AMAZED!!!!

I'm constantly amazed at the things that my sweet Emma Kate does!  She loves fruit and veggies and her favorite things to eat are strawberries and bananas!  I think she'll be turning into a strawberry/banana soon:-) Not only does she help me doing things around the house, like taking clean plates out of the dishwasher, but she also is learning new words like crazy!!!  We got her a Leapfrog musical learning table for Christmas and she was just playing with it. When pushing the colored keys (which then say the color) she said red for the red key, yellow for the yellow, blue for the blue, and green for the green key!  She also says up. 

Here are Emma's new words that she has learned:
* blue
* yellow
* red
* green
* keys- when holding or looking at keys
* light- she'll look up at a light, point, and say wight
* that- she'll say this and point at what she wants if she doesn't know the word
* cheese- Emma loves cheese and eats it for snack a lot of times
* piggys- she'll say it and point at her toes
* nana- for banana which I think she'll be turning into one soon!  She loves them!

Foods that we like:
* She loves eating scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, buscuits, and waffles
* She loves most fruit and veggies and is very good about eating them
* She loves her grains and eats bread, rice, pasta, and cereal
* She loves the rice, refried beans, soft tacos, sauteed onion, green pepper, and onion at the Mexican  resturant.  She also likes the grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat bun from Sonic!  The grilled chicken sandwich is the ONLY fast food she has had and all she'll have for a long time!

I'm so PROUD of Emma and just wanted to share!!

Shopping trip: May 20, 2011

(2) 4 rolls Cottonelle toilet paper - 2/$6 - $1 in coupons FP: $5.00 for 8 rolls of toilet paper
(2) 4 rolls Scott Naturals toilet paper- $5.36-$2 in coupons FP: $3.36
(3) travel size Pert plus shampoo- $0.97 each- $1 coupon FP: $-0.09 (I made 9 cents:-)
(4) toothbrushes $0.96 each- $0.75 coupon= FP: $0.21 each
(3) Sure deoderants regular $2.99 each, Sale: $1.49- $1 coupon= FP: $0.49 each
(2) Tostitos chips & salsa $3.98, sale $2.49 -$1 coupon= FP:$1.49 each
     with the chips and salsa, I got 2 Pepsi Max 2 liters for FREE!!!
(3) Coke 2 liters $1.25 each
(3) Nivea body washes, $5.99 regular price, sale $3-$1 coupon, $2 each
(2) 7th generation dish soap $2.67 each - $1 coupon = FP:$1.67 each
(2) Finish powerball, 20ct. regular price $5.99, sale, BOGO free at $3.49 = FP: $3.49 for 2
(4) boxes of Ziploc bags 2 for $4- $1 coupon= $3 for 2 plus I got 2 $1 up rewards, so I got all 4 boxes
     for $4, I basically paid $1 per box:-)
(2) loaves of wheat bread $0.99 each= $1.98/2 
      Kroger had a deal to BOGO free on bread, but one loaf itself was $2.99, so, by changing the brand I   
      bought, I saved an extra $1.01
(2) bottles of Wisk detergent, regular $5.99 each, I paid $2.99 after sale price and coupons

FINAL TALLEY: 
Total Retail: $114.41
Total Paid: $50.96
Total Saved: $63.45

That's a 55% savings.  I've done better, but considering that we weren't having a very good day for sales and that my cashier at Walmart was SOOO happy (not!!) that I price matched almost everything I bought, I did O.K.!

My Couponing Quest...# 2

I needed several things from about 3 different stores, so thanks to Walmart, I price matched everything there!  I've taken a picture of everything and will be posting it as soon as I can.  I purchased $220.57 worth of retail items, saved $143.71, and my total OOP was $76.86.
Here's what I bought!

(2) 12-packs of Sundrops 
    -these weren't on sale, but my husband needed them I did save $1 from a Kroger catalina I had.
(4) 2-liters of Coca Cola
    -these were the same price at Walmart as the price match I had.
(1) Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
    -These weren't on sale, but I had a coupon for them and my total OOP was $0.47
(2) Cleaning wipes
     - weren't on sale, paid $3
(9) boxes of Captain Crunch cereal
        $2.79/box at Walmart
        Price matched them for $1.75/box = $15.75
        I had 3, $2 coupons
        FP: $1.08/box  Total OOP: $9.75
        Total savings: $15.39
(3) Purex laundry detergent $6.79 each
        Price matched them for $1.97 each
        Total OOP: $5.91 
        Savings: $14.46
(4) All free and clear $7.96 each
       Price matched them for BOGO free at $3.97 each
       Total OOP: $5.94
       Savings: $25.90
(4) Finish Powerball $5.99 each
       Price matched them for BOGO free at $3.49 each
       Total OOP: $5.49
       Savings: $18.47
(4) Jet Dry $4.99 each
       Price matched them for BOGO free at $3.49 each
       Total OOP: $5.88
       Savings: $14.08
(2) Pantene Shampoo/Conditioner $4.99 each
       Price matched them for BOGO 50% off
       Total OOP: $2.67
       Savings $7.31
(6) Old Spice Body Wash $4.99 each
       Price matched them for 3 for $10
       I had 3, BOGO free coupons
       Total OOP: $10
       Savings: $19.94
(3) Gillette body wash $4.49 each
       Price matched them for 3 for $10
       I had 3, $2 off coupons
       Total OOP: $4
       Savings: $9.47
(3) Gillette body wash $4.49 each
(3) Gillette deoderant $4.24 each
        Price matched them for 3 for $10
        I had 3, BO body wash GO deoderant free coupons
        Total OOP: $10
        Savings: $16.19

Total Retail: $220.57
Total saved: $143.71
Total OOP: $76.86
       65% savings
      
       

      

Emma's new tooth!

