Kai's up to something...

Kai. Where do I begin? He's the most precious baby I've ever known! He's so sweet, and cuddly. He has the best personality, and is such a good baby! He's always happy, even after just getting shots! He was not fussy as he was cutting his first two teeth, and was just happy and content as ever. There's definately something special between a Mother and a Son. I am incredibly bonded and close to both of my daughters, but there's just something different with Kai. I don't really know how to even begin to describe it, but if you're a Mother to both a son and a daughter you know exactly what I'm saying. My heart just leaps when I see Kai, and when he smiles, my heart just melts. It's such a great feeling! I could spend all day doing nothing but sitting there watching Kai. He's getting much more mobile now, and is really quite entertaining. He's not crawling yet, but he can definately get around. If he sees something he wants, he's off scooting, rocking, and grunting until he gets what he wants. Usually, what he's trying so desperately to get is something he can't have, and OH! the frustration when that something is taken away! He's got quite a temper too. Especially now that he's getting more active, and playful he throws quite the little tantrum if something is taken from him. He's quite the giggler too, and has possibly the worlds cutest laugh. But I'm Mom, so I'm sure that's an incredibly biased opinion. =o) He got his first black eye yesterday, though it didn't really turn black and blue. He was playing with Daddy at gymnastics yesterday, and his head connected with Daddy's tooth, and it cut his eye lid just a hair, barely bled, and swelled up just a tad. But you would've thought the world had ended with the way that Kai cried, and Daddy's guilt was enough to make Daddy want to cry with his son too.... Too cute. My reaction? He's a boy! It's only the first of many I'm sure! My little squishy faced chub bucket! I love him!

Kids...

Kids are so funny! Especially as they get older and there personalities are very distinct. Yesterday the girls and I were having a pretty good day. Breakfast was smooth, school went well, it was looking like it was going to be a good day. There was some disciplining, but nothing too out of the ordinary. After lunch though, things changed. Why always after lunch? I don't know. I have my assumptions, but who knows why really... Anyway, I asked the girls to pick up all of their toys, clothes, books, and anything else that was theirs in the living room/dining room that didn't belong. So they both looked around at their mess, picked up one little thing, and went off to their room and started playing. I gave them about 15 minutes to get their stuff picked up and at the end of their fifteen minutes, when it still wasn't done they both got spanked. Man, they were upset. They hate getting spanked, and due to recent events they are getting a lot more of them, than they have in the past. (Another story) So after the spanking they did what they were told to do. I didn't really think much of it until later that night when I was in their room getting their clothes ready for later that night. Cassidy has this wipe off board thing that you can write notes on, and erase when your done. Earlier that morning she'd written me the sweetest little note that said, "I Love You MOMMY!" Now though, as I'm standing in their room, that's the only thing lying in the middle of the floor. So of course I look at it. When I do, I just start laughing hysterically!! My little Cassidy, obviously angry with me for disciplining her, erased the love note to mommy and replaced it with, "I DO NOT <3 YOU!" All in capital letters, and the heart a drawing of a heart but in two seperate broken pieces. It was quite a funny sight. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself. That is exactly what I used to do everytime I got angry at my mom when I was little. Ha! They sure do follow in your footsteps huh? You just have to be careful what footsteps your making for them to follow in.....
I still get a chuckle out of that...
kids........

Almost Back to Normal...

Things are almost back to normal around here. For the last week and a half it's looked like we just moved in again. Boxes and stuff everywhere! Every corner is full of something. Why? Richard and I decided that since we're staying in our little two bedroom apartment that we had to find a way for it to work with 4 kids. So Richard and I moved out into the living room. We gave the girls our old room, and Kai and the baby will have the other room. We may as well have moved... There was a ton of rearranging, moving furniture, cleaning long lost corners, organizing, reorganizing, packing, unpacking, you name it I probably did it. But fortunately things are almost back to normal. Kai's and the baby's room is pretty much done, and the girls room is also pretty much done. Now all the work left is pretty much just in the living/dining room. We got rid of our couch, and have been looking for a queen size pull out sofa bed or futon, but in the mean time just moved our mattress out into the living room. The funniest part about that though, is that once we got rid of the box spring and just put the mattress down on the floor where our couch used to be, all of a sudden our mattress was comfortable again! We've both been hating our mattress because it felt like there was a big hole in the middle, so that everytime one of us laid down, we'd literally end up smooshed in the middle of the bed. No more! Now, I'm actually considering just leaving the mattress in the living room until after the baby's born. That way I'll sleep comfortably through the rest of this pregnancy. Funny how things work like that. Well, back to work for me. The school day is over, and now it's time for me to kick into high gear and get this place finished! I'll update with pics very soon. I promise!
God Bless

