5 months Reese Taylor

Yes, you read that right...

My little girl is 5 months old. They sure were not lying when they said time flys... 

 

5 things new about Reese

* she's sitting up by here self now days.

* she now loves dumping out her bucket of blocks.

* she will now grab your face with both hands to open mouth kiss/slobber all over you.

* she has figured out that she can grab Oakley's (our dog) fur. Oakley doesn't seem thrilled.

* she can now eat a whole jar of sweet peas in one sitting... My little chunk a chunk.

Cake Stand

This last week I made a couple super cute cake stands.I'm very excited about these because I've never had one before and I've always felt like these make the cakes look even more delicious... So anyway, my sister in-law was teaching how to make these at her relief society activity and I jumped at the chance to learn how to make one.

These were sooo easy to make! 

The plate is from the 99cent store, It came without polka dots. You can see my tutorial on those Here. The stand is from Pier1, which also came just white and I added the polka dots (they didn't have cute stands at the 99cent store). 

So what we did first was take the end of the stand that we'd be gluing onto the plate, and sand it down a bit.

Next we used an Industrial Strength Adhesive glue. We used E6000, which can be found at Michael's. You don't need to much on there, then you just stick it onto the bottom of the plate. Like this

 

I let it sit for about 24 hours before using it, just to be sure the stand is stuck on there really well.

 

Now I just need to bake a cake... What is your favorite recipe?

Grocery Shopping with Pennies

A few months ago I found a better way to grocery shop. Well better than the way I used to grocery shop. Even though we were on a budget then, we'd kind of just get foods that we like. We would never go over the budget, but we also never had enough actual meals to make it through till pay day. We'd have a lot of this and that. This and that meaning it couldn't even result in a meal.

So I found a different way to write out our grocery list. Yes it takes a little longer to write, but in the end we always have enough food, and we still stay under our budget

 

First things first. We are living on a very small budget. I'm trying to make sure we have food on the table. I love eating healthy, but sometimes that's just not in the budget. So this post wont really have ways to eat healthy when you are poor, though I'm sure you can still plan your meals around healthy food.

 

Step 1: Figure out how many Breakfasts, Lunches, and Dinners  and snacks you will need until your next pay day.

 

Step 2:  Write actual meals out. This includes sides.

 I try and make them as simple as possible. More ingredients usually means more money.

 

Step 3: When you write your meals out, write the ingredients that you need for them, including the items you have in your fridge or pantry already, and include the items you may need for cooking, such as oil for frying.

 

Step 4: If you are really living off of pennies and need your money to stretch, find meals that consist of the same ingredients, then (if it saves you money) buy in bulk! For example, chili comes in big cans as well as small cans. If we are using a lot chili in our meals, it's usually better to get the big can and use it in multiple meals.

 

Here is an example of my list

 

Chili Tacos

 (Chili, Tortillas, Cheese, Oil)

Chili Baked potato

 (Chili, Potato, Butter, Cheese, Sour Cream)

Chili Bowl

 (Chili, Cheese, Bread)

Tacos

 (Hamburger, Seasoning, Tortilla, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cheese)

Taco Pasta

 (Hamburger, Seasoning, Rotini pasta, Cheese, Sour Cream)

Taco Salad

 (Hamburger, Seasoning, Tortilla chips, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Cheese)

TCT

 (Tortilla, Cheese, Refried Beans)

Bean and Cheese Burritos

 ( Beans, Cheese, Tortilla, Sour Cream, Oil)

BBQ Chicken & Rice

 (Chicken, Butter, Rice, BBQ sauce)

Lemon Chicken and Rice

 ( Chicken, Butter, Rice, Seasoning)

Chicken and Rice with Soy Sauce

 ( Chicken, Rice, Butter, Soy Sauce)

 

 

Step 5: when you get done writing out the meals, figure out how many times you want to eat that meal.

 

Example: Chicken and rice, the chicken I get is the frozen kind. It comes in a big bag and it'll feed us at least 5 times. Don't forget what left overs usually are, that can count as a lunch the next day.

 

Step 6: Time to right out which groceries you actually need. Check your pantry and fridge to see what you don't need to buy this time around, and cross them off your list.

Step 7:Don't forget to check the adds. We do grocery shopping at Walmart, Mainly because we are able to price match and use any coupons we have. So check those prices on your items written down (don't put new things on your grocery list just because it's on sale).

Step 8: Stick to your list! That is our biggest struggle while grocery shopping. If it's not on your list, don't get it.

I'd love to hear your feedback and simple recipes that work for you!

Polka dots

So I've been seeing a lot of sharpie-plate baking going on lately. At first I thought it was okay, but figured I'm not really skilled in the crafts department, and knew mine would turn out ugly and I'd hate them. Then, I saw the idea of doing gold polka dots and figured that was so simple yet cute that even I could do it! So here's my tutorial on my super cute gold polka dot plates. 

 

What you will need

-White Plates

-Sharpie

-Oven

 

First I bought a few plates from the 99 cent store. Then I gave them a quick wash and run through the dish washer.

 

 

 

Next was the fun/ stressful part.  Just kidding it wasn't really stressful, but it did take me a few times to figure out how I wanted my polka dots done. Big, little, super spaced out, close together? So many options. I never actually did any measuring on this, just kind of went off of how it looked to me.

 

The good thing was that even if I messed up, I could use a scrub brush to wash off the mistake and fix it.

 

 

Here is what they looked like when I was done polka dotting them.

 

Next we bake them.

I set my oven for 425 degrees and then baked them for 30 minutes. When the timer went off I turned off the oven and let them cool in the oven. If you take them out right away, be careful you don't touch the polka dots. I found out that they will smudge when the plates are still hot.

