I love a good deal!

I just looove good deals! I mean seriously, I hate buying things unless they are one sale! haha!

Do you ever have one of those days when you just need to get out of the house? 

How about on a February day when its in the 70's!?!?! 

Okay, so that was Raleigh Grace and I today... we met Daddy for lunch then had a little girl time shopping... we went to Ulta and to our favorite store, Target! I honestly have a LOVE/Hate relationship with Target because every time we go in there I buy $50 dollars worth of stuff I "don't need." {Please tell me I'm not the only one?}! 

Well today, we found some great STEALs and I just had to share!!

Here is the loot:  a onesie, shirt, 2 pairs of jeans (3months and 6 months- why not at $2.50 each!), and a dress... for a grand total of ....$25 dollars!! Man do I wish that I could do some awesome shopping for myself and only pay that much! ha!

Here is the fun!

I am IN LOVE with this dress.  Seriously, I am obsessed! 

especially at this price! {squeal}  

if you are in need of a good deal, run to Target now! They have a ton of adorable things on sale (for girls obviously, but for little boys too- and for adults!

And, of course, I always looove this sweet little girl who will be wearing all these goodies! 

What are you just loving today!?

A New Friend

This past week Miss Raleigh Grace made a new friend... probably a friend that many of your infants have also.  Meet Sophie! :)

and because I just thought this pic was too adorable NOT to share :)

I had heard many people talk about "Sophie" and how their kids just loved her but I just didn't understand how a plastic "squeaky chew-toy" for kids worth twenty dollars but I caved and went for it.  OMG Raleigh Grace LOVES this thing... she has just started reaching for things and she reaches for Sophie and loves to chew on it squeek it! And obviously, she loves to play with her feet too, now. :)

RG by the week: 18 weeks!

the was one of the FEW good pictures I got this go round.... I nearly spent a "whole roll of film" trying to coax this little angel into smiling or even looking at the camera... she definitely becomes a little shy up when it comes out these days!

Stats:
?

Feeding:
Maybe going a little longer between feedings compared to last week. Maybe 2 1/2-3 hrs. Sometimes nursing longer too. About 10-15 minutes.

Sleep:
We had a couple of really good 5+ hour nights, the rest were 3-4 hrs.
Naps on avg 30-45 mins every hour or two hours.
Slept almost the whole way to Georgia and back home.

love her sweet demeanor when shes just waking up

Her first nap in her pack-and-play... sucking her thumb ha

daddy trying to get her to sleep and she's playing and blowing bubbles

Behavior:
Lots of fun! Back to blowing lots of bubbles and kicking her legs like crazy! Enjoys lots of attention.

Clothes:
Pretty much done with all things newborn minus a couple outfits- her monogramed onesie still fits as does her Baylor onesie with the fabric flower on the front. Other outfits are skin tight. She fits nicely into most 0-3 and some 3 month outfits. She wears the pumas that heather gave her all the time as well as her pink uggs. Her tan uggs are too small as are her pink ballet slippers she came home from the hospital in (& they swallowed her then!) she has also outgrown some headbands- who's surprised with her head measuring in the 90th percentile at birth ha.

Favorite Moments: 

Cuddle time, bath time

Most Challenging:
can't think of anything

Loves:
Chewing fingers, being talked to, baths, sucking her thumb, bring pushed on her stroller

Looking Forward To:
I'm just enjoying every moment! 

Mommy moments:
same... just my hair :-P

Firsts/Milestones:
First valentines day- We hung out with GGdaddy and Donna at their house then went out to eat at K's favorite Mexican restaurant with his dad, my stepmom and my brother and his friend. Our friend Louis was working and gave us women flowers and even gave RG a chocolate rose :) 
First flower- from Daddy & valentines chocolate heart sucker from Louis
Grabbing her legs intentionally
Starting to talk more
Scout meeting
Time in Atlanta
First time through mountain region of SC
Ate/Sucked on a lemon

trying the lemon...

haha she loved it! can't you tell :) 

this post is so late... she was 18 weeks on 2/2o/12 :)

Monogramed Embosser HURRY!

I was so excited that I got an email today from Expressionery letting me know that ALL of their embossers were 50% off for today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) only! I have been eye-ing these babies for some time now but did not have almost $70 to fork over for one.  

If you use the coupon code WABCCHANNEL7 at checkout then it will apply the discount... The only downside to this is that shipping is still semi-high (because these weigh a ton)... for me it was 8 bucks. Overall not terrible but just warning you. 

{via}

I am so excited to get my monogram so I can create my own stationary and note cards YAY!! Ordering personalized stationary that is embossed is out the roof expensive sooo... here is my solution- MAKE MY OWN haha :) 

(you get the idea...)

Oh and you don't have to get your monogram... they have tons of other options that you can browse {here}.  I love the return address stamps too but hopefully this is not our permanent forever home... :)

Okay enough from me... go SHOP! :) and did I mention they are a good 'ol Texas company :) yay! 

{via}

I was in no way compensated for this post, these opinions are solely my own.

All images from {here}

Random...

I have so many random things running through my head right now...gonna lay them down here so hopefully I can actually sleep tonight (that is if RG cooperates).


1) How much I miss my Texas "family"... and our "home" there (aka our house)

christmas last year

2) Just found out my principal from last year is resigning to go be with his elder mother... can't think of a more self-less thing to do... so sad for the school but so admirable on his part.  If it weren't for him my teaching career would have never started. I will forever be grateful! 


