Easter Play Date

Jacob and I headed over to the Wiley house for an Easter play date, complete with an egg hunt!

Here's Jacob playing the drums on his Easter basket on the way.

Jenny Wiley is a friend from high school. We lost touch during college and reconnected through the oh-so-important Facebook and ended up having boys only about 7 months apart. She also has a second little boy who is 6 months old and they are both so adorable. Another one of our high school friends, Ann, joined us as well. She has two cuties of her own...her son is 3 and her daughter is just a few months younger than Jenny's oldest. The three of us have gotten together a few times and it is so nice to see our kids play together!Elliott, Miles and Jacob enjoying their snacks. Elliott and Miles and cousins - so cute together.

Jenny had such a wonderful play date planned. I think there were 12 or 13 kids in all, and they were all so cute and had a great time playing together. It's so nice to see a whole group of toddlers get along and start playing with each other instead of just playing next to each other. Check out Miles and Elliott behind Jacob on the bench. They were feeding each other and talking like two old men. Jacob was checking out the swing set.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of Jenny's snack and drink table - so adorable. But, I didn't remember to take pictures until after the egg hunt. Jenny hid 60 eggs for the kids and hid different treats in each color. Jacob actually got the hang of it, but made me carry his basket so he could still hold onto a car in one hand and pick up eggs with the other. The boys (Chaz, Jacob and Travis) enjoying some snacks.

Jacob in his cheese glory.

I loved this. Jacob carried his plate over and Miles helped himself and knocked the food on the ground. What are boys to do? That's right, eat it right off of the mud before mom can pick it all up.

Jacob playing with this little boy (I feel so terrible, I cannot remember his name! He was so sweet though and him and Jacob played cars for the longest time together).

We had so much fun. Jenny, you should make this an annual event, haha! It was so nice meeting new moms, having great conversation and letting the kids run their little bodies around like crazy. Thanks so much Wileys!

Muffin Tin Monday, Brooke Shields and Easter presents

This week's theme for Muffin Tin Monday was blue/purple. I remembered an episode of Top Chef where they had to make blue foods and talked about how there are actually no blue foods (natural of course). They are all more purple. So, one of the contestants did an ocean theme. I totally stole his idea, and WABAM, ocean muffin tin!

In the tin: Cheese in the shape of a fish, "tropical" fruit salad, goldfish, Cheerio "lifesavers," fish sticks, and ocean water (blue Jello).

Here's Jacob feeding himself some Jello.

Check out other muffin tin meals at Muffin Tin Mom's blog.

I'm starting to love Mondays! Bob, Jacob and I ran errands this morning, ate some lunch out, and came home to two packages waiting for us! One from Uncle Mike and Aunt Kris for Jacob. He got his first Easter present of the year! He was SO excited.

Opening his cars.The adorable outfit.

They also sent us a gift card for the movie theater. I cannot wait to use it - I love me some movie popcorn! Thanks Mike and Kris - you thoroughly spoiled us today. Jacob is so lucky to have such amazing Godparents, and I'm so lucky to have a brother for a best friend and a thoughtful, beautiful and caring sister-in-law.

Then I opened the package from my BFF. What a surprise when I found an autographed copy of Brooke Shields' children's book! Holy cow! I'm still in shock! She spoils me rotten. I am so lucky to have such a great friend.Tonight, Jacob worked up an appetite dancing while watching Dancing With the Stars. He loves to dance, and has so many great moves - he tries to copy what they are doing on the show now, including yelling "kick!" and lifting his leg when they were doing the jive. Adorable. So, he helped himself to some yogurt, and he didn't even drop any on the carpet. I let him go for it, carrying it around the living room and just hoping for a mess-free evening. Success!

Spring Break!

Since Bob is a teacher, we still get to "enjoy" spring break every year! We love having him home, but we miss the days that spring break meant heading south for some warm weather, a nice tan, and no responsibilities! But, I think Jacob more than makes up for that!

I'm too lazy to download pictures from the weekend right now, but we had a great start to Bob's week of vacation, even though he did have to work quite a bit.

