A special gift and clumsy me (again)...

Look what I was blessed with today:




Isn't it precious? My wonderful friend and coworker Jessi made this for Griffin. It's so adorable and SOFT and it's HUGE! I held back tears as she gave it to me. It is the perfect gift (and she already gave me a bundle of cute clothes, sleepers, etc for him). Thank you dear friend-I can't express how much this gift means to me-now stay by your cell phone so I can reach you when the Griffster decides he needs his blankie;-) (I have asked her to be on call for me to be my nurse when labor strikes).

I made a yummy dinner tonight...it was marinated broiled steak (remember the free steak purchase?). I've never marinated and broiled steak, so this was a first. I was so glad it turned out. We were sitting down as a family and everyone was talking about their day, etc when out of no where steak sauce is flying in all directions. Why and how was this happening you may wonder? Well, I apparently am all thumbs lately (remember the Taco Bell pink shirt destruction post?)...my hand slipped off my fork as I was loading it for a nice big bite and my hand landed in the teaspoon of steak sauce on my plate-splattering it from here to there-seriously, no appliance was spared-no surface immune to my splattering-including my shirt and neck. TJ was concerned and asked what happened...Tim started laughing hysterically. Ha, ha. So funny.

Then, after dinner, my marathon working session with making my unit's schedule continued until I went to check TJ's work for a project...the poor kid worked all evening on it and the stinkin' computer locked up and it was all GONE! So sad. I'm glad today wasn't a crying day;-)

Let's go, let's go, let's go!!!

***Updated***

This is what TJ chanted when we were in Mexico this past summer at an excursion off our Cruise ship. It was not a happy chant-but an irritated one as he mocked his father.

I am having a bad day (again)...but not as bad as this precious couple:



My baby sis Amanda and her beloved husband Jason (we call the BIL) were to leave on a flight for Mexico this morning.


I'd guess Amanda is not taking to heart my frugality related blog posts as she had to have her some McDonald's this morning before their arrival at the airport. Here is a snippet from the email I got from them:
Title: the $1500 egg mcmuffin

Amanda forces Jason to drive through Mc Donalds the morning of our sunny vacation, which in turn makes us arrive at the airport at our check-in post at 6:32... exactly two minutes late for our check in. Our gate is 100 yards away... but we can't get on;-(
More to come.



She may never live this down...I betcha Jason was justa runnin' and saying' "Let's go, let's go, let's go!

Necessito McDonalds? Me amo Egg McMuffin;-)

I'm lovin' it!

***Update***

While I'm not sure of the exact details, I believe maybe a rickety boat ride and fun ferry ride later, there are indeed now enjoying their Cozumel resort;-)

Here's the latest email: Title-let it be known

We finally made it (only 10-12 hours later than we expected)! After two plane rides, one stinky, scary bus ride, a tulmultous ferry journey and a exhausting cab ride later-We're here. Needless to say, the now infamous egg mc muffin cost more than we ever dreamed it would (This is a story Jason enjoys to tell way too much to go into all the details here--but I made us late for our check in by two minutes because we stopped at Mc Donalds before we went to the airport).

So far, we've slept late, ate breakfast overlooking the blue carribean sea, watched people while lounging by the pool and had an early before lunch snack. Heck--we might even take a NAP next. Enjoy your day:)

33 weeks and more deals...

I am warped...

I have hidden links for coupons in here-but hurry, some expire 3-28-09:-)

I may be more excited about my deals I found today than being 33 whoppin' weeks along. What a journey it has been. I'm physically pretty good-current complaints would be some severe cramping in my legs, feet and hips. Kinda like charlie horses.

So emotionally-not so stable;-) I went to Taco Bell last night for drive-thru...it was a disaster. The line of cars was to the road, so I *ran* in. The line had 2 people in front of me but 3 waiting for food. 15 minutes later, I was walking out with my order. To which I ravishingly opened as I was driving away to feel a strange "wetness" on my favorite-just-about-the-only-thing-that-still-"fit" pink shirt...yay-grease. So much that Owen asked me when I got home-"mommy messy?"...yep-she is.
Here was the pink shirt-and this was like 3-4 weeks ago:


Anyway, back track to ordering. I ordered (no I am not exaggerating) 2 meximelts-easy beef (which means LESS meat), and a cinnamon twist-plus ONE fountain drink. The order taking gal says "for here or to go?"- if you can even believe this-she said, "of course, I'd be surprised if you could eat all that by yourself". Ugh! the nerve!!! Is she serious? It was like ordering 2 tacos and chips-that's not gluttony! Agree with me here-it's not, right? Well, imagine my surprise (not really) that the stupid meximelts were made with EXTRA freakin' beef (yuck) and the whole shirt thing was just gravy-man! Can you believe she said that?

