budgeted for food. I can not even fathom how that is possible but I know it happens month after month. For March I am doing some STRATEGIC meal planning and Costco trip to try and resolve this.
Consignment sales started this month and I made a list and planned Fenn's entire summer wardrobe and followed the plan when I went to the sales. It was marvelous!

I am about 45% through my February Book " 7; An experimental mutiny against Excess" and it is very interesting, and eye opening. I have started the great clean out of this house and it is now messier than EVER! I have sold a few things on craigslist and ebay too so that feels great!
I even traded an old computer on Craigslist for an ipad mini and that is super exciting and fun. I am holding out my complete opinion for a month or so, but as of now, I think the mini is better than the original, which is ironic considering how stupid I thought the mini was when it came out! Something about it being so much lighter weight and small enough to easily go in my purse is FUN.

but the whole less is more thing is challenging for me ( in a good way) and I am excited to work on myself and my love of material things, which of course goes hand in hand with the budget.

I finally broke down and got some new maternity pants last week. I have been wanting some mint green pants for the spring and Motherhood Maternity had a BOGO 50% on Denim so I pulled the trigger and am loving them. They are much more comfortable than my other jeans cause they have some stretch in them. ( that top is not maternity but from GAP on clearance for $4.88).

We transitioned Peebs to his big boy bed recently, quite randomly really, one day we had a great morning and so when nap time came I said, do you wanna nap in your big boy bed? ( he loves to hang out in there and play in that bed) so I put him down in there with his fluffies and such and he stayed there until he fell asleep. After that we did it for all sleeping both night and naps.
He never tries to escape or anything, but sometimes he does cry a little when we leave the room, or try and get us to lie down with him. ( totally my fault as I have taken a nap in there with him a few times) He also wakes during the night sometimes and calls out for me, so I just get in the bed with him and he goes back to sleep. Not sure what to think about that, if he is having a bad dream or if it is scary to be in his new room ( we changed bedrooms , beds.. everything in one shabang) Maybe I should just pat him and leave rather than lie down with him but I am so tired these days, I just kind of take the easy road and lay down. When he wakes up, he will sit up in the bed and call for me to come get him, which I intend to ALWAYS teach him to do so I don't worry about him wandering around the house. I shall post pics when i get done with his big boy room... still have a ways to go since I am following my budget so strictly!

I did so/so on my February cooking. I cant get a picture from my 365 app, but I cooked a good bit. We were also out of town or entertaining a good bit so that prevented some cookings. I am about to start Menu Monday's since peeps on instagram want my recipes!

Bumpdate 22 Weeks!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:42:00 +0000

*** Ignore the snarky facial expression. It accompanies all the extra hormones and attitude that were delivered about week 20***

That's my Kim Kardashian Maternity outfit ( all black ! ha!) and might have something to do with the fact that I have outgrown my maternity jeans! I refuse to buy new ones with summer so close and Dave Ramsey whispering in my ear!

By the time this posts, I should be 22 weeks. Nothing happens on time around here lately!

I am feeling better lately than I have most of this pregnancy, however I can no longer forget that I am pregnant.

My belly popped right around 20 weeks, and now I am getting into the uncomfortable stage where sleeping is harder, and bending over not really possible.

Symptoms:

Still have major sinus issues, which I am guessing will be the case with the entire pregnancy due to nasal swelling ...
Some minor ligament pain
I feel like my belly is super low, which the doctor said is a 2nd pregnancy symptom
She moves ALL the time and I can feel everything, even with an anterior placenta, which really surprised my doc!
might be getting pretty feisty...
My blood pressure is still really low which makes me get kinda winded easily but not too big of a deal other than annoying!
I eat all day long lately. Constantly hungry. Yikes!

Weight Gain : Approx. 17 pounds.. which is ALOT but, my mother's intuition and this last ultrasound leads me to believe I am growing another Dinosaur baby so I guess the weight is needed.

Belly Growth: Several inches! Probably about to go up a size in maternity clothes and bras.

Baby News : We had another ultrasound with the doctor and she is definately a girl! She moves CONSTANTLY and I can now see my belly move with some of her kicking. We think we have the name picked out, but for some reason I am having trouble fully committing to it!

She has long arms and legs and they measured and checked everything and it showed all healthy and normal development which is always nice to hear!