Kai Cut His Second Tooth!!

So Saturday, Kai cut his second tooth! I can't believe it! He woke up in the morning cranky as all get out! I put him down for a nap around 9:30am and he didn't wake up until after 1pm! For Kai that's unheard of, at my house at least. Grandma's, well that's a different story. When he woke up in the morning he only had the one bottom tooth, but when he woke up from his nap the second tooth had cut through, also on the bottom. So now my little Kai has TWO bottom teeth. No more biting Daddy's nose, or chewing on sister's cheeks.... Oh how they grow!

Kai Cut His First Tooth!!

I was getting Kai out of the car today, when he bit my finger. I'm used to the relentless chewing and biting but today it actually really hurt! He cut his first tooth on the bottom left. I'm really excited and saddened at the same time. It's so excititng when your little baby reaches yet another new milestone. At the same time though, it's sad because you know that your little baby won't be a little baby much longer. I'm sure Kai will be cutting another tooth any day now. That's usually how it goes. First one, than BAM! Four. My little baby man won't be looking like a baby much longer. Can't wait to see how much cuter he's gonna get!

Cassidy had her first gymnastics compettion last Saturday, and she did phenomenal! I'm so proud of her. She didn't get scared at all, and did better than expected considering it was her very first competition ever! She competed in three events, The Floor, Balance Beam, and the Vault. The Vault was her highest scoring event, at an 8.1. Which out of 10 is not too shabby. She did great in her floor and balance beam routines. She fell on her butt after her tumbling pass where she had to run across the floor at a diagonal, do a round off cartwheel into a back hand spring. But she got right back up, had a smile on her face and finished well. On the beam she did very good as well. There were some balance checks as to be expected, and she momentarily forgot a sequence in the routine, but recovered quickly and finished with a smile on her face. The whole time she was competing she had a smile on her face. Her face just lit up, and it was quite contageous. The judges couldn't resist and by the time the award ceremony came around she was sitting and talking with rival teams. I had tears in my eyes watching my little baby girl. She's took this challenge head on, and did it with such grace and humility! God truly gifted this child with her strength, agility, drive, ambition, and endurance. It seems as if she was created for gymnastics, physically and emotionally. She's adapted so well to it at such a young age, and is so completely natural, that even her coaches are taken aback at times. I will post video as soon as I upload them from the camera... Just wanted to share Cassidy's phenomenal first competition. Oh and her team won the 2nd place trophy which is actually very surprising because her gym was the only gym to compete such young inexperienced gymnasts. Truly amazing!

Coupon Lingo

I've been asked a few questions about some of the abbreviations I've used in my posting. Sorry for any confusion! It's so easy to type with the lingo because I know what I'm saying. Forgot that not everyone out there knows the coupon lingo so I hope this helps!

SS: SmartSource coupon insert found in Sunday papers

RP: RedPlum coupon insert found in Sunday papers

P&G: P&G coupon insert found in Sunday papers

IP: Internet Printable coupon. Usually requires free software download to print.

Q: Coupon(s)

MFQ's: Manufacturer Coupons

FP: Final Price

OOP: Out Of Pocket

WYB: When You Buy

Trans.: Transaction

Catalina: Coupon that prints out of machine next to registers.

Wags: Walgreens

RR: Register Rewards (what Walgreens call Catalinas)

ECB's: (Extra Care Bucks @ CVS only)

MIR: Mail in Rebate

I will add to this list any I may have left out at the moment. My brain is only half functioning at this moment. My apologies. Do you know of any that I missed that may be helpful?

I love to hear your input!