Sunday Bag

It's no secret that Sundays are a challenge to get through with a toddler. We're still in that weird phase where he's too big to sit in my lap and be happy but 3 months too young to be in Nursery. I've talked with my mom about it countless times...and she gave me the idea to have a bag just for Sunday, full of fun things that Talmage ONLY gets to see at church. I thought it was a genius idea, cause I always just bring my diaper bag with the same books, toys, and snacks. Maybe some change would get him interested and occupied!

......as a side note, the whole reason for this post is to inspire other mommas out there who struggle with the same issue (I can think of one or two! hint hint Nicole, Mimi and and Ashleigh!) If just one idea is helpful then its worth posting about, right?.......

And so I dragged this old Mary Kay purse out of the closet. It's perfect for Sundays because its black leather, which matches everything, and it zips at the top so stuff won't fall out. I may switch to a bigger bag though...

And this is what I put in it! (all of these are new things, never before seen by Talmage eyes! It was a little costly, not too much, but well worth it)

two "I-spy" bags. These are easy to make and great for curious little tots. I used this tutorial.

A few books about Jesus, one with beautiful Greg Olsen paintings and the other a soft book with interactive flaps and things. (from Deseret Book)

This was the biggest hit. It's a magnetic board of Noah's Ark with tons of animal magnets! I think I'm going to have to get some more of these...(also at Deseret Book, only 10 bucks!)

CARS notebook and crayons. He has yet to understand what to do with a crayon, but he's slowly catching on. For now he just loves holding his notebook and making car noises :)

I got this idea from Nicole Tucker. It is a prune container, with a slit cut in the lid for those plastic rings to go in. Talmage will spend at least 20 minutes on this toy, putting the rings in and taking them out over & over. 20 minutes is better than the normal attention span, so I love this thing!

And of course snacks! I threw in some sugary stuff, which I NEVER do but it keeps him quiet in the worst of times. Gotta love the sugar.

And lastly the two things I need..that is, if I get chance to use them. haha.

The bag did not let me down. Thanks mom!

louisiana visit & yet another nursery re-do

This last week Talmage and I flew to Louisiana to see Mimi, Poppy, and my little sis Dana. It was great fun, so worth the hardships of traveling with a toddler, and HOT. I am okay with heat but the humidity was unbearable. I have lived in the northwest for so long that humid air feels so weird to me now...kinda sad :(

I really should have taken more pictures...I think I have like 8? oops.

During the week we:
*played at the neighborhood pool and sprinklers
*ate Cane's chicken
*had LOTS of Blue Bell ice-cream (just me)
*went to the eye doctor and got some stylin new glasses (just me...)
*saw old friends and ward members
*took lots of naps (both of us)
*shopped at Target, New York & Co., Ulta, Accessory City, and KROGER :)

It was a pretty relaxed week...it was just nice being with the family. I'm so glad we took the trip and thankful that my husband took care of things at home while I was gone.
Before driving back to Idaho, the three of us stayed with my grandma and grandpa in Sandy, UT for a night. My best friend miss Sarah Robison came over and it was lovely visiting with her! The next morning Jonathan and I made our usual trip to Ikea (just us...Talmage stayed to nap!) and found a dresser for Talmage that was marked way down. It was such a steal!

Because the dresser was so big, we had to rearrange all his furniture once again. I feared the room would look so crammed and tiny, but actually it looks more spacious with the new arrangement!

Grandma Heiss cross-stitched this for Talmage, and I love it! It really ties the whole room together.

We love Ikea. A lot. Since it is not expensive you pay for the quality you get, but its great for practical purposes (and decorative!). They have this awesome home organization department and a month ago we picked up these plastic storage bins for dirt cheap. This last time, we bought lids for them all so that we could stack them! They are mostly empty for now, but that's not a problem. Someday when I have a Silhouette, I'm gonna label them! yay!

And since I could move his clothes to the dresser, I was able to put ALL the diapers under the changing station. I didn't realize just how many diapers we were hoarding...

This is already too long of a post...(sorry). But I will just say that I am happy to be home in Idaho with my sweetheart again. Now to work off those calories...

glammin it up!

From the time I bought this beauty of a baby stroller one year ago, I had big plans. Money has kept me from fulfilling them all, but slowly and surely it has all come together and now I can finally say I have perfected it! (to my fancy at least)

It may be a little obsessive of me to love my stroller this much...but this is how I figure it. We don't have any overly expensive baby items. Our crib, changing table, car seat, nursery decor, etc. is all pretty medium range quality and price. Not to mention some of the other luxuries in life that have not yet graced us with ownership. So I have let myself be spoiled with an awesome stroller. Is this so bad? I don't think so. I deserve it :)

Wallah!

About a month ago Phil&Teds declared that they were raising their price on their stroller attachments, so I snatched some up before I would have a chance to regret it. One that I've been wanting for some time was the removable fanny pack/drink carrier.

