Its Time To Get Serious

About.....COUPON CUTTING.  Like many others we are on a tight budget and the grocery store is the biggest place we can cut costs....So I took the first step to saving today and bought a paper.  I don't like the fact that you have to buy a HUGE paper that cost almost three bucks to get the coupons but hopefully it will pay off in the end.

Grandpa Joe and Good Food!

Chris' Dad came in to town today for a very quick visit.  As is our tradition we met him at Bone Daddy's in Grapevine, TX.  If you have never been there before I like to describe it as a high class hooters.  The waitress's dress very skimpy but unlike Hooters they actually look good in the outfits they wear.  The food is some of the best I have had and they have sports playing on flat panel TV's everywhere you look.  It is a great place to hang out with friends and family.  If you are going to be in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro I strongly suggest you give them a try! The following are two pictures from our evening. The first is Grandpa Joe with Isaac. This was their first meeting and Isaac LOVED his Grandpa. The second picture is of some of the food. Every time we go there Chris and Joe get the Beer Can Chicken. (I get the chicken fried chicken!) I thought his chicken looked great so I had to take a picture of it. If you are a member of PETA, now is the time to turn your head!

Brought To You By The Letter "F"

Since it is Friday, I am going to make this post about things that start with the letter "F"

Tonight we went over to some great Friends house to have Food.  After we ate we played Farkle while watching some Fantastic TV.  We were watching Season 2 DVD's of Grey's Anatomy and that doesn't start with F.  So I had to get creative!  Below is a picture of my night.  You can see Grey's playing on the TV, Farkle on the table, Chris and Isaac, Brooke and Jeremy.  What a Fabulous Fun Friday!

Breakfast For Dinner

Today is normally grocery day.  I got up this morning and prepared a menu for the next week and made my grocery list.  When Chris got home from work and it was time to go to the store we looked outside and noticed it was getting really dark.  We looked at a radar and there was a massive line of storms heading our way and it looked as if the rain was going to be around for the rest of the afternoon and night.  So we decided that we could scrape some food together for dinner tonight and go to the store tomorrow.  Here is what I put together.  Not to bad if I do say so myself.



The pancakes are even homemade! It was good but now we really have NO other food in the house LOL .  No matter the weather we have to go shopping tomorrow.

Mom and Jordan Time

Jordan has been having a hard time lately.  I am not sure if its the stress of school, the stress of having a new brother, or a little of both.  Today was a VERY hard day for us.  Chris and I are trying to figure out ways to help him through these changes.  I decided that Jordan needs some one on one time with me every day.  I asked him he would like that and the tears he was crying at the time stopped and he smiled and said YES!  So we made a deal, if he would come home from school and do his homework (and do it right) we would spend at least 3o minutes together doing whatever he wanted.  I told him I would put my phone in another room and that his daddy could play with Isaac and me and him would do whatever he wanted.  He was so excited and asked if we could start tonight.  It was nearing his bedtime but I told him of cf course.  As I said, it was a very hard day and he very much needed a positive thing to end the night with.  So, he brought out a huge picture to color and we set out to complete it.  We had to look up exactly what color Gary the Snail is so we could color him perfectly.  We messed up a bit but I think we got pretty close.  Below is a picture of the finished art work.  We will sale it to the highest bidder LOL (It is autographed by both artists, who knows we may both be famous someday!)

Please say a prayer for Jordan tonight that he can get past whatever is stressing him out.  He is such a sweet boy and its very hard for me to see him struggling!

Sleeping Like A Baby

Ohh how I wish I could sleep this peaceful

Success!!

Today I got caught up with laundry! Man it feels good!!

A Great Big Brother

While fixing dinner tonight I sat Isaac in his bouncy seat and put him where he could watch me fix dinner.  Jordan was standing around in the kitchen talking and keeping me company while I was cooking.  Isaac very quickly got upset, just seeing Mom wasn't enough and he wanted to be held.  Jordan being the great big brother that he is, sat down beside Isaac and starting singing and talking to him. Isaac stared at Jordan for a long time and the picture below shows the result.  Jordan did a great job calming him down!! So good that he put him to sleep! Isaac slept for about 20 minutes.  Long enough for me to finish dinner and eat most of my homemade chicken noodle soup.  Thanks Jordan!

