Saturday, August 27, 2011

Discovering OBX



                                    The long anticipated "bridge!" Such a big deal to us Kentuckians!
                            Some Sights to See: North Carolina Aquarium, a "real" Pirate Ship

Feeling a Little Crabby
                             
                                                One of my favorites, Bodie Island Lighthouse
                                   Elijah and Levi shared the first trip to the beach together

                                                  We loved Coquina Beach! So many shells!



We Love OBX

Levi's First Haircut

Crazy Hair BEFORE
           


         This is Levi just before turning 15 months old on the day of his first haircut. Mommy wasn't ready to cut his hair because she didn't want him to lose that baby look. Elijah was about 17 months before his long overdue first cut. Grandma had said Levi's hair looked like it was trying to curl behind his ears, but mommy thought it was just sticking out from laying on it. Since nothing could keep his 'bat-wings' down we decided it was time.

      
           A friend told us about a nice place with Thomas and Lightning McQueen chairs 45 minutes from home. Check out Koala Kuts USA on Facebook. We were very excited since we drove 2 hours to a similar place for Elijah's first cut. After a long drive and half an hour wait he screamed the entire time. So since then we have gave him cuts at home. We wanted Levi's first cut to be special. 



           

     The ladies working were very friendly and the boys didn't mind the haircuts at all. They were very considerate and didn't spray his head or face with water but instead sprayed the comb and wet his hair with it. Levi seemed a little concerned but never shed a tear! As she was finishing his cut she said she noticed it was starting to curl.

All Done


            Sure enough when we were finished we had a sweet little wavy blonde headed blue eyed toddler. Mommy thinks he got that from Daddy who had curly blonde hair when he was a boy.



                 And we can't forget Big Brother Elijah who helped Mommy when she was searching the net for a good hair cut place for Levi. He was looking for a police car but loved the motorbike too. He is 4 years and 9 months and this was his first tearless haircut!




         Momma's handsome boys! Not a single tear! We absolutely loved Koala Kuts USA and will definitely be returning!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

"I Have a Coupon for That!"

 For a couple of months now I have been buying Saturday/Sunday papers, All You magazine as well as watching other magazines and the internet for good coupons. I already had a rather large 3 ring binder that was just sitting around, so I immediately created my "coupon binder" and set off on my way. It really is a good 'grown up' escape. Clipping coupons can be relaxing. 

 In the beginning I was happy with picking up the name brand for the same price or slightly less than store brands. I remember one Walmart trip Dale was with me and I heard him say to Elijah "mommy just saved $20." I think I'm getting better.  In my short time doing this I have picked up some really good bargains. Ex. Free toothpaste ($2.99 value), free toothbrush($4), baby wipes (Huggies tubs $2.50-$3)  for 41 cents TV dinners (banquet $1.85) for .19. YES I LOVE coupons. There has been plenty of disappointment with empty shelves, but I am not going to give up.

 Walgreen's was my first store. It was really easy to figure out their policy. I love their RegisterRewards.  Kroger has become my favorite because they double coupons. Then of course Walmart has the AdMatch program but it doesn't help if you are counting on doubles or RR.

 I love websites and blogs about couponing (I'm sure couponing will be in websters dictionary along with googling real soon) and freebies. Facebook is a really good way to find deals. From Facebook friends I have found some really good websites that feature one day deals for moms and babies. Also companies are often posting on their pages about giveaways and coupons. I haven't really found anyone locally with a blog so I'm thinking about trying to start doing some posts about my shopping and coupon match-ups."I'm gonna use my coupons and get free stuff no matter how much it costs"  LOL What do you think?

Monday, August 22, 2011

Newbie

Newbie

I have all these thoughts that I randomly write down. Some are in notebook that ends up drawn on by Elijah and hits the trash. Some are in drawers and some are on the bookshelf, while others end up in the filing cabinet. So I think maybe just maybe a blog site is the answer? Maybe it will keep everything in one spot so that when I have the time to fill out those baby books and do the scrapbooks I will have all those cute things the boys say to use!
That is why I am blogging. As the name may hint, it will be all about my absolutely perfect little boys! I may get more interesting or I may not ever figure out how to log into this blog site again. We will see. Thanks for stopping by.

White Christmas oh10

This Christmas season we had a special visitor from the north pole. "Zachary the elf on a shelf" He came to keep an eye on Elijah for Santa!




