Savvy Shopper

On Saturday morning we had a relief society enrichment where the Savvy Shopper from the Daily Herald came. She is like this shopping coupon wizard. She said that she has gone into a store, bought $94 worth of groceries and left only paying a dime. Crazy. So she shared a little bit of her knowledge with us so that we could save booko bucks like she does. If you live in Utah County it is a pretty sweet deal because she finds the deals and the coupons for you (you have to get the coupons yourself through Daily Herald subscriptions) and tells you what are good, great, and wow buys, what store, what aisle, pretty much the whole works. So all you have to do is subscribe, cut coupons and check her website. She even has a tool on her website called the shopping wizard where you can put in an item that you need and she will tell you the cheapest place to buy it with or without coupons. Amazing! Most of my income goes to groceries so I have been totally excited about this. She says that she doesn’t spend over $100 a month on groceries (that is including cosmetics, diapers, deodorant, etc). I spend that easily in a week. So if you want to know more email me and I can send you the little flyer she sent out. It tells you how to cut, organize, and use coupons. You can also visit her website at
www.savvyshopperdeals.com
where you can look for coupons, grocery deals, recipes, online freebies, retail deals, the works!
If you want the flyer just leave a comment and I can email you or email me and I'll send it your way!

A long time ago...

Grandma invited me over to her house to learn how to can peaches. I was pretty sure that canning was not for me but I can't believe how easy it is(at least with Gma there). This is after we boiled, skinned, pitted, and cut up the peaches. Then we added sugar water in the jars to the top.

We cooked them in the steamer... can you see the steam coming out of the side?

Grandma was the brave one that lifted the jars to cool and seal on the counter.

And here are the peaches we beautifully canned that day! I came home with like two dozen jars and we have already eaten half. Avery LOVES them and so do Michael and I. Thanks Grandma!

Crazy Mom

Wouldn't you act this way too if your mom was as weird and annoying as hers?

This was the first time I got Avery to wave on camera. I had been trying for months. Seriously. Before I got the camera out she had been waving a minute straight. I tried to hide it from her but it made the "start recording" sound and so she stopped. I guess she finally gave in because she knew I wasn't going to stop trying till she waved.

More Halloween

I finally found the folder that had some more of the Halloween pictures, so sorry it is out of season but I wanted to post them. Here is our little fairy! Mom and Avery at the ward party.

Getting ready to go out! Gotta brush those teeth!

The cutest fairy behind ever.

Cute little fairy girl minus the wings.

Okay I have been wanting to write these things down and never get to it so I am just going to blog about it without pictures. So sorry.

When Avery wants something she will point to it and then hit her chest and do it repeatedly. When I put our jackets on and grab my wallet or diaperbag Avery will immediately start waving bye bye because she knows we are about to leave... and she loves it. Avery can climb stairs... scary especially when we are at aunt Susan's. When I ask where something is or if Avery drops something she will immediately throw her hands palm up in the "I don't know" position. Avery will nod and/or shrug her shoulders when you talk to her. A lot of times it actually makes sense and is so funny. Yesterday we were out playing in all the leaves and when cars would drive by Avery would wave bye bye to them. We ended up forgetting about pulling leaves apart and just waved for like 15 minutes. I know there are more but I am terrible at remembering them. At least I wrote these ones down!

Yum Nummy

Grandma Great made this delicious tomato soup and Avery cannot get enough of it. GmaG probably gave us enough for dinner for 3 but Avery has kept it all to herself!

11 Months...

a little late. I have been a terrible blogger! Hopefully when I get the cord to my computer fixed it will help the bad blogger problem. If anyone knows of a mac laptop charging cord just lying around, you know who to call!

Okay on to the baby. Avery is 11 months old and is as cute, fun , crazy, sweet, etc etc as ever. She is the best baby in the whole world, duh, she is half me and half Michael (how could you get any better?). She is crawling everywhere and can stand on her own if she doesn't realize it, but once she does you better watch out cause she gets mad! Grandma Great got her to stand on her own and Avery looked at me then looked at her and started wailing. She didn't even sit down (which she knows how to do), she just gave GmaG a super sad face and waited to be swooped up. Silly girl. She is getting better at walking too. Today I just held her right hand and she walked through the kitchen. I don't think it will be too much longer, but it will definitely be on Avery's time. Yesterday we were at Aunt Susan's and Brooklyn, who is 2, had a little car that you can sit on and push around. Well Ave was playing with it until B started scooting it away and Avery chased after her as best she could. B's legs work a little faster then A's crawl and A got frustrated and so maybe that will be some motivation down the road.

