Grandma and Grandpa Reed

I just had to post the last picture we took of our big vacation week while Grandma and Grandpa Reed were here. It's such a great picture and Sydney now is asking to call them daily. She asks if they're still on the plane, if they're at work and if they're in Seattle - and what they're having for dinner.

Tonight a funny little thing she said. We had been running in the sprinkler this afternoon and she was wearing her swimsuit. She took it off to go potty and didn't put it back on and was running around naked. Even though we are so protective with sunblock, she still has a little Florida beach baby tan. Lyndon said "Hey, Snow White, come have dinner" to which she responded "I am NOT Snow White! My name is Sydney Paige Linville". Yeah for knowing her name!!! So cute!!!

Saving Money

These days, money just doesn't come easy for us - or probably anyone for that matter. With gas prices being super high and our family trying to make it on one income, I'm trying to find ways to cut back on our expenses. Here are a few of the things I've been doing lately to help our bottom line....

* I've been writing out my menu for the week on Sunday's. This way, I know what we need to buy and I'm not just grabbing things I'm not going to use. Normally I end up trashing way too much produce!

* I've been mostly making my own baby food. I just boil or bake the veggies or whatever and puree them in the food processor. I freeze them in ice trays and pop them in a Ziploc to use whenever. This has been WAY more economical than jars. He's yet to eat a jar of baby food and now we've moved on to more than veggies! It helps too that I'm still nursing - saving all that money vs. feeding formula. Luckily, it's gone well for us....

* Sydney being potty trained is helping a lot. Buying diapers for one is enough!

* Buy smart! 100 calorie snack packs are so convenient - but expensive! Same with lettuce. We pay extra for someone to wash and rip the lettuce. I yesterday paid .89 cents for a head of green leaf lettuce. I washed it myself and prepared it. It gave me the equivalent to probably 3 - 4 bags of the stuff - at $2 + per bag - significant savings there. With the snacks, buy the big bags and take a few extra minutes when home from the grocery store and package them in little snack baggies. I'm sure this applies to way more than just snacks and lettuce . . .

These are just just some of the things I've started to change lately. There are many more things I am planning on implementing - including hanging clothes out to dry, biking a little more to the store in by myself in the evenings, etc.

Jacksonville Zoo

Thursday the kids and I went to the Jacksonville zoo. It's about 45 minutes away from our house and we've been once before - last summer when it was just Sydney! I decided it would be a good additional activity to add to our regular list of activities so I bought the yearly pass - which includes admission to many other zoos in the country - incluing Point Definace Zoo in Tacoma! Sydney just loves animals AND they have a waterpark at this zoo too so on a hot summer day, it will be perfect!

It was the first time though that the kids were sort of getting into it. Isaac will be 8 months next week and he's grabbing at everything (as I mentioned in a previous post) so as he and Sydney sit in the double jogging stroller, Isaac is constantly trying to grab at whatever Sydney has OR whatever he can get his hands on. This usually ends up being Sydney's hair. So now while I push them, I have to deal with "mom, Isaac's pulling my hair" or "mom, Isaac's taking my crackers". Isaac just still seems so young but I have to say "Isaac, that's not nice" or "Isaac, please don't pull Sydney's hair - it hurts". I can already tell how different having an infant boy is from having an infant girl. Isaac is definitely NOT gentle! Similarly, Isaac bites everything - including when I'm nursing him. This is a new phenomenon for me as I only nursed Sydney until she was 7 months and had no teeth. Usually I freak out and yell "OWWW!!" and then Isaac starts crying because I scare him. This just started last week and it has been happening more frequently and more regularly. I am determined to make it to one year!!! We will see....if anyone has any tips....I'm all ears!

The kids took their first bath together last night. Sydney's so gentle with Isaac - just wants to play with him, make him laugh, tickle him. She's such a caring little girl and I'm so thankful she has the heart she does.

Daddy is home and we are so happy! Today we took the boat out - thank goodness - it ended up being a really hot and stale day. We all rode the inter tube and had a great time.

Tonight we had dinner with The Ferguson's. We are so thankful to have found such wonderful friends!!! We truly enjoy our time with them and find ourselves laughing so much while we're together. We have such similar backgrounds, it's just been really nice to connect with another family!

Peeing in the bucket

Sydney has finally really gotten the potty training thing so life has been good! We still have occasionally been having a poop accident but we're worlds beyond where we were a few months ago.

However, today the funniest thing happened. So on our boat, we have a yellow pee bucket that we use for when we gotta go! So Sydney has caught on and when she has to go, she asks us to bring out the bucket. On our vacation last week, she really came to know the pee bucket and really thinks it's cool - she's getting the hang of it!

