One Year!!

Our Baby Girl

Lenna-Grace Caroline Robinson

April 8, 2009

8 lbs, 9 oz, 21.5 inches

Our baby girl is no longer a baby. Lenna-Grace is now a toddler! Last Thursday, Lenna-Grace celebrated her 1st birthday. Well, we actually held her party on April 3, but on April 8 she turned 1!!

It's hard to believe that she's already a toddler. Everyday with her is amazing. Here's some of her wonderful accomplishments in a year!

• Crawling--she began at SIX months!


• Going up and down the stairs! (she began going up at about 8-months and down at 11-months). She's so good at it now that she thinks she can go anywhere!


• Pulling up and walking with walkers, pushing chairs, pushing her own stroller, and holding onto one hand. Basically, walking but refuses to do it all by herself. But she LOVES pushing anything and everything.


• Sleeping well! She's a great sleeper. She sleeps 12 hours every night and takes two 1.5-2 hour naps during the day.


• NO BOTTLE!! At the beginning of 11-months, we took away her morning bottle and gave her whole milk in a cup with a straw. Then about two weeks later we took away the afternoon bottle. Last Tuesday she had her LAST bottle. She is doing perfectly fine without it.


• TEETH!! Wow--the little one has NINE of them now. She has the four top and bottom, as well as one back tooth on top. It looks like another bottom one is coming too!


• Independence. She is such an independent little one. She loves playing with anyone, but she can play by herself very well.


• Reading--she LOVES to have books read to her. It is great when your child points to the book shelf and groans at bedtime.


• Pointing-yes, she points at everything she wants.


• Vocal. Lenna-Grace giggles, babbles and talks all day. She says mama, dada, bye-bye, and cookie (twice).


• Dances. She loves to move to music. She will sway or bounce all day.


• Eating. She loves to eat. She loves green beans and oranges especially, but eats just about anything will give her.


• Patty Cake--this is the cutest! She will clap while I sing. She use to just clap, but now she will "roll 'em"!

Needless to say, our little angel is growing up so fast. We are so blessed. She is wonderful! She does know how to throw a small temper here and there, and we are beginning to address her outburst when she does not get what she wants. When we move into our new home (in 2.5 weeks), I will begin potty training--yes, she will only be 13 months, but I think she will do great.

Here's her Easter picture/1st birthday picture. She's beautiful!!

Enjoying her birthday cake

22 lbs, 6 oz, 30 inches!

Happy Birthday Lenna-Grace, we love you!!

Couponing and CVS

That's right--Since I have become a full-time stay-at-home mom, I have also begun couponing. When I say "couponing," I do not mean I clip a few coupons and use them when I need them. Nope--I learned that there is a right and wrong way to coupon. Did you know that? You should only use coupons when the item is on sale and stock up on it! For example, two weeks ago I received a coupon for $1.50 off two boxes of Raisin' Bran. John and I love this cereal; however, I did not use right away. This week I received another coupon for $1.00 off two boxes of Kellogg's cereal. CVS was running a special for 4 boxes of Kellogg's Cereal for $10.00--that's $2.50 a box. PLUS--I had two coupons I could use. So, I bought two boxes of Raisin' Bran (received $1.50 off) and one box of Apple Jacks and one box of Fruit Loops ($1.00 off). That made my purchase 4/$7.50 ($1.875 a box). PLUS...CVS gave $5.00 in Extra Care Bucks--which actually made it 4/$2.50 ($0.625 a box).

Yes, I know, CVS is way more expensive than a grocery store and Wal-Mart, but if you read the sales paper, use coupons, and use Extra Care Bucks, you can really save a lot of money!! Let me share with you my trip to CVS today:

Here is the regular prices and what I would have paid.
4 packs of 12 cans of Pepsi ($4.99 x 4 = $19.96)
4 boxes of cereal ($4.49 x 4 = $17.96)
2 Oral B Toothbrushes ($4.99 x 2 = $9.98)
2 Almay Eyeliners ($7.99 x 2 = $15.98)
TOTAL: $63.88

Now...here's the sale
4 packs of 12 cans of Pepsi (4/$12.00)
4 boxes of cereal (4/$10.00)
2 Oral B Toothbrushes (2/$8.00)
Buy 1 Get one free Almay (2/$7.99)
TOTAL: $37.99
2/$1.50 of Raisin Bran
2/$1.00 of Kellogg Cereal
TOTAL: $35.49

Plus--I used $11.00 from previous trip in Extra Care Bucks (it's like a store credit)
TOTAL: $24.49

Finally...I received more extra care bucks
$5.00 - Cereal
$3.00 - Pepsi
$8.00 - Oral B Toothbrush
Earned -- $16.00

TOTAL SPENDING: $8.49 WOW--for 4 boxes of cereal, 48 can drinks, two eyeliners, and two toothbrushes!

That's major savings to me!!

Last week, I went to Foodlion. My original bill was $143.96; however, my total after coupons and sales was $91.38. That was 37% savings! My goal--to save more than 50% from now on. I've begun to get my coupons weekly. I also look at Southern Savers blog daily. She does an excellent job of posting sales and coupons! There are other bloggers as well, but she is very detailed.

9 Wonderful Months

Lenna-Grace is now NINE-months-old. Oh how time flies. She's an angel to be around and such a joy to spend time with daily. She is a wonderful baby. I know every parent thinks they have great babies, but we truly do. She slepts well, she eats great, she's independent, and she's rarely fussy (unless something is wrong). God truly blessed us with an angel.

