While he should have been napping...

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You've got mail

I love getting mail. I love email, but I LOVE real mail. There is nothing quite like hearing the mail truck up the street and the anticipating what little surprises are awaiting me in the mailbox. Or if you're like me, it's equally as disappointing when you go to check the mail only to find it empty and realize its a federal holiday. And don't get me started on the proposed no-mail-on-Saturday scare.

Well on Saturday , I opened the mailbox to find an abundance of fun mail. And by "fun mail" I mean packages!

First, my sweet BFF Alisha sent me a package with a beautiful scarf (to match my Uggs I might add), a cd of praise music & a bracelet she made.







Triple fun! Not to mention the sweet note written on her custom stationary. It'll be worth big bucks one day when she's a famous designer - better hang on to that =)



Jackson also go some fun mail today. Bebe sent him a special note and congratulatory prize for giving up his paci.


He was super excited when he realized the package was for him - wonder who he gets it from?

Rounding out the mail stash were my February Costco coupons, my US Weekly, our new insurance cards, and some tax documents. Doesn't get much more exciting than that!


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Bye-Bye Paci

On Wednesday of this week, we decided to bite the bullet & send Jackson's pacis into the clear blue yonder. We've been talking it up for several weeks (or months...) now so it really came as no surprise to him. After a morning of fun at Monkey Joe's, we stopped by Wilson's and got a dozen helium balloons. He was super excited to pick out the colors he wanted. We loaded our circus in the car & I let him enjoy his last few hours with his beloved paci.



After nap, we tied a paci to each balloon and waited for Ben to get home for the big send-off. He couldn't resist as few last sucks.










{Being somewhat cheap, I only splurged on 12 balloons when in reality, we needed about twice that. Turns out each paci needed two balloons to set it free. I ended up throwing about 6 of the pacis in the trash - don't tell Jackson!}

And on the count of three, we sent all of Jackson's pacis to the poor babies who needed them.







**Note the single red balloon that Jackson hung on to.

Fast forward 2 hours. His remaining, paci-less balloon** escapes in the foyer. Out of our reach. Meltdown ensues. Meltdown becomes full-blown tantrum once he realizes that there is no paci to comfort him. Uh-oh. Ben creates a distraction by making a bounce house in his room and letting him go at it until bedtime. Thank goodness for co-parenting!

After multiple attempts at getting him settled down and us taking turns explaining that, yes, even the pacis in mommy's car got sent away to the poor babies, I finally laid down with Jackson around 9:45 and feel asleep until around midnight, at which time I stealthily snuck back into our room.

Thursday morning: No mention of paci until we get in the car for preschool. I go through the explanation yet again that ALL pacis - from the bed, the car, the drawer, all of them - were sent away with the balloons. And finally I think he go it.

The true test was when he slammed his fingers in the huge heavy church doors as we were leaving school yesterday. Yes, in the jamb -- fortunately not broken, just bloody. If this didn't trigger his screaming for the paci, then nothing will!

So 3 days post-paci, I'd say we have cleared this hurdle. Up next: Potty Training!!


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Dave Ramsey would be proud!

So after my discouraging "workout" at Curves, I decided to check out some real gyms. Ironically, that very day, I ran into another mom at Jackson's school who just so happens to be the director of childcare at Pivotal Fitness. My primary roadblock in finding a gym was my comfort level with the childcare services. Flash-back to Mystery Paci....and that was actually at our church where I am very comfortable with the childcare. So no telling what we'd run into at a gym!

Encouraged by what I was hearing about Pivotal, I took a tour & did a 7-day trial, which I really enjoyed. The childcare was good; they actually do crafts with the kids and have half-walls that separate the babies from the crawlers from the toddlers. They don't do diapers or feeding, which I think is good from a sanitation standpoint. So of course each & every time I've worked out, they've paged me because Weston needs to nurse mid-workout. Go figure =)

Anyways, I went into it the situation knowing that everything is negotiable, and it is not in my nature not to try to get a deal. So when the sales guy Brad gave me the pricing, I made a point of explaining that I don't work outside the home so my hubby would be by to check out the gym and if he liked it, then I could consider joining. Ben did his part & took a tour a few days later and gave me the green flag to join. (And while Ben likes to save money just as much as the next person, he doesn't like to hassle with it and pretty much told me to just go join instead of playing games.)

However, using some major Dave Ramsey strategy, I resisted from going into Pivotal on my own and just waited on old Brad to give me a call to close the sale. And as expected, he called exactly 1 day after my trial membership ended. The normal rate is $44/month, which rolls up to $528 a year. I told Brad that since Ben's company has a corporate discount program with another local gym, I needed to be at $30 per month. We were willing to pay for the year in full, but could not pay more than $360. So my buddy Brad comes back and says, "How about we do $348 for the year? That way you'll be at $29 per month." Um yes!! And just for the asking!

I makes you wonder how much money you could save just by asking.


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5 Months of pure joy

Sweet Weston turned 5 months on January 17, and we cannot believe how fast he's become such a huge part of our family. He's the most content, laid back, lovable, chubby baby and we cannot remember life without him.

His 4-month checkup was actually closer to 5 months, but he was just shy of 20 lbs (94%tile) and 26.25" (60%tile). He's wearing 9-12 month clothing and nearly in the same size diapers as Jackson.

We started him on veggies this month and so far, I've whipped up sweet potatoes & carrots. He's still trying to decide if he likes either of them.



As far as sleeping goes, Ben broke the up-all-night curse when he held "Daddy Bootcamp" last week when I went out of town. And after Weston's epic sleep that night, he followed that up on Saturday night with a 6:30 pm to 7:30 am stretch. And up until now, we've had full nights of sleep with only the occasional outburst. Thank you Jesus!

{By the way, I was able to get my hands a pic Ben took of the chaos that was "Boys Night". Notice Weston passed out on the couch.}



But Weston's most distinctive trait is his smily face. He's almost always happy. Its so easy to catch a smile on his sweet little face and I love it.






And this was Weston's reaction to me taking him in the bounce house in the Bjorn...




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Brave or crazy?

Venturing to Costco at lunchtime with 2 kids and no help...brave or just plain crazy?


1slice of pizza & a berry smoothie later, we got our shopping knocked out with minimal drama. Diapers, Gain, goldfish, baby spinach, yoga pants, clementines and olive oil and we were out. My only complaint: no samples to be had!! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chomp Chomp

I'm surprised it hasn't happened earlier. Kids this age bite. And they bite hard! Thankfully, Jackson has never been a biter and I would MUCH rather be the parent of the bitee than the parent of the biter.


Today when I picked J up from preschool, Mrs. Betsy made sure that I saw the note on his daily slip explaining how he was bitten on the arm. Jackson was doing his own thing and his classmate randomly tried to take a chunk out of his forearm. Uninstigated, making Jackson a victim. Check out those teeth marks!


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