And back to the pregnancy update, if I twittered or the like, I could probably pretty much tweet a false alarm or two each day. Last night, I soooo almost went into the hospital since I was sure the contractions wouldn't stop and yesterday, all I did was rest-*read*, sat my lazy hiney all the couch pretty much all day, using poor sick Jakey as the excuse*.

But, today I'm still pregnant and the contractions have been at bay so it was off to search for more great deals. I promise I am *not* bragging-I am instead totally stoked at how good of deals can be found when a little good ole fashioned patience and research are utilized---God is so good;-)

Here we go: Target-

$14.57 was the total of my receipt!!!
How? Of course you knew I'd explain...
Of interest would be-free steak (2)-it was not only on sale, but I had a coupon.
Free artisan bread (2)-again, coupon for $1 off...it was 99 cent bread!
The bill should've been about $60...literally only one item was bought that I did not have a coupon for and that was the little travel pack of band aids-these little gems by nexcare are the bomb...I couldn't not get them for 99 cents. They stick like mad and to date are the only product I can find that Owen will leave on-he is quite the picker when he has a boo-boo. These have a cute cars theme and I'll keep them in my purse.

Up next Walmart:

I needed a white colored TV cable, and I had a return so I decided to see how I could do (weired sounding sentence, eh?) My cable was $6.88. Jake has been with cough and fever for 2 days so I decided to spoil him with his *choice* of Popsicles-I couldn't coerce him into a sale item so he picked super heros ones for $3.48...if you're following along, that's over $10. Guess how much I paid for all the items in the photo? $11.01!!! Wa-who. The cereal was free, so was the mascara from the beloved ALL You mag and I even couldn't resist grabbing a 2nd copy (it was $2.24 minus 50 cent coupon) and I'll get another free mascara out of it, plus a few other can't pass up deals.
Here's what Jake thinks of his coupon cuttin' ma-ma:

He did his own hair today:-)

I will really try to stop the madness of the coupon posts. *I'll try*.

Happy Birthday Baby Sis!

Just because you were born in the 80's doesn't mean you should still be driving in a car that you only fit in, in the 80's;-)

Happy Birthday AMANDA! Enjoy Mej-he-co! Ole!

Completely aware...

I am.

I realize many of you think I've lost it...or never had it:-) Don't care...trying to survive my third trimester so here is how my day went.

My mom called this am some time after 9am...I was sleeping-Owen was playing happily in his bed (thank the GOOD Lord he loves morning time in his bed;-)

I finally got my toosh up and movin' and Owen and I headed off to get Jacob from preschool. Lunch was a FREE Roastburger with purchase of a fabulous fountain diet pepsi! As I was sitting there, I found that familiar feeling of the flood gate trying to open, but I fought it off *hard* and we quickly headed out of the store to our next destination.

Then we were off to Walgreens to pick up a prescription...I found some great deals there-lots of good clearnace items to give the boys some fun goodies in their Easter Buckets. As if I didn't learn anything from playing 64 crayon pick up last week, I got them this awesome set of 64 colored pencils with a built in sharpener on clearance. All this along with 3 packs free gum, buy 2 get 1 bubbles, free tomato soup, and 22 cent skittles and starbursts for their baskets. Walgreens (Creasy) has lots of great clearance items of randomness right now.

Then we headed off to Meijer, to see about a sale...we finished up at Meijer pretty quickly where I must say, stocking up on Ketchup, Pop tarts, peanut butter and waffles was a REALLY good deal. I also threw in some wipes and buddies soaps and made out for about $5...Tim wonders if I'm having some weird craving with the amount of PB, ketchup, waffles, and poptarts I bought.

Then, back at the ranch, I tidyed up, let the boys play outside (LOVING the fence) and I began work on a killer chili for dinner but was surprised by a spontaneous call from Kara at 5pm asking if I'd be able to escape with her for a bit and did I have any dinner coupons???...the answer was yes and yes and we totally went to TGIFridays and spent under $5 for full bellies and bladders. Here's how:



Hope the picture works-it was a sweet deal, that when you eat in the bar area and order ANY beverage, you can get a 1 cent appetizer each. Kara even sprang for me. SO , it was a fun time to chat and eat with such a good coupon;-) If the picture doesn't work and you really want to partake, I can fwd you the email that I got it from. I love deals.

Then it was back home to work (still making the schedule for CAH) and such...all in all, it was another good day:-)

FYI, the boys enjoyed their hot dinner and watching Bolt while I was gone-thank you redbox for FREE Movie Mondays!

Can't sleep...

Well, in trying to lay off the sleeping pills (and actually feeling tired when I went to bed) I am now up since I can't sleep.

Thought I would go through a few things I've learned from my new couponing endeavor.

