Our little girl is trying very hard to stand on her own. Can walking be that far in the future?
When I was reading to her while sitting cross-legged on the family room floor, she decided to climb up and see what she could do.
Stand, Stand Up
Baby’s First Road Trip / An Amazing Birthday Cake
In late August, we took Eliana for her first car ride longer than three hours. We drove to Minnesota to celebrate Ella’s 8th birthday and Lily’s 6th birthday. Jenelle made the cake, and I think it turned out wonderfully.
Be sure to check out the photo album from the trip. Also, here’s a video:
Crazy Photo Book Deal
I placed an order on Shutterfly today for one 8×10 print, three 5×7 folded greeting cards, and four 8×8 hardcover photo books. The total was $5.26. How did that happen?
1) Last month, I placed an order for an 8×10 print, and for whatever reason, Shutterfly was having the hardest time producing it. I would wait a week with the order still ‘in processing’, then call and e-mail a bunch of times to complain. This process repeated a couple of times until they finally got it done and sent to me. For my trouble, I received a free 8×10 on a future order and a $20 gift certificate. So, this covers the free 8×10. I had $11.60 of the gift certificate left for today’s order.
2) There seem to be a lot of discount codes for free 5×7 folded greeting cards. I either find them on the site or get them e-mailed to me. Today, I had three such codes on my account. One of them expired today, so I made sure to place the order today.
3) 8×8 hardcover photo books are normally $29.99. Today, they were on sale for $23.99. On top of that, I received an e-mail today with a code to get 50% off photo books because I’m a ‘valued customer’, reducing the cost to about $12 each. On top of THAT, we got a coupon from Similac for $20 to spend on photo books. Funny what you get when you sign up to save on baby formula. And last but not least, Jenelle had a coupon that she got at the checkout at Target for a free photo book.
4) Shipping and handling for all of the above items would normally cost $24.75. However, coupon code SHIP30 allows you to get free shipping on orders of $30 or more. I’m lucky that this code worked, apparently because my total before all the discounts was above $30.
Let’s review this:
$ 3.99 -- One 8x10 print
$ 8.91 -- Three 5x7 folded greeting cards ($2.97 each)
$119.96 -- Four photo books
$132.86 -- Total before discounts
$119.96 -- The 8x10 print and the 5x7 greeting cards are free
$ 89.97 -- One of the books is free
$ 71.97 -- Photo books on sale today
$ 35.98 -- 50% off coupon in my e-mail
$ 15.98 -- $20 off from Similac
$ 16.86 -- Total (with $0.88 tax)
$ 11.60 -- Remaining gift card balance
$ 5.26 — How much I paid
And that’s how it’s done.
Give ’em a Wave
Here’s the next cute thing she can do. Waving! There’s some eating and laughing in there too.
Photo Updates
I’ve added four photos to Eliana’s July album, including the cute pic above. I also added Eliana’s August album, which has lots of great shots, including the company picnic, a nap at the Brewer game, and a crawling sequence. As you can see below, she is one happy baby now that she can get around a bit more easily.
You can also check out Eliana’s nine-month update that was added to her mailing list page on Wednesday.
Crawliana
She’s not quite ready to do laps around the neighborhood, but she is on the move.
Daddy-Daughter Time, Extended Version
Jenelle is having a girls weekend with the ladies of our weekly small group. She left yesterday morning, and she comes back tomorrow evening. So, I’ve had a lot of quality time with Eliana, and I get a bunch more tomorrow.
We spent most of yesterday at the house, though we did make a quick trip to Walgreens to pick up some photos. My parents came over in the evening, so they helped feed Eliana dinner while I went out to pick up dinner for the rest of us.
Today, I got a bit more ambitious. After her early morning bottle, I ran four miles in 39 minutes, pushing Eliana in the jogging stroller. After her morning nap, we went to Target and Kohl’s for a few things. After lunch, we visited some church friends who were having an open house. Eliana didn’t get much of an afternoon nap, but she was quite the happy baby throughout the day. She was fast asleep by 8:30 p.m.
I am much more assured of my skills as a father, knowing that I can care for Eliana for a few days when the need arises. You never know what tomorrow will bring, but I’m guessing more fun times with my daughter.
Here’s a video from Friday morning:
In other news, Eliana is nearly crawling. More on this soon.
Cleaning and Organizing
Jenelle and I are going through every nook and cranny in the house to get rid of old things and stay organized. Our plan is to visit one area of the house each day over a 40-day period. So far, it’s going well, but we haven’t got to the really cluttered places yet.
Today, I went through the closet in the bedroom that has become “Ben’s room”, as it has running stuff, music stuff, and lots of other stuff that is used almost exclusively by me. We also have a file cabinet in there with a bunch of paperwork.
Anyway, inside the closet were multiple items from high school. I am keeping my letter jacket and a tennis sweatshirt, but these other items have to go. The shirts are really dingy, and the blue warm-up suit is, in a bit of a surprise, too BIG. I’ll always have the pictures and the memories. The stuff can go.
Running With the Baby
We’ve gone for walks with Eliana in our fancy-schmancy Bob jogging stroller, but yesterday was the first time I actually ran with it. I managed to run three miles in less than 11 minutes each, and Eliana seemed to enjoy it as well. Jenelle rode her bike and brought our portable video camera along.
Feed Thyself
After posting for eleven consecutive days, it’s been about a week since my last post. I hope to have more stuff later this week. For now, check out Eliana and her latest eating milestone.