1. Jacob sings "Miss Mary Mack." He actually sings the last word of each line (mack, black, buttons, back, mother, cents, elephant, fence, high, sky, back, July). It is the CUTEST thing in the whole world. You stop before those words and he finishes, and he is so proud of himself.
2. I made blueberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast this morning. I love doing the "mom" things and enjoying a great family breakfast on Sundays.
3. Jacob actually slept until 9:15 this morning - the latest he has ever slept! I can't remember the last time I had that much sleep!
4. We put Jacob in his new size 7 shoes yesterday. He has had the same style of Nike shoes in size 5, 6 and now 7. I found them at Kohls for only $15 on sale a long time ago, and during a time where they gave Kohls cash. So, the shoes he is actually wearing right now were FREE!
5. I went grocery shopping on Saturday morning before Bob left for work. I was able to really think about what I was buying and focus on my list instead of hurrying through with Jacob in the cart. Even though he is super easy to shop with (I am actually amazed at how well-behaved he is when I grocery shop with him - I am seriously spoiled with him!) it is still easier to shop without him in the cart because I'm not worried about anything. I spent about $99 and saved about $41. Very successful trip!
6. Bob got Jacob to actually enjoy the cape he made at the super hero party a while back. Very cute pictures to come home to from the grocery shopping.
7. Jacob tried orange juice for the first time (we don't normally have it in the house, but I combined coupons and was able to get some for about 30 cents!) and loved it.
8. Jacob absolutely hates getting his diaper changed at the changing stations in bathrooms. He screams his head off. I don't blame him. Who wants to lay down on a dirty, nasty, dingy thing of hard plastic and have someone take your pants off. I think it's actually pretty smart of him.
9. Jacob is also saying so many new words I can't keep track of them all! He is speaking so clearly, and is starting to really say some longer sentences. I understand almost everything he says, and so do strangers.
10. COLORS! Jacob can correctly point and say the colors red, black, brown, blue, gold, silver, pink, purple and sometimes green. Working on yellow. He can point everything out when you ask him "where is (color)?" But, he can say these on his own. It amazes me! He's been doing this for a few weeks now - and he's not even 22 months old yet!
11. MOVE! Jacob keeps saying this to people when they are in his way, including strangers. We were in line at Target, and I was buying Jacob a new train. Jacob wanted to pay for it so he could open it. There was a mom-to-be in front of us buy all kinds of cute baby clothes and baby blankets. Jacob did not care. He turned to her and yelled "MOVE!" She laughed, and so did I. I think it's hilarious.
12. Another thing I think is adorable and I pray I can keep mentally stored in my brain to hear forever is the way Jacob says "hi." If this is the only word you heard him say, you would think we are from the south. He has such a southern accent with the word, and he says it to everyone and everything. He gets right in your face to say hello, and he even gets right in other kids' faces to say hi and doesn't understand why they don't return the greeting.
13. Parallel play is on the way out. Jacob really wants to play with kids, but unfortunately, not many are ready to play with others, but still in the parallel play stage. We went to the library and he completely played with a four-year-old girl. The other mom (and me) were astonished at how well they played together for Jacob's age. They shared blocks, played a game where they moved a toy sheep around and dropped him in a bag and laughed hysterically, made a road for their cars and everything. Too cute.
14. I unfortunately missed my predictions for what size Jacob would be this summer and have an entire wardrobe of 3T clothes that he is not even close to fitting into. Some of the shorts for the length, but he is so darn skinny. He has weighed the same for the last six months. Everyone told me that kids are normally a size bigger than their age, and for the first almost 2 years of his life that's been accurate. But, he's slimmed out so much that I now need to go out and buy him a new summer wardrobe of 2T clothes. I'm guessing the 3T clothes aren't a total waste and he will most likely fit in them next summer.

We still need a plan for the rest of the week. Bob has to work a few nights, and he needs to finally patch up and paint over holes in the kitchen. We had a shrew problem a few months back and wanted to make sure they were all gone before we put everything back together. The good thing is that Bob will be able to do the work on Wednesday morning when Jacob and I have an Easter play date/egg hunt, which gets us out of the house for the drywall dust and paint smell. And, all the work will be done in time for Easter.

Congrats, Hubby!

My husband is a high school social studies teacher. This is his fourth year teaching, and he teaches at one of the largest high schools in the state. When he started, it was the largest. He's from a small town, so big change for him right out of college! Anyway, this year he was given a seniors' choice award! The plaque he received says it is from the graduating seniors for being among the group of teachers who "have had the greatest positive influence, and have contributed the most toward their learning experiences while they have been students" of the township. There were about 90 teachers district wide honored...29 from the high school. What an amazing recognition to receive an award from a graduating class, especially after only being there for such a short time. Bob is such a great teacher and connects well with students. I'm proud of him for working so hard and for taking his job seriously in teaching the next generation.We enjoyed a nice evening out. The district had an award ceremony and catered dinner for the honorees. It was so nice to eat a meal without having to feed Jacob! That might sound horrible, but moms understand that sometimes it is nice to just eat your meal and not feed someone. Although, I realized I eat much faster than I used to - mostly because I'm usually in fear of Jacob being done before us and having to give up on the rest of my meal. He is such a great eater, but when he is ready to be done, you are definitely done, too! My parents watched Jacob for us, and they all had a wonderful time! Mostly, loving on Elmo!Congrats again, Bob! Looking forward to many more nights like Thursday in our future!