First off, I'm such a newbie...there are a million and one tips available if you search online.

So far, I have gotten a couple papers (yes, this week was dull with both ads and coupons) and I didn't even know (until late today) that the Indy paper has different/more coupons even in the same smart source insert.

Oh, let me back up a moment. What got me hooked was simply finding some awesome internet printable coupons...which did take some patience. Here are the 2 coupons from coupons.com that really made me think: (you do have to load their coupon printer to get started and you do have to have your printer on/ready with paper-but it does not need to be high quality print out nor color ink).

-The first are 2 huggies coupons...one for $5 off and one for $3 off. We don't even use Huggies diapers but the wipes are a great deal (most stores have them priced at $6 and $3 ish for these coupons)-I couldn't find any working links for them for you right no but I wonder if it's because I've hit my quota of print outs.

-The second one, which may seem silly was for Johnson's baby care products-again from the coupon printer -hopefully it will work for you...it is for baby products but did not limit it to only to baby stuff, I so I got soap buddies soaps with it. I found these at Target for 97 cents each (so they are free) and I've also gotten then at Meijer for about $1.17, but another coupon prints out each time, so essentially-we will never run out;-)

I've found Meijer meal box to have some good coupons-and Meijer doubles them if they are 50 cents are less. If you find something on sale and have a coupon, you can get select items for next to nothing and the great thing is there are lots of people on the internet who have all this stuff listed out for you (each week when the ad starts). So, pick you store (Target, Kmart, Meijer, etc and you can find multiple sources who have done ALL the homework!!!).

Target.com also has very limited printable grocery coupons but they have been pretty good so far.

I also found a tip about a magazine called All You which I believe is by Walmart-it was on the stand in the store for $2.49, plus 10% off ($2.24 I believe) and it had lots of GREAT coupons in it-including a free mascara coupon (up to $6.50) and many others. Again, many sites I've found even do all the leg work and tell you what is on sale where and where to get the coupon from. So, with a few weeks of patience and circular collecting, you will have all you need to really rake in some deals. Oh, and it has a coupon in it for 50 cents off your next copy;-).

The other advice I have would be to *be patient*...and organized. If the deal comes out Sunday, many smaller stores may be out of stock of the item by Monday. Rain checks are good and so is stopping back in periodically to check out the stock. I watched all week last week at Meijer for Lysol wipes...finally I got them Saturday night on the last day of the sale with my coupon. We had to go there anyway, so it was no big deal.

I also have found multiple food, etc coupons that make it more fun to go out-for instance, I signed up here and received an email for a free roast burger with drink purchase. It's valid for one per customer so Jake, me and Owen can eat at Arby's for the cost of 2 drinks and sharing a curly fry-not free but super cheap and yummy;-). If you can't stand giving out your email address, I would recommend you sign up for a yahoo email or something like that, that you check once per day and use for these deals. I had another tip from Jaime that when the Krispy Kreme Hot doughnuts now light is on, everyone who enters the store gets a free doughnut, no purchase necessary-but you all know I love a good fountain drink and they have (or did have) the best large coca cola cup ever. So, you can let the kiddos watch the doughnut maker machiney thing, sip a soda and eat a fresh hot doughnut-especially good plan for a rainy day;-)

Another cheap (or free) idea I mentioned to Tim tonight is heading over to the Menards off 38...it has a nice play area and we could grab a fountain coke on our way there (or nothing) and let the kids play while we talk. Menards also has some awesome freebies, deals, and rebates each week-so we are likely to head here soon for a "date".

Home depot has a neat free clinic (this Thursday though) for women to learn how to tile...I have no one to go with though:-) And if you sign up you get like a $10 off coupon or something-they also have kids clinics and so does Lowes...good ways to allow your kiddos experiences with tools with no expense nor mess.

I also found that walmart.com has a sample page link-I haven't rec'vd any yet but I've signed up for samples of crest whitestrips, huggies, formula, and much more and I know the samples will come with coupons;-).

I found this article helpful with other links on organizing coupons...

So far, I had clipped everything because I thought maybe a sale would come up, but then I read this and it explains to keep the coupons/circular in tact and save it dated so when you find the deal and it's listed as the smart source circular from 3/21, you'll find it easily;-) Hope this makes sense.

One last thing I've done so far is if I know I am going to buy something, I just search the item online first to see if I can find a coupon for it. For example, I am supposed to make cookies for an upcoming event. But, I know that pillsbury and nestle's go on good sales sometimes, so I watched for them to go on sale and for coupons and ended up with enough packages of cookie dough to make tons of cookies for less than $5...which has to be cheaper (and easier) than making them from scratch!

Definitely try this website and follow her links if you are serious about trying this out...it should start out slowly and pick up for you if you want to make it work-if not, no biggie;-).

