Hopes We Have

This holiday season has been very different from past holiday seasons. I didn't think about how much it would up the pace to throw a birthday right in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmas, but Zachary must have thought it would be more exciting that way...and I suppose that is one way to put it. ;)

My son is very blessed. I think about this fact often. There are so many people who love him and show him love on a regular basis. I am so thankful for that. However, I hesitate to call it "blessed" because many children don't have that luxury...and I don't think that they have been less "blessed" by God. I think they have been less taken care of by people. God has the same amount of love and blessing for all children. He is with them always and loves them unconditionally. He is also hoping that we will help display it for Him and unfortunately - we fail a lot.

So have you ever been to a birthday party for a 1 year old?..who is an only child?...who is the 1st grandchild on both sides of the family?...who has a large and loving church family?.... well if you haven't let me just tell you it is quite a sight. :) Zachary has enough toys to last him the next 4 years of his life AT LEAST. Fortunately, we didn't do much for Christmas because it seemed unnecessary and overkill. I'm glad we made that decision because he doesn't need ANY more. Haha! He was more than taken care of on his birthday.

My grandmother recently told me that my mom would have my sister and me pack up toys we didn't play with anymore to take to "children who didn't have many toys." I am glad that she did that and glad to hear about it. Zachary will do the same. This conversation made me think about what I hope Zachary will learn from something like that.

We have discussed it often, and if there is one thing that Chris and I hope to see Zachary embrace and understand it is not "our denomination" or a perfect/acceptable appearance, or the ability to have the right answers or make the best decision all the time.....it is the desire and ability to love - and TRULY love everyone he can. The ability to understand how his actions can and do effect others and the desire to show them hope through love and compassion and empathy.

There are many things that we want for our child, but if he understands and displays that - the love of Jesus, the love that Jesus spent his life giving, the essence and hope of God - then I don't care what it looks like, because it will be glorifying his Father and truly making the world a better place.

Chris and I have experienced this love and the impact that sharing this love has on life and the world around us, and it is our deepest desire to pass this on to our children.

Sometimes I am afraid that we will fail.

We aren't perfect. We mess up.We don't do a perfect job of displaying this love 24/7. As much as it stinks every parent gives their child "issues" in some way. :)

BUT we don't have to be perfect. We have grace just like they do. What better way is there to teach your children about the grace of God than to let them see you experience it, right?

Is that fun?? Nope! But it is real and it is essential. If more parents and adults could let go of pride and say "I messed up" or "I was wrong" or "I need to apologize and ask forgiveness" I think it would make a dramatic difference in the lives of our families. I hope to do this. (big aspirations, I know ;) ..I am sure I will have plenty of opportunities!)

Bottom line, I am thankful for the love that my son is surrounded by, and I hope that it changes his life. I hope that it stands out more than the harshness and pain that he will inevitably feel in his life here. I hope that it causes him to ask questions and to really SEE others - and in turn to give them real love.

I can help with that...but I can't make it happen. What a load off to accept that its not fully my responsibility. God is with him and God is love. What more could I ask for?

Hopefully, as we seek to help Zachary understand what it means to love your neighbor...some of it will rub off on us too. ;) We are still learning! ..and always will be.

All in a year

One year ago today this perfect little boy made us a family of 3. :)

While I was pregnant time was dragging on and on...

Then - Zachary was born....and then time just started to FLY and it hasn't stopped since!

This morning when Zachary woke up he was 1 year old. :) We took him downstairs to see his present - his very own basketball hoop and ball (which daddy was as excited about as Zachary was...if not more)!

My Zachary will never be an infant again. It has been so much fun to watch him grow and now he is learning something new each day. This morning he brought Chris a book and said "book" when he handed it to him and then when he finished reading it he said "again". !!! It's so crazy how one day they can't do something and then all the sudden the next day they can. I feel so blessed to be able to watch him grow up each day. It truly is a miracle. I love you Zachary Paul Kauffman!

Happy birthday baby!!

(Sorry, but you will always be my baby!)

I Can Do It Myself...