I have been trying to write down everyday what Avery laughed at that day. Well lately we have been putting her in the big tub mostly because she crawls out of the sink and once she almost fell off the counter! bad mom! In the tub she stands the entire time. Once in a while she will let out some gas and she thinks it makes a funny sound and she will look at me and start to giggle. It is hilarious (kinda too much info, but HEY that's us!). Point is she is getting more fun and just plain funnier each and everyday!

Avery got a new carseat for being 11 months and too heavy and too long for the baby carrier. Woohoo. She still has to face backwards but the day is not looking too far off when she gets to face forward like the rest of us!
So since it is November and everyone is doing super cute posts about being thankful, here is 11 things Avery is thankful for:
1. Mom. I am pretty sure she loves me the most.

2. Dad. She loves him a lot too. He is cool and plays with her... a lot!

3. Kiara. She loves all her aunties/uncles but Chia definitely takes the cake. Ave goes to her over me a lot of the time.

4. Her grandparents: Grandpa and Grandma Adams, Nuna and Papa, and Gmas and Gpas Great. They supply her with cute clothes, food, and think she is just too cute.

5. Her tedda bear and puppy. Tedda is her fave but puppy runs a close second, she gets so so excited when she sees either one.

6. Her blankies. Grandma Haynie sent Ave a white fuzzy one which is her favorite and she also has a green one from my friends that she loves. If I have a blankie I get cuddles!

7. Her crib. She sleeps better in her crib than anywhere else, she also will play in her crib endlessly when I need to get things done. I am especially grateful at night when she tries to head dive in to her crib and once she is there she doesn't make a peep.

8. Bathtime! Nothing beats some warm water to splash around in, silvery faucet and handle to play with, toys, and a huge space all to herself (well compared to the sink).

9. Food, especially tomatoes and goldfish. Life just doesn't get better.
10. Jammies that have little animals on them. Her favorite is a pink pair that has a polar bear on it. I can get her to come to me if I show her the animals and talk about how cute they are.

11. Friends/ Cousins. To name a few: Annie, Addie, Kena, Ella, Brooklyn, Ashley, Anj, Lauren, Lindsi, Jeris, Rob, oh you know who you are! I actually had a cute pic of Ave and Ella but I deleted it on accident and I think it will take too much work to try and post it again.

And just because I am on the subject here are a few more things Avery is grateful for: binky/passy, bathroom full of drawers to explore, pumpkins, outside, going bye bye, animals... especially real ones, swimming pools, books, spaghetti, trees that blow in the wind, and walks.

As I was writing this blog Avery just got the nerve to stand all by herself! I guess she had to prove me wrong. She was walking with the little roller thing and ran into the bench looked at me and let go! Hooray for Avery!

Our Teenie Halloweenie

Okay so my pictures totally posted in the wrong order and I don't know how to fix it without doing it all over again soooo I am sorry for the our of order Halloween story.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Here is Avery with our carved pumpkins. We carved them Halloween night with our friends D&S. We have put off carving our pumpkins because everytime we had time Avery was asleep and we wanted her to experience it because she is obsessed with the pumpkins. Well she was once again asleep on Halloween night but I figured we could just go out and buy another pumpkin and do it with her. She absolutely loved the carved pumpkins especially when we lit them. She sat out there for 20 minutes before Michael pulled her in to take a bath. I think she would have stayed out there for like another half hour if we had let her.

Here is Avery in her fairy costume before we went trick or treating. THis is at our house and no one took any candy while we were gone. Sad. Now i have tons of candy that I don't like... I guess we have candy for next year (nerds don't get stale right?).

Here is Avery with the pumpkins before they were carved. She seriously loved the pumpkins and would sit outside and play with them for forever. She loved picking up the little one and trying to pick up the other two. She would make cute faces and grunts as she would try.

For lunch on Friday, Avery and I went out with some of our best girlfriends. I look like a tard in the picture but everyone else looks cute. We had a good time chatting away. It has been a while since we have all been together and probably too long before it happens again. I love those girls though!

We started Halloween by making sugar cookies on Thursday night. They were delicious and helped me start gaining my holiday weight. I think I ate like 12. It is a good thing that we have friends to give them away to!

Well I have more pictures but they didn't download because my camera died so these will have to do for now. I will try and post again soon... maybe tonight if you are lucky.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM! He is 15 years old! My baby brother is 15! In a year he is going to date and drive.... watch out world!