What I have Learned in 2012

Although I am a goal oritened person (at least that's what my resume says...), I am not one to make a New Years resoluion. I hate to fail or even the possibility of failure. Not saying I have never failed in my lifetime, but just that I don't like the feeling of being a failure.

Anyway, I thought I would instead list the things I have learned in 2012. These things just came to my mind and are in no particular order.

In 2012, I have learned that:

1.       I suck at blogging.

2.       I am most productive when my kids are sleeping.

3.       My husband will always find the better deals at Target.

4.       It’s ok to leave the kids for an evening date with my hubby.

5.       It’s more fun to shop with my sisters than alone.

6.       I look forward to Wednesday family night.

7.       Leah has followed my passion for shoes, clothes, baking and chocolate.

8.       Matthew is fearless.

9.       Toddler boys are much harder than girls.

10.   Potty training sucks.

11.   My first attempt at a garden failed.

12.   I can never go into Costco for one thing, or else I leave with a cart full of things we “need”.

13.   I suck at managing money.

14.   I will always choose to build a block castle with my kids over dishes.

15.   Losing my mom never gets any easier.

16.   My new favorite drink at Starbucks is a salted caramel mocha (thanks, babe!).

17.   I won’t pay retail for anything. Ever.

18.   I love to shop online but I don’t like to pay for shipping.

19.   My kids’ laughs always melt my heart.

20.   Leah says very funny random things.

21.   I cannot do it all.

22.   I like to be pushed, but not over the edge, because then I crumble.

23.   I enjoy red wine more than white.

24.   I stress too much.

25.   I need me time.

26.   I miss hanging out with my friends.

27.   I hate putting gas in the car.

28.   I have no patience for ignorance.

29.   I will always have a weakness for brownies.

30.   I need to prioritize my health.

31.   I like my hair shorter.

32.   My husband is not usually impressed with my Pinterest recipe tryouts.

33.   I love Pinterest.

34.   I use my phone mainly to take pictures of my kids.

35.   I need to improve my time management.

36.   I need to learn how to say no.

37.   I like to make hair bows.

38.   I will always choose to buy something for my kids over myself.

39.   Leah likes ketchup and mustard with everything.

40.   Matthew is always hungry and will eat anything.

41.   I will never get tired of rocking Matthew to sleep at night.

42.   I look forward to bath time because my kids always have fun.

43.   I love weekend family outings.

44.   I am pretty much on my own on Sundays during football season.

45.   I have no pictures of Matthew hanging in my house.

46.   I love when my husband makes dinner because it is usually something tasty and I don’t have to cook.

47.   I will not read 50 Shades of Grey in one day. Four months later, I am not even past the 3^rd chapter.

48.  Sleep is overrated.

 

Weekly Budgeted Grocery List

I am going to try and make a series of posts about our money and time saving tactics we have adopted to help make our family run smoothly. I guess it also involves the balance of my life, hence the reason for the blog :) I will add posts about our daily routines, freezer food adventures ideas, and other incredibly fascinating things for other Moms (sorry, Dads).

For the past couple of months, we have gradually changed our lifestyle to eating less processed foods, and more fresh and organic (when possible). We switched Matthew to organic formula about 2-3 months ago. It’s a fact that organic is more expensive than conventional, but the higher the demand (from us, consumers), the lower the prices will get. Also, there are many more coupons for organic foods now, including produce. Keep in mind to always compare the organic price and the conventional when shopping if you feel overwhelmed or uncertain by the prices. Sometimes it’s not that much more to go organic. For example, grapes this week are the same price (1.99/lb) for organic and conventional at Sunflower. Organic blueberries and strawberries are $1.00 more.

Here is a peak into our weekly grocery list. I looked up the ads online. Every week we purchase the staples: milk, yogurt and produce (and Matthew’s formula). I keep bread in the freezer so we hardly buy it. We also keep meat, veggies, and some pre-made meals in the freezer. And, of course, ice cream (yum!).