Zachary has reached a new level of independence lately - quite frankly, I was not expecting it at this point. In some ways, its really cool to see cause he is learning new things almost every day now, but in some ways - it is quite trying...
He will plop himself down on the ground if he doesn't want to walk where we are steering him. He will thrust himself around to keep from being put in his carseat, and he will throw things on the floor if he is mad at us for some reason. Oh - and all of these while SCREAMING.
Now, this attitude doesn't make up a huge part of the day -he is still generally a happy and content baby...or toddler I guess I should say...who even listens when we tell him no. But now all the time anymore, no sir!

Needless to say - he gets picked up and carried when he refuses to walk, he still goes in the carseat no matter how much he thrusts his chest and legs, and he doesn't get toys when he decides he feels like throwing them...no matter how much he screams.
We are learning how to respond as we go because disciplining an 11 month old is different since his understanding of situations and consequences is not extensive, but I don't want to raise a brat so we have to respond - and do so in a way that he can somewhat understand (which at this point seems to be being consistent and hoping he will realize that his behavior is not going to alter the outcome in any way). I am not interested in completely ignoring these things now so that I end up with a 2 or 3 yr old who doesn't know that its not ok and that hes not going to get his way with that behavior. It's annoying to deal with when he is this age, but it would be much more ridiculous if he still thought he could get away with it when he is a year or two older.

Some of these lil outbursts, we realized, were not just out of defiance. For example - Zachary went through a short phase when he would not eat much at meals and was very fussy the whole time. I could tell that he was frustrated about something and trying to express something to me but I didn't know what. I was getting really stressed about it, but we figured out that he wanted to be able to feed himself. For a while, he didnt get any food to his mouth but was perfectly content to hold a spoon that he could try to dip in his food while we fed him with another spoon. Problem solved and no harm done. I just wasn't expecting my baby to be ready to feed himself so soon!!
Now he is able to feed himself things like applesauce and yogurt that stick to a spoon on their own and he actually gets it into his mouth! Is it messy?? OH YES! But it cleans up and he has to learn sometime, even if it is sooner than I expected!

Heres a lil preview.
PS - the way the spoon contorts his face is quite hilarious.

Received this book from booksneeze.com a few weeks ago and it is very cute. Its full of little stories of experiences revolving around the Christmas holiday. The stories are sweet and inspiring and unique and it is going to be a great book to have sitting out through the holiday season. It's a small book with a bright cover so it will be easy to display. It's also going to be a good book to read with our son - the stories are not too long and they are often captivating so I'm sure that reading them as a family around Christmas will be great. Not the most exciting book ever, but definitely worth having around!

My Lil' Pumpkins

Our lil family headed out to the pumpkin patch this morning. Zach was all ready for a good time at the farm with his overalls and what not. ;)
We went on a hayride (that was supposed to be the haunted hayride but Zachary fortunately laughed at all the creepy costumes and signs) that took us to the pumpkin patch. We played around the barn, and we let Zach pick out his own lil pumkin - which he quickly proceeded to try to eat.

We also took lots of pictures. I did a little editing and thought I'd post a few. :)
By the way - I LOVE FALL!

Zachary and Daddy on the hayride

Zachary and Mommy by the barn

I Can't believe he is already walking! He has been taking off this week....

Sorting through the pumpkins - gotta pick the best one of course...

:)



So the pumpkin patch that we went to (at Harmon Tree Farm) was actually a fake one. They just threw a bunch of pumpkins in the middle of a field - and it wasn't really done well cause the field was overgrown and hard to even walk through. BUT - the barn was fun to play around and they also have a petting Zoo and even a huge play area for kids with all kinda fun stuff to run around on, so it was worth it for sure and Zach had a great time on the hayride and our tour guide was great - but it was a bit expensive for 2 adults (zach was free).
Bottom line - we had a lot of fun together, we will definitely go back, we will not partake of the hayride to the fake pumpkin patch but will enjoy the rest of the farm for free, and you should too if you are in the area. :)

The Boy Who Changed The World

So this is the most recent book we received from Booksneeze. (Check it out for free books: www.booksneeze.com) Its a great story, a little too advanced for Zachary at this point but one we will read to him later. It's a lot more detailed and involves a lot more history than I expected, but its cool anyway. Great message behind it on encouraging children to pursue their dreams and abilities. :)

How did this happen??!