Just to sum up some of her outstanding accomplishments so far.

CRAWLING--yes, she is fast. She did this by 6-months-old. She's a quick one. You can't turn your head or she's gone!

Crawls up stairs--baby gates are now needed.

Eats real foods--loves to eat just about anything. She uses her pincher grip very well. She puts a spoon in her mouth but not with food on it yet.

Naps twice a day for about two-hours; sometimes three times if needed.

And she LOVES BOOKS. We read every night and she loves it.

New Year...New Blogger

That's exactly what I mean--Since it is a New Year, I've decided to become a new blogger and actually BLOG!! As you can see, my last post was when Lenna-Grace was 3-months-old and she is now 9-months-old. WOW!

So to begin my new blogging experience, I am going to try to update this more often. I feel I have a little bit more time to do such now. So let's see how well I can do this time!

3 months and counting

Well, baby girl is now 3 months-old as of last Wednesday. I wanted to reflect on what she has done over those three months.

Lenna-Grace can...
1) Sing! Yes, you sing and she babbles with you. You stop and she stops.
2) Finally, with much work, take a bottle. This was necessary since I go back to work in August. I'm going to continue nursing and pumping, so a bottle was a must.
3) Sleep through the night. Oh yes, baby girl mastered this about 8 weeks old. She now sleeps from 8:30-5:30, and then 6:00-9:00. She gets in 12 hours!!
4) Roll over from her tummy to her back--surprisingly enough, she did this at 4 weeks and 3 days old.
5) GIGGLE....it's adorable.
6) Chew her fingers very well!!
7) Eat cereal--this was just accomplished a couple of days ago.
8) Sit up with a little support. She'll be doing it alone soon.
9) Enjoy a pacifier! She never wanted one much, but now....she loves to suck on it when she's tired or fussy in the car.
10) Enjoy a little TV. I do not sit her in front of the TV often, but we discovered she LOVES Go Gabba Gabba. She smiles and yells with delight for the entire show. It has bright colors and songs, so I guess that is why. Since she enjoys it, I let her watch it once a day--it's cute to watch her:)
11) Get in the pool! We've taken her swimming in our pool a few times. She does very well.
12) Splash in the tub. Lenna-Grace LOVES bath time.
13) Pass more gas than anyone else in the family in a given day.
14) POUT!! It is so cute when she does it, which is rarely, but she puckers out her lower lip....too adorable.
15) Our baby girl can be away from home for a few hours...yes, this more something Mommy and Daddy had to learn, but she's stayed a few hours away with Aunt TT or Grammy. I'm going to MISS her so much when I go to work.

Our Growing Angel

Wow. She's 2.5 months old now. It is amazing how fast she has grown. At her 2 month check-up (about two weeks ago), she was 13 lbs. 7 oz. and 24.25 inches long. WOW!! When she was born she was 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 22.5 inches. We were amazed by her height being that we are both on the shorter side. When we went to the doctor, he said she was in the 98% of her height! Take a look at the growth in only 10 weeks.

The picture above is Lenna-Grace only 3 days old.

The picture below is at 10 weeks old.

Everyone wants to know who she looks like. To some, she looks like John. To others, she looks like me. And of course, others believe she is too young to tell. I thought I would show a few pictures and let everyone decide for themselves. Of course, as she grows, she is going to change in many ways. However, for now--take a look at the photos below.

The picture above is of Lenna-Grace at 7-weeks. The picture on the

bottom is of me when I was a baby. She's wearing my dress!!

I will try to keep updating on the growth of this beautiful angel. I call her my "punkin" and John calls her his "pooh bear." She has many names already!

Almost There...

FIVE MORE DAYS!! Well, of course, that means five more days until the "due date." However, the arrival of Lenna-Grace is uncertain by all but God alone. He may have her come early--as in tonight--that sure would be nice!! Or, He may have decided she needed to arrive a little late, I hope not too late. No matter when she is expected to be welcomed into this world--everyone our home and family is getting so anxious to see this beautiful little girl.

For me, I am ready to sleep without this huge bump in front of me. For the past few days, I believe I have gotten at most two hours of sleep a night. I cannot get comfortable. When I do fall asleep, this little beauty inside of me starts kicking. Yes, I know that I will not be able to sleep a full night's sleep for awhile; however, I will able to find some sort of comfortable position and sleep in intervals. Cat naps will work for me!

Today also marks my last day of work for the school year, hopefully. Maternity leave will begin on Monday and I will be out until the doctor says so. I am hoping to be able to finish the whole school year out on maternity leave. This will allow me to spend a complete 4.5 months with my precious bundle of joy without working. Then the new school year would begin in mid-August, early-September. Although, I do have to say I have the best childcare lined up ever and I will not have any worries leaving Lenna-Grace with her--Thanks SIS!! Tuesdee has been an amazing stay at home mom for over eight years now. She has graciously accepted the job of watching Lenna-Grace when I return to work.

Many people hate to leave their children at daycare. Numerous moms decide to stay at home simply because of the fear of childcare providers not doing an adequate job of watching their children. As John and I faced the decision of whether or not I would return to work for the 2009-2010 school year, never once did I worry over how my little one would be provided for. I knew I could leave her with my sister and she would be wonderful with her and to her. I will be returning to teaching once the new year begins. I love teaching and it something God has given me a passion for. I do not feel I will be neglecting my daughter-I feel I will be allowing her some wonderful time with her Aunt Tuesdee:)