Momma got to play with her new camera and take lots of pictures of her sweet boys!



We enjoyed Levi's first Christmas! He is such a sweet and easy going little guy!




Elijah prepared by leaving Magical Reindeer food by the front door to guide Rudolph to our home. Santa sent the magical food to Elijah himself in a letter!




Santa sure enough came when we were sleeping. Elijah was one happy boy! Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk, and left lots of SNOW and presents!

Elijah is 4


Elijah's "SUPER" Birthday Moon by Rex Runions
*Sweet
*Honest and innocent
*Favorite food Sweet Potatoes
*loves Grandma
*Favorite show Spongebob Squarepants
*enjoys pretend turkey/deer hunting
*would wear boots 365 days a year (snow boots, rain boots, "cowboots"
*can now count past 'eleventeen' LOL
*can say his ABC's but only recognize a few of the "numbers"


Always has us laughing.
I asked if he busted his head open (should have asked 'was that your head')after I heard him bump it. His response, " I hope not" as he comes to me pushing his hair back for me to look.

"What are we going to do after tomorrow goes off?"

"When you and daddy was a baby you played..."

"9? I thought they's pose to be 10" (counting fingers)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Levi @ 9 mos

Levi Joshua started the new year off doing exactly what babies his age do... eating, sleeping, crawling, da-da-ing, growing and exploring. His first new tooth came in the first week of January when he was 8 months old (bottom right tooth) The second tooth (other bottom tooth) followed the last week of January right before he turned 9 months old. We are oh so proud of him. He really is a good baby, most of the time he is calm and easy going. Of course we think he is smart and way ahead of other babies his age!
*18 lbs and 28 inches
*2 steps everywhere
*Loves baby food
*Grunts with every bite, unable to wait for more
*Doesn't seem to like mashed potatoes
*Amazed by big brother Elijah
*Enjoys cars/trucks and rattles
*Tries to make car noises
*Has said, Dadda, Lija, Momma, Mamaw, Nanae, Bybye, Bite, num-nums

Gone Fishing

From dates at Bass Pro Shop eating in their fish restaurant, to short vacation trips along creeks in TN, my husband is crazy about fishing. So of course when his sons were born he was so excited to have boys to fish with. I myself do not touch the fish or a fishing pole for that matter, but I do thoroughly enjoy sitting along the creek bank and taking pictures.
As soon as Elijah was big enough to hold a pole he was tagging along. His first was a Scooby Do fishing pole with orange fish attached to the line. He loved "catching" it over and over and became quite good at casting early on. Our first family (Elijah, Dale and myself) vacation included fishing in North Carolina and a cabin rental with more fishing in Gatlinburg.


Levi accompanied us to the creek last spring in his infant carrier. This spring he trotted through the grass uncertain he wanted it touching him if he stunbled and fell while I tagged behind picking him up quickly when he fell.
Today when Daddy got home from work Mommy suggested we all go down to the creek. This would be Levi's first 'real' fishing trip. He doesn't have a pole of his own (gasps) so he used a pole Daddy made Elijah when his first fishing pole was broken.



He was absolutely adorable running tagging along behind Daddy and big brother Elijah carrying that fishing pole. He thought he was a big shot too! He stopped frequently to spin the reel to hear the noise it would make.


When Daddy caught his first fish ( I think it turned out to be the only fish on this short trip ) he was excited to let Levi be part of the catch. So as he always has done with Elijah he held his reel out for Levi to help bring in the fish.




       When Levi saw the fish he no longer wanted anything to do with Daddy's pole. I love his little face and that dirty little hand! Just a few months ago he was eager to touch all the fish and Mommy was worried Daddy would let him be rough and hurt the fish.





We had to back away from the water and find something else to do. So we decided to see what Elijah was into and toss a few rocks in the creek.
I will always cherish these memories of walking along the creek bank with my precious babies but I can't help but feel a little guilty because Daddy doesn't get to really fish and has to stop and head home when one of us gets tired.

I love this picture Elijah was telling Levi how cute he was with his fishing pole. Mommy and Daddy are so blessed with these handsome little boys in our lives.
I will leave you with a line from a country song I heard on the radio...
Throwin’ back what we could fry
          Drownin’ worms and killin’ time
          Nothin’ too ambitious
          She ain’t even thinkin’ ‘bout
          What’s really goin’ on right now
          But I guarantee this memory’s a big’in
And she thinks we’re just fishin’