catching up...

As for George...We just returned from G's fifteen month pediatric appointment.  He weighs in at 24.7 pounds (50%), measures 32 inches (75%) and his head is 48 cm (75%).  The doctor was very impressed as he demonstrated his climbing ability, flipped through the pages of board books and charmed her with his dimpled grin.  Although babies raised in bi-lingual homes often start talking much later than kids learning one language, she mentioned that his dozen or more words are actually above the average for his age. He braved it through three vaccines and happily accepted a Spiderman sticker pop (stickers back to back on the end of a tongue depressor) as we left the office. 

We have a new obsession around here: Trains.  Lots and lots and lots of trains. The container that holds them is emptied out first thing in the morning and not cleaned up until a few minutes before bedtime.  All day long, trains run around our kitchen floor, furniture and window sills.  And, tracks?  Ha!  Who needs tracks?  Our trains run on any surface our little guy can imagine.  And, that is the point.  Imagination.  Just what we want for him.  The electronic toys were already at a minimum around here and now, they are all but forgotten.  In favor of "chhhhhhhooooooos."  Many thanks to my cousin and her girls for some hand-me-downs that were happily added to our small starter stash - rest assured they are already well-loved :)

When G is concentrating hard or processing something new, he wears this expression and utters an "Oooo" sound.  I love capturing these little bits, pieces and quirks of his development.

On the homefront...We are still on a search for the elusive perfect-for-us house and, while we look, are starting to get the condo ready to list.  This past Friday night, Mr. Boom and I took a trip to Home Depot and left with paint, a closet organizer, interior doors and hardware and a plan to get a start on improvements during the weekend.  The closet organizer is installed and we both have a bit more work to do before it is blog-worthy but, we are both happy with how it turned out and the better use of space.  When it's all together, I'll post before and after photos.  Bringing out the tools for this project meant that Mr. Boom had a good use for this handy little stocking stuffer from Christmas: 

On saving money...I am actively shopping grocery sales and couponing.  My weekly savings at the grocery checkout averages about $25.  But, this weekend, even though it was the trip for stocking up on meats I was able to combine sales prices with coupons and doublings to save a whopping $36.70!  That's a third of the total bill.  Very, very pleased and well worth the pre-planning.

Some of the best deals:

(3) Coffeemate creamers for $2.50 (on sale 3 for $5, used a $1 off coupon + a 75 cent coupon that the store doubled)

(2) Yoplait Yogurt 4-packs for $3.50 (on sale 2 for $5, used 50 cent coupon that the store doubled and saved an extra 50 cents for scanning items myself)

Pork shoulder $1.99/lb - purchased a 3 pound cut that is in the crockpot right now for our Pulled Pork dinner tonight 

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $1.99/lb - purchased 4 pounds

Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs $1.99/lb - purchased 4 pounds

In order to really take advantage of meat sales, I use a very essential kitchen tool: a vacuum sealer.  I bought a FoodSaver several years ago off QVC and it has paid for itself many times over.  Whenever there is a great meat sale, I have no qualms about stocking up and no worries about using the meat before it's expiration as I'm able to vacuum seal in portions that suit our family and certain recipes, then freeze them for later. 



The bags I put together today are a perfect example.  Four chicken breasts are the amount needed to make Shredded Taco Chicken (a favorite in our meal rotation) and two pounds of chicken thighs are just the right amount for the Chicken Marsala slow cooker recipe or, one of a few others. Saving money and saving time = a saner me (or, that's what I keep telling myself!).