Daddy's Shoes

Jacob wanted to be Daddy today. He put on Daddy's shoes.
Figured the brown shoes looked better. Couldn't step into them quite as easily, so he thought he could shove his own foot in the shoe.Well, that didn't work. So, let's put cars in Daddy's shoes. Just don't tell Daddy. He'll have a nice surprise in the morning.(Please ignore the mess of our master bedroom. It's the only room that's been neglected lately, and of course where Jacob then wants to spend the majority of his time. Maybe he thinks it's a forest or something. I know what I'm doing this weekend.)

Jacob has started asking where Bob is during the day, and I've been telling him that he's at work. Now, Jacob will tell you, "Daddy work." He also thinks that when anyone leaves the house now they are going to work. I ran to Kroger last night and he said, "work?" He is too cute. I'm working on having him say that Daddy is a teacher, but pretty impressed that he understands Bob is gone during the day and will come home later. The whole concept of sooner and later must be so hard for little ones!

Saving Some Money

I know some people have the CVS system down to a science, but I was pretty pleased with my attempts this week using their ExtraCare bucks since Pampers were on sale this week.

Check out what I got for the cost of only one bag of diapers and a candy bar:
That's right! Two bags of Pampers, three candy bars, deodorant, and toothpaste! The razors are from Walgreens.

First trip through the check-out at CVS was for one bag of diapers (sale $8.97). I had a coupon for $2 off, and then got $3.00 EC bucks for next purchase. Also bought the Colgate for $3.99, used a $1.00 off coupon, and got $3.99 EC bucks for next purchase. That's like getting paid $1.00 to buy my toothpaste! Paid $10.87 out-of-pocket after tax.
Went through the check-out the second time for one more bag of diapers at $8.97. Used my previous EC bucks, plus a $1.50 coupon. Only paid $1.11 out-of-pocket after tax! The diapers themselves were only 48 cents for me! And, still got $3.00 EC bucks for next purchase!
Since I'm not too sure if I'll make CVS a weekly trip or not, I wanted to make sure I used my $3 before they expired, so I headed back to the store today (it's around the corner, I really could just walk) and found the deodorant marked at half off, plus I had a $1 coupon - got the smell good stick for only $1.75! Then, bought three candy bars and used a Buy 2 Get 1 Free coupon. After using my $3 EC bucks, I only paid78 cents after tax! I was amazed. Like I said, I know some people are WAY more advanced at the CVS system, but for my first time, I was pleased. Any money saved is better than nothing in my book.

The razors are for Bob. He normally shaves with his electric razor, but sometimes likes to use these for a closer shave. They were on sale at Walgreens for $4.99, and I had a $4.00 coupon, so got these for only 99 cents! ($1.48 after tax)

So, everything in this picture cost me a grand total of: $14.24! Totally worth it for me! Not to mention went to Kroger today and bought a tub of Pampers wipes for 99 cents combining the sale and my coupons. My receipts say I saved a total of $33.36! You know what that means...more chips for Jacob!

Top 2 Tuesday - Diet Coke & Baby Wipes

First time taking part in The Undomestic Momma's Top 2 Tuesday! This week: Top 2 things you can't live without.

1. Diet Coke. I'm sure this is on a lot of lists this week. I'm totally addicted. I can't even begin to think how I went a year without caffeine in high school (my own choice!), or how I cut it out again when I was pregnant. I'll confess, I have a Diet Coke with breakfast. When I was a reporter, I had three or four cans on my desk by the end of the day, not counting my lunch fix. Even people I interviewed on a regular basis were shocked if I showed up without one in hand. Got me through the 12-hour work days for sure!2. Baby wipes. Weird, I know. But, since they are always handy, I use them to clean up all kinds of stuff other than, well, poo. Sticky hands. Counter tops. Table tops. High chairs. Mysterious stains that show up on our couch cushions by the end of snack time. Baby wipes somehow takes care of it all. Thank you, Pampers. There must be some sort of secret mom ingredient in those things to help us get through the day without busting out all of our cleaning supplies within a five minute span in the life of a toddler.
(pics from google.com)

Check out Taylor's blog for more of what people can't live without!

