Money Saving Ideas

Now, with two babies that I am staying home with I am even crazier about coupons. My goal is to never buy anything that is not on sale or that I do not have a coupon for and everything I usually buy goes on sale every 3 months. I have time for what I want to have time for and since I am not working couponing really becomes a priority. The key I have learned is to try to have a 3 month supply of all the basics (toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc). Last week I went to CVS and stocked up on drinks: Here is the summary of my purchase:

• I bought 8 12 pack of Pepsi for $3.00 each and earned $10 in extrabucks for my next visit
• I bought batteries for $2.99 and I had a coupon for them for .75 off (coupon from the Sunday paper)
• I bought Tide Detergent for 5.99 and had $1.00 off manufacture coupon from a Sunday paper
• I bought $11 worth of Covergirl makeup and earned $3.00 in extrabucks and had another coupon for $1.00 off

I had $3.00 in extrabucks to use on this purchase and so I did spend $45.82 but earned $13 bucks (to take off on my next purchase) and saved $29.37. I know we would save a ton of money not drinking sodas but we are not willing to give them up. I would end up wasting more money getting drinks for a $1 at drive through windows. I still have not figured out how to buy items at CVS for like $5 total like some of my blogging friends, but I am happy with our savings. I love CVS!

Kroger has now started to mail me coupons to use in their store on items that I usually buy. So last Kroger trip I used 30 coupons which was crazy. That is a why it is good to update your address with grocery stores. Kroger has the best deal for the items we usually buy and they double your coupons up to .50 cents and $1.

Also, Piggly Wiggly has been printing off coupons for formula for the last two times I had to buy formula there since it is the closet grocery store to us. When Abigail turns 3 or 4 months old I will probably switch her to the Target brand formula which I have many moms tell me about. What do you think about that? Do you have any more suggestions on how to save money on Enfamil formula?

I finally broke down and bought a coupon organizer. What I usually do every week is go through all my coupons and if any are about to expire and they are a necessity like laundry detergent. I try to buy it that week. Ideally, I will get something on sale and use a coupon for it. Then, I take all the coupons I want to use at the store and put them in a sandwich zip lock bag. Once I am in the store, and know I am definitely going to buy the product, I put the coupon in my jacket pocket. It takes a good while for me to go through my coupons weekly so I hope this organizer will save time and money. I will take a picture of it when it comes in. I cannot believe it has almost been a year since I started couponing seriously. If you have never cut out coupons, just start out small by getting Sunday's paper and cut coupons only on items you really need.

Have you discovered any new many saving ideas?

Video of Abigail at 7 Weeks Old

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

God Answered Our Prayer for Jackson

It has been a crazy last couple of days. Thursday night Charlie and I prayed that God would show us what is specifically wrong with Jackson. I was at my breaking point, tears and all. It is really hard when he is sick and cannot tell me what hurts or what he needs and he just cries and cries. Friday morning, Charlie was playing with Jackson and noticed that his top frenulum was attached through his front teeth to the back of his roof of his mouth. We thought this might be God answering our prayers because I have known that is there is something wrong medically with Jackson, we just have not been able to discover what exactly is wrong with him. We were so excited that we wanted to talk to the doctor, but talked to the nurse instead and she said that it was his top frenulum that was hurt. I did some research online on what a frenulum was and discovered that you also have a bottom frenulum under your tongue and if that is short you are classified as “tongue tied.” If your frenulum is short then you have limited tongue movement, cannot say certain words, and usually cannot breastfeed. I have never seen Jackson stick his tongue out past his lips and was really thinking that this could be his problem. He could not breastfeed and still cannot suck a drink out of a straw.

So, Monday we went to the doctor and she confirmed my suspicion…her words were “he has a short bottom frenulum.” Tears almost came flying. Why did they not check this when I tried to breastfeed for 7 weeks and could not ever figure it out (I was not in Columbia then)? No, I am not going to play the “what if” game. This is God’s timing for Jackson and He gets all the glory for answering our prayers the next day and showing us what has been going on with Jackson. This explains why everything is “gaga.” This explains a lot for us. You have to wrap your tongue around a straw to get liquid up the straw. The only issue is that he does have some movement in his tongue (he can move his tongue side to side when he eats) and it is not a very obvious issue when you examine him. We are being referred to an Ears Nose and Throat doctor and they are going to check out everything. They will test if there is fluid back behind his ears. I read online that many doctors do not want to do anything to the frenulum, but if they do not want to I will be getting a second opinion. I just do not know how it could hurt him having this procedure done since he does not have that much movement wit his tongue. I have read of amazing stories online about children being able to speak prettty quickly after this procedure was done. Additionally, the doctor does not think the top frenulum is a big problem, but she wants it all checked out. His case is not as bad as the ones I have seen online, but I really do believe it is hindering his speech. He cannot even pucker his lips up to kiss me, lick on ice cream cone, etc.

