Emma's favorite phrases...

Miss Priss is definitely growing up on us:-)  She's saying more words and speaking more clearly on a daily basis.  When you ask her what her name is, she says "Emma Kate" and when you ask her how old she is, she says, "I'm 2."  She's also very obsessed with Elmo and knows that Elmo is 3 and will tell you that too! LOL!!!  Here are some more of her favorite things to say:

When she's studying something: "Hmm (pointer finger to the side of her mouth), Let's See"

When we're putting things on the belt at the grocery store, "No, no, no Mommy, I do it.  I wanna help"

Anytime she sees anything about Big Bang Theory, "Shedon funny Mommy!"

At random times throughout the day, you'll hear her knocking on furniture saying, "Penny, Penny, Penny!"

When you ask her to do something she'll say, "Okay"

She's getting very good at communicating her needs, wants, and frustrations!  She's speaking in sentences and is saying at least 500 words. 

She looks at my belly and tells me that my belly's fat! Which cracks me up, because obviously, it is!!  There's a child growing in there!  She knows that her brother is in there and comes up and will give him kisses and say "Hi Bubba Haydnen"

Other favorite things to say:

Yeehaw

Awesome

corn- pop (quoting Strawberry Shortcake)

Her favorite things to watch:

Strawberry Shortcake (or cake-cake, as she calls her)

Anything Elmo/Sesame Street (she can name every character and every person on the show!)

Big Bang Theory, of course.  She thinks Sheldon is hilarious and knows half of their names. 

Anything on Sprout!!!  Especially Caillou, The Wiggles, Angelina Ballerina, and DirtGirlWorld (which I despise)

Her favorite songs to sing:

"Elmo's Song"

"I'm Elmo and I know it"

"Bye Bye Binky" (from Elmo's By Bye Pacifier DVD)

"Soft Kitty" from Big Bang Theory

The song from one of the Sprout commercials

The songs from Strawberry Shortcake

Any song from the radio that she knows

Most precious moments:

She's now started saying "Love you too"

She says Mommy instead of Momma

She can say Alden, Avery, and Hayden's names very plainly

Every time that Lady Antebellum's song, "Dancing Away With my Heart" comes on, she has to run and find her pink stuffed elephant from Carter's and dance with it until the song ends!

She says please and thank you at the appropriate times.

She's got one heck of a sense of humor and keeps us laughing!  She's very independent and likes to do things on her own.  If she can't figure something out, she gets very frustrated with herself (maybe a little perfectionism coming out, which she gets from me.)  She's very loving and loves giving hugs to anyone who wants, needs or didn't know they needed/wanted a hug!  She loves to play in her room, color, finger paint, and help Mommy when asked (which is awesome!!!)  

Rite Aid trip 5/1/12

Originally, I had planned a big trip for yesterday to Rite Aid!  Since my husband's grandfather is in ICU at Centennial in Nashville, we've spent most of our time there this weekend.  So, I cut my list down to the things I really wanted!  I had it where I was going to do 3 transactions and get $13 in +UP rewards to use on my final transaction, but when we got home yesterday afternoon, I was worn out and didn't go so my coupons expired.  Oh well!  I still got what I wanted today and still saved a lot of money:-)  

Here's what I got:

8- bottles of Pantene shampoo/conditioner {original price $4.99 each/sale- 2 for $7}

4- Schick men's shaving creams {original price $3.99each/sale 2 for $5}

Total before sales and coupons $55.88

I used:

4- BOGO Pantene coupons from 4/29 P&G insert

4- 75¢/1 Schick men's shaving cream MQ

FP for all: $21.00 pre-tax

With sale prices and coupons, I saved: $34.88

Shopping Trip 4/27/12

Today I went to Walgreens, Walmart, and Rite Aid to get the deals I needed!  This week, my stock up items were fabric softener, laundry detergent, cleaners, and shampoo/conditioner.  I went to Walgreens first and here's what I got:

Transaction #1:

3- Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaners (on sale for $2.99 each)

* I used 1- $1/1 MQ and 1- $2/2 MQ

FP: $5.97 +tax

* Got $2 RR 

Transaction #2:

1- Fantastik all purpose cleaner (on sale for $2.99)

2- Windex (on sale for $2.99 each)

*I used 1- 75¢/1 MQ and $1/2 Windex MQ

FP: $7.22 +tax

* Got $2 RR

Transaction #3:

4- Arm & Hammer detergents (sale $3.49 each)

4- Suavitel fabric softeners (on sale BOGO $2.99)

2- Kids Aquafresh toothpastes (used raincheck from last week for sale price of $2 each)

2- Laffy Taffy for fillers

*I used 2- $1/2 Arm & Hammer coupons, 4- 50¢/1 Suavitel coupons, 2- $1 off Aquafresh, 2- $1 off Aquafresh store coupons, used $4 RR (from trans. #1 & 2)

FP: $12.94 + tax

At Walmart:

