Colin: Three Months!

Dear Colin,

You are getting so big. It seems like every day you are doing something new, and I am so happy that I get to be there to see it. We have been very busy - with playdates at parks, the zoo, the Children's Museum and just hanging out. 

We've had some great "conversations" with you lately! You definitely recognize your momma and daddy's voices. Your smiles are beautiful.

You are doing AWESOME at tummy time! I cannot believe how well and high you hold your head up.You haven't rolled over yet, but you have rolled to your side quite a few times. 

You love to lay on your playmat, sit in the bouncy seat and the swing! You take great naps in the swing, but I know we really need to start doing those in your crib.

Bath time is a favorite time of your day. You love the warm water and getting lotioned and swaddled up afterwards.

Sleep is still so variable. You've had lots of nights sleeping 8, 10, and even one night of 12 hours straight, but we also have nights where you've only gone 5-6 hours. Momma is hoping it gets more predictable soon. You are awake about 1.5 hours at every feeding during the day and still eating every three hours (7am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm). We are still nursing except your 7pm feeding is a formula bottle. You are taking 6 ounces at that time.

We left you with a babysitter (your cousin Kali) for the first time a couple weeks ago. She said you were happy, but you were still awake when we got home. It seems like the hardest part about nights is getting you to go down for the first time. When you wake up to eat in the middle of the night, you do so well going right back to sleep.

You're wearing size 1 diapers and size 0-3 months clothes although I'm sure we'll be moving up to the next size very soon. We weighed you at home last night, and you were just over 13 pounds. 

Happy three month birthday, Colin!!

Love,
Momma

Saturday!

We had a busy Saturday!

Why is it that it a bunch of things you want to do always fall on the same weekend?? That's how our Saturday was.  We headed to Uptown Normal for the Sweet Corn Festival in the morning. We watched Gamma Phi Circus perform and then headed to find the corn!

 

 

 

 

After eating, we went to the fairgrounds for Day of the Dozer! Drake had a great time riding on the backhoe and dump truck and sitting in the Bobcats!

 

 

 

 

 

After all the excitement and sun (Yep...I got a little burnt!), we stopped for ice cream at Culver's and then home for a short nap! It was a great time!

Next year, I'm hoping to go to the Lincoln Balloon Festival which was also this weekend.

The Great Grocery Challenge

 

CVS: OOP $5.03, Saved $13.58

Walgreens: OOP $9.73, Saved $5.50

Meijer: OOP: $34.78 , Saved $38.61

Weekly Totals: OOP $49.54, Saved $57.69 (54%)

Not too bad - stayed under budget and picked up dog food! We'll see how this week goes since there is the AWESOME Kraft catalina going on. Now, hopefully the stores will be stocked with products. :-)

Check out Mommy Wants Freebies and Encourage Hope for deals each day!

Cornbelter's Game

Once of the things I wanted to do this summer was take Drake to a Normal Cornbelters game. Jason's work had tickets along with a picnic so this was the perfect opportunity. We got a babysitter for Colin (a first) and took Drake on Saturday night!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The game didn't start until 6:30pm, but we made it half-way through the 7th inning. We would definitely do this again but probably get lawn tickets next time since Drake didn't really pay attention to the game.

The Great Grocery Challenge

 

CVS: OOP $8.02, Saved $8.60

I was so excited about the razor deal for my hubby this week. We haven't seen them for quite some time, and I hope this means they will be back for a while.

Target: OOP $10.06, Saved $22.70 (69%)

Walgreens: OOP $17.33, Saved $31.50 (65%)

Aldi: OOP $5.18

Weekly Totals: OOP $40.59, Saved $62.80 (61%)

Check out Mommy Wants Freebies and Encourage Hope for daily deals!

Fun with Friends!

We have finally gotten a break from this crazy hot summer!! The air conditioning is off and the windows are open. I know our checkbook is going to appreciate it. Let's just say that our electric bill the last two months has been insane! Not to mention the water bill from my hubby's nice irrigation system. :-)

We had no plans on Saturday so we took advantage of this beautiful weather and met our friends at Grady's. It was Drake's first time and he had a blast!

Friends on the train!

 Drake & Daddy on the train!

He was a little small for this ride but really wanted to go. He made it around a few times and then we had her stop for him to get off.

 Colin enjoying the weather.