This was 4 days ago:

This was 3 days ago:

This was 2 days ago:

This was yesterday:

This is today but will soon be a year from now!:


Some days I find myself sooo tired and worn out and thinking...I can't wait until Zachary can do more on his own. Some days I find myself sooo aware of the fact that he will never be a baby again and I'm so afraid I'm going to miss something. :) I guess I will probably always have both of those kinds of days. I am so fortunate to get to be home with my baby to see him grow each and every day. I swear, one day he can't smile, the next day he smiles; one day he can't roll over, the next day he rolls across the room; one day he can't crawl, the next day you can't catch him....now he is pulling up on everything and standing alone. I'm sure the 1st step will be very soon. So exciting but still kinda sad.
So thankful for digital photography, we have captured so much and I can always look and remember. :)
Squeeze your baby everyday!

Mortgage Book

This book is a great resource if you are going to be starting a mortgage anytime soon. I wished I had read it before we had one but we had just recently finalized ours when the book arrived. It is still a good source of information. Some of the info might seem basic if you have some knowledge of the process already but if not it is a great starting point on getting a mortgage and also on the best way to handle it once you have one.

Yes I still get excited about coupon savings ;)

So we were on vacation last week which means when we got home I really needed to head to the grocery store, but I put it off until today. Zach and I went to Kroger and it turned out to be a better trip as far as savings than I had thought it would be. :) And since I'm a dork like that and it makes me happy - I am posting a blog about it.

We got everything pictured above (which includes diapers, gillette body wash, fresh fruit, cereal, milk, juice, toothbrush/paste, etc. - and even ice cream, mind you) and I only spent $30.34. Yep, thats right! The original bill on the receipt would have been $112.36...and I only paid $30.34. :)
Now part of that is thanks to coupons from the paper, also from shortcuts.com and cellfire.com which load coupons onto my shopper card and can be used along with manufacturers coupons, also had some kroger coupons that print at the register and can also be combined with manu. coupons, AND we tranferred a prescription to Kroger pharmacy and they are running a special where you get $25 free on your shoppers card when you do that.
It helps to see the value of using coupons and looking for deals if you look at it this way.... diapers are around $10 normal price, gillette body wash is $4.50 (we got 2), a big box of cheerios is $4 (also got 2), and always pads are $6. That would total $33 normal price. So basically I paid for those things and EVERYTHING else I got was free!
I think I deserve quite a large Dr. Pepper for that one thank you very much. ;)

Zachary was dedicated last Sunday - on Mothers Day which was pretty cool. It was a special day and he had lots of family come for the occasion. I just loved his little outfit! :)




We had a great day with family afterwards. He is a very blessed little boy to have so many people that care about him in his life.
Chris and I both grew up in our church so we think its pretty cool that he was dedicated here. We are thankful that we know God loves him and wants the best for him and we can't wait to see HIM learn about how God loves him and how he can love others too. :)

Booksneeze Again

So, if you are not interested in books I apologize for the posts - but for booksneeze, I have to blog on the books they send me.
Fortunately, this book I REALLY liked. I only got it last week but I couldn't put it down at night so I finished it at about 1am this morning. :)
Not only does The Heart Mender have a great story, but its "mostly true" and very informative about a period of time in our history that a lot of people don't know about.
I would definitely recommend this book if you like to read and like to learn. :)

Yay, a Garden!

I have been wanting to put in a small veggie garden to help save $$ and just to see if I could actually be successful at it. :) My mom loves gardening and said she would help so we got everything ready and planned to put a raised bed in our backyard today. We were trying to do this as cheaply as possible...since the main reason for doing it is to save money in the first place (and to have some fresh healthy produce around).
It was a perfect day do it...rained a little in the morning and then stopped so we could get the work done most of the afternoon and then started raining right as we were finishing up. It was overcast and felt great outside so it ended up being a great day for it!
Dad and Chris got and hauled the dirt (from a dirt yard right near our house. $17 for a truck load of top soil with compost already mixed in).

We got the wood for the bed for free from a company downtown that gives away their crates. All we had to do was go pick them up and take them apart.

Mom had some supplies already which she brought, and we purchased some plants and seeds on sale at Home Depot earlier this week.


We got some strawberries that we decided to pot cause mom has always done it that way...I hope they grow! Love some strawberries!!