The other was a pair of nifty saddle bags. They are spacious enough to hold all kinds of things and can be removed. We sometimes take them off and attach them to our bikes when we go for a ride (because anyone with a child knows there's always loot to bring along). They also make the stroller look super industrious. I love them!

The cover over the bar is called a Bumpaloop , and the lady that makes them was taking maternity leave and she gave out the last call for custom orders. That's why this one couldn't wait :)

It protects the bar underneath from tears or stains, and attached to the cover are ribbon tags that the baby or kid can play with.

And the most exciting addition is the pram liner by Liana Simpson Designs in Australia. It took three weeks for this to arrive but it was so worth it! This particular one is from last year's summer collection (yes I've wanted it that long) that kind miss Liana reserved for me on her etsy shop. She just came out with a whole new collection which is pretty awesome (I'm thinking another one for the double seat?).

Did I mention that it's reversible?

For all the walking we do, and time spent at the park and other places, I am so glad that we can tote our kiddo in something that is multi-functional, chic, and convenient. I've tried to convince my friends looking for a stroller that this is a great pick, and I really mean it :)

coupons

I have just recently gotten into the MADNESS that is couponing, and let me tell you it is NOT as easy as it looks. But when done right, it truly pays off! I'm still not very good at it and still end up spending more money than anticipated but each time I get a little more thrifty :)

This last week a good friend from the ward who is a coupon queen helped me out a bit and helped me understand what I was doing. A few days later I put her advice to use and well, I won't say how much I spent but I CAN say that every single thing was either free or a REALLY good discounted price being on sale combined with my coupons. I was so thrilled!

One thing I've learned about using coupons is that you should never buy stuff just buy it at a good price, so I only get those things that I know we'll have need of. It's been very rewarding to have the luxury of just grabbing an extra something off our shelf at home when we need it but don't have the time or energy to go to the store.


Over the course of being married, case lot sales, all other kinds of sales, and couponing our little family of 3 has acquired LOTS of stuff...and then about 6 months back Jonathan and I made the goal to build up a solid food storage. We've been shoving things in the crevices here and there, and I got to the point today where I didn't want to look at another box of cereal stuffed in between other boxes of who-knows-what. So we got this awesome storage shelf at Home Depot and it has made me sooooooo happy. I could just stare at it all day.

How wonderful to have everything in one spot and all organized! Who cares that I have to sleep next to canned vegetables? NOT ME! haha...actually, I really envy a garage :)

his kind of fun

There's a lot of things that Talmage thinks are pretty fun, but to top the list is definitely being OUTSIDE.

He loves going to the park, and especially riding the carousel! (I know he doesn't look too enthused but I promise when the camera is off he's bouncing and laughing!)

He also loves to play in his pool! This boy could spend hours in the water...his favorite thing to do in the pool is throw all of his toys out, climb out of the pool to get them, and throw them back. haha. I don't know where he comes up with these things.

Another favorite is climbing! He tries to climb onto EVERYTHING! So we bought him this little camp chair and he loves to climb up into it, put his milk in the sippy holder, and read a good book :)

And after all that play play play this silly boy loves his sleep- which I am SO grateful for. Luckily he sleeps so darn well these days that we hardly get up at night anymore. And he takes awesome naps (most of the time).
The other day I found this vinyl lettering for half price and couldn't pass it up. I've always wanted to do something like this in his room but well...I am a penny pincher to say the least. The vinyl doesn't stick very well so we shall see how long it lasts...

No other saying could be more true! I love my son so much and I love him even more for all the energy and excitement he brings into the day!

4th of July!

I love this holiday. It has always been one of my favorites. I just love getting together with family and friends and eating good food, the fireworks, and everything else!

This year we kept ourselves pretty busy! We started the day with the 4th of July Parade here in town on Main Street. I was really impressed with it- there were actually horse-drawn carriages and dancers and bands and all kinds of other things. We were smack in the middle of Main with awesome seats so it was really neat to watch!

Talmage was content sitting in his stroller until the fire trucks and marching band came by, then he wanted to jump up and down!

For me, the best part of the parade was watching all the little kids run out into the street and try to catch candy being thrown from the floats. Kids are too funny...

Then we came home, put T down for a nap (he was EXHAUSTED) and I made deviled eggs to bring to the lunch bbq at our friends apt, the Bradleys. :) A whole lot of people came and the food was superb. It was nice just sitting out in the warm sun and soaking up the day!

This is the most expensive thing Talmage has ever worn- daddy's sunglasses! haha... He really loves them :)

When we got home from that I made macaroni salad and flag cake for our last event of the day- dinner and fireworks with our friends the Tataipus. They moved a few weeks ago and we've really missed them :(

Here's my flag cake! I thought it turned out pretty good!

It was great to see our friends, including some families from our ward, and Talmage especially loved playing with his buddy Kai again :)

At the end of the day we were very tired, but pleased with all the fun things we could do as a family :) I am very grateful that Jonathan had the day off (he was scheduled to work but his boss gave him the day off). I love this country and the freedoms that come with it, and I really love my husband and sweet baby boy. We are truly blessed!!