Shopping Trips: 4/20 & 4/21

Y'all are probably getting sick and tired of reading these, but I love saving money and I just want others to see how EASY it really is:-)  Over the last few days, I've made several couponing trips to stock up on things that we need before Hayden arrives!!  Steven needed more razors and I found a sale at Rite Aid on the ones he likes!

Rite Aid:

2 packages of BIC disposable razors on sale for $5.99

-get $2 +UPs wyb 2

-I used 2- $1.50 MQ's

-I also used the $7 +UPs that I got on Wednesday

I only paid $3.15 (w/tax) for both packages of razors!

Walgreens:

They had our Nivea on sale for $3.49 each!  Steven and I both love the Nivea body wash for men and women!  They had $2 off coupons for the body wash.  Here's the breakdown:

4- Men's 3-in-1 Nivea body washes

2- Women's Nivea body wash

Regular price of all 6 bottles: $34.74

Sale Price for all 6 bottles $20.94

I used:

4- $2/1 MQ's for the Men's body wash

2- $2/1 MQ's for the women's body wash

My pre-tax total for this was just $8.94

I saved a total of $25.80 on the body wash!!

Dollar General:

4- All Oxi-active detergent on sale for $4 each

1- Arm & Hammer laundry detergent on sale for $7.50

I got a few other things that we needed here which got me to a pre-tax total of $32

I used:

4- $1/1 All MQ's

1- $5/25 purchase coupon

After coupons and sale prices I paid just over $25 with tax.  I'm now stocked up on laundry detergent for a little bit and I'm glad that I saved money on it!

Shopping Trip 4/18/2012

Here are the deals I was able to get today!

Rite Aid

Transaction #1:

2 bottles of Soft Scrub regular price $3.99

On sale 2 for $5

get $1 +UP wyb 2

4 bottles of Shout regular price $3.99

On Sale 2 for $5

get $2 +UP wyb 2

I used:

2- $1 off Soft Scrub total cleaner MQ's

4- 55¢ off Shout MQ's

$5 +UPs from yesterday

FP: $7.26 w/ tax

I got $5 +UP to use on my next purchase

Transaction #2:

5 boxes of different kinds of Ziploc bags

On sale 2 for $6 or $3 each

I Used:

2- $1/2 Ziploc product MQ's

1- 50¢ Ziploc product MQ's

$5 in +UP from Transaction #1

FP: $8.96

I got $5 in +UPs for buying $15 in Ziploc items

I also got a surpise: $2 +UPs for buying $15 worth in Glade or Ziploc products!!  YEAH!!!

Now I've got $7 +UPs to use tomorrow when I go to stock up on razors!!

At Walmart the savings weren't as awesome as at Rite Aid, but diapers are expensive!  I realized this morning that we only had 2 diapers left for Emma (oops!!)  SO, a trip to Walmart became necessary!  Here's what I got there!

1 package of Pampers Cruisers

1 package of Pampers Swaddlers

4 packages of Pampers wipes

1- 12pk of White Cloud toilet paper

I used:

$1.50 off Pampers Cruisers ( for Emma )

$1.50 off Pampers Swaddlers ( for Hayden )

2- $1 off Pampers wipes

2- 75¢ off Pampers wipes

$2.50 off White Cloud toilet paper

Total before coupons was $35.44

After coupons, I paid $26.44

This was the cheapest price I could get diapers for the next few weeks and I wanted to use my $1.50 off coupons before they expired!

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!!