The Stuff that's Us

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The feeding experiment!

Yes, I know! It has been a while since I posted, but I really haven't had a lot to talk about! Things have been busy as usual, with Tom's job getting busy at this time of the year.

We are still having loads of fun with our little munchkin' though!

Here she is hugging Daddy!

AWWW! She loves her Daddy! He is such a wonderful Dad! He really L-O-V-E-S her!! It is so neat to see her face light up when he walks in the door from work.

I made a sweet potato puree this week and froze it in my ice cube trays. Then, this week I would just pop one out at a time and reheat it. I am thinking she is not quite ready for this though because she still has that tongue thrust reflex and just pushes the food out with her tongue.

She is such a happy baby...what a joy!

I think Dad is enjoying feeding her more than she is enjoying eating it!

The open mouth says it all...don't put anymore food in my mouth! This is weird!

She had sweet potato all over her face by the end!

Oh, and check out my FB account if you want to see the pics a little bigger!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Looking to save a buck??

Doesn't it seem like the price of groceries keeps going higher and higher? Take heart, there are simple little tricks you can use to keep your bill down every time you shop.

First, buy your fruits and veggies from a local produce place. I get all my produce this way and it saves us A LOT! For example, I got sweet potatoes this week for $.39 a lb., extra large eggs for $1.39, strawberries for $1.99lb, etc.

Second, and this takes a little legwork on your part but could really pay off big if you invest a little time into it each week, is USE COUPONS! You can get so many manufacturer coupons online now, it is easy to print them off and take them to the store of your choice to use. If you get the paper, that is an added bonus because there are a whole stack of coupons from inserts such as RedPlum and Smart Source.

Third, know your stores coupon policy. My nearby Acme and Shoprite DOUBLE manufacturer coupons for even more savings! That means, if the coupons value is, for example, $.50 off the price of the item, the store will double its value (most stores double the value of a manufacturer coupon under a dollar) so you would get $1 off the item! Note: Target doesn't double but they do accept one manufacturer coupon and one target coupon per item. Target also has their own store coupons online you can print.

Fourth, only buy items you have a coupon for and know are on sale and a good price for even more savings! Store sales usually have cycles. That means, on week 1, cheez-it crackers are full price, week 2 they are on sale and week 3 they are marked down even more. The key is to know the prices of the main items that you purchase on a regular basis so that you will be able to recognize when it is on sale for a good price. That is when you would purchase that item using your coupon for a rock bottom price!! "How did I just find out about this, you ask?" A friend at my MOPS group (Mothers of preschoolers) told me about it and I have been researching about it ever since.

Here are some interesting websites for your reading pleasure...these sites post weekly sales of grocery stores...just scroll down the list to find the store nearest you!

http://www.couponmom.com/grocery-deals-by-state-4

http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/

http://hip2save.com/

http://www.forthemommas.com/

http://www.livingrichwithcoupons.com/

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Laughing

Laughing is good for you! This warms my heart every time I watch it. Hope you enjoy!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Four Christmas's

So it has been a while since I last posted...this is going to be a long one!!

Our Christmas celebration started off with a bang at the Sherf household. We went there on Christmas Eve and hung out with Tom's Dad, grandparents and family. It was so nice to see everyone since they hadn't gotten a chance to see Kira since Thanksgiving.

Part of the Sherf clan, minus the grandparents...

The next day was Christmas, and that was spent at Tom's Mom's house (Dehart's). Tom's Mom graciously let us sleep over so we wouldn't have to drive back to our house in PA. Sleeping over made Christmas morning much more relaxing...

Kira seemed more interested in chewing wrapping paper than the gifts she got. It was funny to watch her!

Kira in her christmas dress...

A shot from the upstairs B&B as I like to call it! Tom's Mom has it all decked out up there, with a plug-in fireplace, rocking chair, soft cozy beds and a full bathroom so it is always a little treat to stay over because it feels like a vacation.

We stayed over the Dehart house most of the day, then traveled over to the Maro house (grandparents on Tom's Mom's side) to open presents there.

Saturday was the Yoder shin-dig. I had been looking forward to this party too because Grandmom and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins that I only see on a once-a-year basis were going to be there. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, hanging out and catching up.

Grandmom made her famous grandmom cookies, which everyone munched on all day, and gave all the grandkids jars of her homemade jams. Of course, Tommy had to loudly announce that Grandmom gave us the most (not true!) since we were the favorites. What a troublemaker he is!!

I was a little leery of the car ride over to the Yoder's that day. The reason was because this was going to be the longest car ride we have taken with Kira to date (4 hours in the car, up and back). She did fine on the car ride over. But the car ride back, she really didn't want to be in her seat anymore and let us know for the last 45 min. of the car ride. We stopped twice on the way home to hold or nurse her but each time she went back in her seat, the crying started again. I was glad to get home that night!

Here is a shot of when she was still happy! :)

Our last Christmas party (Wallin side) didn't happen until New Year's day this year. Mom decided to do the party on New Year's day since everybody is always so busy during the Christmas holiday and it would be something for all of us to look forward to after Christmas. What a great idea that was! We had so much fun together!

That morning, Tom and I practically ran out the door as soon as Kira woke up (that particular morning she happened to wake up at 6AM) and drove to Mom's where he dropped me off so he could drive to LBI for a quick "dawn patrol" surf. He got back to Mom's around 11AM right when everyone had just about finished opening presents. We would have driven separately but my car is broken down at the moment so we are stuck with one car until the end of January.

After opening presents and scarfing down panzarotti's and salad for lunch (yum!!), we bundled up and went to Rancocas State Park where there is an Indian Reservation with Buffalo, birds and hiking trails. We went on a short hike (it needed to be short since we had 8 little pairs of legs that can't be expected to go for long distances!) and then went back home for dinner and dessert.

Tom and I left right after dinner so we could get Kira home to bed, but Mom gave me a couple of pieces of her amazing cherry pie, my all-time favorite, to eat at home.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Some video

Tom figured out how to get the video we have taken of Kira off his cell phone so here are a few of our favorites...

These two were taken just this week. She has just started to roll over!

This video was taken when she was just starting to "talk"

This last one is of her talking now...

At the request of the Lindsay clan...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Snow Day!!!

What a weekend for snow! How fun!! Last time I remember it snowing like this, was 1996 and I spent most of the day helping Dad shovel out the driveway (this was before he had a snow blower). Well, we decided to brave the cold and wind to take Kira out to experience her first snow day.

Here she is with Daddy getting ready to go out...