So happy to find these!  Amazon is offering Infinity Heart Charm Bracelets that say things like Army Wife/Mom, Deputy Wife/Mom, Police Wife/Mom, Navy Wife/Mom, and more!  Perfect stocking stuffer or gift idea!

Wow!  I sure wish this deal was available when I signed up!  If you have an HP Printer, consider checking out Instant Ink.  I’ve been using it for a couple months now and am very happy with it!  They will send you ink BEFORE you run out so you’re never left without!  It’s also cheaper than buying ink in the stores!

You can enroll your printer in HP Instant Ink by December 31st and use promo code HOLIDAY15 at enrollment checkout to get 6 months FREE of HP Instant Ink. Signing up is easy and just takes a couple of minutes! Get all of the details here.

I’ve had a number of you ask what my kids are getting for Christmas.  This went over so well last year that once again we’ve decided this year to go with this poem:

Something you want,

Something you need,

Something to wear,

Something to read.

This has really simplified Christmas for us and has given me a goal when I shop.  The kids really think about what they want instead of putting everything they see on the list.

Here’s the start of our Christmas for 2015.  Blanks will be filled in once they are figured out 🙂

12 year old girl:

• Want: Googly Eyes Game
• Need: Box/bag for her personal care items
• Wear: new dress
• Read: Big Book of Quizzes

9 year old boy:

• Want: Laser Maze or Gravity Maze
• Need: canteen for hiking trips
• Wear: Cowboy hat
• Read: Where’s Waldo 

6 year old girl:

• Want: Lego Friends
• Need: hair stuff
• Wear: new dress
• Read: Let’s Go For a Drive

4 year old girl:

• Want: toy hippo
• Need: dress shoes
• Wear: new dress
• Read: Hippos go Berserk 

Baby Boy:

• Want: Lil Zoomers Safari (Ok, I picked this out!)
• Need: diapers
• Wear: comfy clothes
• Read: Melissa and Doug Cloth Book – Animals

Stockings: Stickers, new coloring books, new crayons, and ????

Santa doesn’t visit our home.  We’ve asked him to deliver our gifts to needy children instead.  We take the kids every year to buy gifts for the people in need so we can play Santa to others.  We absolutely love doing that and the kids look forward to shopping for others each year!

What are your kiddos getting this year?  Any fun traditions?

Oh it’s meal planning time again.  Today’s meal plan has taken me a while to make.  I’m just not feeling it today.  I’m tired!  Busy but fun weekend!  Here goes on the meal plan:

Monday: Thai chicken, salad, brown rice

Tuesday: Poppyseed Chicken, broccoli

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs

Thursday: BLTs

Friday: Dinner out

Saturday: Taco Pie 

Sunday: Crock Pot Quesidillas

Last week, my family and I visited a city that my husband and I hadn’t visited in about a decade.  I don’t think any of the kids except my oldest have ever visited it.  I’m talking about Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I had forgotten how beautiful and fun the city of Chattanooga is for the family.

For starters, we stayed at The Embassy Suites Hotel.  I didn’t realize when I booked the trip, but this is actually one of the top hotels in the United States!  We were so super impressed.  The prices were very comparable and to top it off, it included a FREE hot breakfast with omelette bar and snacks/drinks in the evening.  During our trip, all we had to pay for was our lunch!  Everything else was covered.  This was perfect for our family and all the hungry mouths to feed.

The first day of our trip, we visited the Chattanooga Visitor’s Bureau and they graciously provided my family with a media pass so we could check out some of the attractions and tell all of you about our adventures.  I wish we would have had more time visit as so many of the attractions sounded like fun!  You can visit their website to check out the attractions, restaurants, and hotels in the area.

Next we headed up to Rock City.  It’s just a short and beautiful drive from downtown.  It was drizzling a bit but that didn’t deter us!  Rock City generously provides ponchos during rainy days so you can still enjoy the sights.  We had a blast maneuvering all the rock obstacles and squeezing through the narrow paths.

Working my way though the tight squeezes was a feat while baby wearing!  Whew!  Random tidbit of info for yall – my husband actually proposed at Rock City during a day trip while we were dating!  It was so nice to go back and relive that moment together and with 5 children in tow!

The only downfall to visiting Rock City in the rain was that you couldn’t see the view below very well.  You could, however, see lots and lots of fog that made it seem like we were up in the clouds.  It was very beautiful, regardless.

It was lunch time after this so we ventured to the local Wendy’s for a bite to eat.  My husband decided he wanted to check out something different, so we went to the International Towing and Recovery Museum.  I had never seen so many different tow trucks in all my life!

Next up, we took the short drive over to Ruby Falls.  Ruby Falls is a 145-foot waterfall is located deep within Lookout Mountain.  At this attraction, you ride a fast elevator deep underground and then walk a ways to get to the falls.  It was easily walked by all of our children.  The tour guide was excellent and taught the kids different things about caves as we journeyed to the falls.  Interesting tidbit – the laser show at the falls is created by the same company that does our local Stone Mountain show!

