I should start with Brent's parents popping in for a quick visit. They came on Saturday afternoon so that Brent and I could go on a dinner date together. Although I was panic stricken at the thought of leaving my little ones in the perfectly capable hands of their grandparents for little more than an hour, I did have a wonderful time reconnecting with my long lost hubby. Brent pulled a favor from a friend and got us into a very nice restaurant here in town complete with fantastic wine and and even better view. The nasty weather cleared just after we were seated and we could see a beautiful rainbow as the sun was going down. The babies were (of course) just fine when we returned home - fed and just about sleeping. Pops even had a little chat with David about his night fits and they had made a deal that he would no longer keep me up all night - that he would sleep for at least a few hours. Ha - much to my surprise, it worked as David slept quite well between feedings last night other than a 2 hour period where Brent sat up and rocked him. So, perfect company, delicious food, lovely wine AND a few winks of sleep?! What a spoiled girl I am.
Also on Saturday - a good friend of mine dropped by with her husband and son. She had her little one a few weeks - mabe even a month after the triplets were born. Ha - he's 18 pounds - and just amazing next to our 2. We had a quick but nice visit. It was so good to meet her little one and see her and her hubby for a few minutes!
Today I woke up planning to conquer grocery shopping on a budget. I collected a few coupons for the few packaged items we needed and set off on a mission to stick to my list of items which included the planned list of meals for the week. I started cooking 3 or so things on Sundays that can either be put in the freezer or just would last a few days for us so that I don't have to worry about planning meals during the week and there is no temptation to just pick up something quick in lieu of cooking. It seems to be working so far - I've done it for the last 3 Sundays including today. Anyhow, shopping with coupons is time consuming but rather fun. I save $11.00 on items we would have bought anyhow - so it works for me! The reason I don't typically shop with coupons? We eat tons of produce in this house - and there usually aren't any coupon offers for produce. However, there are coupons for things like diapers, cereal and cleaning products. So we are saving where we can.
When I got home, Brent actually took over the cooking (chicken salad - because I'm absolutely obsessed with it - and from the stock, potato soup) That was it for today - I have prepped things for the veg / turkey spaghetti and we have all of the items for chicken fajitas for later on this week.
THEN, we tried the babies in the stroller again - and by golly - they FIT!!!! Oh I was so excited! Really - the feeling of knowing that I can actually take them out of the house for a simple walk is suck a relief. They can hold their heads up well enough now to safely go for a ride and they are just barely tall enough to fit in the smallest setting on the harnesses - and David LOVES being outside! (Mary Louise on the other hand seems to be able to take it or leave it. ) Anyhow, Brent and I took the babies to the state park again, strapped them in, and Brent went for his run while I took the little ones for a walk. We did 2 miles. I realized just how out of shape I've gotten and smiled as I thought of my modest starting point. I'll get back into the swing of things soon. I'm on my way. The babies did quite well. They sucked furiously on their pacis and looked around with wide eyes. We saw deer, rabbits and people's dogs. David fell fast asleep and Mary Louise tried to take it all in. It was really wonderful to have such a simple family outing - to feel normal (whatever that is) and relatively inconspicuous. Only a couple of people asked me how old they were but most (well there really weren't many people there) just smiled as they rode their bikes or ran by us. All in all it was immense fun!
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| first time in the stroller |
What a long way they have come. It is so wonderful and amazing to see Mary Louise and David thrive. I am so truly happy for you guys. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteIf you go to coupons.com and download the print viewer, you can just click the weekly coupons you need, and they'll all print at once. I always check it before I leave for the store. And yes, the key is to only buy things you would anyway. Watch out though, sometimes the generic brand is still cheaper than $.50 off the name brand. Oh, and some say "not valid in LA," but WalMart takes them anyway.
ReplyDeleteLasagna makes AWESOME freezer food. Make a big dish of traditional or white lasagna (chicken, alfredo sauce from jar, baby portabella mushrooms, mozz cheese). Slice into 2" squares. Wrap in plastic wrap then foil. Freeze. Each square is 2" so they defrost perfectly in microwave. Defrost ~2 minutes (power 3-4), then heat on full power for ~2 minutes. Delish for up to 4-6 months. Cheaper than Stofers lasagna and can reheat in less time! Helps ward off the delivery bug in our house :)
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful, miracle babies you have! You don't know me but I ran across your blog address on a micro-preemie group. Congrats to your family! It's a totally different world with these wee ones, yes? You are spunky and funny and I have enjoyed reading your story. God bless!
ReplyDeleteSuch fun little blessings! What a wonderful outing. Love the sweet pictures and projected thoughts! xxxxoooo
ReplyDeleteI love the "conversations" you add with the pictures.
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