home decor post........

We've lived in this house now , and we're just now getting around to doing a lot of decorating/projects...Something about having a little baby, starting a new job/finishing up residency, studying for boards has kept me from doing a lot.

So i'm all about ideas!!! Here are a few pics of some things we've done so far-

The biggest hurdle right now is that we need to paint basically the entire house interior- it still has the builder paint on it other than the bedrooms, and those really need to be touched up too. I don't want to hang too much on the wall when we're going to repaint it!

This is one of the shelves in my office- It is pretty disorganized still, but I found these cute boxes at Hobby Lobby and I think they're super cute and will be great for holding pens, cards, ect.

I created this photo collage on the wall of my office- needs pics added, but I like the monogram! I love this chair- we got it when we got our living room furniture. I can't decide if we should paint our bedroom or not. It is sort of a pale yellow, and does not match our bedding at all. All of our bed stuff is navy/red/khaki as is our bathroom towels, ect.

This is Connor's room- not sure if i've ever put pics on the blog. Since we didn't have a nursery at the apartment, we sort of added things slowly in here.

Shelf with books, and dresser/changing area. I got the pics above the dresser at Hobby Lobby.

Our dining room- needs a major overhaul. I want to pain the walls a dark red to highlight the wainscoating and crown molding. We need a new light fixture- it is UGLY! I want to get new window coverings- I am thinking long khaki curtains with sheers under them, and getting rid of those ugly hanging blinds. Ideas??????

I got this new mirror for above the fireplace, now we just need to hang it, and find some decorations for the mantle. I'm not sure why the pattern is showing up on it- it is not there in real life!

Connor's first trip to the ZOO!!!!!

As amazing as it is- we have lived here for since 2006 and still hadn't been to the zoo. Every time we've tried to go with Connor it has been either too cold or rainy. Last Saturday we decided to go downtown and walk from Falls Park to Cleveland Park (I think it is 1.3 miles and makes for a great walk with the stroller). Everybody was out and about - it was the first nice weekend we've had around here in a while!!!!

When we got to Cleveland Park- we decided to go to the zoo! This was very spontaneous for Patrick, as you can imagine, LOL. The zoo was actually very busy, and maybe a little too crowded for Connor's taste, but we had a great time! Plus since he's under 3, he gets free admission, so that's always nice.

Giraffe!!!



Connor was very excited about the Giraffes

A very fat pot-bellied pig in the petting zoo section.

VULTURES!

Connor likes to walk "all by himself" these days.

"Come on, Daddy!"

Checking out more of the animals.

Looking at monkeys

What's that?

And we ended our day with some ice cream- Connor shared with us!

What a fun day downtown- we'll certainly go back to the zoo with Connor soon- he loved all the outdoor animals!

What happens when Connor feeds himself yogurt.....

I can use this spoon!

Do I have something in my hair???

empty!

great deal on detergent!

Since Connor was born, we've used the "free and clear" detergents. He has pretty sensitive skin, and although i miss all the yummy smells, I would rather he not have irritated skin. So unscented for all of us! We generally use either All or Purex unscented. ( Just FYI for all moms/moms-to-be out there, Dreft is actually NOT good for baby's skin! It still has perfume in it, just "baby-scented" perfume!)

Anyway, I feel like we're ALWAYS doing laundry- so when I find a good price or deal on detergent we stock up. The last good deal I found was bottles of All Free and Clear on buy one get one free (32 loads per bottle) plus using coupons. We've almost gotten to the end of that detergent (we had about 8 bottles), and so i've been keeping my ear out for another good price to stock up on .

This Sunday's paper had a purex buy one get one free (any size) coupon. I bought 3 papers b/c there were a lot of good coupons this week (we get them cheaper so it makes is really worth it). So I had three coupons, and I had noticed at our Publix that there was an in-store-special for 3.00 off the 64 load size bottles this week making it 4.99 for 64 loads.

So for 14.97, we got SIX bottles of 64 loads each. This works out to 384 loads at 4 cents each!!!!! Now I need to find some good deals on dryer sheets!!!

Another money saving post!

I'm going to talk a little bit about stockpiling in order to save major amount of money....Basically most stores run sales on a 6-12 week cycle. This means that generally you should be buying enough of a product to get you till the next deal (for things you use regularly, especially those that do not expire). If you have something stored in the closet/pantry, you won't be scrounging for a coupon and driving around looking for the best price when you need it, or paying full price!

Here are a few examples.

1. We love Crystal Light- we do not drink soda or tea at home ( i do drink it at work) so we only drink water and crystal light. However, if we had to buy it regular price it would really add up in price! Since we mainly only shop at Publix, and they don't have a store brand of the drink mix, we either have to stock up or else! The good thing is that generally it will go on sale(buy one get one free) every 4-6 weeks. We've noticed this pattern, and now when we see it on sale, we buy enough to make it to the next sale. This is actually a much cheaper option than driving to Target and buying the store brand there, or having to go to another grocery store when it is on sale.

2. Spaghetti sauce- We don't really eat pasta too often at our house, but we use this staple for many other things- making homemade pizza on the weekends, dipping sauce, lasagna, ect. I found out a long time ago that there IS a difference between the Prego/Ragu varieties and the ones I consider "nicer" brands such as Barilla, Classico, ect. So of course i would like to only buy the nicer brands yet we don't want to pay 2-3 dollars a jar for spaghetti sauce. Since we like several brands, there is almost always going to be a buy one get one free sale at Publix. So we just buy as many as we expect to need for the next month or two at half the price (and CHEAPER than the other brands). There are rarely coupons for pasta sauce, but of course if we have them, it makes for an even better deal.