Zachary was so great. He played in his exersaucer for most of them time...then he took a 2 hour nap which was nice too. He is such a good baby. He loved just watching everything we were doing all day.

After several hours of hard work - all done! We shall see what happens (hopefully something grows). We had to put up chicken wire cause we have lots of rabbits in our yard.

We planted 3 different tomato plants (2 red and 1 yellow), green and red bell peppers, banana peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, green beans, brocolli, and corn - all in the bed. We also did some herbs (parsley, oregano, and mint) in planters, and of course the strawberries. I am excited to see what we come up with.

Thank you so much Mom and Dad and Chris for workin so hard with me!

Booksneeze

Read Isaac Newton by Mitch Stokes recently. It was interesting because I did not know very much basic information about him, only the major accomplishments you learn about. I have to say it was a little boring to read but very packed full of information. I know that if Zachary ever has to do a report on him for some reason we will have a book with plenty of life details. :) Even though it wasn't my favorite read - I did learn from it so I guess it served its purpose! :)

Enfamil deal

I know that I am a big dork for posting about random savings that I get but I don't care - I like saving money. :)

So here is the deal that Chris and I ended up with yesterday....
Because of certain health reasons it was necessary for me to go back on a bc pill recently (I have had issues with ovarian cysts in the past). This meant that I could no longer breast feed because you can't take those meds when you are breast feeding. We had already been supplementing with enfamil formula for Zachary for a while so the transition for him was totally fine. I was COMPLETELY fine with no longer breast feeding - I am very glad that I was able to for the first 4 months because I know it is better for Z, but that was the only thing that had kept me doing it up to this point anyway.
The only thing that wasn't ok with me was the fact that this would mean having to use formula all the time - and the stuff is freakin expensive. Z has a spit up problem and Enfamil premium works best for him so we feel like we need to stick with that brand for now (although I recently heard that there are walmart and target brands that are the same thing so we might need to look into that - thank you Susan. :) ).
Well we were running low on formula so we ran into Babies R Us last night to get some and ended up with a lot more than we planned on getting...
They were running a special stating that if you bought 2 cans that were "bonus cans" (they have 20% more than normal) you could get a $5 giftcard to babies r us. So we planned to do this. BUT...they only had bonus cans in a big pack of 6. I didn't plan on buying 6 and spending $150. So we were trying to calculate the best deal and we ended up with the 6 big cans anyway.
This is how we did it...
Sundays paper had enfamil coupons which some friends were kind enough to give me so I had mine plus a few extra. There were 2 coupons in each paper: one for $5 off when you buy 2 cans and one for $3 off when you buy one can.
I ALSO had some "checks" that enfamil sends us every now and then for formula purchases: I had 2 $4 ones and 2 $5 ones. You can only use one check per can purchase though.
I had also received a coupon for a $15 mail in rebate when you spend $40 on formula.
So...this is how it went...
We bought 6 cans (each with 20% more formula free) so really we got the equivalent of 7.2 cans.
Cost $150
-2 coupons for $5 off 2 and 2 coupons for $3 off 1
=$134
-$18 in enfamil checks (u can only use 1 per can so we could use all 4)
=$116
-the $15 we would get back in giftcards for buying 2 bonus cans 3X
=101
-the $15 mail in rebate
=$86
-$5 because this purchase qualified us for $5 back on our rewards card to toys r us
=$81
-$30 we had on a previous gift card from babies r us
TOTAL PAID=$51
Keep in mind that a normal sized can costs $25....so we got the eqivalent of 7 cans for $50 (or $81 if you dont count the giftcards we used for the purchase)

Thats $7.30 per average size can that we paid today. (or $11.57 w/out giftcards)

YAY! Plus we are stocked up for a while...living on a budget means I have been going out to buy formula about every week or so. Won't have to go again for a while...unless of course another deal like this comes up. We still have about 8 more months of formula feeding to go so any awesome deals at this point are worth it! And I can think of MANY other things I would rather spend extra money on than formula so thank you Babies R Us. :)

Priceless

I'm thinkin' someone isn't a very big fan of peas.... Can't say that I blame him though...

Harris Teeter and Mat Kearney

Chris took me to Charleston on Monday to see Mat Kearney in concert...this was my third time seeing him, but it was still pretty much awesome! He is my favorite! We had a great time and the weather was just perfect for playing in Charleston.

