Hi everyone! Can you believe summer is already over? I feel like it just flew by and now people are already talking about the holidays. Anyhoo, hope you’re all doing well~! 
7 Months!
Dear Evan,
Well, here we are buddy. We made it through a super busy month. This month was filled with busy days driving all over Southern California meeting old and new friends.
- You had your first solids – rice cereal. We were so excited and were all ready to film and take photos of the big moment when you took that very first bite…but then you flipped over the bowl all over Mommy! We couldn’t stop cracking up as Bella circled you like a shark trying to steal some food.
- We went on playdates all around Southern California from Tustin to West LA.
- Daddy came to babygroup with all of the other daddies to see what we do every Tuesday.
- You got to spend quality time with your aunties and uncles who love spoiling you with attention because they don’t have babies of their own yet.
- Your buddy, Ella, was born on July 24, 2009. We went to visit her in the hospital and she looked so tiny next to you!
- You got your first 2 teeth! One day I looked and I was so surprised to see a tooth. The second one came in just as quickly so all of a sudden you had TWO bottom teeth!
- You can do “jam jam” (open and close your hand) when we ask you to if you feel like it.
- We participated in a research study on baby development at UCLA. You’re doing your part to contribute to the betterment of babies everywhere.
- You’re able to sit up by yourself for longer periods of time but you still topple over sometimes.
- You’re doing a modified crawl everywhere now – you push yourself around with your arms. One day you’re going to realize that crawling with your hands and knees is a whole lot easier than pushing your entire weight around with your arms!
Every single day is a new adventure for us. You’re constantly learning new things and changing. The best moments are when I see something click in your head when you realize you can actually do a certain thing and then a smile just lights up your entire face.
Love,
Mommy
Swagbucks – Money For Online Searching
So I follow a ton of these mommy and money-saving blogs and I kept hearing about Swagbucks. I finally decided to take a look and sign up. Before recommending it to people I wanted to try it for a few months to make sure it’s worthwhile. I’m glad I signed up because in the past 2 months I’ve already gotten $60 in Amazon gift cards. I know it isn’t that much but hey~ it was all for just searching the internet which is something I always do anyways.
Swagbucks is an online search engine where you do searches (like with Google or Yahoo) and you periodically win “Swag Bucks” which you can later redeem for prizes. It’s really simple. I think the hardest hurdle for me was to break my habit of automatically going to Google to do searches.
PROS:
- It’s like getting paid to do internet searches! Who doesn’t like free money?
- The search engine is powered by Google & Ask.com.
- It’s really easy once you get into the habit of using it. I feel like I could get even more Swag Bucks if I tried harder (like following them on Twitter, referring people, etc.) but I haven’t done a lot of that stuff yet.
- It’s fun! Sometimes I’m just randomly doing a search and I’ll win a Swag Buck and it’ll put a smile on my face.
CONS:
- Sometimes the search results don’t seem as thorough as the ones I’d normally get from Google. For example, I’ll see that Swagbucks has 4 pages of results while Google has like 10. Not really a problem for me since I’m not doing any kind of real serious business sort of searching.
- Even though the results are from Google & Ask.com I find that it can be a little odd sometimes. For example, I’ll type in “yelp los angeles” and the actual Yelp link shows up as the 2nd link.
TIPS:
- It doesn’t help to just sit there and type in random things to search. I’ve tried that, hehe.
- Install the toolbar so you don’t end up forgetting to use it. Plus, the toolbar gives away free Swag Bucks sometimes.
- I don’t do this but the bloggers I follow do – they sign up for the newsletter, Twitter and Facebook and get free Swag Bucks like that too. Those guys must be doing something right since they’ve already gotten hundreds/thousands of dollars in gift cards/prizes.
- Instead of typing in a web address like Gmail or clicking on my favorites, I’ll just type it into the toolbar and then click the link. Yes, it’s one more step than necessary but I’ve won a bunch of Swag Bucks that way!
- Just go for the $5 Amazon gift cards which cost 45 Swag Bucks each. I think you get the most bang for your Swag Buck that way. I just get the code and enter it into my Amazon account and it’ll be there the next time I buy something.
- You get Swag Bucks for referring your friends!
Sign up here >> [Click me!] and let me know if you like it and if you have any questions!
Random Rumblings & Questions
* I’m sooo behind on everything Xanga~ posting, commenting and messages. Sorry for always being so tardy in keeping up with you guys! Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up soon. I had one simple goal when Evan was born…to post at least once a month so I could chronicle his growth. Evan is already 8 months and I’m just getting around to doing his 7 month post! *sigh* Sometimes I feel like there are sooo many things I want to do but I just don’t have enough time to do them. Can you share how you keep up with Xanga — posting, your subscriptions, commenting??
* I’ve been hearing rumors that Xanga might be shutting down. I hope not! Are you staying or is there another good blogging site you’d recommend?
* Any suggestions on nice gifts for 1-year-old boys/girls & 2-year-old boys/girls? What are some of the best gifts you’ve received or given? I love giving gifts so I usually spend a great deal of time and effort trying to pick out the best gifts. I wish I could still do the same but it’s getting harder now that it seems like birthdays are coming up every other week!
* THANKS and have a wonderful week!! 