For food products, obviously you need to think about expiration dates, but most canned/frozen/jarred stuff lasts a long time.

A huge way that stockpiling really adds up is health and beauty care items (i.e. deodorant, shampoo, ect). I have basically decided I'm only going to buy these things at a very low price, but this only works if you are able to have the items you need in the closet for when you'll need them. Otherwise, you'll be running out to the store and paying 4 bucks for a bottle of shampoo. I'm not very brand loyal on toothpaste, ect so I am able to usually get the tubes for almost free after the ECB from CVS. Whenever I have a good coupon for razors, deodorant or shampoo i hold on to it until i find a good deal and then stock up!

This isn't a very good picture below, but it shows one shelf of our hall closet where we store stuff- at any one time we have multiple packs of razors, deodorant, toothpaste, shaving gel, contact solution, ect. Another shelf holds shampoo/conditioner/styling products, baby shampoo/bath, ect.

Try it! When you see a good deal, get what you think you'll need to make it for the next few weeks and avoid paying full price again!

Consigment sale!

I love consigment sales- I wish I had known about them before Connor was born b/c you can get some really good deals on baby/kid stuff! Around here there are sales pretty much every weekend in the spring, and then again in the fall. The good thing is that you can usually hit a different one each weekend, but the bad news is that if you miss a really good one, you might miss out on some great deals on things you're looking for! Also, around here they all start on Friday, which would be great if I didn't happen to be at work all day. Last weekend was one of the best sales but I was on call all weekend and couldn't go . So this weekend i was planning to head out bright and early to another sale.

I did get a bunch of specific toys for Connor- Little People school bus and a whole bag of little people , some new bath toys, a wooden train set, and 2 flashlights! They're all in perfect condition and way below retail price.

I actually got 5 pair of shoes- all Stride Rite and less than 5 dollars per pair. Connor really needed to move up to some new shoes!

This sale was actually REALLY disappointing for clothes. I won't name names but this sale had a horrible selection of clothes. Most everything was really old, or worn out. I could not find much that was actually even worth the price it was marked to me. I did get 2 pair of pj's, and a few shorts and polo shirts, but that was it!

Connor was REALLY happy with the school bus, so I guess the trip was worth it, but I guess i'll be heading out in the next few weeks for another sale to get him some summer stuff!

More snow in SC!!!!

This has actually been a crazy winter for snow, even here in the south! Last Friday afternoon I was at work and it started snowing again, but nobody believed it would even cause a problem since it had been pretty warm during the day. Well, within an hour or two we had a few inches on the ground. This means that everything basically needs to shut down, LOL. Of course I'm sure that all bread and milk had been cleared out earlier in the day due to the weather predictions.

Patrick and Connor got home right as the snow was really starting...of course Mr. winter needed to head out immediately to start exploring..... When I got home from work, we all went back out to play...it actually wasn't as dark as it looks in some of these pictures......

The next morning we headed out again bright and early. Connor did not like sitting in the snow.

our house

the water froze in mid-flow!

Don't laugh please, this snowsuit was a gift!

Walking in snow is tough!

little trail of tiny footprints....

Of course, it is a good thing we got out and enjoyed the snow while we did. It was all melted by the afternoon!

15 months!

Our baby boy is 15 months now (actually 15 and a half months today) and he's growing up so fast! He had his 15 month checkup this past Friday. Patrick took him since I had to work.
His stats were 24lbs, 7 oz (47%ile) and 31 inches tall (49%ile). He's very average!
He got 2 shots (Hiberix and DTaP) and barely cried. His pediatrician said he is doing well! (I think so too :) After the appointment they went out for lunch together- he's become a good restaurant diner these days as long as he has either crayons or food.

Connor's days of crawling are long gone- he walks and run well, and has begun serious climbing. Anything around the house is a mountain to be conquered- shoes, boxes, ect.

The baby who never wore shoes is now a toddler finally in size 4 shoes (where did he get these tiny feet?) and he actually likes shoes- he stomps around in them on the floor, on the driveway, wherever. We actually got him these little slippers to wear since most of his pj's now are non-footed. He loves them!

Connor's new favorite place to sit is in the fridge. If the door is open, he runs to sit on the ledge. We don't know why.

Connor's speech development is increasing- he is "talking " to us all the time, but the main things we understand these days are "mama, dada, na-na (which means all food to him, but esp bananas), woof-woof (any animal including stuffed), and hello (into his phone).

He eats practically everything one day and then refuses everything the next. His favorite foods are still nutri-grain bars, peas, broccoli, bananas and yogurt. He also loves black olives, oddly enough.



He now has 12 teeth and lets us help him with the brushing somewhat

he's not really a morning person :)

Connor's already playing video games!

I have to admit that I NEVER wanted to buy a video game system, or any games for that matter until I wanted a Wii. We purchased it as our joint Christmas present last year (right before Connor was born) but I didn't to use it much with the whole having an infant, being a resident, studying for boards, ect.

In the past few months, we've started playing it more and I got a new workout game called "my fitness coach" that I do some mornings before work. We also got the wii fit plus and there are a lot of fun active games that we like to play.

Connor has obviously been paying attention. He loves to carry the wi-motes around and stand on the balance board like a stage. He points the wi-mote towards the tv and laughs because he thinks he is playing the game.

Patrick has even figured out how to let him stand on the board to participate.......

Playing the snowball game

He LOVES oranges!

Connor knows how to quickly snatch things out of the fridge whenever it is open. He hasn't figured out how to actually open the fridge door (YET!). The other night, I turned around and realized he had gotten a clementine and was trying to bite into it. Great mom that i am , lol, I just grabbed my camera. Getting started, this is something new...
feels good on those teeth!

Success!

going back in......

Don't take my fruit!