After these 2 attractions, we were pretty much beat.  We went back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  The next day, we packed up our hotel room and ventured to the Tennessee Aquarium.  I have to say that I really like the layout of this aquarium much better than the one here in Georgia.  It flows very smoothly from each exhibit to the next.  The kids loved the touch tanks so that they could touch a shark, sting rays, and other creatures.

My favorite animal at the aquarium is the leafy sea dragons!  They are so cool looking!  My kids preferred the sharks and otters.  My youngest daughter’s favorite was a fish she called a cow fish!  lol!  It looked like a catfish but was white with black spots like a cow!  Very interesting looking.

We had a great visit to Chattanooga.  We made some great family memories as well as learned a lot about history, caves, and animals!  We cannot wait to return.  We definitely will not be waiting as long to return!

For more information about Chattanooga, please visit ChattanoogaFun.com.  You can also find out more on the Chattanooga Facebook page or Twitter.

 

Whew.  My little guy is almost 7 weeks old!  It has been quite the whirlwind these 7 weeks.  We are still working on one of our rental homes to try and get it ready to sell.  Our other one is on the market so hopefully it sells soon.  It’s hard being a landlord and managing 5 kids and homeschooling as well.  I’ll be so relieved when we sell one or both houses.

Throughout all of this, we’ve noticed that Simon has been quite fussy the past few weeks.  We get a few smiles in between, but the fussiness has certainly taken over our little guy.  It’s gotten to where I’m scared to go to the grocery store, church, or even have friends over since we don’t know when he’ll have a meltdown.

I have seriously run full speed through stores, commanding my bigger kids to grab this or that so we can get out of the store before he starts fussing.  Restaurants are a no go.  I always end up taking the baby out to cry in the car or nursing him again.  In Sunday School, I stand in the back of the room and pace the floor praying I can keep him from screaming too much and trying to listen as much as I can.

As a side note, he’s been gaining weight like crazy!  He’s up to 12 lbs, 1 oz as of today!  At birth he was 8 lbs 2 oz.  So almost 4 pounds in less than 7 weeks!

After this past weekend, I knew something had to give.  His smiles were getting less and his sleep was getting horrible.  He wanted to nurse every hour or so and would not sleep but maybe 30 minutes at a time.  I could easily pass that off as a growth spurt, but when he wasn’t sleeping or nursing, he was screaming.  After wearing a path in the floors, we knew something had to give.

This morning I took him to our pediatrician.  After asking a few questions and a quick examination, Simon was diagnosed with Laryngopharyngeal Reflux, or silent reflux.  I had never even thought about reflux since he’s not a spitty baby.  He rarely spits.  He does, however, randomly gasp and choke when he’s not nursing and will usually scream afterward.  I had no idea, but this was a sign.  What is happening is that he was having reflux but swallowing it back down instead of it coming out.

My poor baby has been gaining weight quickly due to comfort nursing.  He had been in so much pain!  I thought his pain was gas related since he would arch his back and pull his legs up.  Apparently those are also signs of silent reflux.  I’m so glad that I stuck to my mother’s instinct and took him in today.  Hopefully after starting meds to calm the reflux, he will be a much happier baby.  Our pediatrician said the meds will help immediately with calming his stomach but could be up to a week to see a difference in his behavior due to his esophagus being burned from the reflux.

Just wanted to encourage the rest of you – if you think something is wrong with your baby or your baby is the cranky one out of the bunch, check into it further.  There could be something more to their fussiness.  After we looked at the symptoms and signs of reflux, he’s got almost all of them.  So glad we went for help!

Have you heard of silent reflux?

Well, it should be Meal Plan Monday, but it’s Tuesday already!  And honestly we’ve already eaten dinner tonight, but I need to make a plan for the rest of the week.  It’s been so busy around here since our baby was born almost 5 weeks ago.  We’ve been so blessed to have meals from friends that I’m just now starting to cook again.  On top of that, we had to evict tenants and our tenant in our other house is moving out since he was transferred.  We are trying to sell both houses and get away from renting so it’s just been insane.  Know anyone that wants to buy a cute house in Winder or Danielsville? 🙂

Anyways, I need to make a meal plan so my family doesn’t end up eating out every night!  Here goes:

Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken Alfredo with broccoli

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner – eggs, biscuits, sausage

Thursday: Whole chicken and carrots in the crock pot

Friday: Pizza!

Saturday: Black bean quesadillas

Sunday: Leftovers

What are you making this week?

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Chicco. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

As a new mom, I have spent a lot of time getting ready for my little Simon.  Since there was a 4.5 year gap between our newborn and the next sibling, we had gotten rid of almost everything baby related from our house.  Fortunately, we are blessed with really sweet friends that let us borrow the things that we needed.

With my last baby, we never offered her a bottle.  As she grew bigger, I would try and pump so that I could go out for a short while and she refused.  She wouldn’t even drink from a sippy cup until well over a year!  I promised myself that if we ever had another baby, we would offer a bottle on and off from the start so in case I had to pump or even provide formula for any reason, it wouldn’t be so traumatic for the baby.

