Weekly Menu and Chocolate Pillows

Since having Mia, I'm starting to actually realize how much a wife and mother has to do and it has really made me appreciate even more all the things my mother does each day...and let me tell you it's hard work. From getting up in the morning, taking care of Mia, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, cooking meals, budgeting, laundry, going to school, homework, and juggling everyone's schedule, some nights I go to bed exhausted. With having so much to do I've been looking for more effective ways to get everything done and  one big thing I've been trying to do is not spend so much time on my computer. (I'm making an exception for this quick blog update!) Another thing that I've found has helped me out on both my budget and each night easier when I have to decide what to make for dinner is creating a weekly menu.

I don't know about you, but I sometimes dread thinking about what to make for dinner each night. I've made a plan that each Monday I decide the meals I'm going to make for that week and then create a shopping list of what I need. By doing this, on the days I'm tired and don't want to decide what to make for dinner I'll already know and I also end up spending less at the store because I am not just getting random things that I later have to figure out what I can make with the things I have, which can sometime be difficult. Plus, it's a free and super easy way to add some color to your kitchen counter!

As of other updates, we've had a lot going on and one of which was making my Grandma Bohn's Chocolate pillows with my Uncle Pat and cousin Marci. We had a lot of fun trying to recreate what we all grew up loving as one of our favorite treats when going to Grandma's house and after some trial and error, we finally made cookies which would definitely have had Grandma's blessing.

We've also stayed busy by visiting family and taking Mia on her first camping trip (sorry, I was lazy and managed not to get any pictures of Mia all bundled up), going to football games, playing intramural sports, and watching Mia continue to grow and learn new things. We have now started her on rice cereal which she is still getting use to, but is getting better at eating each day. We are also working on helping Mia learn to sit up on her own. She has gotten to the point where she will sit up by herself for a couple of seconds and hopefully in the next couple of weeks she will get it down where she can do it for a lot longer. Eric and I both continue to find so much joy in our sweet, little girl who is always making us laugh and love her more and more each day. Oh and one more last update, we took family pictures last weekend so hopefully I'll have some to post by the the end of the week!

First try at eating rice cereal!

 One day I was going through her drawers and found these crochets hats. I couldn't help but laugh at some of them and Mia would kind of smile her unsure smile at me wondering why I was laughing.