Sunflower

Grocery

Annie’s Fruit Snacks $2.99

            $0.75 Q = $2.26

Bulk

Organic raisins $1.99/lb

Garbanzo beans $0.99/lb

Produce

Organic blueberries $2.99

            $0.75 Q = $2.26

Organic strawberries $2.99

            $0.75 Q = $2.26

Organic seedless grapes $1.99/lb

Organic Avocados $0.99

Organic Mangoes $0.99

Organic Girl Salad Mix $3.00

            $2.00 Q = $1.00

Organic Romaine hearts 3 pk $2.50

            $0.75 Q = $1.75

Meat

Chicken breasts 40% off

Safeway

Activia 4 pk $1.88

            $1.00 Q = $0.88

Raspberries $0.99

Plums $0.99

Bananas $0.57/lb

Fry’s

Oikos Greek yogurt $0.88

            $1/2 Q = $0.38

Ken’s Salad Dressing $0.88

            $1.00 Q = Free ($0.12 MM)

Shamrock Farms Organic milk

I try to stay under budget of $60/week. Sometimes we stay way under, sometimes we go over (if meat is on sale, or we go to Costco). It evens out to around $60/week. Of course, that is not including formula and diapers. I keep a separate budget for those.

Typical Mommy Morning

My alarm goes off at 5:55 a.m. I hit the snooze once. Sometimes twice. Bad mornings, three times. By then, Leah is usually up and hangs out in my bathroom while I shower. She likes to brush her teeth or wash her hands a couple dozen times. As soon as my shower is done, Matthew is up, and the morning race begins.

It takes about 20 minutes to get both kids dressed and ready (including brushing Leah's hair, teeth, washing her face and hands). Matthew is usually content playing on my bed with some toys or his sister's hair, but other mornings he likes a small morning bottle to hold him over. After all that, it usually doesn't leave a lot of time for Mommy. I get dressed, brush my hair and teeth and manage to match some shoes to my out and possibly put on a bracelet or two, all in matter of 10 minutes. I leave the house with wet hair and no make-up.

We race out the door to load the car grabbing some items for Mommy's breakfast and lunch on the way from the kitchen. Leah also tends to grab something from the pantry to eat on the way. This morning, she also decided she needed to wear her princess outfit since we were seeing Papa after work. I don’t argue.

Typical conversation loading into the car:

(M) Mommy (L) Leah

M: Leah, please get in your car seat.

L: I need my Lion King? Where’s my Lion King?!

M: You left it at Miss Cristy’s house. We will see it later. Please get in your seat.

L: (stands in the garage and a school bus drives by) Mommy I see a BIG school bus!!! Mommy I hear a bird! Where’s the bird? (walks to the driveway)

M: Leah, please get in your car seat so we can go see Miss Cristy.

L: (climbs in seat and grabs some books from car) Mommy, I read these books. Oh, Mommy, I need that banana! Pleaseeeeeee! (grabs my breakfast banana out of my hand. Guess I am going to Starbucks…)

M: Ok, please don’t open it until we get to Miss Cristy’s house.

L: Ok. Mommy, I need one bracelet! Please! (I hand her one of mine) Thank you. It’s pretty!

Finally, I get in, and we’re off! No, wait, forgot Matthew’s lunch on the counter. Run back in to grab that, and then we’re off!

Holding banana and my bracelet in a princess dress

After a 15 minute drive to daycare, it’s drop off time. By now, Leah has opened her banana and lost my bracelet. Kisses and hugs, and off to work.

Since she claimed my breakfast banana, I stop off at Starbucks. Tall deaf non-fat vanilla latte and spinach, egg white and feta wrap. Deliciously over-priced meal.

On my 40-45 minute drive to work, I get a lot accomplished in the car (at stop lights, of course). I put on my make-up, eat my breakfast, check Facebook a couple times, play Draw Something, check my e-mail, oh and drive to work. My hair usually ends up in a bun looking thing. Very professional.

Although it’s stressful, and exhausting, I wouldn’t change it for a thing. I possibly could get up a bit earlier to dry my hair or put my make up on at home, or eat breakfast before work, but I favor sleep over that. Plus, what would I do in the car then? J Anyone else have a morning rush routine?

(You may also note my work-out is not included in this. If I actually get up at 5:15, I work out first, then start my day, but I am still adjusting to that. Like I said, I favor sleep.)

Thrush is evil

Disclaimer: this post is merely me venting.

Matthew developed thrush about 3 weeks ago now and it has completely ruined our entire breast feeding routine. For those unaware of what thrush is, it's a yeast build up in the mouth that usually occurs when on antibiotics or from bacteria on bottle nipples or pacifiers. Google it. Never heard of it before and Leah never had it, but apparently it's pretty common.

Anyway, it is not recommended to breast feed when your baby has thrush because it could transfer to your boob then you would be on antibiotics and the entire cycle starts over... Get my drift? Evil.