Family Time

My parents came into town today for a quick visit.  My nephew Austin turns 4 on Tuesday so we decided to go to Incredible Pizza to celebrate.

If you've never been to an Incredible Pizza, it is an experience.  I would say its Chuck E Cheese on steriods.  The best part of the evening for me was the buffet.  For 7 dollars for adults and 3.50 for kids it was well worth the money.  In addition to pizza, they had a salad, baked potato, soup, and dessert bar.  The food was surprisingly good. After you eat, there is tons to do.  They have a huge game room, bumper cars, mini bowling, mini golf, and go karts.

The negatives of the night would have to be the crowd and the cost of the activities.

When we got there they were at capacity and said that it would be about 45 minutes to get in.  They had no sign up sheet so you just had to stand there in line.  We didn't end up waiting for 45 minutes but once we got in, you had to wait for food to get to the buffet.  As soon as they put something out it would be gone.  They said it had never been that busy and I think considering the number of people they were doing the best they could.

The other negative is that once you have paid for your buffet and eaten your dinner everything in the activity area costs.  The arcade games were over priced and the toys they had to purchase with your tickets were cheap.  I know that this is the case everywhere but this place seemed worse than most.  Again the crowd caused issues with us getting our stroller around and having to wait in line to play games.

All in all, we had a great time.  Jordan was VERY excited to be there with Granny, Grandpa, Uncle Chris, Aunt Kat, Austin, and Audrey.  I enjoyed getting out of the house and not having to cook dinner!

Everyone came back to the house for a little bit more visiting before calling it a night.  This provided a great photo opportunity.  Below is a picture of Jordan with his cousins Austin and Audrey.  The second picture is my parents with all four of their grandkids.

Friday Night Grillin'

Very few things taste better than a hot juicy burger hot off the grill!

Jerry's House

I finally got into Arlington to see Jerry's house (The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium) We Didn't get to go inside but one day I will.  We needed to go to Wal-Mart for groceries and I had no idea the Wal-Mart was RIGHT across the street.

GO COWBOYS!!

This was taken by our car in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

This is a shot from the front door of Wal-mart.  Its was hard to get the whole thing in the shot!

Bumbo Fun!

Isaac is finally big enough to sit in his Bumbo seat and he LOVES it.



Please excuse the mess in the background, I was very lazy in my chores today!

6 Weeks Later

Can you believe that six weeks ago today I was at Baylor Grapevine giving birth to my second amazing son Isaac? Well, it indeed has been six weeks.  I just wanted to take some time today and reflect on the past six weeks.  It is impossible to imagine when you find out you are pregnant how much your life will actually change when your baby finally arrives.  You have an idea of what to expect but it is rarely ever like you think it will be.

I have a confession to make.  When we found out back in May that we having another baby, I thought to myself how can I possibly love another baby as much as I love Jordan.  Is there room in my heart to love one more person in the same way.  I was afraid that I would love Jordan more, and that would not be fair to the baby.  I had these feelings up until the moment I saw Isaac for the first time.  I have heard people say that the moment their baby was born everything changed but I now understand what they mean.  The moment I saw Isaac I felt immediate love.  I felt like my life was again made complete.  It is so hard to describe in words.

What else has changed in my life?  Well I am getting a lot less sleep for one thing.  But surprisingly it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would.  I have always been a person who required a lot of sleep.  I am also a night person and before Isaac I would stay up very late at night and then sleep in late the next morning.  I still get to do this, just with Isaac keeping me company.  When we first got home from the hospital Isaac would eat about every two hours and sleep in between each feeding.  Now, he eats every three to four hours and stays away in between one or two of those feedings.  In addition it is now much harder to find time to do the household chores.  I'm not really complaining about that but I bet other people in my house would appreciate clean dishes and laundry.!

Jordan LOVES his little brother and is a great help.  He kisses him every morning when he leaves for school and kisses him every night before bed.  When Isaac cries Jordan is often the first one by his side talking nad singing to him until I can get there.  He is such a great helper and I look forward to watching him as he teaches his brother everything he knows!

Isaac has changed SO much.  He now weighs around ten pounds and is 23 inches long.  He grew out of his newborn diapers and clothes around week two! As I said in my blog yesterday, he changes daily and I am glad that I have this blog and the 365 challenge so that I have to take pictures of him daily!

I want to finish my blog today with a huge thank you. I am sure that the person I am thanking will never see this blog but it still needs to be said.

