Today's shopping trip!

I went to 2 stores this morning. The first picture and receipts are from Albertsons. Don't know how well you can see the totals on the receipts, but the total before tax came to $0.00 for all the items shown above, except the Rhodes rolls, which were .89 cents. I got a rain check for all these items sale price from a couple weeks ago. However, most of them were at the same price again. I got the rain checks so I could use the sale price, matched with manufacturer coupons, and the Albertsons "double the value" coupons. Allowing me to double my manufacture coupon. And why so many different receipts for that stuff? You can only use 3-double value coupons in a transaction. But they let you do as many transactions as you want. Definitely worth the hassle of going through the line a few times! If I had just bought all these items at the sale price I would have paid $27.14 +tax , and I only paid .89 cents+tax! And because I went earlier in the morning, I scored a great deal on ground beef! I scanned over their meat department and came across small packages of 7% fat ground beef, that had a $1 coupon on them, because the meat was put out yesterday. So I ended up with 6.2 lbs of 7% fat ground beef, for only $8.33. That's only $1.34 lbs for 7% fat ground beef! This is the best deal I have ever gotten on ground beef! I will definitely be going to Albertsons more in the morning!

This is my trip to Rite aid!

I actually really needed some liners. Free with coupons and sale this week. The "soft lips" chapstick is Jake's favorite but kind of spendy. Bought him the target brand last time at $1.88 a twin pack(I think, if not more)So I stocked up on both these items today, being on sale for .99 cents a twin pack! I just recently got my free sample box of Kashi heart to heart cereal(thanks to vocalpoint) which also came with a coupon for a free box, plus a few $1.50 of 1 box coupons. These were priced at $4.99 but were Buy 1 get one free. I thought this was my best chance to use these coupons. As rite aid allows you to use a "free" or "buy one get one free coupon" with the B1G1F sale. Making it 2 for free! I did two seperate purchases for all this stuff, so I could use two $3 off $15 purchase rite aid coupons. You can clearly see my totals in this picture! Not bad eh!?! My total was about the same price I would pay for just 2 twin packs of soft lips at Walmart. My hubby is going to love this deal!

Block letter project

I started this project over 6 months ago at a church activity. Has been sitting in my pantry just staring me down. Now that I am down the the final few days before the baby I am finding myself things to do and finish. So I finished painting the last side of all the blocks, and added a few coats where needed. Let it dry for a day, then modge podged the letters to the card stock, and the card stock to the blocks. Just added a few generous coats and let it dry for 2 days and tied on a pretty little ribbon. I am happy with the finished product. Never done block letters before. Matches my curtains, couches, and clock quite nicely. I also finally printed my favorite picture of our family (7 months old now) and got it put in a frame and on the book shelf.
And the books are all organized now as well. Which weren't yet when I took the picture that I posted on here. My next decorating project is to finish my kitchen curtains! I have them done, but haven't painted the cherries on the valance yet. So when I get that done, I will post pictures :)

My sweet Taylor!

I just want to highlight the light of my life...my sweet and beautiful little girl Taylor! I know any day now, the world as she(and I)knows it, will be changed forever. I have absolutely loved having the past 2 1/2 years to get to know her and bond with her. I am going to miss the one-on-one I have with her right now. She is so loving, kind, and sincere. Her laughs are genuine and very contagious! Ask those who have witnessed it! She has always been a happy child and pretty laid back. I love the twinkle in her eyes, and her sweet spirit that she possesses and shares with all. I love watching her interact with others because she just loves people in general and always puts a smile on everyones face. And almost always has a smile on her face. I love when she comes in my room in the morning and says, "Good morning Mommy, I'm awake now, its not dark outside anymore" with a huge smile on her face. It puts a smile on my face and helps me have a better attitude starting the day, as I have never been a morning person. She loves to read books with us and sing songs. She has several songs memorized that she requests to sing, and now sings to me :) "You are my Sunshine" is on the top of that list at the moment. She is learning and growing so much too. She knows several colors and shapes and points them out in books, in stores, and even on tv. Same with letters. She recognizes her name when she sees it and knows "t" is for Taylor. As well as all the other letters in her name. She will point out other letters to me as well. She is already better than me at the game "memory" and likes to play "uno" as well. She knows all the colors in that game and knows she can play by matching colors, symbols, or numbers. She even knows to draw if she doesn't have a match. It's a lot of fun to see her doing so much at this age. And that we can really play together. She is always cooking me "dinner" with her kitchen set Santa brought her. Which she lights up about when you ask her. She is such a smart little girl. She loves to help too! Give her a task or ask a favor and she does it with a big smile! She loves the "thank you's" and "your such a big/good helper" she gets in return. She is also very polite and says please, thank you, sorry, excuse me, and excuse you, if you don't excuse yourself quickly enough. She never ceases to amaze me. She is a very good eater and would prefer an apple or carrots over candy or a granola bar. She is becoming very independent and we are all learning to be patient with each other and trying to understand each other better. She is excited to have baby Dakoda coming soon. She tells me she is going to hold him in her arms. Which I can't wait for as well. It will be a sweet moment. She has really enjoyed going to "Dr. Huge"(Dr. Hughes) with me to get weighed(always after I do), and to hear baby Koda's "heartbeep". She was saying it correctly but for some reason started saying "beep" and won't say "beat" now. Its so cute. She recently(finally) started saying "spoon" correctly, as she was calling it "foon" forever. Even though she has been able to pronounce other words with "sp" sound. She also expresses her emotions really well. I always love to hear her say "I love you Mommy" when I haven't said it first. But just because she is feeling that emotion. She isn't my little baby any more. But my beautiful little girl. I love you Taylor!