I hope this random but jam packed couponing post helped some...I think it'll help me go to sleep now that it's off my chest;-)

Oh, anyone want to bring over their kiddos and help move rocks? Sounds silly, but we have some landscape rocks to move and it's supposed to be not too hot this week, so I am going to bribe my kiddos to help me;-)

One more thing, Tim found that the Indy zoo has a family membership that makes like more than one trip worth it so we are tossing that around...no vacas for us this summer so a few trips to the zoo and butterfly gardens would be a great alternative-he also said their is a limited time only Komodo (probably spelled wrong;-) dragon exhibit...who knows-maybe we'll spend many a day at the zoo this summer (with PB&J and free cheetos from Target

So, do you have any ideas for me? I'd love to hear them;-)

32 weeks and 3 days

This is the gestation I am today.

This is the gestation Owen was born at on November 3rd, 2006...just a little over 28 months ago.

I had severe preeclampsia and had to have an emergency c-section to save both mine and Owen's lives.

Praise God that today it appears both Griffin and I are completely healthy and I show no signs of preeclampsia.

Today as I am 32 and 3 days gestation, the weather is beautiful. We enjoyed a great sermon at church. I browsed through the Sunday paper. We ate BK for lunch.

I made a yummy dump cake for dinner tonight with one of our Pastors and his wife.

We have childcare for the boys so we can enjoy dinner.

The boys are playing in our newly fenced back yard.

As I type, I can feel the breeze coming through the window. The aroma of the house is that of cinnamon hard candy that I made a double batch of for an upcoming women's retreat that I hope to get to go to.

It's just an all around good day. No tears today. No emergency deliveries of 2 pound babes...not for us anyway.

Praise God for this beautiful, healthy day.

32 weeks update

It was a boo-who type of day. I had my MD appt this am and had to take the boys with me, which is misery. It really is so fun to crawl around an office floor and pick up an entire 64 pack of crayons...really.

So, I felt the welling of tears as I waited...and waited...and waited for the MD to come in. I was, however, thankful that we were called back to an exam room quickly so we didn't disturb every woman receiving care in the office building waiting room for long.

I had a long list of things to talk to my MD about, including the rumors of his departure this summer. I couldn't even get out the sentence without bawling like a baby. Then, it was like a broken faucet-I just couldn't turn off the tears the rest of the day. I have managed to be less "red-faced" tonight while we had a VERY old, very hard of hearing lady here notarizing our refinancing loan/mortgage thingy-my wonderful husband (truly) has followed all this stuff forever and got us a super sweet mortgage rate, etc (things I am clueless on). I don't want to get old.

So, the appt update goes like this:

I am apparently a sleeping pill junkie. My MD said I'm fine and we both believe I will be able to sleep again once the bay is born (ha, ha, ha) -at least without sleep aides, but my insurance company doesn't think I need more Ambien-poo on them.

There is a test routinely done on pregnant women at 36 weeks called GBS and I asked about how early you can get it (if it's positive or if you go untreated, you may receive antibiotics in labor and the baby gets blood draws)...so I found out that it is good for 4-5 weeks and then they just retest, but due to my crying, he forgot to do it today so I'll get it in 2 weeks when I return-on April Fool's day, more good fun. I also will receive a non-stress test (monitoring of the baby's heart rate) and an ultrasound for growth that day...I will definitely have childcare for that marathon visit!!!!

I measured 34 WEEKS! I feel every bit of it too! He examined my cervix and tried to figure out if Griffin is head down-he thought so (*PRAISE*) but from the feel of the exam-I don't think my cervix was too concerning yet;-)

When they do a pelvic exam that give you a sheet to cover up with. The way the chairs in the room are positioned are up near ones head and that's where the boys were sitting. When the doctor entered the room with his nurse, Jacob covered his eyes and said "I can't watch, I can't watch!" We were all so tickled. I assured him that I was covered by the sheet and that the MD was just checking on Griffin (sounds reasonable, right?). Everyone got a quite a chuckle as I tried to make jokes like the doctor doesn't want to watch either, good thin there's nothing to see here and I gave Jake a hard time saying we still shower together (rarley but sometimes)...how funny and sensitive a day it was all around!

When being weighed, I took off my jacket and shoes today and that helped me to only have them record 1 pound gained over the past 2 weeks;-)

He also decided to give me a round of steroid injections to help he baby's lungs mature in case he decides to arrive before 37 weeks (very likely) and I think the nurse who was in charge of getting this done had never done ANY of it before as I ended up being sent to the hospital for the injection...waiting for that verdict was hell on earth in a 8 x 8 room with tile floors and like 20 foot echoey ceilings and my 2 boys. Jacob had a melt down and said he didn't care about anyone but himself (ahhh the honesty of a confined 5 year old).

