NEW shops open on Zulily!!

There are some great new shops open on Zulily!!  I absolutely adore this site!  It's great!!  Great products at great prices!  Best of all, if you make a purchase and pay for shipping, you can get free shipping on a second order if you place it within 24 hours.  Here are some of the neat things on there right now:

 

Have you ever seen these before??  I hadn't seen them in person  until we took Emma to see The Wiggles!  Anthony (the blue Wiggle) was wearing these and apparently, they're crazy comfortable!  They're normally $80-$120 but you can buy a pair on Zulily for as low as $40!!

 

Other shops open:

*Hello Kitty- shoes, clothing, and more

*Craft Time Collection- hands-on craft activity items

*Pack a Lunch Collection- neat containers for lunch on the go

*EDUCO- toys for little ones

*Petit Ami- cute smocked clothing

*Wishbone Design Studio- innovative bikes and decals

*Sage Spoonfuls- homemade baby feeding tools

*Mountain Buggy- strollers

 

 

I've purchased 90% of this years Christmas gifts from Zulily!!  Not only have I saved a TON of money, but I've been able to afford purchasing gifts for 28 individuals!

 

Join Zulily today and get shopping & saving!

After you join, you can invite your friends!  Earn $20 Store Credit for each friend who places an order.  The credit will be added to your account when their order ships!

Click HERE

Potty Training 101

Well, Emma has decided that it's time to start potty training...FINALLY!!!!  We're currently on day 4 and she's doing pretty good.  We've had a few accidents but I expected we would! 
The most important things to know when getting ready to potty train:

1. Every child is different!  They'll know when they're ready!

2. Introduce potty training to them.  Read them books about it, make them aware of what going to the potty is.  Let them pick out their own training potty, or potty seat. 

3.  Once they get ready to potty train, help them connect the dots even more by letting them pick out their first pair of undies!

4. If you introduce it first thing each day, they'll catch on when they're ready.  DON'T FORCE IT!!  It will come naturally:-)

5.  Offer some reward for using the potty!  We use M&M's.  If she pees on the potty, she gets 1, if she goes #2, she gets 2!

6.  Potty training boys can be tricky!!  Throw a few Fruit Loops in the potty and tell them to sink them!  It will be fun for them because it makes it a game!

We're down to 1 Easy-Up, so it looks like this Momma will be making a Rite Aid run later this afternoon!  It just so happens that they've got a great sale going on this week.  Here it is:

 

Buy 1 package of Pampers diapers or Easy Ups at $9.99

 *use $1.50/1 Pampers Easy Ups- MQ (found inside packages of larger sized Pampers Cruisers)

 *use $2/1 MQ from 10/28 P&G insert

FP:  as low as $6.99

 

The BEST part about this deal is that when you buy 1 package of Pampers diapers or pants, you get a $2 +UP reward!  That brings your out of pocket cost down to $4.99 per package!! 

Don't forget!!  If you have any +UP rewards left over, this would make the Rite Aid sale even better!!  I have $6 +UPs leftover, so after everything, I'll pay just $2.99 per package OOP!!

 

CVS also has a great Pampers deal this week!  The Jumbo packs of diapers are on sale for $8.99.  Pair this with the $2 off coupon (10/28 P&G insert) and you've got diapers for $6.99 each.  To make this deal even sweeter is the P&G promotion they have going.  If you purchase $30 worth of participating P&G products, you can get a $10 ECB!!  Here's my deal idea if you're like me and need to stock up on diapers!

 

DEAL SCENARIO:

 

Buy 4 packages of Pampers jumbo packages of diapers

Total before coupons: $35.96 + tax

*use 4- $2 off coupons (10/28 P&G insert)

 

Total After coupons: $27.96 + tax

*Get $10 ECB*

FP: $17.96 + tax for all 4 packages or $4.49 per package!!!

 

 

 

Homemade Crockpot Honey Barbeque

Are you looking for a new recipe to add to your repitoire??  If so, check this out!!  Not only is this meal EASY, it's affordable!  It will also make everyone in your family very full!!  This meal is high in protein which is great for everyone, but put the barbeque on whole grain buns to add some fiber!  Serve it with homemade fries (regular or sweet potato) or any of your families favorite veggies!  Here's how to make this yummy crock pot dish!

