FREE STUFF!

Brian has been added as a contributor now, so this is his first post:

I made a quick trip back to CVS because they were out of the deodorant that was on sale for $0.99 when I went on Sunday.

Dove Men + Care Deodorant x 4

Regular Price: $4.99

Sale Price: $0.99

Coupon: $1.00

Final Price: Free

Thank you CVS for my free deodorant.

Naomi's First Roadtrip and First Easter

So, this past weekend, we took our first road trip (to Houston for a wedding) with Naomi and she had her first Easter.  She did really well on the road trip - better than mommy and daddy in fact.  We learned a lot of lessons for next time - hopefully we won't be nearly so stressed out.  She slept great at night in the hotel (in her pack n' play bassinet) and only had trouble with Saturday's nap time.  Luckily she did some sleeping in the car on the way to Houston, on the way to the wedding, and on the way home.  Here's some pics from the wedding. 

Before the Wedding

In the car seat where she spent a lot of the weekend

At the wedding (it was outdoors)

Yummy hand and tulle!

Pure Cuteness!

We got back in town in time for Easter, so we could go to our home church.  You'll notice in the pics below that me and Naomi wore the same thing that we did at the wedding (I think half my family did that).  Here's some pics from Easter. 

3 generations on Easter

Our Family on Easter

Naomi didn't like being put in her pretty dress, but once she had it on, she grabbed hold of that tulle and stuck it in her mouth.  Yum... tasty tulle! 

Overall, a good weekend, exhausting and stressful, but good. 

Easter Sunday Coupon Shopping

Brian did all the coupon shopping this week so that I could stay home with Naomi.  After a weekend road trip (upcoming post), we thought she deserved a break from the car seat.  Here's the deals he scored (he even photographed it and typed it up so I could put it in the blog)...

Walgreens:

Stayfree Maxi Pads

Sale Price $2.99

MFG Coupon $1.00

Register Reward $2.99

Free + $1.00 Money Maker

Splenda 100 Pack x 2

Sale Price $2.99

Coupons 2 for $3.00

Register Reward $3.00

Free + $3.00 Money Maker

Curad Bandaids $1.99

RS Egg .59

Filler Items

Used $4.00 RR from previous week

$0.57 out of Pocket with $6.00 in future Register Rewards

CVS:

Blink Tears

Price $7.99

Extra Care Buck $7.99

Final Price: Free

Schick Hydro 3 Blades

Price $8.99

BOGO

2 MFG Coupons $6.00

Final Price $2.99 for both

Used $1.99 ECB from previous

$9.09 Out of Pocket with $7.99 in future Extra Care Bucks

Total Retail value: $47.05

Total minus all discounts $-4.33

A 109.2% Savings

Mid-week Couponing

Did some mid-week shopping and scored some good coupon deals. 

Walgreens - Total Spent = $1.57 (total retail $16.47, saved about 90% off retail)

2 Nivea Body Washes
Sale Price $3.79
Coupon -3.00
Final Price $.79 each

Splenda Sweetener
Sale Price $2.99
Coupon -3.00
Final Price FREE (1 cent moneymaker)

We also got a rain check for 2 more Splenda so we can get 2 more for free since they were out. 



Target - Total Spent = $14.96 (total retail $47.96, saved about 69% off retail)
without the Brita, it would have been 100% free

Brita Ultra-max (a wedding gift off the couple's registry)
Reg Price $28.49
Mfr Coupon -5.00
Target Coupon -3.00
Target Gift Card with Purchase -5.00
Final Price $15.49

3 Degree Deodorants

Reg Price $1.97

Mfr Coupon -1.00

Target Coupon -1.00

Final Price FREE (3 cent moneymaker)

2 Allegra 5 ct boxes

Sale Price $6.78

Mfr Coupon -5.00

Target Coupon -2.00

Final Price FREE (22 cent moneymaker)

Until next time... happy shopping!