Then we went over to the hospital for the injection (oh, the one that feels like you are getting a bone marrow biopsy from your "hip" *read BUTT*-that took another marathon wait, with two very over "smartie" fed boys. They rearranged the lobby furniture and dusted the floors with their clothes and I found myself still unable to contain the flood gates. Even the manager of the intake area came out to try to make things better (shots and such are usually prescheduled and not Borics type walk-ins;-). They also finally put me in a room where there was THANK GOD a TV with Dora on it. Oh how I was ever so happy for Nickelodeon!!! The poor staff really must've thought I was a basket case (I was) and they tried very hard (to get us on our way:-)...finally nearly 3 hours after our planned MD visit time, we were heading home, I fed the boys lunch and EVERYONE laid down.

On a funny note-did you see yesterday's post? I think Owen was super cute but my sis mentioned him having this guys hair from this movie and then today (before I starting sobbing uncontrollably in front of my MD) he said, hey-Owen's hair looks like that guy from that 80's movie- HAH! How funny! Are you so singing from that movie right now?

So, you have days where you cry alot- right? At least when you were pregnant, right? Play along here-I'm apparently fragile *read unstable*.

And, do you plan funerals? I was sure that Tim had been killed in a fiery crash on his way home from his meeting as he was late-boy, would that have given me something to cry about;-(

I will repeat the shot process at noon tomorrow since it's a 2 time dose...mad fun.

What an uplifting *read whiny* update.

I really *REALY* am glad to still be growing this baby-I don't know if those who live with me are, but I am:-)

Feeling lucky?

TJ sure is...he found a 4 leaf clover today-I didn't have my camera and it wilted already (I think) but what a good sighted little boy (he's 9).

And to continue with my St. Patrick's day ranting, here are pix from my efforts:

My dinky doozies and jigglers:


The cutest leprechaun:


Such a BIG boy!!!:


Such a mischievous boy:


Where's Owen?


Peek-A-Boo (will this game ever get old?)


Okay, so to outline more about my getting bitten by the coupon bug:

So, I went to a ladies brunch about a month or two ago. Two ladies spoke on how they save for their families with coupons. I was sooo skeptical but I kept their ideas in the back of my mind. One mentioned the Sunday paper-which, we don't get and I rarely think to go out and get. The other mentioned a website (which I have linked below, money saving mom). I checked it out that very day but wasn't all that impressed. So, I've checked the website for a while now and finally it clicked-it is more about patience than a quick fix with couponing. I started off small with an unbeatable huggies deal-it's on coupons.com and it's for $5 off gentle care products-which includes wipes!!! So, long story short, and 2 Sunday papers and many printable internet coupons later...I'm hooked. I will try to stop the insanity with sharing my hot shopping trips but here is what I spent today and how I saved (I'm able to share this because they were pretty small, quick trips and I stuck to my lists!!!).

Target:

Huggies natural wipes (2) $2.39 each ($3 off coupons from coupons.com) ***-most stores give you face value-I don't believe you should try to make money from coupons so when you use them, they should type in the amount and not give the full $3 off for $2.39) total FREE

Clorox bleach 1.66 (just on sale)

Snack size cheetos (1) $1.29 ($1 off target.com coupon) total 29 cents

5 pound bag of russett potatoes (1) $2 (item was on sale and used $1 off target.com coupon) total $1

Small loaf artisan french bread (1) FREE (item was 99 cents and I used the $1 off target.com coupon

6 pack of Motts strawberry applesauce (1) 1.69 (I used a $1 off target.com coupon) total 69 cents

Total paid $3.64

Meijer trip (they double coupons up to 50 cents:

2 more wipes at 2.39 each (free after coupon.com coupons)

2 gentle care wipes at $5.99 each -total paid $1 each (after coupons.com coupons)

Lysol wipes (2) half off deal/sales at meijer right now 4.98-minus coupons-I think from finish.com (a cleaning product website and I got the tip from real simple saving methods blog-linked to the side)

lysol toilet bowl cleaner (2) at 1.17 each (1/2 price sale plus coupon as above)

Easter colored chocolate candies from the bulk section on sale from usual $4.99 per pound to right now 99 cents per pound (for easter dinky doozies) total paid 35 cents

Lysol kitchen cleaner 1.29 (half price sale plus coupon from finish website)

lysol all purpose cleaner 1.49 (half price sale plus coupon from finish website)

2 jet dry dishwasher cleaner (sale $6 for 2 plus coupon from finish website)

2 jet dry drying agent apple scent (sale $6 for 2 plus coupon from finish website)

3 Johnsons buddies soap 1.17 each (had 2 coupons 1 for $1 off one and one for $2 off 2) paid 51 cents total on 3

my coupons were worth 26.55 (with the doubling etc) and she took them all off.

paid 16.17 total for all of this;-)

It does take a little time to get used to it but I have done most of my homework while watching AI or HGTV at night once the boys are in bed.