I use crock pot liners to help make for an easy cleanup! 

The first thing to do is add your choice of pork into the crock pot. Cover the tops of your pork with brown sugar. Empty the entire bottle of BBQ sauce on top of the brown sugar. Add the onions last on top of and around the pork. Fill the BBQ sauce bottle 1/3 way up with water. Put the lid back on and shake it up so that all of the remaining sauce mixes with the water. Pour around the pork. Set your crock pot to cook for at least 6 hours. The slower this cooks the better it will be!! If you use the Hormel pre-packaged pork loins (2 per package), 6 hours will cook them perfectly! If you're choosing to go with a Boston Butt Pork roast, you'll have to cook it lower and slower! 10 hours is the best choice for that! Also, cooking it for 2, 10 hour cycles is fantastic too!


Here's Your Shopping List:

1- Boston Butt Pork Roast or Pork Loin
1- large onion (I prefer a red onion for this)
1- 17.5oz. bottle of Kraft Honey BBQ sauce
Brown Sugar (about 1/2 - 1 cup)
 

Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore!!

Holy Cow is this wind crazy or what??  This HUGE storm that's blowing in is covering an area of around 900 square miles and Hurricane Sandy is becoming quite the wicked witch! 

 

Even though, Sandy is bearing down hard on the East Coast the soldiers are still standing guard here at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier!!  I find this incredibly amazing and it almost brought tears to my eyes!  These brave men are battling awful weather to guard and honor this sacred place. 

 

 

Here in Kentucky, we aren't experiencing any rain yet.  The main difference is the cold and the wind!  I feel like if I had some ruby slippers, me and my dog Lucy (plus my babies) would find ourselves in the Land of Oz!  Hopefully Oz would be much warmer than here right now!!  BRRRR...  

 

The one thing that worries me about this storm system is the fact that my husband drives for FedEx.  He drives at night, pulling double trailers.  He goes to Johnson City, TN every night and with the current and impending weather conditions, I'm nervous about him driving such heavy equipment with high winds and snow!!  I doubt I'll sleep a wink all week long!

 

 

Hayden's 1st Birthday party plans!!

I know what you're thinking,

 

"You're planning his first birthday party already??  He's just over 3 months old!!"

 

What can I say, I like to be prepared! 

 

Click HERE to see the full idea of what I'm planning for Hayden's first birthday!  It will be a county fair theme!! 

 

I'll be doing different colors than shown since his birthday is July 18th.  I'm so excited about his theme!!  I've got a few different ideas for Emma's 3rd birthday and since her birthday will be here before Hayden's, I really need to nail down an idea and get started planning her's also! 

 

 

Christmas Shopping is now officially FUN!!!

Christmas shopping used to be such a dread to me!  I used to wait until the very last minute to buy my gifts!  When I say last minute, I mean I'd be driving to Bowling Green on Christmas Eve, fighting the traffic getting all of my last minute gifts.  Here's a rundown of ALL of the people that I have to buy for (hopefully that's everyone):

 

*My husband, Alden, Avery, Emma, Hayden, my Dad, Mom, step-dad, grandmother, aunts and uncles (2 sets), cousins (2), step brothers and sisters and their spouses/children (total of 7 people), mother-in-law and her husband, Steven's grandmothers, Steven's dad, our new niece due in January.

 

That's a grand total of 28 people.  The sad thing is, that's STILL not everybody!  I found a new favorite website called Zulily!!  I've found the majority of our Christmas gifts on there.  I've also saved a TON of money!  I went to Toys-R-Us last week and finished up the kids' Christmas shopping.  I put things on layaway because my two boys have already started looking and asking a mountain of questions like, "Hayley what did you get us for Christmas??" 

 

I love being able to reply: "I've got it on layaway so you can't snoop around to find it!" LOL!!!! 

