Hey everyone! I just thought I would let you in on my friend Sarah's blog giveaway. You probobly have either seen or heard about her recently because she was in the Statesman and also on Channel 2 news. She is a couponer and gets the best deals! She has a blog that she just started a little over a month ago and it has just exploded! The ideas and things she has posted have really helped me because I just recently became addicted to the couponing game. I am no where near where she is, but I would love to save the money that she does. Anyway, check out her giveaway if you have been thinking about trying to save a little money with the economy like it is, you can't do too much! Its not something you have to devote a lot of time to, every little bit helps! Anyway, I have her button on my screen, it is the "thrifty mom" one under my sites I like.

Catching up

It feels like I haven't done anything I enjoy doing for months now! Every time I turn around I have a sick kid, or I am sick! Well, for now anyway, my family seems to be on the mend so I can take a breath and try to catch up on my blog for the moment.
As I said before, I haven't really been able to do anything, so there really isn't much to share. Unless you want the gory details of who threw up when. Anyone? I didn't think so! I will say that this has been a hard winter on our family as far as illness goes and we have spent the majority of it cooped up in our house so we don't infect anyone else with whatever we have at the moment.
Poor little Courtni got a double ear infection last week, and while at the time that seemed pretty minor compared to Bryson throwing up everything he ate for a week, it proved to be a pretty big deal when her ear drum ruptured. Poor little thing! I knew she was miserable and had her take a nap. I was glad that she was at least asleep for it because it hurts like crazy! Now she has an excuse for ignoring us when we tell her to do something because she can't hear! Luckily she isn't old enough to have thought of that one!
I am so thankful that we made it to church today! I feel like we have become inactive because we have missed so much basically since I got pregnant with Bryson. So, since he is almost one, we have missed a lot of church. Some weeks the thought of getting us all ready seems impossible! I love the way I feel after I do make it though and truly feel like I can make it for another week. Courtni gave the article of faith today and it is so nice to see my little ones learning the values that I hold so dear and getting up there to share it. I was so proud of her!
Bryson has taken a couple of steps on his own. I can't believe it. He will be 10 months this week, wow it has flown. If he keeps up this pace he will be the first of ours to walk by 1 year old! He loves it and isn't afraid of falling, just goes for it whether you are ready to catch him or not! Unfortunatley I think he gets his temper from me. Don't tell Clayton that I admit that though! ;) If he gets mad he throws himself back no matter where he is. Then, when he smacks his head on the floor gets even more upset and cries like you did it to him! My mom says that I used to hold my breath when I was around his age and I passed out once from it. I keep waiting for him to do the same, considering the tantrums that he already throws.
Brayden is growing like a weed. I took him to get his hair cut yesterday because I couldn't stand the shagginess anymore. I usually take him to a friend of mine, but she hadn't called me back yet so I just took him to a great clips. He sat there like a little pro and didn't move at all. I was relieved that he didn't throw a fit. I guess clamming up in front of strangers can be a good thing when you need them to hold still! When the hairdresser got done cutting his hair she asked him if he liked it and he shook his head no. The hairdresser next to us thought that was the funniest thing. Leave it to Brayden! He did admit later that he thought he looked good. I don't know why he can't admit to things around people, silly boy!
So that about sums up what is going on in the Smith home! I hope that spring gets here soon so all of these nasty viruses will go away for another year!