Turkey Bacon to Skinny Cows...

By -
Dear Diary,

Today I'm in a rambling sort of mood. Things just come to mind and I think to myself that maybe I should blog about it. Bare with me, this is a long post of stuff floating through my brain.
First an update, we didn't sell our house Larne. This is not the economy to make a lot of money, if any, from the sale of a house but what she offered us was a negative equity offer. We are going to have it listed again today or tomorrow and we pray that we have an offer well under way before January 5 when the tenants move out. There are "if's" right now running through our head ~ if we sold last year at this time our profit margin would've been MUCH more than we're lucky to get now ~ but selling and moving wasn't part of the plan last year so there is no sense beating ourselves up. Right now, we'll be happy just to get it sold and pay off our mortgage in order to move on. We'll have to start all over again but that's OK, we can do it, we're not worried because we're not alone.
Right now I'm sitting here in the living room all by myself, I have peace. Isla is in bed. She's a roadrunner on all fours! There is no stopping that child, she's quick and determined to go where she wants so it's been a busy time for me.
Colin said to me the other night at dinner how peaceful and calm she was. WHAT? Yes, perhaps she is just before her bottle and goes to bed. It's obvious he has no idea how much I run after her during the day. I think I'll leave the two of them alone on the weekend and I somehow doubt he'll say she's calm and peaceful. I'm sure I'll find the pack'n' play in the middle of the floor too.
I don't put her in a play pen (yet) but I'm thinking about it because it's hard to get anything done when she is awake. I have to put her in the Jumperoo! to give myself 20 minutes to do something. Sometimes she doesn't mind being in there but she prefers to be out and about.
I've also noticed that her schedule has changed again during the last week. Before she'd be up between 7:00 - 7:30 and down again for a nap between 9:00 - 9:30 and maybe an hour nap in the afternoon. Now, however, she is in bed about 8:30 for an hour and a half or so which gives me time to eat breakfast, a shower and to blog! She also has another 2 and sometimes 3 more naps throughout the day albeit short naps. It must be the crawling phase, she gets tired.
Her eating habits have also increased. When we came back to Denver she would eat but not nearly as much as before. Of course in hindsight the reason she may not have been eating as much because she was teething. She now has 7 teeth, 5 of which were cut once we left Ontario.
Last night I went out and bought her another bumper pad set for her crib. She's been sticking her legs through the spindles of her crib and gets them wedged. Yesterday she woke up twice screaming from a nap because she was stuck, one time right up to her upper thigh and I could hardly free her. I was afraid she'll break her leg. The bumper pad set we had we bought before she was born. It is fine for a newborn who doesn't move because the pad only goes around one end of the crib but for a baby her age who is wiggly and rolls over it's not safe.
I have two or even three of just about every baby item! Some of it is here and other bits and pieces are still at mom and dad's. Let me know or let my mom know if you need any baby stuff, I probably have it and we could work something out!
My maternity pay stopped a few weeks ago ~ so sad ~ since I was 14, my first time without getting a pay cheque. We're OK but I've been looking for ways to save a bit of money.
Mom, listen to this, you'll be so proud of me, I've discovered COUPONS!! I think I was traumatized by the whole experience of using grocery coupons. I remember as a kid shopping with mom through the Waterdown IGA and we'd stop in the middle of the aisles about 18 times per trip while mom sorts through her coupon wallet looking for the right one only to get to the check out and find out it's expired!!!! It's true, it happened all the time and I was so embarrassed. BUT I am more organized than my dear mother and I only buy what is on my list and sort through the coupons at home!! Anyways, in the last couple of weeks I have managed to save about $90.00 between coupons and King Sooper specials. It's become a challenge for me each week to save more than I did the week before.
On my Friday night shopping trips I go out on my own just to get some peace and adult time. I usually buy a coffee and go about at my pace. It's great and sadly I look forward to doing the groceries. On one of my trips I have discovered two items I wish I had ages ago. One is turkey bacon. We rarely eat bacon but if we do, hands down we'll eat the turkey version because it not only has much more flavour it's also much healthier.
Another item I have discovered is Skinny Cow. Love it! I don't mind ice cream but I don't eat it much because it's fattening and I have sensitive teeth when it comes to cold. Try them if you can.
As a good Canadian, I talk about the weather so here is my weather report. It's summer in Colorado! No really, it is. Last Friday we had snow which melted by lunch because it was up to 65 degrees (four seasons in one day, literally). Saturday until yesterday it was in mid to high 70's and of course sun all day. Can it get any better in November? Today is a bit cooler and tomorrow is suppose to be a bit wet (first time I've seen rain since we arrived in October) and way down to 36 degrees but going back up to about 60 degrees on Friday again. Crazy, eh?
My brain is just about empty right now so I guess that's me for today.
Tomorrow is Thankful Thursday and since Thanksgiving is coming up next week (again - in Canada, Thanksgiving is the beginning of October) I've been reflecting internally for what I am thankful. Let me know what you're thankful for!
'Til next time,
Heather, Colin & Isla