Price matched Juicy Juice- $2.25/ 64 oz. bottle (I got 3)

Price matched Finesse shampoo $1.99 (I got 3- all they had)

4- Pampers baby wipes $1.97 each

1- Aquafresh kids toothpaste $1.88

1- Aquafresh training toothpaste $1.88

I used: $1/3 Juicy Juice IP, 3- $1/1 Finesse MQ, 2- $1/2 Pampers wipes MQs, 2- $1/1 Aquafresh MQs

FP: $16.36 +tax

At Rite Aid:

4- Finesse shampoo/conditioner (on sale $1.99 each)

I used: 4- $1/1 MQ's

FP: $3.96

Total retail value $113.45

I paid $46.45

Going couponing....again...:-)

Tomorrow I have a couple of trips planned!  I've said many times that I'm trying to stock up as much as possible before little Hayden gets here sometime in July!  Since I do insane amounts of laundry, detergent is one thing I'm stocking up on!  Also: fabric softener, Cascade, Ziploc bags, shampoo, body wash, razors, etc.  I'm pretty much stocking up on all health and beauty items that we'll need so that the only shopping I'll have to do after D-Day (delivery day) is grocery shopping!  I'm also stocking up on food items that have longer shelf lives in the pantry.  I'm planning on going to Walgreens and Walmart tomorrow.  I'm going to be price matching a few sales, which I hate doing!!!  My Walmart isn't very nice to couponers/price matchers at all!!!!  There are only a handful of cashiers who don't mind and do it with a smile on their face and are very sweet!  Then you have the ones who see me coming, and give me the evil death stare! lol  Everyone knows that the cost of EVERYTHING is only rising, so why not take advantage of policies that companies have put in place that allow you to save money?  I might get dirty looks in the stores for carrying not just 1, but 2 binders full of coupons, but that's okay!  The thing that those people who're giving me those looks don't know is that they're paying for a lot of things that I'm getting for really cheap or FREE:-)  People might laugh at the thought of using coupons thinking that it's a waste of time, but how is saving money a waste of time?  I always go to the store with a detailed list, coupons, price matches, etc.  I know, down to the penny, what I'm going to pay.  Our one-income, family of 5 (soon to be 6) has a very tight budget, as one could imagine.  With various things that have to be paid, it only leaves us with a particular amount of money to spend each week on groceries.  Being the wife of a truck driver, for almost 5 years now, his pay is never predictable.  It's different from week to week, which is hard to plan a budget, but I make it work!  Well, I'm going to get Miss Emma ready for bed!  She's gone without a nap today and is quite the little sleepy head!  She's definitely had fun running around the house with her brothers this afternoon.

Oh glucose test.....

Do you remember the orange drink that they used to have at McDonald's?  Well, imagine that, but hot and with  an after burn and you have the disgusting drink that I had to down today at the doctor's office!  I honestly dread the glucose test more-so than labor (and my body rejects those lovely epidural meds!)  Honestly, the glucose test is not bad as a whole.  You go in, they do your height, weight, BP, make you drink an flat orange drink (in 10 minutes), you wait for an hour, then have your blood drawn.  The drink is what's gross!  If you have a sweet tooth, it's not as bad because the drink is VERY sugary!  Believe me, it's MUCH better cold unfortunately mine today, was HOT:-(  When your drinking on it, it kind of has an after-burn, plus it didn't help my heartburn any! LOL!  Hayden, on the other hand, loved that sugary stuff!  He was doing somersaults and kung-fu the entire hour I sat there waiting.  I won't know my results until my next doctors appointment.  I was a borderline gestational diabetic when I was pregnant with Miss Emma, and after I did the 1 hour test, I had to do a 5 hour test!  Talk about FUN....not!  Thankfully, they only do a 3 hour test here!!  YAY!  I'm staying positive and really hoping that I won't have to partake in the 3 hour glucose test.  I feel completely different than I did when I was pregnant with Emma.  


I go back for my next check-up on May 14th!  Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be buying paint and re-painting Miss Emma's bedroom, rearranging it, and getting the crib and changing table in for little Hayden!  


On a side note, I found an article on Yahoo! today that named the most hated baby names and guess what one of the boys names is? Yep, you guessed it, Hayden!  Of course, it would have to be on there!  But I like it:-)  And let's face it, anyone who's been pregnant and had to have the name fight with their husband, when you decide on a name, you're just finally glad that you came to a decision without someone getting hurt! LOL!!!!  Shortly after we decided on his name, I realized something, both mine and Steven's names are part of Hayden's.
Hay- the first 3 letters of my name
en- the last two letters of his name


Might be weird to some people, but this is one of those "signs" that I look for that tells me when something is just meant to be!  

