Brae is getting so big!

Braelyn can now sit by herself without us helping her!  She definitely isn't as much of a "Go-Getter" as her brother was at this age, but that's fine by me! We try to prop her up on all four, but she just rocks back and forth til she does a face-plant! :)

Mason went to say goodnight and came out telling me he covered her up!  I don't know if he thought she was cold, but he piled 5 blankets on top of her! :)  --She has always loved sleeping on her tummy (most kids do), but I don't recommend it (you should put Baby to sleep on their back).  We have a SIDS monitor that alarms if no movement is detected, and that eases my mind some.

One of the few days that it was actually nice out this Spring...

--Hoping we can ditch the snowsuit one of these days! :)

 We've started solid foods (not sure why they call them solids, when they're as runny/messy as ever! She loves to grab all of our food and put it in her mouth, but will lock her lips shut when baby food comes near her! I trick her with a piece of puffcorn to get food in :)  I've been dehydrating venison jerky the past couple days, so she's been gnawing on that as well.

Poor girl has a blue nukie in her crib, a blue carseat/stroller and blue highchair... No wonder people make comments, like "he's so cute!" or "how old is he?"   Whoops!! :)

Car Pics

I think I have pics of the A-mod somewhere on here, but here's a look at the others....

Midwest Mod

 Superstock

A-mod

Today is the first race of the year (at Elko Speedway).  Shane, DJ & Jared are on their way now and it's currently like 38* and raining there.  Perfect for opener racing...NOT! I think with the rising fuel cost, we need to reevaluate this traveling deal when the radar looks iffy :/

Coupon addiction?

This is a wierd/random post - I know! But I thought it would help hold me accountable for what I intend to do.... Not buy another grocery item (except produce and dairy) until both freezers and the pantry are emptied (or at least have some room in them)!

 I starting using coupons at the beginning of the year, because a friend had a new years resolution to only buy items that were on sale or had a coupon.  She recently started a blog (that I have yet to read, but will later today).   You can check it out by clicking HERE for money saving tips!  Last night I saved $84 with grocery coupons!!!! It has made me so much more aware of the value of $1.50.....for instance, once I got home and realized I had a $1.50 coupon that I forgot to give the cashier, and I actually debated going back with my receipt and coupon (another day I was in town-not to waste gas).  Shane said "you're worked up over $1.50? I'll give you a damn $1.50 if that helps!" LOL :)  But saving money just has a good feel to it!!

 Back to my post though.... I have managed to take it a little out of hand by buying too much! It is all things we will eat (eventually), but I now have food stored in my laundry room because my pantry isn't big enough.  The other 'downfall' is most coupons are for not-so-healthy foods. This isn't a big problem being that I need to purchase food for daycare kids, but I don't always have the will power to choose my 3 egg whites for breakfast over an Eggo waffle with lots of syrup or bowl of sugary cereal :/   I thought about going healthy and organic in our entire house, to win the battle of unhealthy urges, but my checkbook can't afford to do that for 12 people. 

The other thing with coupons, is sometimes knowing I'm getting a good deal makes me buy things I normally wouldn't buy--like pop.  I haven't bought pop or juice in months but it was super cheap with coupons, so I stocked up.  So saving money actually cost me money because I wouldn't have normally purchased it.  However, the other day DJ said "what happened to the good ole days when I could open the fridge and grab a pop :)?!" Lately his choices are water or milk, so with racing season around the corner, maybe it's not a bad idea to stock up for the trailer cooler!!  (and me and Mason used to have a nightly tradition of Root beer freezes....now we can make it a weekly treat)!

Other news:

•  Braelyn turned 5 months old last week.  Nothing real new with her. 
• Mason is no longer 'addicted' to Mario Bros on the wii, and he actually rode 4-wheeler for hours on Sunday. 
• The race cars are coming along...although it's fine that they have been pushed back a week to allow more time.
• I put in an order for racing T-shirts this year, will let you know when they come in (early May is my guess).

~Have a wonderful rest of the week!