The beginning of the end...our 29th birthday.

I'm totally kidding! I don't necessarily like that I no longer look like I did when I was 19, but I'm fine with getting older. Joey gets better looking every year...it's so unfair :( Joey and I are only 6 days apart. His birthday was on the 8th and mine was the 14th. We didn't do much on our actual birthdays. I made him some red velvet cupcakes for his and he brought me lunch on mine. This past weekend, we went to Nashville with my best friend Kristen and her husband Sam. We love them both very much and we had a great time!!! My mom came up to watch Finley for us (Thank you Mom!) Kristen and Sam drove up from Bham Saturday and then we rode together to Nashville. It's great to be so close to such an awesome city! We got there and checked into our hotel. We went and had drinks and appetizers at a sports bar near the hotel. I think it was called Buffalo Billiards. We went back to the hotel to relax until dinner. It was really nice to just lie in bed and watch television without interruption :) A friend of Joey's was nice enough to make us reservations at a great restaurant called The Bound'ry. We had a reserved table in the bar area so we had cocktails before dinner. The food was amazing!!! After cocktails, bread, dinner and dessert we could barely move, but we headed out to the bars to live it up! Downtown was packed because the Nashville Predators played a big game against the Chicago Blackhawks. We walked to a bar called The Stage. We had the best time! The band was so good and played a ton of good country songs that we knew all the words to. We danced and sang and people watched for hours. We actually stayed out until after midnight. I was shocked I made it that long ;) Nothing will make you feel older than going out to a bar and getting pushed and shoved by a bunch of kids and actually being annoyed by it instead of being so tipsy you don't care. When we walked out of the bar it felt like we had cotton in our ears. We were deaf from the loud music. So pathetic! We got up Sunday morning (Happy Birthday Kristen!)and had breakfast and then drove around Nashville looking for celebrities. We did get to see Carrie Underwood's house in Governor's Club. Unfortunately, I read today that she has been in Canada with her hubby for the past few weeks. I was really hoping I was in the same vicinity at least :( We got back to our house and said our goodbyes. We were so tired! Finley, Joey and I took a 3 hour nap. It was a great weekend! I hope everyone else had a great one too!

I didn't take a single picture :( I really need to get a small digital camera that fits in my purse. I've been a major slacker in the picture department.

Identity Crisis.

Clearly, Finley is having an identity crisis. I tried to explain the difference between a baby and a baby doll, but she won't accept it. I have no idea how she got into that high chair. She has done it several times, but I always walk in too late to see her contortionist act.

Look what I can do at 21 months!

Please excuse my grammar and terrible transitioning in this post. I was trying to type as fast as I was thinking of things and I'm too tired to go back and proofread.

In the last few weeks Finley has become quite the comedienne. She does the funniest stuff! Her most recent thing is saying “awww mannnn”. She says it at the appropriate times too. We’ll hear a loud thud and then “awww mannn”. If she drops a book, spills her food, falls down or bumps her head there is a short pause and then “awww mann”. So funny!!! She says please, thank you, shoo she (excuse me) you’re welcome, here you go and here I am. She knows the names of the Yo Gabba Gabba characters, she knows Special Agent Oso, Kalian, Oswald, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh. She says snowman whenever she sees snow. She says it’s cold, it’s hot, it’s gone, gone. It’s really cool to see her actually be able to communicate with us. If she’s hungry she’ll say eat or snack or if she’s thirsty she’ll say juice. If I put our shoes on she knows we are going bye, bye. If she wants to watch Yo Gabba Gabba or Pooh, she says I see Yo or I see Pooh. She loves to watch youtube videos on the computer. She loves to color or just draw with a pen and a piece of paper. I let her finger paint while we were snowed in and she did great. Later on that day after I had cleaned everything up she came up to me and said “pint peas”. Paint please. Of course it was so cute and sweet I drug everything out again. She is eating more and drinking less. We are off the bottle finally and she rarely brings it up anymore. She has started taking a later nap and then doesn’t go to bed until 9pm or later. I’m not sure how we got so off schedule, but her going to bed at 9pm is fine with me. We usually lie in “mama’s bed” and watch Backyardigan’s while we settle down. I love that time of day because she’s still and she will lay with me and snuggle. Her behavior is better. I haven’t put her in time out in a while. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last time she took a swing at me ;) She still loves to take a bath and she’s getting better when we go out places, although we haven’t taken her out to eat with us in a really long time so I don’t know how she would do in that situation. Her hair is getting a little darker, but she’s still a blond J She’s in a size 4 diaper and 18-24M clothes. I’m pretty sure she has all her teeth except for her canines. I have no idea how much she weighs, but she’s about 31 1/2 inches tall. People always say she looks little so I’m guessing she is still in the 50%. We go back to the doctor at 2 years which is less than 3 months away. I cannot believe it!!! I’ve started planning her 2nd birthday. She is really into Mickey Mouse right now. I had to put some kind of girly spin on it, so we’re having a Minnie Mouse birthday party. She plays well with other kids, but mainly just watches them. She still loves to read books especially in her crib. She understands so much that we say. If we ask her a yes or no question she will either shake her head no or say mmm hmmm. (as in uh huh). If I sing the ABC song she will chime in. She knows abcd, jk, tuv. She just makes up the rest. She knows her number 1-9. The other day we were in Target and she looked up at the numbers over the cash registers as we walked and was saying them as we passed each one. I was so impressed. Her favorite foods are pizza, grilled cheese, hot dogs, eggs, apples, bananas, waffles, juice, milk, any kind of crackers or chips, popcorn. She is a big snacker. She eats 3 small meals with lots of snacks in between. She is starting to do a lot more pretend play. She will pour tea in your cup and then pour herself some and drink it and say mmmm. She rocks and kisses her baby dolls and pushes them in her stroller. If I tell her I’m hungry she will walk over to her kitchen and make me something. She climbs on EVERTYHING! She loves to climb up in the beds and doesn’t want you to help her. She climbs on top of the dining room table, the couch, her high chair, her crib, me and Joey. She likes to be tickled and for you to make faces at her. She makes faces at herself in the mirror and laughs and she’s really good at playing catch. That’s all I can think of for now. Joey and I are so proud of her and everything she does makes us smile. She is a joy and I am so thankful I get to be home with her to witness it all 