So today, she's in her little dress and she tells me she has to go pee. Well she goes to find her Easter egg bucket (she had a woven basket for her a.m. basket and a bucket for finding eggs) and she proceeds to pee right in the bucket on our floor! I couldn't stop laughing so I surely couldn't stop her from doing it but she thought it was a completely normal thing to do in the house. Luckily for me - she made it all in the bucket!

So do I praise her for peeing in the bucket? Or correct her for not peeing in the potty? I guess we have some more explaining to do....

Another visit home on the way!

I just booked our tickets to Seattle this summer. Since July is a miserably hot month here, the kids and I will pretty much be there the whole month - July 2nd to July 29th!! Lyndon comes with us on the 2nd but returns July 15th. We are so excited!!! Especially since we'll be there for the 4th of July and our Godson Joe's second BD!!! It will also be our first time to meet Baby George, to see my good friend Nicole quite preggo AND to be there for Liv's BD! So much to look forward to. Let the planning begin!!!

Since this will probably be our last visit before the big move, we'll be doing a lot of driving around areas during the week. Since we feel we're probably moving towards the south end, we want to familiarize ourselves with some of the communities down south (think Puyallup, Federal Way, Lacey, Olympia). If anyone has any tips or places we should check out - let us know!

Hoping to catch a Mariner's game while we're there too!

My thoughts on last night's American Idol

OK - so now that there are just six contestants left, I am finding myself really interested and concerned with the finalists and have decided to share my opinions. Here are my favorites in order from most to least and my notes on them and their performance last night.

David Cook - He hands down is my favorite now. I never thought he could make that song work for him - let alone the whole Broadway thing - and he rocked it. Although I think his look and wardrobe could use a bit of help - what's up with the hanging bandanna from his back pocket?

David Archuleta - So cute and such a good singer. Am a little concerned that he's 17 and too sweet - I like a little cockiness but I'm sure that comes with time.

Carly Smithson - My favorite girl by a mile. She rocked Jesus Christ Superstar and I love it when she does a song like that. Soft songs just aren't her thing.

Syesha Mercado - She's definitely growing on me but I still get annoyed she's too into herself. I also don't think she listens to the judges at all - she's too concerned with looking good for the camera. However last night she sang awesome and was quite the little actress.

Brooke White - She's moved into my bottom girl position. She just doesn't sound good at all to me - her voice is weak and I think she's only made it so far because she's so cute. She's so gracious and it was nice for awhile but now she's just bugging me.

Jason Castro - Can't get into him at all. I hate the hair and I just can't get beyond it. He's got pretty eyes - but I just noticed them once when I got beyond the hair. His voice is blah - not an idol at all to me. The only thing I've liked that's come out of his mouth was Somewhere Over the Rainbow - and he played the ukulele.

So there's my notes. P.S. I miss Michael Johns!!!

Cool chicks and other stuff

Today we visited the beach again. It was crowded!! We went with Jessica, Lydia and Miles. Jessica has this super handy cart that we load all our things into and hang our chairs from it, etc. However today we both forgot things to carry the little guys and I brought one too many bags so it was quite a chore getting from the car to the beach. People asked if we needed help as it looked as though I was about to drop Isaac. The girls were good though - they just followed us while holding hands. It's so funny - Sydney and Lydia are just two peas in a pod. Isaac and Miles played on the blanket and Isaac trying to grab every toy Miles was playing with. He's definitely in that grabbing stage - have to watch everything - he's quick! It was a fun day!

Lyndon just left for Washington D.C. He'll be gone tonight through Friday night at basically a First Class leadership seminar for the Navy. More to report on that later. We'll miss him!!

Fun in the sun!

Holy moly - what a fantastic trip we had this last week. I'll give a quick summary of some highlights of our vacation.

On Saturday, we left around noon - boat in tow - and started our trek to Mirmar Beach, FL - a 5 1/2 hour drive. We arrived at our condo about 7pm which was directly across from the Gulf of Mexico. They don't call this area of Florida the Emerald Coast for nothing. The water was an amazing shade of green towards the shore and the sand was a pure soft white - so great between your toes!

Sunday morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies. They don't call it the Sunshine State for nothing!! We just played at the beach - literally all day. It was awesome. It was great to see my mom and dad relax a bit and just have fun with the grand kids - they don't take too many vacations outside of coming to see us. We all got a bit sun kissed that day - even with the 50 SPF for the kids - both of them look like tan little Florida babies!

Monday the weather was in the mid-60s and a little overcast so we headed to the Track and spent a few hours riding go-karts, bumper boats, bumper cars and Sydney got to ride some little kid rides by herself! We dined at a place called Fudpuckers (the shirts in the gift shop say "You haven't lived unless you've been Fudpucked") - too funny!

Tuesday we decided to get in the car and explore the area. We found this great little beach side town called Seaside - totally cute and totally a tourist trap! That night - we found ourselves on a dolphin/sunset cruise - it was a little chilly but beautiful!

