I love coupons!!

And here's why...

Over the last year or so now, I've been couponing to help us save more money on the items that we use everyday!  Plus, stock up on things that I get for $1 or less to donate to people who need them!  I made a couple of stops today and here's what I got!

At Walgreens, I wanted to stock up on Aquafresh toothpaste for the kids because they're running low!  Plus, who would seriously turn down FREE toothpaste???  Not this girl!  Sadly, they didn't have any but the nice girl working there gave me a raincheck for the 4 I wanted.  Are you wondering how I was going to get it for free? 

The toothpaste is on sale for $2

I had a $1 off coupon from this last Sunday's paper

Wags also has a $1 off IVC in their April booklet!

I can use both of these coupons together and get it for only sales tax:-)

I also got my FAV body wash, Nivea, for $1.49 per bottle!

The body wash is normally $5.79 per bottle. (Yikes!!)

Wags had it on sale for $3.49 this week!

I had a $2 off coupon from Sunday's paper

SO... I paid just $1.49 per bottle!!!

That means I saved $4.30 per bottle!!!

That's a total savings of $8.60

With tax, I paid just $3.66 for both bottles of body wash!

Onto Rite Aid....

I got 2 packages of Cascade complete- 15 ct. and 2 bottles of the Nivea men's 3-in-1 bodywash which is Steven's favorite!

The Cascade is normally priced around $5.99 at my Rite Aid.  It was on sale for $3.99 and when you bought one package, you got $1 +UP reward to use on a later purchase!  I had two 25¢ off coupons for the Cascade.  The Nivea men's bodywash was on sale for $4.99, it's normally around $6-$7 there.  When you bought one bottle, you got a $1.50 +UP reward to use on a later purchase.  Here's the breakdown:

2- Bottles of Nivea men's bodywash $4.99 each

2- packages of Cascade complete $3.99 each

I used:

2- $2 off Nivea Men's coupons

2- 25¢ off Cascade coupons

My total with tax was just under $16

I have $5 in +UP rewards to use on my next purchase!

I saved around $12 on these items.

I've got more trips planned for this week and will post the breakdowns after I get home!  I've got 2-3 more Rite Aid trips planned and will cash in my Rain check at Wags either Saturday or one day next week.  She said that they'll get a truck on Friday so they'll have more toothpaste in stock then! 

Hayden update: 24 weeks, 6 days

Hayden Joseph Lawrence

Due July 31st, 2012

I went to the doctor today to check on Hayden!  I go back in one month for my next visit!  His heartbeat was 156 and my belly measured in at 25 weeks!  He's definitely a very active little (big) boy!  He's already big, much bigger than Emma at this time!  He's doing great and we can't wait to meet him!  I figure I have at least 3 full months before he'll be here!  I've had some swelling in my feet, my heartburn has been so bad at times that I feel like a fire-breathing dragon, and he likes to hang out in the sciatic region of my back which makes my mobility a little (sometimes a lot) difficult at times.  They scheduled me an appointment for my glucose test today:-/  I hate those tests!  You have to drink a nasty drink, then be a human pin-cushion!  It's SO much fun...NOT!  Hopefully the tests will come back good and I won't have to go thru having gestational diabetes again!

Emma's 2 year check-up

Here's Miss Emma all dressed up for her 2 year check-up at her new Pediatrician's office!  I found Doctor Ward online thru lots and lots of searching!  I found excellent reviews of him and they were 100% right!  He's awesome!  Emma, who's normally scared of most men, really liked him.  She definitely did freak out big time at the doctors at first.  We hadn't been in 6 months, so she had forgotten what it was like.  I'm just glad that we found a great doctor for Emma and Hayden! 

Emma- 2 years old

Height- 31 1/2 inches tall

Weight- 22lbs. 9.8oz.

Head- 47 1/2 cm

She's in the 5th percentile for height and weight.  Her head is in the 15th I believe.  He wasn't concerned at all since I'm petite and Steven is only 5'4''.  He said she was tiny and perfect! She doesn't have to go back for another check-up until she's 3 years old!

Emma's 2nd Birthday Party: Presents

Caillou and Rosie train from Ga Ga! 
She absolutely LOVES Caillou!

Her pink tricycle from Ga Ga!

Outfits from Aunt Crystal

Her new cake-cake DVD. 
It's Strawberry Shortcake for those of you who don't speak Emma! LOL!!

Ice cream learning color game

10 toys in 1 from Nana and Pa.  It's the coolest thing ever!  There's so much she can do and learn from!
Shapes, colors, building things, drawing, etc.!

Uncle Matt helping Emma ride on her new tricycle!

