Quotes I love

I found some great quotes I thought I would share with you other mommies out there!

"Adam and Eve had many advantages, but the principal one was that they escaped teething."

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

"People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one."

"A baby changes your dinner party conversation from politics to poop."

"It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into."

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." - this is from the book 'Love you Forever' by Robert Munsch.  I cry every time I read this book, even more so now that I'm a mom.

I love The Dinner A'fare.

Have you heard of The Dinner A'fare?  If you are a working mom, or don't have time to meal plan, grocery shop, and cook, (or just don't like to cook) read on my friend!  It truly has been a blessing since I've gone back to work.  It gives me more time to spend with my sweet family + it's delicious!!

"The Dinner A'Fare is a gourmet studio kitchen with meal prep stations complete with recipes, fresh ingredients, spices, and measuring cups and spoons. 

We make dinnertime less stressful by providing a more convenient way for you to create home-cooked meals. In just two hours you can make 12 dishes that have either 1-3 or 4-6 servings each.

We pre-slice, dice, and chop everything you'll need! Take the meals home, put them in your freezer, and cook (following provided instructions) the dishes according to your schedule. We provide a menu with a variety of flavors. Each month the available dishes change. Our dishes and monthly combinations are developed with nutrition, high-quality food, and variety in mind."

The menu changes monthly (with about 15+ new dishes a month) and they only take about 15-30 minutes to prepare once you get home.  We have really liked each dish we've had and almost always have leftovers (we get the 2-3 serving portion).  We like it because we get to try things we normally wouldn't make and the nutritional information is available for each dish.  Since I'm gluten free, they make substitutions where they can which is awesome!  It will be even better when Hadley starts eating real food....she will get to taste all sorts of yummy things mama doesn't know how to make :)

8 months!

Our little baby sure is growing up!  8 months old, I can hardly believe it! 

Here are her stats:

• She doesn't go to the pediatrician until 9 months, so I'm not sure exactly her weight and height. Somewhere around 17 lbs I would guess.
• On the verge of crawling. She gets really frustrated when she wants something outside of her reach!  She has just started moving her little knees as if she is crawling, but she's not there yet.  Sort of 'swiming' on the ground.  Very soon we will have a crawler on our hands!
• I gave her a few little bites of chicken the other night, her first meat!  It's a whole new eating world out there now that she is 8 months old.  We bought some Gerber puff type finger foods for her this weekend - she's learning how to put them in her mouth.  I made her ground turkey and rice baby food yesterday and she loved it!  
• 3 bottles/solids feeding per day + 1 night time bottle before bed. Haven't found any food the girl doesn't like yet.  She is such a great eater and we are soooo thankful!  
• Not that interested in the sippy cup yet.  Nor does she care to hold her own bottle.  *sigh*
• Starting to cut her 2 front teeth on the top.  Soon she will have 4 teeth :)
• Wearing mostly 6-9 months clothes, and a few 3-6 months that still fit.
• Sitting up in the bath tub now instead of using the bath sling that came with her tub. She is starting to enjoy playing with her bath toys!
• Ba-ba-ba and da-da-da are her favorite 'words.'
• Likes to shake her toys that rattle.
• Very fascinated by her shoes when we put them on her (which is not too often). She can't stop looking touching, and tasting them!
• Smiles and laughs all the time....such a sweet, beautiful girl!

Sweet girl.

Sometimes I seriously think to myself, "I have the sweetest girl in the world." It's so amazing the love I have for this little being, who I am getting to know more and more everyday. Even though she can't talk or really communicate yet, I love that sweet smile and bright eyes she has when she is happy and when she's full and ready for bed, I love that sweet belly laugh she gives when she hears us laugh or when Riley is being silly, I even love her little cry she gives when she is ready for a nap or for bed. We have our own little language, just the 3 of us, our little family.

Awesome deal!

I follow a blog about couponing and they just posted this great deal that I wanted to share with all you Knoxville peeps!

"Here is a great deal on Knoxville News Sentinel for $25. You can get 52 week [Sunday-only] subscription to the Knoxville News Sentinel for $25. Call 521-8181 and give them this promotional code: DM-Sunday-77."

We pay about this much per quarter, so this is a great deal! We just get the Sunday paper for coupons and sale ads for Target, Belk, etc.

Baby Mac

We had so much fun at Kandi and Grant's couples baby shower last weekend. They are having a girl next month. Kandi looked adorable - just a few more weeks to go! The nursery is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen! We can't wait to meet Baby Mac! And Hadley is very excited for a new little friend!

The time has come.

The day has finally come that I’m saying good bye to my Medela breast pump. I’ve been thinking about this day for months and months. I seriously can’t believe I’ve made it 7 months pumping everyday....multiple times a day....at home, at work, at hotels, in the car, in the middle of the night. Sterilizing all the little parts each day, freezing bags of milk, rotating my “stash.” It’s seriously been like a job. I remember when Hadley was 5 weeks old and I was just hoping to make it to Thanksgiving....and look how far I’ve come! I need a medal or something!

I’ve had to supplement with formula since she was 5 or so months old. And my supply has definitely decreased slowly over time. I’ve been winding down since I started back at work, only pumping 4 times a day instead of 6. But this week is the last week, and I’m only going to pump 2 times a day. It was so refreshing leaving my house without my pump, which has basically been like another appendage these last 7 months as I don’t leave home without it.


I did some rough calculations (7 months x 30 days in a month x 6 pumps a day). I've used my pump approximately 1,260 times. WOW.

So long, farewell! Until we meet again....