4 Months

Full of joy

and fudgy, pudgy rolls
Fan of fingers
and furry friends
Fair prince of mine
Four months old

Healthy and growing at 26 inches and 16 pounds :-)

Meal Planning Review

So I hopped back on the meal planning wagon about 2 weeks ago, and I've gotta say I'm enjoying the ride! Sure, there have been bumps-a trip or two to Target for poorly planned mozzarella, and some list busters like ice cream shoppe poptarts(who could resist?)-but for the most part things are going swimmingly. :-) Here's what dinner looked like this week:

Saturday: Chicken & Cous Cous
Sunday: Taco Skillet
Monday: Homemade Pizza (It was AWESOME, and I froze half the dough for another time)
Tuesday: Chicken Teryaki a la Stouffers
Wednesday: Spaghetti & garlic bread (Made double on Tuesday for friends)
Thursday: Errands = eating out
Friday: Lori's Chicken Poppy Seed dish, rolls & farmer's market corn *Yes Lori, we named it after you!

Unfortunately, we busted the grocery budget for this past week-boo! But it's bound to happen on some weeks and things always balance out by months end. For example, this week our bill was much higher because we bought chicken and ground beef, plus diapers and dog food. Of course those things are part of life and list, but they don't happen every week. And because we got our main proteins last week, they spill over into this week's dinners and voile, that's $10 off our bill. So for the most part, I'm happy to say that were staying within our monthly, if not weekly budget, and cooking much more efficiently around here. Success!

A Picture Parade

We've been busy bees these days-here's a glimpse of what we've been up to... A trip to the Farmers Market would'nt be complete without a country ham biscuit from the famed Farmer's Market restaurant(for Chris that is!).

We went to see Chris' dad and Evan got to meet his other Grandpa for the first time-and seeing the great grands was icing on the cake. Four Generations.

Mommy's been cooking up a storm in the kitchen-making messes and meal planning in high gear.

And last but not least, Piper's been driving us cuh-razy! Sigh, but who could stay mad at a pup like this?

Oops!

I accidentaly deleted my entire blog design and layout-oh my word! So in case your wondering what this new look is about, where that link went, or why this or that color has changed...this blog is officially "under construction." In the meantime, wish me luck in HTML land, and feel free to enjoy my silly, giggling babe below!

Honey to my ears

...is the sweet sound of my giggling baby boy.

Evan's "Imaginings"

I was reading one of my more traveled blogs recently, and saw a link to this amazingly creative mama's blog. It's called "Mila's Day Dreams" and is about a lady who dresses up her baby girl and creates scenes around her while she sleeps, and then photographs her "day dreams."

Like this:
"Mila had a little lamb"

and this..."laundry day"
It's a little crazy and a lot artsy, and I LOVE it! Being totally inspired, Evan and I had a little fun ourselves. A culinary creation if you will. :-) So here's our scene, welcome to chef Evan's "imaginings" in the kitchen!

Of course he's not quite dreaming, but awake and "imagining." I only wish I had some masculine apron's around the house, even the non-pink one's are driping in girly patterns! Next time(when I find some time haha)I'm envisioning a "David and Goliath" type scene. Call me a dork, but I'm super excited and already casting stuffed animals for the role of goliath. ;-)

(OK-back to reality-dishes, paint touch ups, mountain of work emails to sort through, diapers to trash, dog to walk, ect. ect.)

New beginnings...

This kiddo is really happy about something, and he's got some news to share...

...daddy got a new job!! Best of all, it's in Wilson! This is a huge, long awaited answered prayer, and we are so excited to finally begin the process of moving to and planting our roots in Wilson. We can't wait to be closer to our church, friends and family!

Now all we've gotta do is get this house sold, and then Wilson bound we will be! :-) For the past week we've shifted into high home improvement gear, and are tackling this market full speed ahead. We hope to have our home listed soon and would appreciate prayers for a quick sale. No doubt more to come-but if I'm a bit lax in posting, it's probably because we're knee high in carpet cleaning, painting, weed waring, deep cleaning and de-cluttering!

