Happy Halloween!

Hi all, long time no see! I have been very busy and crazy and all sorts of things, but I really do need to start getting back into this! I come to you today bearing gifts of adorable Halloween baby pictures, and the promise of lots more on the Flickr photostream! Go there, you will not regret it! I have videos to upload too, but they need editing and that takes forever.

Robert is 41 weeks old today! He has been out of the womb for as long as he was in it, crazy thought! I can't believe how big and clever he's gotten, so quickly. Already he's pulling up and cruising like a champ, and if he's not walking by Christmas, I'll be surprised. Things like pointing and talking are coming more slowly, but he's always watching and interacting. He and I play the back-and-forth syllables game where I mimic the noises he makes, which he thinks is hilarious. He can clap his hands and shake his rattle and bang his sticks in baby music class, he is getting to be a pro at that. Things look good for getting another semester of that, and I'm really excited about it! His nine month checkup was great, the doctor says he looks perfect and is right on track. Just what we like to hear!

Our budget, as always, has been a little more shaky in its progress than Robert's growth and development. It takes a month or two to recover from the long payless drought. I think we're getting there, and we still have a fairly comfortable cushion in savings, but I don't want to tap it. The bills are up to date, so if we can pay the rent and not spend any more money for, oh, ten days, we'll be fine! Yeah, that's likely for us... Robert and I did go out shopping today and did well for ourselves. We got about 200 dollars worth of stuff at CVS and Walgreens for 17 dollars out of pocket, and I got 15 dollars in ECBs and register rewards to spend next time. That's not bad at all, considering all the stuff I got. The big thing was yet another glucose monitor, this one a fancy one that can plug into a Nintendo DS. I don't need it myself, but I donate them to the church, because other people do need them. They go on sale for free-with-coupon all the time, so I have about four of them now. I also got a couple things of Dawn, some kleenex, a new nice razor, NyQuil and Dayquil, a couple bottles of nasal spray, four bags of cough drops, about 70 freezer pops, four things of deodorant, four bottles of Olay lotion, Halloween treats to give out, a can of iced tea, and the newspaper. Good sales!

I've still been doing Weight Watchers, though this week I've suffered a little bit from Halloweenfooditis, if you know what I mean. But I've also done lots of walking and lots of water-drinking, so maybe it will balance out. So far I've lost 18.5 pounds and I'm feeling good about it. Cross your fingers for me, we've got Robert's candy stash in the house!

Count Your Blessings

It's been quite a few days since I blogged (again), but now I've got my camera cord and batteries issues sorted out, so hopefully I'll be able to do a little more. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy now that Robert is mobile, I'm always having to try and keep one eye on him. He's teething for real now, too! He has one teeny little tooth bud that we can see in his gum when he consents to opening his mouth wide enough. It's been waking him up at night, which means less sleep for everyone. I just need to get some new time management strategies set up, I guess. That's the problem with having a baby, just when you get a routine down, they're in a new phase and everything's up in the air again! Of course, that's what keeps it interesting too, so I probably shouldn't complain too much.

Sometimes I end up feeling overwhelmed, and I just don't know how everybody else seems to manage. Sometimes I wish I had insurance just so I could maybe get onto Adderall and manage my ADD the way my mom does. Maybe then I wouldn't have such a hard time being organized. It's surprisingly easy to let myself get bogged down and depressed if I'm not careful, but I know that's silly. When that happens, it's time to count my blessings, because there are tons of them. I'm very lucky!

First and most importantly is my family! I've got my wonderful husband and beautiful baby. We're all together, we're all healthy. I'm the lucky woman who doesn't need to ask her husband to help around the house or with the baby, and Robert is the lucky baby whose father is present and affectionate and fun. M and I are the very lucky parents whose baby is healthy and on track and uncommonly adorable, to boot! He just gets cuter every day. Beyond that, we have extraordinarily supportive extended families to help us through the rough times and celebrate with us in the good times.