What is tongue-tie?

Tongue-tie (ankyloglossia) is a birth defect in which the tissue that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth (lingual frenulum) is abnormally short. Movements of the tongue may be restricted, depending on the degree of attachment to the mouth. It is more common in boys than girls.

I am a hopeful realist. I know getting his frenulum fixed may not solve all Jackson’s speech problems and he will probably have to be in speech therapy for a good while. And this might not be the entire problem, but God is starting to show is what the issues are. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do through my baby boy! Jackson not being able to communicate with me has probably been one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through. I have felt so helpless, and clueless on what to do for him. I want to have all the information possible to understand what is going on with Jackson.

If your child has speech delay, get his mouth examined by a doctor and I would recommend demanding that your child go to an ENT doctor. It will not hurt anything to have everything checked out, especially if he as had ear infections.

Have any of you ever heard of this problem?

I am trusting Him with everything. God is so good and working out everything for our good and for His glory. Thank you for your prayers!

My Cute Cuddle Bug

My nick name for Abigail right now is "cuddle bug." She is always ready to cuddle and her hair loves to stick up straight which makes her look like a little bug. I love her so much! Check out those legs...

It Has Been a Hard Week: Prayers Appreciated

Well, it started last Friday night when we got back late from Family Fun night at the church and Jackson cried uncontrollably for like 45 minutes. He did not get to bed that night till 10:15...ah! Then Saturday I started to feel terrible (with feminine issues) and I actually had a hard time standing for long periods of time. So, we stayed home Sunday from church. I started to feel much better yesterday and then Jackson was just walking around fussing all day long (with no pacifier in his mouth). I went to change his diaper and noticed he felt warm and sure enough he had a temperature of 100. I was almost relieved because he regressed in speech therapy on Tuesday (he was so quiet!) and I was really depressed about it yesterday before I knew he had a temperature. Last week, he hardly signed at all and tried to say many words and repeated sounds we made. The therapist thought last week that he was crossing the bridge from signing to speaking. But this week he only said a few words...sad. Continue to pray that he will just click with him one day Last week, I really felt hopefully about his speech, but this week I am not feeling hopeful at all. I will be writing a post in the near future on what to do if you child has speech delay.

So today we wake up and Jackson still has a fever of 99.5 and I decided to go ahead and take him to the doctor since we do have a 6 week old baby. She said his throat had some blisters and was red and it was a throat virus. Unfortunately, he is very contiguous and there is nothing we can really do beside wash our hands all the day and spray Lysol. Please pray that Abigail does not get this virus! I know children get sick, but if she gets sick, she is so young she might have to be hospitalized which is so scary. Does anyone have anymore recommendations on how to keep Abigail from getting this virus?

Charlie has church tonight and so I will be by myself with them, so pray for me. Jackson feels terrible and sometimes cries uncontrollably and it makes it hard for me to hold him while I am feeding Abigail. I did find a trick last week. Abigail loves her swing that the Crowsons are letting us borrow. So I can put her in his swing in her room, close the door, turn the baby monitor on, and deal with Jackson...what a blessing! Also, another blessing is that we have not had to feed Abigail in the middle of the night for almost 2 weeks now. She does wake up about every other night around 3 or 5 am but we can usually get her to go back to sleep by either putting her in the bed with us or giving her pacifier to her. So, until she can sleep 3 nights in a row without waking up, I am not putting her in her crib. She is still in the top part of the pack in play (that has a mattress) in our room because it is so much easier (some nights I do not even remember giving her pacifier to her). One night her daddy put her in her crib and she did sleep from 12 am to 5 am. She is eating about 28 ozs a day and I think that is why she can sleep so long and we are still swaddling her although one night she slept on her stomach which was an accident. Some days Abigail only cries like 15 minutes for the entire day and I usually know why she is crying. That is amazing and I am so thankful. Jackson cried about 2 hours every day when he was her age and then when he got to be about 4 months old he just stopped crying and became the happiest baby.

