You should see the other guy!

If you think Taylor's eye is bad, you should see the other guy! He's a little scrapper. Just kidding! Taylor did not get into a toddler fight- he got pink eye! He was perfectly fine yesterday and even early this morning. Then, as things always happen, we were about to walk out the door to church and I noticed that his eye was a little red. After doing some googling and making a few phone calls, we decided that we shouldn't go to church. Good thing - his little eye has gotten worse! It is almost swollen shut. So, Taylor will be spending the day tomorrow with his Mimi and Papa. He will be thrilled!!!! He just ADORES them. Hopefully the doctor can call in a prescription to get his eye back to normal soon. We'll keep everyone posted!

I am loving this!!

You know that I am loving this!! What a little helper Taylor has become.

No longer a baby!

I know that Taylor is almost 2 years old, and is no longer a baby. However, I always think of him as my little baby. This evening I had tears in my eyes at dinner because I realized what a fabulous little boy he has become. He is growing up so fast and learning so much. There he was, sitting next to me at the dinner table- in a regular chair, eating what we were eating, using a salad sized fork, eating broccoli, chicken, and apples. Just a few short months ago we were worried that Taylor was going to eat baby food and yogurt for the rest of his life. Tonight, on the other hand, he is voluntarily eating broccoli and apple slices. Oh my what a long way he has come.

After dinner, Taylor sat down on the floor and "read" his favorite book to himself. He pointed out things that he knew in the picture and turned the pages over and over. I just had to stop a minute and watch. After the book, Dave sat down with him and worked a puzzle. Taylor blew me away with his ability to identify where the oval, rectangle, square, etc. pieces go. Now don't get me wrong, he repeatedly tried to put some of the pieces in the wrong places. Ultimately though, he worked it correctly. If you don't succeed, try try again- right!?

Anyway, I had to capture some of our milestones tonight. It feels like they happened overnight.

A Publix Promise

Okay, there is a lot of detail in this post so let me preface a few things first:
1. I was not playing hooky from work- Taylor was home sick for the third day- it's the end of a stomach bug.
2. I thought we would quickly run to Publix to get a few of the newly on sale items since I had many coupons to match up.
3. I promise we eat fruits, vegetables, fish, and chicken. I usually buy the fresh stuff on Sundays when I can get the penny item. So do not fear- I will be back on Sunday to buy all of the "good for you stuff." We also already have a freezer full of frozen organic chicken and a variety of fish.
4. If you know my son at all you will ask yourself why I didn't buy more than 10 packages of muffin mix!

So...Taylor and I ventured out for a quick quick shopping trip to Publix. He has been on the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast - as well as Pediayte) diet for three days now, and he is just now showing signs of being almost over the virus or whatever is upsetting his stomach. I thought that he could have a Nutrigrain bar as a treat after lunch. Well, I bought that and a wide variety of other things. I bought many sale items and only four non-sale items (chili mix, organic milk, organic meat, and a box of cereal bars). All of my non-sale items rang up correctly. Here's the crazy part- every single last one of my sale items rang up incorrectly. Oh yes- every single one. If you shop at Publix, you probably already know about the Publix Promise. If something rings up incorrectly, they give you one of that item for free and adjust all the other prices of the remaining items. After numerous price checks, having the manager called over, two bag boys, and shutting the entire check out lane down, I think we got everything straight. The nice cashier, Allen, said, "I have been here since the store opened and I have never seen anything like this!" The manager was baffled and extremely apologetic. I, on the other hand, was THRILLED!!! I kept telling them, "Take all of the time that you need." Inside I was just praying that Taylor was not sitting in a messy diaper. The trip to the store was supposed to take 10 minutes- not even long enough to need a diaper bag (or so I thought). Ultimately my almost $70 bill was adjusted to $22.85. Not too bad (especially since $10 of it was the organic meat and milk)!

For all of you that have a Publix near by, take note that muffin mix is on sale, and there is a coupon in the Advantage Buy flyer. If you buy 10 packages you can take $5 off of your order (that's 10 packages for $3). Stock up- most packages are good until 2010. At the rate that Taylor eats muffins, we'll have these polished off by the new year! Also, cream of chicken and cream of mushroom soups are on sale and there were coupons in last Sunday's paper. They are very cheap, and are used in many casseroles!

Items purchased:




Items that were given to my free because of the "Publix Promise"

Grooming a gardner

I just want to pinch his cute little cheeks when he wears his dad's "protective ear gear." Taylor adored blowing leaves with his dad this afternoon. I just had to share these cute pics. We are truly in the heart of fall!!