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Thursday, October 14, 2010

New Grocery Shopping Plan

Ok, so I am on a new kick, and that is getting my grocery shopping down to only one big shopping trip a month.  My husband and I did it together this month and it went pretty well.  I have been menu planning for each week for over a year now and it goes very well.  When I was getting ready to have our son, I started stocking up and planning out at least 3 weeks.  Now, to save money and time I want to shop only once a month for everything but milk, and a few fruits and veggies.  Once I am able to have a big freezer, maybe I can get it down to just once a month.  We will see.

Anyways, I am going to start posting how we do each month, and if we are saving money doing it this way.  I have a budget of $300 a month, and that includes paper products, toiletries, cleaning products, beer, and food.  However, starting next month I am taking out the beer and moving my budget to $260 a month.  My husband will get this $40 in cash to spend it on his beer as he pleases.  I think that will keep my grocery bill from increasing when he sees a beer he wants and me from getting frustrated.  Since I don't drink it, I hate that I can't spend more on something else that I do want to eat. 

Since we are two weeks into this month I have spent just over $265.  So that leaves me with about $35 for the rest of the month.  We will need milk twice and a few veggies that I have planned into meals.  So I think we should be good to go this month.  I will update again soon and then again at the end of the month on how we did.   

Friday, October 8, 2010

2011 Italy Vacation Contest - Enter to WIN

I just entered a contest to win a vacation to Italy during the spring or fall of 2011.  Wouldn't that be an awesome thing to do?!  If you want to enter as well go to http://www.ciaobambino.com/ciaobambinoblog/index.php/2010/10/2011-vacation-in-italy-giveaway/ and enter for a chance of a life time.  I have always wanted to go to Italy and this would be a vacation of a lifetime!  Go check it out!

Thursday, October 7, 2010

When To Start Solid Food

So my pediatrician told me I could start solid food this month.  However, I am really not a fan of this idea.  I think that since I am breastfeeding exclusively, my son is getting all the nutrition he needs from me.  I told him that I was going to wait until 6 months to introduce any solid food and he was fine with that.  However, I started to wonder, why he was recommending I start solid foods already when he is doing just find on breast milk.  So off I went to research and do some fact finding.

I found some very interesting information and I was pleased to know that I have made the right decision for my son.  As far as solid food goes within the first year of life, it's really about teaching and experiencing food.  There is no nutritional value to the feedings, its about learning to eat, chew, swallow, gum and not choke on their food.  Babies do not have to have solid food until after their first birthday.

Now, I'm not saying that I am going to make him wait until he is one, but I love the feeling of knowing I can hold off and wait as long as I feel necessary.  It's important to me that I don't introduce food too quickly and possibly increase the chances of allergy's.  I am also excited to know that while I have chosen to make my own baby food, not all the food has to be mashed up into a mushy yucky paste.  Food is so much more exciting when it has texture to it. 

Anyways, I just had to vent about this since I feel introducing solid food at such an early age is wrong.  Don't get me wrong, I love that my pediatrician is so good with my son, but I also think that we as parents have to make the best decisions for our children.  And for me that is listening to the doctor and then going with my gut.  Isn't that why we are allowed to get second and third opinions when we are told we are sick? 

Babies And The Way They Grow

So it's funny to compare different babies and how much they weighed and what their height was at the same age as your child.  I am amazed once again with my son and how big he is.  My husband and I are what I would call average height and weight.  However, my son is now 4 months old and 19 pounds.  He doesn't seem that big to me, but I guess it's because he really doesn't have that many rolls.  I have been asking friends about the size of their children at 4 months and he is bigger than all of them.  He is even bigger than some of my friends kids who are over a year older than them.  This scares me a little.  Not because I think he is going to be fat or anything, but that if he is this big now, how big is he going to get?

He has grown out of almost all the clothes we were given, which means I have to go buy clothes for this winter.  We only have 3 pounds to go and it will be time for a new car seat.  I'm afraid to even think about how much food he is eventually going to start eating. 

So again I sit and think about how different each child is.  My sister has two kids and they are both in the correct size clothing for their age.  And then there is my son, who is 4 months old and wearing some 9 month sizes and mostly 12 to 18 month sizes.  If he doesn't slow down, this is going to make it very difficult to cloth the little guy. 

Anyways, I am just finding it amazing now that I am a mom to look at the different ways each child grows.  Looking back just a few months ago, I would have never guessed that my son would have gotten so big so fast.  You really do have to cherish the time you have with them, as they grow up so quickly.