I hope to post about couponing and more topics soon after this virus is gone. Enjoy the pictures. Abigail is so alert and seems to be taking it all in (she also smiles a good bit, but I cannot get a good picture of it...sad). She is living up to what her name means..."father's joy."

Potty Training: What has Worked for You?

I really do not think Jackson is ready to be potty trained, but after two days in a row of him using the bathroom on the carpet because his diaper was too full, I realized I might be wrong. So, I got some "cool alert" pull ups. My plan was to put him on the potty every three hours during the day at first and pray he starts to like to sit on the potty and that he would figure it out. After a day of this, I was completely exhausted with a new baby and realized I had a bigger battle on my hands: getting rid of the pacifier during the day. I guess since the baby I had really been letting him have it whenever since I was so tired. Well, that has got to stop. He acts like a baby when he has it his mouth, he will not eat, and more importantly will not try to say words. So, I am not going to bring his pacifier to church at all anymore, and if we have to leave that is ok. So, since we are battling him asking for his pacifier every hour, it is hard to work on potty training and feed Abigail every 3 hours. Here are some questions I have for yall (I know every child is different and what worked for you child might not work for mine):

1. Do you wait till your child is really ready before potty training? He really cannot tell me he has to go potty so it is probably too early. I have heard bad stories about starting too early.
2. What books have you found most helpful?
3. Do I try this method first of putting him on the potty every 3 hours so he gets use to it?
4. Do I get him his own potty? We do have a potty seat and a stool for him to step up on.

I am really ready for him to be out of diapers since one day I had changed 7 diapers and it was only 12 pm, but I am more concerned about our pacifier situation. I do not mind if he has a pacifier at night when he sleeps right now, but that is the only time.

Grand and Gigi Finally Got to Come Visit

My parents live only and hour and half away and have not really got to come visit because they have been sick. They were so excited to come visit us for the day and help me out. My day flew by while they were here and Jackson was so excited to be with them. Abigail definitely smiled at them a good bit. Enjoy the pictures! My babies are growing up too fast.

There is a Baby Girl Boom at First Baptist!

There is a definite baby boom at First Baptist! It seems every week they are announcing that another baby has been born and hardly any of them are boys. Sunday night at church Abigail and Ellis (born 2 months before Abby) had a great time together. They even talked to each other and it was so sweet! Can you believe how cute they are?

Which Baby is Jackson? Which Baby is Abigail?

I know this is over kill, but the similarities are really crazy. Which baby do you think is Jackson? Which one do you think is Abigail? Their mouths are different but when they have pacifiers in their mouth it is like I am looking down at Jackson all over again. I had to put the pictures in black and white so the pink would not give it away. I will let you know the answer in the comment section.

*I was planning to blog about potty training this week and couponing but yesterday I cleaned the entire house and today my parents came to visit. Look out for these posts later this week!

Happy 5th Anniversary To the Love of My Life!

Top 5 Things I love about you

1. How you really put me second next to your relationship with Christ in your actions
2. How you are always learning and growing
3. How great you are with our babies
4. How great you are with children and seeing you help lead children to Christ this past year
5. How you are such a great teacher to children and their parents and to me

Top 5 Best Memories of Last Year

1. When we found out we were pregnant and you were holding the stick in the bathroom very close to your face (in March)
2. When you surprising me with flowers last year one day
3. Watching you help lead many children to Christ at VBS
4. You doing a great job the day Abigail was born and really encouraging me through delivering her. You helped me so much that day. God has given us so many blessings!
5. You holding both our babies one night before Jackson had to go to bed. You are such a great and loving father.

Top 5 Memories of the Last Five Years

1. Our wedding day. Was the best day of my life next to me accepting Christ when I was 10 years old
2. You growing and learning so much in seminary. God has given you such a great gift in teaching
3. You preaching for the first time at your grandmother’s church.
4. The first time both of our babies smiled at you.
5. Our getaways to the Hickory Grove Baptist Church where we were able to learn and grow together in our walk with the Lord and with each other

I am so thankful to have such a patient husband. I know God put us together to be each other helpers from the first moment we met. I cannot wait for the next five years. Thank you for loving me with all your heart, mind, and soul.

