Happy Sixth Month Birthday, Little Sis!

 

Little Sister turned six months old today (Happy Earth Day, too, to those that do all the small things to take care of our beautiful planet!).

Camille recently found her feet and she is often in this position when she is laying down. She rolls over from tummy-to-back, now, and I'm helping her learn to sit up. Russell was sitting up by six months so I figure she can learn, too:-) The back of her head still has a bald spot from sleeping so it would be nice for her to sit up when she can. Last Thursday, one little tooth started poking through her bottom gums. Time for Tylenol and
Orajel!

Her six-month stats are: 15 lb 5 oz, 25" in length, and 50% percentile.

She loves to be held. I'm sure she'd be thrilled if I put her in the Bjorn and carried her all day.

Camille isn't the big eater that Russell was at six months. She'll eat two pear ice-cubes for breakfast and one yam ice-cube for supper. No more than that for now.

 

We celebrated today with Martha Stewart's "Glazed chocolate cake." Shall I say INCREDIBLE? Yum. We sang to Camille and she reached out to receive the cake/plate. I know when she's my daughter when she envies chocolate (I did give her a lick of icing).

She is enamored with Russell. Every day, every moment. He can make her laugh more than anybody.

Happy half-birthday, Baby Girl. You are the light of our lives.

Money Saving (okay, Spending) Mom

Our marriage has flowed easily when it comes to finances... it's quite easy, actually... Dan earns, I spend. Kidding aside, that is just how it works since I'm the one to buy groceries, pay bills online, and keep us clothed and clean. Our 'big ticket' items we spend on are airfare and vacations (hotel rooms, restaurants).

In an attempt to cut our monthly spending on incidentals down, I've always used coupons from the Sunday paper inserts but recently, I found myself linked to MoneySavingMom. Her site includes links to other bloggers that are highly dedicated to getting many items for little/no money. I don't have the time (so how do they?) to do all the work to figure out the deals but MSM compiles the coupons and I save $$$. I only frequent Target and Safeway, with visits to Trader Joe's and Walgreens as secondary, but for the last few visits to my stores, I've certainly enjoyed the extra savings. Also, I recently learned about e-coupons online that can be added to a stores' membership card (i.e. Safeway, Vons, Albertsons) so that the savings are automatically deducted at the till.

I know I won't ever be one of the women who can get $150 worth of groceries for $15 but that's okay. A few saved dollars here and there will help.

***sorry to my Canadian friends and family. These sites are for American stores and companies:-(

It's April 2nd today. Where is time going? Two months until my youngest sister's wedding. I remember seeing her swaddled in the hospital bassinet when she was only a day old... but that's been over 20 years now. I think the last time I was in Edmonton was 1993? I am thankful we were able to book a direct flight (3 hrs) to Edmonton from San Francisco. God bless Air Canada.

Russell continues with swim classes. He's doing well (i.e. no crying, he obeys his teacher, and looks forward to each week's class). We went to Stanford's campus last weekend for an hour while Dan went into work to fix something, and while we waited, we watched the lane swimmers at the pool (all the pools are outdoors). Russell was so excited and asked if he could swim at that pool:-) I told him if he kept up his classes with Teacher Diana that someday he might. It was sweet to see him so enthused.

We don't really have plans for Easter this year. Dan doesn't have either Friday or Monday off (boo). We'll give Russell his Easter basket on Saturday morning since Sunday morning Dan will be out the door early to help at church and the kids and I will leave soon after. I bought all the ingredients to make hot-cross buns and a broccoli/white-cheddar side dish. Throw in some chicken, and we'll do dinner on Sunday night.

I got my capris and my new denim skirt in the mail last week. I love each item and they fit nicely. Ahh. The little things that make such a huge difference in life. I had ordered a dress as well but I returned that and instead, found a Jones New York dress at my thrift store for $8. I love the dress and the price. I think the dry-cleaning will cost more;-)

Happy Spring to you all. Now, for some warm weather??