Right before we left the house I happen to look online and see that Harris Teeter was doing "triple coupons" again. We dont have a Harris Teeter but we happened to go in once when we were in Charleston when they were doing this before...they triple manufact. coupons up to $.99 so you can get a lot of stuff for free or for just a few cents. I decided that I wanted to go again...living on 1 income means I wanna save on food whenever possible. Chris thought it was ridiculous that I had 4 or 5 hours to kill for my birthday in Charleston and I wanted to go to the grocery store :) but he was a trooper and let me anyway. We still had time to walk around downtown and the waterfront and eat at one of our fav places before the concert so it was all good.
I took a picture of the outcome....
We spent $18.69 on $100.37 worth of groceries after coupons and vic card savings! I was pretty excited. That's an average of 33 CENTS an item.

I know theres a lot of stuff in the picture, but we got stuff from mustard to toothpaste to blueberry muffin mix to toilet bowl cleaner.... too bad we don't have a Harris Teeter in Columbia anymore!

Danielle Buol Photography

We finally had some pictures taken of Zachary...unfortunately he wasn't very cooperative. The boy is RARELY fussy, but he topped himself on this day. I went to high school with Danielle and she goes to our church so I looked into a session with her when I saw her very reasonable offer. We are VERY happy with the results. She would have gotten a lot more variety if he had been more cooperative but since he wasn't we just did what we could. Look her up on facebook if you are interested - she is listed in my fan pages!

By this point in the game - Z was not happy, haha, but I still think this grumpy picture is cute:

Its been forever

I have not written in a LONG time. I have thought about it a few times but I post a lot on facebook so I don't always feel like I have much more to say. Today I am home in bed feeling pretty sick (Chris and Zachary are at church) so I figured I would go ahead and do some updating.
Zachary is huge. :) Not fat - just really big. He is a couple of inches longer than average for his age (I cant believe hes already almost 4 months!). He gets more and more fun every week. He has started reaching for and picking up things constantly - most of those things end up in his mouth...including his thumb which has recently become a favorite.
We are still working on his sleep schedule. We have had a lot of things going on the last couple of weeks so its been hard to keep it regular. However, the other night he went to bed at 10 and woke up at 3am...I just put the pacifier back in his mouth though and he slept until 6am...hopefully we are making progress.

I really feel like he is ready to start trying solid foods but the doctor said to wait until after his 4 month well check up so I will be good and wait..just a couple more weeks.

The boy LOVES mornings (dont know where he gets THAT from). He is the most smiley and talkative in the morning. He really is such a good baby...and darn cute if I do say so myself! ;)
I remember thinking, before he was born, that I wondered if I would have trouble remembering to enjoy him in between all of the endless tasks that babies require. I have always loved children and loved playing with and entertaining other peoples children but I knew it would be different when the child was there all the time. I just hoped I wouldnt forget to have fun and just love holding him and listening to him and paying close attention to him "learning" the world - which has always been so much fun to me to watch with other kids. Well, I am definitely NOT worried about that anymore. :) I really, really enjoy him and love watching him and the best thing about holding him is...I DONT HAVE TO GIVE HIM BACK! ;) He is mine to take with me!

I am so happy to be able to stay home with him and enjoy my family.

I was just thinking the other day how much I love our little family. I have the best husband and son in the wide world and I am so thankful for them.

Ok, enough bragging... ;)

On the other hand - I need motivation to get more things done around the house and to exercise and stuff like that. I have good intensions that are often not fulfilled and I need to work on that. A;so, as of now things are really tight financially. We both want me to be able to continue to stay at home and raise our son, but I really need to find something part time that will work with my schedule and bring in at least a little more $. I appreciate your prayers on that issue. I trust that God will provide and he has and is doing so, so I know he will make the best option possible.

So glad Spring is here (though my nose isn't) and so hopeful for the weather to stay warm!

We have lots of little trips coming up soon and I am looking forward to them and hoping the travel goes smoothly.

Life is good!

