Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Satisfied? Finally?

With all the baby announcements going around right now, I've learned something about me. I am absolutely not baby hungry. While I'm EXTREMELY happy for all of my friends and family having new babies soon, I really don't want another one right now...like...at all. This is totally crazy for me since before I had Anya, I used to get really envious of everyone who announced their pregnancies to the point of resenting them a little bit.

I've got my baby. She's everything I've ever wanted in a child. Granted, she could have less smelly poop, but that's mostly my fault for giving her certain foods anyway.


I'm busy, I'm losing weight, and the reasons for me not to have a baby are more desirable than for me to have another one. Infertility issues aside, I really like the idea of just having one baby for a while.

So...what does all of this mean for me? I think that for once, I'm actually satisfied with my life. I have a five year plan, an awesome husband, a beautiful little girl with an awesome sense of humor who is afraid of giraffes, and, yeah. Life is good right now. I'm setting realistic goals for myself, and I feel good when I accomplish them.

This is new for me. I'm happy for everyone who is having babies, and I'm also happy for me who is not. I like this feeling... :)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

How I Save Money On Baby Food

I have found THE BEST way of saving money on baby food for Anya! I make it myself!

At WinCo foods, you can buy rice in bulk, and I found long-grain brown rice for $0.60/lb. I cook it, put it in the blender, and then serve it up with some pureed fruits or veggies which I also make myself.

Today, I went to Smith's and got a box of baby cereal for travelling purposes. The box itself was around $0.15-$0.20/oz. Multiply that by 16 oz, and it ends up at $1.80/lb!

The baby food I make only lasts for a day before I deem it "bad." (Can't have the little cutie getting sick!) However, I can usually predict how much Anya will eat, so I only have to make enough for one day. Anya loves it (except for peas. There is no getting that girl to like peas...) and our grocery bill has gone WAY down this week!

I'm a rockstar of a mom.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

"I'm White"

Anya and I were looking in the mirror talking about colors. I was wearing a pink shirt and Anya was wearing pink pants. I said, "Anya, are we the same? We are! We're both pink!"

Daniel, in the bedroom at the time I said this, walks through the hall in his white Sunday shirt and sings, "I'm Whiiiiiiite!"

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Tracy Aviary

Yesterday afternoon, we went on a family outing with just the three of us! I was SO excited to do so since we haven't been able to go out together for a month.

We decided to go out for lunch and then to the Tracy Aviary at Liberty Park. After a mediocre lunch at Beto's Mexican Food (Rancheritos is SO much better!) we went to see the birds.

After we paid and went into the aviary, we say the pelicans and ducks first. Anya, in the stroller, LOVED this part! I've never seen her big blue eyes get that big! We got there right as the birds were being fed, so we had some entertainment in seeing the ducks beat each other up in order to get to the food. Then some geese came. Then the geese and pelicans decided to beat the ducks up together.

Anyway, our stroller converts into a backpack, so you can carry the baby and have free hands. We thought she might be able to see better if we put her on Daniel's back, and that made such a big difference for my baby girl! Once she could see over the fence, she was so focused on the birds!

There were lots of South American birds. The one's we liked the best were these green and yellow things which all came as close as they could to us and started squawking at us! Anya made her, "how does THAT work?" face, which means she'll be trying to figure it out with her own noises for a while.

She also really liked the "South American Adventure." (By Anya, I'm pretty sure I mean us. It was SO cool!) This was an indoor exhibit which is kept to about 70 degrees to keep the birds comfortable.

We also watched Turkey Vultures eat their dinners, which besides totally gross, was very educational. These birds would rip the heds off of whatever animal they'd been given, and just suck out the innards.

Anya was SUCH a good girl during our outing! She didn't fuss at all! I'm so thankful for my little family and the adventures we get to share together!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Stephanie:4 Universe:20,001

I have decided to start my own property management business. I want to become licenced to do property management for other people's rental properties, however, legally I can only do one property that I do not own until I am licenced.

Here's the kicker for me: to get the licence I need, I'd be required to have 3 years of real estate experience. I've made it very clear to Daniel that I DO NOT want to be a real estate agent. Looks like the universe heard me...

Storytime

Yesterday, I went to the downtown library to get myself some books on property management. I put Anya in the stroller and we walked all over! She LOVED the glass elevators! (At the Salt Lake City main library, there are four levels of books. There is a glass wall seperating the library portion of the building from the cafe/bookstore area, and glass elevators to take you up and down the floors.) She was fascinated with the elevators going up and down, and we spent a couple of minutes on the main level watching them.

After we got my books, we went down to the children's library and got Anya some books. One about some bunnies, another about silly ducks, and you know we're LDS since I was stoked to find a "My First Church History Stories" book.

After we got home and had dinner, I put the baby in my lap and read the books to her. As a family, we read the first story in the Church History book. I'm not sure what she liked more; having both of us read and pay attention to her at the same time, or the pretty pictures in the book. With just Mommy and Anya, we read "10 Little Bunnies," and "Gossie and Gertie." After reading "Gossie and Gertie" SEVERAL times, Anya looked up at me, smiled, then surprised me! She started having me turn the pages and told ME the story in her loud, "AHH AHH AHH UMM MAH" language. It was SO cute! I love quiet time with Anya, even if it usually turns into noisy time very quickly.

:)