Just after we came back from our travels, I made an incautious move in the kitchen and broke the ceramic insert to my crockpot. Even though I was lucky that the shrapnel, which was very close to Robert and I, didn't hurt anyone, I was devastated because we cook so much of our food in the crockpot, especially in the winter. And at this time of year, we have no extra money to spare, as I've mentioned before. I posted about it on Facebook, mostly to vent, and my family came to the rescue! Not only do I have a new crock pot, I have the warm blanket of remembering that my family and M's family that's my family too now, all of them care about us and are thinking of us when things aren't going smoothly. And the new crockpot is a blessing in itself, I found it on sale at Kitchen Collection in the mall, and it's great! It's got a carry handle that a spoon buckles right into, so on Soup Sundays at church, I can just pick up the whole thing and go. With an eight month old baby, anything that increases our portability is awesome. :D

More blessings! Even though we do not have a lot of money, we still have fabulous opportunities to enrich Robert's life! There's a lot of stuff going on in this area that is great for babies. The other week, Robert and I went to Baby Loves Disco at the mall, a disco party for babies and little kids with a lot of stuff sponsored by various mall stores. We got to dance to the music, and Robert got a little plastic egg-shaped shaker, and a cute orange sock puppet. It was fun, and great exercise! The library has baby reading programs, though we can't go this semester because M needs the car on Tuesday mornings, and it's cool enough to go to the zoo now. Robert loves his baby music class, and it looks like his scholarship may be extended so he can do it in the new year as well! That would be wonderful. It's such a nice time for him to be able to socialize with other babies, and we just couldn't afford it without the scholarship help.

Robert's health is a huge blessing. Even though it bothers me to not be insured, that's nothing compared to how glad I am that Robert's health will at least be taken care of. He's a very healthy little boy, and because we have state aid, we don't have to worry about how we're going to get him his checkups and vaccinations, or about how we can take him to the doctor if he gets sick. The pediatrician practice we go to is really great, and we like all the doctors there. He has his nine month appointment coming up next week, so we will see what the doctor thinks of his crawling and his tooth and his wriggly twenty-pound self! Having WIC has been a major blessing too, and I breathe a little prayer of thanksgiving every time I look at the cost of formula. He's getting three solid meals a day, one fruit, one veggie, and one protein, but he still gets four six-ounce bottles as well. That adds up fast! WIC doesn't cover all the formula costs, but it's a big help.

I am getting healthy too! Weight Watchers is working for me, and for the moment it's even faster than last time. I think the fact is that with all Robert and I do, I get quite a bit of exercise. Now that I'm not eating so aggressively badly, my body has time to burn some of the calories. I worry about our grocery bill, but I'm still trying to combine frugality with eating right, and hopefully I can balance it somewhere in the middle. I want Robert to have a good relationship with food, and that means fixing my own relationship with it first. But I've lost 11 pounds now, and my pants are feeling noticeably looser. I'm looking forward to "shopping in my closet," and getting out all the clothes I haven't been able to wear since before the baby.

Ah, clothes, another blessing! We have a thrift store right around the corner from our house, thank God. They sell baby clothes for fifty cents an item, and now they've got their winter stuff out. I've been putting Robert into pants, and realizing that what was pants on him this spring is shorts now, when it fits at all! He's growing so fast! So yesterday we went out and bought six pairs of pants, a set of overalls, and two shirts for my little guy. They're 12 month sized, so he should be able to wear them all winter, I hope. Sure they're big now, but he's a baby, so it's cute. Looking at the price of new baby clothes, I'm doubly grateful for the thrift store. Sure it's nice to get a brand new outfit for him once in awhile, especially for special occasions, but there's just no reason to shell out that kind of money for clothes he's going to wear for three or four months.

I have lots more blessings to count, but this post is getting long, and I'm already feeling much better. It really is a good exercise to do when you're feeling a little low. Another good trick is actual exercise, so I think I may take Robert and go out and get some exercise endorphins!

