Thankful

Each year we have so much to be thankful for....my number #1 this year is this guy:

What a mess he is...and I love him to death for it!

I love Thanksgiving. I really do. But I'm one of those people who have a bad tendency to skip over it and head straight for Christmas. My tree might or might not already be up :). I found this little Q & A at Blue Eyed Bride's blog, so here goes!
1. Do you eat stuffing or dressing? Dressing. And my parent's dressing is Oh.So.Yummy.
2. Did you ever dress up as a pilgrim at school? I think so
3. What is your favorite dish at Thanksgiving? Definitely the dressing. I also love the mashed potatoes and squash casserole. Carb overload!
4. Are you all about the turkey or all about the sides? Definitely the sides!
5. Do you have pumpkin pie at your house? Do you eat it? No, we don't have pumpkin pie. Maybe I should make one??? My grandmother actually always made sweet potato pie and told me it was pumpkin pie...she knew I wouldn't eat it if I knew it was sweet potato! I think I was like 15 before she told me the truth :)
6. Do you watch the Macy's Thanksgiving parade while cooking? We love to get up and watch it! I'm excited to see if Will is into it this year.
7. What other traditions do you associate with Thanksgiving? We travel each year, so it's never a laid back holiday. Even more stressful when adding a kid to the mix. We alternate between Nashville (the hub's family) and Georgia (my sister's family). Maybe one day we will actually be home for the holidays!

Feel free to add these questions to your blog! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

Meal Planning

I've tried to do better at meal planning...one look at my monthly Target bill and it's overwhelming. So I'm coming up with new ways to save money, other than just using coupons. Which leads to meal planning. I'm going to try super duper hard not to go to the store more than once a week. So on this week's menu:

Monday - Chili (yummy and we have leftovers for lunch!)
Tuesday - Chicken Tettrazini (chicken is already in the crock pot and should have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!)
Wednesday - Meatloaf wtih roasted potatoes and green beans
Thursday - Rotel Chicken Burritos

I make an attempt to cook throughout the week. I try to cook enough for us to take leftovers for lunch. Weekends usually consist of a visit to the local mexican restaurant on Friday, some sort of cooking out/hanging out with friends on Saturday, and Sunday is casual...talking about soup, sandwiches, leftovers, etc.

Another thing I've tried really hard to focus on is using coupons. My favorite site is The Krazy Coupon Lady. She has tons of coupons listed, all you do is print them out. I make a grocery list in Excel, pair up with what's on sale (I do most of my shopping at Target. Publix is wayyyyy too expensive compared to Target), then list what coupons I have. A lot of times Market Pantry or Archer Farms products are cheaper than name brands, even with a coupon, and Target's brand products are really good!!!! This week I saved $25 in coupons alone!

So please share your secret to meal planning/couponing, etc. with me....I'm always looking for ways to save some extra $$$$$ !

Christmas Cards!!!

Yes, I've already been thinking about Christmas cards...it's never too early, right???? I was checking out ideas today and ran across a fabulous giveway on We're Finally Three!'s Blog. She teamed up with Pear Tree Greetings , who has the most adorable cards!!! Head over there, check out her giveaway and check out the cards that Pear Tree has to offer.

Thank You.

Thanks to my wonderful husband, I'm rocking these beauties today :)


We have quite a deal worked out, due to his love of golf!

Bare Minerals Giveaway

Head over to visit Blue Eyed Bride's Blog. She is having an awesome giveaway on Bare Minerals this week!

19 Months

19 months ago, our lives were forever changed. Each day, my precious angel surprises me, makes me laugh, and completely makes my day worthwhile. I wanted to do a post about what all he is up to at this point. He amazes me all the time with the stuff he comes up with! At 19 months:
** He LOVES music, loves to dance, and loves to put on a show for anyone!
** One of his favorite things is his daddy! I love watching him grin as soon as Austin walks in the door. I can say, "daddys home!" and he runs to the door, waiting impatiently for Austin to come in.
** Another favorite is rocking out to music in daddy's truck. It's so funny to watch the two of them shaking heads, rocking to whatever is on the radio.
** His appetitie is back. He went through a period of eating nothing/very little, but now he pretty much eats anything. His favorites are mexican (cheese dip and rice), beef tacos, chicken casserole of any kind, natural cheesy puffs, and fruit.
** He is talking constantly. He has about 20 words right now, and his new thing is to say "no" to everything.
** Boy has a temper! If he doesn't get his way or I take something from him, he goes NUTS. Full-out, throwing himself on the ground, temper tantrums.
** He still gets a milk bottle in the morning. Our doctor is on my case to take the bottles away completely. Honestly, it's more for me and my snuggle time. He drinks from a sippy the rest of the day, so I know he will do fine without the bottle. I just need to suck it up and pack them away.
**His new favorite thing is trains! He is obsessed with Chuggington, hearing or seeing a train, LOVES them! Maybe our theme for his 2nd birthday party????
** Cries when we drop him off at daycare, but ends up loving it. His teacher says he loves doing the arts and crafts.
** Obsessed with books. We seriously read about 10 books each night.

He is so funny, so amazing, and I really want to freeze time and keep him at this age. The best 19 months of our lives!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

After our eventful night at the e.r. on Saturday, we took Will to the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum on Sunday. We did the train ride and pumpkin patch. To say that Will is obsessed with trains is an understatement...so we knew he would love riding a real train!

Will and Daddy


Trying to find the perfect pumpkin


Can't decide which one to get!

These are how most of our pics turn out these days!