Love Forever

Emily (2009)

*Tonight we were able to drop the babies off at Charlie's parents house while we had a nice dinner at the Olive Garden on the Northeast side of town. The we went to Sandhills and did a little shopping and Charlie got me pearl earrings (I lost mine) at Belks for our anniversary and for me giving birth to Abigail. I hope to give these pearl earings to Abigail one day. What a special gift!

Craziness at the Wallace House: Fun Video

What happens when a little boy and a dog are stuck in the house for three days straight because of extreme wind? This:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Praise the Lord for a beautiful sunny day yesterday. Jackson has great days when he can go outside and play in the back yard.

A Friend and an Encourager: My Friend Anna's Blog

When I was in college I was very active at Shandon Baptist Church's college ministry. I was on their leadership team and I was responsible for contacting people who had visited Shandon in my apartment complex, the Commons. Anna visited Shandon and I contacted her. I was so excited to meet her and we had a lot in common. I think I did call her more than once and we started our friendship then. We were good friends in college and went to Bible Study together and shared our struggles together. She was able to attend my wedding and we did lose touch after I went to seminary, but thanks to facebook we were able to reconnect again. After moving back to Columbia, Anna and I went to lunch and I discovered that she was a Labor and Delivery Nurse at Richland Hospital, the hospital where I was planning to deliver. She did have a medical mission trip she was going on at the end of November so I was scared she would not be able to help deliver Abigail, but God in his grace allowed her to help deliver my baby girl.

She was so much help during the delivery when the pitocin was not working. She did have to hold the baby's head in until the doctor could get there. I only had to push Abigail out with 4 quick pushes....what a blessing!

Her first blog post mentions me, but it is really about what God has done through her life and He gets all the glory. I was just happy to be an instrument in his hands. This post made me cry because right now being at home with two little ones, I feel like I am having no impact for Christ. This post really shows the power in just inviting a friend to church (maybe even more than one time). This post really encouraged me! Check it out.

http://annab128.blogspot.com/2009/01/story-begins-here.html

When I Look Down At My Sweet Baby Girl, I See My Baby Boy Jackson

The above picture is of Abigail and was taken this morning. I thought she looked so much like Jackson at this age. What do you think? I could not find a picture that looked just like this so I choose three pictures of Jackson around this age. Their smiles are almost identical right now.

This picture is hard to see Jackson but he looks so much like Abigail here.

Everlasting God

WMHK Christian radio station has really improved on their music selection recently. This morning on the way to the doctors I heard one of my favorite songs by Chris Tomlin, "Everlasting God." This song really spoke to me this morning because yesterday I had one of those days where I had zero energy and did not know if I could make it through the day. I did not expect to have no energy after Abigail was born because after Jackson was born I had tons of energy. I feel more exhausted now than when I was pregnant with Abigail which is crazy. The week of January 19th I will be able to go back to my work out classes at Gold's Gym, and I know I will have more energy then. God has definitely given me supernatural strength the last couple of days whileI have been weak. I have learned even more on how to trust Him with everything and how wait on Him.

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won't grow weary

You're the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles

*Abigail still has thrush and now we are on stronger medicine that we only do one time a day. Dr. Greenhouse (who is the best doctor!) says that doctors really do not know for sure why babies get this infection in their mouth and it is pretty much bad luck. The medicine she is on now is so strong that you cannot breast feed while your baby is on this medicine (for 2 weeks) so breastfeeding would probably not have worked out with Abigail since she has thrush so bad (I do not know how I would have had time to pump).

5 Distinct Word All Babies Say (Posted back in 2006)

I am so glad I started blogging right after Jackson was born. I have gone back to many of my posts to see what I did when Jackson was a baby. This information is straight from one of my posts from 2006:

A lady named Pricillia has discovered 5 words all babies communicate to their parents:

After testing her baby language theory on more than 1,000 infants around the world, Priscilla says there are five words that all babies 0–3 months old say—regardless of race and culture:

• Neh="I'm hungry" focus on the "nu" sound
  
• Owh="I'm sleepy"
• Heh="I'm experiencing discomfort"
• Eair="I have lower gas"
• Eh="I need to burp" focus on "e" part
  

Those "words" are actually sound reflexes, Priscilla says. "Babies all around the world have the same reflexes, and they therefore make the same sounds," she says. If parents don't respond to those reflexes, Priscilla says the baby will eventually stop using them.