So we were doing really well with our breast feeding routine: I'd pump 2-3 times at work, and nurse at home. Now that we haven't been able to nurse for 2+ weeks, and I can't seem to keep up with pumping and bottle feeding, my supply has gone down. Way down. And to top it off, he now won't latch on! He has realized the bottle is much faster I guess.

My current dilemma - continue pumping and try everything possible to increase my supply or just say it was a good 5 months and call it quits?

My reasonings to continue pumping:
1. It's the best for Matthew (compared to formula)
2. It's free - I already have all the necessary equipment - and formula is expensive (even with my coupons!)

My reasonings to potentially stop now:
1. My milk supply has suffered and can't keep up
2. Pumping is a pain in the butt. Any mom who has ever had to do it understands. It's a huge time commitment.

This probably doesn't require a blog post or this much thought, but it's a huge decision to me and I can't make up my mind either way. I didn't know the last time I nursed was going to be the LAST time! It's difficult to explain.

Ironically, I am writing this while pumping in the car as we drive back from Phoenix.

Deals of the Day

Went to Target, CVS and Frys today:

Target

Huggies Diagers $4.50 (stacked Target Q with MC Q)

Axe Spray $1.48 (stacked Target Q with MC Q)

CVS

Softsoap Body Wash (2) $3.25 each (earned $5 ECB) so $0.75 each

Frys

Odwalla Bars (3) FREE

Dial Soap (3) FREE

Gerber food FREE

Silk $1.50

Okios Greek Yougrt (6) $2.00



A New Beginning

Brad put this together for me this weekend:

My elliptical that we purchased in December 2010. After another pregnancy and baby, I thought it was about time to utilize this thing.

My goal is to work out 30-45 mins every morning before the kids get up. The constantly moving variable though is WHEN the kids get up! Sometimes, they both get up when Brad leaves for work (around 5:30) so I have to get ready and entertain/watch/feed them at the same time, which is pretty stressful. Other times, they sleep in a bit so I can at least take a shower with out having to entertain two kids in the bathroom through a foggy glass door. It looks like I will have to get up around 5 to meet this goal. Although the evenings are looking like an easier (time wise) option to work out, the evenings are the only time Brad and I have some quiet time after the kids are in bed, so I would rather not take that away.

My main goal is to become healthier, not just to lose weight. I realize this is not an overnight process and will take some time. It is also going to be an overall lifestyle change (for me and my family). Some things we have already adapted to in our household:

1. No Soda

I am not a big soda fan, but we always had it in the house because Brad needs caffeine. He has now replaced that habit with iced tea for the caffeine.

2. No Fast Food

We watched the documentary Supersize Me a while back, and ever since then, I have not eaten any fast food. I haven't even had the craving to eat any. Honestly, we all know fast food is bad for us, but when you watch the process of how its made, what ingredients are actually used, and what it does to your body, it turns your stomach.

3. More Home-Cooked Meals

Brad and I both love to cook. We try to plan our meals ahead of time so we are not rushing to make dinner at 7pm. Typically, when we rush or make something "quick and easy", it's frozen pizza or ordering something. Going out to eat is not only expensive, but it is also difficult to control how they cook your meal or what unknown added calories there are.

4. Exchanging Ground Beef for Ground Turkey

Before, we really only used ground turkey for chili. Now, Brad has exchanged ground beef for ground turkey is some of our favorite dinners, and honestly I can't tell the difference.

My other goals I hope to reach (in so specific time order):

1. Eat more fresh, all natural, unprocessed, no preservative foods.

2. Read nutrition labels and keep a daily food log (there's an app for that!)

3. Lose 10lbs a month (realistic? I have no idea.)

4. Set a better example for my kids.

Leah is a pretty picky eater. She loves fruit, cheese and yogurt, but she also loves hot dogs, chicken nuggets and pizza (really, what toddler doesn't?). I want to find healthier alternatives to her favorite foods.

Please comment if you have any advice, suggestions, or words of encouragement. I will try to keep posting my progress and possibly take pictures... possibly.







Current Stockpile of Diapers & Wipes

We have been getting some really good deals recently on diapers and wipes, so of course we stocked up (again).

Current count:
Over 3,500 wipes
Over 1,000 diapers (sizes 1-2, 2 and 3)

Leah is currently in a size 4 and we keep a pack on hand at a time because we are in the midst of potty training. We have about 2 boxes of Pull Ups.

My stock up prices (everyones is different):
Wipes $0.009/wipe
Diapers $0.11/diaper