Rice Cereal

The smiles are increasing in frequency the last couple of weeks which is pretty awesome! But more importantly, the nighttime sleeping is increasing in hours! Keep your fingers crossed but Zachary has been giving us 6 hours between feedings through the night. Usually goes from 10 to 10:30 pm until 4 or 4:30. Then he goes til around 7. Hopefully we can cut out that middle of the night feeding in the next few weeks. He is on the right track though! He was stretching the time out a little on his own, but really I think its the rice cereal that we started mixing in with his milk for that 10 pm feeding. Several people recommended we give it a try and he hasn't had any problems with it so we are thankful for it! (we tried not using it one night to see if it was really helping and he only went 4 hours that night...so we will stick with it)

Haiti and Partners in Health

Several months ago I randomly bought a book that caught my attention in a discount book store. It's called "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder. I had never heard of the book or the author but after reading the back of the book my interest was peaked. I would put this book near the top of my list of "life changing"...or maybe I should say "most educating" reads.

I don't think it is a book that EVERYONE would be as interested in, but I wish that everyone would read it. It shows the difference one person can make, and the sacrifice that this difference can require. It is about Dr. Paul Farmer and the organization he has started and maintained called Partners In Health.

I don't understand exactly where Paul Farmer stands spirituallly...I do know that he believes the words and message of Jesus Christ and I do know that he is living out that message and has inspired many others to do so.

Dr. Farmer has opened health clinics in the poorest areas of our world, the places he is told it will never help...and he helps. He doesn't only address the health needs of the people there either. Any need they have, he does whatever he can to help and his staff is taught the same. Partners in Health improves the lives of entire communities where ever they are established.

When I heard about the earthquake in Haiti, I immediately thought of the clinic there and wondered if it had been destroyed or not. As of now it seems that they were not but they are struggling and they are attempting to quickly respond to the needs in Port Au Prince right near them.

The country needs our help...the people there always do, more so than we often realize, but especially now. If you want more info, go to the partners in health website.

And check out the book too: (I hear there is sequel now too)

Also, here is a video of Dr. Farmer speaking about their efforts and why he does what he does. It was made before the earthquake so it doesn't reference it but it still lets you know what they do in Haiti and other 3rd (and what he calls 4th) world countries.

Partners In Health - Paul Farmer

If you want to donate $ to help, this is a very trustworthy organization...all of your money will directly help the people of haiti who need it.

6 wks and a lil smile

I'm still waiting for Zachary to REALLY smile and laugh at us...but I at least got a picture of a lil one yesterday. (It was prolly just gas). Can't believe he is 6 wks now. Even though he isn't laughing at us, it is prolly my favorite thing when he randomly does it. Can't wait til its directed at us.

Some friends let us borrow their exersaucer and we tried it out...he can hold his head up but we

gotta prop him up with blankets too. I think he was a lil cranky when we tried so after a couple minutes he wasn't too excited about it. We will try again later when he is in a good mood. :)

Carseat

I've always heard people say that they can tell how much their babies are growing from their carseat pictures...never really thought about it too much, but its true. I can tell that Zachary is gaining weight but I'm not sure how much cause we haven 't been to the Dr. since his 2 wk appointment and don't go back until 2 months. He is 6 wks tomorrow. I know we can stop by to have him weighed whenever but we haven't done it so far. I can't believe how much they grow so quickly though.
This is when we were leaving the hospital.

This is around 4 weeks.

And this is a couple of days ago...about 5 and 1/2 weeks.
His cheeks get chubbier in every picture. ;) I'm just glad to know he is gaining weight and growing. I did measure him about a week ago and he was 22 inches...he had been 20 and 3/4 at his 2 wk appointment so I guess thats good.
On a side note: He has adapted well to eating every 3 hours for the most part...and has even gone 5 hrs at night a couple of times. I hope we can keep it up! I'm also hoping that the "6 wk growth spurt" doesn't throw us off too much. :)

Bath Time

I was curious about how Zachary would respond to a real bath because he hated sponge baths...as you can see below...But turns out he loves bath time. He has never cried when I put him in his tub. He just relaxes and lets me get him all cleaned up. Our baby tub has a little cup that drizzles water from the bottom and he loves the water sprinkling on him. I just think he's so cute. :) Apparently bath time relaxes him so much that he can just go right to sleep. This pic is from the other night and was literally less than 60 seconds after I put him in there. He slept most of the way through it.
I love a good relaxing bath too. :)