First Trip to the ER

Today started off like any other, until Emma tripped on the living room rug and hit her face on the coffee table. At first I thought she bumped her head so I was holding her up against me. When I pulled her away and saw all of the blood on her eye, I knew it was serious. So I called Nick and he immediately was on his way. Praise God he only works .7 miles from home! So off to the ER we went. I thought I was just being panicky but when Nick saw her he thought we should take her too.
This is Emma waiting for the nurse. She held Whiskers the whole time. Occasionally she would put her hello kitty ice pack on the kitty's eye because it was hurt too. She refused to go to the scale to get weighed without her cat and then she dragged him down the hall behind her...too cute (and now it needs washed!)
This is Emma checked in and waiting for the doctor. She kept holding up the remote like a phone and saying "hello Grandma?" She called the nurse twice before we caught on.
She is just growing up too fast. Here she is being a big girl. She didn't want me to sit by her...she was too busy watching Higglytown Heroes.
Here she is back home. We figured having to have stitches warrented McDonald's so Emma enjoyed French Fries and Shamrock shake. I was afraid she wouldn't be feeling good, but Nick called me "Lindsay Ann" so she was following me around all afternoon saying "Winsy Ann, Winsy Ann"and laughing...I think she is okay.
Here's the damage. Three stitches with no anesthesia. To do it they wrapped her in a sheet like a straight jacket and the nurse and I held her down. She is such a trooper. The whole time while having stitches she cried "Mommy, mommy." Enough to break your heart. But she is okay. The doctor said the stitches can be taken out in about a week and there won't be a scar. We are just so thankful to God that it wasn't more serious. I mean, look how close it is to her eyeball...it could have popped out or something! Nick said she looks like Rocky when they cut the skin to get rid off all of the blood pooling. She is supposed to be pretty bruised tomorrow from this but we are just going to tell people that they should see the other guy! Please just be praying for our little trooper...I am so proud of her.

Aunt Jan?

Today was a wonderful day. Although it had snowed TONS over the last 24 hours, Jaime and Gram battled the storm and headed over to our house to visit, bringing Panera with them...yummy! I explained to Emma that Grandma Jean and Aunt Jaime were coming over to see her. "Jan?" she asked immediately. She still thinks the three should always go together like during the summer time I guess which is just so cute.
Jaime played with Emma tons which I know both Emma and Jaime love which is always nice. Plus then I don't have that nagging guilt that Emma wasn't played with enough. Gram treated us to lunch and then got plenty of time in holding Calvin.
Speaking of Grandma Jean I must tell you this story as it is just too, too cute. The other day we were asking Emma if she wanted to take off her pants and diaper and sit on the big girl potty. Well of course no was the response, like always. But she started grabbing her pants and she said "Jeans, jeans, Grandma Jeans"! Isn't that the cutest? She apparently thinks my Grandma is Grandma Denim or something adorable. But in hindsight I was pretty proud of her for putting those things together...way to use your noggin' Em!

What's the deal with Handy Manny?

photo courtesy of tvfortots.com

So Emma has taken a liking to Handy Manny. We try not to let her watch too much television, but when Calvin is screaming and I haven't had time to get a cup of coffee in the morning, I find myself turning on the Disney Channel to let her watch him. As I sat watching it with her this morning, I couldn't help but ask myself what the heck is up with that guy? Have you ever watched this show? He's a mexican fellow who has a weird obsession with his tools...he talks to them and he polishes them every night before work the next morning. He never has what he needs to do a project...ever. He could say "well all you need it a screw but I will have to go to the hardware store for that." Clearly this guy has some inventory issues. Maybe it is because he is secretly stalking the hardware store owner...there seems to be some definite tension and flirting going on there. Also he tends to not be very good at his job. Today he was supposed to be mending a fence, but instead took the fence section out and replaced it with a gate without asking the owner...if I were the owner I think I would be mad. Last but not least I cannot understand why you would hire this guy. No power tools, so if he needs something cut he pulls out the saw...its like hiring amish people. Hello to inefficiency. Thats all I'm saying.

