Jessica Strickland Wannabe

Most of you probably already know that I love, love, LOOOOOVE Jessica Strickland's photography. She did our engagement pics, wedding pics, my niece Belle's pics and will be doing Brody's 1 year pics. Now as much as I wish she could just live in our home and photograph every moment we have with Brody, I know that's just not possible. So what I do is follow Brody around like the papparazzi and pretend that I'm Jessica. : ) I bought a fancy camera and I'm constantly messing with it to try and get some super cool pics. So I was pumped this morning when I took some pics of Brody during some tummy time and caught some sun flare! I don't even know if thats what it is called but I thought the pictures looked neat anyways.


Riiiight before a sneeze...: )

When Brody was younger, his hair had a definite red tint to it. Now its coming in much, much blonder. But he still has this tiny patch of red on the right side of his head. See it sticking up in the picture? Rory calls it his "Red Wing" haha : )

Done with tummy time and ready for a nap

4 Months

I cannot believe that Brody is already 4 MONTHS OLD!! I don't like that the time is going so fast. But Rory and I are having a ton of fun with him now that he's interacting with us more. I took Brody for his 4 month check up yesterday and he is definitely growing like a champ. He weighed 18lb 6oz (96th percentile) and was 26 inches long (90th percentile). Such a big boy! Handsome too. : ) He is smiling a TON now and even gives me some good belly laughs. His best friend is a blue elephant that hangs on his car seat. He goes to bed around 8:30pm every night after his bath and sleeps till between 6 and 7am. Although that sounds great and it really is pretty good for 4 months, Rory and I take turns putting his paci back in a couples times during the night. Here are some pictures that I took today...

Brody & Riley

A couple weekends ago Rory, Brody and I made a trip down to Cincy to visit some friends. Brody got to visit with his Aunt Bethany and meet his Aunt Ashley for the first time! We also got to see our good friends, Jason and Megan....and their dog, Riley. Brody and Riley got along really well, except when Riley kept stealing Brody's monkey! : ) I did a little photo shoot with the two of them to try and get some good pics. This is the best I could do....

Meet Riley...

"Seriously, Brody, when is your mom going to stop with the camera??"

"Never, Riley, never."

Saving Money

As I've already mentioned, couponing is my new hobby. I love saving money! Check out the new blog that my sister put together for me, her and Tish to share our money saving tips.....

www.mommy-cents.blogspot.com

Gettin' my feet wet...

In the coupon market, that is. When I had Brody, I went part time at work. Well, with the census down at work I've been getting cancelled quite a bit. So I've gone from 72 hours/pay period to about 28 hours/pay period. Ouch. So after hearing about all the money that people save from couponing, I decided to give it a try. So today was my first outing. I decided to go for only a few items and see what I could do. I felt like some sort of sneaky thief walking in to CVS, coupons in hand. : ) Here is how my trip went...

Transaction #1

Dawn Dish Soap:
on sale for 0.88 (reg. 1.99) - 0.50 coupon = 0.38

Crest Toothpaste:
on sale for 2.49 (reg. 3.29) - 0.75 coupon= 1.74 + earn 1.50 CVS bucks

Infant Advil:
on sale for 5.79 (reg. 6.29)- 1.00 coupon= 4.79 + earn 5.79 CVS bucks

Covergirl Make-Up:
B1G1 special + B1G1 coupon = FREE

Total Savings= 15.64
Out of Pocket= $9 plus tax

Transaction #2

Pampers:
on sale for 8.88 (reg. 12.49) - 1.50 coupon= 7.38
use 7.29 CVS bucks earned

Total Savings= 12.40
Out of Pocket= 0.09 + tax = 20 cents!!

Now I'm still learning the ropes but I'm loving this whole saving money thing!

Cousin Ethan

Brody would like everyone to go over to Aunt Mandy's blog and meet his cousin Ethan. Brody and I were at her 3D ultrasound with her and Brody just laid on the floor and talked to Ethan on the big screen the whole time. It was cute. Ethan looks like a little fella so we've already named my big bubba as his bodyguard : )

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today is our very 1st wedding anniversary! WOW, has it only been a year??? Who would have thought that we'd have a 3 month old baby on our first anniversary? Certainly not us! haha : ) But we consider ourselves IMMENSELY blessed, not only to have each other but to have Brody as well. I love you, Rory : )