Fresher Better

You all know by now that I have been trying to live greener and healthier. I have made as many adjustments to our diet as our bank account will allow. All I gotta say is HEALTHY/ORGANIC FOOD AIN'T CHEAP! But I decided that we could eat "normal" portions and that can help offset some of the costs, we are huge over eaters so limiting portions can do a lot for us (including our waist lines)! But on top of eating organic I have tried to eat as much fresh food as possible. And on top of THAT I try eat as much raw (or minimally cooked) fruits and veggies as possible too. Ive learned that local fruits and veggies are even better! Our farmers market as been pretty good at helping me out lately, I wish we had a better farmers market, but I will take what i can get. My most favorite weekly purchase at the market is farm fresh eggs. They are cage free, no antibiotics, organic (but not certified), some of them are even green, and they are AWESOME! I have always been scared of the idea of going outside picking a freshly laid egg going inside and cracking it. It just freaks me out! But I decided since i haven't seen the chickens, and i didn't collect the eggs myself, I could give it a try. And i am super super excited I did. They are so yummy!

Ive also started growing my own herbs. I started thinking I just wanted rosemary, but I went ahead and got basil and cilantro too. I thought I would use them in this order: rosemary, basil, cilantro. In fact the order is basil, cilantro, then far far behind is rosemary. I think I have only used rosemary 3-4 times. I use either basil and/or cilantro every single day! Breakfast lunch dinner it doesn't matter! I cant call them organic because I didn't buy organic herbs, and stupid me planted them in miracle grow potting soil! But I have not and will not spray them with any sort of pesticide. In fact I am testing out a little garlic/pepper spray on them to help with the small bug problem I have. Hopefully it will work!

I have also started making my own marinades, so far the difference yet again is so ridiculously huge! I cant even compare them to bottled marinades, and that is not because I am such a great cook and all! My favorite right now is a combination of balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil, garlic, fresh basil, salt, and pepper. I don't follow any sort of recipe i just mix it all up until it smells and tastes good. Do any of you have a fresh marinade/sauce that you like?

It makes me happy to know that my girls eat healthy foods, and the foundation that we are laying for them is a good one. What makes me even happier is that they LOVE the food! It also makes me happy when we sit down to eat dinner and the amount of organic ingredients outnumber the non-organic.

Swim diaper secret

I am a huge fan of the reusable swim diapers. But the ones we own, don't necessarily keep everything in, if you know what I mean. So i will put them on her when we are just splashing around in the water in our backyard, but if we go to a public place i like to have her in a disposable one, until I am very confident she wont do pee pees. And this is a new concept for me since Kaylee was completely trained by this time, and I have had to learn the hard way that those darn things are EXPENSIVE!!! But alas I have found a little secret and wanted to share it with you.

Disposable swim diapers are WASHABLE!!!

YES I SAID WASHABLE!!!

I didn't believe it at first, but it is true! I have successfully washed one 3 times, then it started falling apart so I threw it out. Here is the trick: immediately after getting out of the pool either hand wash it or throw it in the washing machine, and then hang it to dry. It is that simple! That is unless your baby gave you the gift of poo, then throw it out immediately! Never dry the diaper in the dryer! Just hang and then reuse next time you go to the pool. There have also been times that Ainslee doesn't even pee in them, and for those occasions I just ring it out and hang it to dry, just as if it were a reusable one. This secret, along with some great coupons and sales, should get you through the summer without breaking the bank.

Happy swimming!

Potty talk

Last week when Ainslee had her swim lessons I decided to take the "*little potty*" with me so that she could go to the bathroom before I put her swim diaper on. And it didn't occur to me until I was about to put her on it, that that was the FIRST time I she had even seen the potty let alone SIT on it! Needless to say she wasn't too thrilled with the idea of the little potty and therefore she refused to go pee pees on it. I decided then that I needed to bring the little potty inside and let her get acquainted with it.

hold on let me rewind and tell you about this little potty........This little potty has been a life saver, a true LIFE SAVER! I mean it has gone EVERYWHERE with us, including Mexico (Kaylee peed in it on the plane!), it was poolside with us during her second summer, it stays in the back of the car for those emergencies on the side of the road when we didn't have time to pull over and run into a store to use the potty, I'm telling you it has been GREAT! I keep it in a black waterproof duffel bag. I keep extra wipes and some plastic bags in the big bag too. I can cover the potty with the plastic bag if I know she has to do #2 that way there is no clean up involved. I'm telling you that if you don't have a little bitty potty and you want to train your children it is an invaluable purchase. I will have to say that this potty is one reason why she was completely trained at 17 months!