Wednesday we had the warm FL sun back so we took our boat out. We brought our poles and the grill - no luck fishing (even though Destin is known as the luckiest fishing spot in the world). That night Lyndon and I got to escape for a RARE date night.

Thursday we headed out on the boat again all day. We found this secluded beach and we pulled up on the sand and just played all day - we even got mom out on the tube!!!

Friday I went golfing for the first time ever with my dad. It was good! I didn't suck as bad as I thought I would - a good thing! Later, Lyndon and I rented some wave runners and had a blast!!

We were so sad to leave but are so lucky to have had this opportunity - we have created some wonderful memories as a family and can't wait for our next vacation!!!

Subway

Can I just say that I love the $5 footlong??? It's made my life so simple lately.....

Princess Wishes

Tonight Sydney and I went to see Princess Wishes - Princesses on Ice. It was fabulous! I bought the tickets awhile ago on a whim. Why do they have these kid events at 7:30 at night when normal toddlers are nearing bedtime??? I don't know. But I was able to get Sydney to nap later this afternoon and she slept for a good two hours. The night was perfect for us! All the princesses were there as well as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Tinkerbell. Sydney dressed up as Aurora from Sleeping Beauty - of course so many passer-by's just loved her little look. she literally stood in awe for the first half hour and then was able to sit and enjoy the show.

Our night got even more exciting when we returned home to find Grandpa and Grandma here! They flew in while we were at the show and Sydney was awake for a long time tonight! Running on fumes!

Isaac appears to be teething again. Poor guy - he's in so much pain and sometimes I just feel helpless.

Tomorrow we're leaving for our fun in the sun vacation so I probably won't blog while away - but rest assured I'll have plenty to share when we return!

Christianity

This blog is awesome. Truly reflects many of my beliefs.

The Laughing Pastor

Neighborhood Fun

This afternoon the kids and I had a great time with our neighbors. Anniston is 4 and is an excellent driver. She had Sydney have a great time together and she thinks Isaac is "pretty cute".

Haircut

In preparation for the Florida summer, I've chopped my hair. It's not too too drastic but enough to get a "holy cow" from Lyndon.....

Tampa Zoo

It's been an eventful week and weekend. I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to the Tampa zoo on Friday - so I'll go ahead and fill in the weekend as well!

We went to The Brooks' in Ocala on Thursday night to sort of break up our drive. Tampa is about 3 hours from our house. Going Thursday was perfect and I was soooooo excited to be able to shop at Macy's. It's the closest one to our house and I picked up a couple of things I can use for our trip next week!

Friday we finally headed out around 10am and arrived around 11:30am. First thing we see when we get in the gates - fountains for the kids to play in. To a 3 year old....those are SO much more fun than looking around at the animals - at least to MY 3 year old!! We didn't bring suits - but did that stop them from running straight there? Nope! Trevor and Sydney played for about 1/2 hour in their clothes. It was great. Then we learn they sell suits at the gift shop - but of course they do! So the kids get suits and we move on through the park. It was a warm day - almost 90 degrees! So Sydney was proud to show her suit off throughout the park as her dress dried on top of the stroller. Five fun-filled hours of the Tampa zoo and I would go back in a heartbeat! It's a perfect thing to do on a hot day! We didn't get home until around 8pm so the kids were straight to bed!

Saturday Lyndon went deep sea fishing with some friends from work. The weather here was not good - thunderstorms, heavy rains, wind. Needless to say I was really worried not having heard from Lyndon all day but of course they don't make floating cell phone towers so I didn't get a call until almost 4pm when they finally got back. He brought home a ton of sea bass for us to cook up and he had a great time with the guys.

We've been making lists and checking them twice for our upcoming trip. My parents arrive Friday night and we're heading out Saturday morning for Mirimar Beach on the Gulf Coast. . . .located just east of Pensacola, FL in a town called Destin. Our resort is right on the water and we're towing the boat, bringing the fishing poles, the tube, the sunblock, the beach chairs - you get the idea. Fun in the sun!!! We're so excited and this is finally a TRUE vacation for us. Usually our vacations are trips to WA and filled with trying to fit in visits with family and friends which sometimes doesn't really end up being so much of a vacation for us....as much as we LOVE spending time with everyone! So this week is about packing and preparing - and maybe a trip to the local beach tomorrow....

Spring Break

I don't know what it is about this week but I have been so productive! Yeah me! Between keeping the kids busy and taking care of stuff I've let get past me - it's been awesome. Tuesday we had another trip to the beach - this time just us. It was another picture perfect day here in FL! Yesterday I accomplished tons of things I've been meaning to do and finally had an MRI on my knee last night. Hoping they can find what's been causing all this pain so I can get back to my workouts!

In other good news - Lyndon has been selected by his command to attend the First Class' Symposium in Washington D.C. later this month! This is quite an honor and we're so proud of our sailor!!! Way to go honey!!!