Missing Cross

This morning, Charlotte's beloved cross went missing. I looked around in all of the usual spots where it tends to hide- behind the curtains, under the couch, beside the TV- but it was not to be found. We had to make a trip to Starke today, which had to be made with some lovey substitutes. She has a pink bunny that her Uncle Chad & Auntie Amber gave her and a teddy bear that came with a bouquet of flowers that Jared gave me back in the day (when he was wooing me:) that she has laid claim to, and they are often carried around the house with the cross and her favorite blanket. She did okay on the trip but when we got home was quite distressed as she was searching around the house for the cross. That led to a fussier than usual afternoon (which led to a grumpy mama!).

Shortly before bedtime, Jared and I began the search for the cross. We looked everywhere. In every cabinet, every drawer, underneath every piece of furniture, behind furniture, inside furniture, in the fridge and freezer, in the pantry, in the toybox, in every closet. Our house only has so many places where a toddler could have put it. No hidden nooks or crannies. We searched high and low in every possible place it could be. Or so we thought. It was, of course, in a place that we both walked by about 20 times.

She had stuffed it into a lunchbox that was laying in the floor in the living room. I suppose if we were cleaning up as we were searching we might have found it. It was in the area where we toss her things that are to be taken to her room, so I guess we didn't think to look inside it, we just looked around it at the other toys, saw no cross and moved along. We searched for that thing for at least 30 minutes.

Here is Charlotte, after the cross has been found, mocking her Mommy and Daddy in their "hunting" position.


Thank you, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Brittany, for the gift of the cross for her first Christmas. She clings to that thing like we should all cling to the real Cross.

Charlotte's Favorite Word

Charlotte has been cracking us up with her use of the word "stuck" lately! You may remember a couple weeks ago when she was stuck in the crib. Since then, she has found herself in several other situations where she has found the word to be appropriate. If she has trouble moving something (her rocking chair or rocking horse or the ottoman - she likes to rearrange everything), it is "stuck". When she can't get the shoes off of her baby doll, they are "stuck". When she is in her car seat and wants out, she is "stuck". If Jared is tickling her and she's done playingg their game but can't get up because of the paralyzing force of tickles, she is "stuck". When he spins her around in the laundry basket and she feels the centrifugal force pushing her against the basket, she is "stuck". When she is constipated, things are "stuck". :/ Her excessive use of the word cracks us up!

Busted Lip

Charlotte got her first busted lip last week :( I was babysitting Roman, one of her little friends from church, and the two of them were playing by the bench in the foyer. They had taken the cushion off of it and were having fun sitting and rolling around on it. I didn't see what happened, but somehow Charlotte fell and hit her lip on the corner of the bench. The screaming began immediately, followed shortly by a flow of blood. It was hard to tell how deep the cut was and where exactly all the blood was coming from. Kari, Roman's mom, got there a few minutes later so I was able to take Charlotte up to the Take Care Clinic at Walgreens, just to make sure the cut didn't require stitches. Thankfully, the Family Nurse Practitioner who was there said the cut didn't look deep enough for stitches. Whew! Later that evening, her lip was already looking much better.




I love Charlotte's pediatrician , but the Take Care Clinic has been very handy to have just down the road from us. We also took Charlotte there to have her mosquito bite looked at when she swelled up so much, and both times the PA's took a look at her and gave their recommendations, but because no major exam or medication was needed they didn't even charge us. Jared also went there when he had a bad sinus infection that had him wiped out for about a week, which was extra handy since neither of us have a regular physician (though maybe his oncologist would have seen him for the sinus infection!).

Coupon Clipping Queen

For a little over a month now, I've been doing my best to remember to buy two newspapers on Sunday, just for all the coupons it comes with. With some help from a couple websites, I've been doing my best to combine the sales at Publix with store, manufacturer, and competitor coupons, and am seeing some great savings!

The receipt from Wednesday's shopping trip. I saved more than I spent! Sweet!


My 2" coupon binder :) Each coupon flyer gets three-hole-punched and is organized by date


My coupon file for loose coupons from the blinkies in stores or printed online


For anyone interested, Frugal Coupon Living and Fiddledeedee Mom are the sites that help me match up the sales with the coupons to score the best deals. They only work with the larger chains, so for all the Hitchcock's shoppers in Keystone, these won't help much, but it might give you an idea of how to score the best deals. Fiddledeedee Mom does, however, highlight Harvey's deals, so if you're willing to scrub it up over there, you could probably save some moolah (she lists the stores on the left hand side of the page... scroll down a little and just click on the link for the store of your choice to see this week's sales and deals)!

Naomi's First Present!

Naomi received her first present yesterday! You know, other than the gift of life and all :) My sweet cousin, Becky, sent this adorable diaper cake for her. Her friend makes these adorable cakes, and it is obvious how much thought and love went into it. The theme for Naomi's room will be the "Fruits of the Spirit" (using red and ivory toile and blue accents... the colors of strawberries and blueberries were my inspiration:), and the cake goes right along with the theme. Grapevine wrapped around the bottom and a pear perched on top. It's just precious!




Seriously, it's the cutest thing ever! Thank you so much, Becky!

Go Gators!

The most wonderful time of the year has officially begun! College football is here! Woo Hoo! Here is Charlotte in the cute little dress that I made for her on Friday afternoon. She loved modeling it :) Such a ham!


On Saturday, we had a garage sale... a 4-family garage sale! That translates into lots of junk, stuff, other people's treasures! Charlotte really enjoyed all of the new (to her) stuff to play with. She found the toy walker my mom was selling and had a great time all day with everyone pushing and pulling her around.


On Monday we all got dressed up in our Gator gear once again and went to Chick-Fil-A for their free chicken sandwich giveaway for people wearing a college logo. I asked Jared if he thought if I put a logo on my belly if I'd get an extra sandwich for Naomi :) I usually like to wear my orange and blue, but all of my orange and blue is a bit ill-fitting these days, so I had to go with just a pink Gator hat.


And just a random picture of Charlotte... this is what happens when you let her play with a squirt bottle.

"Stuck"

Charlotte usually goes right to bed with no fussing or whining at all, but, always one to keep us on our toes, tonight she changed things up a little. About fifteen minutes after Jared put her down, she started crying. Usually when she does this, it is because she has dropped her stuffed cross that she loves so much. Tonight, she had both her cross and her blanket still in the crib with her, but was asking for more drink. After getting her a little more, she laid right back down and I told her "night-night".

Another fifteen or so minutes after that, we heard her crying again. I told Jared it was his turn to check on her so in he went. He opened the door and told her "Little girl, it's time for night-night," to which she replied, "Stuck!" He turned the light on and walked over to her crib and saw that she was, indeed, stuck. She somehow managed to get her knee stuck between the slats of the crib. He called me in and between the two of us we managed to get the poor thing unstuck without hurting her or breaking the crib.

Once we knew she was unstuck and unharmed, we both had a good laugh at the pitifully cute way she was telling her Daddy that she needed some help. "Stuck!" Bless her heart!