Ok back to my story! I have never actually been a "fan" of little potties. the little potty I am referring to was a hand-me-down gift from a friend that said "use, throw it away, i don't care what you do with it." And I almost did throw it away, SOOOOOO glad I didn't. And we did purchase our own potty for Kaylee when she just started learning, and she would use it every now and then. But I would mostly put her on the big potty. She was never scared of the big potty and neither was Ainslee. (Well unless they flush by themselves, then Kaylee had a slight fear of them last summer!) And the little potty we bought doubles as a step stool, which is perfect for our cramped bathroom. Another reason why I always put my girls on the big potty is just plain laziness. I don't want to clean poo out of a little potty if I don't have to! how did I get off my story again?

So I brought the little potty inside and put it in the living room, i figured I would let her explore it, sit on it, do whatever, at her own pace. She immediately noticed something was out of place. So she grabbed the potty and brought it to me. She hates it when things are out of place. I said to her, "no Ainslee this is your little potty, mommy wants to see you do pee pees on the little potty." And I escorted her to the potty and sat her down on it. She sat there grunted like she was trying to poo and then got up and ran off. I giggled and went back to what I was doing. For the next 1.5 hours as she played and I did my chores and things around the house, every so often I would see her go over to the little potty sit down (usually backwards) and grunt look down to see and then get up and run off. It was hilarious! I mean she did this like 30 times!!! Nothing ever came out, I knew she had to go potty so I put her back on the little one, and she wouldn't go, so i put her on the big one and she immediately went. So I'm not sure if she is scared of the little one, or what, but she wont go in it. BUMMER! I am going to keep working with her on it, i mean it was her first day and all! Oh and she thinks it is a place to keep her toys, I hope she never puts them in there when she has pee pees in it.

*the link to the picture of the potty is not the EXACT one we have but an older, much older, version*

Semi Wordless Wednesday - Brown Bunny

I always knew that there was a chance that my babies would be "darker" skinned than me, ok I'll be really honest.........I knew that they would be darker than me! And I am ok with that, I am quite happy with it actually, envious, but happy!

Here is my little 16 month olds arm on my belly. Granted my belly is one of the whitest parts of my body, right there in front of "where the sun dont shine." And her arm is the darkest part of her body. So it is really like comparing the extremes

It doesnt matter how much sunscreen I put on both the girls they still tan, which is weird to me cause I BURN!

Saving $$$

Coupons

Rebates

Sales

These are my new best friends! I decided to quit being so "lazy" with our money. I decided to taking my shopping seriously. I mean I'm not exactly bringing IN any money, so i figured the way I can help out financially was to help stretch our dollars as faaaarrrrrrrrr as possible. And I figure as a rookie with no real training, Ive done pretty darn good. These past couple of months I have saved over $300 all using my 3 new friends I listed above. That's right THREE HUNDRED BUCKaROOS. For all you non-coupon clipping/bargain hunters it is NOT THAT DIFFICULT! I'm serious! I mean I still do splurge on purchases every now and then, especially when it comes to buying organic or locally grown food, but I have found ways to help our budget, and it is SO MUCH FUN! I sort of compete with myself to see how much I can save.

The above picture shows 2 packs of diapers, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and a prescription...........and it was all FREE! I transferred a prescription to earn a $25 GC and then used coupons, sales, and rebates to make it all work.

One day I saved 56% when buying various groceries, diapers, and beer! Now let me tell you that 2 of those categories are REALLY expensive categories, and many of the groceries were fresh AND organic. So it might not sound like much but it was an amazing accomplishment for me! I just love coupons so much now! And rebates, oh rebates you are AMAZING!

