Just one of the kids

Jack thinks he's a baby sometimes. And he just LOVES laying out on the baby blanket. Mostly, he loves Lily and wants to snuggle up with her. She responds with varying levels of interest or fear...

Costco Coupons

James and I are on his parents Costco account and they are so nice to pay our membership fee each year. Recently, I learned that Costco sends coupons out to the card member each month. We don't receive them because they are sent to my in-laws.

This month, Costco sent us a coupon packet to try to get us to join Costco. They obviously thought we were not currently members. There were thousands of dollars worth of coupons. Obviously, we don't use all of the items that were couponed. But, we use quite a few.




We clipped and took our list to Costco and purchased those items. Many of them are going into storage (like 16 boxes of tissues), but we'll use eventually. It was especially great to get $5 off of diapers and $4 off of wipes!

I was psyched that we saved a total of $36.50 on items that we usually pay full price for! Woot! I realized that's almost as much as a membership. If this many coupons come every month, it's a no-brainer to sign up ourselves when our membership runs out in December. Does anyone know if they send this many coupons every month? There were 10 pages of coupons. Is that the normal amount?

I asked the cashier if you have to have a coupon to get the discount and he said not necessarily, but you do have to get the mailing to know WHAT has a coupon and then you have to ask for the cashier to enter the coupons for you. I found the coupons posted by someone online, but I think it's easier to have the mailing.

I love coupons and these are high value coupons on stuff we always buy. Good day!

Tummy Time

Why do babies hate tummy time so much!?

Cheek to cheek

Everyday I squish Lily's cheek against mine and just love love love this baby. I asked James to take some pictures so I can see what she's doing while I'm snuggling her. I guess she's not as in to it as I am ...

Perks of being a pilot

James' brother Joe is a pilot for the US Air Force. He's an instructor and every so often he can instruct his trainees to fly wherever he wants! Last night he dropped in and visited with us. It was so fun to see him and such an unexpected surprise. If only he could bring his wife and kids as cargo...

Terry on the left and Joe on the right are twins. I think all of the Schmitts have a unique look that's not too much alike, but they all have the same forhead...and Lily inherited it too!

Vaulting

As in...doing fancy tricks on horses!

James' brother Terry and his wife Alice ride and own a horse that boards in Spanish Fork. They recently started getting vaulting lessons. Until this week, I didn't know what vaulting was. This picture is a super high level of vaulting.

Alice wasn't able to go to the lesson this week, so Terry invited James and I went to watch. Terry went first. He's pretty good! And he just started. Now, realize that the horse is moving this whole time.

Then, James got to try! I was very impressed and so was the teacher. She totally wanted James to sign up and keep learning. He liked that it was such a good workout. I liked watching his poise and tight butt. :)

2 Month Check-Up

Lily had her 2 month check-up awhile ago and I'm just now getting her stats posted. She's gained weight and gotten longer! I am genuinely grateful she wasn't this big at birth! Still struggling with baby tummy issues, so we got some advice from Dr Harrison and an Rx for gas.

She got 2 shots and 1 oral vaccine. I am a fan of vaccinations. I understand that some families are nervous about side effects, but I think it's about the big picture. Society is much safer when we are all vaccinated. I feel almost a patriotic duty to vaccinate. I also think it's safe and ultimately in my baby's interest. Poor Lily, though. She cried pretty hard and then had a tough day at home. Note to self: make sure you have already purchased and administered the baby Tylenol before vaccinations. It was terrible trying to buy it with my hysterical baby making everyone think I was torturing her. Next visit: 4 month check up!

Donated Baby Clothes

I've never been too proud to accept baby clothes from anyone. New, used, from 1965, or 1995. I fully believe in reduce, reuse, recycle. The only thing about that is that sometimes you get items that are honestly hilarious.

This is a favorite from the hand-me-downs I've received. The shape (whose baby is shaped like that?), the scary baby iron-on and the clown neck are my favorite aspects of this item. I guess it's not SO bad once it's on.

Then, there is the "day-time pajamas look." They try to merge comfort and style. I'm not a huge fan of this genre of baby clothes.

I do particularly like babies in non-baby colors and styles like plaid and red.

Though, I have been known to put Lily in a completely pink outfit like this. Baby shorts make me laugh cause they are 3/4 diaper and 1/4 leg in length.

This outfit below was one I thought I was NOT going to like when I saw it on the hanger, but once I put it on her, I thought Lily looked really cute. They basically merged a onesie undershirt, cute high-waisted top and frilly bloomers into a one-piece outfit. So easy!

This outfit below is CLASSIC. As in, Carter's brand from 1955. I adore the little sweater. I just wish they weren't 100% scratchy polyester!

My favorite outfits on Lily are the the two below. One was a gift from Lindsay and the other was a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law Jenn. I just LOVE the ruffles. So cute and feminine. I also like the throw back to similar things I wore as a baby.

Then, there are the clothes that are cute in and of themselves, but when put together by my cute mom make me laugh out loud.

No matter what Lily wears or doesn't wear, she's absolutely adorable. Don't you agree?!

Lily Coos

So I've babysat and I have younger siblings, but I have never been so in love with the sounds of a baby than I am with this sweet girl. I absolutely adore her. I could sit and "talk" to her all day. I love being a mom!

Lily's Baby Photo Shoot

We decided to have Olivia's sister-in-law Kristal Carter do a photo shoot with Lily since she's super talented but is just getting started so it was a good price! Since she's living in California, we planned it for when she would be in Utah. Lily was about 6 weeks old at the time. Word to the wise: 6 weeks isn't quite little enough to sit still and isn't quite old enough to hold her head up. Kristal did really well considering Lily was struggling to cooperate.

Kristal came up with the cute beads and tutu outfit. The white crocheted dress was made by my grandmother Stephenson and I have a picture of myself in the same dress. I'll look for it and post it soon.

Tell me what you think! We are super happy with the pictures.