Oh, and if the happy couple reads this, I'm sure they will be understanding of the fact that we just had a baby and experienced job loss all in the past few months.  :)

Couponing

So, Brian and I have been trying our hand at "extreme" couponing.  At first, it was just me, but now Brian is probably more into it than I am.  Fortunately there are some blogs that give you lots of tips and even do some of the work for you (down to telling you exactly how to get the best deal) - Thanks Hip2Save!  Hip2Save is our favorite, but we also follow TheKrazyCouponLady (from TLC's extreme couponing).  I also love Bethany at Walgreen's in Wylie - super helpful!  Last week we did awesome at CVS spending only about 60 cents for a bunch of stuff (Heck, they essentially paid us $6 to buy 4 Airwick starter kits and we got a couple free items too) and did pretty well at Walgreen's as well.  I meant to take pics and blog on it, but never had time and eventually just had to put away our goodies.   So, we did that for this week's purchases.  Even though we spent a quite a bit more than last week, we got quite a few items (and a couple of bigger ticket, necessary items like diapers). 

Walgreen's - Total = $26.60 (total would have been about $75, so we saved about 65%)

Items Include:
2 packages of diapers ($10.47)
1 216 count package of wipe refills (included in diaper total)
2 Reynolds Wrap Foils ($1.78)
1 Lysol No-Touch Hand soap System ($4.99)
3 Nivea body washes ($2.37)
1 Reach Toothbrush (free)
2 Colgate Toothpastes (free)
1 Schick Intuition Refillable Razor ($2.99)
2 Boxes of Ziplocs ($4.00)
1 Goody Ouchless Headband and Bonus Hairbands (free)
3 Chocolate Egg Candies ($1 - filler items to enable coupon usage)

CVS - Total = $13.39 (total would have been about $58, so we saved about 77%)

 Items Include:
1 Edge Shave Gel (99 cents)
1 GE Energy Smart Light Bulb (99 cents)
2 Head&Shoulders Shampoo/Conditioner ($3.24)
4 Aveeno Haircare Items ($9.96)
1 Nivea Body Wash (88 cents)
1 Tide ($5.59)
1 PAAS Egg Decorating Kit (free)
Less $10 ECB leftover from last week

After doing the couponing for just a couple weeks, it's hard to imagine ever paying full price (or much of anything really) for toiletries.  It's amazing how much stuff you can get for free and how much stuff you can get for less than a dollar.  It just takes a little planning and a patient cashier as you do multiple transactions.  It also helps to not be too picky about what brands of stuff you use - that's tough for me, but I'm working on it.  I'll try to post any really good couponing.  Just looking for a few ways to save money now that I'm unemployed and we've added one to the household.  :) 

P.S.  If you get the paper and don't use your coupons, feel free to give them to me!  :)  You can also spot me in the bagel store on Sunday morning asking people for the coupons from their papers (if they don't clip them) as they sip their coffee.  I'm not too proud or apparently too shy. 

Have a great week!

Making Baby Food

Alright Mommys out there - I'm looking for some advice on making my own baby food.  I've already decided that I want to do that (when the time comes in a few months), but want some appliance advice. 

If you make/made your own baby food, what do you use?  BEABA?  A standard food processor?  Some other brand of baby food maker? 

Let me know what you used (or heck, what some friend of yours used).  Give me a good review - likes, dislikes, costs associated, etc.  Feel free to drop any other tips or things you've learned along the way. 

THANKS!

Naomi's Room

We finally finished Naomi's room!  Yay!  Since, I was stuck in the hospital for the last part of my pregnancy and Naomi was evicted 2 weeks early, this just never got done.  So, now that it's done we moved her into her room this past weekend.  Anyway, pictures below...

Three Months Old

Stats? 10 lbs 8 oz {Go Baby!} and ? in (unofficial home measurement about a week late and I didn't try to measure her length)

How is she sleeping? She's doing okay. Most of the time she'll sleep in 3-4 hour stretches at night and we've occasionally gotten a 5 hour stretch. We just moved her to her crib in her room this weekend (at just over 3 months) and it seems to be going okay, but we'll see.  Yay! We've started working a bit on creating a bed time routine (Brian calls it the 3 B's - bath, boobies, bed) and have started to put her to bed about an hour or two before we do because that seemed to suit her natural rhythms better.  We're still working on nap times - she's a horrible napper and I just know she would be a happier baby if she would nap better.  At this point I get short naps no longer than 30 minutes and I'm pretty much settling for anyplace she'll sleep: her bed, her swing, her bouncer, and sometimes even on me.  Any tips (other than just keep trying)?