The other day I was picking up a few sale items at Walgreen's (with coupons) and I noticed that beer was on sale AND a rebate offer. Marcus drinks Miller Lite, they had 12 packs (cans or bottles) on sale for $8.99, which isn't that great of a price, but if you purchased 2 AND $20 worth of other items in the store you could submit a $15 MIR. Basically I was going to spend that much on diapers and other items anyways so I bought my diapers with coupons (and received register rewards too) and submitted my MIR so I will basically got 24 bottles of beer for 3 bucks plus tax! That to me is a steal! I am making a point not to purchase things that we don't/wont use or need. I mean I might stock up on things if there is a sale, but only things like bathroom items. The other day I matched coupons for Right Guard deodorant with a sale at Schnucks and got them for $1 each. They are regularly $4 each.

Yesterday, I went to Kroger just to pick up a few necessities (bananas, yogurt, etc) and I had a Kroger store diaper coupon that was about to expire. They had diapers on sale (not a fabulous sale, but a little off the original price) when I got to the checkout I handed her my coupons, I thought I would try using 2 diaper coupons (the store coupon and one I had printed) when only buying one box of diapers. She scanned them both and they worked! As I was about to pay the lady said "hold on a second, I forgot to scan your diapers." (I had them under the cart because our stupid Kroger does not have 2 seater carts so Kaylee has to ride in the basket, which i absolutely HATE! anyways so some of my things have to go under the cart, and she must have missed the diapers, I don't see how seeing how they were a HUGE box, but whatever back to my story. So she scans the diapers and the computer automatically adds the coupon AGAIN! So I ended up getting $9 off ONE BOX of diapers! I do have to say that our Kroger has been really great with coupons!

Now I'm not going to lie, this new hobby isn't always easy, there is lots of prep work and research to do. More stops to make because you have to go to the store where the sales are, and in my case when I don't live near most stores that means a lot more driving. But all of the extra time and work are totally worth the money savings, especially to single income families!

Right now I am looking forward to the 3 $25 GC's I have for transferring prescriptions. THAT, my friends, is the easiest way to make a few extra bucks! And I have already gotten and used 2 other $25 GC's for transferring prescriptions. So that is $125 just for the few extra minutes it takes to transfer a prescription.

If any of you have any tips/ideas/advise for me, I am totally interested. I have been thinking of ways to organize my coupons that will work for me. And I really need to look into getting the paper too, I was using my parents, but they cancelled their subscription. Boohoo!

It's a Whole NEW World

Ainslee climbed onto the couch for the first time tonight! She has been attempting this feat for a couple of weeks now, and each time as I watch her throw her leg up and attempt to hoist her fat little self up, I think to myself...........NO, Im not ready for this! But now it is a game! Climb up, climb down, climb up and laugh, climb down, try and climb up but fall down, laugh, climb up, kiss momma and climb down, you get the picture. I think I figured out what finally made her able to climb up. It was a cross between she was just plain ready and I was sitting on the couch and refused to pick her up. And like I have told you before she is a humongous mommas girl, so getting to sit in my lap was incentive enough for her.

On top of that, Kaylee has now learned to UNbuckle herself from her car seat, and once again..........I'm not ready for this! What is worse is we cant figure out how to turn the darn child locks on for her door.

On top of that, Ainslee has been staying dry all day............I AM SO ready for this! When we get the rare day to stay at home, she doesnt wear a diaper anymore. She goes to the bathroom when she has to pee, or I ask her and she tells me if she needs to go. It is quite nice actually. One day a few days ago I asked Ainslee (as I was cooking) if she needed to go potty. She immediately swatted down and peed on the kitchen floor. I guess next time I shouldnt ask, I should just take her. Kaylee was mortified at the fact that Ainslee peed on the floor. She said, "NO MAM! NO MAM Ainslee, we dont do pee pees on the floor, NO MAM! We do our pee pees in the potty!" Guess that is how I sound! Anyways I was quick to assure Kaylee that it was an accident and she had plenty of accidents in her early days or PT.