Priscilla recommends that parents listen for those words in a baby's pre-cry before they start crying hysterically. She says there is no one sound that's harder to hear than others because it varies by individual. She also says some babies use some words more than others.

The Dunstan Baby Language DVD is currently available. Visit www.dunstanbaby.com to order your copy.

Our Schedule with Two Babies

Our Schedule Right Now (I am sure it will change...maybe even change next week)

Around 7 am feed Abigail
8 am, Open the door for Jackson turn on his dvd get him nutrigrain cereal bar and bowl of dry cereal with his juice
8:30 am If it was a hard night or if I did the middle of the night feeding I go back and lay back down with Abigail till about 9:45 am while Jackson watches his shows and then he comes and lay down with me in the bed. No matter what this is rest time for mommy right now
10 am-11:30 am Feed Abigail again, do educational activities with Jackson. Usually consists of: signing time dvd’s, reading books to him, review signs, working on his speech, and working on learning his ABC's and 123's
10:30 am Snack time for Jackson (after this I try to get a shower by putting Abigail in her crib and I have the monitor on in the shower…but some days this does not happen)
12 pm Lunch time for Jackson (grilled cheese usually)
12:30-2 pm We try our best to have fun activities to do like going outside to play, and playing with his toys inside. I am trying to alternate playing with his toys (thanks to the advice of one of the best blogs I have seen: http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/) and Mondays we try to play with blocks and car, Tuesdays we are going to try to play with bubbles, Wednesdays puzzles, Thursday animals, and Fridays coloring)
1 pm Feed Abigail
2 pm-4 pm Try my best to get them both down for a nap. This has worked out a lot…what I blessing!
4 pm Feed Abigail, Jackson has a snack
5:30 or 6 pm Dinner for us three
7 pm Abigail eats, Jackson plays with daddy
8 pm Bath time for Jackson practice Abc’s using bath letters
8:45 pm Bed time for Jackson and Family devotion
10 pm Abigail eats
11:30 or 12 pm Abigail goes down for the night. She loves to be awake till about midnight or so right now. Some days I do not give her a bath till 11 pm which is crazy but will not last long.
3:30 am or 4 am Abigail usually wakes up to eat as long it is not a Saturday night or a Tuesday night Charlie and I will take turn with this feeding and then the other person gets to sleep through the 6:30 or 7 am feeding. He is such a great husband!

Wow, no wonder I am exhausted!

The key is to not feed your baby but every 2 and half hours from the start of the last feeding. If you let your baby eat sooner than that then they will be snacking all day and never get full and in turn will be miserable. I am very laid back about this schedule and every day she gets off of it and I just try to push her 15 minutes further each feeding to get back to this schedule. If she gets used to eating around the same time every day she will be happier Also, it is good to try to give them 30 minutes to eat.

I wrote that schedule out last week and for the last three nights Abigail has woken up and I have put her in the bed with us and then back in the pack in play and she has proceeded to sleep till 5 am! Then she will not eat again till like 9ish, so she is dropping a feeding but eating 5 or 6 ozs some feedings to make up for it. We have Abigail on the top part of the pack in play in our room because it is just easier when she wakes up all through the night. We have a mattress for the pack in that will go on the top part of the pack in play (the basinet part) that we bought when we had the fire.

How do I get her to sleep for so long?

• Breastfeeding is best but doctors will tell you that babies digest breast milk a lot faster than formula. Therefore, if I was breastfeeding I would probably supplement her with a bottle for the night feeding to help her go longer between feedings at night. I think since she is bottle fed she can go longer between feedings
• She is swaddled in kiddopotamus swaddle me blanket
• We got a sleep positioner that one of my friends told me about…it helps them feel like they are being held

Does anyone have any more suggestions on how to get a baby to sleep for more than a couple hours straight?

Spiritually:

This year I am going back to reading MacArther Daily Bible in my reading the Bible through in a year. It is not to late to start! I somehow did read the Bible chronically through last year although December was a blur.

What about you? What are some of your spiritual attainable goals for this year?

I will hopefully be writing about some more issues that we are going through in the next couple of days.

Video of Abigail at 3 1/2 weeks Old...Smiling?

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How Am I Doing with Two Babies?

