Ryan & Peyton Playing...

Ryan is Peyton's friend from church--his mom Amy keeps Peyton one afternoon each week too. He is almost exactly six months older & she really like hanging out with him.

WAR EAGLE!!!

Auburn plays a Thursday night ESPN game against West Virginia tonight. Peyton is ready! She loves exploring new things like this shaker. But, she would much rather have me hand it to her than make her crawl to it. She is also good at the chewing on the handle of the shaker when the game is tight--see her practicing the technique.

Two videos to watch...

I don't think I would have responded very well, but this sure did make me laugh:



Well, Steve Spurrier and South Carolina said the referee was just getting out of the way and should not be punished by the league for his actions....make your own decision:

Learning to Stand...

Peyton has taken an interest in standing lately. She enjoys standing at our coffee table to play. She has let go of me a couple of times and stood briefly on her own. Here are some pics of her this morning.

Giving Ourselves a Raise...

Our new series at church is called "Give Yourself a Raise". I feel like this series can impact a lot of homes, especially during the tough economic times we are facing. One thing Shawn said is that we are only responsible for what God gives us. Over the course of the last year, we have attended Rethink Money and had some tough, honest conversations. Here are some things we have done & still do to give ourselves a raise. Some of them may seem crazy to most people, but are allowing us to be responsible with the small amount we have been given.

• We have paid off about $8000 in debt over the last nine months
• We bought a refrigerator and washer & dryer
  
• We have a monthly spending plan that balances out to zero (most of the time)
• We tithe 10% of our income and give away about another 5%--we want to be out of debt so we can raise that percentage
  
• We sold one of our cars--and we only have about nine months of payments left on the Saturn we have. 1 car is okay about 88% of the time
• We make all of Peyton's food and it costs about $3-$4 a week
  
• We don't have cable television. We still get CBS & PBS!
• We have enough money in savings to cover our highest deductible
• We have started saving for Peyton's college with UPROMISE
  
• We bought our first home
  
• We use coupons for everything: we join e-clubs for restaurants, we use lots of baby coupons, we find as many food coupons as we can
• We use REDBOX for our movie rentals and get a free rental every Monday
  

Thanks to all of our friends & family who have supported us and encouraged us in the journey of becoming financially free! We suggest that everyone take control of your finances. A great first step is attending Rethink Money. We are pulling for you in these tough times.

We Love Rainy Days...

What's Happening at Six Months...

Well, Peyton is six months old now. It seems like she is doing new things every day, so here are a few highlights of this stage:

• She is 27 inches long & weighs 17lbs 13oz now
• She is eating all sorts of fun foods: oatmeal, apples, bananas, pears, squash & carrots
• She loves to laugh & smile and is becoming very ticklish like her mom
• We are working on clapping and patting
• She enjoys sitting up & playing too much to be interested in crawling
• The only place she really rolls over a lot is her bed
• She enjoys playing peek-a-boo
• Walks are one of her favorite things--she loves feeling the rocks, leaves, grass and watching the butterflies
• She loves reading and eating books
• She is starting to drink from her sippy cup
• Her personality is beginning to develop--I think she does a lot of things (like going to sleep) the same way I do
  

Six Month Pics at the Pumkin Patch...

Well, here are the pics. Peyton was much more interested in playing (I mean eating) with the pumpkins & the straw on the ground...but, I think it was an okay first trip to the pumpkin patch. Thanks to Bryan & Karen for taking the pics.