I’ve been pumping and letting my hubby and kids feed Simon using the Chicco NaturalFit® Advanced Feeding & Soothing System.  He can easily adapt from breast to bottle if needed.  I am really pleased how easy it has been with him.

Chicco’s NaturalFit Advanced Feeding & Soothing System is engineered to be responsive to the changing feeding styles of our growing babies, and boy is my son growing!  This line of products feature 3 different nipple shapes to swap out as your little one grows.  If for any reason you are not satisfied with the Chicco’s NaturalFit Advanced Feeding & Soothing System, you can return the bottles for a full refund including the shipping cost up to $6.99!    For additional details about the satisfaction guarantee, you can visit ChiccoShop.com.

You can find Chicco NaturalFit Advanced Feeding & Soothing System that grows with your baby at Babies R Us stores.

BOTTLES

All of the NaturalFit bottle nipples are made of extra-soft silicone.  The nipple’s shape and texture is designed for easy transition between breast and bottle.

STAGE ONE – NEWBORN FLOW

• Unique angled nipple for proper newborn latch
• Angled so the nipple stays full of milk and reduces air ingestion so baby is less gassy
• Available as 5 oz (newborn flow) and 8 oz (medium flow) bottles

STAGE TWO – ADJUSTABLE FLOW (SLOW, MEDIUM OR FAST) – 8 OZ

• Replace the newborn angled nipple with a straight nipple to adjust as baby grows
• Adjustable flow nipple allows you to adjust flow rate as slow, medium, or fast for baby’s growing appetite

STAGE THREE – FAST FLOW – 11 OZ

• Designed for older babies
• Elongated nipple encourages correct swallowing as baby’s sucking pattern becomes more efficient
• Available as 11 oz bottle with fast flow nipple.

For more information, visit the Chicco website or Facebook page.

There is a great giveaway in which you guys can enter to win one of 18 tiered Chicco Prize Packs!  Contest opens on September 9, 2015 and closes September 30, 2015 so plenty of time to still enter!  Prizes include:

• Three Tier 1 Prize Packs valued at $439.98
• Five Tier 2 prize packs valued at $189.98
• Ten Tier 3 prize packs valued at $59.99

Enter below:
Chicco Natural Fit Contest!

I-C will randomly select 18 winners from all tiered program entries and will handle fulfillment of the winning prizes.

 

Another week and I’m still pregnant!  38 weeks!  I’m using up the rest of the food we have in the house in prep for getting another Bountiful Basket this weekend!  Love using that to get my produce.

Monday: Jalepeno Pork, kale

Tuesday: Cheesy Bacon Chicken Cauliflower, asparagus

Wednesday: Italian Chicken Legs, macaroni and cheese, salad

Thursday: Taco Pie (kids are requesting this AGAIN!  They love it!)

Friday: Cheesy Enchilada Quinoa in Crock Pot

Saturday: Chili, cornbread

Sunday: Leftovers

 

You all know how much I love cooking from scratch.  Everything just tastes better and I love knowing exactly what ingredients are in the food we eat.  On top of that, having a child with an allergy makes it especially important to cook from scratch to prevent any contamination.  The past times we’ve made spaghetti, we’ve been making the sauce from scratch.  It’s much easier and tastier than you’d think!  You can even throw in some cooked ground beef to beef it up a little.  On top of a yummy sauce, your house will smell absolutely fantastic!

Here’s how we make it:

Ingredients: 

• 3-4 cans of Crushed Tomatoes (28 oz. sized cans) OR 12-15 fresh tomatoes
• 4 cloves of minced garlic
• Fresh Basil -4-6 Tbsp or dried basil (3-5 Tbsp)
• 1 ½ tsp. Black pepper
• 1 TBSP of Sugar (optional – I normally leave this out)
• 2 TSBP olive oil
• 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan or Romano Cheese

Directions: 

• Heat the olive oil in a 5+ qt. pot over medium heat and add the minced garlic.
• Heat for one to two minutes, making sure not to burn the garlic.
• Add all the tomatoes, black pepper, basil and optional sugar.
• Stir often and bring to a low boil.
• Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2-3 hours stirring often.
• For the first half of the simmer time, leave the pot uncovered.  Cover for the last half.
• Add in the cheese, stir and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

This recipe will make the equivalent to 4-5 jars of sauce.  That works out to be about 2 meals for our family of 6.

Note for Fresh Tomatoes: If you are using fresh tomatoes you will need to get the skins off first.  A simple method for this is to score the skins with a sharp knife, and then boil them for about a minute and place in cold water.  You will want to do this in batches.  Once you the tomatoes have cooled, the skins should peel off easily.  Chop and blend in a food processor before adding to the garlic.

Canning Directions: 

• Fill your quart or pint jars with the spaghetti sauce. Wipe down the top of the jar before putting on the lid and ring.
• Slowly lower your jars into a hot water canning bath and allow them to boil for 40 minutes.
• Using your Jar lifters carefully raise your jars out of the bath and allow them to cool overnight.  As your lids seal you will begin to hear slight popping sounds coming from your jars.  Store up to 1 year.