Weekend Whirlwind

It truly was a whirlwind since we just returned from Hamilton yesterday!  Here are some short updates about the littlest Nelsons :-)

* Abby Ruth had a word EXPLOSION last week!  She is now saying: fly, oh my, what’s wrong, star, pool, swing, slide, chip, running…. like I said, it was a big week for words!

* Tripp is sitting!  He isn’t very steady, and loses his balance if he leans side to side.  If he starts to fall backwards (onto his boppy), he can pull himself back to sitting – now those are strong abs!

* Potty training hasn’t been great… I think it’s normal that when you visit a new place there are more accidents, and boy did we have some accidents!  Hopefully this week will be better :-)

* I ran 1.75 miles without stopping!  There is a 3+ mile loop at my parents house that I am determined to run without stopping on my next visit.  Running outside in the heat and humidity - not as easy…

* We are looking forward to getting back to our routine.  Hamilton was a great break and the kids are worn out – but it’s always nice to be home!

Swim, Swing, Sand… Repeat!

We have been spending the week with my parents in Hamilton and Abby Ruth thinks she is at a resort!  We have spent our mornings rotating between the pool, the playset and the sandbox.  She is having a blast, and wearing herself out in the process – I have to admit, I’m pretty tired too!

Every time we visit my parents Abby Ruth wakes up VERY early – she knows her nana and papa are early risers and is motivated to get started… before 6!  The lack of sleep combined with playing outside in our Alabama heat makes for a very crabby child by lunch.  Over the past couple of days she has been ready for her nap by noon and it’s all we can do to get lunch in her belly before she passes out!  Tripp has been off his schedule as well – just part of visiting a new place I guess.

The last time we visited, Abby Ruth fell in love with the new swingset – especially the swings.  She points in that direction and says, “Whee?”  She has always loved playing in the sand, and the pool is fun – but has also held a healthy amount of fear and uncertainty for Abby.  Well, not anymore!  Abby Ruth is getting VERY brave when it comes to the “big pool.”  She can get in and out by herself and does so whether she is in a bathing suit or not.  She is working on blowing bubbles while kicking her feet and she has started jumping in from the side (if I’m there to catch her).  I love that she is enjoying the water – I’ve always loved to swim and I hope both my kids do too. 

As you can see, we are having a great time.  I miss Tom and the kiddos do too – but it’s nice to escape the normal every once and awhile.  Thankfully, my parents welcome our visits and help out with the kids enough that I feel like I’m getting a mini-vacation!  Hopefully I will go home refreshed, and the littles will be so tired that they will sleep in and take long naps for a few days…. well, I can dream can’t I?

Weekend Whirlwind

Notes from the weekend:

*  Abby Ruth is now in jail – well, she’s locked in her room at least!  She had been leaving her room to roam the halls in the middle of the night.   Instead of me having to get up and return her to bed, we turned her lock around and she is now stuck.  She doesn’t like this new system at all, but it keeps her safe and me sleeping!

*  Abby Ruth had a low-grade fever Thursday & Friday – so we began the weekend in “recovery mode.”  On top of that Tom had to work ALL DAY Saturday so I was flying solo :-(  We did get to meet him for lunch – a very welcome treat!

*  Tripp is almost sitting!  His balance needs work, but his back and abs are very strong – I think he’ll be sitting on his own soon!  He has also started pulling hair – an achievement that really upsets and confuses his sister.

*  Sunday was Father’s Day and the daddy at our house (who we love SOOO much) wanted to chill out :-).  So we had a calm, quiet Sunday.

A very strange hobby

I get this question from my husband a lot, “What is your hobby?  Is there something you would like to do?”  And for the most part I’ve thought, “When do I have time for a hobby???”  Well, it has recently hit me that I do have a hobby – it’s odd, but I love it and I do it every week…  coupons!  I am addicted to getting items for free or at least very cheap, and as a stay-at-home mama it’s a great way for me to help the family budget.  I apologize in advance for how ridiculous/boring this might seem to those actually reading this blog :-).

Here’s a picture of this week’s drug store “haul” and the details are below – enjoy!

I started at Rite Aid, where I transferred two prescriptions and was rewarded with $50 in gift cards!  I then bought 2 hair gels, 2 deodorants and a razor.  The total (after coupons) was $11.30 (I used my gift card and didn’t spend any money), of that I will get an $11 rebate in the mail – not bad!  Next stop – Walgreens, where I bought 2 toothbrushes, 3 neutrogena face soaps and another razor.  The total (after coupons) was $15.01, and I got $14 to spend on my next visit!  A few days later I headed back to Rite Aid to pick up a couple more items with my free gift cards.  On my second trip to Rite Aid I bought a pack of diapers, 2 hairbrushes, 1 comb, a pack of pony tail holders, and desitin.  This time my total (after coupons) was $16.38 (gift card money) and I got $1 back to spend on my next visit and will get another $2 check in the mail.  Final stop – CVS, where I bought 2 body washes and one more razor.  The total was $8.41 and I got $12 to spend on my next visit!  On top of that the razor had a “try me free” rebate and I will get another $8.97 back.