Hope this helped some and if you have more q's, I'll try. I don't plan on always stocking up on cleaners and such but now is a great time. If you happen to log onto coupons.com and don't need the Huggies coupons, I'd love to have them-I think you can print 2 or 3 per printer;-)

I will hopefully post a good report and 32 weeks update tomorrow after my MD appt.

Saving (and spending) is super fun! Plus going GREEN!

Tim blessed me this evening by letting me go to the grocery store all alone-I had forgotten what it was like to not go to the bakery for the "bribery" cookie, not checking the cart every 2 seconds to make sure Owen is still safe (he's like Houdini in his ability to contort his way out of the seat belt), and that my purse is in tact, and not telling the boys to quiet down and not fight the WHOLE trip. Not to mention the time savings by not having to take them to the bathroom or just have them as a distraction. Plus, there were a million crying kids-AND NONE OF THEM WERE MINE!!!!

Anyway, I just wanted to share how much fun it has been to use/save/find coupons the past couple weeks. I used to not think it was worth the time and I was also a non-believer of their value since I thought I'd get things we wouldn't use-just because it was a good deal. I must say-I did get some things I otherwise wouldn't have but they were free or next to free and frankly REALLY good deals.

Here's a run down of what I got for about $60!!!

2 huge packs of huggies wipes refills
free pack of wrigleys gum
2 johnsons soap buddies for the boys (34 cents total)
39 cent mustard
glass plus
2 cans pringles
carpet spot cleaner
a huge family pack of boneless ribs
4 warm delights for Tim (45 cents each)
2 tubes of free crest
baby carrots
sour cream
bag of ready to eat salad
lysol cleaner
kitchen cleaner
lysol bathroom cleaner
lysol toilet cleaner
lysol all purpose cleaner
4 bags of Dominos powdered sugar
shampoo and conditioner-herbal essence I think
old english cleaner
pledge wipes
6 packages of various fruit by the foot, fruit roll ups etc.
2 boxes electrosol dishwashing detergent
3 cases diet pepsi;-) guilty pleasure-caff free of course;-)
2 jars applesauce
2 cake mixes

Isn't that awesome??? I would've taken a picture of it all but I thought tat might be over the top;-) It would've all been over $125 if I'd have not had coupons plus the sales. I'm sure I could've spent less but we won't need cleaners now forever plus some of the items (like the fruit roll-ups and warm delights) were things I usually wouldn't have bought.

I also have plans for tomorrow to make the boys "double doozies" which are cookie sandwiches (I'm using tollhouse break apart minis with green m&m's) with iciing in the middle-yum! I'm also making green jiggles and maybe pistachio pudding. Our meal will be turkey loaf (not gross like it sounds;-), green mashed potatoes, and green peas-believe it or not-one of my fams fav meals.

I'm actually going to make a yummy lunch too-baked ribs, parmesan noodles, and salad with Olive garden italian dressing.

So that's how I'm going green tomorrow;-) How bout you?

Thanks to everyone for playing the Griffin game so far...there's still time to vote!

31 weeks!

No doctors appointments this week...really not much of anything going on-which is great! So, I've been playing around on the blog some...will you play along? I added a box (right side bar) from expect.net as well (mom, Amanda, and others who NEVER comment PLEASE play too!).



I "stole" this idea from Lindsay over at Not2Us.net and while it's getting close-there's hopefully plenty of time...and while I'm a slacker and bad at following through, I thought I'd attach a small prize to the winning guess (I don't know what yet since I just thought up this grand idea;-) so please click the link and play along-I believe you want the LOWEST score and guess when Griffin will arrive with date and time and how much he'll weigh and measure in inches.

Just for previous stats:

TJ was 5 days over due. He weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces. He was 20 1/2 inches long.
Jacob was 5 1/2 weeks early. He weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces. He was 18 inches long.
Owen was 8 weeks early. He weighed 2 pounds 13 ounces. He was 14 1/4 inches long.

I think you have to enter an email address and password to play, but I've never received junk email from this site-I think it's just for stat reasons;-) Actually, I just tried it, and you don't even have to register;-) So click the link and guess for me:-)

Would still love more sling ideas and St. Patrick's day ideas (see recent post).

I think Jacob is coming down with something (fever tonight) so tomorrow (Thursday) may be a long day of Scooby episodes and lying around.

Oh and while I trail off...AI was pleasantly surprising tonight (results show)-and I'm liking the new rule. What about you?

Have a thankful Thursday!

Temporary new blog design...