Snowman PJ's

I may find that this is going to come back and bite me but I thought I would post a picture of myself in my snowman pajama's so you can all get a laugh. No laughing outloud if you're at work or are involved in sometype of hostage situation (besides work). My Aunt Jan gave me these PJ's when I was a freshman in college and everytime I wear them Nick makes fun of me. They must be a "no sex tonight" beacon or something. Or maybe you just don't want to get it on with someone wearing purple pajamas made out of long underwear material with snowmen printed on them. Regardless, I love them as they are the most comfortable things own. That and it gets so wicked cold around here that you need something warm you can depend on. So these are my snowman pj's...have yourselves a good laugh at my expense. Oh yes and that is Roscoe in the picture...I know she's small and can often be confused with the dust balls in our home!

The Consignment Finds

These are the items I got at the new consignment shop on Saturday. I only spent $10.00! Some of the clothes are from Coldwater Creek, Abercrombie, and Talbots! As the little kid on Little Einsteins would say (which is now stuck in my head on a perpetual basis) "I can not believe it!" I think in total I got four sweaters, a button down shirt, a leotard for Emma when she is in ballet, an embarrassing sweater with reindeer on it for Calvin, a pair of jeans for myself, and a homemade baby blanket. A good deal? I think so my friend! If you live in our area and want to know what place I am talking about just comment me and I will give you the 411!

Stuck In This Room

The perfect afternoon environment for blogging and browsing for online coupons...Nick is downstairs taking a nap with Emma and I am upstairs with an adorable sleeping little boy named Calvin. It would have been perfect had I had everything I needed. But now I am up at the computer and am stuck...if I go downstairs it will definitely wake up Emma which would probably cause Nick to scowl at me. First I realized I forgot my sales flier for the grocery store downstairs, meaning I can't see what coupons I need; no problem I will look it up online. Next I realized I left my coupon organizer out in the car so I can't see if I already have a coupon that I may be thinking of printing off for an item. Next I was going to take a picture of all of my loot from the consignment store and realized the camera is downstairs...shoot! Last and shamedly least, the camera card is even with the camera (which is almost unheard of around here) so I can't even post the goofy pictures of myself that Nick took last night. Rats! So I thought I would blog about my blogging misadventures and how I have been sitting at the computer getting caught up on all the neat websites I find in magazines and tear out the pages to look up later, which ultimately results in millions of papers lying around the office. Sigh...sorry there's nothing exciting yet but hopefully I will be able to post some things tonight!

A Sensational Saturday

Ready for shopping...here we go!
Outside Restore...this is what the sign looks like in case you are bored out of your mind and have nothing else to care about!
Emma enjoying shopping (and apparently not being able to see!)

What a gloriously busy day we had! Today we leisurely woke up and got ourselves around for the weekend. We then went shopping at the two Restore's in our area. If you have never been to one of these stores, I highly recommend that you look into them to see if they are in your area. Restore is a resale shop for items for your home. It is run by Habitat for Humanity. The items are either used from homes and saved from landfills or are donated by chain stores to get a tax write off. Think of it as a goodwill for building supplies. The proceeds go to help fund Habitat for Humanity which makes you feel good about buying items. Although we didn't find what we were looking for (lighting for our foyer and morning rooms, cabinets for our laundry room, and tile for our foyer) we did find a new flood light for outside (have been needing) and new brass house numbers to replace the outdated ones we have now. In total for those items we spent 12.46...awesome deal as the numbers would have set us back at least $10.00 a piece.

We then went to a consignment shop in the Miami Village district of our city. I have been driving by this consignment shop for probably a year and a half now and have never had time to go in. To be honest too I have been scared to go in...I am always so scared that people are going to be mean when you go in a new store. So we decided to go there, and the ladies that worked there were sooooo nice! I couldn't believe the warmth that radiated from them as we looked around. We got a lot of deals which I will write about tomorrow. I love consignment shops! Having children has definitely made me appreciate these types of stores. With how quickly they outgrow everything, there is just no reason to buy everthing new.