How is she eating? She's still a pretty good eater. She's still 100% breastfeeding so I really don't know how much she eats now. We got a break on the spit up, but then it started back up and now it seems we have a break again.  Things are always changing. 

What new tricks does she do? Mostly this month she has been improving on recent skills and just getting a couple new ones.  She smiles even more, makes even more different cooing noises, has started batting at her toys, has started sucking on her hands, holds her head up pretty well, and can sorta sit up with support. I can already tell this transition from 3-4 months is going to be exciting, because there are things she just started doing this week that I'm working hard not to put in this belated update.  :)

Doctor Visit? Next one is at 4 months, so I'll update then. 

General Observations?  The pics were more difficult to take this month as she's so much more active.  She still loves to be held and wants you to do everything with her (eat, sleep, play, sing silly songs, make funny noises, sit there). I find myself frequently saying that there must be something wrong with her because she's acting different/funky that day, but I've realized that she is just ever changing and I can't get to accustomed to anything.  We've tried to get Naomi to pet the kitties a couple of times; she's not too sure what to make of it and the kitties are still leery.  And lastly, I love that she smiles.  It has made a world of difference in how I feel about being a mom.  I hold on to that vision when she's wailing at the top of her lungs because she's overtired or I'm not feeding her fast enough.  I still have some rough spells of baby blues, but then she smiles and I forget all about it. 

Until next month...

 

My Favorite Baby Things

So after a couple months as parents, every new mommy and daddy discover that there are a few things that they love having.  Some of these things are discovered after you get baby home and take additional trips to the baby store.  I've tried to highlight ones that I either I didn't hear about beforehand or that have been especially helpful. 

Here is a list of a Few of My Favorite Baby Things...


The Moby Wrap - This thing is perfect for calming a fussy baby and having your hands free.  It was an impulse buy at Target and now my go-to gift for baby showers.  I'm sure we'll eventually use our Baby Bjorn, but until then, I'm loving my Moby wrap. 

The Itzbeen Baby Timer - I was constantly trying to remember when I last fed baby or changed her diaper to try to determine if her crying was hunger or something else.  Then, one Sunday, I saw a friend in the breastfeeding room at church using her Itzbeen timer and talked to her about it.  I decided I had to have one and have been so thankful for it. 

The Bouncer - I got my bouncer as a free hand-me-down from a friend at church.  For a while it was the only thing that baby girl would sleep in and now it's just handy for putting her down while I get myself some lunch or something. 

You can see pics of it in Naomi's last two monthly posts.

The SwaddleMe or SwaddlePod - Baby girl hates the process of being swaddled but she sleeps so much better this way and it's easier to use these things than a blanket.  The velcro kind are good, but the zipper kind are my favorite. 

The Diaper Genie - I didn't think that I wanted one because several people told me that it just unnecessary but I'm so grateful for it's odor eliminating power.  Our room smelled so poopy before we got it and we were constantly making trips to the outside trash can.  Now, it's much better.  Send a dryer sheet down with or after a poopy diaper and it works even better. 

Thoughts on some other baby products:

Breastfeeding pillows - I got a Boppy pillow as it was recommended by several friends, however it didn't really work for breastfeeding for me (Naomi kept sorta falling into the center).  I may try it again as she gets bigger.  I do, however, use it as a baby recliner - Naomi likes sitting in it on my bed while I get dressed and we "chat".  I got to try the My Breastfriend pillow once when breastfeeding at the hospital's women's link office after a doctor's appointment and found that it worked much better for us.  If I had to do it over, I would probably get it.  However, it really isn't as multi-purpose as the Boppy so... go figure. 

Swings - We got a little travel swing.  So far, Naomi hasn't been too into it so it really hasn't been the "neglectomatic" that some people label it.  She'll doze or hang out in it for a little bit, but not for more than about 15-30 minutes.  We'll see...

Gliders - It has been very helpful for calming Naomi, however, I will say you get what you pay for in this area.  We got a cheaper one from Target and while it's comfortable at first, it really starts to burn the bum after an extended sit.  I recommend taking a book and sitting in one at the baby store for an extended period before purchasing. 

We'll see what we think about toys and various other things as she gets older.