Mobile?

So my life changes again.... My best friend Shari told me the first year of Motherhood is super hard because once you have things figured out your child will change things up on you and you will be lost all over again!!! And she was SO right!!! So I had my child on a schedule, knew when he would nap, when he would eat, go to sleep at night, etc.. My son has decided to change things up on me and keep things "fresh" for me. He is now not sleeping on his usual schedule, not eating on his normal schedule, not pooping on his normal schedule and not going to sleep at his normal schedule and now he is becoming mobile. I wouldn't call it crawling or even army crawling, I would call it inchworming. Seriously he looks like an inchworm as he uses his feet, his butt, his head and occasionally a shoulder or an arm to propel him across the floor in an inchworm fashion. It's hilarious and terrifying for me! I am NOT ready for my "baby" to be even less dependant on me. Now granted more dependence means I might have a cleaner house but he's only 9 months old. While I am desperately proud of my little man I am also sad for the loss of his dependence on me. I guess I will mourn each new stage because it means he is growing up and leaving behind my baby! :(

We took a first family vacation a few weeks ago to St Louis. It was a great trip to just get away as a family. Away from the computer, the phone, the families, and just be us. We stayed at an AMAZING hotel and got together with some fabulous friends the Ramsey's for dinner. We went to the Zoo, which was amazing except that after about an hour it started to pour so we left. We went downtown and ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then went swimming at our indoor pool at our hotel. It was a wonderful trip and Maddux did AMAZINGLY well. Both Andy and I were shocked! He slept all night in his pack 'n play, did great getting off his schedule and rolled with us during the wet times. It was a great trip!

We also bought a "new" minivan!!! Our old equinox was great, only had 47,000 miles on it and was a wonderful vehicle. Problem was our new "big boy" car seat didn't fit well in it, I kept bonking his head on the door, and his feet were already touching the back of the seat. So we looked at Honda Odyssey's. EXPENSIVE and overpriced here in town. Great vehicles though. So after 2 vans went south we had all but given up until we found one here in town that was even a better deal then the other two vans. We found a 2008 Toyota Sienna with 34,000 with automatic sliding doors, and it's redish/Burgundy. :) So we bought it with a warranty for only about $60 more a month. So although I'm beyond grateful for the new vehicle, we fit all the kids, Maddie, Zach and Maddux into the van with their car seats, it also means we have to tighten down on our budget. So that means I have to cut some of our food money, get better deals, and stick close with the budget. I am now making my own baby food (it's going ok) and clipping every freakin' coupon I can get my hands on. It's still a challenge. So any tips would be helpful!! :) But I'm excited to see how I can save my family more money!! Last week my best deal was Golden Grahams (the real ones) on sale for 2/$3 and I had a coupons for a $1 off 3 boxes so I got 6 boxes for $6. It was a HUGE excitement for me! :)

So those are the things going on in my life right now. I'm still trying to lose weight and getting discouraged with every step I take. I wish I hadn't gotten so fat.... Any helpful hints on this would also be appreciated. I need to find a way to balance my life as a mom, wife, christian, house keeper, shopper, and exercise woman.

Hope everyone out there is doing well!!!