After that it was back home for lunch and naptime. Nick put Emma to bed and I went out shopping. I FINALLY grasped how to take advantage of the sales at CVS; I have been trying to figure out the concept for quite some time but to no avail. Finally today I jumped in with both feet. They were having a deal where you could buy $30.00 of certain products and get $15.00 in their extra care bucks for next time. So I bought diapers (of course, my lifeline it seems) and ziploc containers, and freezer bags. Then I bought a toothbrush with coupon for $.39 and a toothpaste that got me another $2.00 in extra care rewards. So after my coupons on all of this crap I spent only $23.00...not bad considering I got three packages of diapers! If you factor in all of the extra care bucks I got ($17.00 if you have been paying attention) then it is really like I got everything for $6.00 which I think is pretty freaking sweet. If you want to try to figure out all of this CVS stuff for yourself, I found an awesome article over at Money Saving Mom...I'm too tired to explain it all myself.

After CVS and the shopping trip of the year I jetted over to the library for some alone time. I borrowed the IT Girl's Guide to Blogging, so hopefully in the near future I won't suck entirely at this whole thing...you all can only hope.

After that, it was back home to get ready for our big night out. We went out to eat with Nick's parents, pizza at one of our favorite haunts, and then to Philadelphia for dessert...yummy!

When we got home Calvin was being a cheeseball so I couldn't help but take pictures of him in his I Love Mommy teeshirt...thanks again Barb for the gift! I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but he was smiling in this one, I promise!

So all in all we had a fantastic Saturday. Hope you all had as much fun as we did!

Britax? More like Ripoffax!

Okay, I may be the biggest idiot in the world, but can someone explain to me the point of paying $300.00 for a car seat? A couple of my friends have Britax carseats and more have registered for them, which has left me sitting here wondering why on earth you would need to pay that much for a carseat? Please do not be alarmeed, I do not have Emma strapped in with a handkerchief or anything in the back seat sitting on phone books. We have a very respectable Eddie Bauer Carseat that we bought on sale at Target for around $80.00. It works great. The $300.00 price tag is something that just floors me. Does the carseat automatically fasten the child in so you don't have to hunch down to do this, all the while getting your backside rained on while it sticks out of the car? Does it feed your child vitamins so you don't have to cooerse them into this yourself? Does it come with some type of tracking device so if your child is kidnapped by someone prudent enough to take the carseat as well, you will be able to find them like dogs with chips in their heads? I know people say that you can't put a pricetag on your child's safety but I think that is a bunch of crap. Unless you are driving like a Nascar racer (which by the way I do pronounce Nas-car-A) a carseat that is supposedly that safe is simply unnecessary. All of the tests and precautions have been taken to ensure safety on my moderately priced seat; there weren't any stickers on the box that proclaimed my seat perfect for moms hopped up on Meth that just don't care. And how would you know if your seat is really that safe? Are you going to go and play chicken on the tollroad to ensure that the side panels on your child restraint seat really are sound? But seriously I do want to know what all the hype is, I am not just being cynical (well maybe just a little). So if you know why you should buy a car seat for the cost of a large Coach tote bag, please comment and tell me so I may decide if I should run out and get two...one for the princess and one for the Noble Hunchman who is sitting next to me (hunched, I'm not just mean).

I hate this!

So these are the medicines that we have been giving Calvin. He has been diagnosed with Acid Reflux so we were given two medicines: one to help the acids stay down and another to help repair his esophagus. The only problem with these medicines is that they have not been working. You know that there is something wrong with your three week old baby when they are projectile vommiting everywhere and constantly screaming and moaning...something was just not right. So after several doctors visits and an emergency upper GI scan we acertained that he had Acid Reflux. We have been giving him these medicines now for about three weeks and nothing has improved. So they prescribed another medicine, however it is going to cost $80.00 every two weeks and it is so complicated only one pharmacy can make it and it takes three days! Unbelievable! So while waiting on the medicine we stopped giving him Zantac, which is the medicine that the new medicine will be replacing. Lo and behold, he is happy and smiling, and not screaming! Nick called the doctor today only to find out that in fact Zantac can cause pain if it isn't helping? Why didn't someone tell us that in the first place? Here we knew it wasn't working but have been continuing to give it to him on the off chance that it is helping at least a little bit. I feel so bad that we've been causing this child to be in pain. So now we are just giving Calvin reglan (the one medicine he had and will continue on) and he seems great. We are going to wait through the weekend to see how being off Zantac affects him but so far I think he is doing splendidly. And if we don't need to drop $150.00 a month on a new medicine, well, that would just be icing on our acid reflux cake.