Back in April when I found out I was pregnant, I set out to look for a Dr.  We had been in North Texas for five years but I had no OB?GYN.  I got on the Internet and after a quick google search I found a clinic in Grapevine that had high praises.  I called to see if I could get an appointment.  They told me that Dr. Coulter-Smith could see me on May 7.  I went to that visit very nervous.  I have always had anxiety, especially when a Dr. is around.  The first visit went GREAT! Dr. Coulter-Smith listened very carefully to me and answered all my questions.  I told her about my previous pregnancy and the complications I had.  She told me not to worry and I didn't.  As the months progressed she stayed on top things.  She noticed I was having the same issues with my potassium and immediately starting working to fix the problem.  I had a great pregnancy and I know that I have her to thank for keeping me healthy!  I could tell that first day that she loves her job and cares very much for her patients.

Normally I would have high blood pressure, my heart would race, and I would freak out any time I had an office visit or when I was in the hospital but this never happened with her as my Dr.  I trusted her completely and my experience was amazing.  I had my six week check up today and this was bitter sweet for me.  Everything check out great with me but this means that I won't see my favorite Dr. until its time for my annual exam in May.  I am going to miss going to her office.  Her and her entire office staff are great and every single person knows what they are doing and puts the patient first.  That is SO hard to find.  So I just want to say THANK YOU to Dr. Coulter-Smith and all the people at Women's Integrated Healthcare.  You made this experience a joy.  I look forward to seeing you all again in May!

Below is a picture of Isaac taken today at 6 weeks old and a picture of the Cotters with Dr. Coulter-Smith taken after my appointment today

Difference In Day And Night

As many moms know, newborns don't understand the concept of day and night. Isaac is no different in this! I am in no way complaining, Isaac is a very good baby and sleeps a lot, but the problem has been that he is awake when everyone wants to sleep. For the most part this doesn't affect Chris and Jordan but there are times when it really gets to me. I am normally a night person. The feedings that occur around midnight aren't so bad, its the ones at 3 and 5 that I can barely wake up for.

Isaac goes through days where he won't eat at all, he sleeps the whole day and most of the night. Then there are days where he eats every hour and never sleeps. I think that he is finally starting to get into a routine. Yesterday he ate about every two and a half hours and stayed awake in between a few of those feedings. I gave him a bath and tucked him into bed. He slept most of the night. He still woke up about four times to eat but he would go right back to sleep! It is amazing what even twenty extra minutes of sleep does for you! I woke up this morning ready to tackle the day! Isaac had another great day. He was awake most of the afternoon and evening so I am looking forward to another good night. I think the little guy is starting to figure out this day and night thing!! Here are a couple pictures I took of him wide awake and looking around. He has started turning his head when someone talks to him and he follows Chris and Jordan around the room.

One thing I am really enjoying about this 365 day blog challenge is looking at how much Isaac changes. I will have a blog of his entire first year. I wish I had know about blogging and done this seven years ago when Jordan was born. I hope that this journey through the coming year is as exciting for you the reader as it is for me the blogger!

I love getting comments. I also want to start a blog roll so please give me your blog address and I will link to it.

What Sundays Are Good For

Sundays are great for many things: Worshiping the Lord, spending time with friend and family, catching up on a good book or TV show, and doing the following.


Curling up with the ones you love and cuddling on the couch!

After the HORRIBLE display by the Dallas Cowboys today, this is just what I needed.

Pinewood Derby Time!!

What do January and Cub Scouting have in common?   PINEWOOD DERBY!

Let me explain briefly what the pinewood derby is.  Every year cub scouts (boys from 1st-5th grade) work with their families transforming a small block of pine wood into a car.  The car kits come only with the block of wood, 4 wheels, and 4 nails.  The design process is all on the boy.  The rules are simple.  You can make any design you want as long as you use the wheels that came with the car and your finished car weighs no more than 5 ounces.

Last weekend we got Jordan's car kit and sat down to figure out what he wanted to make.  At first he said he wanted to make it into a truck.  When he heard two of his friends say the same thing, he sat down and drew a boat design.  We traced the drawing he had done onto his block of wood and Chris and some other Dads cut it out.







The car was then sanded, painted, the wheels put on, and weights added.  In addition to the weights we used some graphite on the wheels to make them screaming fast.  Jordan's "boat" weighed in at 4.95 ounces and was registered into competition with 15 of his friends.