• Being at home with two babies is actually better than I thought it would be. I was very nervous the first time I was all by myself with both of them. The challenges are very different than I imagined they would be. The hardest part is Jackson being stuck in the house and bored. It being winter makes it hard to go outside most days which is something I did not have to worry about when Jackson was born in September. Some days Jackson is just frustrated with all his toys and videos and everything. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to make being in the house for these 6 weeks more interesting and educational for Jackson?
• Surprisingly, he is not jealous of Abigail at all right now. I thought that he would be really jealous of her but all he wants to do is love on Abigail. He does not like that his schedule has changed though. Most days, however, Jackson cries more than Abigail which is something I never expected (every day he is crying less and less so that is a major answer to prayer). Jackson cried about 2 hours every day until he was about 4 or 5 months old so I expected Abigail to cry about that much as well. She cried probably about 30 minutes a day and I usually know why she is crying. What a blessing! With Jackson, most of the time when he cries it is a mystery to me on why he is upset. Some of it is just him being a 2 year old and getting upset when he does not get his way.
• Also, I find myself always thinking about what they need and it makes it hard for me to think straight. I forgot to change Jackson’s diaper one morning and he got his pj’s soaking wet…sad. This makes it hard for me to think clearly about what is really important in life. My prayer today is that I can focus my mind on loving God with all my heart, soul and strength.
• Pray for Jackson. He is one of the most loving little boys I have ever seen, but when he does not get his way, he has pretty crazy tantrums (about 5 or 6 tantrums per day). This started happening right before Abigail was born and I really do not think we can blame Abigail being born on it. He is going through an “I love babies” phase. He loves baby dolls and loves Abigail very much. He has been getting many spankings and just flat out not listening to us at all...spanking is the only thing that works for him.
• I am still making myself find time to enjoy life (have some “fun” time every day).I am going to the store still using coupons (I used 25 the other day) and staying connected to people through blog and facebook while I am feeding her. I try to not let myself get on the computer until I have read my Bible and spent time with God through prayer. I will get crazy stressed if I do not spend time with my Savior.
• If you want to know what I used coupons for let me know and I will post that. I know it is strange but couponing and saving us money is very fun for me. But, I dropped $50 on diapers and wipes with my last Walmart purchase and I have even thought about going to cloth diapers but our washing machine is running pretty much all day as it is. I used coupons for the diapers. Does anyone have any more advice on how to cut down on the diaper and wipe cost? The good thing is that I know that this phase of going through so many diapers will not last forever. She goes through about 7 or 8 a day and Jackson goes through about half of that. I do not feel he is ready for potty training at all right now even though his speech is improving.
• It is hard to even get laundry done by myself during the day with two babies, however, and I really look forward to Charlie being home so I can actually get something done. Again, I know it will not be like this forever and I am trying my best just to enjoy my babies. I have to fight not not make my day just a list of things to try to get done. I try to listen to my ipod while washing the insane amount of clothes that need to be washed right now. In just a few short months, she will not spit up on 3 different outfits a day hopefully.
• I will be writing about how our schedule looks soon, so be on the look out!

*Funny Story Added Later

1 pm is always one of the craziest times of the day. I change Jackson's diaper around that time (and he is getting tired), and Abigail usually likes to eat during this time. On one particular day, Millie Boo (the dog) was barking to come inside, I had just changed Jackson's diaper and he was crying for some reason that was unknown to me, and Abigail was wailing because she was hungry and had a poopie diaper. I got the dog in, and gave Jackson a moon pie to make him calm down. He was so stunned that I gave him such a glorious treat (which does not happen often). He calmed down and she got fed as soon as I could get the bottle ready. Sometimes they all three melt down at the same time and it is crazy, but it all ends up working out somehow. And yes, I have a high maintenance dog who seems like at least a half of a child most days. The first day by myself with all of them, Millie Boo got into more trouble then either of my babies (by eating Jackson's lunch and barking like crazy during nap time)

It has been easy on me since we had Abigail during the holiday season so Charlie has been able to be home a lot. That has been another huge blessing. Thie week will be my first entire week with both of my babies at home, since Charlie took his 1 week of vacation he had left the week Abigail was born and then came Christmas and New Years.

Music Man

Jackson loves music. He loves to sing and dance. He acted like he has been playing the piano his whole life when he came across this piano. I think his daddy liked music this much as well at this age. I have been meaning to post this picture for a while.

Happy New Year!

I cannot wait to see what all God has in store for us this year.

Next post will be on how I am doing with two babies at home so stay tuned...