Hi Aunt Jan

So this is my Aunt Jan...she lives almost across the pond in England, but not quite so far. I know she reads this thing sometimes so I thought I would post a note on here saying that I love you, I miss you, and I am thinking and praying for you often. I have been so swamped with kids and mopping, and laundry, and getting puked on (I think that one goes under the kids category) that I haven't had time to call to check in. And I miss you woman! This lady and I are a lot alike...maybe she's my mom! Nick devised this plot that maybe my cousin Chris and I are secretly twins and my mom couldn't have any kids so my Aunt Jan gave her me. When I asked about why Chris and I look nothing alike, Nick kind of came to a stand still with the theory. But this woman, my Aunt Jan, is one of those people that brings fun with her (my uncle Bill would probably say she brings a lot of shopping bags with her! teehee!). She loves planning and shopping and talking...see, sad epic movie about giving your daughter away written all over this. Anyway, hello Aunt Jan! I love and miss you and am thinking of you!

Cute Shirt

So this is one of Emma's cute shirts. I bought this when she was about a year old thinking that it was the cutest shirt ever and one day she would be able to fit into it. Now the darn thing is almost too small and I discovered it in her closet unworn...yikes! So we wore it today. Isn't it just the cutest thing you've ever seen? I had to put a little cardigan over it because it was so chilly today, and the beads, well let's just say I let the child do her own accessorizing!

Its Too Small Now

I just ran across this picture Nick had taken and I think it is just precious. This is one of Emma's hats from about a year ago. She was just too cute in it...it was one of the one's from Nick's mom and it was just adorable. Whenever Emma outgrew something I would always get very sentimental. My baby was growing up! Lately when she outgrows something there has also been a sense of excitement...yes! Now that we are getting into big girl fashions, outgrowing something means there is the potential to wear something different. Soon gone will be the days of snapping her shirts at the crotch.

Yesterday however, I went to put a sleep and play on Calvin and I couldn't even get it up to his shoulders...the boy isn't even two months old and we are already in 3-6 month clothes...can we say he's going to be tall like Daddy? I think we can! Anyway, when dealing with the too-small-of-outfit situation, two emotions came to me. One was fear...holy crap, I'm still unpaid being on maternity leave and this kid has nothing to wear! Hmmm...maybe Goodwill is half offing it this Saturday? The other emotion was sadness; it hit me that this is our last child, this is the last one I will experience the little babyness with. And to be honest I have been diligent in praying that he would get out of this stage as quickly as I somehow managed to get pregnant with him. And now I find myself trying to pull back the fog of sleepless nights, postpardumness, and hormones to try to remember his babyness...to remember his smell, or the way his skin was the softest thing I had ever touched, or how his little buttser fir perfectly in my hand when I held him. I have to somehow find a way to encapsulate all of those things into my memory...my little boy is growing up already far faster than I ever could have anticipated. If I don't have clothes for him that fit how am I ever going to be prepared for him leaving the house or going to college? How will I manage to wrap my head around those things?

Anyway, take two things from this: one, if you want to buy cute baby clothes, now would be the time, and two, I am nuts, but I think it may turn out to be for the best.

Sleep My Precious Baby

Thought I'd show you this adorable picture of Calvin sleeping. I propped him up for pictures, he doesn't normally sleep uncomfortably hunched in a chair...promise! Isn't he handsome? I have to remember to say handsome. Handsome, handsome, he is handsome. Nick overheard me tell Calvin the other day that he is such a pretty boy and he hit the roof. And I don't blame him, who wants their boy called a pretty boy? Anyway, I can't believe Cal is going to be two months old in a couple of week; where does the time go? Pretty soon my baby will be knocking teeth out in hockey games, taking girls on dates, and getting drafted by NFL teams. And I will look at this picture and remember the good old days when I could scrunch him in a chair and there was nothing he could do about it!

And They're Off!

Tonight we had a race to the finish line with all of our wind-up Easter toys. Emma loves them! She follows them around saying "hip-hop" rather than "hop-hop". Nick thinks its either because she thinks it sounds like hippopotomus or because she has a fascination with hip-hop music. Either way, it is pretty cute. The bunny took off like a crack addict the first time and won while the big chick (hey like me!) won the second time around. All around, screaming, clapping, and laughing happened. Oh what wonderful memories we create when we are stuck inside during the winter months!

