The Kiddos: 20 months and 1 month

Abram (Abe)
20 months old
(I promise to stop counting in months when he turns 2!)

Abe is (almost) 20 months old and beginning to talk a lot more!  He says mostly one or two word phrases in both English and Spanish.  He is learning to favor English because I am the only person he hears speaking Spanish right now (although Drew mixes in a bit every now and then).  However, he understands both languages equally and will respond or follow directions in both.

He is developing quite the charming, loving, sweet personality.  He loves going to new places and is definitely a people person (after he acts shy for about 5 minutes first).  I was thrilled to receive the compliment last weekend that Abe was a very "compassionate" little boy to both animals and kids at a birthday party we attended.  Although he does try to test the boundaries (mostly by throwing things or getting into something he knows he shouldn't), all in all he is a complete joy to have as our son.

Right now his favorite things include tractors, cows, his baby sister, dancing, and ice cream.


Camryn (Cam) 
1 month old

Camryn is a total sweetheart!  She's really easygoing and sleeps and eats like a champ!  I think she is generally an easier baby than Abe was but Drew thinks it's just because we have more experience.

Last week we saw her first smiles (while awake) and she has been a great baby on all of our outings so far.  She's starting to fall into a pretty predictable sleeping/eating routine which makes our days go  smoothly (although I still call Drew begging him to come home around 5 o'clock every night when both kids tend to be tired and hungry at the same time).

Overall, we're all trying to soak up every minute of her tiny cuteness because she's already growing too fast!!

Updating the Kids Wardrobes for Fall (Garage Sale Style)

I have been trying to update Abe's wardrobe for the fall lately.  We are blessed to get a TON of hand-me-downs from my sister but more recently it has been obvious that my nephew and Abe were born in different seasons.  Most of the clothes we had in his size recently were winter clothes so naturally we were in need of winter clothes for the actual fall/winter that is coming soon.

I was trying to find a time to make it to the outlet mall (dangerously about 10 minutes from our house) but hadn't yet.

Last Friday in an effort to get out of the house, I looked on Craigslist for some garage sales and found a few in the same neighborhood nearby. But when we arrived, I realized it was actually the WHOLE neighborhood that was having a sale!  About every third house had a sale so we spent some time getting in and out of the car and doing a little walking with our new double stroller as well.

We actually did so well on Friday that we went back on Saturday morning (again just the kiddos and me) to do some more shopping.  All in all, I was thrilled with what we got!  We spent about $40 total and we got a ton of hardly-worn clothes!  That definitely beats the outlet mall prices!

Here's what I got for my kids:

And I picked up a few bigger sizes for my nephew:

Coupon Crazy

I made a trip to Target to do some couponing.  And believe it or not, I only bought what was on my list!  It makes it slightly easier to have focused shopping trips (that don't make you wander through each department) with a sleeping baby in the cart.  I was in and out in about 10 minutes and after all of my coupons were scanned, I was happy with the result!

I bought $14.99 worth of products for just $6.49.  57% savings!

My new goal for couponing is to ONLY buy what I KNOW we will use.  This was a problem in the past as I constantly threw out products that I got for pennies but we never used.  This was a great trip because it actually included food we would eat (like .07 cent celery and .50 cent raspberries).  Not a bad deal!

Cookie Monster

Abe and I had fun making cookies yesterday.  Even though they turned out flatter than flat (I think I need to add more flour), he liked them!  Here's the proof:

Back in the saddle

I'm deciding to do this blogging thing...again.  I had a great idea to write a blog about a year ago chronicling Abe's journey to bilingualism but I took a loooong break from that when I realized the updates wouldn't be that exciting until he actually started speaking.

Well, now he can speak.  And he does a lot!  In both languages!  Plus, we also have a new addition to the family who is keeping us pretty busy (hence why I'm typing with one hand and burping her with the other).

On top of these new developments, my year of "parental leave" from my teaching job starts this week as all of my co-workers head back to work.  So, to keep myself busy and still in some type of "literacy" mode, I will blog.

I will blog mostly about my kids (and include a bunch of pictures) to have a "scrapbook" for them to read when they get older.

I will also blog about our journey to bilingualism for the kids.  Hopefully it will keep me motivated and avoid the mindset of wanting to quit every other day when I have doubts!

Lastly, I will blog about some of my frugal living efforts to make it on one income.  After some answered prayers, we were able to rent a four bedroom house in the country for a ridiculously low price which was the only way we could make this "stay-at-home mom" thing work.  So now I am working to stretch our income enough that we can live comfortably while I enjoy time with my kiddos.