Things Loved in January

Better late than never!

1. Sigg bottle

These were on sale at Whole foods a few weeks back and while I thought it would be one of those "impractical but oh so cute" purchases for Ainsley it's my new favorite cup of hers. It does not spill at ALL in my bag (which is the first one EVER not to do so) and super cute to boot. The sports top not only works well for her little mouth but provides solid minutes of entertainment for her. I love it!

2. Sophie

Apparently everyone and their friends has this toy for their baby but it's new to us. We didn't have one with Ainsley and I didn't really pull it out until a month or so ago for Louise. She LOVES this thing. The primal look that she gets on her face as she devours it is amazingly entertaining and the squeak is a sure bet to calm her down or distract her if need be.

3. Baby Food Maker

My mom got this for me as my first mother's day gift when Ainsley was a baby and I've rekindled my love for it since. It makes cooking and clean up of homemade baby food so easy. I would definitely recommend registering for this bad boy if you get the chance.

4. Sunbeam Bread Maker

I may have put this on a previous "things loved" list but it deserves another slot. I make bread in it every 3-4 days and we haven't bought a loaf of bread in goodness knows how long thanks to it. I finally figured out that if I actually follow the directions in the pamphlet it turns out perfect everytime (I know you're chuckling mom, I did learn eventually! :o)

5. Petite Purls

My new favorite FREE knitting website. I've made both of the girls spring/summer cardigans from patterns I found here and despite a few interesting directions (par for the course with self written directions I guess) I'm hooked.

6. Food/Budget/Cooking

I could EASILY spend upwards of $150 a week on groceries. Aside from the fact that Food Inc is always in the back of my mind, I love to cook, try new (albeit overly complex) recipes and keep a well stocked fridge and pantry. After struggling for months and months with staying on our food budget I decided I needed a new tactic. Another blogger that I follow mentioned how well it worked for her to have a monthly, rather ran weekly food budget. I thought I'd try it.

If you have kids, or like to shop sales and in bulk it makes it very hard to have the same budget week to week. I'd spend $50 one week on perishables and $150 the next to stock back up on meat and pantry stuff. It would totally throw me for the rest of the month, thinking I was WAY off already so why keep track? Bad idea.

Now I have a monthly budget and when it's gone it's gone. (Except milk, eggs, and cheese...we will ALWAYS have that) It helps me to write down at the end of each day what we've spent (most days it's nothing!) and then I know what we're working with at any given moment. So far it's been working really well and it's made me feel more free to go out more often for littler food errands as opposed to one HUGE one each week (also easier on my back and arms with all that grocery and child lifting).