I sure tried to come up with a fresh new blog design...however, I lost all my widgets doing it. It is a temporary design anyway, since Griffin needs added-but what a bummer to lose all my cool links and blogging buddies. I would really love to re-add everything-if I had a cool feature or if you want your blog "re-added", please let me know-don't not tell me...I really want to reset everything. And, if you have any idea how I can NOT lose everything next time, please let me know.

Hugs!

Tidbits for Tuesday

It doesn't feel like a Tuesday for me but I am struck with lots of random thoughts so, here's insight into my simple thoughts -in no particular order:

St. Patrick's day: It's just a week away...and I'm not Irish. However, after reading a post from friend Amy (see link below)-or since I couldn't find it, maybe it was a facebook entry regarding her inspiring V-day ideas, I'm looking for creative things (low to no cost) to do on St Patricks day. Obviously, I can think of green milk, green mashed potatoes and green jigglers-but if you think of other fun things, please leave a comment (or email me) so I can make St Patty's day special.

Crafts-on a similar note, I am looking for other fun, easy crafts to fill our rainy and boring days with...nothing high cost but maybe something proven that is not your typical cookie baking, play dough making (which I believe is of the devil;->, etc type stuff.

Deals-do you shop for super deals or free after rebate stuff? I thought this would be fun to get into but I'm finding it to be time consuming and irritating because the items are often out when I go to get them. I called Tim today to ask him what his definition of One per purchase was and I got an earful! Boy was he ticked. Apparently, their are lots of people in Lafayette (and probably everywhere) who will take a coupon or rebate and buy up everything the store has, daily at times and not leaving any for anyone else. The reason that I am ticked about this also is because we went to this place called Trader Bucks Flea Market Saturday and found out where all this free after rebate, etc stuff goes-they snatch it up and resale it...I'm all about first come first served, but come on! How selfish and rude. Since I'm on my soap box, I'll say, it's people like this that make things like coupons and Internet deals a fleeting idea.

Amy-As I mentioned above, my friend Amy is a creative and sweet momma to Alex (a buddy of Jake's) who I have mentioned here before...you may remember her as being Lydia's mommy...anyway-she had a very neat post last night and the picture says it all-such heart warming photo!

Seat belts/Toyota-As a preface, all is fine, but, I was rear-ended yesterday. I was taking TJ to school from a dental appt and bam! a young lady was not paying attention and hit us while we were stopped at a red light. My initial (very pregnant) reaction was to start crying...she hit us quite hard and I was in shock. Not literally and we are all very thankful that no obvious damage was done to the van, nor any of us (it was me, TJ and Owen in the van) but it definitely made me think about the brevity of life and how things can change in an instant. It reminded me t be grateful for a super safe vehicle (Thanks Toyota!) and for seat belts-I'm shocked mine didn't leave strap marks it pulled so hard across my belly...we did not need to seek medical care or anything but it was scary.

Pilgrim project-TJ has a project for school where he had to pick from a list of historical figures...I'd guess he'd pick Washington or Lincoln or someone really well recognized-but noooo...he picked *MILES STANDISH* -my first thought-who the heck was Miles Standish? Do you know without googling him? Well, he was a Pilgrim and part of the assignment is to make a 3-D project that represents the figure...what? How will he (read I;-) pull that one off? Well, I asked his teacher for ideas because I really want *him* to "do" the project...so she gave me some brilliant ideas and really got my creativity going. TJ is working on making a garden plot because Miles apparently grew food to feed his fellow pilgrims (though t what he was primarily known for) and it is a project he can do almost solely on his own. We also shopped at Goodwill for "pilgrim" clothes because he is supposed to dress up as Miles for a speech. All he still needs is a pilgrim type hat. If you have any great ideas that aren't construction paper related, let me know...it needs to be durable enough to make it thru a whole day of school and I know my Teej...a paper hat won't make it out the door:-) Oh, and we are looking for ideas for a red beard as Miles apparently had a red beard-anyone?

AI: Was anyone else relieved that Crapiana was not chosen for the top 12...can you believe that I'm so slow on the uptake that I didn't even realize the judges chose 4 wild card contestants instead of just the 3 that they were supposed to choose to make 12 (VS the final 13 they now have). The picks were ok, but a little surprising. Looking forward to tonight's round and of course Kim's following blog post about her thoughts regarding the episode-she's a riot;-)

Sling: I'm still looking for sling advice. I purchased the munchkin one from Walmart.com (it is a one piece, no straps or clips). It doesn't feel right-it seems way small and snug-not just comfy for baby, but SNUG. So, please send more advice;-)

Well, Tim has arrived home so we will heat up some de-lish BBQ from Sams...looking forward to any comments about my tidbits;-)

30 weeks (a day early)

It's like the same old song and dance (who am I kidding, I can hardly walk, let alone dance right now)-same words, one week further along but I can't believe I'll be 30 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I had my appt today...my Ultrasound was first. Griffin looks great-but I did have an overwhelming sense of despair come over me as she spent extra time in both his head and abdominal areas. I saw the numbers come up-33+ weeks on his head and everything else, while a blur, was at least 30-31 weeks.

