Six months!

I took Clara to the doctor on Monday for her six-month appointment. The doctor was very pleased with everything! I also spoke with her surgeon recently and unless any concerns come up, we don't have to go back to see him until she's a year old! She's healing very well from her birth defects, praise God!

Here are her current stats:

Weight... 16 lbs. 7 oz. (61%)
Length... 25.5" (42%)
Head... 44cm (88% - yep, the girl's got a big head)

She also got a free book at her appointment. The doctor said starting at their six-month appointment they get free books each time they visit. It's part of a reading program. As you can see in the picture, she loves the book. It has rubber corners to chew on, a stuffed animal head, plastic rings with ribbons on them, and the pages make a crinkly sound. Very perfect for this age!

Weekly shopping trip

This week's shopping trip came to $44.41...just $.59 under budget! The highlights were pasta and frozen veggies for $.47 each. There were several other things that I wanted to buy, but I'm really trying hard to stay within the $45 budget. In one sense, it's hard because I have to pass up some great deals. But in another sense it's very freeing to have that boundary.

Menu Plan Monday

This week's menu...

Monday
Chicken chili (a variation of this recipe), cornbread

Tuesday
Hamburgers, chips, apple slices

Wednesday
Leftovers

Thursday
Pork chops, scalloped potatoes, salad

Friday
Couscous w/stew, biscuits

Saturday
Lunch- leftovers or sandwiches
Dinner- BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, veggie

Sunday
Lunch- pancakes, eggs, bacon
Dinner- leftovers

Clara goes to the Cabin!

We took Clara to my parents' cabin for the first time last weekend. She loved it!

She said, "Yay, I love the cabin!"

She snuggled with Uncle Chris while the cabin warmed up.

She played.

And she took a bath in the sink.

She slept pretty well, although who wants to nap when your Nana, Oompa, Auntie and Uncle are all in the other room?

The cabin is only two hours away, which is the perfect distance when you're traveling with an infant. Hopefully next time the weather will be sunny and warmer so she can do a bit of exploring outside.

Big girl, part 2

My big girl

So this morning I was snuggling with Clara after her bottle and I asked her, "Are you momma's baby?" In response she let out a noise that seemed to say, "Oh mom, I'm not a baby!" Then as I was about to put her in her bouncy seat I said, "Are you momma's big girl?" And this is what happened when I set her down...





I think that was a loud and clear, "Yes, mom, I'm a big girl. I don't need to lay back in my seat. I can sit all by myself!"

Budget Challenge: Week 4

I failed to post last week, but I did come in right about at our $45 budget goal.

This week the total came to $46.24. Slightly over budget, but still acceptable to me. Above is the picture of what we were able to get for that. Two packs of pork chops, three bags of chips, five boxes of Kleenex, and an assortment of other things. And yes, that's a sippy cup for Clara. Hard to believe we can start to introduce that to her already. And speaking of Clara, now that she is getting older I have started to venture out with her to run some errands. For the most part she has done amazingly well, which is encouraging to me. It would be nice to some day do all errands during the day while Jeremy is at work so in the evenings we can have family time.

As the end of April draws near I'm pleased with how the budget challenge has gone this month. I have to say the weekly $45 goes very quickly, but I think it's been a good plan for me and I will probably stick with it long-term.

For Grammie Judy

Thanks for the cute outfit, Grammie! As you can see, I love it!

Oh, I love this face!

Isn't she sweet!?! I sure think so.

(Try to overlook the drool hanging off her chin.)

Four generations

Last weekend we went to visit Jeremy's family in Wisconsin. Unfortunately our camera stayed in the bag most of the weekend and this is the only picture I have to share. :( I'm not sure what I was thinking.

This is Clara and Jeremy with Jeremy's mom and grandma.

We had a great weekend and wish it could have been longer.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's our menu for the week...

Monday
Apricot chicken, brown rice, cooked carrots

Tuesday
Chicken chili, cornbread muffins

Wednesday
leftovers

Thursday
Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic toast, fresh green beans

Friday
Grilled brats, potato chips, apple slices

Saturday
L- sandwiches
D- Couscous w/stew

Sunday
L- pancakes, eggs, bacon
D- leftovers

The recipe for "Couscous w/stew" came from my sister and it's really yummy! Here it is...

2 cans French style green beans, drained
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained
fresh sliced carrots (carrot chips)
1 lb. stew meat or round steak, cut up
1 46oz. can V8 juice
1/4 C. peanut butter

Brown meat, but don't cook all the way through. Put everything in crock pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high 5-6 hours. Serve over couscous.

And yes, a couple of these recipes were on our menu last week. I ended up making some last minute changes last week to accomodate our schedule and to use up some leftover things before going out of town for the weekend, so I just moved those meals to this week instead. Made for easy planning this week!

Menu Plan Monday

I didn't post our menu plan yesterday because for some reason I was having a mental block with regard to our menu. I wasn't feeling inspired and was having a hard time thinking of meals. So after giving it some thought this morning, here is our plan...

Monday
Easter leftovers!

Tuesday
Carbonara, salad or veggie

Wednesday
Chicken chili, cornbread muffins

Thursday
Apricot chicken, brown rice, carrots

Friday
We'll be leaving in the afternoon to go to Manitowoc for the weekend!

Happy Easter!

Her drooler has been working overtime...

The other day Clara played in her jumpster for about a half hour. When I took her out she looked like this...

It might be hard to tell from the picture, but that shirt wasn't just damp. It was soaked through! But as you can see, it didn't bother her at all.

Clara loves to go for walks now that mommy lets her ride in the "big girl" part of the stroller!

Are you seeing a pattern here lately? It seems that she has decided she's ready to leave her baby days behind and become a big girl.

Clara the thrill-seeker

Budget challenge: week 2

This isn't the greatest picture because our table was a mess so I had to cram everything from my shopping trip onto the small counter space...but you get the idea.



I went out shopping yesterday and stayed well under budget. My weekly budget is $45 and I spent $38.44. I still need to go back and buy milk (I forgot to bring the very generous store coupon) so that will be an additional $3.28 for two gallons of milk, bringing the grand total to $41.72. A very successful week indeed!

Pretty in purple

I realized when I put Clara in this outfit today that she doesn't have many lavendar clothes. I think it's a great color on her. Thanks for sharing it with us, Jenny!

I'm a big girl!

Laying down in the tub is for babies, so yesterday when mom gave me my bath I insisted that she put me in the other side so I could sit up. It was way better that way!

Hangin' with my friend Aubrey

Last weekend we spent some time with our dear friends Joni and Karsten. Their daughter, Aubrey, is about six weeks younger than Clara.

This one just cracks me up! I could look at it all day...

Cousins are fun!

Last Thursday I watched my nieces for the day. Emelia had great fun playing with Clara!

And Hannah had great fun wearing the green dress. Throughout the day she was a green princess, a green horse, a green cow, etc, etc, etc.... :)

A birthday message for Nana...

Menu Plan Monday

Here's our menu for the week:

Monday
Linguini w/chicken and vodka sauce, salad

Tuesday
Omelets, hash browns, orange slices

Wednesday
Fish sticks, baked potatoes, asparagus

Thursday
Frozen pizza, salad

Friday
BBQ chicken breasts, cheesy hash browns, mixed veggies

Saturday
L- leftovers or sandwiches
D- TBD

Sunday
We'll be at my sister's house for Easter!