i have 364 days...

to finish these projects!

ha!

Stockings.

Love the shape and style of these, not the fabric.

We need new matching stockings...

we only had 2 this year...

Love these stocking holders.

Love the pictures!

Yet again we only had two this year...

These easy, precious, too cute ornament

wreaths have been found all over blogland...

and I love them!

Gotta make one!

I better get busy...

Christmas plans? What plans?

i really planned on putting bows on the gifts under the tree.

i also planned to make nametags for the gifts under the tree.

i planned on getting Alan a few more gifts...that never got bought.

i didn't plan on being on-call for work this Christmas.

i planned to see my family before New Year's Eve.

i really planned on making a bow for the top of our tree.

i didn't plan on all three of us being sick all week.

i didn't plan on getting home at 9:45 last night.
i didn't plan on Rowan being asleep when we got home.

i planned on reading him the Christmas story before bedtime.

i planned to take pictures of Rowan leaving cookies and milk for Santa.

i planned on starting my Christmas shopping early...
and being done by now.

i planned on cooking a big breakfast this morning...
but i was in bed until 10:00.

i planned on playing with Rowan all day...
instead we all three slept almost all day.

i planned on making peanut butter balls.
maybe by next weekend?

i didn't plan on eating Chinese take-out for Christmas night supper.

but so it goes.

that's life.

and I am trying to be okay with it.

Now that I am a mom I am realizing I have to let
go of some things...

On a sidenote...we have had a wonderful day anyway.
Having Rowan has really made Christmas fun.
He loved all his gifts.
He is starting to sit up by himself which makes it really
easy for him to play.
So far I haven't been called in.
(Thank you Lord. Just 2 more days and I'll be
done with Christmas call for the next 5 years. I hope.)
We are all feeling a little better, but ready for these colds to pass.
We gotta head out tomorrow and finish our shopping
for Christmas with my family next week.
And hit up a few after Christmas sales too.
I gotta work on making my peanut butter balls.
To heck with making any bows or nametags at this point...

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!!

a few people have been asking...

how I make my bows.

My secret is called the Bow-maker.

I am still not very good at it.

I usually make and re-make a bow 

two or three times before I am satisfied with it. 

They have them at Michaels and Hobby Lobby.

It comes with a handy little booklet to show you

how to make all kinds of different bows.

I also have the Mini-Bowdabra

which is good for making hairbows

and smaller bows.

Christmas Eve...

Rowan's first Christmas Eve...
So excited for tomorrow even though he doesn't even have
a clue about what's going on.

We will be at home for Christmas this year
because I am on-call for work starting at 1:00 this afternoon.
Hoping for a really quiet Christmas...

Gage and Rowan

We met up with Lauren, Chris, and Gage last Friday

 night at Cracker Barrel.

Rowan was mesmorized by Gage.

They were so cute together.

Lauren and I have been friends for 12 years now.

From junior year of high school...

to senior year of college...

to marrying our college sweethearts...

and now we both have sweet baby boys!

Rowan's 1st Christmas Tree...

His theme is lime green, red, and green and
little boy stuff.
We bought it last year at Hobby Lobby.
along with some ornaments too.
I added the bow, the berries, the sprigy things
at the top and a few more ornaments this year.
No tree skirt, just some bunched up felt from
Hobby Lobby around the bottom.


Merry Christmas!

FIVE months old!

Here is the monthly picture taken with his lamb.
Love his pose.
So chill.
Getting so big.
Officially weighs 14 pounds today!
Loving some sweet potatoes and carrots!

Christmas Eve Eve...

My sweet boy in his bumbo...
looking so precious.
That face.
Those lips.
Those curls.
Oh boy, momma loves you, so!

We spent today at home.
We are all sick.
Family naptime in our bed.
So sweet.

shopping trip...

to Publix this week!
Loving the savings!

Our Christmas Card 2009!

I haven't sent out cards for the past 2 years

because I just simply never got around to it.

This year I really wanted to send some with

it being Rowan's first Christmas.

So I let Alicia McDonald take

the picture, create the card, order the cards,

and mail them to my house.

All I had to do was address them and put stamps on them!

That's what I am talking about!

(The card has an irridescent finish on it, so it didn't

scan very well.)

I wanted to send them out to everyone,

but I couldn't so I thought I would share it here.

My goal was to get them out by Dec. 11th

and I got them out Dec. 12th!

Trust me...I have not been on the ball with

anything else this year.

We still haven't finished our shopping! 

The picture was taken at his 4 month photo shoot.

Alicia does a fabulous job!

Our little man is 5 months old today!

He tried baby food for the first time tonight!

He loves sweet potatoes!

Spent $12, Saved 40!!!

at Publix.

Alan accompanied me on this trip.

When we got to the checkout he said he was a little

embarrassed by the stack of coupons I handed the cashier.

But when she gave me my receipt

and told me my savings that day he said

he couldn't be any prouder.

Before I started couponing I shopped at Wal-mart

or Kroger for groceries because I thought they were the

cheapest. Now I mainly shop at Publix.

I have found that the sales at Publix are much better.

Jenny at Southern Savers did a comparison

of Publix, Kroger, and Walmart on her blog this week

and I am not at all surprised at what she found.

I also thought that buying toiletries at Wal-mart

was the cheapest way to go.

But now I buy the majority of our toiletries

at CVS and Walgreens.

They have the best deals!!!

4 months old.

I take a picture of him with his lamb on the 20th of every month.
I'm a little behind on posting this one.
He will be 5 months old soon!
He has his 1st Thanksgiving outfit on in this too.
Getting big!

elvis lip!

hilarious.

Rowan update!

He is doing great!

We changed him from Zantac to Prevacid
this past Tuesday because we felt like
the Zantac wasn't working.