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here is Ainslee just being the crazy monkey she is........I swear that little girl understands EVERYTHING!

Here is Ainslee climbing up on the couch. Mind you, she had been doing this 100 times before I attempted the video, but as soon as I broke out the camera she stopped. I tried bribing her with a cheeto puff, but she just cried when I wouldnt lift her on the couch to retrieve it. So I sat on the couch and she immediately climbed right on up, she gave the cheeto puff a little look, climbed on my lap, gave me a kiss, and then grunted for me to give her the darn cheeto puff. The little stinker!

And here is Ainslee riding her favorite toy, the plasma car. She will zoom around the house going up and down the elevation change from the wood to the tile with ease. She steers and laughs, it is so funny to watch. I wasnt able to the best video of her riding.

Little Fishy

I have known for quite some time that Ainslee isnt quite the "fish" that Kaylee is. I realize now how spoiled I was having a child who didnt care to have water dumped on her head, who splashed water in her own face, who jumped off the edge of the swimming pool in Mexico (at 17 months old) THE ENTIRE TIME and sunk to the bottom and then got mad at whomever rescued her, who refused to use her floaty because she wanted to learn to swim. It is new to me that a child be more "cautious" of the water and not as enthusiastic about water in the face. I have said it since the day she was born, Ainslee is a MUCH more sensitive child. Now Im not saying that is bad! She's just more sensitive (in more ways than one). So because of this I decided that I wanted her to try swim lessons. I thought maybe they would help her get adjusted to water life, because we WILL be in the water for much of the summer, and I would hate for her to be miserable. So when my good friend mentioned that she would be taking her daughter to a swim class, I decided to give the instructor a call. We got the last available spot in the Mommy and Me 1 class, and it was the same week/ time as my friend and her daughter. I was thrilled! Well our lessons began this past Monday. We dove right in (not literally) and began doing everything that we were told, and lets just say Ainslee was not too thrilled with it. Actually she HATED it! I knew in the beginning that the class started right at nap time but Ive held her off from naps before and she was fine, so i thought no big deal. Well apparently swimming is NOT her first choice in activities when she is tired! I held my breath that the second class would go better than the first, and I was shocked........it was WORSE! I debated on whether or not I should continue, I mean Id be out the money even if we quit. So I changed my plan of attack. This morning I woke Ainslee up out of a dead sleep at 6am! We played she had breakfast, in peace and quiet might I add, because Kaylee was still sleeping. I packed our bags, loaded up the car, and as soon as Kaylee woke up we headed into town. When we got to my moms house, I fed Kaylee her breakfast, shortly afterwards Ainslee was ready for her morning snack, then we played some more. I put Ainslee down for a nap, and had to WAKE her up from a dead sleep again to go to swim class. I was hopeful the extra rest would make a difference. And IT DID!!! YAY! Ainslee had a much more enjoyable time, and even tolerated going under water; please dont confuse "tolerated" with "enjoyed"! My little girl is learning to be a little fishy, so by the time we go to Florida (and to all our friends pools) she will be a swimming pro. Ok maybe not a pro, but at least she wont think it is pure torture to be hanging by the pool for a couple hours.

oh and then after her afternoon nap I took both girls to the sprinkler park (you know the one I posted pictures of a couple posts back) and she LOVED it! She loved filling the cup with water, she loved watching and playing with the other children, what she didnt love was when she was looking straight at a sprinkler when it turned on and sprayed her right in the face. IT WAS HILARIOUS! other moms that witnessed it were dying laughing too. But she didnt get too mad, she just wiped her face and continued on her way. Maybe she just needs a little extra time before I should expect her to be running through the water and enjoying it!


PS On days like today (and tomorrow and Friday) it makes it REALLY difficult to live so far away. How much easier would my life be if we lived near civilization, so we would not have had to leave our house at 730am and return at 4pm? How much easier would it be if my children could nap in their own beds in between activities? I am incredibly grateful that I have the some place to go for my children to nap, but it is still difficult on me and them. Oh how I dream of living only a stones throw away.

Here's to hoping tomorrows swim class will be just as enjoyable as today!