The race took place on a metal four lane track.  Each boys car would race once on each lane. The times were recorded and then an average time was determined.  The fastest three cars would win a trophy and the fastest three boys in each den (age group) would win a medal.

Here is a video of one of Jordan's races. He is the white boat in the lane closest to the camera. The race only last 3 seconds so you have to watch close!



After all was said and done, Jordan did great!! He got first place in his den and second place overall! This was his first every trophy and its all he can talk about.  We are all looking forward to next January and brining home first place.

Price of the Car kit = $4.00

Price of all other supplies = $25.00 (paint, weights, graphite)

Price of seeing Jordan racing his car = PRICELESS!!

Isaac's First Night In His Crib

Jordan has been asking when his Brother would be sleeping in his room with him.  Well we decided tonight was a good night to try it out.  Jordan has no school tomorrow so its okay if Isaac's crying wakes him.  Another reason is that Isaac scoots A LOT in his bassinet and would hit his head on the side.  This wake him up and in turn wakes me up.  Not to mention I don't sleep well when he's in our room because I hear every little sound he makes. So we shall see how him sleeping in his crib goes.  This is a big night for baby Isaac! I can't believe how fast the last five and a half weeks have gone!!

Grocery Thursday

Thursday is grocery shopping day in the Cotter House.  While Chris is at work I make out our weekly menu and grocery list.  This is something I HATE to do.  I feel like we eat the same things every week but at the same time I can't seem to find any new recipes that sound good to the whole family.  Today, while shopping Jordan said "Mom can we get ice cream? PLEASE!" We haven't treated ourselves in a long time so Chris and I said sure.  Being on a tight budget you find many ways to save.  In a lot of cases you can buy the store brand and its just as good.  This however is not the case with ice cream.  We do not go cheap with our frozen treat!  There is only one brand to buy and for me one kind.  I would like to introduce you to my FAVORITE ice cream ever! If you do not have this brand in your stores I am so sorry! Your missing out. Check out the company's website.  I'm sure they will ship you some!

One Of My Favorite Foods

One of my favorite things to eat is Pizza, but it is so hard to find a good one.  I wanted to share my favorite chain restaurant with you.  Not only is it great food but CHEAP!!  For $19 we got 2 large pizzas, an order of bread sticks, and a 2-Liter drink!  And in my opinion it is far better than the other chains.  So which place is this?



There is a reason they have been around for 50 years! PIZZA PIZZA!!

AT&T YOU SUCK!

So many of you know that we have been having a lot of trouble with AT&T Uverse.  We got cable and Internet services about a year ago.  We have always had problems with it freezing up and just recently it started dropping our service all together.  In the past year we have had 7 techs come and one line guy.  Every single one of them swore that what they were doing would fix the problem.  Well, This is what I see this morning.



I'm sorry that the picture is bad, my phone doesn't do well in certain light. But I want you to notice the red light on the AT&T Gateway. That means that we had NO SERVICE at that time. So after 8 people who swore they knew what the problem was and they were going to fix it, it is still broke. I don't know what sucks more, the techs or their equipment (The DVR runs windows mobile, enough said), or a combination of both. We have one more person coming out tomorrow and it its not fixed we are canceling, and i may just call and demand some compensation for the HORRIBLE service we have gotten.  We don't deserve this type of service for 100 very hard earned bucks a month!

How Do You Relax?

Chris and Isaac relax after a hard day by chillin' on the couch listening to mellow music on Pandora

Sunday Baking

I LOVE TO COOK! After having a bag of white chocolate chips sitting in my pantry for over a month I decided today was a great day to bake some cookies.  Man are they good!

Pinewood Derby Car?

J's Pinewood Derby Car...OR is it a car?

Mario + Pizza = Family Fun Night!!

No School Due To Ice!!

School was canceled thanks to a nice glazing of ice on North Texas roads! Jordan was very excited!

Newborn Screening/PKU Test

I think it hurt me more than it did him :(

One Month Old

365 Challenge

A lot of my friends have taken on the 365 day photo challenge. I realize the point was to start on January first and post a picture a day on you blog to tell your life story. I love this idea, I have severely neglected my blog and this is a great way to get back in to posting. So beginning today, January 5th, I am taking this challenge. Please check back daily to see if I can keep the post coming!