Just Laying Around

Nick took this picture today while he was home on his lunch break...isn't it just too cute? I love Emma's little arm under Calvin, holding him up. This picture pretty much surmizes our Monday's around here: relaxing around the house, trying to get our bearings on how the week is going to go. I have been doing laundry and picking up the house while Emma has been playing on her own and watching Mr. Rogers.

How Our Weekend Went

So this weekend was one of those strange surreal weekends where nothing that you had been expecting happened. Saturday we were planning on visiting Nick's sister and her husband, then Sunday was planned to get cleaning and relaxing done. Friday evening we got a call when we got back from our Valentine's night letting us know that Nick's sister had been called into work. So unfortunately we didn't get to see them; we miss them so much! So instead we decided to get things done around the house. We got the cleaning done that you always find yourself putting off: changing outdoor lightbulbs, hanging things, sorting the kids clothes that are now too small. However what I didn't find myself doing was the normal everyday cleaning...that still needed done. Saturday night I baked chicken breasts with a crunchy onion topping. I made the pieces nugget sized for Emma and she LOVED them! We finally have chicken that she will eat!

Sunday we went to church and then off to lunch with friends visiting from Florida. It was very good to see them and thank them for the wonderful care package of clothes they had sent for Calvin. Unfortunately after we returned home from lunch we didn't get much done as we were all so exhausted. Emma refused to take her regular nap and Calvin had been up for most of the night before, so Nick and I were wore pretty thin. I did manage to get dinner made and the kitchen cleaned up, so we have that going for us. Tomorrow I will get started on laundry and try to get everything back up to speed in our household. It was nice to have a weekend to just leisurely relax though.

Our Valentine's Day

Here we are on date night! Nick said he isn't going to take me out anymore if I make him stand for pictures everytime!

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day and I hope that you all did too! Nick bought me beautiful roses and he brought Emma a Valentine's balloon that she absolutely adores. She drags it around the entire house saying "bawoon", so precious. I gave Nick the gift of a happy thought...there will be a message from me everyday for a year on his blackberry...what I love about him, happy thoughts from us dating, funny things that happened, stuff like that. He seemed impressed I had the time to do it. Frankly I was too. Last night my mom and Lacey watched the kids so we could go on a date, a real live date! We went to Main Street Grille and had a fantastic meal. We held hands, we laughed, and I fell in love with Nick more and more. I love how much of a gentleman he is: holding his arm out to escort me everywhere so I don't fall, helping me in and out of my coat, opening doors, etc. I'm just glad I wasn't taken to Wings or something; I mean this kids got class! We were supposed to go to a movie, but in taking our leisurely time over dinner we missed the showing time, so we went browsing which was heavenly. Then we made it to a quiet dessert bar where we nestled into a corner with our coffee's and rich decadent desserts and laughed some more. All in all we had a wonderful Valentine's. Oh! And my mom and sis watched the kids in the afternoon before our date as well so I managed to go get my hair cut...I love it! I am so happy I found such a great stylist and my salon. I am holding onto them for dear life! Plus my mom got us Valentine's gifts (which by the way she did not need to do!). Emma got a bear, Calvin got a charm for his mommy's bracelet (hee,hee, sorry Calvin), Nick got a really neat car radio thing that I don't know how to describe to you. Its not a car radio, its a radio that is shaped like a car, it was supposed to be kind of a gag gift but he actually likes it! And I got a Breakfast at Tiffany's record...love it! By the way that is my all time favorite movie, I don't care if she is a prostitute. Ha! Anyway, we had a great Valentine's and I hope you all did too! Drop a comment if you wish and let me know what you did to celebrate your love!

Here are my flowers from my sweetie pie!

Here is a cookie I decorated for Nick!

I Love You Baby

This is my husband. His name is Nick and he is amazing. He is one of those people that everyone loves; he is hilarious, kind, generous, trusting, and just genuinely a great person. His mom and dad did such a phenomenal job raising him that he had no choice but to turn into a phenomenal human being. So I just wanted to publicly (I don't know how publicly since I think about 5 people read this thing!) thank him for all that he is to us:

Thank you for being such a great dad. You are never hesitant to play horsey, build block towers (or cities since you are a city planner!), change a diaper, give a bath, get a baby for a feeding in the middle of the night, or babysit so I can simply have a break. You are a fair disciplinarian and you have such a soft heart when it comes to your children and their feelings. Listening to you reading to Emma with all of your silly voices and making her belly laugh while playing have been the greatest joys of my life (so far, we've still got Calvin!).