Foods I am enjoying: anything and everything. I can't stop eating this week!

Big Brother : My precious little Toddler is so full of life and change lately. I can't imagine him being any more perfect or more fun. He has been talking so much more lately and just enjoyed a get away to Sea World & Disney World in Florida.

We just transitioned him into his big boy bed this week, on a whim really, and he has not missed a beat. He just lays down and goes to sleep like normal.

He also tried some new foods today! Hummus and Peanut Butter ! ( he has refused peanut butter since he was 1).

I had a ~~slightly crazy~~ thought today about changing his middle name so his sister could have it! Crazytown USA. But seriously... we could name her Anne Sparkman and Fenn's new middle name could be Michael after my daddy....
the name issue is killing me!

........

Our Day at Disney : Magic Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 13:39:00 +0000

First things first : We had a MARVELOUS time! I am still astounded that a 2.5 year old can enjoy something like Disney, but enjoy it he did, he squeezed every ounce of joy from that day he could, and consequently so did we.

Watching a little dance number with Mickey and friends in front of the castle.

Riding Aladdins Magic carpets! He loved ALL rides. We would ask him, " Do you wanna ride another ride?" and he would squeal "YES!!" and then hug our neck real big. He did not love waiting in line, but he managed it thanks to his creative daddy who would distract him by asking him to count things or spell words he saw on the wall etc.

Andrea from My Chiquaqua Bites gave us some great tips and told me about these "Dole Whip" things which is like basically pineapple soft serve floats in pineapple juice. Erik said it was the best thing He has ever eaten. Thanks A!

One of the 1st things we did when we got in was Mickey's Philharmagic or something like that, which was one of the coolest IMAX movies I have ever seen. It was short but it was interactive with huge wind gusts, water splashes and 3D imagery. Peebs laughed and laughed. He only wore his glasses about half of the time but enough to get the experience.

About 1/2 way through the day, Erik gave me and peebs both a time out for a poor attitude. I sat down in eatery place and relaxed and he went off with peebs in the stroller and returned with him asleep in the stroller in his shade pod. Just knowing my boy was getting a much needed power nap gave me great peace of mind. He slept in that pod for like 2 hours which gave Erik and I a chance to relax, sit down and eat and send some pics and videos to family.
That little shade piece folds up in a bag and ties to any stroller. It is called Protect-A-Bub and I highly recommend it for any active family, not just Disney Trips. It creates total shade over entire baby which also brings about cooler and darker atmosphere for napping..

The amount of cool glow stuff at night Disney was AWESOME. I LOVE things that glow in the dark. I always have.
Ironically, the girl who is a gift shop junkie, has a child who could give a rip about a trinket. We went in a million gift shops, none of which did he ever ask for anything. He wanted to hold or touch stuff but then would tell it bye bye and put it right back! How is that possible?
But I bought us both a blinkie mickey necklace at night and it totally made my day. I LOVE them! It was a great $10 souvenir.
Disney at Night is WAY cool and more fun than the day time for sure. The toddler who goes to bed at 7pm and usually has a 3 hour nap during the day went all day till 11pm at Disney with his stroller nap, AND he did all of that with very little attitude. Guess it really is the
" Magic Kingdom" !

Here he is at like 10pm Watching the Parade ! Party Animal. He loved the fireworks show before the parade too.

So, some things I learned :

Pack extra outfit, swim diaper and water proof shoes just incase you get wet or play in splash pads.
Bring all your own snacks and drinks you want! We brought tons of stuff and they didn't say a word about it.
Sunscreen.duh.
Beach towel that can double as a blanket for fireworks watching
Don't sweat leaving your stroller in the stroller parking. That really worried me at first ( after the robbery I am paranoid) but everyone does it and no one steals your stuff.
Cross-Body purse or diaper bag that you can attach to stroller while rolling around but carry with you on rides that holds camera, phones and important stuff like that.
Buy the photo pass. You ask for it right when you come in and see the Disney photographers. Then all day long as they snap your picture they scan the card and you can buy the pics at the end of the day. It costs some money, yes, but it is so nice to have pictures of the whole family and on such a memorable day. I think this pass will work multiple days and parks as well. DIsney sells all kinds of cute picture frames too.
Get and use the fast pass.
Schedule at least one fun dinner/breakfast. Their restaurants were all neat and had good food and just something about the whole place being for kids, made me less anxious about my boys restaurant behavior. ha