I just took it to the next level...

We don't have a pantry. We just have a huge cabinet above our microwave that is really high up and really deep. I can't reach the back of the first shelf and I can't reach the second shelf at all. I had actually resorted to throwing the food up on the top shelf. It was a mess! I saw this shelf at Home Depot for $40 so Joey picked it up tonight and now I have a place for my stockpile :) Yay! It's still pretty measly, but I'm working on it and it's really good to be able to see what I have and what I'm running low on, etc. I already have one of everything in the picture in my cabinet in the kitchen so this is just overflow. Feels good to get organized!

$25 Grocery Challenge

Here's what I got..
(2) Publix brand paper towel
(2) boxes 4 ct. Jimmy Dean Breakfast Delight sandwiches
(2) boxes Jolly Time 100 calorie Kettle Corn
(3) boxes Hamburger Helper
(2) bags Texas Toast croutons
(2) packs of Kraft cheese singles
(4) boxes Ronzoni pasta
(2) 6pks Jello pudding
(1) loaf Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse bread
(1) bottle Johnson Bedtime wash
(1) bottle Johnson baby lotion (on ss.com it said this was .95, but it was actually $3.09) Dang it!!!
(1) box Progresso Chicken Broth
(2) packs of Stayfree
(1) bottle of Publix Italian Dressing (Joey made me get this and I did not have a coupon. I told him if he was going to shop outside coupons he had to use his own money ;)
(1) bag of Goldfish crackers
(2) bottles of Welch's juice
(1) bottle of Dial hand soap
(3) packages of Martha White muffin mix

Total spent: $33.55
Total saved: $51.17

I went over my $25 this week, but I only spent $15.47 last week so I'm still in good shape for the month. I know I said I was going to tell you what we eat for dinner, but we have been dieting so we've had cereal a couple nights and then my dad brought us dinner one night and another night we just had sandwiches. Don't worry though, our diets never last more than a week or so ;)

Happy Couponing!!!

Now you know...

Now you know why I haven't done any decorating in the 7 months we've been in this house. It's because I can't make up my mind. I have axed the rug I had in my last post because it's too specific. I want something more versatile. Also, the curtains are too white. I need some color there. I found this picture and it inspired me.



I love how the window panels and the upholstery on the chair match and I love the simple jute rug underneath the table. Originally, that is the rug I wanted under the table, but I was afraid it was too blah. Now, I can see that it's not :) This room has splashes of color, but it's still airy and bright which is exactly what I want. Not too trendy, not too traditional. It's just right!

So now I'm on the hunt for some blue and white fabric for panels and chairs and the jute rug from PB that I originally wanted. I feel much better now that I have a picture to follow. I can't come up with this stuff on my own.

On that note, if anyone knows someone who can make curtain panels for me once I find fabric I would really appreciate their contact info. I got the name and number of someone from the fabric store, but they wanted a ridiculous amount of money. How can they charge so much for a simple window panel? It's highway robbery I tell you.

Target find...

Finley and I ventured out into the snow this morning because we had to get out of the house! Snow was everywhere, but the roads were clear so we had no trouble. I did have to get a running start going up the driveway, but we made it home safely :) Target was completely empty. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones there, so we just took our time and walked up and down every aisle. We picked up a Winnie the Pooh coloring book and two pictures for the dining room. I've been looking for two things to put on either side of the window for a while now. I wasn't sure if I wanted pictures or photographs or what. Before I show you what I got, I found a rug I really want for my dining room. Here it is...



I really like it. I want my dining room to be light, but I knew I needed a little color, but I hadn't decided on anything. Well, I saw this rug about a week ago and then I came across this picture in Target today.



They are the same shade of dark blue and the floral patterns in both go with the flowers on my lamp so I decided to try them out. I put them on the wall, but they were too dark with the frames. A little primer here, some spray paint there and voila!




I really like the way they turned out. I ordered a few things from Z Gallerie with a gift card from my mom so hopefully they will be here soon. I'm DYING to get my chandelier, but it's still on back order :(

I love that we're getting snow, but it's time for it to go. I feel restless stuck in the house, although not restless enough to clean which is what I really need to do.