And boy, are we glad we did.

He is eating better.
(I think he is already over 14 pounds!)
Going to sleep easier.
Taking 2 hour naps.
Smiling more.
Cooing and laughing all the time. So precious.
Spitting up less.

We are all happier!

Thank you Lord!

mine.

Sweet Rowan.
I heart you more everyday.

i love free stuff...

I got all this stuff for free at CVS on Monday!!!
This is how...
I spent 34 dollars on Black Friday and got 26 ExtraCare
Bucks (ECB) back. (They are like instant cash.)
So my trip Monday would have costed me 36.93...
but I shopped sales, then I had coupons for every sale item,
then I had a 5 dollar off 15$ purchase from the
bottom of a receipt and my ECBs.
So, my grand total, get this, was 1.28...and that was TAX!
Can you say excited!

I started couponing seriously a few weeks ago and am loving it!

My favorite stores are now Publix, Walgreens, and CVS.

I have learned alot about all of it, but I have so much more to learn.

These are my favorite sites so far.
www.southernsavers.com
www.iheartpublix.com
www.hip2save.blogspot.com

These awesome ladies do the homework for you!
Their websites are full of wonderful deals, coupons,
store sale ads, and more!

I spent 30 dollars at Publix on Monday and saved 50 dollars.
I came home with bags and bags of stuff.

I would love to hear how y'all save money!
I would also love any other sites you may use to help
your family save money!

curly-hawk...

our boy has a mohawk most days.

a curly mohawk.

a curly-hawk as we call it.

and it is simply adorable.

Rowan visits Santa...

A few weeks ago we took Rowan to see Santa at Bass Pro.

He was captivated by him.

I love how Santa is holding Rowan's paci just so.

He took it upon himself to remove it for the picture.

I just loved that Santa.

He wore a gold cross around his neck to remind everyone

the REAL meaning of Christmas!

Giving thanks for...

my husband.

our sweet baby boy.

my family.

my friends.

our jobs.

our apartment.

our cars.

our health.

our access to healthcare.

our freedom.

the U.S. of A!

food on our table.

clean water to take a bath.

glasses and contacts to help me see.

warmth on winter nights.

cool air on summer days.

clothes on our backs and in our closets.

our nice cozy bed.

emotions and passions.

laughter and joy.

the beauty of the Earth.

God's GRACE in abundance.

God's many, many blessings.

A.R.

As in Acid Reflux.

So I felt like Rowan has been especially fussy here lately.
He has been spitting up since he was 3 days old, but
here lately it has been much more frequent.
He was having difficulty nursing.
Some days he was totally not interested in eating.
I could hear his stomach rumbling around at feeding time.
He wasn't taking good naps.
Evenings around here were hard because Rowan is
inconsolable due to tummy troubles.
He even looked smaller to me.

I knew something wasn't right...

On Monday as I was reading Babywise it was confirmed
that Rowan may have AR.
There is a chapter in the book that talks about stomach issues.
I was reading scenarios of several different children.
One of them was about a little boy named Asher.
And well, he and Rowan could be twins.


So I text Alan really quick to tell him I am calling Rowan's
peditrician to ask what we should do, etc.
We take Rowan to see Dr. Smith on Tuesday morning.
He says "Yes, that is acid reflux and we need to go ahead and
start treating him."
He also explained that all the above problems are because of the reflux issue.
We also found out that Rowan only weighs 12 pounds, 4 ozs.
He should weigh at least 13 pounds, 8 ozs. according to Dr. Smith.
Poor baby hasn't been keeping enough down to gain weight.

Now we are on Zantac twice a day.
We go back to see Dr. Smith next week.
I'm praying for relief for Rowan and some weight gain too.
Pray with me please!

Operation Christmas Child

Alan and I saw this video at church a few Sundays ago...

and it brought us both to tears.

It is so amazing what these simple-to-us shoe boxes

can mean to a precious child!

We couldn't wait to go out and fill up some boxes!

We put together a boy box...

and a girl box.

And we had a ball!

If you haven't already made a box (or two) I encourage you to do so!

Details can be found here.

God is using this ministry to reach children

all around the world for Him!

What an awesome way to start the holidays off!

oh what a day!

yes, that's me. on my "birth"day!

Today was a fabulous day!
I really can't believe I am 28!!!

Alan took the day off to spend with me!
I got to sleep until 9:00.
Opened my cards and presents. Sweet!
Got lots of birthday phone calls! :)
Some that made me laugh out loud!
We went to Chick-fil-a for lunch.
We went to Publix, Walgreens, and CVS for
my couponing deals. (More on that later).
We looked at a house.
We went to Mikata's in Macon. YUM!
Then we took Rowan to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops!

Nothing spectacular, but totally wonderful!

I am so thankful for the life God has blessed me with!
28 is gonna be great!

one year ago today...

We found out Rowan was on the way!!!

I remember feeling shocked, overwhelmed,
and in awe of God's goodness.

I wondered if it was gonna be a girl or a boy.
(Boy, obviously)

I wondered what he or she would look like.

(Never would have imagined a baby so beautiful.)

I wondered what it would feel like to have
a baby moving around inside me.

(Very, very cool, sometimes uncomfortable)

I wondered what labor would feel like.

(Ouch, ouch, ouch and ouch!!!)

I wondered what it would be like
to be a mother.

And now I know.

It's a love and joy that is indescribable.

Thank you God for our sweet baby boy!

You have so richly blessed our lives
by giving us Rowan!

I couldn't imagine life without him.
We love you sweet Rowan!

i-could-eat-him-with-a-spoon

I can't get enough of this chubby little face.

His cheeks.

His lips.

His fuzzy, crazy hair.

His sweet baby smell.

can't believe...

we are having 4 month pictures done tomorrow!