Four Months, Coupons and Blowouts

• DS is now four months old. It is hard to believe how fast he is growing! He is now 15.2 pounds and 24 inches long. He is right on track for his age; cooing, smiling, and riding imaginary bicycles as fast as possible (or practicing infant karate against unsuspecting parents lol). He had four shots and an oral vaccine yesterday and it went really well. He was smiling by the time we left the office. He has a fever today but no other symptoms. 
  
• DD is growing so much to! It is a real blessing to be at home with her and see her reach more and more milestones. She can completely dress herself, she is starting to spell words we see, recognize numbers, and patterns. She is getting better at not interrupting and her attention span has gotten longer. She was the flower girl at a wedding this weekend and not only was she pretty, but she stood beside me during the whole ceremony (even if she was twirling, eating candy and putting the basket on her head...). 
  
• We played "store" this morning and used the opportunity to practice counting money (and using coupons of course!). It made me realize that kids don't get the chance to see how money actually works. We simply swipe a plastic card and put it back in our purse or wallet - which explains why she always wanted to get the money back after she paid lol! I think we will make more of an effort to pay in cash so she will understand the concepts better. And by the way, I have been trying my darndest to save money with coupons, but I think I only saved $5 on my last trip... Not that I am complaining, because we would have bought the pizza, cereal, yogurt and lunchmeat anyway BUT it hardly seems worth the hour of planning I spent on it before we went to the store...
• I am so glad we were able to visit Missouri for all the special occasions! Sorry if we were not able to see everyone this time around! It was so good to see Mel graduate, it is hard to believe she will be in college this fall! It seems like yesterday when she was staying with us, learning bass guitar, getting her first job (and second lol) and saving up for her first car! 
• The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, just like the bride! It was a blast seeing her again and reminiscing about old times :). I do wish DS had better timing with his movements however... We had a blowout in the salon while my hair was still being done. Guess who was the only one available to change it... the bride! Poor girl :( needless to say, I had to step in, especially when the child was head down in the car seat, crying and covered in poo lol. That is one bridal party the salon will not soon forget! 

In Loving Memory...

I also want to post a tribute to my great grandmother Audrey A. Wilson who passed away earlier this year in Yucca Valley, CA. We last visited her in 2010 when we went to California for my grandfather's funeral. She was so gracious and I wish we would have gotten to know her better. I do not know enough about my roots, and this is a reminder to me to ask questions now, while I have the opportunity. Here are the few pictures I have of Audrey, maybe some family members can fill in the details or add their own memories???

Hand written note on back: "Audrey Stone 1940 Married Jack 1942"

Jack Wilson (my great-great grandfather)

"Jack and Audrey 1940"

No writing on this one, but Audrey is on the far left, with Susan (?) on her lap and my grandmother is center with my grandfather on the right.

No date on this one, but this is Audrey and my grandpa.

Catching Up

 It is amazing how this blog is new and I am already behind (Sorry mom!)! I will try to update this more regularly. The easiest way to catch up is for me to show you some pictures from the last month and a half.

Here are the glow-in-the-dark Easter eggs we made for a night time scavenger hunt. This was very entertaining!

 Here is the ice cream cake DH got me for my Golden Birthday. I turned 27 on March 27th. :)

Here is DS in one of his cloth diapers. I really like these and hope to continue with cloth. The only downside, is we may not actually be saving money because we do not have an energy efficient water heater :(

 




















DD's monster face and a very happy baby :)

three months old

three months old

"I am what I am"

  DH getting home from work :)

I could not get a picture without DS crying! We just got home from a fantastic pirate birthday party (like something you would see in a magazine!) and I wanted to get a picture of these guys in their pirate costumes. The irony here is that DD was crying and upset the entire party and DS was happy!

Soooo sweet !!!!

• Ok, that should catch us up. Next week DS has his 4 month check-up and shots. We will also be heading back to Missouri to get ready for everything! I am so excited to see Mel graduate and I cannot wait to be a part of E's wedding. It has been such a privilege to be a part of these girls' lives and I have been blessed by their presence in mine. 

• Oh yeah, I have also been accepted to take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT) in June. I am super excited [doing a little dance inside] but also crazy nervous! I do not expect to pass this the first time, since I can honestly say I do not know as much U.S. History as one should and I have not written a paper since college... But, this is something you can only take once a year and I would hope to pass it next year, or the next... :). I am also wanting to finish my Bachelor's in International Studies, once DS gets a little older, and that should better equip me. This is something DH and I have been talking about and researching for the last year and I still feel drawn to this field/career so, why not? Maybe God is planting that desire now to lead us somewhere we never imagined???!!!