 

 

These were my finished plates, and I LOVE them! For some reason they don't look gold in this picture, but I can assure you they are.

They can be gently washed in the sink ( notice how I didn't say scrubbed?) and you can also run them in the dish washer.  Enjoy your pretty plates!

 

Here she is

So today I've been thinking a lot about the day... Well the full 24 hrs or more it took for our little (not really little) Reese Taylor to be born. Then I realized I've never really shared the story of Reese's birth. So here it is.. 4 and a half months later.

On Saturday August 24th we had called our Dr. because we were concerned about an odor my body was giving off (that's as deep as I'm getting on the odor topic). We got transfered to our on call Dr., who told us that what we had described sounded like my water had broken and the odor was from an infection. He told us we should go to the hospital and get checked to be sure. 

We had packed everything weeks before to make sure we were ready, so we through it all in the car and headed to the hospital. Even though I knew from other people giving birth that I couldn't eat once I was there, I didn't think to stop and get any food to be safe. Instead we drove staight to the hospital, where I was told I needed to be induced because there was infact a small infection on my uturous wall, it was noonish. Apparently the infection made it too hard to tell if my water had even broke.

I was so excited to meet this little one who'd been kicking what sometimes felt like morris code into my ribs. I was also terrified that she might still be a boy (thanks to my MIL who would constantly say things like "you never know" or "I was told I was having a girl too"). Not that I'd be upset or love our baby less boy or girl, I just had my mind and nursery area set on us having a little princess.

I was set up in my own room. There was a window with a view of the whole city. it was raining that day, so it was relaxing to watch the rain hit the window (rainy days are my favorite). I was hooked up to a monitor so the nurses could watch mine and the babies heart rate. I was also hooked up to the machine that shows when your having a contraction and how big they are... At the beginning it was cool to watch when I had contractions... Until they started to hurt then I felt like I didn't need the machine to tell me how bad it was going to be.

When I went into the hospital I was still only 1cm dilated, so I had a long way to go.

My first nurse was so sweet! She let me know if I was planning on getting an epidural that I'd have to wait until I was 3cm dilated, and if I wasn't there yet she'd see what she could do for me.

 After a few hours, I never knew how long this could take, I was finally at a 3 and I was starting to hurt pretty bad. Yes I might be a whimp... but I wanted the drugs! And you know what? I got them. That epidural hurt pretty bad, but I knew I'd be happy once I got it, and that was dead on the truth! I mean, I couldn't feel from the top of my belly down to my toes.

After 2am I was only at a 5... They then told me I may need to have a C-section. I literally cried. I don't know why it upset me so bad. Could've been because I didn't even think I was going to have an issue giving birth, or it could've been that I've never been under the knife... Wisdom teeth don't count do they?

Anyway, It was like my body heard the nurse and decided it would work a little harder to dilate. At about 10am, I was finally at a 9! I was so happy! and I could feel my baby trying a bit harder to come out. In my head I was like "I don't have to do a C-section now!! I'm at a 9 so I don't have to!". That was not the case though.

When they had checked me around 11, they noticed Reese was in distress. I'd have a contraction, 2 minutes later have another contraction, then about 8 minutes later have another one. Once they told me this, I knew I had been ruled out. I did not want to cause any distress or harm to my baby. So teary eyed, I said okay lets do this.

I had my husband and brother give me a blessing before going in, which calmed me quite a bit. Then they had my husband Josh and I got ready to go in.

This is right before they rolled be into where they'd be preforming the C-section.

It was around 12:30pm, I was tired, and hungry. I hadn't eaten anything since probably 9am the day before. I so bad wanted café rio...All I could think was that once I did this, I'd have my baby girl, AND would be able to eat. I couldn't feel a thing still from the drugs they had me on. at one point I felt a little pressure. It was almost like someone had just laid there whole body on my stomach. Then on Sunday August 25th at 12:53PM Reese Taylor was born. She was a healthy 8lb 12oz 20 1/2 inch long baby girl and came out crying. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. My husband made sure they brought her to me before taking her into the other room.  

Then they sewed me up and brought me into my new room where Reese was waiting.

Perfection

P.s. I had to wait a whole 12 more hours before eating!! Next time I will be eating before we get to the hospital.

4 Months Reese Taylor

I might be posting this very late....but This little girl is... 4 MONTHS!! What? How did that happen?

 

4 Things new about Reese

* She's learning that she has a voice, so at times she'll just lay there and yell. Not scream but yell.

* She has learned to roll over from her back!

* She now is eating rice cereal, and loves it!

* Her bottom lip quivers when she's about to cry (I die)

 

 

 

Here she is right after eating rice cereal for the first time.

I've got Stripes

So I LOVE stripes (most people do), and lately I love them more than usual. 

So when I saw THIS

 on Pinterest I had to do something like it! So here I am trying to be crafty again...

I used 11x7inch canvases for this project. Mainly because I have like 10 of them just hanging out in the closet.

Painters tape

Black paint

White paint (for if you mess up... which I did)

Your going to start by putting the painters tape on the canvas. I used 1 piece of tape in between each strip to measure. I also did at least 2 layers of tape to keep the paint form running.

If you remove the tape and you see the paint has run into your white stripes... no need to fear! White paint is here!

Seriously though....Just let it dry and then paint the white over the part that needs it.

Here is my finished product... Not quite finished I guess because I want to add some kind of monogram or shape to them... but other then that it is done.

The ribbon color used is pewter

I made two of them then placed this picture frame collage in the middle... obviously the picture frame needs photos. We'll get there.

Canvasses: Michaels
Picture frame: Walmart (gift)
Paint: Walmart