This is why I use coupons!

Do you see the subtotal at the bottom of the picture on the right? With the sales and the coupons I had, it actually would have taken my total below zero, so I grabbed a few bags of easter candy to bring my total above zero. 6 Bottles of Johnson baby wash, 18 ct pads, and 3 bags of candy and my total came to $1.90 with tax! These washes are normally $3-$5.59 each. Also purchased a 4pk gillette razor refill cartridge, gillette shave gel and body wash for Jake. The total for all 3 items was $8.99. Once again taking advantage of sales combined with coupons saved me a lot. The refill cartridge alone was priced at $15.99. So half the price of the cartridge for all 3 items! The money I save couponing is like having a part time job. It takes time, but the money we save on things we have to get anyway, is better than a part time job. And I can still be at home with my children! This is my only real hobby or interest. What other hobby/interest actually saves you money! I love it!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes!

This is the finished product! 100% homemade! Delicious too! Its a chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter filling. Then the frosting is peanut butter and cream cheese! I get this little magazine in the Sunday paper once a month called Relish. I saw this recipe, and the picture looked so good, thought I'd try it myself. Had what I needed, except buttermilk, which I substituted. I should really start trying new recipes more often. It usually turns out great on my first try if I just follow directions. Check out this recipe and their picture here www.relishmag.com/article/37883.html Maybe I will try a few other things and start posting them on here. I have 4 more weeks(maybe less :) before Dakoda comes and I have a few projects I want to get done. Maybe I will put up my before and after pictures of my projects! I will try to get better at posting more often. Keep everyone updated. We finally have a camera, just need some good lithium rechargable batteries, seeing this camera uses up 2 regular batteries within 15 pictures. Its the popup flash that kills it. Anyway, excited to share more things and be able to post pictures too!

I Want my camera!

I just have to vent a little. Our camera hasn't been working very well for a long time and completely crapped out on us about a month ago and haven't been able to take any pictures... No Halloween pictures, Thanksgiving, my belly getting bigger, or cute moments captured. Finally fed up with it we decided to start looking. Well about two weeks ago we really started to look and make a decision. We found our camera on ebay and got really excited! Got an AMAZING deal and thought we'd have a camera for Thanksgiving. We made the payment immediately upon winning and we were both eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new camera. Then came the email...grrrrr! "Sorry to inform you but as we were getting ready to ship this we realized the items were damaged. We will refund your money or put it towards something else from our ebay store." We don't want something else! We want our camera, the one you said you had for sale! And we want it for the price we paid! And we also noticed it had been sent via undisclosed recipients. So we aren't the only ones that got all excited about a camera, only to find out that what they had in stock was damaged. Maybe they should have checked what they had in stock before they auctioned them to make sure they were going to be able to give us what they said they would. They said when they had more in and listed them, we can then buy it. But they don't know when that might be. Hopefully we will have a camera by Christmas! And we better see our money back in our account by tomorrow or I am gonna get ticked! Overall, I love ebay and have had good experiences and will continue to use ebay. But I am very frustrated with the fact that this seller listed and sold a lot of these cameras before checking the stock to make sure they had undamaged goods to sell. And we got so excited only to be left once again with no camera to take pictures with. At least we'll be with family at Thanksgiving that takes a lot of pictures. So we will get some pictures emailed to us I'm sure.

Our Little Dakoda!

So as of today, I am 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant with our little BOY Dakoda! We are to expect his arrival around March 10th. We are so excited about bringing him into this world and giving Taylor a little brother to love. I just went to the doctor yesterday, who is the best, and got an ultrasound to check all the organs and development. He is very healthy looking, all parts intact and perfect! Can you see the five toes?

I have been feeling him move since I was only 15 weeks. Jake and Taylor have been able to feel him move for a few weeks now. A few times they have also been able to see him move. It is so much fun. Taylor always talks about "baby Coda" in mommy's belly. And I am sure Daddy is proud its a boy. We are just so happy that so far Dakoda is growing as he should and very active which is always a good sign.

Okay, I am also really excited about the fact that this time around we get to have a boy! So now we have one of each...which Jake thinks is a good excuse to stop. Mostly kidding. But we both know that most likely there is more than just these 2 precious souls out there waiting for us.

The pregnancy has been good and going by quickly. Was nauseous early on but fortunate to keep things down, except for a couple times. Now I am just struggling with pinched nerves in my lower back causing pain and itching in my buttocks. Going to the chiropractor regularly but still no sign of relief. I am coming to accept the fact that some people suffer sickness during their whole pregnancy and I get to have an itchy stingy butt. Laughter is the best medicine right?..it is when you can't take the heavy stuff that works! :)

Keeping a positive attitude and enjoying every moment I can right now! I also can't wait to see what our little Dakoda will look like. Will he look anything like Taylor? She's got the blond hair blue eyes. Or will he take after Daddy and get brown eyes and brown hair!!! The suspense is growing stronger! One thing I know for sure is that I think he is cute already, especially when I got to see his little profile!

I am so blessed with the opportunity to bring children into this world and grateful for good health to do so. And very grateful for Jake's hard work and effort that allows us to have a wonderful home to live in and allows me to be at home with our children! I can't wait to post again when Dakoda arrives!