Thank you for being such a wonderful husband. You are one of those husbands that friends tell me how lucky I am to have. And don't I know it. We've both messed up in the past, but you've always been quick to forgive me or quick to make things right on your part. I am so glad that we are in this marriage together. I love that you still make me laugh as hard as you did when we first met and were awkwardly shoe shopping. And everyday when you play with our children, you are more and more handsome to me. You truly take my breath away. Thank you for caring so much about your family and friends...you show that so much everyday through your actions and through your prayer time. I love you and like I've said before, I survived before you but I had never really lived. Thank you for making me live.

Thank you for being a best friend. You are so Christ-like in your ability to forgive and love and understand. I love how many friends you have and how they all think you are the greatest guy. You are so much to so many people and I want you to know how love and appreciated you are. Thank you for being you. I love you!

A Quiet Road in the Middle of Nowhere

This is my calm in this restless world of children, cleaning, cooking, bills, and the anxiety that hormones have laid upon me this past week. This is what I think of when I need to try to quiet my mind. This is a windy dirt road down to a covered bridge that my mom and dad introduced me to, and I have since introduced to Nicholas. We took this picture on our last trip to Brown County. Nora Jones played on the radio and Emma slept in the back; it was a heavenly serene time between Nicholas and I. This is what I think of when I am washing dishes with Calvin crying and Emma tugging on my leg. Or when I am woken at 4 am by the cries of a hungry baby boy. I think of our secret spot away from hustle and bustle that comes with raising two children.

Um...there's something on your head

This picture was one of them from one set of our Engagement pictures. It is of us freezing in the snow so I thought it would be appropriate for today, as it is sooo cold outside! I was looking at this photograph thinking how young we looked even though it was just a couple of years ago...and then it hit me, wait a second, this was six years ago! How can that be? Six years ago we weren't even married...we were just two young kids who had just gotten engaged! So funny to think of it in that way! And now here we are, two kids later, living in our home (thank God for no more apartments!), and coming up on our fifth wedding anniversary! Just incredible to me! This isn't a spectacular picture of us, mainly because we look like two goobers standing in the snow, but that is also one of the reasons that it is one of my favorites of us...it just epitomizes our relationship together. We have always been so fun together and so hilarious. I still am kind of kid-like and silly when I am around Nicholas; somehow he still makes me feel like a goofy teenage girl out on a date wearing his letter jacket. Nicholas has that dry sense of humor everyone knows him for and he makes me laugh so hard with all of his impressions of people. And so I think this picture does our relationship justice. It shows who we are, and who we were because seriously folks, we act like this all of the time!

Jump on the Coupon train!

Lets talk coupons...or should I say, tiny bits of paper that make the world a better place? For those of you who don't clip coupons, you should be ashamed of yourselves!

Before Nick and I married, I wasn't very money saavy, to say the least. I wouldn't even know how much I was paying for gas; I figured I needed it so I would drive up and pump. After we got married, that all started to change. Not only were we dead broke being newlyweds still in school, but I suddenly felt an overwhelming responsibility to shop smartly. After all, this wasn't just my money anymore. If I bought that new Coach purse I wanted, I wasn't the only one who would be dining on ramen noodles to make up for it. So I began to think.

Coupons seemed to be an answer for us. I don't know how I began to clip, but clip I did. The laundry area for our college housing even had a coupon exchange box where you could deposit coupons you didn't need and take ones you needed. I must say that I LOVED that!

Over the years of our marriage, my couponing has evolved. I now have a coupon folder system that I love and never go shopping without. I am in constant pursuit of a new coupon book as mine seem to become worn our fairly quickly and need updating.

