Happy 15 Months Kate!

I was in Austin for Kate's 15 Month Birthday & totally forgot to post this! oops! Oh well...

It's getting so hard to take her month pictures now. All I hear is "dow! dow!" - She just wants to get down and play!!!

This Month Kate:

--still takes 2 two-hour naps and sleeps 12ish hours a night

--learned to feed herself with a spoon. If I am having trouble getting her to eat something, a lot of times, I can just put it on a spoon & suddenly she's interested.

--which brings me to the fact that she has WAY more opinions about what she eats. MUCH less interested in green vegetables. One day she LOVES something, the next day she hates it. One day eats a TON, the next barely eats at all. I think I have a toddler on my hands!

--says "Tank too" (Thank You!) without being prompted when given something. It is ADORABLE!

--trying to run

--LOVES milk. Wakes up saying "mil? mil?"

--can "jump" - she squats down & stands up real fast

--tells everything & everyone "bye" when reading the room. After I get her up - bye to the paci, bye to the pictures of her on her wall, etc.

--wants to go outside all the time. she will just walk around in the front yard forever!

--follows directions - sit down, stand up, etc.

--becoming more attached to the teddy bear lovie. She's always been super flexible with her blankets. She likes to hold one to go to sleep, but never had a preference - it could even be a dishtowel if I forgot one! - but this month, she's decided this one from Nana is her

favorite :)

--learned to "pray". She reaches for our hands before each meal, squints her eyes & smiles so big! Love it! We also pray before she goes to bed & she does the same thing.

--sits with her feet crossed. She's been doing this for awhile, but I've forgotten to write it down until now.

--had her first Diet Coke.

TOTALLY kidding. Just thought this picture was funny. The can is empty!

--new teeth - top left (next to middle) and both sides on bottom too

We went for her well check today...and she's still a big girl! 90% on weight & height! Dr. said that she looked great!

I am just having too much fun watching my baby turn into a toddler. She's becoming her own little person right in front of my eyes!

David's Birthday Party

We had a dinner & game night for David's birthday this year.

I used pictures of David through the years as decor. It was so fun to be able to see them all around them room.

Chipotle Chicken for dinner...

Triple Layer Chocolate Cream Cake for dessert...

Poker for the boys...

Other games & chatting for the girls...

And a HUGE thanks to Laura Coleman for coming over to play with Kate during the party so I could have fun too!!

David's 28th Birthday

So, I'm WAY behind in blogging...but at least I'm getting started again...right?

David's birthday celebration started Monday night when we got back from Denver - my parents & Cole's family came to meet us at Freebird's for a birthday dinner! It was a great way to start!

Tuesday, we got to go to dinner with David's family, then back to their house for cheesecake! Freebirds & cheesecake all in 24 hours - doesn't get much better for David!

After we got home, David got to open presents....

(not sure why this is underlined??)

His party wasn't til Friday...I'll post on that tomorrow :)

A trip to the daffodils

We made a trip to Mrs. Lee's Garden this past Saturday and took along our friends the Bergmans so Trevor could take some Spring Family portraits. After a long winter of cold and yuckiness, it was a beautiful day - in the 70s! I had never been to Mrs. Lee's, so it was great to get to see all the flowers & I was thankful that Kate participated since it was during her naptime! They came out SO GOOD! I just love them.

Trevor's running a portrait special right now - check out my facebook to see all about it!

Our Denver Adventure

Last weekend, we finally got to go visit Brent & Renee *Vander* Dixon. We have been trying to find a weekend that will work since they moved up there two years ago, and we finally made it happen! I usually get to see Renee (one of my very best friends in college - and still today!) at Christmas when she comes to Dallas (home), but this Christmas was extra busy for her, and I hoped we would visit, so we didn't this year. So, I was super ready to see her. Renee is one of those friends you leave feeling encouraged & refreshed after spending time with her!

Thursday evening, we made the trek down to Austin (to leave Kate), and my parents kept the kids so that my brother, sis-in-law, David & I could go out to dinner kidless! It was GREAT! We've missed spending time with them on our last few trips to Austin, so it was really nice to have a chance to visit. A dinner at Chuy's & visiting at Starbucks was a great start to our weekend.