In case you stopped reading, here is the bottom line:  Money spent – $23.52  Rebates/Money back – $48.97…  I was paid over $25 to TAKE all those products home – and that, is my hobby :-)

New Goals

For anyone who knows me, it comes as no surprise that I’m a very competitive, goal-oriented person.  So, when I decided to head back to the gym a month ago, I knew I needed a goal – besides the, “lose those last 3 pounds of baby weight” goal.  The decision – train to run a 5k. 

I found a plan online that would help me go from zero running to running 3.1 miles within a 2 month period: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml?cmp=488  It’s a great plan and I just finished the 4th week of training (I did week 3 twice because my knees were killing me).  I just looked on to next week and see I’ll be running 2 miles without a break… we’ll see :-).

It has been great to get out of the house, drop of the kids, and just take care of me for an hour!  Abby Ruth loves going to the gym because they have sooo many toys and Tripp likes it because some very nice ladies hold him the whole time :-).  As for those last 3 pounds… now there are only 2 ;-)

Weekend Whirlwind

I will try to blog a few memories from each weekend on Mondays – hopefully this will cause me to have at least one blog post a week!

*  We had successful potty training days – including poo-poo in the potty!

*  Tripp added pears to his food list – he says they are much tastier than green beans :-)

*  Abby Ruth has begun picking up any object and pretending it’s a phone – SOO funny.  Her words are a blur but the inflections are all there and she always says “Hi” and ”Bye!”

*  As I was getting the kids ready for baths on Saturday, Abby Ruth decided to help… by pouring a cup of water on Tripp’s head BEFORE he got into the tub.  We had a very wet bath mat :-)

Tripp – 5 months

I need to update Tripp’s stats for the month – before another month passes!  He is now 5 months old, which is hard for this mama to believe.  It seems like just yesterday I found out I was having another baby and wondering how I would ever handle two kids under two… now I’m potty training a two-year-old and my 5 month old is eating solids – where does the time go?!?!

*  He weighs close to 17 pounds (according to our home scale).  He wears 6 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

*  He nurses 4 times a day and takes a bottle before bed – he also eats solids in the morning and at night – we are doing fruit and oatmeal in the am and a veggie at night.  Thus far Tripp is not a fan of the veggies… but that’s understandable since he is used to sweet milk as his main food source!

*  He is an EARLY riser!  Tripp goes to bed around 7 – but he wakes up at 5!  However, we have discovered that he will go back to sleep for and hour or two if you go in and give him his pacifier… so that’s what we do!

*  He is VERY good at holding his head and chest up while on his tummy.  Tripp will do whatever it takes to get to his stomach – he does NOT enjoy being on his back and struggles through diaper & clothing changes because he wants to get onto his stomach.

*  Tripp loves his sister and thinks she is hilarious.  The other night Tom was playing with Abby Ruth and had her giggling – Tripp couldn’t even see them but started laughing with his sister!

*  He isn’t a big cryer – but he does complain a lot!  Tripp is more of a loud whiner… trust me, this is just as irritating as crying :-)

*  He loves to be out of the house, just like his sister – neither of my kids like to stay home!

Update from the potty

We are into our 3^rd week of potty training and things are going VERY well!  I will spare you some of the “dirty” details but I will say Abby Ruth has caught on to the whole concept quite well.  There have been some amusing moments (of course) – we have to remind her to take off her panties before using the potty and this often means she pulls them down in the middle of the living room and runs toward the bathroom bare bottomed!  She also calls everything “poo poo” – which is embarrassing when out in public :-). 

On average, I’d say we have 2-3 accidents each day (I count it as an accident if she doesn’t keep her diaper dry during a nap or when we are out running errands ).  It hasn’t been a big deal since I have to clean up spit-up several times a day anyway – why not add another bodily fluid!  We are very proud of her progress and excited to only be using a couple of diapers a day – soon we might be done for good!

A quiet house no more!

After months and months of waiting on Abby Ruth to say…. ANYTHING at all, it seems we finally have a talker.  It is definitely true that kids say the CUTEST things!  My favorite new phrase is, “Don’t cry!” – this is espescially adorable because Abby makes it sound more like “cwry” and she is very serious about it.  It’s funny because her brother doesn’t really cry that much – not compared to other babies!  This afternoon he was getting quite upset in his swing and Abby Ruth repeatedly said, “Don’t cwry, don’t cwry!” and then added, “Please Doot Doot!”  I literally laughed out loud – I love to hear her string words together and let us see how her mind works :-).

One thing I’ve learned while waiting on her to communicate for the past year is that comparisons will KILL you.  I spent way too much time thinking about how far behind she was (compared to my friend’s kids) and not nearly enough time enjoying my girl and letting her do things at her own pace.  I won’t make the same mistake with Tripp – I hope!