I clip coupons every weekend in the Sunday paper. This is a great way to pass the time next to Nick on Sunday afternoons while we watch a football game. At Meijer they double coupons up to $.50, so I can save a buck with a little piece of paper that says $.50 off. Pretty cool. There are also other local super markets that occasionally offer double and even triple coupons, which really make items great deals. I have also gotten the word out that I am a couponer so my MIL passes on their coupons to me. My cousin Jaime, who is a fellow couponer, passes on her diaper coupons to me as she doesn't need them (because she is the luckies person in the world, diapers suck!).

I am now into "clipping" coupons online as well. The best coupons are the ones in which you can get an item for free. This is a little trickier. I visit our local papers' website every Sunday. They, like practically every other newspaper, are linked to Boodle, a coupon site where you can download additional coupons. Kroger's website has tons of coupons and they now have e-coupons that you can download onto your discount card. I also sign up at every site I can think of for products I love. They often mail or email coupons. An example of this is Coffeemate. I will admit it I have an obsession with coffee creamers. Nick teases me that I like creamer and sugar with a little coffee mixed in for good measure. But by signing up at coffeemate's website, I have gotten offers for free creamer. The only thing sweeter than coffeemate is FREE coffeemate. There are tons of websites you can go to. Just google coupons and gazillions will come up. You can even buy coupons on ebay. I have not resorted to buying coupons yet, but it isn't something I have completely thrown to the wayside.

So that is my money saving tip for the day. Does anyone have any advice for couponing? Any wonderful sites or ways to pilfer money saving? Happy Monday everyone!

I made it through today!

I must be honest, today was one of the hardest days of my life. With Nick on bed rest I had to take care of the kids alone, which I know, I know, I do every day. However usually N comes home around 5 and helps until he leaves for work the next morning. But not this time. I have the greatest husband in that during the night he goes and gets Calvin for me to feed him. But since he isn't supposed to move and he can't lift more than 10 pounds, I was doing that all night. That's no big deal except Calvin didn't sleep. So I didn't sleep. I finally gave up about 6 this morning and just started my day. Around 1 this afternoon though my energy just ran out. It was all I could do to not just lay on the kitchen floor and sleep. So I had to just press on. Somehow I managed to get almost all of the laundry done and folded, a pot roast with mashed potatoes made for dinner, and both kids bathed and in bed, ready for church tomorrow. I didn't get everything done I wish I would have, I still need to make the batter for cookies for Valentine's Day, but there's tomorrow. Lets just pray that Calvin sleeps tonight!

You've been Vasectomized!

So today Nicholas is playing X-Box in bed with a bag of peas for companionship because yesterday was the great Vasectomy. I must say that it really is not a big deal and Nick agrees with me whole heartedly. Compared to a woman getting her tubes tied, this was a walk in the park. I do feel so bad for the guy and also so happy this is done. We know that two children are enough for us and we wanted to not have to worry about anything. I must tell you too how thankful I am for our insurance. We only had to pay $30.00 to get this done, can you believe it? Compared to the cost of raising another child, I think we got a bargain! When he was leaving the nurses gave Nick a Spongebob sticker that said "You're da man". I thought it was so funny and I think its so cute that its still on his jacket.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

This being the third year in our house, I am thinking that I should really get this whole gardening thing under control. Does anyone have any pointers for me? Last year my mother in law and I purchased flowers from the local conservatory and all of mine died, I mean, DEAD! Hers were gorgeous so obviously we were not sold bad flowers (the thought did cross my mind, although I am not sure that is possible). I am thinking of planting tomatoes, berries, and tons of flowers but don't know where to start. So if you have a favorite flower, type of tomato, or piece of gardening advice, please post!

All because two people fell in love

Around Valentine's Day I tend to get mushy gushy and think about all of the wonderful times Nicholas and I had dating, how deeply I fell in love with him and how madly in love I am with him still. The picture above is of the gazebo where Nicholas proposed to me. It was one of our spots in college. Behind it is a little hill that leads down to a grassy field. We would go out there sometimes on nights and spend hours talking and lauging hysterically over nothing. Those nights are the nights I knew I would never be able to survive this world unless I was this man's wife. Nick brought me back to the gazebo one night in late November after we had gone out to eat. It was about 10:30 and the first snowfall of the year had just begun. It was so cold and wet he practically had to pry me out of the car to "take a walk" as he put it. And then he got down on one knee in the gazebo and asked me to be his wife. What a wonderful memory! I am so happy I said yes and so thankful he asked me in the first place. For those of you who know Nick you know that he somehow always seems to make everything hilarious; on the way home he told me that his friends had asked him what he was going to do if I said no. What was his response: "I'll punch her in the face and leave." Still makes me giggle. I love him so much!

Thought I would update you on the kids:

Emma is really getting the whole manners concept under her belt. When we ask her something she says "yes please" or "no thank you". She had also been picking up the habit of saying "yeah" but we started teaching her to say "yes" which she now says very pointedly. Nicholas also taught her to do the robot which I must tell you is hilarious! She even maker "err, err" noises while she does the moves. She is beginning to count more and more now, she can help up to 18 (the number of stairs in our house!) which is incredible to me as the child isn't even two yet! We are getting away from signing except for things outside (fence, garden, pond, sidewalk, etc) and thank you she will sign lots. I am really just amazed at how smart she is.

Calvin is lifting his whole head and body up off the floor. He is also getting so big it is just incredible to me. He isn't even a month old yet and today I had him in a 3-6 month outfit. He is smiling and beginning to experiment with his hands, which is fun for us but not so much for him, as it has been resulting in him hitting himself in the face. Unfortunately Calvin has been projectile vommiting a lot and spitting up tons so we have an appointment this upcoming week. All signs are pointing to GERD like Emma had. Hopefully we can the problem corrected so he won't stop eating or anything. Please be keeping us in your prayers.

That is all for now, hope you all are doing well!

Diapers and Wipes, Diapers and Wipes

I am really beginning to feel that diapers and wipes are taking over my life. I went to Target to get the necessities and couldn't help but feel like Sparky in the Griswold Family Christmas movie loading up on Old Roy dogfood. I had to strategically manipulate everything into the cart. For those of you who are into caring about diapers and wipes, the best deal I have found on wipes is at Target; I got 465 Target Brand wipes for $7.99. The other companies max out at about 362 wipes for that price.

The Grocery Store

So tonight my mom and sister Lacey came over to spend some time with the kids. It was wonderful to have them over. Nick and I had a movie that was due back at the grocery store so we left the kids with them and went to return the video. How pathetic I felt: going to the grocery store to return a movie felt like a date...that's how often I am not alone with Nick these days. It was kind of funny! We walked through the store picking up avocado's and corn chips holding hands like we were in college again...ah to be young and in love! At least we've never been one of those couples that put their hand in the other's back pocket...tacky! Anyway, Amy over at www.MomAdvice.com (seriously check this out, its cool!) gave the code of GROUNDHOG for a free video from redbox which is the DVD rental system at our grocery store. I think it is good until Feb 5th. After the store we came home and watched the Super Bowl, but it was wonderful to have a date with Nick!

The verdict on formula

So last night we gave Calvin formula for the first time. My disclaimer here is that I am not planning on giving him formula all of the time but I wanted to make sure that he became used to the taste of it. We tried giving Emma formula when she was about 7 months old which was too late, and she hated it. We had to give her cow's milk because the cupboards were bare so to speak. I was really nervous giving it to him because when you mention formula the first thing that pops into my mind is the memory of my grandma trying to feed my sister Lacey formula and her refusing it and screaming. Thankfully he took it and actually seemed to love it! He seemed to like it better than breastmilk if you can believe that! So formula is a go which is good for when I go back to work on the off chance that I won't be able to pump enough.

Thank you Jesus!

Just thought I would let you know my huge praise! As most of you know I am off work for maternity leave so money is somewhat tight as we are now living on the saving put away for this time off to live on. I had budgeted $250.00 for our gas bill for January and I was just hoping and praying that that would be enough. If we went a little over that would have been fine but the weather has been so cold I just knew we were going to be getting another one of those $500.00 gas bills. We got the bill yesterday and can you believe what it was? $247.65. Thank you God! Faith is amazing isn't it? God is good, all of the time! That and trying to conserve energy. We have been trying very hard to use as little heat as possible. We have our huge picture windows covered in plastic as they are old and huge so air does get in. We also invested in a space heater for my dressing room as it is in the part of the home that was added on and there aren't any heating ducts going to that area. We also have shut the heat off in rooms which we do not use. I know these are just common sense things that everyone does (or should do) when it gets cold, but they are things that bear repeating because they really do help.