3)Baylor... WOW... SIC EM. I just can't get over how awesome all of the sports teams are doing this year... my heart is leaping with joy! As if that's not enough... Baylor has a "spread" in Sports Illustrated this issue

from BU's website

4)Both my body and mind are tired... praying for some GOOD sleep from Little Miss tonight! 

5)I am still frustrated that picnik is closing... seriously yall... I hate google for that! ugh. 

 (ummm hello project 365!)

6)My heart LEAPS with joy over how blessed I am beyond measure... I mean, family, friends, health, house, food.... that barely scrapes the surface...  my cup overflows! Thank you Jesus for my blessings!

via

6) I seriously have the most precious gift here on earth: 

7) My life is wonderful (even if there are bumps in the road sometimes!)... do not let me ever forget that.  Help me remember that I can't always do it all! Praise God for his eternal LOVE and Grace! :) Amen!

Bowtie Ballet!

Shout out to all of my Baylor loves out there... and an even bigger shout out to those Penland dining hall buddies... :)

Do any of you remember the bowtie pasta that was served on VERY SPECIAL occasions? I loooved this stuff and remember stuffing to-go boxes full and sneaking it out for an extra meal.  Well, I decided to try and recreate this dish at home and (to my surprise!) it tasted sooo much like the one from my BU days! It was very easy to make and made enough for leftovers (I usually hate leftovers but was Oh-so-excited about this one!) Those of you who have not heard of this you must try it!  My hubby hates peas and even he loved this dish! (You can throw in some extra chicken if your heart desires, his did haha)

Here's what you need:
1 box of Farfalle Pasta (bowtie pasta- I think mine was 12 oz's?)
Bacon (I used ~5 strips)
1 package of frozen peas
1 or 2 jars of Alfredo sauce (to the consistency you want- I used one and a half)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)


Optional Ingredients:
onions (I omitted- I hate onions ha)
small block of provolone cheese
red pepper flakes
(chicken- hubby requested; I cooked a breast and shredded and added to his pasta)


Hint: I used a large skillet so I didn't have to transfer ingredients a lot of times...


Here's how you do it:
Fry the bacon and then remove from the skillet.
Do NOT get rid of your grease (I left it on low heat from this point on)
While you are cooking the bacon follow the ingredients on the back of the package of peas to cook them (I microwaved them and that worked great)
Drain peas then add peas to the pan with the grease
Stir in desired amount of Alfredo sauce
{If you want to add a little spice now is a good time to add red pepper flakes and/or onions- if using onions I would first sauté- just my opinion)
Keep on low heat...


Cook Pasta according to box
Drain Pasta and add to pea mixture
break apart bacon* into tiny pieces and mix in with peas, pasta and sauce.
Cut provolone into small pieces and add to top of pasta after putting it bowl or plate to be served


*I saved a couple pieces of bacon to use as "topping" once I served our meals (mainly for looks- and hubs and I love bacon so why not!? ha) .

MMM MMM GOOD!! I hope you all enjoy this as much as I have!

(feel free to let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to try and help!)

Georgia, Georgia! :)

This weekend our little family of three made a trip to meet my mom, stepdad and sister {almost} halfway between their house and ours.  As you can see from the pictures we had a BLAST!! :) 

we did a whole bunch of hanging out at the hotel :) 

this girl obviously already has a love for diamonds :)

this face cracks me up!

with auntie aj

holding hands

toes... AJ's and RG's 

 looking at Pop

and we went to the World of Coke-a-Cola! 

It was so much fun!! You could tour and view Coke being bottled (see some pics below).  This particular place bottled about 120 Cokes per minute (at a much slower rate than normal for easier viewing of process) - most normal plants bottle about 1,220 bottles per minute!  As the cokes are bottled, they are on a conveyer belt to the exit of the tour where you can pick up your own bottle of Coke to drink or take home with you.  They also had a tasting section where you could taste different Coke products from all over the world-- some were hits and LOTS of them were misses ha! 

right outside "The Vault" where the TOP SECRET recipe is stored !

Our family with one of the coke guys but the lady cut his head off... see next pic.

and now she cut RG out. sigh

with the Coke polar bear!

With Grandma Lala

the tasting room (see the Coke's on the belt up top?- they are real bottles of Coke and were moving)

close up of Coke's

having a taste from...

Pop knocked her out :)

This is a picture of the CEO of Coke back when the "new" Coke came out in the 80's... my dad recognized him as someone that my grandpa worked for (My dad's dad worked for Coke) ... come to find out this was the man that hired my Grandpa and they were really good friends :) 

AJ putting RG to sleep

just hanging out 

where you pick up your coke at the end of the tour

We also went to the FAMOUS "Varsity" restaurant. They claim to be the world's largest Drive-In... lets just say it was "okay" and very overpriced in my opinion oh and SOOOO overly crowded!

wayyy tooo crowded!

very nice view of the city :) 

parents... look at him looking at her ha

mom and sis taking care of RG :) 

hehe :)

This was right outside the Varsity hah ("This is a good sign") ha!

Sunday, before we had to part ways we grabbed lunch in downtown Marietta- it was delicious but I already forgot the name of it ha! Loved the downtown area there, it was very pretty! 

it was VERY chilly!
(this picture has me- the last one has K in it haha) 

Like I said, we had a BLAST! It was so nice to get away for a spur of the moment trip! I love random road trips and I love my family! We sure missed my other sissy though!