Giving Til It Hurts

Today Robert got two breakfasts, sneaky boy! He woke up at 6:30 and M gave him fruit and cereal, but Robert was obviously still quite tired, so M was more than happy to lay him down again and go have some more sleep himself. Robert woke again at 9, and this time I got up with him, (this being M's day to sleep in, since his classes are M-Th this term). I didn't know Robert had already gotten breakfast, since M usually just gives him a bottle, so I gave him fruit and rice as well, and also a bottle, when he still seemed hungry. He ate it all! I can't believe this kid is still in the 35th percentile for weight, except that when he is not sleeping, he is in constant motion!

Once we were all up and fed and dressed, we headed out to the blood donation center in the next town over (which is about three minutes away). I had gotten a call earlier this week because they're critically short on my blood type, so I said I would try to drop in. This is the first time either of us has donated since Robert was born, I was breastfeeding and then just too darn busy. We took turns, I gave first while M was on baby duty, then vice versa. I was very impressed with my phlebotomist, she got me on the first stick, which not too many can do! It was a fast and easy donation, and I felt fine afterwards, just a bit wobbly for a few minutes. M donated and did fine as well, and Robert charmed the pants off everybody at the center. Afterwards, we informed Robert than Mommy and Daddy are superheroes, saving ten lives with a single hour's work!

This afternoon M had a meeting, so Robert and I stuck around the house. We watched a little Caillou, which I don't think is as bad as some people say, and went outside to blow bubbles. It was very windy, and all Robert really wanted to do was chew on the wand, but it was fun anyway. The neighbor kids came over, they are very fond of Robert and like to play with him. It rained then, which cut at least a little of the horrible oppressive heat. I am so ready for some fall! I stayed on points today, though barely with the horrible choice of snacks they had available at the blood center. I helped myself liberally to salsa sandwiches throughout the day, which is whole wheat bread, butter spray, and salsa. Only two points, tasty and filling. It's also a serving of veggies!

Back Home and Busy!

Okay, now we're back home and back into our routine, and I need to start blogging again! It's hard for me to pick up my good habits again after falling out of them, but now that we are far away from family once more, everyone needs their daily dose of Robert! You can find lots of new Robert pics on the Flickr photostream, to help make up for my long absence.

I've decided it's time to get started with Weight Watchers again. I never lost that baby weight, and added a few more pounds besides, which is just ridiculous. Coming up with the money is going to be interesting, but I think I can do it if I cut back on some other things I've been doing with our money. It means cutting back on the recreational couponing, the things I get super-cheap and end up donating. I donated a ton of stuff this past year and I feel good about it, but now I need to repurpose the money for awhile into the membership dues and paying for more produce and healthy foods.

Today has been my third day on Weight Watchers, and so far, so good. I have been to my first meeting, and stayed on plan every day so far, even though yesterday we went to a biergarten for M's orientation mixer and there were  fried sauerkraut balls. Holy cow. But I displayed some moderation, and also saved my points all day for it, so I was okay. Not drinking beer definitely helps! I also went to the mall and walked around for an hour on Monday, earning some activity points, and today I actually went down to the exercise room and hopped back on the eliptical. I totally wore myself out in fifteen minutes, but it is a start! Fifteen today, sixteen tomorrow, and on and on... Eventually I will be able to keep up with Robert as he learns to crawl and walk!

Today I had a really hungry day for some reason. I ate all my points throughout the day, then went and exercised and ate those points in the form of a turkey and pickle sandwich! (A piece of provolone cheese costs three points, but pickles are free, free, free!) It was surprisingly tasty. Robert had a hungry day as well, including an entire extra bottle even though he had his daily fruit breakfast, veggie lunch and bean dinner. Maybe it's the weather. I can't believe it's still ninety degrees out! When it cools down, we will walk again, and earn points from it! Woo-hoo!

Oh, and today after Robert had eaten his fill of the steamed pureed peas I made for him, I let him have the bowl and spoon for a little self-feeding practice. Not a lot was accomplished, but it was very funny. And then he got a thorough bath!