Happy Birthday to...Me?!

I think one thing that goes right out the window after kids is your birthday. Luckily, I've never been huge into celebrating my birthday. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE when someone does something nice for me on my special day, but it's not something I look forward to for weeks and weeks. Which is turning out to be a good thing, since any time there is cake involved, Jacob assumes it's his birthday. And, rightfully so - every celebration is really for him. I think everything is more fun through his eyes now. He's experiencing all of this for the first time (that he understands), and it is just so fun to see him get excited about the cake and presents and all the birthday jazz. I think this might have been the BEST birthday I've had, thanks to the little man.

Lunch was at Scotty's Brewhouse. They sent a coupon to my email for a free entree and dessert - wow! Most restaurants only do the dessert - but my whole meal was free! Jacob fell in love with the sundae.

I love his face here - "Don't touch the ice cream, Mom!"
After dinner, my parents gave me their card and had Jacob give me a card and magazines to read after he's in bed! Jacob is explaining his card to me.
Then, time for cake. Bob made the cake yesterday and we had a piece after dinner last night with Jacob. Bob had to work until late tonight, so he wasn't going to be able to celebrate with us. And, when we were on our way to my parents' house, I let Jacob carry the cake to the car and he dropped it. So, that explains the destroyed cake. Still tasted fine though!
Jacob and Tabby, the cat that I grew up with, are becoming quite the buddies. She is almost 18 years old, but she lets Jacob pet her and tell her what to do. He's so gentle with her, and I love seeing him bond with my favorite kitty, the same one that would sleep with my brother and me while we were growing up.
Thanks to everyone for making my 26th birthday so amazing. I'm very lucky to have such great friends and family.

Birthday Breakfast Muffin Tin

This is my first week participating in Muffin Tin Monday! I thought it'd be nice to join in and start having some mealtime fun with Jacob now that he is almost 22 months old (wow!).

This week there was no theme, and I had big plans to do a birthday cookie decorating theme since today is my birthday, but plans changed and we were only going to be home for breakfast. So, Birthday Breakfast it is!

In the tin: Apple Jacks, banana, Frosted Flakes, scrambled eggs, lemon yogurt, and more eggs! All of Jacob's favorite things in one breakfast (well, he also LOVES pancakes, but come one, it's my birthday!).

And here he is enjoying his first meal in a muffin tin.

For other tins, check out Muffin Tin Mom's blog!

Toys: 1, Mom and Dad: 0

We bought some extra track pieces for Jacob's growing train collection. Here is a picture from the box of what you COULD do with the pieces. And, here is the only thing we could get to work (even with the 2 circles we already had for the little man). This is without the huge orange ramp from the picture above, which of course is sold separately...a parent's favorite phrase. Better luck next time, Mom and Dad.

Pedicure Heaven

Running after a toddler is fun. And, tiring, exhausting, and it takes a toll on your feet. I swear chasing after Jacob is harder than my college volleyball practices. But, much more rewarding. Thankfully, my mom knows how hard it is, and gave me the BEST birthday present ever: a pedicure. And, not just my quick 30 minute dose at the spa, but the full hour splurge. I was in HEAVEN! Granted, my gal was quite chatty, and as a mom, I don't want to talk. I want to sit, read a magazine, and really zone out. But, she was nice and it was the most relaxing hour I've had in forever. Now I feel ready for spring and flip flops. I'll spare you a photo of my feet, but here is the color I went with: peach daiquiri.(picture from here)

Back to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we had a wonderful afternoon. He loves them to pieces. Grandma bought some delicious popsicles!And, he shared with Mommy.

He loves these things!

Grandma also made me my birthday dinner tonight. I'm turning the big 2-6 on Monday and every year I ask for lasagna. My mom makes the best lasagna. Jacob loves it now, too. After she puts the lasagna together, she always has leftover noodles, cheese, and sauce. My brother and I always ate the leftovers, dipping the cheese and noodles in the sauce and eating every last bite while we waited for the lasagna to bake. Well, Jacob has joined the tradition.

And, what better way to end the night than with MORE POPSICLES! By the way, check out the new scarf. My best friend sent it to me for my birthday. I actually got it in the mail while we were already in the car and I am in love. Thank you, Sarah! (Also the same girl who sent the paper for Jacob, she is the best!)