Friday we dropped Kate off to spend the day with Kristin until Nana got out of school, grabbed lunch at Pei Wei with Dad (we make sure to eat all the good things when we go to Austin!), and headed to the airport.

Our time in Denver was wonderful - not what we expected - but an adventure none-the-less. We had plans to head up into the mountains on Saturday afternoon so that the boys could ski, but Brent & Renee's car broke down that morning. After some time at the shop, we were told we were good to go, so we headed up later than expected.

Well...about 20 minutes into the trip, it became obvious that the car was NOT fixed, so we cancelled our hotel, turned around & headed back for Renee & Brent's apartment, dropped off the car, and settled in for the night. We called a bunch of rental companies, but unfortunately (AND IRONICALLY??) they had all closed.

Since we were stranded, we ordered pizza and played some monopoly.

David ruining my picture :-p

The game got down to Renee & David - Renee won!!

Before bed, we found a rental place that would pick us up in the morning, so we figured we'd just make a day trip in the morning. They opened at 7. Called them, they wouldn't pick us up, but here, call these people - they will. Supposed to open at 8. Didn't answer the phone til 9. At that point, we decided that it wasn't worth the trip to the mountains. CRAZINESS!! Instead we spent the day at a local outlet mall, playing more games, and finished up with David's request to go to A&W for a Pepsi float.

So, maybe not what we planned, but the main reason we were going was to get to spend time with the Dixons & we definitely got to do that!

Thanks for letting us come visit Renee & Brent!!!

Last Coupon Post

So, hopefully from now on, I will spare you in all my couponing adventures, but I wanted to document my last few shopping trips.

First...Kroger 2/24

5 boxes Greeen Giant Frozen Veggies

2 bags of Jelly Beans

2 avacados

1 deoderant

original total: 18.79

paid: 8.17

saved: 10.62

All of these items were on a list that were 10/$10. I probably would've bought more, but we were headed out of town.

Kroger - 3/2

4 boxes

2 gallons milk

original total: 18.48

paid: 7.04

savings: 11.44

FOUR boxes of cereal AND TWO gallons of milk for $7?? I got excited about this one! Definitely saved some good money :)

Kroger - 3/3

4 Gushers/Snack bags

3 muffin mixes

4 cookie mixes

1 cake mix

2 cans icing

4 brownie mixes

2 pizza crusts

4 bags chex mix

2 packages of gogurt

2 packages of fiber 1 yogurt

originial total: $79.59

paid: 24.42

saved: 55.17

My best shopping trip yet! I saved 68%!!! Incredible. I broke my rule and bought a few things we didn't "need" or usually buy- brownie mixes, chex mix, etc., but I bought them for 2 reasons - 1. David's birthday party is at the end of the week, so we'll use a lot of it then, 2. They're great for taking when I am responsible for bringing a snack to small group, bible study, MOPS or whatever :)

Also, some of my e-coupons didn't come off, so I reported it to the website & now I have $5 off my next shopping trip!

Walgreens - 3/3 - no picture :)

3 packages Huggies Diapers

2 packages Kotex

1 package Charmin Toilet Paper

original total: 50.80

spent: 27.30

saved: 23.50

real savings:

Really, at Target, these diapers are regularly 8.99...so with that price, I saved about $15. Still really great! We don't usually use Huggies, but I can stop being particular about it to save money. Well, sort of. I still haven't bought store brand diapers. Maybe someday...

I also have $5 walgreens coupon to use next time I go back.

Overall, I'm enjoying the coupon process. I am definitely saving money, and not buying things just because they're a good deal - tons of shampoo, etc. I definitely have a few regrets - ways I could've saved more, but that's ok. I'm still learning.

What I still want to learn is how to price match at Wal-Mart so I can save on things like chicken, beef, etc. instead of just stocking the pantry stuff. Make sense?

Back to real-life blogging soon - David's birthday, trip to Denver, and of course the real reason you read....

more about this sweet girl :)