Baby Music

Today was an exciting day because it was the start of Robert's baby music class! He slept so well last night, very happy to be back in his own bed, and didn't wake until 7am. M got up with him and let me sleep till 8, which was awesome. At nine, we went to the music class, where Robert and five other babies near his age got to hit sticks together, shake bells, and rattle rattles, as well as dancing with the mommies and playing clapping games. Robert is too little to clap or sing, but he really liked the instruments, and he was totally interested in all the other babies. I think he had a really good time. We are very lucky because we got a scholarship to the Kindermusik program for this semester, because otherwise we just couldn't afford it at all. I think we are really going to have a fun time with it.

After class, we stopped by the thrift store on our block because they are having their summer clearance sale! Woo-hoo! I pretty much cleared them out of their 18 month old summer stuff for boys. At ten cents per item, why not? I also got him a backup Halloween costume for a dollar, and some twenty-five cent sleepers. All in all, I got two bulging grocery bags of clothes for five bucks. Not bad at all! Robert was very tired and hungry by the time we got home. He didn't want solid foods much today, he took a bottle and a nice long nap. It was great, and allowed me to get a little nap as well. M even cooked lunch, making sloppy joe spaghetti. That was kind of odd, but pretty good! We're eating a lot out of the stuff we brought back from my folks, they let me do a freezer raid before we left. I left them the prepared meals but took some snacks and a bunch of raw ingredients out of their two stuffed-full freezers. The ground turkey went into the spaghetti, and then for supper, we had cheesy potatoes. My mom makes them and freezes them just because they are M's very favorite. It is her way of bribing him to want to come visit more often. ;)

I found a way to get half my continuing legal education credits for this year for free, by going to a guardian ad litem seminar a few towns away. That would be great, because CLE credits can be very expensive. I just need to do some paperwork and send it in tomorrow so I can get a space. It's a little weird to be getting CLE when I haven't worked in two years now, but it's important to keep my license current. If I can do it without paying an arm and a leg, so much the better!

Oh, and regarding yesterday's picture, my dad turned down the temp on the hot tub so that it was like bathwater, and then we took Robert in. He thought it was just awesome, like a giant warm bathtub. He splashed everyone and did his faux-swimming moves and played in the little waterfall. Even when we turned on the jets, he wasn't a bit scared. I gave him a real bath right afterwards, just to be on the safe side with chemicals and all that, but he was fine and had a great time.

Home Again!

I haven't blogged in a whole week, because we have been sooo busy! We spent the past week with my folks and my extended family up in Illinois, and it was great. I'll probably try to drop in a few stories in the next few days, but trying to tell the whole trip in one entry would just be too long! It was  a really fun time, though. We drove home this morning, early early so that M could get his grades done. It was sad to leave, but I'm so happy to have had the time with them. Robert really got to know them more, now that he's so much more alert to the differences between people. It was kind of interesting to watch him not only as he got to know Mimi and Papoo, but to see how he recognizes M and I as different from any other people. He definitely knows who we are and wants us around. That's pretty cool.

While we were up north, I did tons of grocery shopping and cooking. The cupboards were pretty bare when we got there, with my mom being laid up and my dad trying to take on all the stuff she couldn't take care of, so I went on a rare solo shopping expedition and bought almost three hundred dollars worth of groceries. I saved more than 50 dollars from coupons and sales, but that's still definitely the most money I've ever spent on groceries. But hey, it was food for five adults and a baby, a big box of diapers, extra food for a party, so it wasn't anything like my normal shopping expeditions. I used that stuff to do a whooooole mess of cooking.


This week was fun because I got to show off some of my best recipes. I made Philly cheesesteaks, pulled pork, baked fish, chicken-bacon-artichoke pizza, and barbecue, among other stuff.  We froze a bunch of leftovers, so when my sister has her surgery next week, there will be meals in the freezer for them to warm up. Hurrah! There is more to tell, but M wants to go to bed, so I will post this and go with him. Later for more posts!

Good Night and Good Luck

Happy September, everybody! We're too busy for a post tonight, so here is a picture instead!