 

My big boys are so nosey.  As soon as we set up our Christmas tree and I start wrapping presents,  they want to be right in the middle of it.  Not to help me wrap them, but to snoop to see if they can get a sneak peek of what's in store for Christmas Day.  I love Christmas because you get to suprise people with gifts.  We got the boys each a Nintendo DS last year for Christmas and they weren't expecting it at all!  They both were almost in tears!  This year, they're getting another present that they've been begging for, for a long time!  They've wanted an XBOX for a couple of years now.  So, I broke down and decided to get them an XBOX 360 with Kinect.  We will be hooking it up in the living room because they've got a few educational games that Emma could play and they also have Zumba for me!!  I gotta get all of this baby weight off somehow! 

 

Hopefully everyone will be happy with their Christmas presents.  I still have the hardest person left to buy something for: Steven.  He won't tell me anything that he wants...frustrating!!!

Hayden's Here!!

Last Wednesday, I had gone as scheduled to my high-risk doctors appointment.  I'd not been feeling well for a couple of weeks.  I'd been having consistent contractions, high blood pressure, swelling, dizziness, vision issues, plus Hayden wasn't moving like normal.  My regular OB didn't seem to be as concerned as I was.  When I went in, they checked my blood pressure, it was 134/104.  This was way too high and my high-risk doctor sent me around the hall to Labor and Delivery to be monitored.  One of the "Labwork ladies," as I called them, came in to draw some blood for a pH test to check for preeclampsia.  My first two tests came back normal, but the third test was not what they wanted it to be.  So, off to a delivery room I waddled to begin my induction 6 days early.  On Monday, at my regular OB appointment, I was only dilated to 2cm.  So when my doctor came in to start the induction, I was surprised to find out that I'd already dilated to 4cm.  She broke my water and the contractions started picking up BIG time!  They had quite a time getting an IV line placed.  I seriously thought I was going to break my iPhone I was squeezing it so hard.  After 5 tries, 2 nurses, and one blown vein, they finally got the IV going.  The contractions, after only 30 minutes after my water was broken, were registering in the 60's and 70's on the monitor, so I started begging for anesthesia to come give me the epidural so I didn't feel quite like I was dying! LOL!!!  I still felt all of the pressure but none of the pain:-)  This was a good thing for me because I could tell as it was getting closer to time for him to be born!  Just to give you an idea of how fast this labor went, here's a little timeline:

12:45pm: I was 4cm and she broke my water to speed things up

3:00 pm: I was already to 6cm

4:35 pm: 8cm

5:10 pm: 9cm

5:35 pm: 10cm

5:45 pm: after just 10 minutes Hayden was born

Hayden was a tiny little guy who immediately starting screaming!!  This, of course, was music to my ears!!  He weighed 5lbs. 13.6oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long.  He passed his hearing test and had no jaundice:-)  The pediatrician said he looked so great and was so alert, she didn't see why he wouldn't be able to go home the next day!  He had his little "boy" surgery on Thursday afternoon and wasn't too happy, but thankfully, the doctor did a wonderful job and after just 2 days it didn't even phase him anymore.  

We were definitely blessed with another healthy baby!!  He's a good sleeper, a good eater, and is very alert and pays attention to everything when he's awake.  We took him to his pediatrician yesterday and got a great report!  He doesn't have to go back until he's one month old.  Here are a few pictures of our little guy!

This is one of the first pictures of Hayden!!  He was literally 5 minutes old here!

Here's BIG sister Emma!!  She couldn't wait to hold him and kiss on him!

Here's Hayden, just 27 1/2 hours old, going home from the hospital!

Here's BIG brother Alden feeding Hayden a bottle!
Please excuse the mis-matched bottle! LOL!

Here's one very proud BIG brother Avery!
He loves holding and kissing on Hayden and
is great at calming him down!

Our family is officially complete!!  We've got four healthy, happy kids!!  We couldn't be happier!  If you've called, texted, Facebooked us, sent cards, we thank you SO very much!!  I'm horrible at writing thank-you notes, plus these days with a toddler and a newborn, I don't have much time on my hands!  The thing that I'm most proud of is how Emma is dealing with being a big sister.  She's shown no jealousy, she helps out, she tries to calm him down when he gets upset, and she's sweet as pie to him!