Great Week for Diaper Deals

This is for all of my friends with babies in diapers.  Many of you have asked how I get my diapers for free or under $3/pack.  This is a great week to stock up on diapers for those of you with little ones or expecting soon.  I bought diapers when they were free or under $3/pack starting about a year before I got pregnant with Jude.  I still have yet to pay more than $3/pack and I am stocking up on size 4s now (Jude is still in size 2), and I think I have a TON of size 3s in storage.  So here are the current deals, but you should do it quickly as tomorrow is the last day on both deals! 

CVS Deal:
- Pampers big box (if you buy the Baby Dry rather than swaddlers or little movers, they have more diapers in each box).  If you get the Sunday paper like I do, there was a $2 coupon for Pampers a couple of weeks ago (or you can use the $1 coupon that comes in each pack if you already have a pack at home).  Here's how it works:

Price:                             $21.99
Coupon if you have it:  -   2.00
Extra Care Bucks:       - 10.00
           your cost:           =  9.99 for a box that has 3 packs worth in it (making them $3.33 per pack!)

The way I use CVS Extra Care Bucks (ECBs) is I save them for the next week's deals so I always end up paying for my purchases with previous ECBs rather than cash.  So even though my total cost is $19.99 at the register before getting my ECBs, I pay with ECBs that I've gotten in previous weeks so that I never really end up paying for diapers. :)  It's more like paying in monopoly money :).


AMAZON DEAL:
This one is especially great if you like chlorine-free diapers like Seventh Generation and Earth's Best.  I love these brands, but cannot afford them without a deal like this.  But you can also get Pampers and other brands here too.  Until tomorrow, July 31st, they have a selection of diapers on sale for 15-25% off plus an additional 15% off when you sign up for "subscribe and save," making many of them at least 30% off PLUS FREE 2-DAY SHIPPING!

How to do the deal:
1.  Go to http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=br_lf_m_1000517101_grlink_7?ie=UTF8&plgroup=7&docId=1000517101
2.  You will see all the diapers that qualify.  Choose the ones you want (can be one pack or multiple packs and brands) and below the "add to cart" button, there is a box for "subscribe & save",  Click on "Subscribe Now," and check out! 
3.  You will see on the final page the 30% discount and the shipping subtracted from your total.
4.  If you don't want them to continue shipping them to you each month, then after your order has been shipped, you can go into your account to the "manage subscriptions" tab and cancel your subscription.

Depending on the size you buy, the diapers end up being roughly these costs:
- Pampers:  $5.19/pack
- Earth's Best:  $6.59/pack
- Seventh Generation:  $6.22/pack

So when I placed my order, I used Amazon gift cards I got through using Swagbucks, a new online search engine similar to Google.  You can sign up free for an account here and you get points added to your account for searching the web.  I add the swagbucks search widget to my internet search bar so that I always search through swagbucks.  The points add up pretty quickly and I always cash mine in for $5 amazon.com gift cards!  Click here to sign up for Swagbucks!

Let me know if you guys have any questions!  Happy diaper shopping!

Jude's first real beach trip

We have the great privilege of living about 10 minutes from the beach - Singing Beach in Manchester-by-the-Sea.  Granted, the Atlantic Ocean never really warms up in Boston - I don't know how the kids up here play in it - it is freezing cold!  So I first took Jude to the beach when he was 6 weeks old.  But he slept in his carseat the whole time - and he was wearing jeans and a sweater....so not really a "beach experience."  

My friend Ryan and I hit the beach in the warm Massachusetts 80 degree weather and took Jude along.  This time he wore a swimsuit and got to feel the sand and the ice cold water for the first time.  He hated it.  :)  I have it documented on video too.  Here is Jude's reaction to the water and then some pictures of the day!

Trip to Atlanta

We went to Atlanta last week for a MTW preparation week.  We went a day early so we could see my friend and college roommate, Lisbeth, and her husband Shane, daughter Allie, and to meet their little boy Michael.  It was great catching up, getting to spend time with them and for them to meet Jude as well.  Here are some pics from our time there.

Jude at 5 months old

Jude turned 5 months old on the 12th.  Some recent milestones:

- laughing a lot - especially when you kiss his underarms :)

- smiles at everybody...all the time 

- now eating avocado, banana, sweet potato, and pears

- still loves the bathtub - kicks back and crosses his ankles while i bathe him!

- just learned how to grab the pacifier out of his mouth and put it back in

- getting a little closer to sitting up

- maybe starting to teethe

These are some pictures of him I took about a week ago - this is the outfit Greg came home from the hospital in!  

He LOVES his jumperoo!