 He was such a big boy! He rode this little ferris wheel all by himself and LOVED it!

 

We ended the night with a cookout at our friends house. 

The fresh air must have been good for Colin. He slept 10 hours straight Saturday night! I was completely shocked since he's only been going 5-6 hours the last few nights. Now I'm just crossing my fingers this keeps up. :-)

The Great Grocery Challenge

 

CVS: OOP $4.56, Saved $3.10 (40%)

Walgreens: OOP $9.81, Saved $21.45 (69%)

Meijer: OOP $32.24, Saved $43.25 (57%)

Weekly Totals: OOP $46.61, Saved $67.80 (59%)

Don't forget to check out Mommy Wants Freebies and Encourage Hope for daily deals!

Working Mom? WAHM? SAHM? Part 2

You can read Part 1 from yesterday here. 

This spring, it felt like things kept happening that were leading me to a decision - church sermons, discussions with friends and then someone who was looking for care for her 2 year old son starting in August! I met with the mom and then we had them over for pizza so the boys could meet. Things went great and this seemed like the perfect scenario if I was going to stay home.

After taking a little more time to think about it and talk with the family, we decided to go for it. The father is a teacher which also meant that I could do just part-time in the summer - giving me some days with just my two kiddos and saving them on daycare while still having some consistency.

We told Alicia that Drake would be there through June 30th. This gave me about a month with just Colin at home which was wonderful. Here are a couple pictures from his last day.

 

Things changed a little on July 2nd when I got a message that the boy I planned on watching wasn't going to need care anymore. His momma has decided to stay home when his little sister arrives. As excited as I was for her, I wasn't sure what we were going to do.

The good news was that I noticed someone that was looking for before/after-school care for her twins starting in the fall. They live in our subdivision and the kids would go to the school less than a block from my house! She also needs care on the days they don't have school, but they have a sitter for the summer which is perfect. So, for the same income, I'll have them here in the morning, have the rest of the day with Drake and Colin, and then have them for an hour or so after school! I am SO excited!!

You may have also noticed that I couple of other opportunities have come up since we made the decision for me to stay home. I'm posting on two couponing/deal blogs - mommywantsfreebies.com (national site) and encouragehope.org (a local site), and I love it!

I NEVER thought I would want to be a stay-at-home mom. (Or, am I a work-at-home mom? lol!) It's amazing the things that can change with time or more knowledge. 

So, now that I have told my boss, another chapter of our life begins...

Working Mom? WAHM? SAHM? Part 1

I started this post about a year ago and am just now ready to publish it since the story is complete or should I say just beginning?

You might remember this post back in February 2011. At the time, I was getting ready to start my new hours and was excited. My boss had given me some flexibility and while it really didn't give me any extra time with Drake, it helped a little bit with the balance of getting things done. I'm very appreciative of her allowing me to do this, but I knew in my heart it just wasn't enough. 

I presented another proposal to my boss in July 2011- splitting my time between working in the office and at home. To me, it was a great compromise - maintaining full-time status for our office and giving me more flexibility. But, my request was denied. This started my search for a part-time job that would allow me to have more time at home.

In August 2011 I interviewed for a part-time job, but it just wasn't a good fit and the timing wasn't right (good thing they didn't offer it to me, huh?).

In September 2011, we found out we were expecting Colin. This put a temporary halt on things as I wanted to stay at my current job until after the baby was born - my insurance is awesome. :-)

Around Thanksgiving, we finally told our sitter that we were pregnant and in early January she asked me if we were planning on bringing the baby to her in the fall. She wanted a decision by March 1st.

We did a lot of talking, working the budget, and praying, but I just wasn't ready to make a decision.

To be continued...

Patterson Family Time

Every 5 years, the Patterson family has a reunion. When we went five years ago, it was just Jason and I. This time we were a family of four! My how things have changed.

Jason's Aunt Leta had a cookout at her house on Thursday night.

 Colin & Matthew (2nd cousins)

 Colin with his Great Aunt Penny

 Hadassah with her Uncle Doug

On Saturday, we headed to Naperville for the big family reunion.

Our family of four.

With Jason's dad and sister.

Jason's dad and siblings with their kids and grandkids that were present. (missing 8 grandkids and 9 kids/in-laws)

Jason's dad and his siblings - Penny, Leta, and Stewart