She got tons of new stuff!  Here's a rundown of a few things she got:

 New outfits

Emma-sized hot pink Adirondak chair for outside!

Her own tools to work in the garden with

Several new Elmo DVD's

(Thank You!!!  This Momma was tired of the same old movies that we had)

Water table to play with outside

tricycle

Caillou and Rosie toy

10-in-1 toy box full of goodies!

Minnie Mouse pillow pet

Crayola color wonder finger paint

New bath toys and a toy holder for the bathroom

New bows and a cute purse
T-ball tee with bat and balls

We can't thank everyone enough who came to her party today!  She had the best time and got a nice suprise this morning before her party started!  She loves, I mean, LOVES Sprout.  She loves to watch the Sunny Side Up Show with Chica every morning.  I decided to send a message to Chica for her telling them that we were having her party today, and guess who made T.V.??  Emma did!!!  She didn't think it was really her at first and I said, "Sissy, you're on TV with Chica!!!"

Her eyes got as big as silver dollars and she was so excited! 

She ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug!

She enjoyed her party so much and really enjoyed playing with her cousins, Chloe and Sierra!!  I finished up all of the decorations this morning, plus mixed all of the icing colors, hand-piped all of the cupcakes and Elmo cake!  I found the best recipe for strawberry cake online and did all of the baking yesterday!  Mom and I couldn't get enough of the batter! LOL!!!

Emma will officially turn 2 this Thursday, April 12th at 10:30pm!!  I can't believe that it's already been 2 years since we met our sweet baby girl for the first time!!  I'm so proud of myself, because I actually made it through the Happy Birthday song without crying! 

Emma's 2nd Birthday Party: Decorations

Ribbon Topiaries

Emma's chair complete with her Elmo balloons and Emma balloons!
I found balloons at Party City with her name on them!

Homemade birthday banner, pom poms, and stars.
The picture frame has the theme to Elmo's world written in crayon.
I changed a few things to customize it for Emma!

Larger Ribbon Topiary

Food table:-)

We couldn't have an Elmo birthday party without Elmo and Dorothy plates!

Elmo Veggie tray

Fruit platter, chips/dip, and homemade strawberry cupcakes!

I love making cakes and this is my first Elmo cake!
He turned out awesome!!

Emma's Birthday Part 1

Emma got her first present from Uncle Matt and Aunt Heather on Thursday night. 

She got Sesame Street drums!  And as you can see from the picture, she loves them!

 

On Friday, she got another present from my friend Casey!  She got her Sesame Street Maracas.  Emma played them all the way home from the mall, which is 20-25 minutes from our house!

2 Little Busy Bodies

Between Emma and Hayden, I'm always moving!  Emma absolutely loves being outside!  Personally, I prefer the indoors and my A/C:-)  It's been very nice here lately!  It's been warm and sunny with very little rain, so we've spent a lot of time outside.  Emma spent most ALL day yesterday outside and went all day long without a nap.  This concerned me a little, but she didn't start having an attitude until bedtime.  She had a blast and got a little tan in the process!  As soon as she came in the house, I threw her in the tub because she'd been playing in the grass and in the dirt and was filthy!  Apparently, she's going thru "Big Bang Theory" withdrawals because she looked at me and said, "Momma, Shedon on TT?"  I told her, no, not tonight.  She looked at me again, started laughing and said, "Shedon funny Momma!"  She cracks me up!  I've got to catch her on video doing her dance to the BBT theme song! 

Mr. Hayden apparently prefers to be as stretched out as possible.  He's stretched out from my ribs on the left side to my hip on the right side.  So I'm feeling pretty uncomfortable these days!  His favorite time to move and kick is when I get ready to go to sleep at night!  I think he was doing the jive last night because never has he moved so much before!  I didn't have to have a c-section with Emma because she was a 6lb. baby.  I'm sensing that Hayden is going to be a linebacker, so I'm trying to wrap my brain around the possibility that I might have to have one with him:-/ 

My poor house is torn apart and of course heck had to break loose the week before Emma's birthday party!  Our water heater had been leaking for who knows how long.  We had no clue.  It leaked underneath our laminate flooring which is barely 1 year old.  We Steven had to rip out all of the flooring because we were afraid the water had caused mold.  Thankfully it was just mildew and we Steven was able to clean it up and get our bathroom to where we can use it.  Now we've got to get all new flooring for the bathroom:-(  Now, we're down to one bathroom for the birthday party. 

Just to give you an idea of all of the stuff Steven had to move out of the bathroom just to take the floor up...

So guess what all we had to take off of our bed and put back on those shelves last night.  My stock pile has dwindled down some, but there's still a ton of stuff on those shelves! LOL!