We're Moving!

We're Moving!

(and it seriously might look like this since so many of our GCTS friends have already moved!)

We finally found a place, and after much prayer, made a decision today.  We have to be out of our Gordon-Conwell housing on August 15th, but we wanted to stay in the Boston area while we go through training this next year as we prepare to return to Asia.  This will enable us to remain involved with our church, CityLife, and in community.  So, we will be moving on August 15th to 

Unfortunately it is about 15 minutes farther away from our church in the city, but it just became very clear to us that this was God's provision for many different reasons.  It is a wonderful, cozy little condo that is a seasonal rental (Aug 15 - June 1 - the exact dates we needed a place for), it has 2 bedrooms (sort of) so Jude can move out of the closet and so we also have room for company to come stay with us!  It is across the street from the ocean and in a really beautiful part of the North Shore of Boston.  We are excited about living in a small town, building community among our neighbors, having a washer and dryer(!), and such a peaceful little place to live this year before we move overseas.  The house belongs to a really neat couple who, turns out, are Christians and live in the city during the winter months.  We feel so blessed and are so thankful and excited!  Come visit us!

A little about Rockport:

Population:  8,000

First settled in 1623

In the 1700s was a primarily a place for timber, granite, and lobster fishing

Located on Cape Ann, the town of Rockport is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean on 3 sides.

First made famous by Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous

Lately made famous by movies The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Edge of Darkness, both filmed in Rockport.

Today Rockport is primarily a suburban residential and tourist town, but it is still home to a number of lobster fishermen and artists. 

Jude enjoying Rockport in his lobster outfit:  :)

Come visit! 

Sharing the Love: Pad Thai Recipe

I'm a big fan of sharing recipes.  With that said, I haven't really leaked out my Thai food recipes seeing as that might be the only reason some of you come over to my house. :)  BUT, since a couple of you have asked for it, I thought I'd post it and share the love.  So, hopefully now that you can make Pad Thai at home, you'll still want to come over and have dinner with us!  Enjoy! Our dinner last night:  paht thai:

and yellow curry with chicken and peppercorns:

ginger's favorite version of paht thai noodles: 

- a silver dollar size (looking at the ends) of rice noodles

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 pound raw or cooked shrimp (medium to large)

1/4 lb. chicken, diced

2 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. Tamarind (or subst. 1 Tbsp soy sauce)

2 Tbsp. palm sugar (or brown sugar)

1 tsp. dried red chili flakes

1 egg

4 or 5 green onions, roughly chopped

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/3 cup chopped peanuts

3 Tbsp. lime juice

canola oil for cooking

Boil water for noodles.  Add noodles, cover and remove from heat.  Steep 3-4 minutes.  **Do not leave in the hot water any longer or your Pad Thai will be soggy!  trust me :)  Immediately pour noodles into a bowl of cold water.  Cut the chicken, set aside. chop the garlic, green onions and peanuts, set aside.  combine the fish sauce, soy, tamarind, palm sugar, and chili flakes into a small dish and set aside.  Get out shrimp, egg, and juice your limes.  Have everything lined up and ready to go (like you see on food network :)).  Asian food cooks on high heat and very quickly - you don't have time to do prep work once you start. 

In your wok, heat about a 4 count of canola oil on medium heat.  Throw a piece of garlic in the oil, if it sizzles, it's hot enough.  Add the garlic, toss it in the oil for a few seconds and quickly add the chicken and shrimp.  Toss and cook for about 3 minutes until shrimp turn pink and chicken is cooked through.

Drain the noodles from the water.  Add the noodles to the wok and toss well, constantly until noodles begin to curl.  Then take your soy sauce mixture and add it to the wok by pouring it in a swirling motion around the top edges - this keeps the wok from dropping its temperature.Cook while tossing occasionally for about 1 to 2 minutes.  

Push the noodles to one side of the wok and add a 2 count of oil, add the egg and when it begins to set, scramble it and push it aside.  

Add the green onions and bean sprouts and cook about 1 minute until they begin to wilt just a little.

Add peanuts and lime juice and toss to mix everything really well.  Put it all on a serving platter and top with a few bean sprouts and peanuts and serve with lime wedges if you have them.

A couple of pointers are in order.  I've learned the hard way and I tweak this recipe almost every time I make it, so I'll give you my biggest pointers up front. 

