Top Ten Update

Here is a Top Ten update on my little boy...

10. Elijah's first tooth cut through the bottom this weekend. (*And I felt another one today, on top!)
9. Elijah attended his first Senior Retreat (and did great)! He LOVES the students! (and leaders)

Drew and Elijah in their matching MN Gopher apparel...

8 . He is rolling like crazy..and started army crawling a LITTLE bit.
7. He can sit for a few seconds when put in that position.

Reading a book

6. He LOVES giving Eskimo kisses, but he does it so fast and hard it hurts!
5. He loves doing the motor boat (thank you Grandpa Pat)...especially while eating!
4. He is getting better at taking longer naps...finally! (Rarely do we have a 20-30 minute nap anymore)
3. He gets so excited when Josh or I come home after being gone!
2. He loves going for walks outside and being able to look around!

He wasn't sure about me being so close to him. First walk of the seasons...

1. He is ready to wear 12 month clothing at 7 1/2 months!! He is tall like his daddy!

*Bonus: He discovered bubbles at childcare yesterday (yep, he went to work with me! I was in the Toddler Room and he was in the Infant Room). We tried them out when we got home!!

Checking out the bubbles...

Giveaway at Newlyweds...

Love a good giveaway?!? I sure do!! There is a fabulous giveaway over at Newlyweds Next Door: Reviews and Giveaways. The giveaway is for a $100 Amazon.com gift card! Oh the possibilities! And while you are over checking out the giveaway page you should check out their other blog Newlyweds Next Door. I have seriously become a blog stalker! :) I love reading about their redecorating, traveling and life as newlyweds! 

So, what would you do with your gift card? I am writing my wish list right now...

Pampers Gifts to Grow

Have you heard of the Gifts to Grow program? Do you currently use the program? I do and I love it.

pampers.com

Here is what they site says about their program-

The Pampers Gifts to Grow Rewards Program rewards you every time you choose Pampers diapers, training pants and wipes for your growing baby.

To start, simply collect the codes from all your Pampers purchases. To see the points add up in your account, just sign up with Pampers.com and enter codes on Gifts to Grow Rewards or on your mobile phone. After that, you can redeem your points for items in the Gifts to Grow rewards catalog.

The Gifts to Grow Rewards Program has been extended until December 31, 2012!


My Review-

The Pampers Gifts to Grow program has been great for me. I have entered codes I found online and also codes I received from my diaper purchases. I find a lot of my free codes on pocketyourdollars.com. [Side note...if you haven't been to pocketyourdollars.com you are missing out]. My points have started adding up and I can't wait to cash them in for a 8x8 Photo Book from Shutterfly [$30 value].

pampers.com

Just to get you started here is a code worth 50 points- Happybdaypamprs [expires 4/14]

What do you get with your Gifts to Grow points?

Swagbucks

I don't know how many people out there know about swagbucks...but here is the low down that I know. Swagbucks.com is a site that offers a search engine much like Google. One big difference is that Swagbucks offers you points or swagbucks for searching. Not every time will you get swagbucks but every once in a while. Now your swagbucks add up and you can also do things to help get more bucks like taking daily polls, printing coupons, searching, getting referrals, etc. You can then use your swagbucks to purchase things or use them to get gift cards. Swagbucks has a nice selection of gift cards to places like Starbucks, Amazon.com, Target, Southwest Airlines, and more! 

Swagbucks.com

Here is a link if you are interested in checking out Swagbucks.com for yourself! Link: Swagbucks


I just earned enough for two Amazon.com gift cards...or I might hold out for something else! What will you use your swagbucks on?

Bag GIVEAWAY at FTM!!

My lovely friend, Bert, at FTM is giving away an adorable bag/purse or could be diaper bag from Deyitta's shop on Etsy.com. Bert owns one of these adorable bags and loves it! 


Hop on over to her blog for details on this awesome giveaway and a great review! 


Click here to jump over to Bert's blog: Review & Giveaway!!! One Pretty Bag from Deyitta!

Name Art: DIY

I wanted to make some Name Art for Elijah's room. I already had a white canvas that I had bought at JoAnn Fabrics for 50% off over a year ago. So I decided to make something with that. In my head I knew what I wanted...however, my art skills are not as good in real life as they are in my head and this is what I came up with!

First attempt: NOT so good!

I used the accent color (a brown from Walmart) that is on one of Elijah's wall for the base of the canvas. I then used the main color of his walls (Eucalyptus Leaf from Home Depot) for the letters to spell his name. It is nothing to write home about...but apparently I can write about it here! :)

So I decided to repaint the canvas in brown and come up with a new plan. Well...after MANY days of painting, repainting, gluing, and Mod Podging  here it is!!

I apparently take my pictures crooked...

It still didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, but it's better than the first attempt.

Adventures with Monkey: Update

For all you following along or participating in Monkey's travels, I thought I would post an update. As of today Monkey has had quite the traveling experiences [I must say I am a little jealous]!!

His very first stop was to Mexico on a Baby moon with Mark and Kelsey (my sister and brother-in-law)...

Monkey's next stop was to visit our wonderful friends in San Diego! Josh took him out there and left him there for Jon and Emily to take sight seeing!

Emily: "At the Studio Diner, a haunt we found via Diners, Drive-ins and Dives"

Monkey then headed to the East Coast with my friend Bert (and her mom, Mary) to visit her sister, Laura.

Monkey received music lessons from Laura.

Monkey also had some yummy food at a nice restaurant.

After all that Monkey stayed home for a little while before heading back out on the road, literally, road trips.

He went to Washington DC with Kayla. Kayla was in my small group and is Elijah's babysitter 95% of the time. There were 5 stops (different cities in different states) along the way.

Everyone on the trip seemed to LOVE Monkey. Can you blame them?

Monkey also went with Nicole, Jon, Annie and Jenna road tripping to Florida to visit the Gerhard's aunt and of course do some touristy things while there. 

Monkey with his friends

Monkey with the girls

Monkey then went to Chicago to visit my co-worker, Robyn, who moved there with her sister this fall. Upon arriving (via mail) he jumped on a plane with Robyn's sister for a business trip to Paris (rough, huh?)! *Pictures to come

Monkey is visiting my high school friend Rachel in Nebraska. (*Side Note: Rachel and I went to HS together, youth group and a Mission Trip. We both attended the same college, not the same time, for at least a year and we both married Youth Pastors named Josh and have sons named Elijah. We both love Photography and sell or sold Mary Kay. Our sister's are BFF and our parents are super tight...we were meant to be friends). *Pictures to come

Rachel will be sending Monkey on to New Mexico to visit Chelsea, a friend from my hometown who is studying in New Mexico. 

Well there is an update of our traveling Monkey!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has or is planning on helping me out with this project! It has been SO fun to see the adventures you take Monkey on. I can't wait to start making the scrapbook for Elijah! I look forward to the day when he is a little older and we can look through it and discuss the different places and people in his life!! 

**Remember, if you want Monkey to come visit you or take a trip with you, you can email me at daphnechristenson@gmail.com.