Rides we did with a 2.5 Year Old :

It's a Small World ( twice)
Peter Pan's Flight
Flying Dumbo
Aladdin's magic carpet
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ( twice) LOVED!
Jungle Cruise ( fun and funny)
Mickey's Philharmagic ( this is the IMAX thing I think is a MUST)
Pirates of the Caribbean

iPhone Apps for Disney:

Disney Mobile Magic
WDW Hours ( their hours change often, sometimes open till midnight, and sometimes they won't tell you till you are on site.
WDW Waits ( this tells you the wait for each ride without having to walk over and see)

My Pinterest Disney Board:
http://pinterest.com/lg2006/disney-world-trip/

Be Sure to Check out that link that reviews ALL of the Disney Resorts and Properties on my pinterest board!

I know lots of you have been to Disney, are going or go often so please leave comments about any tips you have or favorite things you did, where you stayed etc.

Valentimes Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 04:21:00 +0000

We had an absolutely jam packed buy lovely Valentimes today! Bubs was off work, we had an ultrasound and got to see the baby girl, Fenn had school, and then we went as a family delivering Valentimes to some special ladies ( neighbors, ladies in our church, and special friends).

We had SO much fun. He loved going up to the doors and would knock and repeatedly ring the door bell HA. He carried the chocolates and a card, and I carried the flowers. He also said " Happy Valentines Day" although it was not easy to understand.

( does he not look 87 feet tall in this pic?!)

I also bought him 2 rawhide Doggie Valentines from Target for his doggles and he LOVED handing those out! Flossie is not interested in hers and he keeps following her around the house with it trying to re-gift it.

I love this sweet little picture of my tiny cupid!

We still had a few Valentines that we didn't get to see! We ran out of time as my parents were arriving in town and we had a lovely dinner with them. He was so happy to see his Bebe and PawPaw and Bebe brought him a special "Super Why" magic wand. ( he loves Superwhy!) and Paw Paw brought him an "uptake" ( a.k.a. Cupcake) which he really enjoyed!

I think this will be a yearly tradition as it was so fun and a great excuse to pop in and visit the ones we love! Happy Valentimes to everyone out there!

Trip to Orlando/Disney/Sea World..

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 02:13:00 +0000

We recently went to Orlando, FL to visit Erik's grandparents. His maternal grandmother Tubby lives in Orlando and his paternal grandfather " Granpa" and his wife Glo live near Orlando in Sebastain. We usually come about once a year and fly down, however this year after consulting the ole Dave Ramsey budget.. we did things differently. We DROVE down. It was kind of a fun road trip and peebs did really well, even though he did not nap ONCE on the 12 hour drive down. We stopped at 2 McDonalds playgrounds for him to play at and he loves every minute of that!

Thanks to Marilyn, I discovered that people rent their vacation homes in Orlando and as it turns out that was MUCH cheaper than us getting a hotel ( less than $99 a night) AND the one we got was 3 bedrooms with kitchen and all sorts of ammenities because it was in a resort.
Can we just sidebar and talk about how much better ANY trip is when you don't share a bedroom with your child. Can I get an AMEN? Also? This condo came with a crib, pack n Play and high chair! It was just like staying in someone else's house! Crazy! Free WiFi!
I could go on and on but I just share this for those of you that ever aspire to visit Disney World, these rental houses are about 5 minutes out side of Disney and so much more affordable. ( probably more during the big seasons like summer and spring break).
The place we stayed was called Bahama Bay if anyone needs to look into it! They also had an awesome pool and playground!

Now this trip to see the grandparents, somehow, daily, morphed into quite the vacation. WE had tossed around the idea of going to Sea World since the boy loves sea animals so much, but we didn't buy tickets until the night before we went. After that went so well, we tossed around the idea of taking him to Disney, after all we were already down there and paying for a hotel.. and so we again bought some last minute tickets and then again the next day. While walking around Disney Erik asked me " How did this trip to see Grandma and Granpa turn into a Disney Vacation?!" and I said I have no idea!

**Giving Granpa a Kiss**

Anyway, I say all of that to say that we did go to Disney, and we did not blow it out by any means. It was a very conservative and short , "dip your toe in the huge Disney pool". We learned some things and had enough fun that we def. will want to go back when he is older and baby 2 is here to enjoy it. I will do a separate blog on that disney stuff because I am hoping you all can give some great feedback! I got the impression that Disney is the kind of trip you wanna do a lot of planning and saving for in advance.