"Predators Looking Like Cup Contenders"

Did I seriously just read these words in Barry Melrose's blog??????  I believe I did!!!  Considering Melrose has never been too big of a Nashville fan, this makes me VERY happy!!!  I'm a HUGE hockey fan and was thrilled when the Preds beat out the Red Wings in round 1 on the Stanley Cup Playoffs 4 games to 1!!  I guess the old phrase, "Third times a charm" really rings true here!  Now, while we wait on the second round to be decided and seeded, let's just look at some of Mr. Melrose's quotes which almost made me fall off my computer chair when I read them!

"This is a heck of a hockey team, plain and simple, and its win over Detroit shows it."

" If you look at how they're built, the Predators have great goaltending and maybe the best goaltender playing in the playoffs right now. Brian Elliot has been good for St. Louis, but he hasn't faced the shots that Pekka Rinne has, and Jonathan Quick has been good for Los Angeles, but other than those two, I can't think of a goalie who has played as well as Rinne."

 "Then you look at Nashville's defense, which has two studs on the top pair with Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, but it's also got this kid Kevin Klein, who had two goals in the series and played great defense. And this is all without Hal Gill, who hasn't been in the lineup. If you look at their forwards, they have four lines that can all play, their special teams are very good and they have a very good defensive system to go along with a great goaltender. This team is for real."

 "If Nashville gets through the second round it might very well face its division rival St. Louis. To me these are the two best teams playing in the West right now, and that would be a very difficult series for each -- and a very difficult one in which to see goals. Both of them look good, but Nashville's first-round win against Detroit has shown me something. When the playoffs began, I had Chicago coming out of the West, but with the way the field is shaping up and the way the Predators are playing, seeing them facing off in the Stanley Cup Final wouldn't surprise me one bit."

If you'd like to read the full article from Barry Melrose's blog, check it out HERE !

Preds fans have always had faith in their team, now others are starting to have faith in them too just by seeing them play!!  GO PREDS!!!

Shopping Trip 4/23/12

I went and got my papers as usual yesterday!  I got all of my inserts organized, coupons cut, and separated into their appropriate categories in my 2 binders.  I bought a total of 4 papers this week and I'm very appreciative to whomever double stuffed two of my inserts with that lovely Finesse coupon:-)  I've completed two of my trips for the week and have a couple more planned.  Here's the breakdown:

Rite Aid

Transaction #1:

6 boxes of cereal (listed on sale)  3 for $6

-get $2+UP wyb 3 boxes

FP: 3 for $4

I unfortunately didn't have any cereal coupons that worked with this sale:-(, but we were in the DANGER zone and were OUT of cereal completely (which is never a good thing at my house!)

I used my $2+UP from my trip on Friday and I paid $10.99 with tax for all 6 boxes!  Considering the brands of these cereals, I don't think that was too bad at all {Raisin Bran and Fruit Loops.}

I had $4+UP to use on my next transaction:-)

Transaction #2:

6 bottles of Finesse shampoo {sale $1.99 each}

I used $1/1 Finesse MQ's from yesterday's SS insert

and

$4+UPs from my cereal purchase in Trans. #1

With tax, I paid a whopping $3.10 for ALL 6 bottles!!  YAY!  Shampoo was one thing that we were getting low on and I've got 8 more coupons on order that are on their way here as I type:-)

Let's compare pricing here:

The cereal that I purchased today would easily be priced at $2.50 or more per box at Walmart and the Finesse shampoo is also over $2.50 per bottle.  So, let's just guesstimate and see the savings!

6 boxes of cereal at $2.50 each = $15.00

6 bottles of shampoo at $2.50 each = $15.00

Total: $30

After coupons, I would have still paid $24 + our ridiculous 9.75% sales tax/ 8.25% food tax.

I paid $14.09 with tax for ALL 12 items at Rite Aid.

If I were to have purchased them all at Walmart, using our estimate of $2.50 each, I would have paid almost $27.

That's a savings of over $13 before taxes.  

By planning ahead, watching drug store sales, and breaking my transactions down, I saved a lot of money!

Saving money is easy and FUN:-)



My Kroger trip made me VERY happy!!!  I've been wanting to stock up on baby wipes, for obvious reasons AND, I found an unadvertised sale on baby wipes!  I had 8 coupons, 4 Pampers and 4 Huggies all of which were expiring at the end of this month.  I also had coupons for Downy, 50¢/1 which would double up to $1/1.  So here's what I got:

4- packages of Pampers baby wipes (on sale $1.99 each)
4- packages of Huggies baby wipes (on sale $1.99 each)
3- bottles of Downy fabric softener (on sale $4.99 each, regular price $5.99 each)

I used:
4- 50¢/1 Pampers MQ's, which doubled up to $1 off each package
4- 50¢/1 Huggies MQ's, which doubled up to $1 off each package
3- 50¢ off Downy MQ, which doubled up to $1 off each bottle

Total before coupons: $30.89 pre-tax
FP after coupons: $19.89 pre-tax (just over $22 w/ tax included)
I saved 44% on baby items and laundry items!  Not bad!