   Emma hadn't been feeling good lately and I was afraid she was getting an ear infection.  So, off to the doctor we went on Wednesday.  The good news: NO ear infection!  The bad news: I still didn't know what was wrong.  I then thought well maybe she just has a little cold.  She has two older brothers in public school, so it wouldn't be suprising. 
  Emma got her 1st tooth for her 1st birthday and Thursday morning when we woke up, Emma had a new tooth and was officially 13 months old.  Looks like a pattern here, huh? 
         1st tooth: 12 months April 12, 2011
         2nd tooth: 13 months May 12, 2011
  Who knows, maybe she'll get a new tooth once a month on the 12th!

My couponing quest continues...

  Currently (and for the past 3 days) I've been strategizing on how to make the best pairing between my coupons and in-store sales to get the best bang for my buck!  As of right now, I'm going to Walmart and Walgreens this week.  I'm not finished with my lists yet but as of right now, I'm looking to save about $109.  That's not including the amount I'm saving from price matching!  I also haven't added the baby things that I need!  I will post my totals after completing my shopping!!

Mrs. Hayley...future extreme couponer!!

  I'm currently working on a coupon binder because I'm wanting to save as MUCH as I can for my family!  Groceries and just about everything else are getting VERY expensive:-(  Living on an unpredictable income (because my husband is a truck driver) we really have to watch what we spend!  I'm ALL about saving money and in the past few weeks, I've saved my family over $600!!
  I just bought a Trapper-Keeper to keep all of my coupons in and the poor thing is already busting at the seams!  I've got 40 dividers with all different categories to divide my coupons up in an easy to find system!!  Unfortunatly, I still have more categories that I need to buy dividers for!!  Now, to keep my coupons neat and organized, I will be using baseball card holders.  But finding them in this town is about like searching for a needle in a haystack!!  I've found them on Amazon.com very cheap and brand new:-) 
  Just to give you an example of how much I've saved: last week I went to 3 different stores, Wal-mart, Walgreens, and the Dollar Store.  I spent a total of $164.10 on tons of items from food, to diapers, to toilet paper and paper towls, to health and beauty items and much more!  I saved a total of $94.  So...

      I PAID  $164.10

      RETAIL VALUE $258.10

      TOTAL PERCENTAGE I SAVED:  64%

WOOHOO!!!

   I am so proud of myself for achieving that much savings in only the first month of my couponing quest!!  It's not easy AT ALL!!  It's very hard to keep your concentration, especially when I was shopping this last week!! Because I was shopping in the middle of 1 of our 10 tornado warnings on Wednesday! haha  I love the rush I get from saving so much!!  What really made my day was when my husband told me how proud he was of me because he knew how much work I put into it!!  Needless to say, I think I succeeded!!!

So Proud!!!

Just a little Emma update!!  Last night late, we had a major scare!  Emma had quickly developed knots behind her ears.  There were 4 total!  Steven and I were scared to death of what this could mean and neither one of us got any sleep!  We took her to the first doctor we could get her into, and Thank God, she was just fine.  The knots were swollen lymph nodes that are caused by many different things and will go away on their own!  I hope no one has to experience the horror of worrying that your child could have a major illness.

On a lighter note, I have some updates on Emma's developmental milestones!! 
* She is crawling about 95 miles an hour!

* When asked a question, she will either shake her head yes or no, depending upon her answer!

*She plays peek-a-boo by herself.  If you ask, "Where's Emma?" she'll cover both eyes with her little hands and then take her hands back down and just grin!!

* She knows the signs (American sign language) for milk, water, more, and book and uses milk and more on a daily basis!

* She has a 25-30 word vocabulary.  Here are some of the ones she says that I remembered:
~ Hi and bye (while waving)       
~ go, no, and quit (the three words she hears most often LOL!!)
~ Emma
~ cookie
~ truck (She will use this in a sentence as "Da uck", or Dad's truck
~ good girl (which she repeats after each time we tell her!)
~ Mama, Dada, Gaga (Grandaddy, my dad), Ga (Pa, Steven's step-dad), Nana (Steven's mom), Gigi (my mom), A-da (for brother Alden), and Bubba (for brother Avery), Wu (our dog, Lucy)
~ gog, Emma's version of dog
~ gat, Emma's version of cat 
       There's a new cat that hangs around our house, is very friendly, and Emma LOVES him!!  Everytime she sees him, she hollers, "gat, gat, mea, mea"  It's beyond adorable that she's trying to talk to the cat!!
~ ba ba, which we don't use, but she does say it sometimes when she wants her sippy cup
~ mo mo (saying while signing more, for more food or drink)
~ Uh, uh (no)
~ Uh, oh

~ When she'll drop something, I'll usually make a silly face and say "Oh No" to make her laugh and to teach her not to get upset if that happens!  Now, whenever that particular phrase is uttered, she puts her hands on the sides of her head and grins!!  It's too funny!!




Here's my silly girl making one of her many goofy faces!! 

  Well, I think that about sums up what's been going on here lately!  Oh, I almost forgot, we are feeding ourself with a fork and doing AWESOME!!! 
  Oh, we also are very good when playing with other babies!!  Emma shares great, but at home she's begun to share will one particular individual I'm not too happy about, OUR DOG!!!   Emma just has a big ole heart and wants to make sure that Lucy gets extra snacks during the day!!  She will eat a bite, then throw down one for Lucy.  Then when she gets a drink from her sippy cup, she'll throw that down for Lucy too!  (No, Lucy doesn't get close to her cup)  But it's still precious!!
   We're incredibly blessed that Emma is doing so well and is so smart and is so well behaved!  She can put a smile on anyone's face!  She loves to give hugs and kisses and all you have to do is ask and she'll either blow you a kiss or plant one right on your cheek!!