Sea World with a Toddler!

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 03:23:00 +0000

I have to tell y'all about our trip to Sea World because it was everything I never expected! I am still in shock, and so is bubs at how TOTALLY awesome it was! I rank our day at Sea World right up there in one of the best days of my life, and we have done some fun stuff!
I should preface this by saying: Peebs LOVES sea creatures, in particular, sea horses, whales, dolphins and sharks. Sea World is the perfect place for a boy like PB, and that is the only reason I even entertained the idea of taking a 2 year old in there to begin with.

Fenn just turned 2.5 so he was free to get in and do most everything and that was nice. We also saved a few bucks booking things online and paying and printing our tickets on the computer.

Here are some tips I learned:

- Def. have tickets in hand when you get there, so you can skip the line. Toddlers and lines are not a good combo.
- Pack more than you think you will need. I assumed we would only last a few hours because I HIGHLY underestimated Fenn's enthusiasm and stamina for fun. I needed more diapers, more wipes, more mash packs, more snacks,etc. I guess they let you bring in whatever you want because they didn't say one thing to me about the stuff I packed for him, and he ate every last bite that I brought.
- Pack an extra set of clothes, maybe 2. Lots of splashing etc and little did we know they had a full on splash pad for smaller kids and Fenn had the time of his life there. He was SOAKING wet. Shoes and all. Wish I had known and packed for that.
- I forgot to charge my camera battery, and both bubs and I ran our iphones from 100% to 0 while there. Parent fail! We took some ridiculously awesome pics and videos before everything died though!
- Be prepared to be there all day. I was SHOCKED at how much time we spent there, with NO napping etc. Fenn normally naps 2-3 hours each day and he skipped that today and stayed up till 9pm. If you can believe it, he did all of that as happy as he could be with very few melt downs. His only time to get antsy was in restaurant, and in bleachers waiting on the show to start.
- If you see something special in a gift shop, for Heavens sake, buy it then, not at the end of the day. I saw a Sea World Frame with 2013 on it that was perfect for Fenn's big boy room and I had to search High and LOW to find that thing at the end of the day while the park was closing!
- All in all be prepared to spend about $500 ( give or take) like I said Fenn was Free for everything and he is our only kid so far, so that number could change quite a bit based on those facts but that includes tickets, parking, special excursion, photos, souvenirs, restaurant meal etc.
- Schedule the extra stuff and pay for it online when you buy tickets because it does fill up/sell out quickly and its so neat. They sold out while i was buying our tickets and I asked inside the park to purchase some and they let me!
- Don't even think about going without a stroller. If you didn't bring one then rent one. I don't know how we would have survived without our stroller.

Things About Sea World We LOVED:

I read a blog about a mom who took her kids to sea world and one was peebs age and had similar interests and it helped me so much so here are my personal preferences that I would highly recommend if you go! Click that link to read her post as it was great!

The Dolphin Up Close Tour. You have to buy an extra ticket to get to do this, and it was SO WORTH IT. No lines, no crowds and getting to play with ( and touch) Dolphins. We absolutely LOVED that. In addition they have a professional photographer taking pictures and you buy them or the whole disk which I also loved. It is nice to have pictures of such a special time and have the WHOLE family in them.

The Blue Horizon Dolphin Show. All the employees kept talking about it and I assumed they were supposed to for work, but what they said was true, it was a REALLY neat and entertaining show full of dolphin tricks and tropical birds and such and it didn't cost anything extra.Fantastic actually .
The Sting Ray exhibit was really fun and we got to touch them too.
The Splash pad and children's park and rides area. I had no idea that even existed and boy did my PB LOVE it. He was running and squealing with such glee it brought tears to my eyes. He was soaking wet the rest of the day and we didn't even care. They had a train to ride, carousel, etc. Need to be 42" tall to ride most things there.

Other things to mention: One Ocean show. It was the place you got to see the whales perform and that part was fun but it was no where near the extravaganza of Blue Horizons Dolphin Show. We also ate lunch at the Shark underwater grill was was cool for sure, but we did not get a table next to the aquarium which I thought was the whole point of the reservation. We still enjoyed it and the food there is really good but its kinda fancy and expensive. I would skip that if I had known better.

We really had no idea what to expect, and we didn't set many boundaries which I think made the day more fun for everyone. If PB wanted to run free , we let him, if he wanted to ride we strolled. If he ate M&Ms or Veggies we let him decide ( he ate both, all of anything I brought). We were all pretty laid back all day and the only firm plans we had were for the Dolphin Up Close Tour and lunch. It was nice not racing around on a hectic schedule and just letting our mood dictate what we did.

I would go back to Sea World again and again if asked! It was just SO much fun. I now understand why millions of families flock down here for Disney World.

** If you google Sea World with a Toddler and have landed here, feel free to ask questions but you must make sure you have an email address connected to your blogger Acct or I can't reply! **

Updates on PB's Food and Speech Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:31:00 +0000

I get lots of emails about this topic, so this is an update for those interested parties.

Yesterday we had both Occupational Therapy ( for food) and Speech Therapy and he had a really great day in both. The women who teach those are really amazing people. I am always shocked at what they can get out of him. It is customary that at the end of each hour I go in and talk to the teacher, and yesterday when I walked in OT he was sitting so studiously in a chair at a table following some good instructions and he was speaking sentences, which immediately brought tears to my eyes, and i whipped out my iphone to record. I didn't do a good job because I was so excited and wanted to praise him and see him doing it again, but he does ask for what he wants ( instead of jerking it out of her hand) and he says please!

His OT has confirmed that his eating issues stem from a very sensitive gag reflex and are sensory related, so a legit developmental issue, not just him being a picky toddler. One of the bigger obstacles, or stepping stones in treating kids with food issues is getting them to put new food in their mouth, ( and always reassuring them its cool for them to spit it out if necessary). He put several new foods in his mouth yesterday, and chewed them and even swallowed like 3 of them! That is HUGE!
He tried : Pretzels, Mandarin Oranges, Mandarin Orange Juice, Apples, Apricot Apple Sauce, Cheese Puffs, Swiss Cheese Deli Slice, Babybell Cheese, grapes, Turkey Deli Meat, Cauliflower raw.

He swallowed the Pretzels, Juice, Apples, Apple sauce, Cheese Puffs, Swiss Cheese, Babybell cheese!
Y'all that is HUGE.
He was most irritated by the oranges and would only touch with his hand but not put hear his mouth.
Remember his approved/acceptable foods are: Nutrigrain bars, waffles, oreos, mashpacks, buffalo pretzels, goldfish and thats about it. Sometimes he will have something else but we rely on smoothies for nutrition obvi!

I am expecting a lot of progress here soon because he has just started a new phase, of putting EVERYTHING in his mouth.( water bottle caps, marker tops, fingers, pennies, etc) So annoying but at the same time he never did this as a baby , which is an important developmental thing where they learn discovery of textures and tastes and swallowing and such, so now that he is doing it, I expect his ability to eat and chew and swallow and all to improve!

Here is his food report card from yesterday:

And then it was on to speech therapy where he was "Talking a blue streak" Praise JESUS. He says so many things these days it is pointless to a make a list. He copies tons of what we say and do, as well as has spontaneous chatter. He enjoys bossing the dogs around a lot and i have to watch how I reprimand the dogs because he will def repeat it. Almost his first words after waking up in the morning is " shut it ralphie" which is what i say instead of " SHUT UP RALPHIE!!" ( he barks non stop in the morning because he wants me to get Fenn out of bed so badly).

His speech therapist says we don't normally worry about pronunciation until age 3, but she did help him learn to say "MINE" or " MY" instead of " I" or " Ine" He kind of half says some words, or starts any word with an H. so when he counts he says " un, ooo, heee, hoooo" pretty cute if you ask a momma, but I know it's important to teach proper speech.

I caught only the tale end of it here but he was saying " My turn" and pronouncing it properly like she taught him. One of his greatest strengths is that he learns QUICK. You tell him or show him something pretty much once and its engraved to his little brain. For instance his daddy so smartly took a vent cover off recently in front of him and now he goes around pulling vents out of the floor and trying to stash stuff in them.!

So that is a pretty thorough update on all our developments and therapies. His has grown SO much and learned so much from when we first started all of this and I am forever grateful that we started and that our state provides such awesomeness. Feel free to ask questions if you have any because it is hard to remember everything when writing posts like these!

January Resolutions Status : Budgeting and Cooking

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:01:00 +0000

If you follow me on instagram or twitter you have probably seen lots of pictures of food! I am using an app called #project365 to keep myself accountable for cooking every day that is possible ( which goes hand in hand with my budgeting resolution). Food continues to be our biggest expense, even with meal planning and this is something I am really focused on changing in 2013 , but without making any compromises to quality ( i.e. organic, no hormones , genetically modified etc.)
Here are some screen shots of the cooking for January, and you can see I missed quite a few days. At the end of the month, I ran out of budget money for grocery and had to get creative, ha! YOu can see most of the recipes I am making on my pinterest board by clicking HERE. I usually comment on my instagram photo and on pinterest if they were any good or not.

Budgeting.. Dave Ramsey style! I still have not finished reading my Dave Ramsey book because I have been so tired at bedtime these days. I will tell you that I think the book and the software were BOTH worth it. I have learned a ton from that book already and all of the things about money that I found so intimidating , like saving for retirement, are explained in that book in really easy language and now I feel empowered because I have a plan, and it is one that makes sense and I feel confident in. ( I say "I" because I am the money manager of our family).
The software is super fun and useful when working on your categories of spending. I can see how it will take a few months to get this down perfectly. Budgeting works on lots of areas of your life, for instance planning and thinking ahead ( 2 things I am terrible at) but now i have to think about what is coming, and plan for what I want, so that the budget stays on track. I am actually enjoying it! I feel so much more responsible, and I feel like I am making better decisions because of how much more thought has gone toward them. I don't know how to explain it very well, but the boundaries and the guidance actually do give me a lot of peace and I am drinkin the Kool-aid! Long Live Dave Ramsey!

So January, we followed the budget almost to a T. I had some leftover gas money that I had to apply toward grocery money.. tweaks like that but not craziness!

Next up is to de-clutter and sell all the junk we no longer need or use! Once I get done reading Dave Ramsey, I start with my de-clutter your life book "An Experimental Mutiny against excess"

We were robbed! and other weekend updates..

noreply@blogger.com (Laura Graham) — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:42:00 +0000

It has been rather eventful over in Grizawood lately. Thursday night someone broke into our garage, by sawing through the wooden door and just went shopping in there. We had not completely moved everything in and unpacked yet so they had a field day and cleaned house. That is the very short version of a much bigger story, but it makes me too upset to talk about it anymore. I share this to remind everyone to be safe. Guess I will be back to taking pictures of every guy that works on this house ( remember when I used to do that?!)

In more fun news, our buddies The Latimers came to visit us from Birmingham for the weekend. They have a 4 year old daughter Margaret Anne, and boy did Peebs love her. He loved having a pal, and they ran and played and giggled up a storm. It was so funny to hear him calling after her and trying to say her name, I don't think I have ever heard him call another child by name.
Margaret Anne, like every other kid on the planet loved her some Erik! See evidence below.

They played ipad a little...

and Ralphie and Flossie acted like Hays and Mere were their long lost parents. Look at Ralphie all snuggled up:

I get a kick out of the contrast of Star Wars jammers and princess Jammers..

Sunday Night we took peebs to the circus. It was something else.. and I realized I am not much of a circus girl. I don't know what I expected but I was thinking it was about animals. It was very little about animals and more singing and acrobatics like cirque de soliel or something..

Anyway.. enough about what I thought , the real story is peebs and his 2.5 year old view...
You can see that serious face of interest below:

He enjoyed the horses, the elephants and the motorcycles and I think even the ninjas , which I thought was ridiculous ( ninjas at the circus?)... but he clapped every time they did anything. as in every 10 seconds. It was adorable. The hard part was the acts he was bored for.. keeping him still and comfortable because of how tight the seating was. We also had a redneck in front of us who was annoyed with peebs for accidentally kicking his cowboy hat. I apologized to the man and he was pretty rude to me.
So it was a good experience for him to have and I don not forsee us ever having it again. HA

I sent my mom this picture on my iphone of peebs and flossie and she had someone paint it. Isn't it awesome? Here is a link to the lady who did it ( a blogger chick) if you are interested in having her paint something for you

and.. that is all the updates for now. More later on my January progress with Dave Ramsey, cooking and stuff like that!