He overall came in at 3 pounds 8 ounces-which brings tears to my eyes remembering back to bringing Owen home from the hospital at just 3 pounds 9 ounces. What a miracle baby!

I waited in the sterile and loud exam room for my doctor...it gave me a few minutes (make that a half hour) to get out a little cry and try to regain my composure so he wouldn't know that I've completely lost it. I let him do all his normal talking and q's, etc before blurting out-"so, how bout the ultrasound?" He said like it was nothing..."what about it?" I was like, so nothing is wrong?... I has really talked myself into bad news. He said he wasn't even worried about the kids ginormous head and that everything was just a little above average. My amniotic fluid is little on the high normal side (I knew that based on how huge I feel;-)... and I measured externally at 32 weeks.

I will go get my labs drawn later today for my blood glucose levels and iron, etc.

So, all that to say all is well and I am carrying a big healthy boy! Oh, who is in the frank breech position-what does this mean? Probably nothing as he has time to turn, but otherwise it means, his hiney is on my bladder and his head in my ribs (on the left) and his feet are on my ribs on the right. And I can not consider VBACing (vaginal birth after cesarean) if he stays breech.

I think that is everything for now, but I must go get Jacob from preschool so I'll return later if I think of more;-)

29 weeks & the great sock revelation

So, it's true...I missed another weekly update (last THURSDAY!!!) when I turned the big 29 weeks along. Why do I torture myself with such expectations of at least weekly posts? Well, I guess it's because this is my journal so to speak, and the least I could do is update it once a week.

I really had nothing to report about being 29 weeks along-aside from being pretty darn uncomfortable (but realistic that 2 more months of discomfort is so worth a healthy baby;-). I also took a couple belly pics-nope you won't find them here-if that doesn't put a 4th time mom in a bad mood, then nothing will. What a cow...and I so look further along than 29 weeks (more like 49 weeks;-).

I have an appt and Ultrasound this Wednesday so, maybe I'll have more to report.

Lastly, I've had a revelation. Yes, I'm truly a genius and a quick one at that. I've realized that I'm about to be the mom of 4, yes, count them FOUR boys. And for some reason, each time I do laundry I find myself making excuses for not sorting their socks. Then, I find myself irritated when I go into the laundry room and see socks all over the floor (instead of in the laundry basket where I left them). Why are the socks on the floor? Because, I have 2 boys who are old enough to go get their socks out of the laundry basket when they find their sock drawers are empty (again) and they need socks.

I *HATE* when their socks don't match, but I may hate even more to sort their socks. Now, you must know, I really don't like it when people use the *Hate* but, in this case, it really fits well. So, as I was sitting on my bed with a big laundry basket full of socks, etc today, I had a revelation...I can actually BUY socks that are white but different enough in each of their sizes and say maybe 10-12 pairs of them for each of them so I don't have to sort socks...I'll throw out all the old dingy ones (yes, I know there are sockless children in China-get off my back, I'm hormonal and on the verge of a sock induced breakdown!) and just BUY new ones-voila-genius! Plus, when it comes time to put away the laundry, I can say, ok-TJ has all the blue bottom socks, Jake has all the gray bottom ones, and Owen has the ALL white ones-no more matching 2 socks and making the crazy little sock pair balls! Can you imagine such a glorious thing?

Why did this silly idea take me so long to come up with??? Please, please-no one burst my bubble that this plan won't work. I've even realized that with such a clever plan, I'll more easily be able to *yell* at which ever little demon took their elusive socks off and left them lying wherever-just by glancing at the color...

So, it's off to get TJ from school and go sock shopping-wish me luck;-)


***Update***

Mission asockplished (get it?-accomplished:-)...well mostly- Target, the store Jake picked, did not have acceptable Owen sized socks, so TJ ended up with 9 new pair and Jake 10 pair, for the low price of $45-because who really goes to Target and doesn't pick up the sale soda, 2 clearanced pair of shorts for $1.48 each, a bit o sweets for the momma, and some dinner items?;-)

Here they are in all their crisp, clean and easily matchable glory:




A BIG P.S. For those of you who could not figure it out...the baby's name will be Griffin Isaiah and the way to figure it out was that the first letter of each of the bible verses spelled out his name-the letters were in BOLD but the pink didn't turn out so bold. Thanks to all those who complimented the name (unlike my step-dad who barked in the background when I told my mom-poo on you Pa-paw Andy!).