Wilson here we come! :-)

Meal Planning Palooza

I love the idea of meal planning. Not only does it save money, but it also cuts back on those countless "runs" to the grocery store for this and that during the week. When I take the time to prudently sit out and plan our weekly groceries, we are far less apt to go out to eat on a whim and are also able to keep those pesky impulse buys in check. Planning equals saving-I love it, and so does our budget!

Unfortunately, even the best laid plans are hit and miss at times.
I have a confession...
I have fallen off the meal planning wagon! For say, oh the last three months or so haha! Admittedly, my meal planning skills probably took a tumble towards the last trimester of my pregnancy, and I've been diving backwards ever since. Blush.

But now I am newly motivated and resolved once again to plan. This is me jumping onto that "meal planning Monday's" blog carnival and whipping my kitchen into shape. I get so many good ideas from other bloggers who do this. So here it goes, week 1 back in the meal planning saddle-wish me luck!

Dinners:
Saturday- Taco salad & Spanish rice
Sunday- Dinner out at Pei Wei
Monday- Chili w/ honey cornbread
Tuesday- Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo w/ broccoli
Wednesday-Hamburgers on the grill w/ fries
Thursday-Chicken Parmesan w/ Ceaser salad
Friday- Date night @ Shane's ribshack

Breakfasts:
Yogurts w/ granola
Bananas, Grapes
Lemon poppyseed muffins (will make in "mini" pan and separate into ziplock bags)
Oatmeal

Lunches:
Michaelina's frozen meals
Chicken noodle soup
Spaghettio Raviolios
Hot dogs w/ fruit side
Leftovers

Snacks & sidekicks:
Baby carrots
Apple slices w/ caramel
Cinnamon graham crackers
BBQ baked lays (My special item of the week)
"Take the Cake" ice cream (Chris' special pick)

Extra, Extra...Read all about it!

Making headlines this week in the latest Scott family news:

Rolling over(back to belly) and giggling!! Is there any sweeter sound?And last but not least, Evan started blowing Rasberries this week. At 3 months, he is full of new surprises every day, and wouldn't trade my front row seat for anything! Oh, and a last bit of news-we started the transition from eating every 3 hours to now 3.5 hours, and as a result going from 4 naps/day to 3. On day three of this growing boy's newly changed routine, I'm pleasantly surprised at how well he's taken to it-so far so good! It's been easy as pie really, praise the Lord!

And speaking of pie-a celebration one is in order soon...BIG NEWS to come!

Birthdays and Microwaves!

Last Thursday we celebrated my 25th birthday-that's right, I'm now a quarter century old! That night we celebrated with cake and presents, but saved my special lunch for the weekend since I had signed us up to take dinner over to some old friends with a new baby. Chris surprised me with a picnic basket full of fun, cupcake centered baking accessories, and my much anticipated new couch pillows-pictures coming soon. :-) The flowers were Evan's idea...he is one sweet & thoughtful kiddo! On Saturday, my family came up and had lunch with us. My mom and I share close July birthdays, so it's nice to celebrate together. :-) Afterwards, the girls went out shopping while my dad stayed behind to help Chris install our new over the range microwave. We've been talking about it for so long, it was nice to see our home improvement plans spring to life!

Thanks to my handy manny's, the microwave went in relatively easily, and looks great! I just love my kitchen and am so thankful for this new upgrade. Hopefully this will really help to set our home apart when we eventually put it on the market-which God willing will be very soon! Unfortunately our shopping trip was not as successful, with a limited space of time and a sick sister in the car-but hey, that's life! By the end of the day Chris and I were beat and settled in for a very early bedtime-the best kind of Saturday if you ask me!

Chris and I had a special lunch at Ragazzi's to top off the long birthday weekend, and it was mmm mmm good! Their bread sticks are to die for-my mouth waters just to think of them...the doughy garlic goodness, swimming in butter and sprinkled Parmesan cheese....yum! It's a relatively new restaurant in our area, so to top it off we get their coupons in our money mailers regularly, making it a Scott family favorite for sure! After lunch we said good riddance to our outdated and overworked space hoarder of a microwave, and took a short trip to BabiesRUs before bathtime, church(Chris played for the youth at a local church here in Raleigh) and a movie. I love my life at 25!

Here are my parents standing beside our newly installed microwave, holding perhaps my favorite present of all. :-)