1.  I use a carbon steel 14" flat bottom wok - while you can cook asian food in a skillet or a non-stick wok, you won't get the same results and it will make your job more difficult.  if you like asian food, you'd be better off to get a carbon steel wok. Don't wash your wok with soap - it washes off the seasoning - hot water and a bristled brush does the trick, and then oil it down after you wash and dry it.  Here's mine:

2.  Find an asian grocery store to get your ingredients - they will be cheaper and you won't have to substitute.  If you don't cook asian food very often or don't want to keep all those ingredients on hand, OR if you're new at cooking Thai food, I'd recommend the book "quick and easy thai" by nancie mcdermott. 

the recipes are fairly simply and they substitute many ingredients to utilize more everyday pantry items.  The taste isn't always as authentic, but they are still very good. 

if you'd like something more advanced (but also tastes much more like the food you get in thailand), this is my favorite cookbook which i use almost exclusively for thai cooking now:

3.  Try to find lime leaves (Whole Foods carries them) and Thai Basil (you can buy the herb plant at Home Depot and grow it yourself).  These will give your food the distinctive flavor you'll recognize as Thai.  You can use substitutes, but it will never quite taste the same.  

Let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to hear how yours turns out if you try it!  

solid foods project

solid foods project

jude is almost 5 months old and we just started solids last week.  many of my friends also had babies around the same time as we did and I would love for us to share the things that we do to learn from each other.  I would love ideas and suggestions from those who have done this before and hope it can benefit lots of us!

I want to make Jude's food myself.  Since I have no real idea how to do this, I picked up a copy of Super Baby Food at Borders. I would highly recommend this book.

We started off with Earth's Best Rice Cereal because it is organic and is whole-grain brown rice.  The first day I mixed 1 tsp. of cereal with about 2 Tbsp. of breastmilk so it was very liquidy.  The next day I doubled the amount.  A couple of days later we moved to 1 Tbsp. of dry cereal mixed with breastmilk, now we are at 2 Tbsp of dry cereal, but I add don't add much more breastmilk since he is doing well with a thicker consistency.  I am thinking about moving him to oatmeal cereal tomorrow because the rice cereal can be binding and he hasn't had a poopie diaper in 3 days.

Super Baby Food suggests beginning with avocado, banana, or sweet potatoes.  So I made my first baby food cubes by mashing ripe avocado and banana and freezing them in ice cube trays.

To start, I thawed one cube of avocado in the microwave for 20 seconds and then added some breastmilk to it to make it thinner.  He loved it and today I gave him 2 cubes and he finished it.  

So to get the conversation started, when did you start your baby on solids?  Did you start with a cereal?  If so, what kind?  And what other food did you introduce first?  Ready, set, comment!

Baby food project

the baby food project

mothers, 

soon-to-be mothers, 

experienced mothers, 

brand-new mothers, 

grandmothers, 

dads, 

babies.... 

anyone interested in what/how to feed a baby, 

I would love for you to join us as we begin the process of introducing solid foods and making them at home!  I am going to start a page on our baby food project and would love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and advice!  If you are interested in contributing or joining the conversation, click over to the "all things baby" tab!  jude says "come join the fun"

I love Boston summers!

The summers in Boston are so glorious that it make the long winter worth it.  Highs in the 70s (although we've had a heatwave this week in the high 80s and even 90s), no humidity, cool breezes - you can actually enjoy being outside during the day!  Jude and I are taking advantage of the summer and taking lots of walks around campus, to the farmer's market, and having picnic dinners outside with Greg.  This is a great time to be in Boston - come visit!

The Many Faces of Jude

Father's Day

This was Greg's first Father's Day, and unfortunately, he had to be in NYC and didn't get home until around 8pm that night.  So I took Jude to church that morning and spent most of the day telling him what an amazing daddy he has and how blessed we both were to have Greg.  And I made Greg his favorite lemon coconut cookies and potatoes and we went to our good friends, the Arnoults, house for a late dinner to celebrate Father's Day.  These are some sweet moments Greg had with Jude when he got home before Jude went to bed.

I really can't imagine a better husband and father than Greg.  He is such a hands-on dad.... has been from the very beginning.  He took care of Jude the entire time we were in the hospital after he was born (except for nursing :)) as I had a difficult recovery and couldn't get up.  So when we got home from the hospital, I felt like Greg could do everything better.  He just so naturally stepped into his role as a father.  And he excels at it.  I am so grateful for a husband who loves our son so much, cares for him so well, and loves me so well.




Happy Father's Day (a couple of weeks late) to our fathers as well.  We understand all the more now what an important role a father has.  We love each of you!

Jude's First "Meal"

Yesterday was a big day!  Jude had his first "meal" (being rice cereal) and he did a great job!  He has seemed much hungrier lately and has been waking during the night, so we decided to go ahead and start him on solids.  Greg documented the event: