Christmas and Other Stuff

Hope you all had a great one. Ours was hectic, as usual, but great. My brothers were all here and that hasnt happened in a while with everyone doing their own thing these days. Lonnie got to meet his nephew for the first time and Chris had only seen him in the NICU. My girls miss them. They dont have a concept of time yet and so everything feels so long to them. Karl is over it all. He ripped down the tree this evening LOL.

Now that Christmas is over I will be sitting down and getting the spring semester planned for work. I dont want to lose steam so its important to me to have a plan. We will be visiting the Mary Kay factory on Jan 9th. That ought to be fun.

My MIL comes on Jan 17th. She is staying for 2 weeks this time. We see her about once a year so its not so bad. It is hard having to play host for so long but at least it forces me to keep the house decent LOL.

Karl finally got his new contract signed. He now gets paid holidays and benifits. In fact he gets New Years off paid! I still havent decided what we will do as far as medical insurance goes but it is nice to at least have that option now.

I am working on it

separating my two blogs that is. I thought it would show different names on the different blogs but apparently not :)

Moving our homeschool stuff

over to this blog:

http://moldingmindshomeschool.blogspot.com/

Finally Over It!!

Well they are finally past this tummy bug. So glad since tomorrow is Christmas! They must have been a bit tramatized because I over heard them playing doctor and their poor little dolls were throwing up. I heard Keira yell "Quick get a bucket!!!". Well, at least she kept it off the floor I suppose!

On the homeschool front, Keira asked for a math book so I got her the same one Bri is using. I did a little test with Bri and she actually tested on a 1st grade level for math, but we are going to finish out the K one just to reinforce. Bri does 3 pages a day out of that book! Keira did two but I think it will get more challenging in the next few days.

We still need to get our Bb book done but the holidays are taking precidence at the moment!

Stomach Bugs

So it looks like Brianna's fever was a prelude to a stomach flu that is now making the rounds in my house. Last night Keira, Brianna, and Karl were all throwing up. This lasted until about 3 am and even though today they aren't puking any more they are pretty tired and are in bed asleep. I also havent been able to get them to eat and barely getting fluids in them :S

My poor baby

My Bri is running a fever of 102...the day before her Christmas program. She fell asleep on the couch at 6pm so I have given her some Tylanol (not something I do very often) and she is cuddled up on my bed. I am just hoping that we can at least get through that program tomorrow. She is so looking forward to it...

This is our very first lapbook! I am so pleased with how they turned out and you should have seen them glow when they showed their daddy. This is just Brianna's since they were both pretty similar. Just different locations for the projects. In these we have:

Fish Maze
Foam Letter Ff
Fish Dot to Dot
Ff Word Search
Ff Mini Book
Fruit of the Spirit
Painted Ff
This was so much fun!! Tomorrow we will start our "Bb" book and our 5 Senses Science Book.



OK so hubby must be using band with so I will upload the rest tomorrow

The great thing about being well stocked

is that I dont have to shop every week. I am taking this week off to get settled into our official homeschooling routine!

Target 12-07 thru 12-13

Crest Premium White Strip-$27.99

Buy 1 Get $10 GC
Use $5 OFF HERE
Final Price $12.99

Campbells Select Harves or Chunky Microwave bowls-$1.44 BUY 2
Use $.50/2 MFQ and 2 $.50/1
Final Price:$1.38 or $.69 each

Keebler Cookies: $2.50
Buy 5 get $5 GC
Use $1.00/1 found HERE
Final Price:$2.50 for 5 or $.50 each

CVS 12-07 My Actual Trip

So of course CVS was already out of the contact solution, which btw we really could have used, so I had to rework my deal.

6 Hershey Bliss
1 Hershey Kiss
1 Powerade
2 Pedialyte
4 Maybelline Lip Gloss
1 Oral B Stages

Total Before Q's and Sales:$73.15

Coupons used:
$2.50/2 Hershey Bliss
$1.00 Hershey Kiss
$5/2 Pedialyte
$4.00 Maybelline Lip Color
$10/$50 CVS
$14.48 ECBs from Previous Shops

Total OOP:$.76

ECBs Earned: $14.59
$10 Hershey
$2 Pedialyte
$1.59 Powerade
$1 Oral B

Walgreens 12-07

Deals for this week:


Reynolds Foil $.99 with Walgreens Q-$1.00 MFQ=FREE

Scotch Tape 2/$2-$2 MIR=FREE

Schick Quatro $3.99-ES Coupon-$4 All You MFQ=FREE

Sudafed PE and/or Thermaflu Buy at 3 get $5 RR
(3)$3.99-$1.50MFQ=$2.47/3

Maybelline Lip Color($7.99 there may be some cheaper actually in the store) B1G1 use 2 $4 off any Lip Color=FREE

Kelloggs Cereal $1.99-$1.00 MFQ=$.99

CVS 12-07

I have some $10 off $50 that I need to use so here is how I am working up next weeks deals:


1 Powerade
2 Complete Contact Solution
6 Hershey Bliss
1 Hershey Mini
2 Pedialyte

Total Before Coupons: $51.15

Coupons:
$2.50/2 Hershey Bliss
$1.00 Hershey Mini
$5/2 Pedialyte
$10 off of $5o purchase

Total OOP:$27.65

ECBs Earned:
$1.59 Powerade
$17.98 Contact Solution
$10 Hershey
$2 Pedialyte

Total:$31.57

$3.92 PROFIT

Target 12-01

Goody Ouchless Products $1.99 at register use$2 Coupon (thanks Stephanie at surviving the stores)

Pepsi 12 Packs 5/$15 get $5 gift card with purchase of 5
Final Price $10 for 5

Fusion Manual Razor $7.94 minus $4.00 MFQ (p&g 11-30)
Buy 2 get $5 gift card
Final Price $2.88 for 2

Airwick Ultra FreshMatic $5.99 minus $5.00 MFQ=$.99 each

Walgreens 11-30

My last trip of this month was as follows:

4 Sure Deodorant-Used Rain Check
4 Hunts Tomato Sauce-Rain Check
1 Glade Flameless Wisp
4 Scotch Tape
2 Oral B Electric Kids Toothbrushes
1 Colgate Toothpaste


Total Before Coupons: $50.21

Coupons Used:
WG $1.50 off Sure (Althought it only took off the $.49 each that I paid)
$1 off Sure
$.40/2 Hunts
$1 Colgate
BOGO Oral B Toothbrush
WG 2/$1 Scotch Tape
$3 Glade

Total OOP:$12.24 Used GC
$3 MIR for Toothbrush
$2 RR for Colgate

I also did the colgate thing one more time to get the RR.

Walgreens 11-25

I needed to drop off a Rx so did a bit of shopping. I missed some of the deals since its already mid-week but got rainchecks :)

1 32oz ready to use Similac AR
4 Cases Dr Pepper
1 Sure Deodorant
2 Colgate Toothpaste

Used:

$3 off $10
$1.00 off Similac WG
$5.00 Similac Check
$1.50 off Sure WG
$1.00 Off Sure MGQ
$3/2 Colgate WG
$1.50 off Colgate
$3 RR from Previous Trip

Paid:$4.xx OOP and got some more formula Q's to stack with checks!

A bunch of random things

Ok so most of you know that I had problems with my Pediatrician and am now searching out a new one. Well on a whim today I went to the Care United here and Forney and found a family physician and guess what?! I think I am going to LOVE her! She gave me the Rx I needed for Luke's PT and we are trying Zantac for the reflux. She was also very understanding of my thoughts on the delayed vaccines. The best thing is she is less than 5 minutes from my house! I am so relieved to have this taken care of so I can start Luke's home program.

Second, I was thinking I might start an injury of the day log. My poor baby Keira did it again. Yesterday she busted her nose on the floor and today she fell backwards off the doctor's rolling stool and busted her tail bone. I feel so bad for her sometimes but she is so clutsy!

Third, I finally got a mailer from Walgreens and guess what?! A $3 off of $10 coupon, 20 free digital prints, and $2.99 One hour proccessing. I wont use the last but the first two are great! Plus it had a $25 transfer Rx that doesnt expire until Feb so I can change the Zantac back and forth between CVS and Walgreens!

On a bit of a downer my DH did not get the job with Dell. I can only hold on to the thought that it was not what the Lord had planned and that something better will be coming along in time. He is pretty gutted about it though.

I am so excited!!! Walgreens 11-21

So I had bought these coupons off of ebay for the Bic Soleil Razors that had a ES coupon to match. I went in thinking I was going to be getting them free since they had been on sale for $5.99 for a while. However, they were BOGO! Now this wasnt marked on the shelf at the first two stores I went to(still worked), but at the third store they had them marked 2/6.99. Anyways, so total at three different Walgreens (BTW this was the last day of the ES coupons so I waited until the last minute to empty the shelves):

48 Bic Soleil Razors/Refils
2 Chapstics
1 Hershey candy bar
4 Hersheys Miniatures
1 Pooh Bath Toy
1 Fingernail polish
2 Johnsons First Aid Kits with bonus mini kit
2 Post it notes
1 25.7oz Can Enfamil Formula
6 Lipsmackers

TOTAL:$15.37
MIR:$5 for Hershey Candy
MIR: Buy 2 Post it get $5 in McDonalds Vouchers
Used Gift Card from last month so paid nothing OOP

Coupons used:
$3 off Bic Razor
$3 off Bic Refill
$2 off Enfamil
$3 WG off Enfamil
$3 Enfamil Check
$1/2 Lipsmackers (these were on clearance)
$4 off $9.99 Toy WG
$3 off 2 Travel First Aid Kits
$3 WG off 2 Travel First Aid Kits
$1/3 Hersheys Candy

SAVINGS:$388.26!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Had I not been surprised by the unmarked BOGO's I would have done even better because I would have used my overages a little more wisely. At the register I just threw up some candy and chapstic to get as close to $0 as I could.

Things about me

I was tagged so here it is!

4 jobs I have had:
Burger King
Walgreens
Accounts Payable at flooring company
Academy Kids


4 movies I have seen more than once:
Legally Blonde
Blast From the Past
Sweet Home Alabama
Austin Powers


4 places I have lived:
Dallas
North Dakota
Kaufman
Forney


4 TV shows I watch:
Holly Oaks
Kitchen Nightmares
Super Nanny
You are what you eat


4 places I have been:
Paris, France
Australia
England
Mexico


4 favorite foods:
Sandwiches
Pasta of any sort
Pizza
Tacos



4 places I would like to visit:
Ireland
Australia(other parts)
Italy
Spain


4 things I look forward to in the next year:
My Kids Birthdays
8 years with my Honey
Decorating my house more
Getting a bigger car



4 friends I am tagging:
Julie
Stephanie

:( I dont have any more blogger friends that I know havent been tagged.

My new hair and a video of Luke

I got my hair highlighted and cut a bit shorter this time. What do you think? Please forgive my pjs. I also caught a cute video of Luke playing! He was watching the Very Hungry Caterpillar on TV and was totally digging it.

CVS 11-16

I skipped last week so I didnt have as many ECBs to roll but here it is:

1 Transaction

Loreal Face Stuff $15.99

-$1.00 Loreal Face Product
-$11.00 ECBs

$4.32 OOP

ECB Printed: $15.99


$1.00 PROFIT

2nd Transaction

4 Duracell 8 Packs (the 4 packs are $5.29, but the way we run through batteries I thought is was worth the extra to get 4 more)-$5.99 per pack
4 Arm and Hammer Toothpaste (my brother only uses this brand)
1 Colgate with toothbrush

Shelf:$60.xx

Coupons:
$.75 off A&H Toothpaste (there are $1 printables out there but I couldnt get my printer working)
$.75 off Duracell
$2 off any Oral Purchase CVS Q
$1 off Colgate total
$1 off Colgate total CVS Q
$15.99 ECB

OOP:$10.32
ECB:$15.00 Duracell
ECB:$1.00 Colgate


I didnt get the energy drink because this stuff about killed my husband last time it was free.

Walgreens 11-16

4 Suave Shampoos
1 Glade Wisp Flameless Candle
1 7-up

Before coupons: $12.77
OOP:$2.97

Coupons:
$1 off Suave
$1 off 7-up (catalina)
$3 off Glade (I had a rain check that made it $3.99)

$3 off next purchase printed for Suave
$2 MIR from ES on Glade

PROFIT OF $2.03

Free Samples 11-12-08

Organic Valley Starter Kit

Playtex

Glad Bags

Dove Body Lotion

Walgreens 11-09

It's always fun when someone notices your deals. Yesterday morning I was checking out (all I got was razors) and my total was right around $100. After coupons it was $19.xx (and they owe me $4 for missed coupons), and the lady behind me says "I dont know what you just did but what ever it was, it was pretty amazing!". You bet I walked out with a big ol grin LOL!

Kroger 11-09

I could have done about $3 better because I made a mistake but it wasnt worth my time to go back and have to redo the entire transaction so here it is:

PICTURE COMING SOON

Shelf: $211.30
OOP:$77.51
Savings:$133.79 or 63%

What is not shown in the picture is ground beef and a slab of ribs. The potatoes also take away from my percentage but it wasnt worth going to Walmart for just those.

One of those days

Today I had one. One that culminated in the complete loss of control of my emotions. You know the saying "when it rains it pours" well that was a true statement for us this week. All in one week all 3 of Karl's remaining grandparents have taken a turn for the worse. This is even worse than it sounds when he only has 6 remaining family members total and his Uncle has terminal cancer to top it. We have had 2 nights this week where Luke simply did not sleep at all. Then today, well lets just say it was a rough one. At the end of it I uncontrollably burst into tears on a friend who probably had enough going on without having to deal with my unstable emotions. I cry easily anyways and once I start, well it will last all day. So needless to say I still feel weepy hours later. I have drown my cares in drink. It's amazing what a Dr Pepper can do :P

On a good note my husband is awaiting an offer from Dell for a job! And I am looking forward to a Saturday at the museum with my family.

You Data

So I am always skeptical of these ad click sites. I dont like putting in any more information that I have to so usually I dont even bother to look at them. But, I did this one and it is legit! Basically you sign up and they give you a list of ads based on several mini-surveys that you take then every Friday they deposit the money into your paypal account! Each ad ranges from $.05-$.20 which is some of the highest paid ad clicks I have ever seen. You dont have to sign up for anything, just let it load! I would suggest clearing cookies, cashe and doing a run once a week or so for ad ware and so on but so far I havent had a problem.

youdata.com

For those curious I made $5.14. I will use it for any online deals I get!

Target

I went to Target again to get Keira something to wear at gymnastics and the Mesquite one has Halloween marked down to 75%

I got:

4-12 packs of tea light candes(I liked the colors)- $.98
3 Pez with 6 candy refils-$.48
6 40count Dixie paper plates-$.74(I bought these out)

At some point there was a Dixie coupon. I used it at Walgreens a while back but if you find the plates check for a coupon! They did still have a bit of decor and novelty candies but nothing that suited me since we arent big on decorating.

At least a little accomplished

I finally feel like I at least got a bit done today. We went to ASI this morning to do a trial and re-enroll. The girls were so glad to be back and I am really excited about the deal we got! Because Thanksgiving is on a class day and they are obviously closed they prorated the month and they also had a no enrollment fee special and I had a $10 coupon so our total was $35 after that, well Julie decided to enroll ethan so that got both of us $30 off of our bills since she was my referal. That means our first month is only $5 and she got hers free!

Anyways at home this is what I have done:

Washed diapers
Cleaned out the fridge
Bleached down the kitchen(I mean a really good solid cleaning)
Vacuumed in the girls play room

What I am hoping to get done if Luke will let me up:

3 Loads of laundry
The Bar cleaned off
sheets washed
Living room dusted
Bathrooms cleaned

Right now my son is asleep on my so I dont know how much I will actually get done but we will see!

Chaos

Ok as many of you know chaos is all part and partial to having multiple children in the house. Especially when they are all under the age of 5. Today was no exception. Luke had a rather bumpy night due to being over fed the day before (grrrr not by me but we wont go into that) and did not sleep very well. He was in my arms most of the night. I am already very tired from regular night wakings that come with a babe, and truly I dont mind. I knew what was coming when we decided to get pregnant again, but it does wear on you a bit. Anyways, today Keira has been particularly whiney and I just dont do whiney very well. Its one thing when there is really something wrong but this was just "I am not getting my way so I am giong to make mom misserable" whiney. To top that Luke still is not napping very well today and I am having to chance poopy diapers pretty often while his system clears out being bombarded with 12oz of milk in 3 hours. So during quiet time I actually fell into a deep sleep and woke up to my 4 year old screaming my name. I dont ever do that. I am a pretty light sleeper and especially so when my kids are around. It actually scared me how asleep I was. When I got up my daughter went right back to whining and Luke is again in my arms so that he will sleep. To top it off Brianna just tripped and bit her tongue good enough to slice it open and my husband decides to mail me and ask if he can play x-box instead of taking his turn with the baby tonight. Lets just say that did not go over well...

Nice Deal at Victoria Secrets

Borrowed from www.couponing101.com

HOT Victoria's Secret Deal!
With this deal you can get 2 Bras & 1 Panty for $16 + tax!

First, sign up for Ebates to get 4% cash back on your purchase. Then click on their Victoria's Secret link to begin shopping.

Add 2 bras from their 2/$40 styles to your shopping cart

Add 1 solid color cotton panty at $7.50 to your shopping cart

Go to check out - be sure to check the box that says you have an offer code.

Once it gets to the offer code page, enter these codes:

FA813789 - for $10 off any bra
25PTY - for $25 off any two full priced bras and free cotton panty
FA813549 - for $10 off a future purchase

Shipping is $5.99 so altogether your total should be $15.99 + tax for 2 bras and 1 panty. Plus you'll get 4% cash back from Ebates!

Thanks to Thrifty Mama for the heads up!

ETA - the free messenger bag code is no longer working, so use the $10 off future purchase instead.

I just did this and it worked. I found one bra that was $17 so I got a slightly better deal too :)

CVS 01-02

I rocked CVS today!! I two of the kids with me or I would have done a bit more but I am pretty happy with this trip.

So here is the break down:

2 Crest Pro Whitening
2 Pampers Cruisers
6 Halloween Fruit By the Foot
3 Halloween 40 Count Goodie Bags
2 Halloween Poprocks
1 Halloween Foam Letters
3 Oral B Flossers
1 Dawn Dish Soap
1 Nestle Good Start 12oz Formula

Shelf:$58.xx
OOP-$11.25

ECBs Back:$18!!

Coupons:
$.75/1 Crest
$1.50/1 Pampers
$.50/2 BC Fruit Snacks
$1.00/1 Oral B Flossers
$.50/1 Dawn
$11.00 Nestle Check
$10 off $50 Purchase
$16 ECB from last week.

I also just noticed that they ran my Good Start Check at $10 instead of $11 so I will be going back to get that $1 when I make my Walgreens run.

First Smiles Caught on Camera!!!

I got some smiles!!!

Our Alternative to Pumpkin Carving

So usually I am the one who ends up doing all the work since my kids are still a bit young so this year we did something new. This year I pulled out the Mr. Potato Head (or hot potato as my kids call it) and we used those to decorate our pumpkins. We had so much fun and I think they turned out so cute!!!



Brianna did take a pen to hers but they still look really great.

RAK

RAK, Random Act of Kindness. A totally unsolicited, unexpected act of kindness usually involving gifting an item to someone. I first heard the term on my crafting forums while participating in swaps, however I saw one today in real life that I thought was worth noting.

I was in CVS doing my deals before the sales changed, there were three young girls, cheerleaders from what I could tell, who were getting feathered boas. Anyways, they start checking out and then ask for a gift card. I think the cashier must have been new because he called the manager up for help. While the manager helps them the other cashier opens a second line and begins checking me out (haha you know what I mean!). When the three girls leave the manager comes over to our register to help with one of those Similac checks and she is in tears. The cashier asks her what is wrong. Turns out that the girls bought a $20 gc and gave it to the manager. Totally random strangers just doing something nice for another totally random stranger. It was really refreshing, especially coming from teenagers.

Target Deals for October 21st

Fusion Power Razors $7.94-$4mfq=$3.94
Airwick Minis-$4.95-$4.00=$.95
Airwick Large-$5.95-$4.00=$1.95
Curel Double Pack-$4.88-$1mfq=$3.88
Various Camp Rock 75%
Tissue Paper-$.38 for 20 sheets
Various Party Supplies 75% I picked up some plates and cups for $.38 per pack
Party Favor Kits marked down from $19.99 to $4.98
Dora Side Walk Chalk thing $3.74
Foam Craft Stickers $1.24
Raovac Batteries are in the $1 spot.
Elmers Glue-$.22
Rose Art Colored Pencils-$.62
Rose Art Markers-$.72

And I FINALLY found the Candy Land Castle for $4.97!!! This game is $22 at Walmart!

Pumpkin Patch

My homeschool class was supposed to meet to go to a pumpkin patch in Grapevine. Well no one showed but that did not keep us from having a good time! We invited my parents and went anyways. The girls had a blast going through the maze and looking at all the pumpkins!






On a side note I have started playing around with making corker hair bows. Here are a few of my attempts

Calling it a wrap!

I didn't want to call it quitting because after thinking about it I feel like I have done pretty darn good. However, I have come to the end of my desire to have my life dictated by my pump. I haven't actually made the final decision on if I will quit or just try to maintain a supply pumping every 6 hours. I think that if I can still do it 4 times a day and maintain then most likely I will continue for a while longer. We made it two months and when you consider I was pumping 8 times a day plus I had to actually feed him, my days and my nights pretty much were filled with this single activity. I really feel like Luke got the best of what I could give him during the critical period and I have a bit of BM frozen so we will have some for about a month after I actually completely stop.

Do I sound like I am trying to justify myself?

My night last night

I had an interesting and scary night last night. I will start with my funny story first.

When I go to CVS and Walgreens I usually take one of the girls to lighten the load on Karl. Last night I took Brianna. Prior to us leaving she had been playing on her scooter in the kitchen and taken a tumble and hurt her tushy. She was still crying about it when we left but by the time we got to Walgreens had all but forgotten. As we were browsing the cleaning aisle she began to complain again so I told her that when we got back home I would look and see if she bruised it. Well apparently she missed the "when we get back home" part because my 4 year old then proceeded to pull down the back of her pants and expose her backside so that I could check for a bruise right there in the store! As cute as her little tush is I decided it best to ask her to quickly pull her pants back up. She had no idea why I was bothered by it and just continued to ask if I had found a bruise.

Now on to the scary. When I was checking out at CVS the lady behind the counter asked if Bri could have a candy. I said yes and she handed her a hard candy. Brianna has had hard candies on several occassions, and since she had been so good in the stores I didnt really think twice about it. Until she started choking on it. I mean really choking. I gave her a second to see if she was going to disloge it on her own but ended up grabbing her and doing the heimlich maneuver on her. Luckily two good pumps did the job and out the candy came, and I am chalking up my EMT training to remaining calm during the whole thing but after it was over I just dropped to my knees and hugged my baby girl. She of course was frightened and was crying. I grew at least 50 grey hairs from that incident.

Woohoo

I figured out how to decorate my blog!

Walgreens 10-4

Went last night after having a bit more time to sort out the deals and get my stuff together. I did make one mistake last week in that I bought the Auto Shower Cleaner and of course it was $4 cheaper this week. Thats what I get for being impatient. So here we go(PS I am not going to tell you how I rolled it since that would take forever to sort out on my reciepts. Just know I did alot of seperate transactions to be able to use the RR on other transactions):

4 Listerine for Kids @ $4.29ea-$.50MFQ-$4.50/2RR=$6.16/4
8 Herseys Special Dark Bars @$.70clearanced-4 BOGO=$2.80/8
2 Glade Flameless @$5.99-$5.00MFQ-$3.00RR=-$2.01 MONEY MAKER
*4 4.0oz Glade Candles @$1.99-$1.50/2=$4.96/4-$4MIR=$.96/4
1 Loreal Facial Cleanser @$6.99-$1mfq-$6.99MIR MONEY MAKER
4 Oral B Indicator Toothbrushes @$1.99-$1.00IVC-$.75mfq=$.96/4
2 Gillette Shampoo/Bodywash @$5.00-$2.00mfq-$5/2MIR=-$2.00 MONEY MAKER
4 Bags Halloween Candy(MARS) $2.50-$1.00/2mfq-$4MIR=$4/4
3 Visine Drops @$3.99-$2.00IVC-$2.00mfq=-$.04 MONEY MAKER
4 Glade Scented Oil Candles @$3.99-$2.00mfq-$4.00MIR=$3.96/4


There apparently is a $1/1 mfq but I didn't have it. This is a MONEY MAKER if you do have the $1.

Hope this helps!

Was this wrong?

I need some insight.

Recently my sweet Brianna has been anything but. She has been defiant, rude, and just flat out mean. She gets in trouble almost daily for hitting, pinching or otherwise hurting her sister, and although she has never hit Luke she has swung very near him with the intentions of getting a rise out of me. She demands things and throws her body around when she doesnt get it. Now I know you are all thinking "not sweet Brianna" but this is how she is at home right now and I am so confused. I believe we are balancing the change in dynamics quite well so my only guesses are 1. she is picking it up at school or 2. Its an age/phase thing. So here is where I need thoughts: Saturday we had a birthday party for a little girl that Brianna refers to as her "best friend". These two really get along and so the party was very important to Brianna however, while we were running some errands that day she once again went into her mood. Now maybe the fact that we were in public magnified my response but if you had seen her you would understand my frustration. After making several threats, giving her a spanking and "grounding" her from the TV I decided to tell her she could not go to the party. I almost regretted it the moment I said it, but I had to follow through. How else was I going to get through to her that the attitude had to stop?! So she missed the party. She was very upset at me and I feel like it did get through, but now I feel incredibly guilty.

I called her mom and let her know why we wouldnt be there, but when I spoke to her on the phone today she sounded kind of sad that we didnt make it and as I told her what was going on she really didnt seem to sound like she agreed with my choice. I know that she may not have wanted to input since it was my child but it did make me feel so guilty about having had to make that choice. Did I do the right thing? What other option did I have?

My money savers

These are some odd ball things I do to save money:


Use reusable bags at Kroger and you will get a $.05 credit for each one. You have to be sure to point it out as most of the checkers dont think about it.

For Christmas this year I am going to purchase the reusable bags and pack them full of goodies for my grandparents and aunts and uncles. Most of the items they get will be free or almost free!

We have a disney rewards card by Chase. Each month Karl pays our Mortgage payment with it and then immediately pays it off. We get $1 for every $100 put on the card. Not much but when we head back to Disney World in 2010 it will go a long way, and why not since we have to pay the mortgage anyways? The only thing is that you MUST be diligent in paying off the card right away so as not to accrue any interest. Chase has several other rewards programs if Disney is not what you are looking for.

Walgreens Trip

I didnt have alot of energy to really search as I seem to be coming down with something but here is what I found:

Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner-$23-$5mfc-$10es= $8

Scrubbibg Bubbles scrubber Free with MIR from paper

Rimmel Foundation Free with ES

I used last months rebate to pay for these so with a few other things I picked up I spent $3.67 oop and will be getting $24 back. The loss is accounted for in the $8 I had to pay for the shower cleaner(the other $3 is my 10% bonus for reloading a gc) but I had been wanting to try that for a while so went for it. I will make it up before the month is out I am sure :) There are a few other good deals and even some freebies that I didnt get I am waiting for my train to come around so I can snag some q's for them.

Bum Genius 3.0 Review

I am a month and a half into cloth diapering (we didnt use them while he was in the NICU) so I thought I would do a review now and then again later.

We have been using the newest version of AIO's by Bum Genius. This particular diaper incorporates everything I was looking for in a cloth diaper. It has a built on cover, is a pocket diaper, and the neatest feature of all, it has these handy dandy snaps in the front that make the diaper resizable for babies 8-35lbs. An apparent dream come true for the cloth diapering momma.

Pros- Besides the above it carries the typical pros for a CD. It reduces cost, diaper rash and is darn cute on babies booty. They are easy to wash, and come with the pocket liner as well as one to lay across the top of the inside of the diaper adding double protection for the big wetter or nightime use. They have a great resale value if they are in decent condition.

Cons- 8lbs is the bare minimum these diapers can handle and you would even do better to wait a little longer if your baby has skinny legs. As with all diapers any and I mean any peaking out of the liner will cause leakage. The color selection is limited to blue, green, white, yellow, and pink. No cute patterns and the colors are all pastel.

Cost wise they are on the $$ end with the diapers costing about $18 a piece. However, when I factored in the cost of having to buy a seperate cover I thought the price was quite comparable to other diapering systems. Add that to the fact that ideally they will last me until baby is potty ready and it is a really great deal. The initial investment for 24 diapers is $432. The cost of disposables greatly exceeds this over time.

Over all at the moment I am enjoying this diaper. I will be suplimenting my stash with some cute patterend diapers for holidays and just for fun but as for now the Bum Genius 3.0 are a staple in my diaper stash.

My Resolve is Waning

Ok so I am having some trouble convincing myself how wonderful it is that I pump every 3 hours. I feel like I am perminently attached to my pump and quite frankly I am sick of it. My goal was 6 months with 6 months frozen, but to be honest if I make it until tomorrow I feel like I will have accomplished something. Maybe its because my nipples feel like someone has carved craters into them, maybe its because I got a whopping 3 hours of sleep (and no it wasnt consecutive), maybe its because I am a quitter, but if it wasnt for the fact that formula is $20 a can for a 5 day supply...

My Addiction

Hello, my name is Anna and I am completely, utterly, and shamelessly addicted to Dr. Pepper. There I have said it. I can not go a day with out at least one and more than likely it will be closer to 3. I drank one for breakfast this morning. Hey, I dont drink coffee so I need something to kick me. Of course though what goes up must come down and let me tell you I have been crashing from these things. What do I do though?! I have tried replacing it with juice(all natural of course) and it is not the same. The whole thing is more than just caffine to me. It is a complete sensory experience. From the slight sting of the carbonation to cold wetness of it running down my throat. There is just nothing like it.

Wow it is scary that I can talk about a soft drink with such emotion...

Target Deals

Well here is one Kroger one too: Huggies wipes $2.50-$1.00q=$1.50


Target:

8oz Horizon Organic Milk-FREE with Target $1.00 Q
Airwick Mini-$.99 with $4MFQ $.99/2 if your store lets you stack with BOGO MFQ
Johnsons Buddies- FREE with MFQ $3/3
Ziplock 25 Counts (at the registers)-$.50 with $1/2 MFQ
Colgate-BTFREE with Target $1.00 Q stacked with $1.50 MFQ
Pampers Jumbo Pack Diapers and 232 Count Wipes- $10 with $3 Target Q and $1.50 Diaper and $.50 wipes coupons

School

So we are a few weeks into school and I am happy to report that I am really loving it. I have to be honest, when I was asked to do homeschool I was a bit nervous. I have never taught such a broad age range and with only seeing the kids two times a week I was really unsure of how things would go. Seriously though these kids are really great. Even after a day like today, which let me tell you was a bit of a rough one, I sit down at the end of the day and feel really good about what we have done. One thing I really love is that, while the parents send work for the kids to do during study hall, I get to do all the fun stuff with them: cooking, art, science projects and reading. We have our first field trip tomorrow to the 6th floor museum. It will be interesting to see how many I have show up.

We also have a very busy month so far. We have a birthday party every weekend for the next 3 weeks, then mom and I are considering doing a garage sale, which I so need to do. I am really ready to get my garage cleaned out, get my new deep freeze and get Luke's room finished. He wont be in it for a while yet but who doesnt like to see the rooms looking put together?

Ok I think I am done rambling for a bit.

OMG

That is all I can say to this. I cant imagine it would make their customers very happy. I know I wouldnt be eating it. Would they employ people to pump for their icecream?

VERMONT -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says.

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk."

Ben and Jerry's released a statement, "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child."

This is the whole article : http://www.nbc5i.com/foodnews/17539627/detail.html

Magic Time Machine

We took the girls to the Magic Time Machine last night. It was crowded as all get out and we actually got a pretty dull waitress but the girls knew no difference and had a blast! They have asked me several times today when we are going back. We totally splashed out and let them buy the smoking drinks and even got them their own meal. Something we rarely do. Lucky I had a $25gc to help with the cost.



Keira with here drink "green".



Daddy and Keira




Mommy and Bri

Pocahontas




Dont Worry its just Chocolate


Drinking the Icecream


After Drinking the Icecream

Kroger,Tom Thumb and Target

So since I did well at these three stores I thought I would post my loot for those too!

Target:

2 Tinkerbell Backpacks
1 Jansport Backpack
2 Hello Kitty Lunch Boxes
8 Ziplock Bags
2 Flipflops
3 Various Dollar Spot items

Total $23!

Kroger and Tom Thumb

11 Cans Pilsburry Cinnamon Rolls
8 Cans Chef Boyardee Spaghetti O's
12 Can Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup
8 Packs Betty Crocker Cookie Mix
4 Revlon Files
3 Chex Mix
4 V-8 Fusion Juice
3 Apple Cinnamon Cherios
4 Campbells Select Soups
3 Suave Shampoo
1.77lbs Nectarines
1.48lbs Peaches
.94lbs Plums
1 Snack Pack Pudding
6 Betty Crocker Potatoes
1 General Mills Cereal Bars
8 Kraft to Go Easy Mac
2 Safeway 4 Packs Fruit Coctail
1 Lg Pillsburry Crecent ROlls
1 Lg Pillsburry Cinnamon ROlls
1 Pillsburry Ready Bake Cookies
4 Bags Tysons Popcorn Chicken
2 6 Pack Sunmaid Raisins
2.76 Lbs Green Grapes

Shelf: $229.21
I paid: $72.44
68% Savings

Karl is off to Walmart to get our meat for the week:)

Walgreens Trip

So of course every now and then I have to brag about how I did at one of my stores so even though I didnt grocery shop this week here is how I did:

6 Skippy Peanut Butter
4 Glade Candles
4 Glade Carpet Freshner
6 Various Fructis Hairstyling Products(not shampoo haha!)
1 Listerine
1 Revlon Nail Polish
1 Crest Toothpaste
3 Trident Gums
2 Pez 6 count refils
1 Glade Carpet Refresher

Total Before Coupons: $68.xx
Total After Coupons: $48.xx
Used gift Card and paid: $11.xx oop
Getting $30.xx back in rebates

Fresh Air

Who doesnt love fresh air (besides my 15 year old brother who would rather be locked in a closet with his laptop than be outside)? There is nothing better than a clean, or in my case simi-clean, house, open windows and a fresh breeze. I love the summer but the heat here in Texas is stiffling and stuffy. So, I have put the baby in my Moby Wrap, popped open some windows, turned on the fans, and have been cleaning up for the last hour or so. It smells better and it feels better, fresher. I highly recommend it.

Pictures!

So as not to end my blogging for today on such a sad note we had photos done today and I am pretty pleased!

September 11th

We all remember this day. We all remember where we were when we heard about the Towers. We all remember how it felt to be invaded and to hear of all the lives lost, and those families who now had to bury their loved ones. Some never even got to do that. I remember it. As sad as I feel thinking about what happened that day what is really on my mind is not Sept 11 2001 but Sept 11 2005. You see, that was the Sunday we decided to go with my parents to the park on gross road. I was on the actual playground being silly with my Brianna when my mom walked up to me looking white as a ghost. Now to this day I still feel guilty about this, but my first thought was that something had happened to Keira. I yelled at her, "Whats wrong mom?! Keira...", "No, Keira is fine". Sweet relief. "Pip has committed suicide". If you have never been through this you can not begin to imagine what kind of hit that is. At that moment though all I can remember thinking is Thank God its not Keira. Is that selfish or what? Pip is Karl's dad. He was a wonderfully strange man. He invoked motherly feelings. You just wanted to pat him on the head and take care of him. He was emotional. He loved Karl. Idolized him even. It was very hard for both of them any time we had to say goodbye. Which brings me to the next thing, now logically Karl knows that he should not blame himself for this, but he always makes a phone call on Sunday to his family. That Sunday he decided to wait until after lunch to make it. He never got the chance. I remember him asking me in tears why his dad didnt give him the chance to say goodbye. I cant rationalize it. I mean really there is no explination that makes sense when someone takes their own life. He really had alot to live for. He had family, and two beautiful grandchildren. He never even got to see Keira. I look at Luke and think, man would he have been glowing to see this precious little boy. Why would he deny himself those chances? Why would he deny them the chance to meet him? So for those with the natural curiosity of what happened this is the best description I have; both Shirley and Peep were in the house, they ate dinner and things proceded as usual. Sometime in the early evening, the times escape me, Peep comes down stairs, gives Shirley his signature thumbs up, and walks upstairs, gets his gun and shoots himself through the mouth. Shirley runs upstairs to find him. I dont know how she survived the trama of that day. She even still lives in the same house.

Now, I want to end on a happy note and I will tell you that about 2 years prior to this Peep gave a profession of faith. Of course only Christ knows his heart, but it is our belief that he is in heaven and that we will meet him there one day. What comfort in a time like this!

Need to get this off my chest

You are not the first person to discover that Anna and banana rhyme. That means when you laugh like you just told a really good joke, you just look silly. NO, it is not Mulder as in Mulder and Scully. I never watched the X-files. Heck I was only 11 when it first aired. I wont laugh at that joke and once again you are not the first person to think of it.

Ahhh much better LOL

Oh the songs they sing

I love how kids have their own versions of songs. My Keira was singing her rendition of "Do Your Ears Hang Low". Let me me share:


Do your ears hang low?
Do they woggle to and flow?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you tie them in a bowl?
Can you throw them over your shoulder,
(I cant understand what she is trying to say for this line)
Do your ears hang low?

Afterward she asks me if she can sing it faster, but what she actually means is can she sing it louder LOL.

My oldest has somehow picked up this:

I can ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars, no handle bars

Not sure where that came from :S

Realizations

Well it has hit me, I am never going to have any more children. It is this strange mixture of peace and sadness. I look at my perfect family and I know we are complete. I know that we are where we need to be in terms of being able to provide financially as well as emotionally. Not that we would not have, or by God's devine intervention, would welcome a fourth child, but seeing as that is highly unlikely I have had to face the end of my child bearing days. It is not even that I want another baby, but perhaps the feeling of knowing that I am growing a little being inside of me, feeling kicks and hicups. It's almost sureal. I also feel a bit guilty. Most of you know that Karl and I had problems conceiving Brianna. Two and a half years, multiple tests and being told that we would not be able to concieve "naturally" did not stop God from doing the impossible. While my story may sound and even feel amazing to me dealing with infertility has opened my eyes to another world and I cant help but feel guilty for stopping my body from doing its "purpose" when we struggled and others struggle to have the miracle(s) that seem to now come so easily to us now. I also think of my perfect birth experience being ripped from me. I have no more chances to get it right I think it also has brought a touch of reality to me on the fact that my babes are growing up fast. Too fast. The years seem to fly at the moment and sometimes I struggle to remember the girls baby days. Lastly, I think of my little Jamie. I look at Luke and think that had things gone the way they were meant to last time that I would be looking at Jamie instead of Luke. I mourn for my precious little one, and then think at the same time that I can not imagine not having my Luke here.

Perhaps it is just a touch of post partum depression or sleep deprivation, but at the moment my thoughts seem scattered and incoherent.

I need a hug

To add to the last few days...

I usually set up all doctors apts for first thing in the morning. I find that I am usually in and out much faster this way. So as usual I show up for my pp checkup at 9:30am. I sit and sit and sit. Finally around 10:30 I ask if I am up soon. Uh, your apt is at 11:15. What the heck?! I have NEVER scheduled an apt for that late. I would rather have gone the next day. Well, needless to say, my house is too far to go home and come back so we sat some more. Finally around 11:40am I am called back. The apt lasted 5 minutes. I get downstairs to my car and wow great I have a parking ticket to boot. My meter had run out. I put 3 hours on it and still ran out of time. Perfect. Grant it the ticket is only $20 but do you know what $20 can buy? By this point I am so tired and frustrated that I just cried. Bless my husband for knowing that now was not the time to tease. He just told me it was not a big deal. Im glad he feels that way cos it still totally ticks me off.

Where has chilvary gone?

My mom and I drove out to east Texas to visit my grandparents. On the way home we had a flat. I mean my tired was shredded to bits. So starts the beginning of the rest of a miserable day. We noticed the tire pretty much right away. I mean how can you miss the sound of your rim hitting the asphalt right? So we pulled into a parking lot and proceeded to search for the doughnut tire. After pulling out the manual we found out where it was and to make a long story short, while my mom walked to find some help I pulled the tire out and got the jack ready. Well the jack turned out to be practially nothing, and it required turning a screw about a billion times to get it up and then of course back down. While I am very obviously changing a flat and its pretty obvious by the 2 strollers, diaper bags, and so on that I have kids, car after car passes me by. One was even as kind as to slow down and gawk at me. Not a single person offered to help me. Not one. Not even so much as a "hey can I give someone a call for you?". Luckily my mother managed to find help. Odly enough in the form of a woman. She looked like she had changed more than one tire in her life, and best of all she had a floor jack in her trunk! So she takes off the old tire, which neither my mother nor I had the body weight to get loose. Now mind you I do have all three of my children in the car, and THANK GOD I could leave the AC on, but at this point Luke was getting quite peeved over the fact that doors kept being opened and shut. Anyways, right as the lady gets the old tire off a man from the same office as her comes over to help and finishes the job. Awesome. The whole thing took about 30 min. Not so bad. So now we start the journey to the nearest Walmart to have a new tire put on. On the way we stop to feed Luke and as I opened the hatch the darn tire falls out. So this thing weighs quite abit and on top of it I am 3 weeks post c-section, and like a dummy rather than wait on mom to get out of the store I proceeded to put the tire back. All the while a man pumping his gas is just steadily staring at me, once again with no offer to help. I finally get the darn thing back in and we arrive at Walmart only to find out that they dont carry that tire. So he checks a few other Walmarts and still nothing. On the way home I call a few more and again nothing. All of the smaller tire places are closed for the weekend so we resign to the fact that I am going to have to wait until Tuesday. We get almost home when I see that the Forney NTB is open and after asking we find out that they do carry the tire!! That darn thing cost me $150!!!!

So the moral of the story, dont get a flat tire during Labor Day weekend and Dont expect help if you do!

On a side note, Brandies husband so sweetly was willing to drive all the way out to help us (my husband was in a test and I didnt even get ahold of him until we were almost home).

Quirk Off

Answering my tag by Brandie to list 6 quirks about myself. I hope I still have friends after this.



1. I am a picker. I pick at zits, dry skin, anything worth popping or picking, I am there. I do it to myself and my kids. I would do it to random strangers if they would let me. Now how creepy is that?


2. I cant stand to hear someone whistling out of their nose when they breathe. It will keep me awake at night to the point of me kicking or pinching a nose.

3. Certain shapes of trees freak me out. I totally wig out over knarled or really bumpy looking trees. Oh and definitely dont ask me to touch one! I can barely stand to look at them.

4. I have a unibrow. No seriously. If I do not pluck my eyebrows will actually grow into each other. I think I must be related to Burt in some way. I actually warned people at work when I let them grow to be waxed.

5. I am not a good house wife. Sure I love to stay home, but I would much rather be playing with my kids than doing laundry. I am lucky to have a husband who puts up with my half-attempts at keeping the house at least safe.

6. I am notorious for leaving things until the last minute. Hopefully, you dont actually realize it because I usually end up pretty organized but it is only because I was up until 2 am getting things together!

I would tag some more people but I dont have alot of blogger friends yet and Brandie already tagged Julie and Breanne.

Moby Wrap and Cloth Dipes

So I finally made it out to Peppermint to get the x-small covers. Luke is officially a cloth diapered baby. Of course this is right after I spent $11 on sposies last night :S. He had a diaper rash pretty much the whole first two weeks of his life from those stinkin pampers. The covers are so cute on him. I got bright red, blue and orange and just layed liners into them. Ok so the model baby here is a girl but you can just see how cute they are!





The other thing I am totally loving is my Moby. I really needed to clean house today and of course little man was not having it. So I snuggled him into the wrap and he is now sound asleep and my house is now decent. This thing is going to be a life saver for sure.

Last but not least, I took Luke in for his first well baby visit today. Oh goodness can little one eat and it shows! He gained 10oz in 4 days to make him 5lbs 8oz! I guess that is what happens when you eat every 2 hours. He is looking great. He might have blocked tear ducts but the doctor said it should clear up within the month. I just can't get over his weight!

PS

Brianna tied her shoe all by herself today!!

Post Partum Break Outs and Coupon Clipping

So what is up with the breakouts on my chin?! It's like I am 13 again. Every time one goes the next one pops up. It's really getting old. I am sure it's hormonal. I did it even worse with Brianna and Keira.


We had a fun day today clipping coupons over at Brandie's house. I was so behind! I still have a bit to do but it really helped to get so much done today. Now I just have to spend the next few days filing them LOL. Speaking of I guess I better get it together since I am meeting Kim at Kroger tonight!

Rockin Walmart

So normally I really hate shopping at Walmart. Its expensive and they are not usually welcoming of coupon users. Especially if we are really getting a great deal. This time I got a great cashier and even when the CS manager had to come approve my use of so many coupons (I exceeded the $ amount allowed?) it was painless. Here is what I got:


3 Wheat Thins Crackers- FREE
3 Oscar Meyer Franks- FREE
3 Sarah Lee Breads- FREE
3 Kraft Dressings- FREE
3 Kraft Singles- FREE
3 Crystal Light Lemonaids- FREE
45 Single Packs of Koolaid- $9.00
2 Double Packs News Papers- $9.00
8 Glade Plugins- $.96
3 Johnsons Cotton Swabs- $1.74
1 NB Outfit- $2.00
1 5 Pack of bibs- $6.88
1 6 Pack Socks- $5.88
1 Huggies Wash Cloths- $1.62

Total Before Coupons $114 +tax
Total After Coupons $38.04 +tax

Savings of 67% before tax!!!

The only reason my total was even that high was because I just had to have sock and bibs for Luke.

Luke is home!!

Yes, our little man is home! We were discharged this afternoon around 1:30pm. We didn't tell the girls so they got a big surprise when they came in from the back yard to find baby brother home. He is settling in. It was a bit crazy for a while. The girls were "helping" and just wanted to come kiss him every few minutes (CUTE!). Poor guy was all confused. Now that it is evening he is settling. I hope he is this good of a sleeper during the night! I wouldn't mind a good 3 hour stretch of sleep haha.

5 bottles and a boobie

Ok how many of you hate the word boobie? I actually dont like it that much myself LOL. I am not even sure if that is how you spell it.

To the point, last night Luke took 5 bottles and did a 20 nursing session on mommy! I talked to the nurse this morning and apparently they had him on a nipple/gavage/nipple/gavage schedule and his orders are now nipple/nipple/gavage/nipple/nipple/gavage. I dont really understand why he is being gavaged at all at this point, but since I am rooming in tonight havent asked about it. Hopefully it will be moot anyways. Now I am waiting on the nurse to call me back with the official room in order and a room number that Luke and I will be in tonight.

I cant wait until I can nurse him constantly. I am doing good with pumping but it sure does get old. Its not nearly as relaxing as actually having Luke do the job!

I wish Karl could be with me up there, but I am trying to keep things as stable as possible for my princesses. They are already so confused, even if they dont know it. I have noticed that Keira has been extra whiney the last few days and Bri seems to be very tired. I feel so bad that I have had to disrupt them so much. They are very excited about the prospect of bringing baby brother home. I cant wait to see how the house dynamic changes with little one home.

Lastly, I am trying to finish up my schedules for school. I have to admit that I wonder how smart I am being going back to work with Luke so small. At least he will be with me and of course I have lots of help from all the wonderful ladies at work.

Well its that time again...

Birth Announcement in England

This is the birth announcement put in the Preston paper over in Karl's homeland. It is actually online and in the paper version.

Announcing Luke Andres Molder

Rooming in

So the last step before getting to take Luke home is to room in with him. So today I am going to talk to the charge nurse about doing our rooming in this weekend. Luke HATES the bottle but nurses very well at the breast so I need to be there for a full 24-48 hours to "prove" to them that he is able to eat efficently. Hopefully this weekend will be the last he is there! We are so ready to have him home. I cant believe its been 8 days since he was born.

Soggy Bread

I hate soggy bread. It drives me crazy and makes me physically ill to see bread in the sink. It's so gross! I don't know how anyone can use bread to sop up gravy either. The texture in your mouth is so slimey. GAG! I also have a similar problem with wet toilet paper. Today I walked into the bathroom and found that my daughter had soaked some in order to wipe her arm off and then left it there on the counter. It was just discusting looking. I had to close my eyes while I got rid of it.

What do I chose?

Little Luke has been nursing like a trooper. The thing is that I only get up there for 1 or 2 meals a day. The rest of the time I pump. So today he nursed for 10 min. Awesome! However, for some reason they are not counting the time he nurses in with how much he is eating. So even if he nurses for 10 min if he doesnt eat the full 40cc's out of the bottle they count it as a failed attempt at nippling. To me that makes no sense! If he nurses for 10 min he may actually only be hungry for 25cc's or whatever. So here is my dilema, if I nurse him he gets tired (or full) and cant finish the bottle, but my only other choice is to just to let him eat the BM out of the bottle every time instead of attempting to nurse because the nurses arent couting his time at the breast as eating. I mean I guess the good thing is that either way he is getting the breast milk but I have really been looking forward to nursing! So do I give up nursing at least for now?

A little toot on my own horn

Alright I am going to give myself a little pat on the back for a minute. If you have ever breast fed you know that in itself is hard. It hurts at least for a while, and you never get a break, and well it's just hard! So the fact that I have managed to pump for almost a week is just amazing to me. Luke has tried to nurse a few times but I still pump every 2 hours, even through the night. The fact that I have a c-seciton incision healing makes it even more amazing, because it still hurts quite a bit to sit up and pumping requires that I sit up, pump, put the milk in the fridge and then wash all of my equipment to get ready for the next session. Anyways, like I said just a toot of my own horn. Now lets pray that Luke can start nursing at the breast soon and I can cut down the pumping sessions to a few times a day!

Some Pictures of My Little Man

Its really hard to believe that this little peanut inside my tummy at 10 weeks is now this beautiful little boy. How can you just not be amazed by what God has given us the ability to create?! How can I even be close to being worthy of having this privilege?

Baby Luke

I finally remembered my password (I blame it on those oh so good pain killers) and have pictures to share! So here is our birth story:


Wednesday August 6th after much encouragement from my friends at work I went to the doctors office to see about contractions coming pretty close together. I wasn't showing any signs of progressing into labor in his office but he sent me to L&D triage to get the first in a set of two steroid shots. While I was there they routinely admitted me and hooked me up to monitors. Turns out I was contracting as fast at 1 minute apart! After about 2 hours of that I was given Terbutaline (muscle relaxer to stop contractions) and since things calmed down I was sent home with orders to keep it easy and to take oral terb as needed. I went back in on Thurday to get the second shot and didnt realize until I got there that my daughter had taken my Rx out of my purse, so I saw the doctor and he told me just to hold on a few more days. I made it until Monday before I had to go back because the terb just wasnt doing anything. When the doctor checked me he said that I was still closed but that Luke's head was very low. He went ahead and sent me over to triage again to be monitored. Again I was contracting very fast, up to once every 2 minutes. I got the first Terb injection and it helped for about 20 min and they were back. I did two more terbs and the second steroid before they admitted me in for 24 hour observation. During that time I started getting hard contractions, efacing and Luke dropped even further down. When my doctor came in he decided that since my contractions were coming so hard and so fast that it was better to go ahead and do a c-section to prevent a uterine rupture. I had hoped to avoid a c-section but considering what was going on I decided to go ahead.

So I call Karl and tell him that they are going to do the c-section in about 20 min and that he needed to drive up to the hospital(about 15 min from where he was). The nurse comes in to tell me that I am set up for 2pm. This gives Karl plenty of time to get up to the hospital (almost an hour). After about 45 minutes I called Karl because I was afraid he wasnt going to make it. Turns out that he stopped at McDonalds and ate there on his way to the hospital!! I am about to give birth and he stops at McDonalds! I can laugh about it now but it sure didnt do much for me at the time.

Back to Luke. I am taken back for the c-section and it goes as planned. Luke had a moment where he needed to be stimulated to breathe but after a few seconds was screaming in full protest. I was pretty drugged so only have vague memories of what happened after they showed him to me.

Luke Andres
Born August 12th 2008
4lbs 14 oz and 18in

He will be in the NICU, he is trying to nurse but until he can eat all of his feeds by himself. In the mean time I am pumping. We should have him home early next week!

Dr. Suess

Dr Suess


I got a kick out of how profound children's books can be. These are quotes from Dr. Seuss

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

Fun is good."

""I'm sorry to say
so but, sadly it's true
that bang-ups and hang-ups
can happen to you""

Just tell yourself, Duckie, you're really quite lucky!"

10 myths about cloth diapering

I didnt write this but its good :)

Ten Myths About Cloth Diapering

1. You have to toilet-dunk.

This was the 1 reason I went with disposables (yes, I confess!) with my daughter when she was first born. The belief that you must dunk your diapers in the toilet and flush repeatedly or use a "diaper duck" to clean them is simply not true. Toilet dunking is for the birds! Diaper services don't require you to dunk your diapers, so why should you? Let your machine do the work for you -- most moms these days do. If your baby or toddler has well-formed solid poops, sure, you can toss the solids into the toilet -- but for messy jobs, don't fret it. If we can do it, so can you!

Little known fact: Did you know that you aren't supposed to dispose of human waste from any diaper, disposables included? It says so right on the package.

2. Cloth diapers don't keep your baby dry.

Disposable diapers have helped proliferate the myth that "a dry baby is a clean baby". Disposables use the super-absorbing chemical polyacrylate (why disposables often feel like a squishy "gel" inside the inner panels), which makes the diaper "a wearable toilet" of sorts. Parents are supposed to change their baby's diaper when they soil themselves, however with the advent of these super-absorbent and many times dry feeling chemical-laden disposable diapers, they get changed, typically, much less frequently. I have actually heard of parents who feel changing a baby five times a day is adequate! Sad, but true. With cloth, not only is it easy to tell when your baby is due for a change, they also potty train much sooner because toddlers can actually feel when they wet themselves (imagine that!). The gel in disposables also will draw moisture from your baby's skin! I remember when my daughter was in disposables (yes, I confess, I was a disposable user!), I would actually find these gel "beads" on her diaper area.

3. You have to change cloth diapers more often.

With disposables, babies sadly don't always get changed when they soil themselves (because they "feel" dry, see myth 2, above). However the American Academy of Pediatrics states, "Regardless of which type of diaper you use, diaper rash occurs less often and is less severe when you change diapers often." Changing your baby's diaper when they wet themselves seems an easy and common sense enough approach for all parents to be able to adhere to.

4. Cloth diapers, and diaper pails, smell.

Cloth diapers smell no worse than disposables, in fact many new-to-cloth moms have told me that their disposables smelled far worse than their new cloth diapers do (I guess that's why the Diaper Genie was invented...). And a good air-tight diaper pail that uses non-toxic deodorizer disks like "Deodisks ®" keeps an unwanted odors at bay.

5. Cloth diapering is more difficult.

Doing my diaper laundry one or two times a week is much less trouble than having to get dressed, get the baby ready and make a run to the store for disposables when I suddenly realize I am out. In a pinch, you can even use doublers as a diaper subsitute while you do your laundry. You are truly never out of diapers. Imagine never having to leave your living room for diapers in the middle of the night!

6. Cloth diapering is more time consuming.

I can get my diapers washed and dried while me and my daughter eat our lunch and play around the house. There is .. --> img src="http://www.CuddleBunsdiapers.com/images/time.gif" width=75 height=57 border=0 align="right" alt="clock" -->no need to run out to the store or waste time in the car when we could be playing or learning! Folding diapers, while not necessary (many people use a decorative basket in the nursery for this purpose), is a fun activity for me and my 17 month old to do together. It makes her feel important as she helps Mama with the folding, and we practice her numbers by counting as we stack the diapers.

7. You have to use diaper pins.

While some moms still love the art of pinning with the quaint appearance and snug fit it provides, others, including me, were frightened by it! If you are scared of pins or simply don't even want to try, fear not, CuddleBuns™ has your answer! Snap and velcro fitted diapers are as easy to put on as disposables, and prefolds folded in thirds and then layed down the middle of a snug velcro wrap are as easy as 1-2-3! There are also clips and other fasteners available as diaper pin subsitutes.

8. You have to use a diaper service.

...and aren't they expensive? Yes, they can be. In fact in some geographical areas, they are more expensive than disposables! Though this is rare, you can still save significantly over disposables and cloth diaper services by home laundering your own premium quality cloth diapers. Diaper services for the most part only offer prefolds, and not the attractive and convenient fitted diapers that many moms today have grown to love, and some can't do without! Home laundering is simple and easy, just wash the CuddleBuns™ way!

9. Cloth diapering is more expensive (after factoring the cost of detegerent, water and electricity).

Not even close. Disposables cost an average of $1000-$2000 (depending on brand and geographical area) over the course of one child's diapering years. Cloth diapers not only cost an average of only $150-$300 , but they can be used over and over on subsequent children with only a handful of replacements from wear and tear. The water usage equals the same amount they would use as a potty trained child who was toilet trained, and the electricity usage is minimal. Add to all this that it takes more water, per diaper, to produce a disposable diaper than a cloth one!

10. Cloth diapers are bulky.

Snug fitting wraps and covers with a prefold folded in thirds down the middle, a dense flannel or interlock ("t-shirt") fitted diaper (flannel tends to be trimmer than terry, with interlock being the very trimmest) can actually be quite thin -- and rival even the trimmest disposable!

Reviving the blog

Ok since I now have blogger friends I decided to come back to this blog and post here instead of on MySpace where I had been blogging. I have to figure this site out so once I do I will link my friends pages up to mine :) In the mean time I am moving all of my other blogs over here shortly!